About:
The O.C. S2.E11 “The Second Chance”
Drinks Taken: 42
Welcome back to The O.C. Rewatch Project! Last week, Britt asked me how I feel about this new Alex and Marissa coupling, and I go into it further below, but suffice to say: I like it a lot. It’s sweet and cute and normal, and it makes Marissa a lot more interesting than usual. Of course (spoiler! But I mean, duh) it’ll end badly because everything does with Marissa, but it doesn’t end badly because it’s a same-sex relationship or anything – just because Marissa is incapable of maintaining a healthy relationship with anyone for long.
Let’s drink!
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
Someone says “Chino”
Anyone plays a video game
Summer says “ew”
Anyone eats a bagel
Summer calls Zach “Duckie”
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
On to the episodes!
2.10 “The Accomplice”
Seth is feeling lonely and fifth wheely because his relationship with Alex has devolved in the wake of the appearance of her ex, Jodie, and Lindsay/Ryan, Summer/Zach are in non-stop happy foursome mode all around him. A solicitous Zach sees Seth sadly doodling some pretty kickass art, and tells him he should start a comic book. They commence brainstorming a biographical comic book about a Jewish boy with a secret (Seth, superpowers) in a town full of secrets (Newport, the fact that everyone there has probably murdered someone at some point). Introducing Atomic County, and its characters!
The Ironist
Seth Cohen in Atomic County goes by the name of The Ironist due to his irony and his terrible jokes; Seth disarms his adversaries with his quick wit.
Powers:– Agility
– Attractive Male
– Gadgets
– Intellect
– Leadership
– Unarmed Combat
Kid Chino
Ryan is the bravest and most heroic of the team. He can transform his fists into an indestructible metal alloy.
Powers:– Attractive Male
– Invulnerability
– Super Strength
– Unarmed Combat
Little Miss Vixen
Summer Roberts is now Little Miss Vixen (later Lil’ Miss Vixen), a superhero that rides an invisible scooter and transports in her belt several razor-sharp credit cards to defeat her enemies.
Powers:– Agility
– Attractive Female
– Power Item
– Unarmed Combat
Cosmo Girl
Marissa in the Atomic County universe is CosmoLass (Cosmo Girl initially). She possesses a magic bottle (that gives her superpowers) and she has a car named Cosmobile.
Powers:– Agility
– Attractive Female
– Blast Power
– Power Item
– Unarmed Combat
I love that all of them have “attractive male/female” listed as one of their powers, because let’s be frank – it can’t hurt.
The O.C. writer John Stephens and comic book artist Eric Wight made a 3-minute ep, spin-off animated series of Atomic County that’s pretty fun. Our fave stars don’t supply the voices, but it’s still a cool supplement to The O.C. You can watch the pilot below.
As you can tell by the way-too-much information, I think Atomic County is seriously cool, a really clever way to expand The O.C. universe through Seth’s imagination and love of comics. Unfortunately, this seriously cool plot ends up leading to some seriously annoying and unnecessary drama, but we’ll get to that later.
Anyway! Zach and Seth are totally wrapped up in the development of Atomic County, and Summer’s starting to feel left out. Ryan is flipping through Seth’s sketch book when he sees a bevy – I mean, like a whole, big-ass bevy – of incredible drawings of Summer as Little Miss Vixen, and he tells Seth to hide these from Zach and Summer, because it’s obvious he’s obsessed with her. So Seth hides the sketch book under his bed and says he isn’t finished trying to secure Summer’s “attitude,” but she accidentally stumbles on the book and is clearly touched at the amazing skill, care and insight with which her ex-boyfriend has captured her likeness. She returns the sketch book and teases Seth about how big he drew her boobs (and then gesturing to her own, “But I mean, aren’t they?”), and then, when she can see how chagrined he is, tells him that she loves the drawings. He looks pleased, and they share a really lovely scene – before both agreeing that Seth should keep these drawings from Zach.
Meanwhile, Marissa’s been spending a TON of time with Alex, and they’re getting really close. Flirty close, if you know what I mean.
Alex finally gets rid of Jodie only to discover that she stole Alex’s heart necklace – the one she got to match Jodie’s – and Marissa, who literally never goes to school any more, suggests they take a road trip to get it back. A very charming, sunny, flirty road trip. Jodie maintains she doesn’t have the necklace, but Marissa pretends to use the bathroom and then steals both Alex’s necklace and Jodie’s, because Marissa has gotten better at stealing shit. Alex is blown away by Marissa’s chutzpah, and gives her Jodie’s necklace so now they have matching hearts, and then Marissa gets a tramp stamp with Alex’s approval. The whole thing is honestly so sweet and lovely, and Marissa needs to go to school but these girls are so cute together and have so much warm, wonderful, sexy charisma, and I totally approve.
Julie’s been in Europe doing research for Newport Living (as Marissa drily points out, “She’s in Europe doing research for a magazine about Orange County?”), and Caleb is realizing what a handful Marissa really is. That girl runs RINGS around him, and Kirsten is stil barely speaking to him. So when Ryan, acting on behalf of Caleb’s other daughter Lindsay – who mentions sadly that Caleb still hasn’t called her since she discovered he’s her father – drops by Caleb’s office unannounced to strong-arm him into calling Lindsay, Caleb is more susceptible than he normally would be. He calls Lindsay and invites her to dinner, and she begs Ryan to go with her, even though Ryan wisely advises her, multiple times, that that’s a bad idea. She does a little strong-arming herself, however, so when she and Caleb first sit down to dinner, it seems like it’s going well – until Ryan shows up, and Caleb assumes they’re working together to con him out of money, because Caleb is CRAZY. He insults them both, badly, and Lindsay is devastated. Gah, Caleb. You are truly the worst.
And finally – UGH. I hate this. I hate it so much. Sandy’s moved into his cool new beach shack law office, excited to start working again as a public interest attorney, when his old law professor calls him. He’s looking for his long-lost daughter, Rebecca. So here’s how Kirsten describes Rebecca Bloom: “Love of your life? You were engaged to be married until she burned down a nuclear lab site [and] fled the country…The smart, political, Jewish woman that you were supposed to marry until you ended up with me. You’re still in love with her.” Like, whoa, right? Where did this come from? Professor Bloom is dying and wants to see his daughter one last time, so Sandy spends the episode searching for her, to Kirsten’s dismay. Until Sandy hears she’s dead, and Kirsten is so sorry and loving and supportive. But at the end of the episode, Professor Bloom shows up at Sandy’s office – with Rebecca in tow. And of course she’s gorgeous because she’s Kim Delaney and she and Sandy have instant sparks and UGH I HATE THIS.
How many times did I have to drink?
24
Guess who?
As previously mentioned, Rebecca is played by Lifetime Movie Network’s Kim Delaney. And Rebecca’s lab-exploding partner in crime, whom Sandy tracks down in prison to ask after Rebecca, is played by Supernatural/Grey’s Anatomy‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan!
The most badass Ryan
God, I love how he just marches into Caleb’s office, so tough and fearless and cucumber-cool. Caleb says if he wanted a relationship with Lindsay, he’d have one, and Ryan says, “That’s what Lindsay said.” Caleb replies, “Smart girl,” and Ryan comes back so quick and seething, “You have no idea. You should, though.” And then when Caleb makes a dick remark about Ryan’s dad being in jail, Ryan replies over his shoulder as he’s walking out the door, smooth as can be, “And you would be, too, if it weren’t for Sandy, so I guess Lindsay and I are both better off. Thank you for your time.” WHAT. A. BADASS. DREAMBOAT.
Most bromantic moment
I love Seth’s description of “Brian Gatwood, aka Kid Chino,” the character he’s created after his best friend and brother: “A strong but silent youth from the wrong side of the tracks who, when provoked, unleashes his fists of fury.” <3
Best Summer burn
She calls Seth and Zach “Kavalier and Gay,” and Seth laughs, surprised, “That’s funny.” Summer stares him down: “I know.”
2.11 “The Second Chance”
After their romantic tension-fraught scene of the last episode, Seth is wigging out – with reason, for once – about working on Atomic County with Summer in close quarters. He tells Ryan he thinks he and Summer need some space – and then Zach tells him that he’s got a meeting with an important exec at Firestorm Comics, and the company loves Little Miss Vixen (don’t we all), so it’s VERY important: Seth must “nail Summer.” Summer and Seth are all WHAAA, but of course Zach means that Seth has to get her likeness down pat, and demands that his gorgeous, amazing girlfriend spend lots of time alone with her adorable, talented ex-boyfriend for whom she clearly still has feelings, because sweet Zach is just super-duper naive. So Seth arrives at Summer’s house for a drawing sesh, and she’s wearing the hottest business ever because she wants costume approval for her character, and poor Seth’s jaw nearly drops out of his head.
Incredibly, Summer is nearly as lusty over Seth’s talent as Seth is over her, you know, brutally undeniable sexiness, and they come very, very, VERY close to kissing. It is hot and awesome and I could watch it a million times.
But at the last minute, a noble Seth pulls away, and they both nervously agree to stop spending time together IMMEDIATELY. He runs out, telling her he’ll come back to draw Princess Sparkle later, which makes me squee. Of course, right after Seth and Summer make the decision to give each other some distance, Zach tells them that they’re all going to road trip together to the Firestorm meeting, and Summer and Seth’s faces both fall.
Meanwhile, Marissa’s dealing with some very confusing chemistry of her own, and this is as good a time as any for me to reiterate that I really love the way The O.C. portrays her relationship with Alex. Sure, it’s hot, because Mischa Barton and Olivia Wilde are very hot people, but more importantly, it’s sweet and real. She and Alex have been spending even more time together than usual, with Marissa showering at Alex’s place, taking her shirt off in front of her like it’s no big deal and borrowing Alex’s CBGB tee. Alex finally gets up the nerve to ask what we can tell she’s been wanting to ask for ages, “What are you doing with me?” She points out that she and Marissa are more intimate than Alex ever was with Seth, and Seth was supposedly Alex’s boyfriend. (I mean, boyfriend? Really? I don’t remember that.) Marissa gets scared and bolts, telling Alex she’s right, and they shouldn’t spend so much time together, which obviously isn’t what Alex meant. Alex looks after her, dismayed.
Then, as Summer’s confiding in Marissa about her near-kiss with Cohen, Marissa seems to relate a little too easily, and Summer wonders, suspicious, whom Marissa’s been almost-kissing. Marissa doesn’t say anything about Alex, but Summer advises her cutely, “If it’s [not] Cohen…if it’s a normal person, you go for it.” I love these bestie talks between Cooper and Sum. And Princess Sparkle.
So Marissa heads back to the Bait Shop where Alex is watching Rachael Yamagata sing, and Marissa slides in next to her and takes her hand. Alex looks at her, surprised and happy and shy, and it’s just really, really nice.
Ryan tells Kirsten about Caleb’s appalling behavior of the last ep, and that powerhouse woman gives her father what’s for and then some. She storms into his office and tells him he WILL make the effort to have a relationship with his daughter, and he WILL come to dinner at her house with Lindsay and Ryan both there, so help her god. A terrified Caleb agrees. So then it’s up to Ryan to convince Lindsay to come to dinner, as well, at which he fails spectacularly, so it’s up to Kirsten to do that, too. But she manages it, and dinner is going fairly well until Caleb says some shitty, classist stuff about Ryan. Kirsten and Lindsay start to defend him, but Kid Chino brands his steely fists of fury and gets right up in Caleb’s face, and then Caleb has a heart attack because sometimes we forget he’s an old grandpa with high blood pressure, even though he seems pretty scary sometimes. Kirsten, Lindsay and Ryan spend the entire night at the hospital – and poor Ryan feels terrible and completely blames himself, though of course Lindsay and Kirsten let him off the hook – and after Caleb recovers and wakes up, he tells his two daughters that he’s turning over a new leaf, and he wants to have a close, positive relationship with both of them. It’s a lovely scene, and great for everyone – until Lindsay tells Ryan that in order to have a relationship with her father, she needs some space from Ryan. Again. Some more. Ryan understands, but they’re both really sad.
And finally – UGH. AGAIN WITH THIS SHIT. I really hate the S2 subplots that have Sandy and Kirsten being anything but the best married couple ever. So Sandy’s keeping Rebecca’s aliveliness from Kirsten, supposedly to protect her from harboring a fugitive like he is totally doing, but also because he knows Kirsten is threatened by his feelings for Rebecca as she so obviously should be. He agrees to take Rebecca’s case and try to clear her name (she maintains she didn’t actually blow up the lab, that it was all Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and all the while Kirsten is being so sweet and supportive, thinking Sandy’s dealing with the trauma of discovering that his former fiancée is dead. Sandy moves Rebecca into a little sleeper cot in his office, and they drink Patron and eat Mexican food and get super flirty, and all the while he’s missing calls from Kirsten telling him THAT HER FATHER JUST HAD A HEART ATTACK. Dammit, Sandy, don’t make me hate you right after I learn you can sing. When he finally gets her messages, he feels awful, and he flees to the hospital and comforts her and then cooks her a fancy meal at home, all out of guilt, but he still doesn’t tell her the truth about Rebecca. And then Kirsten, so touched by Sandy’s dinner, decides to surprise him by sprucing up his office – and who does she discover but Rebecca Bloom, alive and living in her husband’s beach shack of a law office. Kirsten just says, “Rebecca,” and looks completely gutted, and the credits roll. UGHHHHHH.
How many times did I have to drink?
18
Best Ryan line
As Seth frets that spending time on Atomic County with Summer will be too sexy, Ryan deadpans, “You’re writing a comic book. Not sexy.”
The truest thing anybody said this week
Seth, trying to escape from Summer’s sexy lair unscathed, tells her he can draw the rest of her form from memory. I bet you can.
The least true thing anybody said this week
Summer, scoffing that she and Seth are sharing a dangerous chemistry, “Aren’t you forgetting our third partner, Zach? Superhero nickname The Boyfriend, has the power to make me forget you?” Good burn, Summer, but also manifestly untrue.
Sandy Cohen’s superpower
Turns out, to nobody’s surprise, that our bleeding heart liberal surfer boy used to be quite the pothead. Rebecca says he could once turn anything into a pipe, including a soda can and an apple. This does not shock me. Also not shocking: the fact that Rebecca keeps trying to seduce Sandy with weed. Back, you evil temptress, back!
Best Kirsten burn
When Ryan says that Caleb accused Lindsay of wanting money, Kirsten says, “He must’ve gotten her confused with my other sister. Or his wife.”
Best Alex burn
Alex to Marissa, “Say hi to Seth for me. I kinda miss his little chicken arms.” Aww! Oh, I almost forgot to mention – Alex drops by Seth’s house for a bit of closure, and they share a really nice scene where it’s obvious there are no hurt feelings between them. Alex says, as she’s flipping through Seth’s sketch book, “We were each other’s in between people. You helped me get over Jodie, and I helped you get over…” here, she finds the trove of Summer drawings, and smiles, “…Summer.”
Best shout-out
Sandy says, “I can see how that might salt your game” to Rebecca, and she repeats, “Salt my game? Is that how they talk in Orange County?” Evidently.
That’s it for this week! Britt, I have a question for you as we get even more into this: whyyyyyy did The O.C. writers have to introduce strife into the perfect union that is Sandy and Kirsten Cohen? Why why WHY?
Meet Britt back here next Wednesday morning as she covers “The Lonely Hearts Club” and “The Father Knows Best.”
