The O.C.: Season 4

With the death of Marissa Cooper bringing to an end the third season of The O.C., things certainly had to swing upward with the start of the fourth season. While the first few episodes of what turned out to be the final season of this addictive primetime soap opera were a little sluggish, the rest of the season was a return to the glory of season one, albeit a little too late to salvage the show.Coming into season four, it was likely that this would be the last season for the show, one of my favorites and midway through the season it was announced that the show would conclude after 16 episodes. The announcement did give creator Josh Schwartz enough time to pen a great ending, one that wrapped the series up in a nice bow and presented it to the fans who had been with the show since day one.But starting the season was tough, as it was six months after Marissa was killed in a traffic accident caused by bad boy Volchok. Ryan (Ben McKenzie) is still traumatized over the death of the girl who had changed his life, and as we open the season, he is working in a seedy bar and cage fighting. But, he has connections with Marissa's mom, Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke), who reaches out to him when her private investigator finds out where Volchok is located.Ryan's distance is hard on Sandy (Peter Gallagher) and Kirsten Cohen (Kelly Rowan), as they struggle with watching their adopted "son" fall on hard times. In the first few episodes, Ryan is finally convinced to come home to Newport Beach and begin mending his life and his heart.The early part of the season takes viewers on a trip to Mexico as Ryan and Seth (Adam Brody) look for Volchok south of the border. Sandy and Kirsten follow and eventually, Volchok turns himself in, with Sandy's help, keeping Ryan from going off the deep end and killing him as he truly wanted to do. Sandy's act not only helps Volchok, but helps Ryan stay out of trouble and on the right side of the law.From there, the season picks up and returns to the soapy drama and humor that made it such a hit in the first season. This season truly found the groove again, thanks in part to a great casting move, one that anybody watching season three would've found hard to believe.The show runners brought in Taylor Townsend (the gorgeous Autumn Reeser) in season three, seemingly as a foil for the main characters. While she was only a guest star during that season, the new season finds her among the regular stars in the opening credits and her addition to the full time cast was a blessing. She truly brought a lot of the humor that the show needed. Taylor has been away in France in college for the six months since graduation and returns to California with a wedding ring and a need to escape her French husband, Henri-Michel. She finds her reason in Ryan, though their relationship takes some great twists and turns along the way. Ryan trying to express his feelings for Taylor is pretty funny and when Henri-Michel comes to Newport to woo Taylor back to France, it becomes obvious that he has feelings for her even if he can't completely express them.The relationship with Taylor is Ryan's main story throughout the season, as he is still having a hard time letting go of the memory of Marissa and can't commit to Taylor the way she wants. Watching him struggle to figure out what he is feeling provides a good dose of humor.Summer (the beautiful Rachel Bilson) has spent her first semester at Brown University where she has undergone major changes. Instead of the Newport girl that left Seth, she is now an environmental activist, wreaking havoc on the Rhode Island campus with her new friend Che (guest star Chris Pratt, who is hilarious in this role). When she gets kicked out of school for setting rabbits free from their cages, she returns to Newport and has to face the fact that her best friend is gone, something she had been putting on a back page during her activist stage.Seth is working in a comic book store, leaving long messages on Summer's answering machine, longing for the days when he had Ryan and Summer to keep him company in Newport. He soon gets both of them back and things seem to return to "normal" for Seth despite the fact that Summer has obviously changed.Julie and Kirsten continue as business partners in New Match, a high-end dating service that Julie turns into a male prostitution ring, temporarily ruining her friendship with Kirsten. It is through this business that Julie meets Gordon Bullitt (guest star Gary Grubbs) and Ryan's father, Frank Atwood (guest star Kevin Sorbo). Unable to decide, Julie dates both men, unable to make a choice in her life, despite the best efforts of her daughter Kaitlin (Willa Holland) to get her to choose the wealthy Bullitt.The return of Ryan's father also brings trouble, much like the return of his mother and brother in previous seasons. Frank has been in jail and initially, Ryan wants nothing to do with him, but Frank lies to get Ryan to see him and the two slowly begin to mend the fences that came down quickly in the past. Ryan even helps Frank on the Julie front, teaming with Taylor to form "Team Frank."Sandy and Kirsten get a major surprise on Kirsten's 40th birthday, as she reveals she is pregnant and instead of having an empty nest, the couple will be welcoming a new baby, though both parents cringe at the thought of raising another kid in Newport.Perhaps the highlight of the season was the Chrismukkah episode, where Ryan and Taylor fall off a ladder and end up in an alternate Newport, where Sandy is mayor and married to Julie, Kirsten is still working at the Newport Group and married to Jimmy Cooper (guest star Tate Donovan), Seth is still a geek and Summer is marrying Che (or Chester as he's known in the alternate world). This episode allowed the stars to play different characters for a while and was pretty funny to watch.The final few episodes wrap the series up very nicely. An earthquake rattles Orange County, putting everyone in danger and it is revealed that the Cohen house has been destroyed. This leads Ryan and Seth on a mission to Berkeley to try and purchase Sandy and Kirsten's first house even as a pregnant (with Frank's kid) Julie prepares to marry Bullitt (and yes, he knows). Sandy and Kirsten fly to Berkeley and end up having the baby in their old house, prompting Julie and Bullitt to move the wedding there as well, eventually convincing the new owners to sell the house to Sandy and Kirsten.The final few minutes glimpses into the future of the characters, looking at what Ryan, Summer, Seth, Sandy, Kirsten, Julie, Kaitlin and the whole group is up to. It is a great way to end, with everyone seemingly in a good place, just where you might hope they'd be.This set also has some good extras, which add to the release. Schwartz provides commentary on the series finale and it is well done and informative. There is a couple of good featurettes, one on the creation of Seth's holiday blend, Chrismukkah and another on the evolution of the Summer character, focusing on her transformation from Newport Barbie to well-rounded young woman. Her character did go through possibly the most changes throughout the four-year history of the show.All told, the season wrapped up well, surely leaving viewers pleased and as a big fan of the show, I think this DVD set did a great job presenting the final 16 episodes.

The O.C. - Season 4 (DVD): One of the last pre-diverse network shows of the genre, I watched all 4 seasons on TV because I didn't know any better. And, still in the pre-stream era I found the S1-3 disc sets in a store clearance bin for $5 each. I had to complete the series so I bought S4 on Amazon. The discs load & play without issues in my LG player, through a mid-level Sony amp, into a 55" Vizio OLED TV.

Was glad to find the 4th season which is not as easy to come by as the other seasons.

After the lackluster storyline in Season 3, the O.C. was redeemed again in Season 4, but by that time it was too late. The viewership dropped astronomically by the millions when Season 4 rolled around and never picked up momentum causing the Warner Bros., the studio behind the show to cancel the O.C. abruptly. This abruptness was noticed towards the end of Season 4 when the O.C. experiences an Earthquake in the show. The continuity is noticed at that point where the studio pulled the plug and suddenly the show is wrapped up quickly in a nice pretty bow. Season 4 was an exceptional season after Season 3 dragged downward through one ridiculousness after another. Season 4 starts off just as low as we're dragged through the aftermath of the Marissa Cooper death in Season 3 and then the revenge on the guy responsible, Volchak. Once that wraps itself up after a few episodes, then the show begins to build steam upward again becoming interesting and moving in the way it was in Seasons 1 and 2. Unfortunately many stopped watching the show by the time it hit Season 4. You can notice the downward trajectory in viewers with Season 1 having 10 million viewers, Season 2 dropping to 7 million, Season 3 dropping to 6 million, and then Season 4 only having 4 million viewers left. Not enough for the studio to keep shooting episodes. It's a shame as Season 4 was better than 3.

Much of the 4th season of the series resembles what one could refer to as a 2nd rate CW/FOX series.Many of the actors are talented and have chemistry together but the overall feel of the plot/subplotsis of a soap opera written for young teenagers. The only real reason I tried this series and afterwordspurchased the first 3 Seasons is that I really like Rachel Bilson who is sexy, playful, and a talentedactress who even when put in ridiculous situations you can't help but fall in love with. Chris Pratt'scharacter is so stupid and outrageous and he commits to his role that you characterize it as good actingeven though the plots involving him are always SNL spoof like. Regardless I have to admit in everyepisode I usually get a good laugh or two unexpectedly-something as simple as Seth makinga silly video of animal whale pool floats. While the characters often talk about attending eliteschools like Brown, Cal Berkeley etc... I never see them studying academic subjects.It also is somewhat annoying how the plots/subplots are contrived so that all the characters alwaysend up in Orange County when logic suggests they should be elsewhere, and the resolution of allproblems is self contained within or comes full circle within the limited permutation of characters.As a final thought when you see the flip phones it makes you realize the series is 15 years old andwhen you hear the theme California Here We Come do you ask yourself is this a catchy orjust annoying song?

I have enjoyed the previous three seasons of the OC but I had mixed feelings about where the final season would go without one of the four main characters. Although I enjoyed OC4 I felt like there was something missing (and not just Marissa). I was never a die-hard Marissa fan but the show just felt like it was trying too hard in her absence. The arrival of new characters and romances kept the storylines fresh but at times were a bit too comical - there's spirit animals, cagefighting, marriage and divorce just to name a few! There is more emphasis on neurotic Taylor this season but her [spoiler] romance with Ryan just feels a bit, well, wrong. I was a tad disappointed that Anna wasn't in this season, especially after she appeared at Brown in season 3. She would have made a great addition in OC4. This season is definitely different and worth a watch even if it's just to see what happens next but it is much shorter at only 16 episodes. If you are hoping for something like the previous three seasons you may find yourself disappointed with OC4.

What can I say about The OC except that it's a show that's much, much greater than the sum of it's parts. There are other shows (e.g. One Tree Hill) which at first glance, seem to be in a similar vein but they're not. They are so far beneath The OC they're not really worth mentioning (or watching). They're wannabees. The OC stands alone for it's storylines, acting performances, it's heart and above all, it's charm. Start watching the OC right from season 1 and let it grab you. It'll have won you over completely by episode 5 and watch out for all the little OC trademarks.....Sandy's sense of humour, Ryan's right hook, Seth's eccentricities, Summer's quirky honesty, Marissa's huge feet and bad dress sense, an amazing soundtrack and bagels my friend.....oh yes, let's not forget all those bagels. Buy all 4 seasons...sit back and enjoy.

First 2 seasons are the best. But it's a good watch and fun journey with the characters.

Quality is great and comes with all the dvd extras you'd expect.I just aren't a huge fan of this season! I loved 1-3 but this one just doesn't carry the same addiction as the others did.The final episode however did have me crying my eyes out.

The OC is amazing - Not as good as One Tree Hill! But still amazing. This season isn't QUITE as good as the others, but it gives a nice ending and concludes the whole series so it is a MUST SEE.Very very sad bit with Seth and Summer. Probably cried most at that scene than any other scene in the whole of The OC.