“Welcome to The OC, bitch.”
“The OC”, one of the most famous and glitzy teen drama shows of all time, and the inspiration for arguably the most influential and genre defining reality show franchises: “Laguna Beach”/”The Hills”/”The City”.
The spring of 2003 saw the series finale of “Dawson’s Creek”, which is itself arguably one of the most defining TV shows of the late ’90’s, and of all time in its genre. The crown of The WB. As the sun set on Capeside and my generation’s favorite love triangle, Dawson, Pacey, and Joey (big Pacey fan here), the final episode ended much as the show started. Heartfelt, a little cheesy, and relatable in some way to the average young person. They could all be your friends, classmates, a neighbor.
Two and a half months later, “The OC” came roaring on to Fox, and changed the teen drama genre forever. It was shiny, rich, fashion forward, all California sun and California references. The irony in the first season, which only came to light recently, is that a lot of the high end fashion pieces were really, really good knockoffs, due to the budget. That would change significantly by season 2, in large part due to Mischa Barton, the face that launched a thousand dramas as Marissa Cooper, becoming a fashion house darling.
It’s a classic story in many ways of the new guy in town, from the wrong side of the tracks, the beautiful, rich girl, the dorky neighbor. Much like many ’90’s shows had done, the main cast includes their parents, building out the family dynamics, but also another level of structure within the show, filling out the world of Newport Beach.
I watched the four seasons in real time, from the original series premiere to the series finale. It aired over my four years of college, but let’s be real, these kids weren’t normal high schoolers (and Season 4 covered post high school). The amount of influence that show had on mid 2000’s fashion and music is mind boggling. It was on its own level the first couple of seasons. Not to mention the the paparazzi attention focused on poor Mischa Barton, who was one of the earliest and most well known victims of blogger and celeb gossip monger, Perez Hilton.
I’ve watched the show in its entirety probably 5-6 times in the years since the series finale in 2007, though not in the past 3 years or so. Enter COVID, and HBO Max launching (I do own the DVD sets), and I was transported back to a different time. Perhaps a better time, in some ways. The nostalgia of the ’90’s mixed in with the shiny first decade of the 21st century.
The show came in at the beginning of the epically long seasons era, with Season 1 having an unheard of 27 episodes, Season 2 and 3 at the more average 24 and 25 episodes, respectively, and Season 4 a “short” season of 16. In 4 years, the show put out 92 episodes, each approximately 40 minutes.
Season 1-3 were an epic tragedy between Chino transplant Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) and Barton’s Marissa Cooper, balanced by the humor of the legendary Seth Cooper (Adam Brody) and Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson). Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) brought a lot of heart to the show, along with Kirsten Cohen (Kelly Rowan), Newport’s queen of real estate and daughter of Caleb Nichol (Alan Dale). Melinda Clarke plays Julie Cooper, who starts off the drama early along with her husband, Jimmy Cooper (Tate Donovan).
Add in the usual cast of characters from the rich beach town set, water polo players, a few stalkers, fires, overdoses, and we have a ton of drama set against a beautiful backdrop. Not all of it was great, there were some off plot lines like Theresa getting pregnant at the end of season 1 and Ryan going with her, though it was incredibly hazy as to who the father was. Dean Hess in Season 3, the disconnected Season 4 with a young Chris Pratt as Che.
Late summer, around the time the show aired for the very first time, I decided to start rewatching from the pilot. The first episode is beautifully done, the plot hooking you from the very beginning. The sun flare behind Marissa as she stands in her driveway, Ryan and Sandy driving by became an iconic image from the show, both in pop culture and in the show itself. It appears in the opening credits, and there are multiple callbacks throughout the seasons.
Season 1 still remains my favorite, with Season 2 close behind. Surprisingly, Season 4 was a lot better than I remember it being, maybe watching it so many years later gives me a better perspective now on the events of Season 3 and how it set up Season 4, which does take a darker and odder turn than the first three. I like how angry and broken Ryan is in the beginning of Season 4, it’s a real reaction that happens in real life, and I appreciate that the show didn’t skip a ton of time and just gloss over how everyone is grieving for Marissa; from Ryan, Julie, and Caitlin, to Seth and Summer, and Sandy and Kirsten.
The humor still holds up, Seth Cohen is hilarious as ever, Ryan is brilliant, Marissa still beautiful, Summer somehow even more funny? Ryan and Marissa’s relationship is still as dramatic as ever, in that “high school will never end and right now is all there is” way. But I think its also a really well done example of how you can have an instant connection with a person, something that always brings you back to each other, though it doesn’t necessarily make for a great romantic relationship in that time and place. Perhaps in the future, Marissa and Ryan could’ve been, had she lived.
What stands out to me the most, from when the show originally aired and in the years since that I’ve re-watched both specific episodes and the show in full, are the visual callbacks with Ryan and Marissa. Starting with that first sun flare of Marissa standing in her driveway, which is truly a beautiful shot, and referred to multiple times throughout the show. To the Tijuana scenes of Marissa overdosing and Ryan picking her up, which is reflected back in the car accident scene in the Season 3 finale, and also includes a callback to that Episode 1 scene of Marissa. Again in the Season 4 finale, as Ryan walks through the Cohen’s Newport house, the flashbacks he has of earlier times, and then one final time to Marissa in her driveway, as he drives away for the last time.
And finally, my favorite episode overall still stands – the season 2 finale. No words, just watch and see what I mean.
So is “The OC” worthy of a re-watch, pandemic or not? Absolutely. It still holds up well, 17 years after the series premiere and 13 years after the series finale. Think of it as a time capsule of the early to mid 2000’s, the music and the fashion, with great humor, great characters, and a tragic love story. It’s worth it.
headphones are on 
[…] While Joey and Pacey’s romantic relationship ends in Season 4, the characters are drawn together over the next two seasons. Pacey never lets go of his love for Joey, and in a more subtle way, she never lets go of him. Even as they both explore other relationships, and the continual question of “will Dawson and Joey ever get together”, there are breadcrumbs. And they all lead to the second episode of the series finale in which they finally get back together. A bold, bold choice and one that made my “Dawson’s Creek” love complete, ending how it should, with Pacey and Joey finally together for good. Over the years, as I’ve had my own life experiences, I’ve come to understand Dawson a little more. In my most recent re-watch, it really drove home how lucky Dawson is to write and rewrite his and Joey’s relationship throughout the various iterations of “The Creek”, first as a movie and then as a TV show. Wouldn’t we all want that chance? “Felicity” 8th grade had just begun when “Felicity” aired. In my memory, it was the more edgy WB show, going a little darker and a little more adult than “Dawson’s Creek”. It made sense, with the characters beginning college in the first season, and the four seasons covering the four years in which so many people’s lives change. Attending college or not, your late teens into your early 20’s can be monumentally pivotal in self discovery and exploring new worlds. “Felicity” was a show that I never watched regularly, but followed much like other popular shows of the time. Discussions with friends and classmates, entertainment news stories, previews for episodes. That’s another thing kids are missing today from shows that drop a season at a time – you LIVED for the previews of the next episode, especially if the show was going on a hiatus during an active season. Over the years in the 2000’s, I saw every “Felicity” episode, often through repeats. For the first time this year, I watched it in full, in order, start to finish, and really loved it. I think I have much more appreciation for it as an adult, partially because the time period of the show is one I’d give anything to go back to, but also because the show does have really adult topics. At 4 seasons and 84 episodes, it makes for a really good 2020’s binge if you’re looking for great characters mixed in with humor and emotional turmoil. Personally, I love that it contains great footage of NYC from 1998-2002. In a city that always changes, it brings me back to a time of the city that I love dearly. And, in case you’re wondering, I’m team Ben and Felicity. But I do love Noel. Pandemic Rewind: “The OC” (2003-2007) […]