Date of airing: January 20, 2005 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 7.87 million viewers, 5.0/8 in Households, 3.6 rating with Adults 18-49
written by: J.J. Philbin
directed by: Michael Fresco
That final scene was so pregnant with foreshadowing, I almost gave birth to an entire LGBTQ+ storyline right here on the spot.
I am wondering if it is generally a good idea to tease that there might be a gay story coming or if it might be best served to have it just “creep up on you” suddenly and without warning (even though this episode sort of did it – Marissa and Alex have been acquaintances for a bit now, but they seem to be developing a crush deep into in their kinda-friendship). I am neither bi, gay, or closeted, so I do not know what it is like to finally find yourself attracted to the same sex via a good friend who happens to sit beside you right this second while watching a cheesy horror film, in a somewhat nice moment after an awful day of happenings regarding love and friendship.
In this case, it might have been a good idea to not tease the story, but then again, it is Marissa who will probably change directions here, and that cannot just happen within a scene or two. Besides all that, it is great of course to have an LGBTQ+ story coming up on THE O.C., although it involves a lesbian couple yet again. Has there ever been a broadcast network drama in which a male gay couple was the center of attention for multiple episodes? Because I cannot seem to remember a single one. Maybe Jack McPhee over at DAWSON’S CREEK, but the show was very much trying to keep Jack’s sexcapades and romances away from viewers – he never even had a proper on-screen boyfriend until the show was established enough with Jack to give him a multi-episode boyfriend, and even then, their love story was never the frontrunner on-screen.
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| The new Newport Living is all Julie. |
The episode happened to be surprisingly good. It turns out that I liked all the stuff involving the exes, including the drama that resulted out of a drunk Lindsay and resurfaced the pre-Newport version of Ryan, including a moment to yell at Marissa about her fallacies. Heck, even Ryan’s apparent macho muscle move towards Alex in that same moment, which I might have found a little ridiculous (albeit important for Ryan’s state), was somewhat entertaining and almost dark for the character. But with Lindsay having to swirl around Ryan’s life, and Seth swirling around Alex’s life, and both kind of hitting walls over and over, it was intriguing and fascinating to witness how love became so damn difficult in this episode. All of a sudden I am very happy to be single so I do not have to deal with this, but then again, my depression and anxiety should not allow me to be alone forever and ever.
What a shame that Summer and Zach were only the fifth wheel here – I would have appreciated seeing these two front and center, even if it would have meant this episode becoming a little more boring. Because really, Zach is boring because he is so nice and normal, and Summer does not even deserve him because what she needs is messy drama. But I like Zach too much because of his Tom Hanks-ish attitude, and I want to see more of him. So consider me happy when he and Summer shared a milkshake at the end, although I was wondering where Summer’s milkshake order went, and if she shared her black’n’white milkshake with Zach after the episode as well.
By the way, what the heck is a black’n’white milkshake? I would assume vanilla is the white stuff, but what black thing makes a milkshake taste good? Chocolate is not black...
In hindsight, I did not know what was going on in Seth’s
mind. When Alex kissed a girl in front of him episodes ago, he seemed secretly
excited about the endless possibilities, but when he learns that his girlfriend has a girlfriend whom she never broke up with, he gets
all mad and awkward and confused about it. I can sort of understand
the lying thing that he threw in Alex’s face, because she did not
tell him her entire story when it might have been a good idea to do so. But then there was Seth, babbling some random crap that almost sounded
like an official break-up, just because he could not stand that his girlfriend had an ex roaming around, instead of being the guy who
has a girlfriend with a girlfriend. Am I the only one being a horny dick about it and thinking “threesome?” Sure, there was this
slight talk about Seth maybe feeling delighted about the prospect of his
girlfriend having a girlfriend, but damn, he turned into a fury instead
and I would have loved to slap him left and right. The last time I had that feeling about him was during the Seth/Summer drama that opened this season, and it was not that long ago.
Meanwhile, Lindsay is definitely not from around here, commenting on the model looks of the girls of Newport, and how they could eat and never get fat. I get that this was a growing issue Lindsay has with Ryan’s surroundings, leading to the inevitable break-up in a couple of episodes (especially now that Ryan and Marissa had a huge argument, which sounded like they were about to find each other again), but for a moment, this could have been satire about the beauty and diet crazy of the rich elite in California (or the continental United States). This coming from the character who does not inhabit the world of the rich and white in Newport, I would almost love it if Lindsay continues to burn the people around her like that, including her immediate realization that she is talking BS and she is humiliating herself.
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| It is easy making peace over a shared cup of milkshake. |
Especially since Julie came around with a rich elite California magazine she wanted to publish, advertising all the rich and privilege Newport has to offer, I wanted Lindsay to come in and burn everyone to the ground with sick comments about their skin color and all that money in their bank accounts. Someone like Lindsay would constantly roll her eyes over stuff like that, but Julie is seriously thinking about that magazine idea, while Kirsten thinks it is a solid idea to pursue.
By the way, the idea of a Julie/Caleb and Sandy/Kirsten
double date was almost hilarious. I still believe that Sandy hates
everything about Caleb and Julie, yet the two married couples always
seem to hang around and make something that resembles a business deal. Not to mention that the couple from Hell always seems to hang around the Cohens, making me think that Sandy and Kirsten are pretty much the only friends Julie and Caleb have left in Newport.
And here is another postscriptum: Three episodes after the big twist
revelation, there is not really anything that makes Caleb look like a
wannabe-father to Lindsay. I would have thought he wanted to try to be a
father, but I guess both Lindsay and her mother have locked out the
grey-haired, skin-toned dude. Which is a shame, because there could be
so much happening if Caleb and Lindsay would try to spend time together
for a few hours. She just found out who her father is, should she not be
using that new information for something? Does she not feel the urge to
build a connection to a father figure, now that she has one? Does she not want to at least meet her father?
