To observe and protect.
Aug. 10th, 2003 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleI've now seen The O.C. pilot three times, and it was just as good the third time as it was the first.
Here's the setup: Ryan lives in Chino, very much the wrong side of the tracks. He goes along with his brother as the brother steals a car and crashes it as the end of a short police chase. When Ryan's mother throws him out, and he can't find anywhere to stay, he calls his lawyer, Sandy Cohen. Sandy grew up in Ryan's situation, but he now lives in Newport Beach, very much the right side of the tracks. Sandy's wife, Kirsten is the one with the money. Their son is Seth, a geeky outcast in the rich, good-looking world of Newport. The next-door neighbors are the Coopers. Dad's in trouble with the SEC and Mom and little sister are superficial to an extreme degree. Marissa is the same age as Seth, but she's never even said hello to him. Seth's in love with Marissa's bitch of a best friend, Summer, who doesn't know he exists. Marissa has, of course, the obligatory asshole boyfriend.
Pretty much everything about this show is good, from the fantastic cinematography to Seth's entertaining verbal awkwardness. But what brings it from good to fantastic is Benjamin McKenzie's Ryan. Ryan falls apart when his mother kicks him out--understandable as he is, after all, just a kid. When he gets to Newport, he observes. He watches Seth sail and talk about Summer and Tahiti. He listens to Marissa's dad cry in the bathroom. He watches Marissa get drunk. He watches Marissa's asshole boyfriend take some other girl out onto the dark beach. When a very drunk Summer tries to hang all over him, Seth outs him as being a car thief from Chino, and the rich kids all sneer at him. Even Marissa looks away from him.
This is where it gets even more interesting. The asshole jocks hassle Seth, and despite his betrayal, Ryan goes after them. He and Seth get beat up, but their friendship is fixed. Later, after Seth falls asleep on the couch in the pool house Ryan's been allowed to stay in, Ryan goes out for a cigarette and watches Summer and another one of Marissa's so-called friends dump her on the doorstep. Despite the way she turned away from him, Ryan goes down to help her. When he can't find her keys either, he takes her up to the pool house and puts her in his bed while he takes a mat on the floor. From merely observing, Ryan has now become their protector. Kirsten throws him out in the morning, as he's cooking them all breakfast, but he doesn't leave without a super-slashy hug from Seth and a lingering look from Marissa.
I love Keen Eddie, but I think The O.C. is my favorite new show. It's in the way it's filmed and the leisurely pacing of it. It's in the obnoxious cliche of the asshole boyfriend's dialogue and the wardrobes that show us the difference in character between Kirsten and Marissa's mother. But mostly it's in the way both Marissa and Seth fall in love with Ryan at first sight and the way he falls right back.
If you haven't seen The O.C. yet, don't despair! The pilot reruns yet again Monday at 8.
Here's the setup: Ryan lives in Chino, very much the wrong side of the tracks. He goes along with his brother as the brother steals a car and crashes it as the end of a short police chase. When Ryan's mother throws him out, and he can't find anywhere to stay, he calls his lawyer, Sandy Cohen. Sandy grew up in Ryan's situation, but he now lives in Newport Beach, very much the right side of the tracks. Sandy's wife, Kirsten is the one with the money. Their son is Seth, a geeky outcast in the rich, good-looking world of Newport. The next-door neighbors are the Coopers. Dad's in trouble with the SEC and Mom and little sister are superficial to an extreme degree. Marissa is the same age as Seth, but she's never even said hello to him. Seth's in love with Marissa's bitch of a best friend, Summer, who doesn't know he exists. Marissa has, of course, the obligatory asshole boyfriend.
Pretty much everything about this show is good, from the fantastic cinematography to Seth's entertaining verbal awkwardness. But what brings it from good to fantastic is Benjamin McKenzie's Ryan. Ryan falls apart when his mother kicks him out--understandable as he is, after all, just a kid. When he gets to Newport, he observes. He watches Seth sail and talk about Summer and Tahiti. He listens to Marissa's dad cry in the bathroom. He watches Marissa get drunk. He watches Marissa's asshole boyfriend take some other girl out onto the dark beach. When a very drunk Summer tries to hang all over him, Seth outs him as being a car thief from Chino, and the rich kids all sneer at him. Even Marissa looks away from him.
This is where it gets even more interesting. The asshole jocks hassle Seth, and despite his betrayal, Ryan goes after them. He and Seth get beat up, but their friendship is fixed. Later, after Seth falls asleep on the couch in the pool house Ryan's been allowed to stay in, Ryan goes out for a cigarette and watches Summer and another one of Marissa's so-called friends dump her on the doorstep. Despite the way she turned away from him, Ryan goes down to help her. When he can't find her keys either, he takes her up to the pool house and puts her in his bed while he takes a mat on the floor. From merely observing, Ryan has now become their protector. Kirsten throws him out in the morning, as he's cooking them all breakfast, but he doesn't leave without a super-slashy hug from Seth and a lingering look from Marissa.
I love Keen Eddie, but I think The O.C. is my favorite new show. It's in the way it's filmed and the leisurely pacing of it. It's in the obnoxious cliche of the asshole boyfriend's dialogue and the wardrobes that show us the difference in character between Kirsten and Marissa's mother. But mostly it's in the way both Marissa and Seth fall in love with Ryan at first sight and the way he falls right back.
If you haven't seen The O.C. yet, don't despair! The pilot reruns yet again Monday at 8.