I’m continuing to make my way through the first season of The O.C., having just finished watching episodes 1×08 through 1×11. In my last post about this show, I said that I hoped things would pick up once the main characters started school — and I was right. Now that Ryan, Seth, Marisa, and Summer are in school, they’ve got a whole new set of issues to deal with, making for a refreshing change from the same old fights between Ryan and Luke.
There were a couple of great highlights that I’d like to point out from this block of episodes. First of all, I have to say that I love how Seth, who until Ryan came to town was nothing but a geek, is now in caught between two girls. The Thanksgiving episode (1×11, called “The Homecoming”) was awesome: Seth had Summer out in the pool house and Anna up in his bedroom. He was constantly running back and forth between the two girls for quickie makeout sessions, and you could just tell he was in heaven! And I loved his parents’ reactions when they found out he had two girls: more awe and approval than anything else. Ha!
Another highlight from this group of eps had to be in ep 1×09 (”The Heights”) when Ryan and Marissa had their first kiss while on the ferris wheel. I don’t particularly like those characters, either as individuals or as a couple, but even I thought that was a pretty romantic first kiss. Of course, it looks like Ryan and Marissa are going to have one of those relationships where nothing ever goes smoothly, so I expect their happiness to be short-lived.
There were also some things I didn’t like about these episodes. For instance, why is Summer depicted as an airhead most of the time? I saw the series finale already and know that she got into Brown, so what’s the deal with this airhead crap? This characterization is especially evident whenever she’s on screen with Anna, and it bugs me to no end! You don’t get into an Ivy League school by being a ditz…