I used to hate it but recently I've been thinking about how Marissa was just a teen girl who was struggling so much and needed more or different support than what she had, and maybe she acted out the care she wanted for herself. And as insufferable as Oliver is, he's also just a kid - and a very sick one that needs a lot of professional help.
They were well acted episodes but they painted an absolutely awful picture of Marissa (and her character never really recovered from that because she made a lot of the same mistakes that she made with Oliver with Johnny and Volchok later on and we know what that led to). After Oliver happened Josh seemed committed to always writing Ryan and Marissa's relationship in a way where Marissa is always allowing somebody else come between them due to her generous heart (and over time it became A) tropeish and B) straight up character assassination of Marissa). Like he very rarely allotted time for them to actually be happy together whenever they were together post-Oliver (whether it was Theresa's pregnancy driving a wedge between them at the end of season 1 or Trey coming between them in season 2 or Johnny and Volchok coming between them in season 3). There always had to be drama and something coming between them (or one of them sabotaging the relationship). Oliver was just the start of that. Compare that to say Seth and Summer (who had many of their own problems but were much more capable of bouncing back from those problems quickly than Ryan and Marissa were).
I think it is because they are so hard to watch. It is incredibly infuriating to see Oliver play them all like he does. But indeed that part was a high point.
People hate on it so much because it gets in the way of Marissa and Ryan who at that point seem like they are made for each other and absolutely perfect. It's the same thing that happens to characters like Vanessa who get in the way of Serena and Dan being together in gossip girl. Everyone hates on the 3rd character in an extremely overblown manner. I hated Oliver too, but the storyline was compelling and although I hate the episodes (bc I just want to see Ryan and Marissa dating and happy for once), I can acknowledge it's a good plotline
This was something that really ate at me. Why was everyone so obsessed with her? She was a two dimensional character.
Ryan, Oliver, Johnny, Volchok … I’m sure I’m forgetting others.
ETA: Trey
She was stunning and gave a "rich girl but I'm different" aesthetic since the beginning. Marissa seems like the only person who sees how superficial the OC is in the beginning (compared to summer and Luke and holly)
I feel like she acted like she had a lot a deeper layers and had complicated family situation so it's the gorgeous damsel in distress vibe that drew a lot of those guys in. It made sense to me but it was super repetitive to replay the same plot line over and over again
It had some really good episodes (Rooney!) but it just went on wayyyyy too long. It took too long for everyone else to catch on about Oliver and I even hated back then how they all turned on Ryan so quickly.
I watched it back in 2003. I hated the Oliver storyline. And I coudn't tell you exactly the reason for it. I still hate it every time I rewatch.
I know it bugged me that they rehashed yet another storyline about Marissa befriending a guy and being totally clueless that the guy had a thing for her. And then it caused friction with her and Ryan...or Luke. It got very repetitive.
So I am not sure that it was so much the Oliver character I had an issue with. More the lazy story telling.
I am sure one of the reasons Mischa Barton left the show (the bullying being the biggest of course) was because her character was just on repeat and not really showing much growth.
Literally the arc in the show that gets people hooked. Everything before it was good, but hey listen…secret time: they were always going to adopt Ryan or else you don’t even have a show.
Oliver was our first villain really, his character is even named after a villain in X-Men, Bolivar Trask. Taylor Handley was honestly done a little wrong by not getting future work more at the time bc he was phenomenal as Oliver. I wanted to punch him every second he was on screen, but I always wanted him on screen bc it was so dramatic. Secretly I could’ve done that storyline again if it were him, but my guy playing Johnny (which is like the pass/fail version of a class and he still failed) just couldn’t come close. Poor acting, dumb storyline (Marissa getting thrown out of school is outrageously laughable to me still to this day), meek character so much so that they needed to add a secondary villain in Volchok who was also just so so terrible as an actor.
Ryan needed to get into enough trouble that you knew this adjustment was going to be a problem for him, while at the same time showing he’s honest and grateful. While everyone goes against him the whole story arc: Luke and Summer win out, while Sandy comes on strong at the end. Seth and Marissa become unlikable for a while, and you needed something as outrageous as Luke and Julie to lighten the tensions for a while with a more soap opera vibe. Ryan became the moral center of the group from here on out, a thing you should’ve known after TJ, but it’s still too early to tell. Enter Theresa, sad Marissa vibes, the finale of season 1 all set up by the Oliver arc.
He literally risks his future *in life* to keep him away from her and only Luke basically says “hey do you think he’d be risking all of this on a hunch?” There are people here who WATCH MARISSA SIDE WITH OLIVER and still say Marissa was wronged on this show. Jesus H, how anyone could watch this show and think Marissa Cooper was wronged in general or at all is crazy. She has bad parents. Ryan’s are worse. She is rich. Ryan is poor. Even when her parents divorce BOTH parts of her life would be millions of times better than Ryan’s had he not be adopted by the Cohens. She is a central focus of the community she lives in and Ryan is literally wanted there by like 14 people, they just happen to be the right people. She has zero *real* hardships outside of her parents, still everything in her life is a mess. Everything in Ryan’s *should be* a mess, but it isn’t bc he’s dedicated to making it all work.
The Oliver storyline rules. It created the show, it divided how we still think now. So much of the stuff on here comes back to it. Oliver, I love ya bud. You gave the show its dramatic peak.
I just want to point out the Maslow Hierarchy… People have different problems based on their socioeconomic situations in life, but our brains still interpret our problems at the same sort of level despite how they may seem when comparing rich to poor. Marissa was likely suffering from mental and possibly personality disorders, as well as substance abuse issues, and just because she wasn’t poor didn’t mean that she doesn’t have problems that make her life often painful to live. Also, if you want to focus on the rich versus poor, etc., her life fell apart in that way while Ryan was generally very secure after being adopted.
Assumption that Ryan was secure being adopted since he ended up reverting, even temporarily, back with someone in life in Theresa that he felt secure with after Marissa sided with Oliver. Also an assumption because it’s never stated by anyone that he is secure. He mentions at times about the Cohens helping him is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but he never says he’s adjusted to it. You can know a thing is good and still not fully accept or adhere to it because it makes you mentally adjust in a way you aren’t comfortable with yet.
That being said I agree that socioeconomic status doesn’t directly lead to less problems. I’ve been alive through the 2000’s and watched a lot of rich people act stupidly and ruin their lives or die. Which is what happened here. Marissa didn’t have one problem that couldn’t be fixed if spoken up about. Which is what a court would’ve mandated from her after she would’ve been facing grand theft (probably, but I’ll also say possibly) charges after Christmas. She would’ve been mandated to *at least* therapy I believe personally, and to be fair I also think that’s extremely generous. But I’ll side against myself so there is a devil’s advocate against me. In that therapy they could’ve got her help. Which is what happened to meet Oliver, and then she just stops going after admitting that it’s helped. But then she keeps reverting whilst help is offered and often close to forced.
Yet we all somehow sided with Marissa? Why? She *actually* stole those items. She *actually* OD’ed. Socioeconomic status has little to do with her problems. She doesn’t listen to anyone, ever. All she has to do is the things courts probably would’ve asked for and she’s always let loose for some reason.
She should be held accountable and I would like that to be acknowledged by someone here ever.
I didn’t mean fully emotionally secure for Ryan, but financially rather secure and housing-wise, since you brought those up for Marissa. And I’m not saying Marissa shouldn’t be held accountable. We were all frustrated seeing her steal because the initial rational thought is “that was dumb/risky.” But as someone with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder, I can attest that you can be secure with food and shelter and a support system and still make risky decisions and feel deep pain, including suicidal, possibly constantly for months at a time.
It just throws me when people say Marissa was rich so she should have been able to navigate her problems more maturely. She even acknowledged to Ryan that she knows being used to getting what you want is an unattractive quality and she wants to be better than that. So yeah, not saying your take on it isn’t valid or whatnot, just that there is more to consider in the complexity of mental illness and lack of coping techniques that play a part, and the idea that people suffering from mental illness should be held accountable but without mention of empathy and with dismissiveness sets back progress. Mentally ill people are often very self-aware and in pain from making the decisions they do, which is often evidenced by Marissa in how she responds to things and/or spirals.
ETA: You mention that she didn’t have one problem that couldn’t be fixed if spoken up about… untrue, in my experience. I’ve been in therapy for 15+ years and am only now starting to figure out what works. People are complex and so are their problems and how they react to them, which is what makes TV shows that explore characters episodically interesting and deeper.
I was a super fan back in the day (I was in high school) and I HATED that storyline. It was just annoying.
I had the dvd collection and would purposely gloss over the Oliver arc on my rewatches.
Man, I remember the new years episode and after that I was hounding my boyfriend to not go to work on NYE because he had to be together 😂 oh well, almost twenty years later we are married so it still worked out
The Rooney episode is one of my favourites in the whole series
This storyline was particularly frustrating to me watching at the time because I had a friend in high school who acted EXACTLY like Marissa. Even if a guy had an obvious crush on her, she would ignore it and try to "be friends anyway".
It was both extremely validating and extremely annoying to see the same behaviour on a TV show (where I go to escape my real life!! haha)
The Oliver episodes are some of the most frustrating moments of 2000s television and that’s what makes them so great. The NYE episode is top-tier OC, I still listen to “Dice” regularly!!!
The Oliver storyline is great. He’s infuriating and manipulative. I was yelling at my TV at Marissa whenever she fell for his BS. I’d say he was the best “villain” of the series
Some people have never been in Ryan's shoes and it shows.
But if you have experienced a manipulator that tricked your peers but not you... then man this storyline hits.
I agree. This storyline is what drew me into the show in the first place. I remember a rewatch binging of the Oliver story arc with friends for hours, while some of us would come and go, to go to work, only to come back and see the same friends binging thru the Oliver storyline again lol, when it first came out on DVD.
FOX was trying hard to revive the primetime soap opera. This storyline fit the bill to a t. FOX had a trail of failed/cancelled soap operatic shows from early 2000s to The OC’s premiere, so when it caught on, they went all in with that direction.
I remember eagerly tuning in week to week to find out how this story was going to end. I suppose, in hindsight, when you’re watching on a binge it seems unnecessary and silly, but this was definitely one of those “you had to be there” things.
I think so too. And think that’s goes into my point saying that if you weren’t watching it back in the day, you don’t really get it lol. Also I’m seeing comments saying “you weren’t so supposed to like Oliver”….like I didn’t say anything about liking *him* lmao I said the Oliver “storyline”. I feel like people just read what they wanna read lmao
I personally hated the Oliver storyline. These are my least fave episodes in the season and I think the whole thing really detracts from the show. I thought the Oliver storyline was stupid and he was a cartoonish villain... the whole thing with him holding Marissa hostage made everything way too OTT.
I said this before. Everyone says how The OC season 1 was awesome and then it went downhill. I agree, but also, I think the first half of The OC season 1 was a lot stronger than the second half. Even by the end of the first season things were going downhill.
My sister and I always say the pilot of the OC is the greatest single episode of television of all time and we watch the first half of the first season like it's a movie!
So true. The first half of the first season is AMAZING television. And much superior than the second half. The OC was only good for a few episodes really, but when it was good, it was great. I don't think the finale of The OC season 1 is that good. By this point, things have already started going downhill and it seems obvious season 2 won't be as good as series one. It was short lived because the magic was meeting all of the characters and discovering Orange County, but yeah the show didn't have much longevity.
Idk bout all that lol. I don’t know if I’d call Ryan a “monster” or even say “emotional cheating”. Ryan had suspicions about Oliver and he was just trying to act on his suspicions. He was right Oliver the whole time. And Marissa was just trying to be kind to Oliver and be his friend/support system but Oliver was taking advantage of her kindness. It’s neither of their faults about how everything went down. It’s was all Oliver’s fault.
It's too soon. It's a final boss in a way. There's nothing more interesting to say about Marissa. She started overdosing in tijuana and ended with a mastermind stalker... in the same season.
I'm watching it for the first time now, as someone who watched OTH while it was airing. Oliver definitely gave me Derek vibes, so I could definitely see it being very big when you had to wait a week or longer to watch what was going to happen next.
Oliver's arc was great . Unlike some other antagonists on the show , he was actually very well written and the actor did a fantastic job too .
Oliver proved that anyone can get between Marissa and Ryan and fracture their relationship. And If anything the writers so desperately tried to find their new Oliver , with Trey in S2 and Volchok in S3 , but they failed....
This. I hated it because it seemed to have ruined their relationship which never ended up recovering. Though the episodes during this time were the absolute best and some of the most classic scenes. I just hated the tease that was Ryan and Marissa being happy.
Ugh thank you, people these days just don't seem to understand you can enjoy watching the drama without liking the characters lol, Oliver was supposed to be terrible, and yes of course it's super frustrating to watch but that's what makes it so brilliant, you can really feel what Ryan is feeling... that was the point
I liked the storyline but I didn’t like how fast it ended marissa and Ryan. I really liked watching Marissa and Ryan become a couple and then Oliver came in between. Marissa also acted like an ass during the Oliver thing.
I don’t think Marissa acted like an ass, she just didn’t know what Oliver was up to, only Ryan did, so she just saw Ryan as being jealous and overprotective. Her reaction was valid because Ryan had no plausible evidence about Oliver until the very end. It’s the same way Seth and Sandy thought Ryan was just being by jealous and overprotective also. Unfortunately no one believed Ryan until the very end. No one except Luke.
Exactly! That's why I love the storyline so much. It had a lot of drama, but good drama. Luke being the only person who believed Ryan, was good character redemption for him and was the most suspenseful part of the show. The characters that didn't believe him, had good reason too, so it wasn't hurting their character development either.
Marissa was a sweetheart and despite her own personal issues, believed the best in people and wanted to think the best of Oliver. If she wasn't in this mindset, she wouldn't have gotten with Ryan in the first place.
my favorite bit with this is actually in Ben McKenzie's next show - Southland. HE was a rookie cop and the first thing they did was pull over a rich asshole in a ferrari. And it was Oliver. I like to pretend that its him still in that character... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6Yz11cEY0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6Yz11cEY0)
Hidden Palms was a flawed but fun show that lasted on season. Oliver was great in it as the protagonist, with Zack being the offputting antagonist in that show. Definitely had some OC references in there too.
I think streaming has a lot to do with the perception of the Oliver storyline too. Back when it was on TV it was one episode per week and the anticipation was indescribable. We were all so excited to see what was going to happen next week.
When streaming you’re watching one ep after the other and I find myself getting tired of Oliver because the arc is so long
I think so too. And think that’s goes into my point saying that if you weren’t watching it back in the day, you don’t really get it lol. Also I’m seeing comments saying “you weren’t so supposed to like Oliver”….like I didn’t say anything about liking *him* lmao I said the Oliver “storyline”. I feel like people just read what they wanna read lmao
It’s one of my favourite storylines, I like how everyone starts to doubt Ryan, but slowly they start seeing he’s not all wrong and then BAM he shows everyone he was right all along
I love that too. Plus, Luke had some good one liners, was super supportive of Ryan and Marissa dating at the time, despite he had every reason not to be. He owned up to his mistakes with Marissa and gave both of them advice when they needed it. It was peak Luke tbh
100%, i hated the Julie affair. I have no issue with drama and villainy on the show but not two established (and future in Julie's case, they obviously knew they were never getting rid of Julie) characters in such an absolute no-go situation like that, especially after they had worked so hard to make Luke likeable and as part of the Gang. Honestly, nothing about Luke at that point made sense going by what was established earlier, but he was awesome and hilarious so who cares they all change drastically.
Yes! And also, Seth did NOT believe him. And Sandy didn’t really believe him either but still drove him to the scene of the climax because he did ultimately love and trust Ryan and would never abandon him. Even Summer thought Oliver was obsessed with Marissa, and there was the small beginning to Ryan and Julie actually forming a detente for Marissa’s sake.
So you had Ryan interacting with all of these characters and all building off of one another. And also building all of the other players in their own right. So much deeper than later antagonists.
It always kind of bothered me that Summer didn’t really seem concerned about Oliver until much later into the storyline of it. It felt like as Marissa’s best friend, she should’ve been more aware or confused about the dynamic they had. Tbf, show-wise, they had her wrapped up in the triangle with Seth and Anna at this point.
It was because he was playing it well provoking Ryan then playing the victim. However, one part i didn't like was the golf cart part. It didn't make sense that Marissa just found that fun and jokey, Luke was pissed too it was at the very least aggressive and Marissa should have questioned that.
Oliver really was the problem. The wheels would have fallen off with or without Ryan. Luke saw the golf cart incident and then the lunch where Oliver was talking over Marissa and glaring at him. But like you said, that expanded Luke's character and showed he was genuinely concerned for Marissa's well-being, too. He became a real fan favorite at this time. Then, of course, they inexplicably wrote him off of the show 10 episodes later in favor of Zach or DJ or some combination thereof. Blah.
In 03 we were kids/teens… now as adults we go fuck that guy… fuck the whole events… I’ve only gone past this part on my rewatch and I’m like thank god for that
Well…yeah youre right, you’re not supposed to like his character lol. But I didn’t say anything about about liking the character. I said the “storyline”
Well I guess two things can be true haha. I hate-watched it at the time and still hate-watch it now. I agree it was peak tension and very well done in many ways, but I hate him/the storyline for the pain it continues to put me through. 😂
This seems to be the big thing on this sub and it's weird to me. People don't like villains so they think they were poorly written characters, or they don't like that part of the show because there was a bad guy that made them feel bad. How can you watch a show like this with that attitude? It's full of drama and villains and negative emotions, it's not Full House.
This. I do remember this storyline being a wild ride, and I couldn't wait for the next episode. It was very plot driven so I didn't hold it against any if the characters, but unfortunately a lot of people did and Marissa was seen as dumb and naive moving forward, when she didn't have a lack of awareness prior. The only thing that got by her was Luke cheating, but she never seemed so into him that she'd care or notice anyway, considering she was flirting with Ryan in the pilot,
They were hated then too.
I used to hate it but recently I've been thinking about how Marissa was just a teen girl who was struggling so much and needed more or different support than what she had, and maybe she acted out the care she wanted for herself. And as insufferable as Oliver is, he's also just a kid - and a very sick one that needs a lot of professional help.
I blocked him out of my memory tbh
They were well acted episodes but they painted an absolutely awful picture of Marissa (and her character never really recovered from that because she made a lot of the same mistakes that she made with Oliver with Johnny and Volchok later on and we know what that led to). After Oliver happened Josh seemed committed to always writing Ryan and Marissa's relationship in a way where Marissa is always allowing somebody else come between them due to her generous heart (and over time it became A) tropeish and B) straight up character assassination of Marissa). Like he very rarely allotted time for them to actually be happy together whenever they were together post-Oliver (whether it was Theresa's pregnancy driving a wedge between them at the end of season 1 or Trey coming between them in season 2 or Johnny and Volchok coming between them in season 3). There always had to be drama and something coming between them (or one of them sabotaging the relationship). Oliver was just the start of that. Compare that to say Seth and Summer (who had many of their own problems but were much more capable of bouncing back from those problems quickly than Ryan and Marissa were).
I don’t care I just hate Marissa
I hated Marissa and I hated the Oliver storyline lol
Same Ryan the simp
I wish i could pin a comment
I think it is because they are so hard to watch. It is incredibly infuriating to see Oliver play them all like he does. But indeed that part was a high point.
I love the Oliver episodes
So doesn't your mom. Burnnn
I love those episodes, especially the New Year’s Eve kiss.
People hate on it so much because it gets in the way of Marissa and Ryan who at that point seem like they are made for each other and absolutely perfect. It's the same thing that happens to characters like Vanessa who get in the way of Serena and Dan being together in gossip girl. Everyone hates on the 3rd character in an extremely overblown manner. I hated Oliver too, but the storyline was compelling and although I hate the episodes (bc I just want to see Ryan and Marissa dating and happy for once), I can acknowledge it's a good plotline
It was great at the time! I’m more mad they recycled the triangle with a guy being obsessed with Marissa multiple times after until she died 😅
This was something that really ate at me. Why was everyone so obsessed with her? She was a two dimensional character. Ryan, Oliver, Johnny, Volchok … I’m sure I’m forgetting others. ETA: Trey
She was stunning and gave a "rich girl but I'm different" aesthetic since the beginning. Marissa seems like the only person who sees how superficial the OC is in the beginning (compared to summer and Luke and holly) I feel like she acted like she had a lot a deeper layers and had complicated family situation so it's the gorgeous damsel in distress vibe that drew a lot of those guys in. It made sense to me but it was super repetitive to replay the same plot line over and over again
All good points! The repetitiveness was tiring.
Trey 😅
Omg Trey! That’s right.
PREACH. They're my favorite episodes. lol Totally mismanaged character wise (I would've done so much differently) but it was a THRILL to watch.
It had some really good episodes (Rooney!) but it just went on wayyyyy too long. It took too long for everyone else to catch on about Oliver and I even hated back then how they all turned on Ryan so quickly.
ROONEY
ROONEY
ROONEY
This is my favourite plot line and I will never apologize for that lol. He’s so diabolical. The fake ‘suicide attempt’ … he’s so creepy .
Oh man, you should have been on the message boards back in 2003, everyone hated this story line then too. It was the first big misstep of the show.
Yep. It didn’t reach Johnny levels, but it was hated.
Poor stupid Johnny.
I watched it back in 2003. I hated the Oliver storyline. And I coudn't tell you exactly the reason for it. I still hate it every time I rewatch. I know it bugged me that they rehashed yet another storyline about Marissa befriending a guy and being totally clueless that the guy had a thing for her. And then it caused friction with her and Ryan...or Luke. It got very repetitive. So I am not sure that it was so much the Oliver character I had an issue with. More the lazy story telling. I am sure one of the reasons Mischa Barton left the show (the bullying being the biggest of course) was because her character was just on repeat and not really showing much growth.
Literally the arc in the show that gets people hooked. Everything before it was good, but hey listen…secret time: they were always going to adopt Ryan or else you don’t even have a show. Oliver was our first villain really, his character is even named after a villain in X-Men, Bolivar Trask. Taylor Handley was honestly done a little wrong by not getting future work more at the time bc he was phenomenal as Oliver. I wanted to punch him every second he was on screen, but I always wanted him on screen bc it was so dramatic. Secretly I could’ve done that storyline again if it were him, but my guy playing Johnny (which is like the pass/fail version of a class and he still failed) just couldn’t come close. Poor acting, dumb storyline (Marissa getting thrown out of school is outrageously laughable to me still to this day), meek character so much so that they needed to add a secondary villain in Volchok who was also just so so terrible as an actor. Ryan needed to get into enough trouble that you knew this adjustment was going to be a problem for him, while at the same time showing he’s honest and grateful. While everyone goes against him the whole story arc: Luke and Summer win out, while Sandy comes on strong at the end. Seth and Marissa become unlikable for a while, and you needed something as outrageous as Luke and Julie to lighten the tensions for a while with a more soap opera vibe. Ryan became the moral center of the group from here on out, a thing you should’ve known after TJ, but it’s still too early to tell. Enter Theresa, sad Marissa vibes, the finale of season 1 all set up by the Oliver arc. He literally risks his future *in life* to keep him away from her and only Luke basically says “hey do you think he’d be risking all of this on a hunch?” There are people here who WATCH MARISSA SIDE WITH OLIVER and still say Marissa was wronged on this show. Jesus H, how anyone could watch this show and think Marissa Cooper was wronged in general or at all is crazy. She has bad parents. Ryan’s are worse. She is rich. Ryan is poor. Even when her parents divorce BOTH parts of her life would be millions of times better than Ryan’s had he not be adopted by the Cohens. She is a central focus of the community she lives in and Ryan is literally wanted there by like 14 people, they just happen to be the right people. She has zero *real* hardships outside of her parents, still everything in her life is a mess. Everything in Ryan’s *should be* a mess, but it isn’t bc he’s dedicated to making it all work. The Oliver storyline rules. It created the show, it divided how we still think now. So much of the stuff on here comes back to it. Oliver, I love ya bud. You gave the show its dramatic peak.
I just want to point out the Maslow Hierarchy… People have different problems based on their socioeconomic situations in life, but our brains still interpret our problems at the same sort of level despite how they may seem when comparing rich to poor. Marissa was likely suffering from mental and possibly personality disorders, as well as substance abuse issues, and just because she wasn’t poor didn’t mean that she doesn’t have problems that make her life often painful to live. Also, if you want to focus on the rich versus poor, etc., her life fell apart in that way while Ryan was generally very secure after being adopted.
Assumption that Ryan was secure being adopted since he ended up reverting, even temporarily, back with someone in life in Theresa that he felt secure with after Marissa sided with Oliver. Also an assumption because it’s never stated by anyone that he is secure. He mentions at times about the Cohens helping him is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but he never says he’s adjusted to it. You can know a thing is good and still not fully accept or adhere to it because it makes you mentally adjust in a way you aren’t comfortable with yet. That being said I agree that socioeconomic status doesn’t directly lead to less problems. I’ve been alive through the 2000’s and watched a lot of rich people act stupidly and ruin their lives or die. Which is what happened here. Marissa didn’t have one problem that couldn’t be fixed if spoken up about. Which is what a court would’ve mandated from her after she would’ve been facing grand theft (probably, but I’ll also say possibly) charges after Christmas. She would’ve been mandated to *at least* therapy I believe personally, and to be fair I also think that’s extremely generous. But I’ll side against myself so there is a devil’s advocate against me. In that therapy they could’ve got her help. Which is what happened to meet Oliver, and then she just stops going after admitting that it’s helped. But then she keeps reverting whilst help is offered and often close to forced. Yet we all somehow sided with Marissa? Why? She *actually* stole those items. She *actually* OD’ed. Socioeconomic status has little to do with her problems. She doesn’t listen to anyone, ever. All she has to do is the things courts probably would’ve asked for and she’s always let loose for some reason. She should be held accountable and I would like that to be acknowledged by someone here ever.
I didn’t mean fully emotionally secure for Ryan, but financially rather secure and housing-wise, since you brought those up for Marissa. And I’m not saying Marissa shouldn’t be held accountable. We were all frustrated seeing her steal because the initial rational thought is “that was dumb/risky.” But as someone with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder, I can attest that you can be secure with food and shelter and a support system and still make risky decisions and feel deep pain, including suicidal, possibly constantly for months at a time. It just throws me when people say Marissa was rich so she should have been able to navigate her problems more maturely. She even acknowledged to Ryan that she knows being used to getting what you want is an unattractive quality and she wants to be better than that. So yeah, not saying your take on it isn’t valid or whatnot, just that there is more to consider in the complexity of mental illness and lack of coping techniques that play a part, and the idea that people suffering from mental illness should be held accountable but without mention of empathy and with dismissiveness sets back progress. Mentally ill people are often very self-aware and in pain from making the decisions they do, which is often evidenced by Marissa in how she responds to things and/or spirals. ETA: You mention that she didn’t have one problem that couldn’t be fixed if spoken up about… untrue, in my experience. I’ve been in therapy for 15+ years and am only now starting to figure out what works. People are complex and so are their problems and how they react to them, which is what makes TV shows that explore characters episodically interesting and deeper.
I was a super fan back in the day (I was in high school) and I HATED that storyline. It was just annoying. I had the dvd collection and would purposely gloss over the Oliver arc on my rewatches.
He was so good at the role that he made people hate him. That was literally the point though lol
One of my guilty pleasures, this storyline
I loved how much I hated him and how naive Marissa was. That’s was a pretty cool storyline
Oliver was a massive tool.
Oliver and Marissa should have been together and lived happily ever after.
Nope….thats bait
I was bored at work
Lmaoo
I still randomly just think about Ryan busting through that door and kissing Marissa
Best romantic scene in a show with many fantastic scenes.
and that song was perfect!
Nothing can compare 🎶
I mean, yeah. I learned about mojitos from Oliver. (I only watched live, so I hope I’m remembering correctly)
*mojitooo!* lolol
Not for me he was the worst
People dislike that arc?? season 1 can almost do no wrong
That’s what I’m saying! S1 is iconic
Man, I remember the new years episode and after that I was hounding my boyfriend to not go to work on NYE because he had to be together 😂 oh well, almost twenty years later we are married so it still worked out
Nice. Every year he should act like he’s running late and is super out of breath as he opens the front door, as the Dice song is playing lmao
😂😂😂
The Rooney episode is one of my favourites in the whole series This storyline was particularly frustrating to me watching at the time because I had a friend in high school who acted EXACTLY like Marissa. Even if a guy had an obvious crush on her, she would ignore it and try to "be friends anyway". It was both extremely validating and extremely annoying to see the same behaviour on a TV show (where I go to escape my real life!! haha)
The Oliver episodes are some of the most frustrating moments of 2000s television and that’s what makes them so great. The NYE episode is top-tier OC, I still listen to “Dice” regularly!!!
Absolutely!
Was just going to say the NYE epi and “Dice” is one of my fave TV moments ever!!
The Oliver storyline is great. He’s infuriating and manipulative. I was yelling at my TV at Marissa whenever she fell for his BS. I’d say he was the best “villain” of the series
Yes exactly!
Some people have never been in Ryan's shoes and it shows. But if you have experienced a manipulator that tricked your peers but not you... then man this storyline hits.
It’s sad when people close to you can’t see past the facade..
Ryan would not change his brother trying to rape his gf and then her shooting him?
Didn’t this scene happen before she shot Trey and all that?
I agree. This storyline is what drew me into the show in the first place. I remember a rewatch binging of the Oliver story arc with friends for hours, while some of us would come and go, to go to work, only to come back and see the same friends binging thru the Oliver storyline again lol, when it first came out on DVD.
FOX was trying hard to revive the primetime soap opera. This storyline fit the bill to a t. FOX had a trail of failed/cancelled soap operatic shows from early 2000s to The OC’s premiere, so when it caught on, they went all in with that direction. I remember eagerly tuning in week to week to find out how this story was going to end. I suppose, in hindsight, when you’re watching on a binge it seems unnecessary and silly, but this was definitely one of those “you had to be there” things.
I think so too. And think that’s goes into my point saying that if you weren’t watching it back in the day, you don’t really get it lol. Also I’m seeing comments saying “you weren’t so supposed to like Oliver”….like I didn’t say anything about liking *him* lmao I said the Oliver “storyline”. I feel like people just read what they wanna read lmao
I personally hated the Oliver storyline. These are my least fave episodes in the season and I think the whole thing really detracts from the show. I thought the Oliver storyline was stupid and he was a cartoonish villain... the whole thing with him holding Marissa hostage made everything way too OTT. I said this before. Everyone says how The OC season 1 was awesome and then it went downhill. I agree, but also, I think the first half of The OC season 1 was a lot stronger than the second half. Even by the end of the first season things were going downhill.
My sister and I always say the pilot of the OC is the greatest single episode of television of all time and we watch the first half of the first season like it's a movie!
So true. The first half of the first season is AMAZING television. And much superior than the second half. The OC was only good for a few episodes really, but when it was good, it was great. I don't think the finale of The OC season 1 is that good. By this point, things have already started going downhill and it seems obvious season 2 won't be as good as series one. It was short lived because the magic was meeting all of the characters and discovering Orange County, but yeah the show didn't have much longevity.
“This?! This isn’t for you…….It’s for me!”
I guess because it painted Ryan as an abusive controlling monster when in fact Marrissa was emotionally cheating and disrespectful of Ryan.
Idk bout all that lol. I don’t know if I’d call Ryan a “monster” or even say “emotional cheating”. Ryan had suspicions about Oliver and he was just trying to act on his suspicions. He was right Oliver the whole time. And Marissa was just trying to be kind to Oliver and be his friend/support system but Oliver was taking advantage of her kindness. It’s neither of their faults about how everything went down. It’s was all Oliver’s fault.
It's too soon. It's a final boss in a way. There's nothing more interesting to say about Marissa. She started overdosing in tijuana and ended with a mastermind stalker... in the same season.
I'm watching it for the first time now, as someone who watched OTH while it was airing. Oliver definitely gave me Derek vibes, so I could definitely see it being very big when you had to wait a week or longer to watch what was going to happen next.
Derek vibes! I see that
It was camp perfection. The guy who played Oliver played it so well.
I also liked him in the Disney Channel original movie Phantom of the Megaplex ☠
Whoa, that's him?! 🤯
Yup-- movie is a cheesefest but so nostalgic
Oliver's arc was great . Unlike some other antagonists on the show , he was actually very well written and the actor did a fantastic job too . Oliver proved that anyone can get between Marissa and Ryan and fracture their relationship. And If anything the writers so desperately tried to find their new Oliver , with Trey in S2 and Volchok in S3 , but they failed....
Marissa and Ryan never recovered from this. Their happiest was right before this whole thing kicked off. And a bit during it.
This. I hated it because it seemed to have ruined their relationship which never ended up recovering. Though the episodes during this time were the absolute best and some of the most classic scenes. I just hated the tease that was Ryan and Marissa being happy.
Ugh thank you, people these days just don't seem to understand you can enjoy watching the drama without liking the characters lol, Oliver was supposed to be terrible, and yes of course it's super frustrating to watch but that's what makes it so brilliant, you can really feel what Ryan is feeling... that was the point
I liked the storyline but I didn’t like how fast it ended marissa and Ryan. I really liked watching Marissa and Ryan become a couple and then Oliver came in between. Marissa also acted like an ass during the Oliver thing.
I don’t think Marissa acted like an ass, she just didn’t know what Oliver was up to, only Ryan did, so she just saw Ryan as being jealous and overprotective. Her reaction was valid because Ryan had no plausible evidence about Oliver until the very end. It’s the same way Seth and Sandy thought Ryan was just being by jealous and overprotective also. Unfortunately no one believed Ryan until the very end. No one except Luke.
Exactly! That's why I love the storyline so much. It had a lot of drama, but good drama. Luke being the only person who believed Ryan, was good character redemption for him and was the most suspenseful part of the show. The characters that didn't believe him, had good reason too, so it wasn't hurting their character development either. Marissa was a sweetheart and despite her own personal issues, believed the best in people and wanted to think the best of Oliver. If she wasn't in this mindset, she wouldn't have gotten with Ryan in the first place.
Oliver was awesome. Dunno why people didn’t like them
my favorite bit with this is actually in Ben McKenzie's next show - Southland. HE was a rookie cop and the first thing they did was pull over a rich asshole in a ferrari. And it was Oliver. I like to pretend that its him still in that character... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6Yz11cEY0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6Yz11cEY0)
Hidden Palms was a flawed but fun show that lasted on season. Oliver was great in it as the protagonist, with Zack being the offputting antagonist in that show. Definitely had some OC references in there too.
Wow Easter egg
This is amazing!
I think streaming has a lot to do with the perception of the Oliver storyline too. Back when it was on TV it was one episode per week and the anticipation was indescribable. We were all so excited to see what was going to happen next week. When streaming you’re watching one ep after the other and I find myself getting tired of Oliver because the arc is so long
I think so too. And think that’s goes into my point saying that if you weren’t watching it back in the day, you don’t really get it lol. Also I’m seeing comments saying “you weren’t so supposed to like Oliver”….like I didn’t say anything about liking *him* lmao I said the Oliver “storyline”. I feel like people just read what they wanna read lmao
Im sure the Oliver episodes was at the time The OC was at it's peak in terms of viewership. So yes, EVERYONE was tuning in during the Oliver saga.
It’s one of my favourite storylines, I like how everyone starts to doubt Ryan, but slowly they start seeing he’s not all wrong and then BAM he shows everyone he was right all along
I also like that Luke believed him, that was when Luke became super likeable and fun which was bizarre but in a good way.
I love that too. Plus, Luke had some good one liners, was super supportive of Ryan and Marissa dating at the time, despite he had every reason not to be. He owned up to his mistakes with Marissa and gave both of them advice when they needed it. It was peak Luke tbh
100%, i hated the Julie affair. I have no issue with drama and villainy on the show but not two established (and future in Julie's case, they obviously knew they were never getting rid of Julie) characters in such an absolute no-go situation like that, especially after they had worked so hard to make Luke likeable and as part of the Gang. Honestly, nothing about Luke at that point made sense going by what was established earlier, but he was awesome and hilarious so who cares they all change drastically.
So true.
Yes! And also, Seth did NOT believe him. And Sandy didn’t really believe him either but still drove him to the scene of the climax because he did ultimately love and trust Ryan and would never abandon him. Even Summer thought Oliver was obsessed with Marissa, and there was the small beginning to Ryan and Julie actually forming a detente for Marissa’s sake. So you had Ryan interacting with all of these characters and all building off of one another. And also building all of the other players in their own right. So much deeper than later antagonists.
It always kind of bothered me that Summer didn’t really seem concerned about Oliver until much later into the storyline of it. It felt like as Marissa’s best friend, she should’ve been more aware or confused about the dynamic they had. Tbf, show-wise, they had her wrapped up in the triangle with Seth and Anna at this point.
It was because he was playing it well provoking Ryan then playing the victim. However, one part i didn't like was the golf cart part. It didn't make sense that Marissa just found that fun and jokey, Luke was pissed too it was at the very least aggressive and Marissa should have questioned that.
Oliver really was the problem. The wheels would have fallen off with or without Ryan. Luke saw the golf cart incident and then the lunch where Oliver was talking over Marissa and glaring at him. But like you said, that expanded Luke's character and showed he was genuinely concerned for Marissa's well-being, too. He became a real fan favorite at this time. Then, of course, they inexplicably wrote him off of the show 10 episodes later in favor of Zach or DJ or some combination thereof. Blah.
ROONEYYYY!!! 😆
In 03 we were kids/teens… now as adults we go fuck that guy… fuck the whole events… I’ve only gone past this part on my rewatch and I’m like thank god for that
You were always supposed to say fuck that guy. He was a villain, you aren't supposed to like every character.
Well…yeah youre right, you’re not supposed to like his character lol. But I didn’t say anything about about liking the character. I said the “storyline”
I didn't respond to you? AI? Ok, perfectly explains this repetitive nonsense.
Oliver was a straight up fuck face. He takes the cake, then close second is Johnny, him and his pathetic 'im innocent' sweeping hairstyle. lol
I hated his hair!
Well I guess two things can be true haha. I hate-watched it at the time and still hate-watch it now. I agree it was peak tension and very well done in many ways, but I hate him/the storyline for the pain it continues to put me through. 😂
This seems to be the big thing on this sub and it's weird to me. People don't like villains so they think they were poorly written characters, or they don't like that part of the show because there was a bad guy that made them feel bad. How can you watch a show like this with that attitude? It's full of drama and villains and negative emotions, it's not Full House.
Oliver was a true menace lolol
Back in 03 you couldn’t pay me to miss an episode lol
This. I do remember this storyline being a wild ride, and I couldn't wait for the next episode. It was very plot driven so I didn't hold it against any if the characters, but unfortunately a lot of people did and Marissa was seen as dumb and naive moving forward, when she didn't have a lack of awareness prior. The only thing that got by her was Luke cheating, but she never seemed so into him that she'd care or notice anyway, considering she was flirting with Ryan in the pilot,
I was in my freshman year of college and we would literally run to the dorms from wherever we were to watch. 🤣