I remember watching this episode when it originally aired (which actually was few days after V-Day) and being so POed and disappointed that Ryan wasn’t just ready and willing to get back with Marissa after the Oliver debacle. I remember my mom explaining to my 16-and-a-half-year-old self that Ryan’s trust and faith had been betrayed and that’s not an easy thing to get over. But lucky for me I’m a sucker for episodes where someone is broken-hearted. And lucky for us we get some comic relief when Seth and Summer’s romance finally comes to climax (no pun intended, I swear!). At the end, he sweeps her off her feet and it feels like we’re swept off ours, too.
Unlike the Chrismukkah episodes, where all four eps are must-mentions, I can’t say the same for the show’s take on Valentine’s Day. The V-Day episodes in seasons 2 and 3 are mediocre and the holiday doesn’t even get a mention in season 4. (See correction in comments.)
And thus we move on tomorrow to One Tree Hill, where it gets even more disappointing…
It’s impossible to look at holiday shows on The O.C. and not include (almost) every one. So sit tight because that’s what I’ll be doing here. We begin in season one where the idea of Chrismukkah is first introduced. Seth explains that with his Jewish dad and WASPy mom, he created the holiday to get the best of both worlds. Ryan has trouble embracing the holiday when he is reminded of his horrible years growing up (via a drunk Marissa) and Seth receives presents from both Summer and Anna, after which they ask him to choose which girl he wants to be with. A pivotal episode for both that triangle and because it sets up the Chrismukkah tradition.
2. Episode 1.14, The Countdown
Like in the real world, the very next week brings New Year’s Eve. Seth plans to stay home so he can avoid the Anna-Summer issue and Ryan is thrown for a loop when Marissa says she loves him and introduces a new friend, Oliver. Sandy and Kirsten end up at a swingers party where temptation just ends up reaffirming their love for each other. The episode culminates in Ryan’s mad dash to kiss Marissa at midnight–and tell her he loves her, making one of The O.C.’s most memorable endings.
3. Episode 2.6, The Chrismukkuh That Almost Wasn’t
It’s a year later and Ryan isn’t with Marissa and Seth isn’t with Anna (or Summer). Seth’s Chrismukkuh dinner gets bigger and bigger with plans for the Cooper-Nichols to attend, plus Marissa, Summer and Ryan’s newish girlfriend, Lindsay. Lindsay’s enthusiasm surprises Ryan, who worries what will happen when a long-hidden truth is revealed: Caleb is her father. When the truth comes out and major drama ensues, Seth thinks they should cancel the holiday–until Summer comes to the rescue. I’ve never been a Lindsay fan but she deserves credit for creating a Chrismukkah prop: the Yamuclaus
4. Episode 3.10, The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah
Though Ryan & Marissa and Seth & Summer are all back together, this year’s Chrismukkah doesn’t seem to be shaping up any better than season two’s. Marissa is preoccupied by a hurt Johnny and Kirsten is sad that it’s her first Chrismakkuh without her dad (despite last year’s drama between them) and her last with Seth and Ryan still in high school. The episode is a win for me because the Judaism factor is at a higher level with the incorporation of both Seth and Ryan’s Bar Mitzvahs. We see Seth’s via flashback, adding a layer of goodness to his lifelong love of Summer, and we see the gang come together to give Ryan one (though it’s real purpose is to raise money for Johnny’s surgery).
5. Episode 4.7, The Chrismukk-huh?
We know I’m a sucker for flashbacks and, by extension, alternate universes, which makes this quite possibly my favorite of all the Chrismukkahs. Ryan and Taylor’s accident turns Newport on its head, looking at what might’ve happened if Ryan never existed. While most of it involves some comedic pairings, like Summer & Che and Sandy & Julie (plus Che & Julie), there’s also a surprising emotional component: Taylor finds out that, in this world, Marissa may be alive. The possibility prevents Ryan from wanting to return to the real world but he ends up losing her all over again when he learns that Marissa never survived her drug overdose several years back since he was never there to rescue her. Intelligent viewers knew there was no chance of Marissa/Mischa Barton coming back but the writing and editing sucked us in anyway, getting our hopes up and our hearts broken.
Tomorrow we look at another alternate holiday universe, this time on One Tree Hill.
RELEVANT QUESTIONS–DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!!!
Candy in Hawaii: Will Jenny get her knight in shining Armani? I’ve waited so long for Nate and Jenny to happen! Please, please tell me they will be a couple. I want them as my Christmas present!
Here’s what I can tell you. According to my source: “Jenny definitely will try to steal Nate away” later this season, after Nate and Serena are more of a solidified couple. However, in what has been written so far, I’m told “Nate is resisting.” That said, it certainly seems as though Jenny has fully embraced the dark side of her Machiavellian ways (will she be worse than Blair ever was?) because according to my mole, the whole Nate stealing is “going to be pretty underhanded by Jenny. Serena won’t really suspect it for a bit.” So let me get this straight: Little J has screwed over her stepbrother/former BFF and now her stepsister too?! Talk about a character 180 from the first season! Do we have a new Big Bad on the Upper East Side? Are producers trying to make us not like her? Thoughts?
Marlene in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.: Some Gossip Girl news please! Anything big coming up? Deaths? Hookups? Marriages?
Dorota is getting married! Pretty sweet, no? And now that two people very close to Blair have gotten hitched lately (first mom, now Dorota), she has to be next right? OK, probably not. But a girl can dream.
Amanda in Miami: Anything on Jack Bass? Why is he back on Gossip Girl? Is he gonna mess up with Chuckles?
And how. From what I understand, Jack Bass will bring the news to Chuck that his mother is alive. But that may or may not be true. I personally hope it is and would love to meet the mother of Mother Chucker. You!? Who are we thinking could play her? Oooh, what if she turns out to be “The Man,” aka Lena Olin? Please, Santie [Josh] Schwartz, father of Chrismukkah! Make it happen.
Megan in Knoxville, Tenn.: I read somewhere, more then likely here, that when One Tree Hill starts back in January, Haley’s sister Taylor comes back and brings someone from past episodes with her. If this is true, any clues you can give as to who it is? Lucas? Peyton? Thanks!
Yep, that was here, and it is none of those characters but it is a boy. My source doesn’t want me to say who yet, but it’s someone’s ex, and it’s not a major character like Lucas or Peyton. I’ll reveal it when this muzzle comes off!
Canyon News calls 90210 a “guilty pleasure that delivers.” This piece actually made me wonder if I’ve been too hard on the show this year.
Jessica Lowndes (Adrianna, 90210) is made TVGuide.com’s Best Performances of the Year list, though the description they gave isn’t quite accurate.
Arrested Development, starring Jessica Walters (Tabitha, 90210) and Freaks and Geeks, starring Busy Philipps (Audrey, Dawson’s Creek) are among TVGuide.com’s picks for Best Shows of the Decade.
It figures: when I move away from Chicago, Peter Gallagher (Sandy, The O.C.) starts doing solo-shows there. Darn! (I did pass him on my campus once but realized too late that it was him!)
One of the tabloids has a short piece on a “Dawson’s Creek love curse.” (See image 7.) Notably and conveniently absent is Joshua Jackson (Pacey) since he happens to be in a committed relationship.
HAVE A COOL CHRISMUKKAH! Remember when broody city hood Ryan first went to live with the cushy ‘burban Cohens on “The O.C.” ( TODAY 4 p.m. EST, SOAPnet)? Who knew how much we’d end up loving nerdy Seth and hating drippy Marissa? Flash back to August 2003 with the “O.C.” pilot, then savor the suds from beginning to end on SOAPnet subsequent weekdays at 3 and 4 p.m. Keep obsessing at soapnet.com/oc.
TeenDramaWhore 