TV Review: The O.C. Episode 3.23

Thursday, April 27, 2006

From FOX: Harbor School's Senior Prom brings out the best and the worst in everyone. Taylor hits a high at prom, while Summer falls flat with her surprising prom date. Seth and Anna come up with a prom plan to win Summer back. Meanwhile, Marissa convinces Volchok to go to the prom and Ryan brings an unexpected old flame. When one of the girls is elected prom queen, it truly becomes a night to remember. Later, when Taylor's prom funds are missing, Ryan returns to his old ways and prom night turns brutal.

My Rating: 3 out of 4

On the O.C., the seniors are gearing up for graduation, and that means they have to attend Senior Prom. Tonight's episode titled The Party Favor has that special event of every senior's lives. The episode starts with Ryan and Seth discussing prom and their prospective love lives. Summer thinks Seth is going to Brown to be with former love, Anna. Ryan plans to not even attend the prom, but Seth tells him he should, and even makes some dates suggestions. One of those suggestions being Theresa. Ryan and her have been spending some time together lately. As Ryan ponders it, the two look over to see Volchok kissing a girl that is definitely not Marissa.

As for the prom, Ryan does end up asking Theresa, but she has someone she is kind of seeing. Theresa does agree to go with him. Marissa does ask Volchok, but he has prom issues. Seth decides to try to butter up Summer by asking her to prom via the chocolate chip pancake approach. Sandy and Kirsten know it is prom weekend for the seniors, but their plans to have everyone over for pictures seem to be a bust. The couple have their own problems at the moment in any case, and Kirsten isn't telling Sandy she had a drink after the dinner party.

Marissa and Ryan talk over their prom dates, but Ryan still knows Volchok is cheating on Marissa. He ends up going to the surfer's apartment to confront him, but it turns out Marissa is there at the time. Ryan makes a quick switch, and ends up inviting Marissa and Volchok to the Cohen's the next night for prom pictures. The couple went forward with the plans after all. Meanwhile, Seth is still trying to work on Summer, but when he is on the phone leaving her a voice mail message, he opens his front door to find Anna standing there.

Anna has come all the way across the country in order to help Seth win back Summer. If telling her they aren't dating doesn't work, then Anna plans to be Seth's prom date. Anna shows up at Summer's to Marissa's and Summer's shock while they are discussing Seth. Before Anna arrived on scene, Summer had been telling Marissa her plan to show Sandy and Kirsten Seth's napkin confession. When Anna leaves, Summer seals it in an envelope in preparation to send it to Seth's parents.

All the couples arrive at the Cohen's ready for their pictures before the prom. Volchok gets wide-eyed at seeing the stash of cash that Taylor is holding for the prom after party. Summer drops off the envelope in Sandy's office before she goes for her pictures. While everyone is posing, Volchok is off looking for the money and having a little bit of alcohol. Ryan finds him, and once again warns Volchok not to hurt Marissa and ruin the prom for her.

At the prom, things are in full swing when our couples arrive. Lisa Tucker is a guest at the prom. Volchok quickly exits the scene to smoke some illegal substance. Marissa doesn't join him, but he finds someone that will. Back at the Cohen's, the older couples are having fun reminiscing over their children, when Dr. Roberts gets a strange phone call about Sandy. At the prom, Summer is announced prom queen for the second year in a row. Before prom king could be announced, Summer kisses her date, and then proceeds to fall off the stage. This makes it certainly time for everyone to exit.

However, Marissa has no idea where Volchok has gone off to since he hasn't returned. Ryan offers to help find him, and he finds him kissing the girl that he left the prom with. Marissa follows him, and before Ryan can stop her from finding Volchok, she does find him, and she slaps him. The two have words, and then Marissa ends up breaking down into tears.

Kirsten goes to Julie about her marriage and the drink she did have. It was only one drink, and she says she has been going to meetings ever since. Julie tries to get her to talk to Sandy, but Kirsten doesn't want to. She wants Sandy to value their marriage without her using her alcoholism. At the after party, Marissa finds the nearest drink, and Anna tells Seth about phase 3, which is telling Summer the truth about Brown. He does, and the two make up, even if Summer is drunker than a skunk. Back at Sandy and Kirsten's, Neil tells Sandy about the phone call he received. As it turns out, there are criminal charges prepared to be filed against him and Griffin. This definitely puts a damper on the hospital project.

Also, Taylor finds the five thousand for the after party missing. Ryan immediately knows where the money went, and he goes after Volchok. The surfer tries to get Ryan to fight him, and he is successful when he uses Marissa's name to do it. The two end up in a fight at Volchok's place, and it appears Ryan goes to far. We don't know how far though because the episode ends. Things are heating up as the end of the season approaches. The previews for next week look even more exciting, and we also see the return of the Mini-Coop, as Willa Holland reprises her role as Kaitlin.