The worst episodes of The O.C.
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
Public school? No problem. Marissa's glad to be at a school where no one knows about her. Oops. Everyone knows. Charlotte closes in on Kirsten. And Summer spies someone lip-locking with Taylor.
- 02
No party, no surf. It's a different Dawn Patrol: Ryan's off to Albuquerque to invite his mom Dawn to graduation (maybe). Seth quits Summer (oops). And, at Volchok's party, Marissa sees something secretly poured into a drink (uh-oh).
- 03
Senior year. But not for everyone. Marissa is expelled. Julie scrambles for cash, Sandy scrambles to make sense of Kirsten's rehab and, to top it all, Ryan loses his cool and gets himself expelled, too.
- 04
Party by night. Surf by first light. The Dawn Patrol beach blast is the backdrop for a developing Marissa-Johnny attraction. Meanwhile, Taylor has a crush on... Seth?! And Ryan again lets his fists do his talking.
- 05
Maybe Seth should accompany Summer to college. She's the one who (surprise!) aces the SAT. Another surprise: Sandy's right-hand man jeopardizes a Newport Group account by hanging out at a strip club.
- 06
One semester to go. Wouldn't it go better if Marissa returned to Harbor High? Seth, Ryan, Summer and even Taylor campaign for her readmittance - and Johnny steps out of the way. For now.
- 07
Trey's in a coma, Marissa pulled the trigger, who's going to take the fall? Ryan? But maybe there's a way out for Kid Chino.
- 08
Ryan. Marissa. A romantic beach hut. You do the math. Meanwhile, the math in Caleb's will is easy: Julie gets zilch, Kirsten gets nada. Caleb was broke and that adds up to a new dynamic for the Cohens, Coopers and The Newport Group.
- 09
Time to think about the future - college applications are due. Seth's eager, especially if the school is as far from Newport as possible. Will Summer go with him? Marissa has another plan: She won't apply.
- 10
Divide and conquer. Taylor schemes to separate Summer and Seth. Volchok tries to goad Ryan into a fight. Julie upends Charlotte's charity scam.
- 11
Is Ryan shipping out? Sandy's mind-meld persuasion skills fail to convince him to stay. But where there's a will, there's another Cohen way. Charlotte's now zeroes in on Julie; Summer outwits Taylor.
- 12
The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah
Seth's a man with a holiday plan: Hold an honorary bar mitzvah for Ryan and donate the funds to Johnny's surgery. Now try to convince Ryan to do it... and persuade Johnny to accept it. Also: Julie + Summer's dad? Stay tuned!
- 13
Ryan hangs out with a youth not from the moneyed Newport set, causing Seth to feel blown off. Jimmy's family faces hard choices beause of his business crimes.
- 14
Engagement announcements are joyful news, right? Not when it means the one person Kirsten despises will become her stepmom. And not when Marissa will have a new family arrangement she doesn't want.
- 15
Six months after Mother Nature grabbed everyone by the neck and shook, events return to normal. Very normal. But complacency is never the Cohen or Cooper way. Time to follow the head and heart to what's right.
- 16
Kirsten. Marissa. Neither is the hostess with the mostest. But they reluctantly host Julie's wedding show just the same. Seth's get-acquainted lunch with Summer's dad is a FEMA-sized disaster.
- 17
"I love the Vegas," Seth says. But Seth is a player who's played when he, Ryan, Sandy and Jimmy hit the gambling town for what's presumed to be Caleb's bachelor bash. And claws are out when Julie and Hailey attend the Newport bachelorette party.
- 18
Since Carter's been gone, Kirsten has been drinking more than just tomato juice for breakfast and when Sandy questions her, he's left alone in the bedroom. When Marissa acts nervous around Ryan, Ryan wonders if something has happened between Marissa and Trey. Summer, tired of Seth and Zach acting foolish, confronts Reed about the graphic novel and finds herself center stage at the "Atomic County" launch party. Meanwhile, Caleb shows Julie that a picture is worth a thousand words.
- 19
It's raining in Newport. Marissa tells Julie that she and Alex are an item and decides she has to get out of Caleb's house. Summer is faced with a big decision as she prepares to go Italy with Zach. Ryan convinces Lindsay to take the paternity test and everyone anxiously awaits the results. Meanwhile, Sandy finds himself stranded in a motel room with nothing but a few snacks, champagne and Rebecca.
- 20
Lindsay's actions have left Ryan and Caleb confused. Marissa is trying hard to make her new living situation work, but she needs a break and agrees to join Summer, Seth and Ryan at the mall. Julie and Kirsten await the arrival of Carter, the new editor of Newport Living, but Julie is distracted when she's visited by Lance, an opportunistic man from her past. Meanwhile, Sandy and Caleb finally bond over all of their recent experiences.
- 21
Sandy and Caleb confront Kirsten about her behavior. Ryan, looking for the truth about Trey and Marissa, heads home to Chino. Meanwhile, Summer won't let her three-way relationship with Zach and Seth get in the way of her attending the prom. And, Julie and Caleb toast to their final evening together as husband and wife.
- 22
Luck is in the house during a Vegas Night fundraiser: Seth becomes Summer's lucky charm and Marissa reconnects with Luke. In the aftermath of events involving Ryan's mom, Kirsten takes a chance and opens her home to the boy.
- 23
Every Newport guy needs a Newport girl. Seth finds a way to impress Summer, Luke and Marissa share a night of passion and the mid-20s girlfriend of Kirsten's father has a predatory eye on Ryan. Julie drops the D-bomb on Jimmy.
- 24
It can't stay in Mexico. Not after heartbroken Marissa took all those pills. And not with Marissa's mom trying to have her institutionalized - something Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa don't want to happen.
- 25
OPM didn't work. Marissa knows about Julie/Luke and vanishes. Ryan finds her at Theresa's engagement party, where he's not a welcome guest. Meanwhile, cranky, opinionated, California-loathing Nana Cohen arrives in Newport and she's strangely... nice.
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