The OC Season 2 Episode 15: Children of the Porn

Previously: Season 2 Episode 13



Fairly good episode, methought. The show runs much, much, much, much, much, much smoother without most of the new characters. I wanted to like Lindsay, but the writers simply didn't give her enough. Marissa's relationship with the last remaining newbie Alex seems to be falling apart now, which should make for good melodrama in the coming weeks (the preview for the next ep has Alex yelling "Get off my girlfriend!" to Ryan). There is a new character, Billy Campbell's magazine editor, but we'll see where they go with him.

Anyway, not terribly exciting but I think it solved some of the issues mentioned in this TVGasm post, i.e. having kids do kid things and not letting storylines happen in vacuums.

• Everytime I wanted to say something to the TV, the writers had an answer. Cases in point:
  1. In the opening scene where Seth is blabbing on and on when all Ryan wants to do is wallow in his bed, Ryan and I were pretty much on cue when he said "Shut up, Seth!"
     
  2. When Ryan and Seth were crawling through the ventilation ducts, I was about to complain about how they're not built to withstand anything heavier than air, including a scrawny teenager, Seth falls through.
     
  3. You never, ever, ever ever ever hold your mug while someone else refills. And whaddayaknow, Kirsten pulls her mug and Sandy spills the coffee.
  
  
• Yes, Julie Cooper appeared in "The Porn Identity". Which begs the question - aren't they a little off with the time? The Bourne Identity came out in 2002 so the porn version had to come after 2002, but Julie filmed it before Marissa was born so it had to be in the 80s. In which case, it had to be a spoof of the book, but as cultured as the porn industry may be, they don't spoof books, do they? I'm pretty sure they didn't come out with a "A Heartbreaking Work of A Staggering Penis" or a "Me Fuck Pretty One Day", no matter how popular those books were.
  


• Why am I analyzing the historical accuracy of a fictitious porno flick on a teen melodrama? Oh, that's right, I'm a total dork.


• The storyline with Kirsten's ring - I thought it was a bit contrived at first, but it worked out pretty well, I think. Especially with Caleb and Sandford doing some male bonding. Good to see the Cohens back to being the Cohens.


• I was hoping to hear more from the Beck album. I'd already heard that song, ya know. And the Star Wars Episode 3 trailer? Eh. It's nice, but it didn't have me doing backflips on my bed. I've never been a SW fan. I was more impressed with the Sin City trailer to be honest.


• I'm not a big fan of the Marissa-Alex union, but it's kinda fun to see how domesticity is taking all the fire out of the relationship.


• Now, the bad news is that Ryan and Marissa are now on their way to relationshipdom. There's no chemistry there. Or maybe it just seems that way because Summer and Seth are just oozing with the gooey stuff.


• Speaking of Seth and Summer, good to hear them mention Anna. There's one supporting character whom I miss. I want to see her back on the show, but I guess the third wheel thing would get old pretty fast. And speaking of absent characters, Julie referred to her "two daughters" again. Don't they even visit her at the boarding school? Does she not get breaks? Is "boarding school" an euphemism for "juvey"? Or are they slowly setting up the Kaitlyn spinoff? Could I ask any more questions with no answers?


• I know people get tired of the metareality, but using The Valley DVD to fool the mall security guards was a nice touch. The key with meta is to not overdo it.


• But really, worst mall security ever.


• Coke with lime - stupid. Why can't people carry lime wedges around with them?

C'est todo, folks. Have a good weekend, say hi to people and drive safe.