In the Fall of 2005, I wrote a column for the Los Angeles Loyolan entitled “I See, You See, We all see The O.C.”. (Here’s a link to some of the articles) Probably, and sadly, some of my better writings, it was a weekly piece critiquing, reviewing and commentating on the previous week’s episode of “The O.C”.
At the time, the show had hit season three, and while still popular in the teen and 18-24 crowd, its audience and quality, for that matter, had begun declining. I was still watching it, though, still dedicated to the hijinxs of those spoiled kids from Orange County, having been tragically roped in during the incredible season one and unable to separate myself from it in the ensuing years.
Before I continue, I should note, I am a huge fan of the teenage dramas from Fox and The WB of the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Dawson’s Creek” is easily our generation’s “Beverly Hills 90210”. With its racier content, “The O.C.” would complete this SAT analogy to make it our generation’s “Melrose Place”. “Smallville” probably fits in there somewhere, too, as does “One Tree Hill” (which admittedly is the one program of the genre that I never quite accepted. I blame Chad Michael Murray.)
This past weekend, I revisited one of the greatest seasons of recent television with a DVD marathon of “The O.C.” season one (the only better, in my opinion, being season one of “Friday Night Lights” and “Lost”).
Watching it, you realize why the show fell off so dramatically in the later seasons. All the elements of the show that made it so enjoyable and gripping that first season had been diluted or completely missing through the later seasons.
Some observations:
1. The violence. Ryan, the kid from Chino, brought spunk (apparently, I found out this week, that “spunk” also means male ejaculate…wasn’t aware of this, and not what I am insinuating here…just wanted to point that out) and an unfettered temper to Orange County. In the early episodes he seemed to punch people for really no particular reason at all. It made for a type of tourettes fueled excitement. By season two, Ryan was a poon and we were back to watching kids over analyze their lives (ala Dawson’s Creek). Typically, this wouldn’t be bad, but we don’t like these characters for their analytical skills, we like them for their sexually charged violence and shenanigans. It’s like when Michael Jordan stopped playing basketball and switched to baseball. Sure, you watched him play because he’s Michael Jordan, but it wasn’t what you loved him for and hence it wasn’t the same. It didn’t have the same affect.
2. The sex. It might be nothing compared to today’s television, but even re-watching the DVDs this weekend I felt it pretty racy. It wasn’t so much that the main characters were having a lot of sex (evidently since the writers tried to make us believe that Ryan and Marissa waited until a “very special episode” in season three to dance the horizontal tango), but the show effectively created an sexually charged atmosphere of teenage debauchery. The faceless grinding and semi-nakedness prevalent in every party scene throughout the first season created a juicy setting for all of the rumblings.
3. The supporting characters. I suppose in every show characters need to cover some sort of character arc or growth or else viewers will complain nothing changes. I think that is true of main characters, but not so much the supporting cast. Unfortunately in this growth we lose some of the best elements of some of the best characters. Julie Cooper is a marvel in season one. I am hard pressed to think of a character so unequivocally hated than Julie Cooper in recent television memory. She was so consistent, so steadfast. There is not a scene she is in that doesn’t end with my wanting to utter “what a bitch.” I think that says something. In the later seasons, as they pushed her farther and farther into absurdity, and eventually try to redeemer her, she loses that specialness. You kind of want to always just hate her. Luke is another character that sadly got his story line wrapped up and then subsequently written of the show. That’s a shame.
4. The humor. Throwaway lines from Seth, Summer and Sandy (the three “s”) were irreverent and funny. They felt like normal things people would say, not scripted television, which is impressive because lest us not forget “real” normal conversation in the titillating real life knock-offs of “The O.C.” in MTV’s “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills”. (Side note…here is a funny clip from James Franco and Mila Kunis who show how much leniency we provide reality shows and their dialog by acting out some of the dialog. It is funny, in its sadness. Here is the link). The writing that first season was quick, smart and original. Sadly, the later seasons lost some of that.
I suppose I am just reminiscing. But, despite the terrible seasons that would follow, you cannot take away or remove the incredible 27 episodes (!!! that’s a lot more than usual) of the first season of “The O.C.”