So this was a pretty good string of episodes this week. The first night of a two-night event featured some crazy fun down in Mexico. Actually, Ryan wanted to find Volchok. I never really thought that Ryan wanted to kill Volchok. Sure, that would have been the “season one” Ryan. But Ryan has been around death or at almost death that he has had a hand in. We wouldn’t find out until the next episode why he wanted to get Volchok. More on that later.
Seth getting a tattoo and getting all drunk with the Marines, including Steve-O, was pretty funny. Not as funny as it could have been, but oh well. Good enough. Seth still played second fiddle to the “Big Three” in these two episodes, though. That would be the three most affected by Marissa’s death.
Summer is still not the same Summer we know and love. And on the outside it seems like she doesn’t love Seth anymore and there could be problems there. But if you look further, you can tell it’s just her dealing with Marissa’s death. Actually it’s her NOT dealing with it. So have no fear, Summer and Seth will be fine by the middle of this season. I’m sure they will be back to their old ways. But for now Summer needs to deal with Marissa’s death and she needs to do it alone. Hopefully they won’t jam Che down our throats. He’s a great character, but he doesn’t need to go the “Johnny Harper” route. I believe that the sole reason Johnny was hated so much was because HE was the one that quickly fell in love with Marissa. That was not needed. If Marissa had been the one falling for him, Johnny may have been more likable. Not much, but there wouldn’t have been as much hatred for him. So as long as Che stays who he is and doesn’t fall in love with the beautiful AND smelly Summer, he’ll be okay.
I don’t blame Julie for tracking Volchok down and giving the information over to Ryan. I know Julie wanted Volchok dead, but Ryan did the right thing. I will talk about that later as I said. Julie was just being a mother who wanted revenge on the person that caused her daughter’s death. She needs to deal with Marissa’s death as well. And by the end of the third episode I think she started to when she talked with Ryan about Marissa. Lets hope that her marriage with Dr. Roberts has no long-term affects from this as the Thanksgiving episode was a little rocky for those two.
And speaking of Thanksgiving. That was the third episode. It came early and it was a little different. But let me say right now. I’m totally digging Taylor’s character. She is stepping up and shining through. She is the comedy on this show right now, since everyone else is in a state of shock after Marissa’s death. Her getting married in France is a little weird, but that could be interesting. But her avoiding her mom has provided most of the best comedy so far. Sleeping in Summer’s bed, sleeping UNDER Seth’s bed, cooking with Kirsten, etc.
Let me get to the only real comedy gold nugget from Seth in this two episodes. It involved Taylor sleeping under his bed. He hoped to have sex with Summer when she came for Thanksgiving. And then Seth breaks out the egg timer and tells Summer that all he needs is five minutes. That was pretty funny. Back to Taylor, though. Her advice to Seth at the end about leaving Summer alone and letting her deal with Marissa’s death was right on. So A+ for Taylor in this season so far!
Kaitlin seems to be picking up the “bad girl” role pretty well. She stole some clothes during the clothing drive among other things. That’s all I have to say about her really, though. I didn’t really find her funny when she was talking with Luke’s little twin brothers about their gay dad, but whatever. They aren’t annoying, so it works for me.
Not much to say about Kirsten. Besides her little moment with Taylor. She’s just a great mom.
Now to Ryan to finish us off. But first to Sandy and Volchok. Sandy is back to being a lawyer. I liked that he picked up Volchok and helped him out. He knew Volchok didn’t mean to kill Marissa. Sandy also had faith that Ryan wouldn’t kill Volchok. He also knew that Ryan needed some closure and that was the best way he thought it could happen. Sandy let them talk.
That’s right. Ryan and Volchok finish things by talking. Some want a big fight here and a death. They already did that at the end of last season. This was more about Ryan wanting to know why Volchok came after them. Ryan needed closure and he got that. You don’t always have to fight to move on. It was a HUGE step up for Ryan. He now has closure or at least took the first giant step in getting closure.
In addition, Ryan and Julie talk and they appear to be getting better. They should be returning to “normal” soon, at least as normal as they can be after Marissa’s death. Summer and Julie talked as well, but Summer needs to do this on her own. So she is going back to Brown and is going to deal with Marissa’s death. That should be interesting to see. Lets hope Che is not shoved into the picture.
And that’s all I got on these two episodes. Some pretty good stuff here. Not the stuff we are used to, but that’s good. It’s different and it keeps things fresh. I can’t wait until next week.
