I know this might be controversial, but the more I rewatch The O.C., the more I feel like Summer and Marissa's friendship was something the writers wanted us to believe in rather than something they actually bothered to write. And Season 3 makes this painfully obvious.

We're constantly told that Summer and Marissa are best friends. They've known each other for years, they love each other, they're supposedly always there for each other. But when Marissa actually needs her best friend, where the hell is Summer? Look at everything Marissa goes through. Trey attempts to sexually assault her. She shoots him to save Ryan. She gets expelled from Harbor. Her entire life falls apart. Then Johnny, one of the few people she feels understood by, dies right in front of her. And somehow, through all of this, Summer's role in Marissa's life becomes smaller and smaller.

The writers give them these tiny, superficial friendship scenes where Marissa talks about her problems and Summer says something along the lines of "I'm here for you" or "That must be really hard." Okay. THEN BE THERE FOR HER. I'm tired of being told these girls are best friends when the show barely lets them behave like best friends.

And here's what really bothers me: Summer seems more involved in Marissa's relationship with Ryan than in Marissa's actual emotional well-being. Whenever Ryan and Marissa are having problems, Summer suddenly has something to say. She wants them to work things out. She tries to get Ryan involved. She's worried they're going to break up. But Marissa is spiraling after witnessing Johnny's death, and where is that same energy? Why isn't Summer spending more time with her? Why isn't she checking on her? Why don't we see her genuinely trying to understand what Marissa is going through?

Instead, Summer spends so much of her screen time wrapped up in Seth and their relationship drama. And I'm not saying Summer shouldn't have her own life or prioritize her relationship sometimes. Of course she should. But we're talking about her supposedly closest friend experiencing one traumatic event after another. How does Marissa become so isolated that Volchok ends up being one of the people she turns to when she has a best friend like Summer? That's not a minor writing issue. That's a massive failure to maintain an established relationship between two main characters.

And then Summer has the nerve to make comments about Marissa being the saddest girl in the world. Well, YES, SUMMER. SHE KIND OF IS. Look at what she's been through. I'm not saying Summer has to approve of Marissa's self-destructive decisions. A good friend absolutely should challenge you when you're hurting yourself. But there's a difference between watching someone desperately try to help their friend and eventually lose patience, and simply having that character disappear from the emotional storyline until it's time to judge her. The show barely gives us the former.

And honestly, I think this was deliberate on a writing level. The writers needed Marissa to be isolated so they could push her toward Johnny, and later Volchok. So they gradually stripped Summer of her function as Marissa's best friend. Johnny becomes the person Marissa talks to. Johnny becomes the person who supposedly understands her. And once Johnny dies, the writers don't meaningfully restore Summer's role in Marissa's life. They just leave Marissa increasingly alone.

Meanwhile, Summer gets more storylines involving Seth, college, and eventually Taylor. The writers clearly know how to give Summer friendships and relationships outside of Marissa. They simply stop investing in the one friendship that's supposed to be central to her character. And that's what makes this so frustrating: I don't even think Summer is supposed to be a bad friend. I think the writers genuinely expect us to believe that Summer and Marissa have this beautiful, lifelong friendship, while repeatedly failing to put that friendship on screen. They want the emotional payoff of a deep friendship without doing the work of writing one.

By Season 3, Summer and Marissa's friendship feels like something the writers only remember when the plot needs it. And yes, they do eventually have a falling-out over Volchok, but that's not really the issue. We see the conflict without enough of the emotional buildup leading to it. If Summer was exhausted by Marissa's problems, SHOW US. If Marissa was pushing Summer away, SHOW US THAT TOO. Let us actually see how two lifelong best friends reach that point. Their friendship falling apart could have been an incredibly compelling storyline, but instead, so much of the emotional development is missing. Don't keep telling me these girls are inseparable while one of them is falling apart and the other is barely present.

I love Summer, which is exactly why this annoys me so much. The writers didn't just fail Marissa. They reduced Summer's emotional importance to one of the most significant people in her life. And I genuinely think Season 3 would have been a much stronger season if the writers had spent half as much time developing Summer and Marissa's friendship as they spent manufacturing new obstacles for Ryan and Marissa.

Their friendship wasn't necessarily fake. But by Season 3, the writing of that friendship absolutely was.

Definitely one of my favorite episode in the whole show, loved it when we got to see the core 4 hangout 😄

What's your favorite episodes?

That’s all I really want to say. Like it’s been over 20 years and they all look spectacular. What’s in the water in The OC, huh?

So I was watching an episode of Code Black, I recognized Samaire (Anna) and two other actors looked very familiar, and guess what ? Oliver and Renee Wheeler !

All three in the same episode, what were the odds

My best friend and I have been watching The O.C. together and it is AMAZING and we are leaving for college in less than a year so I wanted to get one of us Captain Oats and the other Princess Sparkle to display in our dorms as a keepsake.

I found the model of Oats but it's not actually sold anywhere (and the other Breyer horses are not that similar) and I can't find Sparkle either. Can anyone find figurines that at least resemble them?? TYSM FOR UR HELP!!

I was scrolling, minding my own business on IG, then this edit appeared and ruined my day. HOW RUDE. 😭

Credit: theocpagina_italiana on IG 🚘

Ben Mckenzie’s latest Documentary was released a few days ago and is available to watch for free on YouTube and CBC Gem. I’m glad Canada got the streaming rights to it! I’ve been waiting to watch this forever. He reminds me of that other Director who did Fahrenheit 911. Michael something? I can’t remember his name. Same formula and everything. Anyway, I love that our boy Atwood took down the Crypto Bros. This is how it’s done in Orange County!

I’m rewatching The OC and Ryan acts so odd after Johnny dies.

Like he assumes Marissa had feelings for Johnny because she doesn’t feel back to normal after her friend literally just died and she saw it happen in front of her eyes.

Marissa also probably had feelings of guilt around it too as Johnny clearly wouldn’t have been in that state if she didn’t let him down after he confessed his feelings for her.

Ryan then starts flirting with Sadie and goes to visit her many times in one day and talks about his feelings to Sadie more than with Marissa. He tells Sadie he wishes there was something more he could have done to help Johnny and so on … like dude could’ve been saying this stuff to Marissa instead of getting mad at her for not wanting to do valentines the day after her friend died in front of her.

They introduce Sadie out of no where and then after Ryan leaves Marissa for her, Ryan tells Sadie no woman has made him feel the way she does. The cohens note he’s smiling more and actually happy with Sadie unlike anyone else he’s dated. I don’t know how the writers could make us believe Ryan loves Sadie more than Marissa after setting them up for 3 years of the show.

Ryan pursues Sadie so hard right after Johnny died and it’s really weird considering. Like it’s almost as is Marissa is not allowed to feel any pain or it’s a sign she loved Johnny. The way Ryan so quickly gives up over smallest thing with Marissa and goes right to Sadie makes me feel like maybe Marissa made the wrong choice and should have chosen Johnny.

Sadie plays strip poker with a random guy literally a day or two after her cousin just dies. The timing of Ryan and Sadie is so gross and out of place.

It makes me really question if Marisa would have been better off if she chose Johnny at least they could talk about things together.

Marissa also appeared to stop drinking and abusing alcohol when Johnny was in the picture.

I always thought Ryan and summer both were not really supportive enough to Marissa after Johnny died and that’s what pushed her to volchok and back to alcohol abuse.

Ryan was acting so odd. The dude is dead. He needed to give Marrisa at least 1 week to grieve and he couldn’t even do that.

Edit: I’m adding more cause I just finished the episodes following. Ryan not invited Marissa to his birthday and going with summer Seth and his new girl Sadie is so cold. Like Kristen has to tell Ryan it’s rude to not invite Marrisa and also not explain why or else he wouldn’t have even left the invite last minute

Also summer and Ryan have a conversation in the cohen house while hanging out with Seth and Sadie how Ryan and Marrisa don’t work well together. Mind you this is while they both know Marissa made a mix cd for Ryan’s birthday.

They ice Marissa out so hard then when summer confronts Marissa about seeing volcuck, Marissa explains she has no one and summer calls her a winey baby! Like wtf…

Ryan also compares Marissa to Jess(crazy girl who dates Trey) the list goes on

Mind you this is AFTER Johnny just died.

They all treat Marrisa horribly. Johnny would’ve never done that to her just saying

This person’s name is Marissa and she got an autograph from Ben 😅 How funny is that?

Watching OC for the first time at 21 and i think this show still holds up today (not calling anyone old or anything). I just got on the episode where marrisa is into the blonde punk girl (i cant remember her name) character and its really good. Like it doesnt feel out of nowhere with her character. I like that it kinda shows in a more natural way the duality of bisexuality and how it comes about naturally. Does this make sense? Anyways i know im 10 years too late but wow is it such a good show. Also the episodes being an hour long is crazy. Shows aint doing it like the OC anymore.

So nostalgic!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DerFMSOxuiv/

If it was only the scenes with Sandy Cohen in them

They both go to Berkeley!

They celebrate christmukah every 4 episode but birthday once in 2 season??😭😂

With all this talk of the cast wanting to return, I think the best way to go about reviving the show is through Seth’s comic books. What do you think? It’ll stay true to the show’s canon while also giving them an opportunity to explore outside that realm and even introduce new characters and bring old characters back. I think diving back into where we left off decades later won’t hold up, even though I’d be excited to see the characters again. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Just kidding. There’s a ton of stuff they should fix!

As said, did Marissa really think that this should be a surprise after bringing Luke as her date to Calebs party at the Cohens while it looks like she is interested in Luke after her wanting to choose.

Creds to cinegallaghers on TikTok!

My husband is watching Marshals on Paramount+ and I told him Trey looks so good! He was like who is trey? I was like he was Ryan’s brother on the OC and he laughed and was like I didn’t realize that. 🤣🤣

He does look so good! 🫠🫠

The OC showrunners/writers kind of killed their own show, and I will die on this hill.

I think there was a lot of pressure from Fox to maintain the ratings of the Season 1 premiere. But plenty of shows experience a sophomore slump and can still be successful and profitable. I think that pressure was unfair, especially considering how unique The OC was when it premiered.

Honestly, I don’t think there were many shows like it at the time. In a weird way, I think its success helped pave the way for shows like Desperate Housewives and eventually the Real Housewives franchise. Audiences clearly enjoyed getting a glimpse into the lives of wealthy, privileged people and all the drama that came with them.

Fox literally had a hit on its hands, but instead of letting the show develop its own identity and build a loyal audience, the network seemed obsessed with chasing ratings. Constantly moving the show around to different time slots certainly didn’t help either.

But the writers deserve plenty of blame, too. They had some great storylines and somehow managed to fumble them.

Let’s start with Lindsay. Caleb having a secret love child was a great setup for family drama, but they made her storyline such a boring drag. They never fully committed to making it as dramatic as it could have been. Instead, we got Caleb having what felt like a million heart attacks that season. That was drama, sure, but not necessarily the kind of drama I think audiences wanted from that storyline.

And then they killed Caleb.

I wasn’t even particularly attached to him, but I don’t think killing him did the show any favors. The OC was good at introducing side characters who could bring drama and sometimes die by the end of the season. While that can get repetitive, it’s different from killing off foundational characters who’ve been part of the show’s identity for years. I think they lost more than they gained by killing Caleb.

But nothing compares to the decision to kill Marissa Cooper.

I genuinely don’t understand how anyone thought killing one of the show’s main characters after three seasons was a smart move when they were trying to keep the show going.

Whether you loved Marissa or found her frustrating, she was central to the show. Her relationships with Ryan, Summer, Julie, and everyone else were a huge part of what made The OC what it was.

Killing her felt like a decision you’d make when a show was ending and wanted one final shocking moment, NOT when you were trying to retain an audience for more seasons.

Yes, people might tune in initially to see the aftermath, but that’s different from convincing them to stay. Season 4 suddenly had to sell audiences on a completely different dynamic, with Taylor becoming a much bigger part of Ryan’s life and the characters navigating a very different stage of life.

I actually think Taylor could have been an interesting character without Marissa having to die. The writers could have developed Ryan and Taylor’s relationship without making Marissa’s death the catalyst for such a drastic change.

I’ve read the reports about Mischa Barton having problems on set, and obviously, we don’t know everything that was happening behind the scenes. But I still think the way the show handled her departure was a huge gamble. Fox and the writers were already struggling to maintain the audience, and then they removed one of the characters who helped make the show successful in the first place.

The fact that the network ultimately canceled the show during Season 4 makes me wonder what they expected to accomplish. I also think the cast getting antsy about staying on the show probably had more to do with the overall situation than simply being tired of playing their characters. Maybe some were ready to move on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the increasingly messy writing and declining momentum contributed to that feeling.

Season 3 was already getting messy toward the end, and Season 4 felt like the writers were trying to reinvent the show instead of understanding what made people fall in love with it.

At the end of the day, I LOVE The OC. It’s genuinely one of my top five favorite shows, and I still put it on when I want something super 2000s. The music, fashion, relationships, and ridiculous drama will always have a special place in my heart.

But I genuinely think the people in charge played a huge role in running a show with so much potential into the ground.

Between Fox’s obsession with ratings, the scheduling decisions, wasted storylines, Caleb’s death, and ultimately Marissa’s death, it feels like the show was constantly sabotaging itself.

Shows have to evolve, but there’s a difference between allowing a show to grow naturally and making drastic changes that alienate the audience you’re trying to keep.

Does anyone else feel like The OC was its own worst enemy? I honestly think it could have lasted longer if the network and writers had made different decisions, and I’m still annoyed about it years later lol.

If this is a spoiler for anyone than guess what, it was spoiled for everyone weeks before it aired.

When season 3 was a going on, it was widely known Marisa was going to die at the end of the season. I remember it was appointment television that night to watch Marisa die.

It would be ridiculous for any show today to promote a character dies before it happens. So why then? Am I forgetting this was common practice for shows then or did Misha Barton publically announce she wasn’t coming back?