TV Review: The OC - Episode 3.04

Thursday, September 29, 2005

How far the mighty will fall and how quickly! This week's episode of The OC titled "The Last Waltz" has Marissa dealing with her new school environment after being expelled by Dean Hess from Harbor. Since it turns out Caleb was as broke as could be, there is no more private school in Marissa's future. In fact, we soon find out that there will be no more home for the Coopers either. Due to the debts Caleb left, the house is sold, and Julie is given a little bit of time to get things together to move out.

Problem here is she has no money in order to go anywhere. She even goes to Sandy for a loan from The Newport Group. However, Kirsten has decided to sell the business. This means no loan for Julie. She plays it off for Sandy, but she is in serious trouble here. By the end of the episode, we see the bank come with a deputy and movers in order to remove her and everything in the house off the premises. Julie ends up a in a cheap motel crying into the scratchy comforter. While all this is happening, Marissa is staying with Summer.

Dealing with the loss of her home isn't all Marissa has to deal with in this episode. She is also now starting classes at Newport Union. Being the new girl is never easy, especially with it being senior and oh yeah ... the whole she shot and killed someone thing causes some problems. Marissa definitely has a name for herself, and that name follows her to her new school. This causes some problems, but Marissa does quickly make a few new friends at the school. A quick thought about the students she meets at Newport Union. Does anyone else think the three look like a season one set of the The OC foursome. We have the Ryan, Seth and Summer like characters with Marissa fitting right in with them.

Her new friends stick by her side even with some of the negative response Marissa is getting by attending the public school. Marissa is intent on fitting in at her new school, and this causes some new problems for Marissa and Ryan. He fears that he will lose her. When he calls or shows up at the school, he feels some sort of distance with Marissa. Marissa doesn't help this by lying to him about the school dance being held at Newport Union. Her friends show up to take her to the dance, but Ryan shows up just as they are about to pull away. She had told him her plan was to study that night. He tells her to go, but you can tell he isn't happy with the situation. He ever goes to the dance, but Seth stops him from going inside just before he is about to rush in. By the end of the night, all is well. Marissa is there when Ryan arrives back home, and the two share a moonlight dance by the side of the Cohen pool.

What about Summer and Seth? Last week, Seth and Summer helped borrow the tiki hut for a romantic night for their friends. Dean Hess catches Seth, but Seth doesn't give up Summer. However, Dean Hess has a pretty good idea Summer was Seth's partner in crime. This week, Taylor Townsend turns a new leaf and decides she wants to make new friends and help Summer planning Harbor's own school dance. However, something just isn't right here when Taylor goes to Summer and tells her that Seth is about to be suspended if he doesn't give up who helped him. Hearing this has Summer running to confess to Dean Hess. A move that loses her position as social chair. Her replacement: Taylor Townsend. Summer confronts the other girl, and we see that it was all a ploy to get Taylor the social chair position.

The night of the Harbor school dance, which coincides with the dance at Newport Union, Taylor takes all the credit for the school dance. A move that angers Summer, but Seth calms her down. While Seth is running off to help Ryan, he leaves Summer alone at the dance. While there, she makes a startling discovery, Dean Hess and Taylor are caught making out in one of the school's dark hallways. They don't know Summer saw them, but she did. I saw this coming a mile away. These two had some connection from the first episode they come in. An affair is an obvious connection.

We also figure out what is up with Charlotte in this episode. She is looking for money. She meets up with Kirsten for lunch at the yacht club, and immediately begins to tell her about a halfway house she wants to build in Sedona, Arizona. All she needs is some investors, and she wants Kirsten to come into the program from day one. However, Charlotte doesn't know that Kirsten has no funds since her father left her nothing due to his debts. This doesn't deter Charlotte, and she will continue to pursue Kirsten. She had gone so far to find a mark that she had entered the rehabilitation program only to find a rich victim to milk for money.

Okay, in my opinion this episode felt a bit weak. With the hiatus coming up you would think they would pack a real punch here. Most of the fans already had figured out something was up between Dean Hess and Taylor. Signs just screamed affair two episodes ago. Also the Charlotte story line is kind of obvious and weak. A total waste of a good actress in my opinion. I felt really bad for Julie the last two episodes. Which is weird to me because I usually want to smack her. Kirsten and Sandy are kind of ho hum boring in this episode. Once she returned home, one would have expected Kirsten to freak out once she found out everything that occurred over the summer, but she hasn't yet. Fans now have to wait until November 3rd after the Major League baseball play offs for the show to return.