A campus normally abuzz with commotion and activity seemed to turn desolate last Thursday night at 8:00. How to explain this sudden collective calm? Only one answer comes to mind: the third season of Fox's "The OC" was about to begin. That's right, another year of adultery, drug addiction, violence at black tie events, and hot twenty-somethings playing teenagers is already captivating audiences everywhere. And for those few of you who may have missed it, here is a comprehensive update on the latest drama in Orange County.
The show begins with flashbacks to the night Trey (Bradley Stryker), Ryan's (Benjamin McKenzie) delinquent older brother, was sent to the hospital with gunshot wounds, courtesy of Ryan's girlfriend, Marissa. (Ryan, for any "OC" virgins, is the show's resident bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks who, try as he might, can never seem to stay out of trouble.)
Next, we see almost the exact scene that started last year's season. The impossibly beautiful Marissa and Summer (Rachel Bilson) lie on pool chairs next to a very large house wearing very small bathing suits. (There seem to be endless opportunities to wear tiny pieces of swimwear year-round in the OC.) Marissa, played by Mischa Barton (quite possibly the worst actress on television), laments over the rocky way her senior year seems to be starting. That's what happens when you shoot your boyfriend's brother.
Meanwhile, Julie Cooper-Nichol (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's meddling and deceptive mother, fears that colleges won't look kindly on a history of attempted murder in a prospective student. So what would any concerned mother do? Clearly, blackmail the recently comatose Trey into testifying that it was not Marissa, but his own brother, Ryan, who shot him in a fit of rage. That done, cops arrest Ryan and put him in the slammer after his failed attempt to flee Newport Beach on Marissa's father's yacht.
Now the group find themselves in a real pickle. With their friend wrongfully imprisoned, Seth (Adam Brody), Summer (Rachel Bilson), and Marissa (Mischa Barton) must find a way to free him. Their solution is to dress as candy stripers, sneak into the hospital, and confront Trey. This plan, while brilliant, forces Marissa to come face to face with her attempted rapist (Trey tried to rape Marissa towards the end of last season, the reason for all the brotherly fighting and Trey's subsequent shooting). Convincing gal that she is, Marissa successfully gets Trey to tell the truth to the police, acquitting Ryan of any blame.
And what of Seth Cohen's mother, the poor, alcoholic Kirsten whose drinking suddenly got wildly out of hand last season in a hurried effort to send her to rehab and advance the show's plotline? Here's a hint: her first line of the season opener goes, "I'm Kirsten, and I'm an alcoholic."
She then goes on to blame her recently deceased father for her feelings of inadequacy and subsequent use of alcohol to stifle those feelings. At the group therapy session, a blonde woman named Charlotte (played by Jeri Ryan of illustrious "Star Trek," and her sexually deviant ex-husband fame) voices similar problems, and the two women quickly bond over their shared experiences.
So what will happen next? The stage is set with a plethora of plotlines that need to be tied up over the course of the next 23 episodes. Kirsten's new rehab friend will undoubtedly do something horrible to her (the whole thing reeks of identity theft), and Sandy (Peter Gallagher), her adoring husband, will come to the rescue as usual.
Seth will continue to make witty remarks and toy with his on-again, off-again relationship with Summer. The repercussions of the gun incident still loom over Marissa and Ryan's heads, further straining their already uneasy relationship.
Julie's hopes of having a "normal family" will be dashed after the next traumatic event takes place, probably one for which she will be wholly responsible.
Whatever happens, though, admit it: if you weren't before, now you'll be one of those people holed up in your dorm watching the rest of the action this Thursday.
