TV Review: The O.C. Episode 3.16

Thursday, March 09, 2006

From FOX: Summer asks Julie and Kirsten to find a woman for her father. Julie is not so sure she is the woman for Dr. Roberts anymore. Ryan helps Sadie find her uncle Jack, a man who seems to often have troubles with the law, because he owes money to someone and Sadie wants to collect. Marissa is yet again involved in another police investigation. Sandy is by her side.

My Rating: 2 out 4

The O.C. returns to FOX tonight after a month long American Idol induced hiatus with an episode titled The Road Warrior. I was glad to see the series back, but I felt this episode definitely fell a bit short of its usual flair. That isn't unusual though because this series has been having problems this entire season. Tonight was really only a continuance of those issues. However, a couple of the story lines or the lack of story lines does have me raising an eyebrow here. Let's talk about tonight's episode.

The main story line of tonight's episode revolved around Ryan and Sadie. The two are becoming close while Ryan helps Sadie with things surrounding Johnny's death. He is spending so much time with Sadie that he is spending little to no time with Marissa. The two have been having problems since before Johnny slipped off the cliff. Sadie tells Ryan that they are about to foreclose on the home that Johnny's mother owns.

With the cause of Johnny's death still being debated by the police, the insurance claim is up in the air. Sadie decides to pursue Johnny's father Jack for back child support so that her aunt doesn't lose her home. This sets the pair on a road trip, first to Brea and then to Indio where Johnny's father has moved to. They find him easily enough by looking in the yellow pages. Sadie sees his name on an ad for a bail bondsman, which is a bit of luck if you ask me.

They do find him, and Jack isn't too receptive to Sadie coming to him. Things get ugly, and Ryan ends up with a few bruises. Sadie and he leave, but once Sadie tells him a bit more about Jack he goes back. This time he leaves with money in hand. While these two are on this little road trip, they definitely bond, even playing a little game of strip poker during their night in a desert motel room. Things continue to heat up between these two it appears next week.

The secondary story line of this episode revolved around Summer's dad. Summer thinks he needs a new woman in his life, so she decides to go to Julie and Kirsten for help in the match making department. What she doesn't know is that he's already found a woman, Julie Cooper. The couple have decided to keep their relationship secret from their daughters. However, the secret isn't under wraps for long when Taylor ends up seeing the two out in what she calls an 'illicit liaison' which honestly was nothing more than dinner and some risque conversation. Small stuff really when it comes to Julie Cooper. Taylor tells Seth, and they both tell Summer. The younger couple goes to the site of Julie and Neil's next date, and the secret is definitely out then. Julie and Neil just don't know it yet.

Marissa has more troubles than just Ryan and her relationship troubles. The police are questioning the cause of Johnny's death, and they are looking straight at her. They want to question her, but she goes to Sandy for help. He then is with her during questioning, and it looks like the matter is quickly handled. This story line really confused me. I am not sure why Marissa would be implicated in Johnny's death. She arrived on scene just before he slipped, and if anyone would deserve suspicion I think it would be Ryan. I think we could have gone without this plot line, but at least it was quickly handled.

Another interesting development when it comes to Marissa is the new interest Johnny's arch rival, Volchok. He seems to have a thing for Marissa, and with Ryan fading out of the picture things seem to be heading towards these two hooking. I've seen promo pictures for this very event, so it is only a matter of time before he does happen. However, once again I don't see why it should. This guy has beat Ryan, made out with Johnny's girlfriend, and kidnapped Marissa to lure Ryan out. I've heard of loving a bad boy, but this takes the cake.

The minor sub plot surrounding Sandy's hospital deal continues this week, and he is going in to get the deal. He asks Matt to ask his new girlfriend to intervene with her father on their behalf, and he even sets up a dinner for the four of them so he can approach her himself. He does, much to the disappointment of Kirsten. They land another shot at the deal, but Maya breaks up with Matt in the process. Can we get this hospital deal done now please?

It was really great to see The O.C. return. I just think this episode ran a bit sluggish for me. The story lines I've mentioned and the total lack of the Seth pot story line this episode really has me wondering about this series. This might be another case of too many breaks hurting a series, as I mentioned last night with Bones. Hopefully, the next ten episodes go by with little to no breaks.