The OC - The End

Four years ago, a gem of a show appeared on our televisions. Where spoilt rich kids and haughty parents ravaged through the painted sunshine in bikinis, worked up a tan in the artificial lighting and managed to find drama in the smallest of spaces. Yes, The OC was scorching hot. Season 1 flowed like a river and our society became hypnotized by the Orange County fascade. The troublesome hero Ryan Atwood, saving the problematic Marissa Cooper while befriending the "emo nerd" Seth Cohen, who by chance happened to be madly in love with Marissa's (then) snobby friend, Summer Roberts. Back in 03, none could imagine an end to such a show. Josh Schwartz, creator of this "revolution" was rolling in his money giggling with joy. But...what the heck happened? As Season 2 rolled along they noticed a subtle change. Something smelled fishy in Orange and it wasn't the fat free salmon! There were a few noticable changes which the show even poked fun at (see episode titled The Way We Were) this confusion. Still, viewers were loyal and continued to watch. During all the commotion, a relative of our hero came into the story and his motive was to stir up trouble unintentionally of course. This character was Trey; Ryan's older brother, recently out of jail. By this time in our story, Marissa and Ryan were on and off again, as were Seth and Summer (no way!). After Marissa's lesbian stunt with actress Olivia Wilde Alex Kelly on the show she settled for Ryan and all was well...Ha! Yeah right. Trey decided to get a little too friendly with one Marissa Cooper and Bing Boom Bang Trey nearly raped Marissa. Anyway, Yada Yada Yada, the show went on and produced, what seemed to be one of the best Season finales EVER! With Marissa shooting Trey as Imogen Heap's eerie "Hide and Seek" playing in the back. Oh my, what a finale! Sadly, Season 3 didn't live up to the expectations of the show. I personally didn't mind it but many were outraged with the "over" drama, the adding of new characters, the missing humour, the "un"wittyness. Somewhere out there, Josh Schwartz, didn't seem to care anymore. Ergo, The OC lost fans many fans. Characters were dying and falling out of love. The once loved Marissa was beginning to get irritating. The once adored Seth Cohen was taking drugs and humourless. The once ditsy Summer was given NASA like SAT scores. The once bruting Ryan was given a haircut!! Although we were given a nibbling of a quirky student named Taylor and an "overdose" of Marissa's little sister Kaitlin, things just weren't the same, what was going on? Yet, I continued to watch and didn't mind. "But wait, there's more!" the return of a favourite character named Anna was sure to lift smiles as well as ratings, and it did. She appeared on screen and left. Now with graduation at mind, things were bound to get better...right? Well, possibly. The Season 3 finale brought an episode PACKED with drama as we said goodbye to a show favourite. Yes, Marissa Cooper died that die. Saying goobye in the arms of Ryan Atwood. Though many chose not to believe it and stuck around for the Season 4 premiere others just turned off the TV and never returned to those perfect swells. Anticipation set, and the verdict was: Marissa dead! But...was this bad? Or good? The show took a turn for the best and became a smash again in terms of quality, but sank to the ground at the ratings. Getting an appalling 34 million viewers an episode! Marissa was gone and we were given Taylor and Kailtin to fill in the gap. It wasn't the same. The show was a rollercoaster ride which appears to be slowing down. The sun is setting and The OC's future doesn't seem to be looking good. Season 4 WAS looking good very good. But, when did FOX ever care about the quality of a show when it wasn't producing viewers? Because more viewers = more money. 4 Years ago, when asked if The OC was to be cancelled, the answer seemed out of this world, well, the answer now is "Yes". The show is cancelled. It has produced great entertainment so why should it stop? Ah, the final question, who is at fault!? Is The OC at fault? Has it lost it's spark? Are Marissa's shoes just too big to be filled? I'm not too sure. Is it FOX's fault? For putting The OC in the same timeslot as GREY'S ANATOMY TV suicide if you ask me. For not having enough faith in the show? Possibly. Or, is it Josh Schwartz's fault? The big dog himself, for, when asked if he would continue the show on another network, like lets say...The CW (who is VERY eager to pick it up) said "It's time for it to end". Seems like the right choice huh? Or is it maybe, our fault? For not giving this amazing show another chance, for not watching this great season that season 4 has set out to be? Well, the answer is yours I guess. The sun has set for this show, it has had a great, short, but great run and should still be given yet another chance.