#TheOC S1E1: The one where we meet the gang we'll spend the next 5,520 minutes with.
In the beginning
We open with dirtbag and petty thief Trey teaching younger brother Ryan how to steal a car. The irony is that Trey is an astonishingly bad car thief because they are busted within ten seconds. Trey is sent away until later in the series. Ryan is taken to juvie and is assigned to awesome hippie public defender and part-time surfer Sandy Cohen. Sandy takes note of Ryan's poor grades but off-the-chart test scores and recognizes something of himself in the young man. When Ryan's loose cannon of a mom shows up to fetch her son, Sandy senses danger and gives Ryan a business card with his home phone number on it and urges Ryan to use it whenever he needs it.
He will need it soon because, upon returning home, Ryan's mom's dirtbag boyfriend picks a fight with Ryan and Ryan's mom throws him out of the house. WHERE IS HE GOING TO GO????
This ain't Chino, kid.
Sandy comes to the rescue. He picks up Ryan in his fancy BMW and brings him to the Cohen house, located in a gated community. As he's waiting for Sandy to break the news to his wife Kirsten about their new guest, Ryan meets next door neighbor Marissa. He lets her think he is Sandy's nephew from Boston. She invites him to her charity fashion show the following night (because, OF COURSE she does). Then Marissa's turd of a boyfriend Luke shows up in his giant truck to pick her up for their date. They kiss and Luke gives Ryan a ha-take-that-sucker! look.
Ryan wakes up (he is relegated to the pool house) and enters the main house where he meets Seth, Sandy and Kirsten's quasi-geeky son. OK, he might not be geeky, but he has a deep love for comic books and video games. They instantly form a bond and Seth admits that he is in love with Summer, Marissa's best friend. He's even named his boat after her and dreams of sailing away to Tahiti with her. The only hitch: he's never spoken to her. But Ryan proves he is an excellent wingman by talking Seth into attending the fashion show.
Welcome to #theOC, bitch!
Marissa spots Ryan in the audience as she is walking the runway and gives him a nod and flirty smile, which is seen by Luke. Uh oh! Everyone is at the after party, where drugs and booze are flowing like water. Seth gets drunk, Ryan stays sober. Summer is drunk and comes onto Ryan, which is seen by Seth. Seth outs Ryan as a car thief from Chino and everyone shuns Ryan. IS THIS THE END OF THEIR BROMANCE? Spoiler alert: it is not. Seth stumbles down to the beach where he is promptly accosted by school bullies. Ryan shows up and helps fight the guys but Luke shows up and literally kicks Ryan when he is down on the ground. "Welcome to the OC, bitch! That's how we do things in Orange County!"
Kirsten sees that Seth and Ryan have been drinking and fighting and tells Sandy that Ryan must leave. Sandy is sad but he agrees to drive Ryan back home. Ryan opens the door and finds that his mom has moved out! WHERE DID SHE GO? HOW DID SHE PULL OFF A MASSIVE MOVE LIKE THAT IN SUCH A SHORT TIME? WILL WE EVER GET AN ANSWER? Sandy turns to Ryan and says, "Come on, let's go home."
End music.
Comments