The O.C. 3.3: "The End of Innocence"

The O.C. managed some narrative landmines on Thursday that a year ago would have blowed the show up real good. And they did so in a way that showed an awareness of last season’s miscues. They teased regurgitating some of the more nauseating storylines of last season, but neglected to go where we would have expected after season two.

The major event of the episode involved the reading of the late Caleb Nichol’s will, the jumping off point for the major storylines of this season. The most anxious Newporter of all was special guest Jimmy Cooper, whose debt to a generic gangster-type has only gotten bigger since returning home. He’s so itchy to have a fortune to squander that he proposes that he and Julie get married at the end of the week, one day after the will-reading and the deadline for keeping his kneecaps. Always one for a party, Julie agrees and while they’re at it they decide to use Honeymoon #2 as an excuse to move the entire family to Hawaii.

Naturally, this stirs the libido of Orange County’s star-crossed lovers, Ryan and Marissa. With the help of Seth and Summer, who filch the set from Taylor Townsend’s production of South Pacific, Ryan designs a final romantic evening to get some Cooper-booty before his pouty soulmate is whisked away to the Aloha State. Besides the creepiness of Seth and Summer helping their friends score (though Ryan had to clarify in a throwaway line that the two haven’t yet slept together), they run into additional trouble when the Dean of Discipline (a.k.a. Mrs. Townsend) busts Seth returning the set. He takes the bullet for Summer and earns himself two months of detention. How very Saved by the Bell.

Meanwhile, the will reading ends up being somewhat anti-climactic in the moment, but devastating for the future of Newport. Despite Caleb’s intentions to split his money evenly between his family and his wife, he unfortunately went to the grave with his pockets turned out. The only thing to change hands at the reading was a letter Caleb wrote to Kirsten on the day he died. This prompted the return of Kelly Rowan’s hang-dog, depressive face, and she ran to the nearest seedy motel where she stared at a fresh bottle of vodka through the night.

I cursed out loud when I saw Kirsten buying the vodka, but it made her return home all the more satisfying. At least the creators of the show are using last year’s sub-par season as a tension builder. I thought they might actually have Kirsten go back to the bottle, but in a touching, low-key moment she asked for Sandy’s support as she read the letter her father left. Much to her shock, if not ours, it was an apology. What a delight to have Kirsten back with her family where she belongs (the final scene in the kitchen was too long in the coming), though the deceptive rehab hanger-on has been kicked out of her “daddy’s” cabin, and will soon spoil the reunion with more of her awful guest appearances.

But as the Cohen family reunites, the Cooper-Nichol-nearlyCooper family has fallen apart for the last time. When Julie and Jimmy walk out of the will-reading with nothing, Jimmy tries to flee the city, but catches a graceless, old-school beating (intercut with his daughter knockin’ boots) before he can escape. When Marissa receives a post-coitus phone call, she meets her beaten father on his yacht, only to hear another tale of his financial woes. Maintaining the strength of character that has benefited her so far this year, she tells him to leave and never come back. One scene later she’s holding a suddenly sympathetic and heartbroken Julie, and assuring her things are going to be all right. Who is this girl?

If the past two episodes were about returning to the show's roots, this episode felt like they had found their way back and now they were going to get busy with the rest of the season. Despite the psycho drunk still threatening, everything else this year is looking up. Marissa, the last character on the show without an identity, suddenly has as much guts as beauty. Jimmy has left a broken family to repair itself with absolutely no money. Marissa and Ryan face public school, while Seth and Summer are headed for a showdown with the Dean of Discipline at Newport.

These are good, simple narratives without all the stunt work that went on last year.

I like this show again. I commend the writers for finding their way back to the essence of the show. Here’s hoping they gah stay the course when things get a little tricky around midseason.