I spent the entire weekend watching Season 4 of The O.C., and I made it all the way through to the series finale. Wow, I can’t believe that show is over! I thought S4 approached the level of excellence shown in Season 1. The show definitely could have gone on for at least another 8 episodes to finish out a full season… Were the ratings so bad that FOX just couldn’t be bothered to continue with it?
Anyway, I’m now considering whether or not I should buy the series on DVD. I borrowed all four seasons from friends, so I don’t actually have my own DVDs here. Even though I loved the show for the most part (except for the horrible S2), I don’t know if I could bear watching everything again. It’s just so angst-y most of the time, and has a way of making me incredibly nostalgic for my own high school years. I know, I know — that’s pretty pathetic, right? But it’s true. And I don’t know if I could go through all the ups and downs yet again.
I was happy with the way everything turned out. Seth and Summer belonged together, so their wedding was the perfect ending. I know the Ryan/Taylor relationship was left open-ended, but I choose to believe that they ended up together as well. Here are some more random thoughts from Season 4:
– I love the fact that Sandy and Kirsten had another baby and moved out of Newport. They are a fantastic couple as well, one of the best set of parents from any TV show I’ve watched regularly.
– Julie Cooper turned out to be such an awesome character! I liked how her love life remained open-ended as well, while we clearly saw that she chose to better herself by going back to school to get her degree. That was a great way for her to go out.
– I was reading some fan forums and noticed that some people actually didn’t like the Ryan/Taylor pairing. While I agree that it seemed pretty contrived at the beginning, I thought Taylor was an excellent addition to the cast, so I didn’t mind that she ended up with Ryan. Yes, the beginning of their relationship was weird, with the whole Henri-Michel thing and the stalking, but I think they both needed to be with someone completely opposite from themselves. In other words, they seemed perfect for each other!
– I was a bit disappointed that Neil and Julie didn’t work out. I mean, sure, he was a bit strange, what with his penchant for proposing to women on cruises so soon after he starts dating them and all, but he understood what Julie was all about. Then again, if those two had stuck together, we never would have met The Bullit — and that would have been very bad!
– I didn’t like Summer’s whole conversion into a political activist as that seemed way, way out of character. That was the only thing that dragged S4 down for me. But at least she did her thing and still ended up with Seth. That’s what counts.
– All things considered, I guess that was a good way for The O.C. to go out. The show wouldn’t have been the same while trying to follow everyone around to their different colleges, so I’m glad they didn’t even attempt it. The show was always about the relationships between Ryan and the Cohens, Summer/Seth/ Julie/whomever… that’s why I watched it. Since those characters weren’t going to be around each other on a day-to-day basis, it was a good time to end.
I got on board the show way late, but I ended up loving it, and I’m actually sad that I don’t have any new eps to look forward to. It was a terrific run, though!
After a two-week reign as box office champ, the gambling drama 21 tumbled two spots to No. 3 with a weekend haul of $11 million, bringing its three-week total up to $62.3 million. That drop cleared the way for a new No.1, the teen horror flick Prom Night. Starring Brittany Snow and Idris Elba, Prom Night generated $22.7 million in ticket sales despite being widely panned by critics.