Friday, January 05, 2007

The O.C.: You've got chutzpah. I hate chutzpah.

Spoilers for "The O.C." just as soon as I find my spare Torah scrolls...

Cancellation Salve Part 2: A very funny episode, particularly the Seth/Summer story. The bad way to go would have been for them to drag out their ambivalence for weeks, not having them tell anybody how they feel, and get increasingly pissy with each other. Instead, Ryan (not caught up in any major girlfriend drama right now) and Taylor (not a self-involved drama queen) trade notes, quickly rat Seth and Summer out to each other, and the story turns into a much sillier form of dysfunction. Favorite moment: Summer giving the Torah a violent shake after walking out of Taylor's room. (Close second: the Summer/Julie scene.)

The Frank/Ryan reunion plot was fine for the most part, though I'm still at a bit of a loss about how Frank has become so trusted by the Bullet in the six months he's been out of prison. Sorbo's also a little too smooth, particularly in the dinner scene. I get that he's turned his life around in the last eight years, but this felt like they pushed it further than they needed to so the faked illness would seem like a bigger sin. Also, Julie and Frank? No, please.

Willa Holland had to carry the Kaitlyn story, because the Very Special Guest Star (my ignorance of whom definitely puts me on the outer edges of the show's demo) brought absolutely nothing to the table. But it's a measure of my growing affection for the character (and/or Willa) that it still worked. With the end around the corner, all the Muppet Babies stories feel a little pointless, but I suppose we have to have one character still attending school somewhere.

Previews for next week look very promising. What'd everybody else think?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This episode felt a bit like they were spinning their wheels.

I'm glad we got to meet Ryan's dad, but that and most of the storylines really didn't go anywhere. And while I guess it's nice that they're acknowledging that Kaitlin is in school (at least SOMEONE on the show is) I thought that whole storyline seemed a bit Saved by the Bell-ish. And with so few episodes left, I think that if they're going to focus on her at all it should be on her interactions with people we already know and not with random newbies. I guess it's nice that a black person has managed to make it to The O.C., though.

Highlight of the episode by far was the scene with Summer and Julie in the kitchen. Especially the chutzpah exchange.

Anonymous said...

My problem with this arc has been the casting of Kevin Sorbo as Frank. As glad as I am to have finally met Atwood Sr., I've always pictured him to be slightly seedier looking, not...Hercules. I never thought that they'd go for straight stunt casting with Frank, but with this being the last hurrah, I guess they decided to pull out all of the stops. I thought that Daphne Ashbrook was well cast as Dawn, and I can't really picture her being married to this guy.

Re: "Apprentice" review-- Oh, do I love that you called Donald Trump a blowhard. The guys at the Bergen Record have got nothing on you!

Anonymous said...

Another great episode. Show will be missed :(