Sunday, December 05, 2004
I want to live in The O.C.
So I must admit, the O.C. is one of my favorite shows right now, if not the favorite. If you don't care, you're a monstrous person with no soul. If you do care, keep reading. Anyway, I don't know why; I never really watched 90210 or Melrose, or any of these primetime soaps before. In fact, I don't remember how I even started watching. But I do know why I keep watching- the characters are really engaging, especially the Cohens; the plot is simple and believable, and the dialogue is pretty good. Plus, the show strikes the right blend of funny and taking itself seriously, both within each episode and from episode to episode.
Of course there are some faults, like the Ryan and Marisa storyline (in fact, both those characters need to go in my opinion), but of course, they've gotta keep pushing it because those were the two premier characters at the start of the show. And since it's a character driven show, I'm handing out grades for the characters:
Ryan Atwood: They're trying to give him a new personality, but I haven't totally bought into it yet. The brooding teenager who doesn't talk a lot just doesn't generate a lot of buzz either way. so a solidly average C.
Marissa Cooper: Can you believe she is actually 18 in real life? No, you can't. But this character is god awful. Not like in the sense of a character you love to hate, just a character that sucks, and you feel like could be done better. D-
Seth Cohen: An annoying geek who is too cool to be cool! That's what I want to be like. Of course, I'm pissed that he chose Summer over Anna, but I'll deal with it. Good comic relief, plus the fact that he holds the hold teenage storyline together adds up to an A-.
Summer Roberts: At least she's hot, right? Summer just seems a lot more believable to me as the annoying OC girl than Marissa, so I deal with her a lot better. Plus, she's hotter. In my bookt that's at least a B.
Sandy Cohen: Marmar argues that he's the best character in the show, and if he wants to do so, I'll let him do it. Let's just say I agree; Cohen Sr. is just the kind of guy you want to be like when you're older- funny, a great father, with a hot wife, a high paying job in SoCal, but still having strong moral convictions and always rescues people out of jams. I think they should complete the image with him beating up potential home invaders with a golf club. Can you tell I spend too much time on this show? A.
Kirsten Cohen: A pretty good character as well. I see her as the person surrounded by crazy ass lunatics- Julie, Caleb, Sandy, Seth. And she keeps it all together, and seems to be a pretty good mother at the same time. I guess that's what they believe mothers are good at. I give her a B.
Julie Cooper: This is the character that I like to hate. She has the evil look to her, which is nice, and she mixes the right blend of dumb and conniving. Very interesting. B+.
Supporting cast: Caleb, Jimmy, Hailey, Luke, Theresa, and the new kids; they're all good characters and they have their place. I'd say they all bring something good to the table except Theresa. So instead of an A, the rest gets an A-.
And here's the spoiler alert for those who haven't started watching Season 2 (marmar I'm looking out for you).
Season 2 looks to be shaping up nicely, with some good new characters. At first it seemed they were just going to rehash Season 1, with Seth chasing Summer and Ryan brooding about Marisa, but with the addition of the two new love interests, who I hope stay around, it looks like they are moving in a new direction. Thank god.
I also have to point out the way they have seemingly killed off Theresa. If they don't bring her back, it'll be the best hush-hush character kill-off of all time, sort of like when they replaced the Mom in 'Fresh Prince' but expected everyone to go with it. Of course, they probably will bring her back, but I hated that whole storyline, so the less time they spend on it the better.
Ok. I think I just wrote a thousand words on the O.C. I'm going to watch football so I can pretend I have masculinity at the end of the day.
Of course there are some faults, like the Ryan and Marisa storyline (in fact, both those characters need to go in my opinion), but of course, they've gotta keep pushing it because those were the two premier characters at the start of the show. And since it's a character driven show, I'm handing out grades for the characters:
Ryan Atwood: They're trying to give him a new personality, but I haven't totally bought into it yet. The brooding teenager who doesn't talk a lot just doesn't generate a lot of buzz either way. so a solidly average C.
Marissa Cooper: Can you believe she is actually 18 in real life? No, you can't. But this character is god awful. Not like in the sense of a character you love to hate, just a character that sucks, and you feel like could be done better. D-
Seth Cohen: An annoying geek who is too cool to be cool! That's what I want to be like. Of course, I'm pissed that he chose Summer over Anna, but I'll deal with it. Good comic relief, plus the fact that he holds the hold teenage storyline together adds up to an A-.
Summer Roberts: At least she's hot, right? Summer just seems a lot more believable to me as the annoying OC girl than Marissa, so I deal with her a lot better. Plus, she's hotter. In my bookt that's at least a B.
Sandy Cohen: Marmar argues that he's the best character in the show, and if he wants to do so, I'll let him do it. Let's just say I agree; Cohen Sr. is just the kind of guy you want to be like when you're older- funny, a great father, with a hot wife, a high paying job in SoCal, but still having strong moral convictions and always rescues people out of jams. I think they should complete the image with him beating up potential home invaders with a golf club. Can you tell I spend too much time on this show? A.
Kirsten Cohen: A pretty good character as well. I see her as the person surrounded by crazy ass lunatics- Julie, Caleb, Sandy, Seth. And she keeps it all together, and seems to be a pretty good mother at the same time. I guess that's what they believe mothers are good at. I give her a B.
Julie Cooper: This is the character that I like to hate. She has the evil look to her, which is nice, and she mixes the right blend of dumb and conniving. Very interesting. B+.
Supporting cast: Caleb, Jimmy, Hailey, Luke, Theresa, and the new kids; they're all good characters and they have their place. I'd say they all bring something good to the table except Theresa. So instead of an A, the rest gets an A-.
And here's the spoiler alert for those who haven't started watching Season 2 (marmar I'm looking out for you).
Season 2 looks to be shaping up nicely, with some good new characters. At first it seemed they were just going to rehash Season 1, with Seth chasing Summer and Ryan brooding about Marisa, but with the addition of the two new love interests, who I hope stay around, it looks like they are moving in a new direction. Thank god.
I also have to point out the way they have seemingly killed off Theresa. If they don't bring her back, it'll be the best hush-hush character kill-off of all time, sort of like when they replaced the Mom in 'Fresh Prince' but expected everyone to go with it. Of course, they probably will bring her back, but I hated that whole storyline, so the less time they spend on it the better.
Ok. I think I just wrote a thousand words on the O.C. I'm going to watch football so I can pretend I have masculinity at the end of the day.
# posted by Stuart @ 9:08 AM 
