Date of airing: January 7, 2004 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 9.37 million viewers, 5.8/9 in Households, 4.5/11 with Adults 18-49
In which Oliver turned into a semi-good guy with a drug problem, but ended this episode as a stalking creep who might have abandonment issues, or maybe tried a little too hard to get a few new friends and now has to pay with a messed-up world of emotions. I can see that the writers were making the effort to write Oliver in a more sympathetic light with this episode, to make his issue more down-to-earth and relatable (who can’t relate to a drug problem these days?), and to give a sense of this guy just wanting to hang with and talk to people his own age. The scene with Oliver and Ryan at the police station, where the former was talking about his problems, trials, and tribulations, was intriguing because of it, but the final scene made him drop right back into the area of potential supervillains, in which he would love to stir things up and cause trouble for our group of heroes and romantic couples because this is why he exists in the first place. Although this time around it was also very evident that Oliver had some serious mental issues to deal with or the very final moment of the episode would not have been this sad.
At least the guy isn’t just a dumb villain and a stepping stone in Ryan and Marissa’s relationship – maybe he is just a budding psychopath, waiting for the moment to blow up and pull out his firearm for a poignant school or mass shooting episode. In a way, Oliver is a great character. He managed to be scary, a liar, a drug addict, a broken kid, and a sorry kid all in one, begging the question of whether or not I am right in hating the guts out of the character when he is doing exactly what he is supposed to do in his third appearance. Plus, Taylor Handley must be a great actor when he managed to make every viewer hate him in an instant.
 |
| This is a love story in the making. |
Meanwhile, the producers have come to find out recently that THE O.C. is good for music and hipster indie bands that make music. Maybe Death Cab for Cutie saw a rise in sales the weeks after the show premiered, and maybe some of the bands and musicians that had a song land in the show became famous on Limewire and Napster and stuff (platforms I illegally downloaded songs from for the first time, like “Gorecki” by Lamb, which I had something of an obsession with ever since I watched I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER). Rooney’s guest appearance here was to sell music, and not to showcase that Oliver was tight with the band or the managers (which I found to be a surprise that this was a fact – how did Oliver know them?). Of course, every appearance of a musical act in any show is an advertisement for the latest album, but come on, you had the characters backstage, the thing they could have done was hang out with the band and tell some stories. Was there no time for it because the character arcs needed to be told? Or was Rooney unable to get some of their band members with ridiculously, mid-2000s shoulder-length hair in front of the camera to play a fictionalized version of themselves for a few seconds?
The threesome relationship between Seth and his women was okay. Summer’s reaction to Seth and Anna’s romantic beginnings seemed awfully obvious and oblivious, and I didn’t like it. Summer was most likely plotting her way into Seth’s heart already (if she is smart enough to do that, because she hasn’t been depicted as anything else but the non-drunk tipsy cutie over the past few episodes), but she was sort of heartbroken when she kissed that dude in the previous episode, and she probably seems to like Anna a lot, and hurting her by stealing away her boyfriend may be against their girl code. In addition, she didn’t show any emotions about what transpired in front of her with her best friend and THE GOLDEN GIRLS buddy, as well as her object of her affection. Granted, if she had, her feelings towards Seth would have shown, and the friendship between the three would be more complicated and resemble a soap opera, but at least a little bit more than just Summer forcing herself into the middle of Seth and Anna could have been great. Either she is trying to woo Seth for herself or she is conflicted over doing exactly that after befriending Anna. The episode wanted to do both and it managed to do neither. But hey, Seth officially has a girlfriend now! Would that have happened if Ryan didn’t come along to shake up the world? It’s sort of a serious question: Would Kirsten have forced lonely Seth to take part in the cotillion, which is essentially the beginning of Seth’s “womanizing” stories?
The adult section of the episode bored me once again and I don’t quite know why. Maybe it’s because the writers focused too much on the pull that is the show – the teenage drama – which means the adult storylines weren’t allowed to be too dramatic to deflect from the teen drama. Or maybe that is because I still don’t like Hailey, who now looks like she is Rachel’s replacement for the recurring guest star hottie. After all, the producers couldn’t keep Bonnie Somerville for more than a court case against Caleb Nichol. Because really, for a hot minute it looked like Jimmy was about to date Rachel, but then the pretty woman was gone and got replaced with another pretty woman who is a tad bit younger and comes with more backstory for Jimmy.
 |
| Chric Carmack can finally bring some of his musical talents into his character work. |
By the way, I find it
weird that he would think it’s hot to date the girl he once babysat for.
Yes, Hailey is of age now, so no one gives a damn, but the backstory
makes for an awkward potential relationship if it ever comes to that. I
can only hope that, if things with Hailey don’t work out, Jimmy won’t be
gliding right into the next woman waiting for him. I don’t think he
wants to be the one having dated the most people in one season.
Finally, it’s nice that Luke was more successful than Oliver and made a few new friends in this episode. Turns out he is a funny dude when rocking it out at a concert or playing the guitar backstage (some of Chris Carmack’s musical talents which he showed off on NASHVILLE later coming to fruition here), or playing on the PlayStation with his new buddies. The guy is so much fun to hang out with when he isn’t a homophobic asshole and bully. That is considered a character reboot midway through the season, right?
