The O.C. Season One
The Cast
Peter Gallagher .... Sanford 'Sandy' Cohen
Kelly Rowan .... Kirsten Cohen
Benjamin McKenzie .... Ryan Atwood
Mischa Barton .... Marissa Cooper
Adam Brody .... Seth Cohen
Chris Carmack .... Luke Ward
Melinda Clarke .... Julie Cooper-Nichol
Rachel Bilson .... Summer Roberts
Alan Dale .... Caleb Nichol
Tate Donovan .... Jimmy Cooper
The Good
Well first off, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by The O.C. I'd heard a bunch about it before watching, but I'd dismissed it as a fad soap opera. Little did I know just how well-written it was. The characters are ones you can care about, or deeply despise. Even though the setting is completely foreign to me, I could still identify with the choices these people had to make, the lives they're trying to lead, the romances they're trying to forge.
The writing is almost too smart at points, especially when they get into self-referential stuff. Still, hearing Marissa (Barton) go on & on about Russell Crowe while Crowe-lookalike Ryan (McKenzie) stands there with his expressionless mug was gold. Seth (Brody) is one of the better characters created for a teen prime time soap, more believable than a Brandon Walsh ever was. The characters all have flaws, & I just can't get over how good it actually is.
The Bad
Well, it's not perfect y'know. I know it's hard to cast actual teenagers for these parts, but some of the high school students easily looked early-20s. Blame that on the Californian lifestyle if you will, but there was no way I was buying Casper Van Dien-lookalike Luke (Carmack) as 16 or 18, or whatever he played on the show. It's a trifling point, but still a slightly grating one. Throw in a few shows or plotlines that are straight out of the teen soap playbook that kinda annoyed me.
The Fucking Awesome
How cool is Sandy (Gallagher) anyways? Man, nothing fazes him. He's always there with a mood-ruining line, or standing up for himself or the little guy. He's one helluva character, & at times was much funnier than Seth could hope to be. As well, some of the choices the characters were forced to make, straight outta stupid real life. It takes balls to let go of a girl like Anna (Samaire Armstrong), but Seth went with Summer (Bilson), the girl he's been in love with his whole life. Not the home run choice, but the choice of his heart.
So how good is The O.C. really? It's annoyingly addictive, & there's so much more potential for these characters. I know nothing about what's happened in the 2nd Season (minus the spoilerific commercials that Fox was using to promo it), but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of it in the future. As long as Ryan gets himself a haircut, 'cause his Season One 'do was a don't. Ahaha I'm sorry. Strong recommendation to check out.
Andy the Saint's review