My IPPTP cohort Josh Clinton has already done a fantastic job of bringing everybody up to speed about what’s going on in this OC universe this season, so I’m going to just break things down into what I like, and what I don’t like.
WHAT I LIKE:
– Rachel Bilson, always and forever. I’m talking like ga-ga levels. It’s kinda unsettling, actually.
– The fact that Ryan and Julie have banded together. The show could have handled Marissa’s death in two different ways: Having Julie blame Ryan for what happened and trying to get revenge, or having the two of them band together to make the real person responsible pay. We’ve seen the former before, countless times each season, so seeing them rely on each other is a breath of fresh air. It’s also kinda sweet that they have pushed everybody else away, but have opened up (to an extent) with each other.
– Kaitlin Cooper. She’s right on the fence, though (which I’ll get to later). She’s disturbingly cute for somebody so young, and I find her on-screen personality charming. She’s another breath of fresh air.
– Taylor. Adding her character as a regular has been, so far, the crown jewel of this season. She’s an exceptionally well developed character, and I especially appreciate the fact that she’s been a true friend to both Summer and Seth.
– Mourning Marissa. I think the show has done an effective job of showing that Marissa’s death had some very real repercussions. Like Josh noted in one of his early columns, the central characters have each reacted to Marissa’s death in their own way: Ryan has become massochistic, Julie has become a pill popper, and Summer has become an “avoider.” There are too many shows in which a young character dies and people recover far too quickly. I think this job has done a nice job avoiding that.
– The Thanksgiving episode – Particularly, Summer and Julie’s realization that they have to come to terms with their pain, in order to eventually overcome it. I found Summer’s final admittance that she just misses her friend while in the airport quite touching. I also thought the final scene, of Julie asking Ryan about Marissa, particularly sweet. It was especially sad for Julie to realize that, really, she barely knew her own daughter.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
– Summer Roberts. And it pains me to say that, because I really do enjoy her character. I know I said I appreciate the fact that she’s mourning, and I do, it just pains me to see her so mean to Seth. I’ve been there….women, they are a crazy bunch. That said, with each episode, it looks like we’re getting closer and closer to the quirky, cute summer. And she does still genuinely love Seth.
– Kaitlin’s apparent lack of mourning. I mean, c’mon, they are yet to have a scene where, in private, she breaks down and mourns. I understand that everybody mourns differently, and that she very clearly could just be doing so in her own way, but we’re yet to see anything from her other than resentment and anger. It seems like she’s even used this tragedy to her advantage (with school and Dr. Roberts). I know she’s supposed to be “evil,” but it just seems too out there.
– Lack of consistency. Let me get this straight, Dr. Roberts “leaves” Julie to go to his ex-wife, because Julie became, essentially, a comatose pill popper? Wasn’t that, like, the step-monsters running gag? Wasn’t her deal that she was always popping pills and was out of it because of it? Am I missing something here?
That’s pretty much all I have in the noggin’ right now. This show has received a lot of criticism since its return, mostly due to the change of tone. Basically, as long as Rachel is still on the show, I’m still watching!
