Kissin' and Tellin': the O.C. Redux

From NYT, Teenage Girls Lift Soapy Drama From Slump, 1.25.05

"Comparing the two adolescent melodramas, 'One Tree Hill' is certainly homier than 'The O.C.' Where the plot of the more popular 'O.C.' is over-the-top, and its tone is snarkily self-conscious, 'One Tree Hill' is emotional and earnest. 'It doesn't talk down to the audience,' Mr. Janollari said. 'The sound of the dialogue is authentic.'"

That's why I LOVE it, because it's snarkily self-conscious and OVER-THE-TOP! Lastnight’s episode was no exception. Seth’s sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled love-me rant? Totally over-the-top! Sandy and Rebecca’s kiss? Too over-the-top to be believed! (That whole plot line—I just don’t buy any of it. They’ve made so much of the strength of Sandy and Kirstin’s marriage that I’m all: don’t want to hear it. The kiss was so unrealistic.) By the time we got to the much-hyped HLA (hot lesbian action), it was comforting and almost anti-climactic.

It’s hard to know what to think of Marissa at this point. She sometimes appears shallow and disingenuous and, as they never cease to remind us, prone to heavy drinking at all hours of the day—sometimes this is a joke and sometimes it’s DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER! I suppose they could play off her relationship with Alex as just another way to rebel, and I’m sure Julie Cooper* will see it that way, especially in light of DJ— and won’t THAT be a juicy scene! However, I feel (and this is a credit to Mischa Barton’s acting, probably) that there is something genuine there, even if it is, and the writers and director are at great pains to emphasize this, exploratory. Perhaps it will lead Marissa to herself? I think she’s a bit lost.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER REGARDING THE FOREGOING: I am a hetero woman, have few lesbian friends, if any, and am in all ways unqualified to discuss the political and cultural implications of lesbianism, so please take me with several grains of salt. I feel like they’ve treated the Alex/Marissa relationship in a relatively realistic way. Many depictions of lesbians and lesbian relationships in the media tend to play toward the hetero male fantasy scenario: any woman could take it into her head to lock lips with another woman at any time! HLA! But it isn’t anything serious, and doesn’t threaten her relationships with male characters. I’m generalizing here, of course, but in my INEXPERT opinion, the ramp-up to Marissa and Alex’s romance rang true. We saw genuine desire on the part of Alex, and Marissa, although tentative, was definitely flirting. You go, girls!

What is Summer’s deal? She clearly senses Seth's feelings and she GAVE him an opening, which he didn’t take. Doesn’t that indicate an openness on her part to dumping Zach and getting back together with Seth? If that’s so, why doesn’t she just sing it out loud and dump Zach anyway? Why settle? Although it would make me a bit sad to see Zach get dumped; he's really growing on me. That whole boyish enthusiasm. Gotta love it. And Seth is just getting super-angsty and almost whinging, but hot as ever. (the Nose-Graze last week was HOT HOT HOT!!!) I was not sorry for him at all in that empty bus. He is a Pooper McGooper and he put the kibosh on the comic book! Geezy Pete!

All in all, a darker episode. You thought: Valentine’s Day, they’ll wrap it all up with a cute little bow, just like at Chrismukkah. But we didn’t really get much resolution. We got Ryan relinquishing Lindsay to Poopy Caleb for the evening (an olive branch, WILL IT TAKE?!) But no dice for Kirstin and Sandy as she shuts the door and relegates him to the Cold Comfort of the Couch. I’m not scared, writers, Kirstin won’t give up so easily, but Sandy is going to have to do something BIG. Not withstanding my current anti-Valentine’s mood, if my husband cheesed out of our Valentine’s Day Date to “bid farewell” to his first love, I’d be MAD.


* Did you not HEAVE when Caleb Nichol called Julie Cooper JuJuBe? I’ll never touch another one in my life.