About:
The O.C. S2.E19 “The Rager”
Drinks Taken: 41
Welcome back to The O.C. Rewatch Project! Last week, Britt asked me how I feel about Trey’s return, and this plot is always such a sticking point for me. At first I love it – the Risky Business caper, the eternal fight to save Trey’s soul and our belief – and presumably, the writers’ – in Trey’s deep-down goodness under that rugged tough guy exterior.
But then some terrible stuff happens that we will discuss later.
Britt also asked me to ruminate on how much of a babe Trey is, and terrible stuff aside, Logan Marshall-Green is just such a total babe. A forever babe.
Let’s drink to babes!
The O.C. Drinking Game
Drink once every time:
The ladies have a convo while primping in front of a mirror
Seth makes a nerdy reference
Ryan wears a white tank top
Anyone plays a video game
Summer says “ew”
Anyone eats a bagel
Anyone references The Valley
Drink twice every time:
Someone says “Newpsie”
Fisticuffs occur (three times for pool fights!)
Someone grabs a cup of coffee
Ryan and Seth read comic books
Someone reminds us that Kaitlin Cooper exists
Onto the episodes!
2.18 “The Risky Business”
After their bro-bonding fisticuffs of last week, Ryan and Trey are really getting along, and he’s settling in very nicely at the Cohen house, making breakfast and whatnot. And so, by the by, is Marissa, who’s crashing in the pool house while Caleb and Julie take a porn debacle breather in Europe. The close quarters between Marissa and Ryan lead to a lot of suggestive winking and nudging on the part of the Cohen/Atwood men, which in turn leads to some hilarious defensive bullying on Ryan’s part:
But in the end, the close quarters mainly lead to many, many awkwardly hot moments like this:
(the best is Seth walking up behind him and silently turning away)
and this:
but never any actual kissing. Several almost-kisses, however!
But the upshot is that with Marissa in the pool house, Trey and Ryan are sharing the guest room, and Trey’s ready to spread his wings and find his own place. Marissa is sweetly supportive because he’s Ryan’s brother, so she suggests that he takes Alex’s abruptly vacated apartment – but he can’t quite afford all the extra deposit funds required due to his being a total convict. Marissa worries that Trey’s going to do something dumb, and tells him that she’ll help him – and that if he DOES do something dumb, “it’s really going to hurt Ryan.” Aww, I like Marissa so much in this spread of episodes.
Especially because she’s not wrong! Trey does, indeed, have something dumb up his sleeve. Kirsten asks Sandy to run the latest charity yard sale, in which only half the profits go to charity and which does not, naturally, take place in a yard, because this is how they do it in The O.C. Sandy ropes in Trey, Seth and Ryan’s help, and one of the auction items is the crystal egg from Risky Business, which is worth ten grand. Trey gets little dollar signs in his eyes and steals the egg and sells it – and Ryan realizes it right before the auction begins. So he and Seth go retrieve the egg while Marissa and Summer HILARIOUSLY stall the auction by acting as insane impromptu assistants to Sandy, and there’s lots of shenanigans set to the Risky Business score and not one but TWO slow-motion catches of the crystal egg. They return the egg just in time and no one’s the wiser (except the always-wise Sandy), AND it turns out that Marissa got Trey the money legally by selling something out of her mom’s junk warehouse. The “junk” was a silver tea set that once belonged to Kirsten’s mother and that Julie Cooper obviously tossed in the garbage without blinking, so Kirsten buys the tea set, Marissa gives the money to Trey and everyone’s happy. Except Ryan, who’s super glower-y about Trey, fairly understandably. But what a fun episode!
How many times did I have to drink?
23.
Best pop culture reference
All of the Risky Business business aside, this conversation between Seth, Ryan, Trey and Sandy is the literal cutest:
Seth: “I’ve seen Lock Up, Stallone’s finest work since Over the Top.”
Trey: “Stallone, huh? I’m more of a Van Damme man.”
Ryan: “What, are you kidding me? Seagal, man!”
Seth: “Yeah, a divided house cannot eat. Now we’ve all got to get together behind a single action hero.”
Sandy: “Steve McQueen.”
Team Sandy!
The cutest Marissa
She’s so sweet and wise and low-drama in these episodes. Why can’t it always be like this, Mariss? ALSO I LOVE YOUR PIGTAIL BRAIDS.
The muscliest Ryan
GOOD LORD. But cut your hair, you goober. You look like a chrysanthemum.
Most bromantic moment
Ryan suggests some video game playage between himself, Seth and Trey, and Seth adds, “Yeah, let’s make it a three-way!” before acknowledging that “that came out weird.” DON’T YOU DARE TEASE ME, SETH.
The best-ever Sandy
To eke out what small entertainment he can from this charity gig, Sandy becomes increasingly bossy and shames all of the Newspies for their design choices. “Joan, tell me you did not order those napkin rings. This is not a mob wedding.” Poor Joan is ABASHED.
Summer’s worst outfit
Why do you look like a pirate wench, Summer? Why.
Pippins McGee
This is the amazing nom de guerre Seth uses when he’s trying to scam the crystal egg back from the toughies that bought it off Trey. Pippins McGee is from the film preservation society, don’t you know?
Ugh, Carter is still happening
He’s still happening. Probably solely to impress Kirsten, he sets Seth and Zach up with a new contact at a comic book publishing house, and this all goes so poorly in the next ep and I BLAME CARTER.
2.19 “The Rager”
Ryan’s still peeved at Trey, and Marissa’s still trying to play brother matchmaker. It’s Trey’s 21st birthday, and so she sort of strong-arms Ryan into hosting a party for him with her at the Cooper-Nichol mansion. At first Ryan balks and he and Trey fight a little bit more before Ryan admits he’s been tough on Trey, and they hug it out cutely. The party immediately goes CRAZY out of control, and this dead-eyed blonde named Nikki hits on Trey and they do it in one of the mansion’s many boudoirs. Then Nikki turns up floating in the pool (she’s alive but unconscious), having overdosed on Ecstasy. The cops are about to arrest Marissa as the only mansion resident currently at home, when Trey speaks up and takes the blame for the drugs to keep Marissa out of trouble. Sandy follows to do his lawyerly stuff, and everyone else stands around looking concerned. Is Trey just being gentlemanly, or did he really provide the drugs? We’ll find out next week!
Also, moderately related: Ryan and Marissa almost-kiss several more times in this episode.
Ugh ugh UGH: so Summer gives her permission for Seth and Zach to pursue this comic book avenue as long as there’s no more melodrama or funny business. They pinkie swear and then immediately proceed to do everything wrong. Carter’s contact is named Reed, a person Seth and Zach assume is a man and then LOSE THEIR SHIT when they realize she’s instead an attractive woman. Like, they literally cannot even process the fact that a pretty lady likes comic books. Seth repeats this incredulously multiple times, as if Anna Stern never existed, and also as if it’s not incredibly sexist for him to be so bamboozled at the very IDEA of a woman who likes comic books. They get all weird and jealous and crazy over Reed, an adult woman in her 20s who is definitely NOT interested in hooking up with either of these idiots, and Seth never tells Summer that Reed is a woman and then it all blows up at the party and Summer yells at Seth while Zach looks on triumphantly and the whole thing is gross and I hate it.
I BLAME CARTER.
Oh yeah, Carter. He and Sandy are hitting it off, to Kirsten’s weird displeasure. They go surfing and Sandy tries to fix Carter up with a hot doctor who also surfs, to Kirsten’s even more severely weird displeasure, and then Carter weirdly APOLOGIZES to Kirsten like he’s betraying her by going on a date EVEN THOUGH SHE’S MARRIED. And THEN Kirsten warns the hot surfer doc that Carter isn’t over his ex-wife, just because she wants to keep him to herself. AWFUL AND WEIRD AND I HATE IT.
Julie’s returned from Europe without Caleb, who evidently has been treating her with disdain ever since the amnesia porn, and she’s worried he’s going to divorce her and leave her with nothing. She comes home to discover that advertisers threatened to pull out of Newport Living if Julie remained on the cover, and though she remains very cheerfully stoic through all of this (and she and Marissa are in a pretty good place right now), it’s clear that she’s panicking. She gets a gun and goes to Lance’s to say this awesome thing:
but he soon tells her the shady trick Caleb pulled, and before you know it they’re drunk and dancing together at a dive bar, reminiscing about the good old trashy times, and Lance is offering to kill Caleb for Julie. Julie seems…intrigued.
How many times did I have to drink?
18.
Best pop culture reference
Seth, about Trey’s need for a housewarming gift: “He doesn’t exactly seem overburdened with possessions, unless that bag of his is like Mary Poppins’…I wish I had never made that reference.”
Sexist dummies
Seth and Zach refer to Reed as a “really hot unicorn,” because it’s so INCREDIBLY rare that a beautiful woman has an opinion on Cyclops vs. Storm and Iron Man’s old armor vs. his new armor. THESE ARE COMPLETELY PEDESTRIAN REFERENCES, YOU DUMMIES.
Guess who?
Oh yeah, Reed is played by super totally awesome person Marguerite Moreau. I don’t care that she’s bow-legged, and I don’t care that she’s bilingual!
Worst Julie Cooper outfit
I dunno about this one, honey.
Best flashback
A member of the water polo team threatens Seth, and Trey steps in to defend his little honor. Seth himself comments on it: “It’s deja vu…O.C. party, attacked by water polo guy, saved by an Atwood, hello.”
Most recognizable song
Julie’s rocking out to “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and “Here I Go Again” with Lance, because he brings out her hair metal side.
Poison rocks
This is the face Julie Cooper makes when she’s saying the words “Poison rocks.” (The band. Though I bet Julie Cooper is also pretty into the deadly substance.)
Missed opportunity
Why oh why did Marissa not say here, “Sorry, I really should learn to knock…in case there was a threesome going on in my bedroom.” Like so and so.
Uh-oh
Marissa cutely brings over a lava lamp to break in Trey’s new apartment, and his looks toward her are starting to feel a little…ardent. Sigh.
That’s it for this week! Britt, I have a question for you. I love so much of Season Two, but so much of it drives me crazy, too. It feels like the most annoying plots are all played out twice this season: the comic book drama, first Rebecca and then Carter, etc. Why do you think the writers kept bringing back unpopular plots for a second go-round?
Meet Britt here next Wednesday morning as she covers “The O.C. Confidential” and “The Return of the Nana.”
