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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

The OC is here to make us feel good about being poor

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10:58 / 28.02.05

It's such a joy. I like the way that Ryan only has two facial expressions, 'asking a girl out' and 'totally guilty', and the Lindsay plot seems to give him ample opportunity to do both. I'd expected it to get worse in the second series as well, but that was probably because the Teresa plotline dragged on and on at the end of the first (and meant Ryan was constantly vacillating between his two expressions, never having time to delevop each properly so the net result was 'a bit vacant')

Jack The Bodiless

11:28 / 01.03.05

Hang on... his 'asking a girl out' expression is exactly the same as his 'totally guilty' expression! Has no one else noticed?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here!

16:44 / 10.05.05

you all heard that George Lucas himself is guest-starring on the O.C. soon, right...?

20:33 / 10.05.05

Apparently he (Lucas) shows an interest in doing a film of Seth's graphic novel.

Jack The Bodiless

10:52 / 11.05.05

Please GOD let that be bollocks. The show's gotten bad enough recently without Worse To Come.

Tryphena Absent

13:23 / 11.05.05

Ah but Princess Sparkles featured strongly in the last episode bringing joy to all of our hearts.

Jack The Bodiless

22:36 / 11.05.05

I own several duvets, and can buy chocolate and cigarettes whenever I like. I don't need a TV show to act as a surrogate.

Jack The Bodiless

22:38 / 11.05.05

I need a surrogate for drugs, dammit! And in the absence of Buffy and The OC, I'm forced to rely on Scrubs alone. Which is only on once a week. Gnmphh.

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:03 / 12.05.05

What is it with Scrubs and femdom? Weird. And is the Garden State boy character openly bi now or something? My head hurts?

23:17 / 29.05.05

Total latecomer to the OC. A friend lent me the first season on DVD and 4 episodes in, I'm totally enjoying it. I've heard a lot about this "Oliver" person and that when he shows up (he hasn't showed up yet for me) the quality of the show goes down a bit, so I'm prepared. But I can't believe I'm enjoying a soap opera this much. I know people talk about 90210 and Melrose Place and Dawson's Creek and shows like that; I can't imagine myself ever liking those shows (occasionally turned on one ep. of each and didn't really care), but I love this show. It seems just better-written, smarter and more quirky-fun than those previous famous USA trashy soap-opera shows. And Buffy writer Jane Espenson wrote the 2nd or 3rd episode! Alan Heinberg's Young Avengers is old-school popcorn Marvel fun, too.

12:59 / 01.06.05

Did the show 'jump the shark' at the end of season 2 like I've heard some people say?

Regrettable Juvenilia

13:06 / 01.06.05

I was unaware that season 3 had even started.

15:28 / 01.06.05

Jumped the shark? Nah.... The OC is as entertaining as it ever was.

16:42 / 01.06.05

OK, I think I'm just clueless here - what are they up to? Maybe season 2 hasn't even started yet? Was the season 1 finale just a few months ago? Help?

Regrettable Juvenilia

17:43 / 01.06.05

In the US, I believe season 2 is just coming to a close. The UK is about half a dozen episodes behind.

19:29 / 01.06.05

Season 2 is over in the states. I read the final episode write-up on Television Without Pity. I am totally pumped for the ending of this series.

I have also missed 1/2 of the last few eps, and feel Season 2 will have to be rewatched on DVD. Season 1, incidentally, is under £30 in the Amazon sale right now, if you're a fan...

12:48 / 02.06.05

Going through season 1 on DVD - am I the only one who thought the show got a little dumber and less quality after they go to Tiujuana and Marisa OD's? It seems like from there on it descended to Melrose Place level and lost its intelligence somehow... became even trashier and the writing/dialogue, even the direction, just went downhill a bit.

Also, continuing the Buffy/Angel parallels, Peter Gallagher going to work for the big corporate law firm is smacking of Angel Season 5 to me

13:03 / 02.06.05

also parallels to other shows: Summer and Seth come off in the beginning like Xander and Cordelia from Buffy (obviously, the seemingly mismatched couple who squabble is a classic thing), and the husband who steals/embezzles money plot recalls the same plot from season 2 of the Sopranos with the guy who played the evil Terminator in Terminator 2 (Robert Patrick?), but somehow the show really works. (until after TJ, as I said, where I feel it begins to crap out a bit and I stopped caring about the characters as much as I had initially - although Adam Brody is always funny.)

Jack The Bodiless

10:29 / 09.08.05

So anyone else totally lose interest in this show around half/two-thirds of the way through season two?

The sensational Alex aside, dear god what a lame duck. Kristin's alleged drinking problem shoehorned in as quickly and as dumbly as possible (then justifying that most nauseating of Yank inventions, the intervention), probably took the big gold cup for most gormless storyline of the season, but Marissa's increasing girly-victimhood bullshit was just revolting to watch, especially as Mischa Barton cannot act. Seth has become even more self-obsessed, to the point where he deosn't actually treat other people as real at all. Ryan has grown up, and so become a dull little preppie. All I can say about Summer is that the character seems to have lost her brain... in making her less bitchy/shallow and more appealing, they've taken away the sharpness I always liked about her. Summer go smush now.

AND THEY KILLED CALEB. THOSE BASTARDS. How will he and Sandy get together now?

14:30 / 09.08.05

>> So anyone else totally lose interest in this show around half/two-thirds of the way through season two?

I lost interest after seeing season 1...just ran out of steam for me. Also it didn't help that I heard season 2 was pretty weak.

Which character is "Alex"? A new character, I guess? (from season 2?)

Someone told me the commercials for season 3 were fun.

02:35 / 10.08.05

So anyone else totally lose interest in this show around half/two-thirds of the way through season two?

Nope, I thought it was totally fun. Stupid fun at times, but always fun.

23:58 / 15.08.05

Summer calling Seth 'ass-hat' in the library in episode 16 was, for me, comfortably more entertaining than the whole of the rest of the season put together. I, too, liked Alex, but pretty much everything about her relationship with Marissa was kind of depressing, and God, the cliches! Everywhere! I mean, maybe I expect too much, but I did really like series one. There's a bit on the dvds where Josh Schwartz says something about how he wants to make My So-Called Life, but has to disguise it as 90210 to get it on the air. I can see the Spelling, but precious little else...

19:36 / 16.08.05

Yeah, there's very little My So Called Life in the OC. Even more than 90210, though, it's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer without all the vampire slaying.

20:24 / 16.08.05

as for the drama of My So-Called Life, I remember only finding that kind of quality and drama in the first several episodes of The OC, when they first meet Ryan and take him in. Once Ryan got into the swing of things and they got back from their trip to Tijuana, I found it lost the dramatic quality.

20:41 / 16.08.05

They should certainly be able to make some good drama from the ramifications of last season's finale. If they don't blow it.

tea and biscuits

21:13 / 16.08.05

Alex's attractiveness managed to hold my attention for a good half-dozen episodes but otherwise the whole of Season 2 just felt so (for lack of a better word) lame. TWOP's increasingly bitter and unfunny recaps seemed to mirror the shows decline.

The scene which really epitomised the awfulness of the show now, especially it's empty nonsensical morals is from Episode 10 in which Lindsay has lunch with Summer and Marissa.

Marissa: (eating a burger) MM This is so good, great idea hitting the Drive-Thru for lunch.
Lindsay: It'll probably be hours on the elliptical trainer (laughs) working those off huh?
(Marissa looks at Lindsay like she doesn’t follow, then at Summer)
Summer: (eating fries) Coop exercising, now that’s funny.
Marissa: Ha ha ha.
Lindsay: So you guys can just... eat cheeseburgers and... look like you.
Summer: Well sometimes we get chili fries too.
Marissa: Why, what're you eating?
Lindsay: Oh um it’s a...zone meal it's low carb. [from]

The supposed moral of this scene being that you should be happy however you look and not get hung up on excessive dieting and exercise regeims in order to keep up with how mgazines dictate women should appear. However, we have a contradiction on three or four levels here. Firstly that the girls "eating" the junk food are the ones appearing on magazine covers (whilst I've never noticed 'Lindsay' on one) and reinforcing certain stereotypes and clearly do work out and eat carefully. Secondly that eating a load of junk food and not exercising is hugely unhealthy and is hardly something to be shown as a positive. Thirdly that Marissa has been shown barely 8 episodes ago to be close to anorexic due to her Alcohol Diet.

I just, what?

23:03 / 16.08.05

On a related (if entirely thread-rotting) note, pretty much the exact same criticism can be levelled at Gilmore Girls, which I'd consider to be a much smarter and more well-thought-out show. In the latter case, I tend to assume that they do have good intentions, but it's at least arguably an unhelpful thing, since, like you say, the actors seem unlikely to have anything like the diet their characters do.

Returning for another brief kick at The O.C., I never heard any complaints about Alex's behaviour after her split with Marissa, which surprised me, since I felt it was as least as much the wearying stereotype as anything that happened over in Sunnydale (and without having anything like as much of an up-side). Maybe the complaints happened and I missed them. Maybe no-one expected any better. I notice that the season two dvds are making a great big song & dance about the inclusion of previously unseen extended Alex/Marissa kissing scenes. Displays of dignity all round, then...

02:40 / 17.08.05

The supposed moral of this scene being that you should be happy however you look and not get hung up on excessive dieting and exercise regeims in order to keep up with how mgazines dictate women should appear.

I think you're writing your own morals into that.

The point of that scene was to show that Lindsey just can't win. Ryan's ex-girlfriend is prettier, richer, more popular, and thinner--and she doesn't even have to diet or workout to be thin. If there was an moral, I think it was about the pointlessness of jealousy.

10:25 / 17.08.05

Not sure if this is clear from my last post, but I entirely agree with tea & biscuits. The thin girl who can eat whatever she wants is fairly prevalant on TV, and my assumption has been that it's a convenient (if not particularly convincing) way for producers to side-step accusations that they're promoting unhealthy eating habits.

Is there anyone here who only saw series two? Did you think it was funny? Because - Summer's aforementioned 'ass-hat' aside - it didn't make me laugh very often at all, but I don't know if that was because I was too busy getting grumpy about the plotting, or if they just ran out of witty.

13:09 / 30.08.05

I watched the rest of season 1 - highlights were the Thanksgiving and Chrismukkah episodes (did they celebrate Chrismukkah in season 2)? I sometimes like the stuff going on with the adults, particularly Sandy and Kirsten, more than what's going on with the kids. I skipped all the Oliver stuff...seemed annoying.

What are people's favorite parts of season 2?

>> They should certainly be able to make some good drama from the ramifications of last season's finale. If they don't blow it.

And what was this big finale all about?

14:55 / 30.08.05

And what was this big finale all about?

SPOIILERS

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When Ryan confronted his brother Trey about his attempted rape of Marissa, they got into a pretty serious fight and Marissa ended up shooting Trey. (Not to mention, Kirsten going into rehab, and Caleb dying of natural causes in the middle of Julie's attempt to murder him.)

14:56 / 30.08.05

I just looked at TelevisionWithoutPity's summaries, I guess the finale was Kirsten going off to rehab...?

Was Seth's comic book fun? (I remember hearing that some actual comic artist, maybe Oeming, did the art for it...?) Did Lucas give the greenlight to a movie based on it after his guest appearance on the show?

14:57 / 30.08.05

(Caleb dying of natural causes in the middle of Julie's attempt to murder him.)

Ahahahahahahaahahahahaaaaaa. Not exactly 'My So-Called Life,' is it? (despite the creator's stated intentions)

15:59 / 30.08.05

You're clearly forgetting the episode of MSCL where Gra'm goes on a murderous rampage after it's revealed that Danielle is not his daughter, but in fact Brian Krakow's illegitimate half-sister.

19:15 / 30.08.05

Was Seth's comic book fun? (I remember hearing that some actual comic artist, maybe Oeming, did the art for it...?) Did Lucas give the greenlight to a movie based on it after his guest appearance on the show?

Seth's comic actually does look like it would be fun. Summer is Little Miss Vixen. Marissa is Cosmo Girl (armed with her magic flask).

The art for it rocked. It was done by Eric Wight, who you may remember did the character designs for the never-made Buffy animated series.

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