So there are just two things you need to know about this episode before the episode. That is the fact that everyone is going to their respective colleges for orientation. And some old “flames” return to heat things up. Enough said really. This shall be AWESOME! On with the show!
The O.C. – Season Three (Episode 22) – “The College Try”
We open up with Ryan and Seth in the Cohen kitchen. Seth jokes with Ryan about packing a lot of things to go to Berkeley. He only owns two wifebeaters and some hoodies anyways. HA! Seth is packing light for Brown. Seth says that Ryan was into the plan not too long ago. Ryan said that just had the beginning of the plan. Now the plan is revealed and it doesn’t look so good to Ryan. Seth is going to fly to Brown and hope they admit him. Hmm.. Ryan says that Summer will be there as well. Seth doesn’t think so. But Ryan says everybody from Harbor is going to their colleges this weekend. Seth plans to avoid Summer at all costs then. Here comes Kirsten to drive them to the airport. Kirsten lays the guilt to Seth about being proud of her “college boy”. He quickly says it’s time to go. Seth wonders where Sandy is. Kirsten says he must have had another “important” business meeting.
Now we are at the airport. Seth says bye quickly to Kirsten and Ryan. Kirsten then asks Ryan how he is? Ryan is a little nervous. Kirsten says he conquered Newport and will do the same with Berkeley. He earned this. Kirsten says bye to Ryan now.
Kirsten is about to leave, but she sees someone we know. It’s Theresa! She walks down and greets her mom and a baby?! Kirsten sees this and you can see the wheels turning in her head. That’s good enough for us to take off!
“California…here we come…right back where we started from…California…here we come! Oh!!”
We are back and we are with Marissa and Summer. They are getting ready to leave for their colleges. Summer thinks this is all wrong. She is going to college without Seth and Marissa is doing the same with Ryan. Marissa IS going to the same college as Ryan..just not with him. Marissa thinks it’s a blessing that her and Ryan are not going to college as boyfriend and girlfriend. Now they are both forced to look to the future. Marissa tells Summer that she and Volchok are over with. She just has to go get some stuff from his place. Summer says no to that!
Summer: “Saying your goodbye with his dirty mattress in plain sight? That is breakup sex waiting to happen!”
Marissa: “Have you no faith in me at all?”
Summer: “48 hours ago..you were Newport’s Courtney Love..baby steps!”
Marissa says fine and tells Summer to just be herself at Brown.
Dr. Roberts and Julie are about to eat. The girls come down and want them to help them pack the car. Summer and Neil go do that. Julie wants to go with Marissa, though.
Julie: “Marissa, honey, you know it’s not too late for me to go with you. I promise I won’t embarrass you. I could pretend to be part of your entourage or your Scientology guide!”
Marissa doesn’t think so. She tells Julie that she doesn’t have to worry about her anymore. She has gotten all the “partying” out of her system. She wants something better for herself now. Julie has faith in her. Neil comes back and everyone says their goodbyes. Neil and Julie are shocked that Marissa actually hugged Neil and is happy. After she leaves, Neil reminds Julie that he has to go to a party for the head of surgery of the hospital tomorrow night. Neil wants Julie to come, but Julie is no good without Kirsten with her. She is Julie’s “wingwoman”. Neil says that she can invite her and Sandy. Sandy can talk to the doctors at the party about his project and Kirsten can do whatever it is that she does. Neil says it will mean a lot to him if she comes. Julie says yes.
Ryan is at Berkeley and it’s raining. He is greeted by Wes, his “orientation buddy”! Ryan explains to him where is from and all of that. Wes doesn’t care that Ryan is from Chino originally. He says there is no mold at Berkeley. It’s easy to fit in here. Ryan says he is not used to that at all.
Marissa meets Volchok at the diner. Volchok didn’t bring her stuff, though. Marissa wants to know why he didn’t bring it? Volchok just wants to know what happened between them. Marissa said they had nothing in common. Volchok thinks it’s the difference in money. Marissa tells the truth. It involves watching the “Sound of Music” as a kid. There is a girl in it that Marissa thought she would grow up to be. She would have this great life. But then she grew up and did drugs and slept with a guy that she never had one real conversation with. She is just not ready to give up the “Sound of Music thing”. She knows it sounds cheesy. Volchok tells her good luck with that.
Sandy is at the office and Kirsten stops by. He apologizes about the airport. But Kirsten just wants to talk about Theresa and her baby. She said he looked about two. Kirsten thinks it might be Ryan’s. Sandy asks if she has talked to Ryan. She says no, and Sandy says good. He wants to keep it that way. No need to panic Ryan over nothing. Sandy says wait until Ryan gets back to tell him the “news”.
Seth is at Brown now. He calls Ryan. Seth asks how Berkeley is and Ryan says that it’s cool. Meanwhile, Seth is touching real ivy on a building. It wasn’t a lie! HA! Seth is in the middle of the quad. Ryan thinks that is not very “stealth” of him. Seth knows, but he had to get a feel of the campus. It’s perfect. Seth takes a seat and we hear someone call his name. Ryan asks who it is and it’s Anna! Yay! Seth is stunned. And we go to a break!
We come back and Anna and Seth are catching up. Seth always loved mocking Newport with Anna. Anna is proud of Seth for his comic book, “Atomic County”. Except that is not his comic anymore. He traded it to Zach for Summer. Anna asks how they are? And Seth says..great..yeah..great. Anna thinks that is great. Anna thinks it’s fate that they ran into each other here at Brown. Seth tells her the truth about him not getting into Brown. That shocks Anna. He then tells her the plan about him getting into Brown. He doesn’t know how, which is where Anna comes in. Seth says it’s fate as she said. She’s got to help him. So Anna tells him about the admissions guy and where he will be. It’s up to Seth to figure out what to say to him to get in, though.
Julie comes to Kirsten and tells her about the party. Sandy and Kirsten are coming. Kirsten says she is busy, though. Julie knows something is wrong. Kirsten tells Julie that she and Sandy are having some rough spots. Kirsten is not a huge fan of the hospital project. Julie says do it for her then. Kirsten says that Julie doesn’t need her. Julie says Kirsten has been her “rock” since Caleb died. She needs Kirsten there. Kirsten finally agrees.
Julie: “Thank you! I owe you one. Or..you know..maybe it’s more than one. But who’s counting?!”
Back to Berkeley and Wes, Ryan, and another boy are talking and sitting. That boy is the first to go to college in his family as well. Which brings Ryan to ask if he ever feels out of place here? The boy says “all the time”, but as long as he keeps his grades up..everything will be good. Here comes Marissa and Wes calls her “amazing”. Marissa walks over to them and Ryan says hi. Wes wonders if they know each other. They say they went to the same high school and that’s all. Ryan introduces Marissa to Wes and the others. Marissa doesn’t want to intrude on them. She leaves. Once she is gone, Wes and the other guy know something else is up between Ryan and Marissa. Ryan tells them the truth about them dating for two years. Wes thinks she is nice and a little lonely by the looks of it. Ryan says that Wes should go talk to her.
Wes: “She’s your ex and I’m your buddy. Not a good mix!”
Ryan says he is cool with it. He has to get used to it sometime. They do both go to the same college now. Wes says okay and goes to talk to Marissa.
Anna brings Seth to meet the admissions guy. Seth is looking around for Summer, which Anna picks up on. She asks what he is looking at? Seth says nothing. Anna tells him to focus on the admissions guy. Seth still doesn’t know what he is going to say, though. Time for Seth to move in now!
Meanwhile, Summer is at Brown as well. She is walking with two other students and they are talking about something she doesn’t understand..war. She asks them a question, but instead of calling her stupid..they actually think that she is being super-smart by rephrasing the statement into a question. Genius! Oh..look..Summer looks over and sees Seth talking to the admissions guy.
Seth tells the admissions guy about his “Superman” essay. The guy thinks that Seth is a student here. Seth really needs to talk to him, though. The guy has no time right now. He tells him to meet him tomorrow and they can talk. Now Summer comes into the picture.
Summer: “What the hell are you doing here?”
Seth: “Ah..Providence in Spring. Can’t beat it!”
Summer thinks Seth is really going to Brown and that he just didn’t want to come with Summer. Seth is about to explain, but here comes Anna. That shocks Summer. And it all makes sense to her now. Everything that Seth has done up to this point. She doesn’t give Seth time to explain and leaves.
Back to Berkeley and Wes and Marissa continue to talk. Ryan is off to tour the architecture building. Wes is a political science major. He wants to be a lawyer. Marissa says that Wes reminds her of her father, Jimmy Cooper. Hmm.. Ryan walks in and is surprised to see Marissa here. Marissa goes to talk to Ryan. She doesn’t know the rules between them now. They seem to be willing to try to be friends again in this new place. Everything seems good for them now. Just friends. Riiight!
Back to Brown and Seth is depressed. Anna tries to cheer him up. Seth said he should have told Anna that he was on a “Summer mission”. Anna can’t be mad at him when he is this depressed, though. Anna now wants to help Seth get Summer back and get into Brown. Seth sees that Anna is being extremely helpful. And wonders what he has done the last two years without her? She doesn’t know.
Sandy comes home and tells Kirsten that will go to the party with her. He can use it as a way to get the doctors excited about the hospital project. Ryan calls them now. Sandy can’t talk long, though. He has a call on his cell phone. It’s business and he MUST take it. He hands the phone to Kirsten. Ryan can tell that Kirsten is not fine, eventhough she says she is. Kirsten wants to know more about college, but Ryan drags the truth out of her. Kirsten tells him about seeing Theresa and her baby. He is stunned. He doesn’t know what to think either. Time for another break!
We come back and we are at Brown. Anna and Seth find Summer and Anna tells him to just tell Summer the truth. He says okay. Seth walks up to Summer now. He wants to talk to her, but Summer doesn’t think so. Summer is about to take a walking tour of the school. Everyone has to have a nametag, though. Seth is going to join Summer on the tour, but he has no nametag. Seth picks up one that says “Kumar”. The guide wonders if that is really Seth’s name?
Seth: “Yes..Kumar Zimmerman. I’m half Indian..I’m half Jewish..I am a Hinjew!”
The tour begins and Seth tries to talk to Summer. He tries to tell her the truth, but Summer ignores him. She did it before back in middle school and is getting good at it again. Summer still won’t listen. Summer thinks that Seth broke up with her so that he could date smart women in college..like Anna. Seth says that is no true at all. Summer still is not listening. She just wants Seth to leave her alone. He already ruined her senior year of high school and doesn’t want him to ruin college for her as well!
Ryan is back home. Kirsten says she shouldn’t have told him. Ryan says that he is glad she did. Ryan said he kinda expected this. Things were going too good recently. Kirsten says that she found out where Theresa lives now and Ryan says he is going to find out the truth. Kirsten says that she and Sandy are behind Ryan no matter what.
Seth meets with the admissions guy at Brown. He gets five minutes to talk to him. Seth is about to present to him a list of reasons why he should have gotten into Brown. That confuses the admissions guy. He thought Seth was a student here. That’s why he agreed to meet Seth in the first place. That is what Seth needed to talk to him about, though. Now he has one minute to make his case.
Seth: “Then, I’m going to have to sorta condense this maybe..and make it more of a bullet-point thing. Um..grades..3.8..uh..SAT’s..2250..that’s not perfect, but I would say that’s respectable..I was president of the comic book club. I was also a member of the chess team..I was extremely low-profile. And here’s a part about how I belong on the east coast. And..here’s a little joke about the weather..to keep it light..it’s pretty funny. And uh..I guess that’s about it!”
The guy said that was a total waste of time. Seth mislead him. The guy is about to leave, but Seth tells him the truth. It’s about Summer..THE girl. He has to be here for her. The guy understands, but he can’t help Seth here. Seth has to do it on his own. He wishes him good luck and leaves.
Sandy bumps into Ryan at home and is surprised to see him back so soon. Kirsten didn’t tell him. Ryan said he needed to come back to find out the truth. Sandy says that they support Ryan no matter what. Ryan is off to talk to Theresa.
Sandy goes upstairs to talk to Kirsten. Kirsten thought that Ryan wouldn’t come home unless she told him. Sandy says that she should know Ryan better than that. She says she had to make a decision and Sandy was too busy with work! Kirsten says she told Ryan because he asked..he has a right to know. Sandy says that Theresa has not asked Ryan for nothing, so why should they force Ryan into this.
Kirsten: “Being a father is important..being a family is important..there was a time when you would be making this argument!”
Sandy: “What is that supposed to mean?!”
Kirsten: “You know what I’m talking about!”
Sandy: “I know that we have to talk about this some more, and I can’t right now! I have to go back to the office before dinner.”
Kirsten: “It will have to wait..FINE!”
A long staredown between them happens and Sandy quietly walks out.
Back to Berkeley where Marissa and Wes continue to hang out. Wes invites Marissa to a party. Marissa wonders where Ryan is. Wes tells her that he left for a family emergency. Marissa wonders if she should call Ryan or not? It’s not easy being friends with your ex. Wes thinks that if Ryan wants to tell Marissa, then he will. Marissa says okay.
Ryan goes to Theresa’s house. But she is not home. A babysitter and her little boy named Daniel are there, though. Ryan sees him and looks at him hard. Yeah..it looks a little like Ryan. The babysitter says she will tell Theresa that Ryan stopped by. We go to break with Ryan looking at Daniel some more!
We are back and we are at Berkeley. Marissa and Wes are at the party. Marissa learns that Wes is no the “model” student like she thought. This is second time at being a freshman. He couldn’t keep his grades up and he went to way too many parties. That leads Marissa to tell the truth about her. She used to be the “model” student in high school and did everything right like a “good girl”. That was two years ago, though.
Wes: “And then..what happened?”
Marissa: “Well..my dad lost all of his money, the pony lost all its hair, and my mom kind of lost her mind. Also, I got kicked out of school, and my friend died. I guess everything happened! And then at some point..I stopped being the girl that belonged college or anywhere for that matter.”
Wes: “Everyone belongs somewhere.”
Marissa: “Maybe not everyone..maybe some people just get lost.”
Back at Brown Seth calls Ryan and tells him he is coming up. Ryan says he doesn’t have to for him. Seth says he is done here. Seth’s cab pulls up and it has Anna inside. Anna says they have to make a quick stop before he leaves town, though. They are going to the Rhode Island School of Design. Seth is going to apply there with his “Atomic County” comic book. Anna had her mom ship her copy over. The school is one of the best art schools in the country. Seth doesn’t think he can get in. Anna has a cousin that goes there, though. And if Seth gets in then he can be in the same state as Summer. It’s a very small state too. Seth thinks he should just cut his losses now, though.
Anna: “Cohen!”
Seth: “Yeah?”
Anna: “Confidence..remember?”
Back to Newport now and Sandy and Kirsten arrive for the party. Julie and Neil greet them. Neil drags Sandy away to talk to some doctors. Julie knows something is wrong with Kirsten. She says it’s a long story. They go off to talk.
Meanwhile, Marissa comes to check on Ryan to see if he is okay. She bailed out early too. Ryan thinks that Berkeley didn’t live up to the hype. Marissa says that she was just making too much of it. Berkeley can’t take her away from every problem she has ever had. Marissa says that Ryan doesn’t have to tell her what is going on, but would like to know. Ryan tells her that it’s Theresa and the baby. He hasn’t talk to Theresa yet. Marissa asks why Ryan thinks that baby is his and not Eddie’s. Ryan says that when he was at Berkeley..it felt like he was living someone else’s life. And when he heard that news..it was like he was back to being Ryan. Marissa says that she saw that Berkeley looked right for Ryan. She saw it on his face. Ryan agrees..it did feel right to him. Marissa says that he will get back there someday then.
Now back to the party. Sandy is about to make a toast. He calls her the “brains” behind the Newport Group. Neil asks Kirsten how she feels about Sandy running the Newport Group. She doesn’t say anything. Sandy sits down and Kirsten wants to make a toast now.
Kirsten: “I would like to propose a toast. To Sandy Cohen..who has told me countless times over the last year..how important this hospital is to him. You know..they say when you grow up..you marry your father. I thought I’d escaped that!”
Now she leaves the party to the surprise of everyone. She carries in her hand a glass of wine. She puts it down and thinks for a second. Then..she picks it up and downs it. Her first drink ins forever! Uh..oh!
Summer is coming back from Brown and she calls Marissa. Summer tells her that Seth is going to Brown and dating Anna. Summer says that her head must be exploding now like her.
Marissa: “How did he explain himself?”
Summer: “He didn’t. Okay..well he tried to, but you know I get Coop! The rage makes it hard to talk, let alone listen!”
Marissa tells her to not assume anything until Seth explains it to her. She doesn’t know what is going on. Summer changes the subject to Berkeley. Marissa doesn’t know if she is ready for Berkeley yet.
Now Anna and Seth walk at the airport. Everything is going good now. The RISD guy was very impressed by Seth. Seth says that he owes it all to Anna if he gets into that school. Anna says it’s his comic book. He thanks Anna and waves goodbye. She tells Seth to call her. He says he will, and Summer sees all of this. Of course, she has the wrong idea, though. She is a little hurt.
Now Marissa is back at Volchok’s house to pick up her stuff. He is sleeping. She notices that he rented “Sound of Music”. He apparently watched it. She finds this good enough to lie next to him in bed. He is still sleeping.
Ryan waits by the pool at the Cohen house. Here comes Theresa. She quickly tells him that the baby is not Ryan’s. It’s Eddie’s. Eddie is not helping her, though. Ryan said he would have helped her. Theresa knew that, which is why she didn’t want to get Ryan involved. Theresa says she is doing okay on her own. Ryan thinks so too. Ryan would like to know more about Daniel. Theresa likes that idea. They both say it’s good to see each other.
And we are out until next week!
