WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE CHRISMUKKAH: I've been waiting to offer my thoughts on the cancellation of The O.C. until I finished catching up on the final episodes of 2006 (aka "The Slutty Alien Stole My Pregnancy Test!" and "Woof Woof! We're Getting Married!?"). Having now done so, my verdict doesn't much differ from others who have opined on the subject (incidentally, how meta-fantastic is it that I am linking to an article that extensively quotes Our Favorite TV Writer Alan Sepinwall as an authority?): the show is going out on a superbly high note. But I would like to offer my own thoughts on the good, the meh, and the outright annoying.
The Good: The (non-dead) Ladies Cooper. Julie Cooper's character has come a long way since season one's dragon mama getting booty calls from her daughter's boyfriend. Julie has become a fabulously complex character, reminding me of a heavily madeup Michael Corleone -- always getting dragged back into the muck despite her best efforts. As for Kaitlin Cooper, from the minute Willa Holland was cast, I was impressed at how well they'd done at finding a physically appropriate younger sibling for Marissa (unlike the original Kaitlin actress), but waited to see how the acting would hold up. The terminally weak season 3 had too much Marissa/Kaitlin sister-warring to be any fun, but this season has been another matter entirely. In fact, the show has done something affirmatively innovative with the character: they've given her a brain. And that's a worthy daughter for Julie Cooper.
The Meh: The Ryan/Taylor relationship. Yes, props to whoever decided that Ryan should learn to crack a smile this season and that Taylor should become a central character. I love both characters (Taylor's riffs on her sexual encounters with Henri-Michel could possibly not be any funnier), but just don't buy them as a couple. Not for a minute.
The Outright Annoying: Seth Cohen. Seth Cohen. And once again, Seth Cohen. Recognizing that I may offend one of the show's remaining 47 devoted viewers, I would like to posit that Seth Cohen has become all but unwatchable. Back in season one, Seth was the vanguard of the richly deserved new nerd chic trend. He was emotionally clumsy while also verbally agile; he was sweet and sardonic and clueless and possessed of a rapier wit capable of skewering anything and anyone, most of all himself. But now -- four years, one true friend, and one fabulous girlfriend* later -- Seth has lost his inner sweetness and insecurity. Now he's just immature, self-centered, and annoying. The number of plotlines that can be summarized as "Seth, thinking of no one but himself, sets off a chain reaction of unfortunate events" is just way too high. (Seth can't bring himself to tell anyone that he didn't get into Brown! Seth invites himself along for Ryan and Taylor's romantic Vegas New Year's Eve!) Yawn. I'm over you, Ironist.
*I don't mean to leave my affection for Summer Roberts (and, for that matter, Sandy Cooper) unmentioned -- they've just been consistently fun throughout the show's run and thus there's nothing to say. Except that I love a girl who names a rabbit "Pancakes."
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