Date of airing: February 3, 2005 (FOX)
Nielsen ratings information: 7.25 million viewers, 4.7/7 in Households, 3.4/9 with Adults 18-49
written by: Drew Z. Greenberg, Josh Schwartz
directed by: Tony Wharmby
The writers must have really cared about Rebecca during this
stage of the show, considering that the character was very much the
central figure of two back-to-back episode cliffhangers. Or maybe it was
just a funny writing opportunity the room took upon – Rebecca comes in,
and both Sandy and Kirsten were equally shocked about seeing her face
at the end of the episode, and both know that their marriage is in
trouble as soon as they realized that Rebecca was not only alive, but in
town. The show made sure that Rebecca is the most important character of the show at this very moment, and it hinges on the audience's interest in the storyline to find her involvement in these two episodes annoying or the greatest dramatic thing that scripted television ever presented.
Being the second back-to-back cliffhanger, it is obvious that the character is being used to bring tension into the Cohen marriage and to make sure that, as soon as the writers are finished with the story arc and Rebecca has been written off the show, she will continue to throw a shadowy presence over Sandy and Kirsten, because a troubled marriage is great material for writers of a weekly primetime soap opera. Besides that, Rebecca could finally be the element that breaks the tree of the very solid Cohen marriage, especially since Sandy decided to lie to his wife about Rebecca’s status as a living human being, and that could even “help” Kirsten in getting worse herself. All this time she was close to putting her entire head in a bottle of booze, and now that she learns her husband has been lying, is this the moment she decides to let herself go and not care about the marriage and her family any longer?
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| When you have a naked friend in your house, that means she is your girlfriend. |
I did not get why Sandy would not tell Kirsten about Rebecca though. I did not understand his reasoning (except of course his reasoning was only grounded in his fear of putting his wife in legal jeopardy by knowing about the location and whereabouts of a fugitive, but that sounded like one hell of an excuse) and I am pretty sure the writers did not care about the legal reasoning, because they can easily use Sandy’s lies about Rebecca still being alive as the ground material for Sandy and Kirsten’s now troubled marriage. Considering the fact that the writers completely rewrote Rebecca as a character within the previous episode (previously, she was something of a freedom fighter; now, she is a person who was not even involved in anything), it is imaginable that the legal aspect of the story will be forgotten quickly and it is all just gonna be about why Sandy lied to Kirsten, and how heartbroken Kirsten is.
The story will not be about clearing Rebecca's name any longer, and it is going to be all about how she is shaking up Sandy and Kirsten's marriage – the character is here to do nothing else but that one thing. It is not like the show has ever been known for showcasing the business side of Sanford Cohen, so Rebecca’s presence will not be doing that either. There was this deposition with his father-in-law once during season one's “The Heights,” but that was pretty much all of it. That tends to show you the writers did not have an idea how to write a proper legal drama into their weekly primetime soap opera.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Lindsay continue to break apart, and this time around Ryan cannot even blame himself. Okay, he should be blaming himself, because of his efforts to unite Lindsay and Caleb, he essentially ruined his relationship with Lindsay, but it is interesting to notice that this version of a break-up is quite unique. Lindsay just wants to get to know her father, and because of complicated circumstances, Lindsay cannot do that without her boyfriend around. It is almost a cruel way to lose a functioning relationship, but it has started happening by the end of this episode.
By the way, I kind of loved that Caleb still believes Ryan is freeloading and on the hunt for the Cohen family money, resulting in the ongoing conflict between the two. There needs to be a person in Newport Beach whom Ryan continues to hate for eternity until their deaths, especially since Luke has left Newport, and even turned into a good friend for Ryan. There would still be Julie, but she is absent on a regular basis (where is she going when she is gone for episodes on end?), and the two share the same interest: Marissa. Still, the contentious relationship between Ryan and Caleb is wonderful to watch, and sometimes I would wish for the writers to just expand on it. I guess they did with this episode, having Ryan help Caleb along to his heart attack, but I do not think that is enough for me. I want more.
The teenage love storylines were okay. I was slightly happy for
Marissa
realizing that there might be some sparks between her and Alex, and I
silently cheered for them as they were holding hands at the end,
watching Rachel Yamagata performing one of her songs that convinces all
the couples to make out on the spot. Of
course, Marissa better not be breaking Alex’s heart in the next episode –
holding hands was a definite answer to Alex’s question earlier, and if
Marissa fails to hold up her end, then Alex deserves to punch her out of
Newport.
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| Seth gets his first look at the sexy live-action version of his superhero comicbook. |
Seth and Summer on the other hand were weird. It was predictable that the two would have a nose-touching moment again, but I was confused by the fact that neither of them were dumb and actually went for the kiss. Seth and Summer are known to just randomly kiss when they are not together, so their ability to hold it together here felt inconsistent. They did it during Caleb’s birthday party in the previous season, but during this episode, they are deeply and emotionally troubled about showing affection for one another.
Of course, this is just the story that will lead to Seth and Summer getting back
together eventually because the writers simply cannot do it without them. If there is romance in the narrative, Seth and Summer have to get involved, or else, this is not THE O.C. Even
more so after the writers decided to write Zach in a clueless way, not
even noticing what is going on between his business partner and his
girlfriend who is his business partner’s ex-girlfriend. Zach has a lot
of heart in him, which I find charming about him, but he should not be able to trust Seth and Summer together like that. He knows about their history, he should be jealous as heck and always watching over them.
