TV Review: The O.C. Episode 3.22

Thursday, April 20, 2006

From FOX: Graduation is just weeks away and Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa leave Newport to attend their respective pre-frosh orientations at UC Berkeley and Brown. While dropping the boys off at the airport, Kirsten is surprised to see Theresa and her all-too-familiar-looking baby boy. While visiting Brown, Seth runs into Anna on the quad and they instantly connect. Could this be the end of Summer and Seth? Meanwhile, Kirsten and Sandy attend a hospital benefit where Kirsten vents her frustrations and falls back into an old habit on The College Try.

My Rating: 3 out of 4

On this week's episode of The O.C. titled The College Try the seniors head off to their respective colleges for visits. Kirsten takes Ryan to the airport, and after she drops him off, she sees Ryan's former flame, Theresa, with child. She automatically assumes that this child is Ryan's. Seth goes off to Brown in order to try to get in, and while he is there he bumps into another old friend, Anna. She is there because it appears she also got into Brown.

Meanwhile, Marissa is dealing with the end of her relationship with Volchok. After heading off course for a bit, she finds herself wanting the dream life again. The bad girl snorting coke and sleeping with some random guy image just doesn't work for her. After one last talk, she is on her way to Berkeley. When there, she somehow bumps into Ryan and his new friends on campus. Ryan's freshman buddy takes an immediate interest in Marissa, but tries to back off when he hears she is Ryan's ex. Ryan pushes the guy towards anyway, but it seems Marissa and Ryan are destined to bump into each other.

Seth is determined to get accepted into Brown, so he asks Anna's help. She tells him the only shot he has is to talk to the admissions dean. The two go to a freshman party, and he does talk to the dean, but only to set up an appointment to talk to him the next day. Before he is able to leave, Summer sees him there, and she also sees him with Anna. She automatically assumes Anna is the reason he broke up with her. Anna continues to help Seth by helping him write a speech for him to give the dean. Anna also tries to get him to talk to Summer.

When he goes to meet with the dean, things don't go as well as planned. As soon as the dean finds out Seth isn't student, he is less than willing to listen to him, but Seth does convince him to give him one minute. The dean isn't convinced though, and when Seth then tells him the real reason he came to talk to him, the dean is sympathetic, but the original decision stands.

Ryan returns home once Kirsten tells him she saw Theresa at the airport with a baby. Sandy is upset Kirsten told him because they had decided to wait until he got back. Things are still strained between the two as a result of the hospital deal. Julie throwing a party in honor of the hospital doesn't even appear to help. Kirsten has found Theresa's address for Ryan, and he shows up on her doorstep. Theresa isn't home when he does, but the babysitter is. He sees Theresa's little boy, and he looks just like Ryan. It looks more and more like this is Ryan's child. With Ryan gone, Marissa is left alone with his freshman buddy at Berkeley. The two get along well, and sparks start to fly a little between the two.

Seth is on his way home to The O.C., but Anna stops him before he does. She wants him to apply at an art school using his comic as his application. She talks him into it, especially when getting in means that him and Summer would be in the same state. Back in The O.C., Marissa returns and Ryan tells her about his possible child. At the hospital dinner party, Sandy thanks his wife, but she surprises him with a toast that roasts him more than praises. She gets up and leaves the party with a drink in hand. Her sobriety is out the window the minute she takes the first sip.

Seth impresses the admission people at the school, but there is no word on whether or not that means he got in. At the airport, Summer sees him hugging Anna at the terminal. Marissa ends up going to see Volchok, and she finds that he has rented a DVD of The Sound of Music, which she mentioned contained her ideal couple. This causes her to stay, and this also shows another side of Volchok's character. As for Theresa, she ends up at the Cohen's, and she tells Ryan the child isn't his but Eddie's.

This was an okay episode for The O.C., but not stellar. The character's returning was nice to see though. Anna always did cause problems when it came to Seth and Summer, so this was no shock to see her causing trouble again. I hated seeing Kirsten break sobriety just weeks after getting her chip. The adult story line is just boring me now. I never picked Sandy to turn into another Caleb. The episode just felt a bit slow, but at the same time rushed. Next week, the seniors have their prom, and another guest star - American Idol's Lisa Tucker will attend Harbor's prom.