The OC: Summary of the first 4 episodes

Clamoring to know how season 3 began? well, read a recap of the first four episodes!

The Aftermath (episode 1)
The Shape Of Things To Come (episode 2)
The End Of Innocence (Episode 3)
The Last Waltz (episode 4)

Last season, Ryan went to smack down his brother Trey who tried to rape his sometime girlfriend Marissa. In the melee, Trey got the upper hand and tried to kill Ryan with a telephone (it was a really old phone, not a cordless or a cell). Before he could deliver the death blow, Marissa got hold of Trey’s gun and shot him.

Apparently, they rushed Trey to the hospital and he lived, albeit in a coma. They didn’t know who actually did the shooting: they won’t prosecute Marissa, though, because she was protecting Ryan. Rich +white=not guilty. Unfortunately since Ryan’s prints are also on the gun and he has a motive (revenge against his brother for attacking his girlfriend), he could have shot him. Rich-white=guilty. Once Trey wakes up from his soap opera coma, Julie tries to pay him 20K to put the blame on Ryan for shooting him. She doesn’t want Marissa to suffer and not get into a good college. After Marissa talks to Trey, he signs a confession that Marissa shot him, and leaves town. Comas are so restful! But not before he and Ryan share a longing look at each other as the greyhound bus leaves town for parts unknown.

Newport parents petition to keep Ryan and Marissa out of school since they are “dangerous.” The verdict: Ryan gets to stay, Marissa has to go. They try to appeal to the new character Dean Hess (played by Eric Mabius, a former classmate of mine) to let her come back, but the assy Dean is such a jerk he goads Marissa into admitting that in regards to the shooting she has “no remorse” and “would do it again in a second.” Wow. Now that there’s no social chair, a perky Nazi-like cutie named Taylor Townsend decides to take over. Summer won’t let that happen, there’s a power play over planning a carnival that Summer wins. At said carnival, Ryan brings Marissa. Mean Dean tries to throw Marissa out since she’s not a student. Ryan goes apeshit and punches out the dean. Now he’s expelled too!

Meanwhile, Taylor wrestles control of the social committee from Summer and forces her to work on projects with her dorky boyfriend, Seth. While both school-less, Ryan and Marissa finally do it at the beach. Which was a surprise since I thought they did it years ago.

But all is not lost. Ryan gets homeschooled and Marissa goes to…gasp…public school! Where everyone is afraid of the skinny girl who shoots people! They call her “Newport Barbie” which is inaccurate since Barbie has breasts and a waist. Anyhow, she does make some friends—Casey (aka “Summer”) Chili (aka “Seth”) and Johnny (aka “Ryan”).

Reading of the will. Julie expects a big payoff since Caleb died last season, and they were married at least a year, beating the prenup. Jimmy’s excited, because he gets Julie back AND he can pay off some debts. And we see some sleazy guys who want the cash. Unfortunately, Caleb was bankrupt when he died and Julie doesn’t get a dime. Jimmy gets something, though: beaten up. He leaves town before he marries Julie again. So on top of losing her husband, and her ex-husband, the bank seizes everything she owns. Marissa moves in with Summer and Julie moves to a sleazy hotel.


While in rehab for her drinking problem, Kirsten picks up a friend named Charlotte (who is played by Jeri Ryan, the chick who played the Borg on Star Trek: Voyager). Kirsten almost makes it home on several occasions, but Charlotte manipulates her into staying at rehab longer, then at Charlotte’s family cabin in the woods. Just as its about to get sexy, Kirsten decides to go home. Later we learn that it’s not Char’s cabin after all! Charlotte is a con artist who isn’t really a drunk. Why she’s in rehab we have no idea. She appears in Newport and tries to get Kirsten to invest in a “post-rehab spa” but finds out Kirsten’s dad didn’t leave her any money.

Summer is still under Taylor T’s thrall. While doing her bidding, Summer sees Taylor making out with someone in the shadows. Is it Dean Hess?