The OC Season 2 Episode 24: The Revenge of the Seth

Previously: Season 2 Episode 23

TWoP recap

Thighmaster's review

Like much of Season 2, the season finale of The OC was uneven. Some highlights, like Jimmy telling Hailie, "You would not believe the North Shore" and Seth quipping "The way things have been going, I bet that's Oliver."

But this season finale was nowhere close to the quality of the last one, which had some drama. Last year, Ryan had to decide whether to stay with the Cohens or help Teresa raise the baby that may or may not be his. Seth was faced with losing the first real friend he ever had. And even though we knew both Ryan and Seth would be back in Newport by episode 2, I gave a fuck. Seth sailing away, Ryan driving away and Marissa drinking away, set to Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" was a fantastic way to end the season.

This season's ending? The Trey and Jess thing just felt contrived and patched together. And really, I don't care whether Trey survives or not, and I'm not all that concerned about whatever legal bind Ryan and/or Marissa might get into.

I mean, I'll still watch next season but I won't be spending my summer how they'll resolve the cliff hanger.

In the end, I realized how much the show missed Jimmy for the latter part of the season. His character added much needed levity to situations that often got too heavy with all the self absorption and self pity flying around Newport Beach.

A few more notes:

Where was Lindsay, Caleb's redheaded bastard daughter? Did the Cohens forget to call her? Doesn't Southwest fly from Chicago to John Wayne? Was Shannon Lucio too busy making another CBS movie of the week?

When was the last time your intervention ended in a group hug? That's so TV. The interventions I'm involved in invariably end up with me storming out and having to be carried out of the bar after I've passed out. And we know Kirsten's going to be hitting the bottle again next season.

And what happened to Marissa's alcoholism? Is alcohol dependency zero sum in The OC?

The Bravery suck an unbelievable amount of ass. Wow.

Another Star Wars video game product placement, which provides a somewhat awkward segue to...

Man, I could not be any more apathetic about Star Wars. No, this isn't my attempt to be totally indie above-it-all or de-nerdify myself. It's just that I didn't grow up with it and I don't think I could ever get full enjoyment out of the franchise if I tried.

I'm old enough (and young enough) to be part of the Star Wars generation. Pretty much all my classmates owned or still own action figures and liberally quote lines from the original trilogy - which is precisely the problem. You see, growing up in Japan, yeah, they showed the movies but they were never the cultural phenomenon that they were Stateside. Plus, my parents shielded me from most types of pop culture.

Fast forward to me, 13 years old in North Carolina. My friends showed me the movies but they never held my attention. It didn't help that everyone else in the room knew every line, and I'd already heard references to Luke and Leia being brother and sister, etc etc.

It just feels like hearing a joke when I've heard the punchline over and over. At the same time, I don't have enough grasp of the Star Wars mythology to really "get" the new Trilogy. So no, I got nothing against George Lucas or people who dress up like storm troopers.

Space Balls? Now, there's a movie I can get into.