Right Back Where We Started From

WARNING: Explicit OC Content To Follow

I was just going to write an individual letter to KiKi or Zach, telling them how happy I am about the decisions their characters made in last night’s episode, but I realize that’s not fair to the rest of the cast of The OC, which for the last month has been right back where it started from: Being a weekly event you can enjoy.

Everything people were throwing out there needed to be done is being incorporated. There’s no other kids on the show the same age as our main characters, and they never interact with them? Fine, how about going back to the early days of the show, some crazy parties, a little cocaine and an ecstasy deal? (I love how that when the police cars pulled up on the beach – and then Trey laid out the dealer with his door – that no one up at the house bothered to scatter. They just kept partying. I like that.) Tired of cameo appearances by bands with on reason? Okay, well they can work a band, Death Cab For Cutie, that Seth has mentioned before, and involve it in the conflict with he and Summer.

Zach’s too much of a wuss and isn’t interesting? Oh, well then, let’s have Zach go crazy, scheming evil, using his charm and people skills to attempt to get Summer back – or at least break her and Seth up. The way he coaxed Seth into taking Summer to the party, then conveniently decided to leave just when they were getting into a huge fight was absolutely brilliant. And Christina will back me up that his facial expression when asked what he was doing was absolutely priceless – innocent evil at it’s finest. For all of you people angry with the Senator’s son, remember, Seth stole Summer from him after abandoning her. I’m rooting for Zach in this one, just because I know it won’t work out and it’s making for good television.

I’m not thrilled that Ryan and Marissa are getting back together, just because I find the young Miss Cooper much less interesting than her mother or any other woman on the show, but if you throw Trey in there, things get interesting. You can’t blame Trey for being interested in his brother’s woman, if only because she’s the first person to show legitimate compassion for him no matter what he was doing. I can’t explain how much Trey brought to this show, as it turned around as soon as he showed up. It was risky, like the Pistons trading for Rasheed Wallace in the middle of last season and threatening their team chemistry, but just like ‘Sheed kept the craziness in control and helped win the championship, Trey has brought a character who not only is new to the entire rich scene and has some character depth, but a character who we can actually care about.

Obviously, anything involving Sandy Cohen is good, and getting him out of the stupid Rebecca storyline saved the show a lot of grief on it’s own. He’s got an exciting new rival/ally in Carter, who would be as fun and virtuous as Sandy if he didn’t have “Creepy Beard” in place of “Thick, Classy Eyebrows”. Kirsten shooting him down once doesn’t necessarily mean their forbidden dance is over, and she is responsible for screwing up one potential relationship for him, but we all know she and Sandy can never break up, for the moral backbone of The OC, nay, all of television, would be destroyed.

The only way The OC could get better for their final four episodes (two of which, sadly, I won’t be here for), is if Anna, Luke or Jimmy Cooper make a guest appearance. They’re firing on all cylinders on Thursday night, and if for some reason you didn’t see any of the past month – starting with Trey’s return and the porno saga – let me know and the amazing downloading talents I’m surrounded with will secure it for you.

As Tommy said last night when the familiar Phantom Planet piano chords kicked in last night “You know, this theme never gets old.” As of right now, neither is The OC, and that’s a very good thing.