TV Review: The O.C. Episode 3.20

Thursday, April 06, 2006

From FOX: The kids receive their college acceptance and rejection letters, forcing them to make some life-altering decisions. Ryan and Sadie try to decide what do after high school and their decision concerns Sandy and Kirsten. Taylor throws a College Sweatshirt Party at Harbor and Marissa and Summer patch up their friendship. Meanwhile, the drama surrounding Sandy's job intensifies and seeps into the Cohen household.

My Rating: 3 out of 4

This episode of The O.C. titled The Day After Tomorrow answers the question fans have been asking since a few months ago. That question being where are the fab four going to go for college? They have all applied different places. This episode opens up with Ryan avoiding the matter entirely, and Summer and Seth jumping forward with their preparations to hopefully attend Brown together.

The next morning opens bright and early at the Roberts household. Summer and Marissa are still on the outs when Julie arrives on scene as cheerful as can be. After telling Marissa she should apologize to Neil because her boy's motorcycle woke him up the night before, Marissa goes off to school. Summer soon joins her, but she is stopped by social chair Taylor, who is working on the college sweatshirt bonfire. Marissa is flaking on her assigned duties, which leaves them to Taylor.

Marissa is the first to receive her college letter, and she is accepted into Berkeley, but she trashes the letter. Summer gets into Brown. Ryan also gets into Berkeley, but the shocker here is Seth doesn't get into Brown. However, instead of telling Summer and Ryan the truth, he lies to them. He calls the next morning to see if some kind of mistake has been made, but there hasn't been. He has to wait until next year. The Cohens are happy to see both their sons make it into college.

Meanwhile, Marissa didn't even go home the night before, and this leaves Julie covering for her with Neil. He knows Marissa didn't sleep there the night before, and he even found her trashed acceptance letter. Ryan is happy to get into college, but this brings up a problem with his new relationship with Sadie. However, it becomes a non-issue when Sadie tells him she would move with him to Berkeley.

The Cohens throw a party, and Sadie joins them. The news of her moving with Ryan to Berkeley isn't too well received, and this causes the party to end early. Seth takes Summer home, and this leads to a tense moment in the car as they discuss Ryan and Sadie. Summer knows she wants to be with Seth for the rest of her life, but he can't say the same for her.

Julie confronts Marissa on her behavior, and Ryan also confronts Seth on Brown. He comes clean to Ryan after attempting to lie. Ryan then goes to talk to Sadie about the night before, but Sadie tells him they should probably think about their doing. As for Summer, she is upset about her fight with Seth, and she still doesn't know about Seth not getting into Brown.

Sandy talks to Ryan about Berkeley, and this gives him even more to think about. When he goes to talk to Sadie, she tells him about an artist co-op a friend of her runs up in Berkeley. This puts an end to Ryan talking to her. Seth is stopped in his telling Summer as well when he shows up at her room to find it empty. As for Marissa, Julie's confrontation causes her to back out of her weekend trips with Volchok. She also patches things up with Summer. The two before they go to the party. Summer had even bought Marissa a sweatshirt.

The four all show up at the bonfire, and Taylor takes Sadie away from the group. This gives Marissa and Ryan a few awkward moments to talk. Seth talks to Summer about Brown, but he still doesn't tell her he didn't get accepted. He just tells her that he thinks he should go somewhere else. He still wants her to go to Brown. This leads her to break up with Seth. Surprisingly, Sadie also tells Ryan she won't go to Berkeley with him either. Two break-ups in one night? Sadie is on her way out of The O.C.

Sandy and Kirsten are also having problems. The plot line with Sandy and the hospital project continues on, and Sandy keeps dealing with the man in charge. Matt comes to the house, and he tells Kirsten she should tell Sandy to stop while he's ahead. She tells Sandy, and he says he can't. This causes her to walk out on him. Definitely problems in paradise on all fronts. The only couple that was somewhat happy on tonight's episode was Julie and Neil.

Another good episode for The O.C. The only plot line I wish was now over is the one with Sandy and the hospital business. It just isn't cutting it for me. If they want to be rid of Matt, just do it. This story line just feels like it is dragging on for me. Having Seth not getting Brown was also a bit predictable. Seeing Sadie leave was expected as well. This episode does have some of the good that The O.C. is known for, and we have another new episode to look forward to next week.