The O.C.

The O.C. (O.C. stands for Orange County, California) is an American television dramedy/soap opera program broadcast on the Fox Network.

Notable Plots

Season 1

The OC Episode Guide

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The first season ran from August 2003 - May 2004. It comprised 27 episodes, including a seven-episode "season zero" that ran in the summer of 2003, several months before the next twenty. Notable plots included:

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• Ryan's introduction and integration by Sandy into Orange County society, and his growing relationship with Marissa Cooper.
• The destruction of Marissa's relationship with her boyfriend Luke, and his subsequent change in personality.
• Seth's love for Marissa's best friend, Summer Roberts, becoming a strange relationship.
• The marriage breakdown of Marissa's parents, Jimmy and Julie, as his business fraud was made public.
• Sandy's jealousy over Kirsten and Jimmy's old relationship.
• Sandy's changing of jobs from public defender to private attorney, which soon saw him disillusioned with the industry.
• Sandy and Jimmy eventually going into business with a restaurant, only to be bought out by Caleb.
• Ryan dealing with the manipulative Oliver, who tried to take Marissa away.
• Caleb's manipulations and dirty business deals.
• Marissa dealing with a substance abuse problem of drinking and drugs.
• Seth having to choose between Summer and his good friend Anna.
• Julie's short-lived relationship with Luke, and her subsequent engagement to Caleb (which many suspected was simply for money).
• Ryan's ex-girlfriend and good friend Theresa, from Chino, who came to stay for a while and whose abusive fiancee Eddie forced her to flee.
• Sandy's overbearing mother, Sophie, (nicknamed 'the Nana') coming to stay and announcing that she was dying of cancer.
• Luke's discovery of his father's homosexuality and eventual moving away from Orange County (and the series).
• Kirsten's outgoing and spoiled younger sister Hailey, notorious for not doing anything with her life, coming to stay and developing a relationship with Jimmy.

In the season finale, many events came to a head: Caleb and Julie were married in a surprisingly uneventful ceremony; however Caleb later revealed to Sandy that he was on the verge of bankruptcy. Marissa moved in with Julie and Caleb, but had redeveloped her drinking problem. Jimmy and Sandy's restaurant seemed likely never to open. Seth and Summer had problems after her father did not take a liking to him. Ryan discovered Theresa was pregnant, possibly by him, and decided to move back to Chino to support her. Most of all, Seth ran away on the Summer Breeze, his sailboat, distraught by Ryan's departure.

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Season 2

The second season, November 2004 - May 2005, contained 24 episodes and once again ended with a cliffhanger. Notable plots included:

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• Theresa lying to Ryan, telling him that she had a miscarriage.
• Seth's refusal to leave Portland, Oregon where he was staying with Luke and his father after running away in the season one finale.
• Seth and Ryan's eventual return to Newport Beach.
• The introduction of two new boyfriends, Summer's Zach, a "WASP version of Seth", and Marissa's D.J., her family's yard worker (who breaks up with her after realizing that they were together to anger Julie)
• Ryan's relationship with Lindsay, fellow student at Harbor High School on an academic scholarship, which complicates under the realization that Lindsay is actually Seth's aunt.
• Caleb's arrest on bribery and related charges, ending with his acquittal after former employee, Renee Wheeler, testifies about their past affair.
• Caleb's resignation as CEO of the Newport Group, and corresponding appointment of Julie as CEO and Kirsten as CFO.
• The introduction of Alexandria 'Alex' Kelly, a 17-year-old who works at The Bait Shop nightclub with Seth, and both of them having an ensuing relationship.
• The discovery of Caleb's affair with Renee Wheeler, with whom he has a child, Lindsay, and attempts to develop a relationship with, culminating in his offer to adopt her.
• Jimmy Cooper's affair with Julie, who leaves for Maui after realizing that she and Caleb should try their marriage.
• Julie's ego-driven project of "Newport Living", a lifestyle magazine.
• Zach, Seth (and Summer) creating a comic book (and then graphic novel) based on the lives of their friends.
• Alex having a passionate, but short-lived, relationship with Marissa, and her low-key departure from Newport Beach.
• Caleb suffering a minor heart attack, and his subsequent desire to become more-family oriented.
• The arrival and departure of Rebecca Bloom, Sandy's previous flame, wanting to clear her name for a crime that occurred years ago (and the death of her father, Sandy's mentor).
• Lindsay being confirmed by a DNA test to be Caleb's daughter, only to leave for Chicago with her mother.
• Summer breaking up with Zach after realizing she still had feelings for Seth, with whom she gets back together.
• The arrival and departure of Lance Baldwin, a man from Julie Cooper's past, who blackmails Julie with an 80's pornographic videotape (The Porn Identity) starring herself and Lance, which debuted at the Newport Living launch.
• The arrival and departure of Carter Buckley, the new magazine editor for Newport Living, and his sexual tension with Kirsten.
• Trey Atwood's release from jail, temporary lodge with the Cohens, and move into Alex's old apartment.
• Trey's arrest (and subsequent acquittal) on charges related to a local bad girl, Jess, overdosing on drugs and nearly drowning at his 21st birthday party, with whom he begins to have a sexual relationship.
• The deterioration of Caleb and Julie's marriage, and his threats to divorce her.
• Trey (while under the influence of drugs) attempting to rape Marissa.
• Kirsten's addiction to alcohol and consequential car crash.
• Seth meeting George Lucas and Zach taking Summer to the prom, which eventually switches as Zach meets Lucas and Seth goes after Summer.
• Caleb's death from a heart attack.

The Season Finale opens with Caleb's funeral, for which Hailey and Jimmy return. After Kirsten gets drunk yet again, Sandy decides to send her to a rehabilitation clinic. Initially unwilling to go, Kirsten is convinced by her family. Jess and Trey become involved in a drug deal at the Bait Shop. Ryan finds out about Trey's attempted rape of Marissa, and confronts him. They fight, and Marissa arrives as Trey is in the process of strangling Ryan. She shoots Trey in the back, and it is unsure if he lives or dies (though it is revealed in the third season that he fell into a coma).

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Season 3

Season 3, 2005-2006, premiered on September 8, 2005. Notable plots include:

Related Topics:
September 8 - 2005

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• Kirsten meeting Charlotte Morgan, who shares a lot of the same traits that she does, and her refusal to go back to her family from rehab when she qualifies for it because she worries she might go back to drinking.
• Trey awaking from his coma, only to take a greyhound bus en route to Las Vegas.
• Julie, in an effort to salvage the image of her family, bribes Trey with $20,000 in exchange for his indicting Ryan as the shooter. Marissa and Sandy find out about the bribe, Trey rescinds his confession, and Ryan is freed from jail.
• The kids entering their senior year in high school, Ryan and Marissa are threatened with expulsion from Harbor. The school board eventually decides to expel Marissa but not Ryan. However, Ryan physically assaults Dean Hess after he grabs Marissa violently, resulting in his expulsion.
• Kirsten leaving for Lake Arrowhead with Charlotte due to her worries about alcohol relapse only to find out that she brought her along so that Charlotte could deal with her alcoholism.
• The introduction of Taylor Townsend, Summer's rival, the two of whom fight over the social chair position.
• Jimmy getting engaged for a second time to Julie and also getting in too deep with a mafioso, named Don, who is after him for money. Jimmy eventually fails to pay back the money and as a result, he is severely beaten by Don and his Mafia cronies. As a result of the contents of Caleb's will, Julie and Jimmy's plans to move to Hawaii are instantly quashed as Jimmy once again leaves and quite possibly for good.
• Sandy and Julie requesting that Ryan and Marissa do not see each other until they can re-establish themselves.
• The mean-spirited Dean Hess now going after Ryan and Marissa's friends. First, he blackmails Summer and Seth with expulsion unless they join a drama club that is headed by Summer's arch-rival Taylor Townsend. Seth eventually is given two months of detention for "borrowing" a theater set and refusing to rat on Summer. Eventually Summer tells the Dean the truth after hearing a story from Taylor that involved Seth being suspended. It turns out the story is completely false and in turn causes Summer to lose the Social Chair position. Taylor then takes complete credit for the school dance that was organized by Summer. Summer then finds out that the Dean is having an affair with Taylor and that the two of them have been working to kick out Summer and Seth.
• Sandy taking over control of the Newport Group as the contents of Caleb Nichol's will is read, detailing that he was flat broke when he died. His will also contains a letter addressed to Kirsten that he wrote on the day he died. Kirsten's letter from Caleb's will later turns out to be an apology for all the grief that he caused her, she returns home to the Cohen Mansion in Newport Beach. As a result of Caleb's monetary situation, Julie & Marissa are evicted from the mansion and Kirsten decides to liquidate the company. Julie officially hits rock bottom as she is forced to live out of a low-rent motel room.
• Charlotte leaving for Newport after she finds out she's close to being evicted from her lake house.
• Charlotte turning out to be a con-artist who faked her alcohol addiction so that she could steal money from someone who was weak at the clinic, this leads her trying to con Kirsten into investing money into the lake house which leads Kirsten into re-thinking her decision about selling the Newport Group.
• Marissa being forced to go to public school and meeting a girl named Casey which leads her to meet her boyfriend Johnny Harper and his friend Chili who is infatuated with Marissa. As a result, Ryan starts to feel that he no longer a part of Marissa's life anymore, although by the end the problem is resolved.