2008 Woodie Awards
Surf's Up for Second Season ofThe O.C.
Dennis Anderson
Issue date: 11/18/04 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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In the penultimate episode of last season's The O.C. on Fox, everything seemed to be going so well for the show's characters. Then, in the middle of this 25th episode, it dawned on the writers that the season was almost over.
So in the course of an episode and a half, Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) impregnated Theresa (Navi Rawat) and left town; Seth (Adam Brody) was so bummed out that his best friend left town that he ditched his girlfriend Summer (Rachel Bilson) via letter and took his sailboat to Tahiti; and Seth's parents (Sandy and Kirsten played by Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan) were left with a sad, empty house.
Meanwhile, Marissa (Mischa Barton), trapped in the house of her finicky mother, Julie (Melinda Clarke) and Julie's new hubby Caleb (Alan Dale), was left mourning her failed relationship with Ryan, and it was only a bit of time before Marissa turned to the drink.
And Marissa's usually down-on-his-luck father, Jimmy (Tate Donovan) made out okay, finally settling down with screw-up Hailey (Amanda Righetti).
It sure was nice of the makers of The O.C. to spend an entire season creating well-written characters that we can laugh and cry with each week, only to create a cliffhanger in the last two weeks of the season that left no one hanging.
Viewers knew that neither McKenzie nor Brody was leaving the show, and there certainly wouldn't be parts of the show taking place in Theresa's Chino home nor in Tahiti for long periods of time.
The show, in its title alone, relies heavily on its Orange County, California setting. So, in the show's second season premiere, the writers had the difficult task of remedying all of their cliffhangers-for-the-sake-of-cliffhangers.
Since we viewers also knew that Rawat was a guest star on the show, we realized wouldn't be seeing much of Theresa.
So, by the middle of the first episode, Ryan had already gotten a call from his baby's mommy informing him she'd miscarried. No big surprise there.
So in the course of an episode and a half, Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) impregnated Theresa (Navi Rawat) and left town; Seth (Adam Brody) was so bummed out that his best friend left town that he ditched his girlfriend Summer (Rachel Bilson) via letter and took his sailboat to Tahiti; and Seth's parents (Sandy and Kirsten played by Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan) were left with a sad, empty house.
Meanwhile, Marissa (Mischa Barton), trapped in the house of her finicky mother, Julie (Melinda Clarke) and Julie's new hubby Caleb (Alan Dale), was left mourning her failed relationship with Ryan, and it was only a bit of time before Marissa turned to the drink.
And Marissa's usually down-on-his-luck father, Jimmy (Tate Donovan) made out okay, finally settling down with screw-up Hailey (Amanda Righetti).
It sure was nice of the makers of The O.C. to spend an entire season creating well-written characters that we can laugh and cry with each week, only to create a cliffhanger in the last two weeks of the season that left no one hanging.
Viewers knew that neither McKenzie nor Brody was leaving the show, and there certainly wouldn't be parts of the show taking place in Theresa's Chino home nor in Tahiti for long periods of time.
The show, in its title alone, relies heavily on its Orange County, California setting. So, in the show's second season premiere, the writers had the difficult task of remedying all of their cliffhangers-for-the-sake-of-cliffhangers.
Since we viewers also knew that Rawat was a guest star on the show, we realized wouldn't be seeing much of Theresa.
So, by the middle of the first episode, Ryan had already gotten a call from his baby's mommy informing him she'd miscarried. No big surprise there.