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« The O.C.
December 14, 2006: It's a Wonderful Chrismukkah
‘Twas the night before Chrismukkah,
when people worried through The O.C.
Because Ryan wasn’t stirring,
stuck in a coma was he.
Chrismukkah is always very special on The O.C., and this installment didn’t disappoint. This year they borrowed a popular page from the TV Christmas Handbook and did their own “alt-universe” spin on It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey stand-in Ryan was able to see what life in Newport would have been like if he never arrived there, and it wasn’t pretty. But it was funny. Funniest of all had to be Summer, Chester’s “mindless bimbo” of a bride-to-be. Every time the clueless, bling-loving junior Newpsie was on screen I cracked up. And although the save-the-earth Summer that we have come to know the past few months can be a bit of a downer, this episode showed how things would have been much worse if Summer had gone in the opposite direction.
Likewise, it showed Sandy going in a direction that strayed far from the ethical, crusading-for-the-little-guy Daddy Cohen we all know and love. (It reminded me of the dark, compromising road that Sandy was headed down last season with the bad Newport Group-hospital story line.) But this was a more amusing take on that Sandy, since we got to see a poster of Mayor Cohen posing with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Interesting that his “wife” Julie wasn’t really all that different in this skewed universe. She was her same old cheating and conniving self, interested in thongs — oops, I mean T.H.O.N.G. (aka, The Homeless of Newport. Go.) I kind of always wondered what the pairing of the equally outspoken Sandy and Julie would be like, so it was fun to see that for just one episode. Plus, their marriage sort of completed the transformation in which Sandy sold his soul to the devil.
Speaking of the devil, is Veronica Townsend the devil herself? That constantly critical woman is pure evil, in both the scenes that took place in reality and those in the alternate universe. It was bad enough that she didn’t want to see her daughter for Christmas, but to not want to be at her hospital bedside when she was in a coma? Like Ryan, I was proud of Taylor for telling her off, even if she only did it in her dreams. Although Taylor was in the same boat as Ryan coma-wise, she was sort of playing the part of a Clarence stand-in, acting as Ryan’s guide. And after the catharsis of yelling at her mother, it was almost like she earned her wings. Taylor can now simply accept her mother’s limitations and not let her mom upset her so much, as evidenced by Taylor’s reaction to her mom in the hospital.
And although I thought that Ryan had been free of Marissa for a few weeks now, I was wrong. Apparently down-on-himself Ryan was wondering that perhaps life would have been better for Marissa if he had never met her. But he was wrong. Turns out he really did rescue her — because of him, she got three more years to live and didn’t OD in Mexico. This show has done a really good job of balancing the humor with the comedy this season. The end of this episode, as it dealt more with Marissa, got more dramatic. On the one hand, I like how they didn’t simply dismiss the death of a main character in one quick episode — they’ve made her death a realistically lingering subject that they keep revisiting. On the other hand, I keep feeling like we’re being a little cheated on this subject. Just as we didn’t get any flashbacks to Marissa’s funeral earlier this season, tonight we didn’t get to hear exactly what her lost letter said. Julie’s summary of it didn’t quite cut it. I wasn’t expecting a Mischa Barton cameo like the Tate Donovan one we got last night (nice to see you, Jimmy Cooper!), but I wanted something more than Ryan reading the letter to himself on the beach. At least have him read it out loud (or in an internal voice-over), and have it say something memorable or profound. But that was not to be. Oh well... at least now it looks like he was finally able to say goodbye to Marissa and let her go.
Ryan sprang from his coma
after Marissa’s letter he read,
His family said all would be OK
as they gathered ‘round his bed.
Though unspoken, their actions exclaimed as the screen dimmed from bright:
Happy Chrismukkah to all, and to all a good night!
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Dec 15, 2006 1:07 AM
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Another fun episode. I personally would take alt universe Summer over the save the earth Summer any day of the week. She was sassy and very funny. This season's Summer is a bit of a drag.
I wonder how the creator of this show votes in elections? He definitely doesn't give us any clues every week. And yes that is sarcasm.
I just knew that Marissa/Mischa Barton wouldn't be showing up in this ep. It would have been impossible to keep that a secret. Especially on this site. It probably would have said, "Guess what dead character on the OC is coming back this week" on the front page.
I am still loving the Ryan/Taylor combo. She seems like the strongest woman they have paired her up with. The others were just so dependent on him that it was a bit smothering.
Taylor's mother is a beast. She is just horrible. I guess like Julie, Taylor's mother likes her boyfriends very young.
The writers were reaching just a bit when Seth said that Ryan and Taylor were in an alt reality and they had to fix some things before they came back. That is a bit much even for this show. The writers don't have to connect everything like they seem to love to do on this show over the years. I sometimes get annoyed when they have different characters say the same words or have the same exact thoughts. It is a little too cute for my tastes.
Great season so far. The fun is back on the show.
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Dec 15, 2006 2:46 AM
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That's it, I'm in love with Taylor/Ryan. I have not watched the OC since season one. Then Ausiello was going on and on about T/R, so I checked it out. Now it's a must see. She brings out the humor Ryan and does not need him to rescue her every five minutes.
Plus, shes not the typical girl, she is weird and it's niccceeeee.
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Dec 15, 2006 7:00 AM
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Did anyone notice the poster for Johnny right before Taylor found Ryan in Alt-OC.
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Dec 15, 2006 8:58 AM
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i also really like ryan and taylor, but did anyone notice that she's very similar to seth-and ryan responds to her in nearly the same way-with humor, exasperation and a higher comfort level than he has with anyone else?
and i happened to like that they didn't let us read the letter from marissa. no one but julie read it before ryan, and i'm sure it said more than she summarized.
have a wonderful chrismukkah!
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Dec 15, 2006 8:59 AM
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Sliders meets Quantum Leap molded by It's a Wonderful Life. Nice.
Ryan got to see the impact of his life with the Cohen's Etc but I think he got to see the importance of the impact they've made on his life. The shot of him on the bench in the mall after realizing no one recognized him was very sad.
Taylor.... she cracks me up. I love her sarcasm and wit. She and Ryan are a good match and I think Ryan realizes it now. Nice shot at the end with Ryan putting his arm around her when she sat on his bed.
How bad of a parent do you have to be to have Julie Cooper threaten you?
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Dec 15, 2006 10:22 AM
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I won't give anything away since I know some people don't watch previews, but wow... next week looks FANTASTIC! So excited about it! Tonight's episode was alright, brought some closure to the Marissa issue and had some funny moments, but I'm really excited about next week! Can't wait to find out what happens...
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Dec 15, 2006 10:48 AM
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Let me start this out with my husband says I over analyze TV too much, but the fact that they made such a big deal about Taylor's mom not wanting to come to the hospital and all I could think of was, "Did anyone even call Ryan's mom to tell her that her kid's in a coma??" Anyway...it never gets old to see an "It's a Wonderful Life" themed episode. I liked OTH's and this one this year.
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Dec 15, 2006 11:57 AM
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I thought that surfer poster had Johnny on it! I wished I had Tivo just so I could find out - good eye megtitus!
I really liked this alt-universe episode.
Ryan and Taylor work so well - she not only makes him laugh, but she makes him funny! It's great.
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Dec 15, 2006 12:14 PM
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What a great episode, definitely one for the fans, as it mined the whole history of the O.C. from the past four seasons. I loved how it speculated about the effect that Ryan had on everyone's lives around him. It just makes you wonder about the effect you have on the people around you, and how much your influence affects people's destinies, if you're not having an effect to those close to you you should definitely get out and do something about it.
And that poster in the mall, definitely had Johnny Harper's name but no pic, as star surfer for PacWest. What a great throwaway. Now I'm wondering what happened to some old O.C. characters like Anna, Luke, and Trey. Maybe they were just ships passing through. Anna's probably doing her thing in Philly. Judging from Luke's brothers, Luke probably turned out to be the same gay-repressed obnoxious jock, I wonder how Marissa's death affected him, if any? Trey is probably stuck in jail as a bad seed, probably hanging in the same circles as Vulchok and getting wasted. Also, Seth's grandfather Caleb probably got arrested for business fraud, which prompted Kirsten to take over the Newport Group. Ryan's old ex Sadie is probably off making jewelry, and his other ex Lindsay is probably studying hard without Ryan there to loosen her up in college. Oliver's probably stalking some other girls. Matt, Sandy's old employee, probably never got hired and fired and is working the shady business angle in another company.
I agreed with another poster that Julie and Taylor's mom were practically the same in the alt-universe. I guess it's easy to be bad, and hard to be good. Julie maybe got a liitle more naughty with no real moral influence in her life, we saw glimpses of that in recent episodes. I guess its part of their nature.
[Spoiler warning!] The most surprising was definitely the Marissa twist, with Kaitlin as a young prodigy freshman at Berkeley. A weird turn-around, possibly Marissa's early death scared Kaitlin into changing her bad-girl ways and go straight into nerddom. Interesting, but improbable, because Kaitlin is the daughter of Julie Cooper after all. Maybe she met up with Lindsay, Ryan's old studious ex, who became a good influence, and got her to become a teenage prodigy! Lol. I love the permutations and possibilities here with all the intertwining destinies. Great episode!!
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Dec 15, 2006 6:03 PM
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I thought the episode was cute! I will have to rewatch to spot the Johnny poster. I wonder if they threw anything else in? I did wonder if Anna ever came to Newport in this alternate universe?
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Dec 16, 2006 11:14 AM
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I love O.C. this season! This epi was great and they just keep getting better and better. I can't stand Mischa and hated her mopey, depressing character. Good job O.C.!!!
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Dec 16, 2006 11:24 AM
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I saw the poster for Johnny and then after finding out what happened to Marissa in Tijuana I realized that yep, he would've been alive too, because he wouldn't have been standing on a cliff drinking like a moron over some girl! Awesome episode. And Taylor's mom insinuating that she's anything but super thin is insane. And then making that comment when hearing she's in the hospital, asking if it's anorexia. She's probably pissed her daughter is prettier and obviously smarter than she is.
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Dec 17, 2006 1:25 PM
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