An attractive cast, addictive music, excellent production values and a love of the material by everyone involved...
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In the commentary for the pilot episode of "The O.C.," creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage explain the difference between their teenage soap opera and predecessors like "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Dawson´s Creek": the adult characters would be as important as their younger counterparts in every story. Whereas Jim and Cindy Walsh on "90210" (another Fox program) were relegated to the roles of advisor to Brandon, Brenda and the rest of the gang, nearly every episode of "The O.C." gave the adults a separate storyline away from the kids. As if to punctuate that idea, Schwartz cast the patriarch of the Cohen household, Sandy, first. And actor Peter Gallagher points to the complexity of the grown ups as the reason he accepted the part.
At the outset of the 92 episode series, Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) is facing jail time for his part in a car robbery. His public defender, Sandy Cohen (Gallagher), decides to give the boy a place to live in Orange County with his wife Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) and son Seth (Adam Brody)-at least temporarily. When Ryan´s mother skips town, Sandy and Kirsten decide to become Ryan´s guardians and thus begins the tumultuous integration of "Kid Chino" Ryan with the well-to-do denizens of Newport, California.
It´s hard not to get sucked into the drama surrounding Ryan, Seth, Summer (Rachel Bilson), Marissa (Micha Barton) and the rest of the characters on "The O.C." Sure, if any real person encountered as much drama as this group does on an episode-by-episode basis, we´d probably be committed to an asylum. But the name of the game is drama, to see how certain characters react to different situations. And to be entertaining. On those counts, then, "The O.C." is a roaring success.
The characters aren´t terribly original; they are drawn off of stereotypes every soap opera has seen before. Ryan is the outcast, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, but also the person the audience sides with the most. Even when he´s put in a situation where he does the "wrong" thing-such as skipping out on a placement test to rescue Marissa-we can´t help but root for him. Maybe it´s the way McKenzie portrays Ryan without a sense of entitlement and knowing full well how lucky he is to have a second chance with the Cohen´s.
Whereas Ryan can instantly adapt to any situation, Seth has a harder time in group social settings. On his own, he can match pop culture wits with anyone; when confronted with a girl or people he feels inferior to, the brain and mouth don´t connect to form coherent words. Apparently modeled on Schwartz himself, Seth transforms himself from school geek to ladies man with Ryan´s help over the course of the series. And in so doing, Adam Brody makes Seth the most personable of the main cast, the anti-thesis of Ryan. As much as we might feel for Ryan, Seth is the heart and soul of the show.
What drama would be complete with the virtuous, beautiful girl next door for the bad boy to fall in love with? In the case of "The O.C.," she´s Marissa, a combination of Donna Martin (virginity) and Kelly Taylor (bad boy). If there is a weak link in the main cast, it is Mischa Barton. Whereas the rest of the actors seem to inhabit their characters, Barton deals with Marissa on a superficial level. Everything she says and does comes out in one near-monotone level. Her whiny, emotionless response is the same to every crisis, whether Dad embezzled money from clients or her mother marries Seth´s grandfather (yes, it´s that kind of show).
Easily the most annoying character in the show is Rachel Bilson´s Summer, Seth´s secret love for the first half of the first season. Initially conceived of as a recurring character, Bilson won over the creative staff enough to sag a regular role on the series in the latter half of the year. She exemplifies the stereotype of a California girl: superficial, spoiled and enjoying it. There is a moment, though, when she steps up to Seth´s challenge which redefines the character as someone we can support and, shockingly, enjoy.
As for the adults, Sandy and Kirsten Cohen are typical SoCal liberal parents, rolling with every punch coming their way but never going so overboard as to be unbelievable (the Walsh´s leaving their Beverly Hills home to a teenage son, as an example). At least initially, Rowan is a hard ass with a heart of stone. Watch the early episodes and see how she interacts with Ryan, someone she doesn´t want in her home because of his past. By the end of the year, though, it is nearly impossible to separate the two or think they were ever at odds.
Sandy, as played by Peter Gallagher, is the father every kid dreams of. Honest, funny, supportive and openly loving with Kirsten, he can come off as a glib ultra-liberal. Even when he and Kirsten verbally spar, there´s not a sense of animosity between them. Poking fun? Sure. And are there times the two want to ferociously attack each other? Of course. But even when they don´t work as a couple, the Cohen´s are always real people.
Then there´s the couple next door, Julie and Jimmy Cooper (Melinda Clark, Tate Donovan), Marissa´s parents. From the first moment we meet Julie, she turns into the de facto villain of the show. Constantly at odds with Marissa, Ryan and just about everyone else in Newport, Julie is the closest to an Alexis Carrington (of "Dynasty" fame) "The O.C." gets. In fact, she has more in common with Summer than she does with Marissa. And what about Jimmy? How he and Julie connected in the first place is one of the great mysteries of the series. He´s not quite as glib as Sandy; instead, Jimmy feels like the one who never quite fits into the Newport scene. (Donovan jokes he had been cast in several failed pilots and viewed his casting here as a death knell for the series.)
As with all things, when Schwartz stepped back from writing the show, the storylines became outlandish and the fans lost interest, resulting in plummeting ratings and eventual cancellation 16 episodes in the fourth season. Characters were written out of the series, new ones took their place but none could recapture the magic of the first season, when "The O.C." was a phenomenon. The prime time soap opera is perhaps the hardest genre to write in and maintain lofty early expectations. On top of the technical challenges, "The O.C." also had to fight public perception as being a "kids" show…or, at least, not one for adults.
That´s a shame because, aside from making the audience´s lives seem tranquil by comparison, "The O.C." continued a tradition of incorporating popular music in every episode. In this set-unlike many others-there are no music substitutions, which means everything from Phantom Planet´s catchy main title jingle ("California") to tunes from The Dandy Warhols, Jem, Death Cab for Cutie and literally dozens of other artists is included.
Just like "Dawson´s Creek," there is always a sense the Newport residents live in the real world, complete with pop culture references. Seth and Ryan are shown multiple times playing a PlayStation 2; Summer dresses up as Wonder Woman to seduce Seth; Paris Hilton makes a cameo; various bands played as themselves; and too many others to recount. What these "name drops" do is lend an air of reality to a program which, in many ways, is a hyper-reality. While "90210" has been referenced in other forms of media, it was always a more refined program with characters who wouldn´t stoop to referring to another program.
VIDEO:
When the first season of "The O.C." was released on DVD back in 2004, the episodes were presented in full screen format. For The Complete Series, they have been remastered in 1.78:1 widescreen to compliment how the rest of the series is shown. Honestly, I expected just a bit more from the look of the early episodes, especially the outdoor scenes. There´s a layer of fine grain on anything taking place in a light environment; considering the show takes place in California, that´s just about everything. The image appears just as it most likely did in the original broadcast.
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