Where have I disappeared to, you ask?
Well, without revealing too much, there might just be a new love interest keeping me busy. It's all very new and still very early days, but I think it's going really well so far. He is lovely.
But this post isn't about him. This post is about a different relationship altogether...
Dear O.C.,
I remember when we first met. You were on Channel Nine then, buried away in the summer season. You struggled to find an audience back then. But then moved to your spiritual home, Channel Ten, and became a cultural phenomenon. They gave you a good timeslot. Supre started selling "I Love Seth" t-shirts.
Since then, we've had our ups and downs. I'd almost given up on you, you know. I thought you might have jumped the shark when Mischa Barton jumped ship. Could you survive the loss of Marissa? Could you survive the greatest challenge any teen show faces- what to do when the main characters graduate high school? Even Rachel Bilson didn't think so:
I just feel like the show is over. I'm so happy for everything it brought me, and it's been such a great experience, but I think we're all ready to move on.
Your first three episodes this season were terrible. You've always been melodramatic, but ironically melodramatic. Where was the wit? Where was the intertextuality? Why was Summer's character completely different to the first three seasons? Would all the Cohens really follow Volchek all the way to Mexico? Could Taylor really work as a lead character?
The only saving grace in these episodes was when a homeless guy called Sandy "crazy eyebrow man".
I really thought it was over for you and I, O.C.
But this week, you won me back.
I'm yours again.
This episode had everything.
There was an explanation for Summer's complete change of personality. (She was, like, so upset about the death of Marissa she decided to become a hippy!)
There were good lines:
Julie Cooper: "Two women spending Saturday night at home together, I love it. How very Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
There was the so-wrong-it's-right Taylor-Ryan match, complete with hot kiss and innuendo about peaches.* Somehow the seemingly lame French husband storyline managed to work. The Seth-Summer kiss at the airport was great too.
It played up the ridiculously-young-looking-mum angle by having Julie and daughter Kaitlin cross paths at the same nightclub. I'm warming to mini-Marissa now.
Welcome home, O.C. Just keep on doing what you do best- teen melodrama with more than a hint of irony and winks to the viewers- and we'll be just fine.
Love,
Susanne
*I always considered myself to be a Seth girl, but lately that's changed. Seth is so whiny and boyish. Ryan is a man. Team Ryan!
*Update*
Pink is the New Blog is reporting that Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson have called it quits. This makes me a bit sad. They are so cute together!
As for last night's O.C., I'm definitely warming to Kaitlin's character, and I think Autumn Reeser is doing a great job with Taylor. Keep up the good work, Schwartz.
