From 2003 to 2007, American teenagers would tune in on Tuesday nights to watch the teen drama, The O.C. to see the far-fetched lives of teenagers in Newport Beach, California. The drama is about Ryan, a poor Chino Hills teen who moves to Newport Beach and experiences a new life of wealth and luxury. Ryan has a difficult time adjusting to the lives of the rich and considers running away from his new home. However, the state of his new friend Marissa Cooper may change his mind. Ryan experiences events that only occur in wealthy areas such as a charity fashion show and an after-party at the beach. The pilot episode of The O.C. sets the tone for the rest of the drama and begins the show right on an exhilarating note.
The episode “Premiere”, directed by Doug Liman and written by Josh Schwartz, is the first episode of The O.C.; it was released on August 5th, 2003. The episode is about Ryan Atwood, a Chino Hills teen living in poverty. At the beginning of the episode, he is caught trying to steal a car with his older brother, Trey, and ends up in juvenile detention. Ryan is assigned to a public defender, Sandy Cohen, a surfer with a Bronx accent who sees potential in the teen. Sandy gets Ryan out of juvie quickly and helps him return home. But when Ryan arrives home, his mother kicks him out, leaving Ryan homeless with no money. Ryan pulls out the business card that Sandy gave him and decides to dial his number. Sandy picks up Ryan and takes him to live with his family in his beachside home in Newport Beach, CA. Ryan is then invited to attend the charity fashion show that Sandy’s neighbor and the teenage “it-girl”, Marissa Cooper, is hosting. At the show, Ryan sees the lavish and luxurious lives that Newport Beach residents live. As the other teens do not know about Ryan’s background, he is invited to an after party where he gets into a fight with the star water polo player of Newport, Luke.
From the perspective of someone who moved to Orange County as a teen, Ryan’s initial feelings about Newport Beach are relatable and very understandable. Newport is a place like no other in terms of wealth and luxury, from the sports cars running through Crystal Cove to the 9 room mansions up in Pelican Hill. One who has not seen this often before may be shocked and surprised, having a hard time getting adjusted to the area. The teens of Newport Beach are characterized to be spoiled, entitled, and privileged, which is somewhat of a major stereotype of teenagers in this area, even in Orange County. This episode accurately characterizes Newport Beach as a whole and sets the uncomfortable tone that aligns with Ryan’s feelings.
This pilot episode also successfully establishes the protagonists and antagonists for the season, with Luke Ward being the first antagonist of the show. When Ryan and Marissa meet for the first time in front of their houses, Luke drives in with an expensive truck and picks Marissa up. Luke kisses Marissa while glaring at Ryan and from this moment on, it is clear that Luke is a popular teen who is only dating Marissa for his social status. When Luke and his water polo team haze Sandy’s teenage son, Seth at the after-party, Ryan punches Luke and begins a fight with him. The crowd stares around seeing Ryan as the villain in the situation. Realizing that these are the people that he has to deal with in Newport Beach, Ryan begins packing his bags to leave the Cohen home. The climax of the episode is when Ryan sees Marissa blacked out and abandoned outside of her home by her careless friends. Ryan, about to leave, carries Marissa into the Cohen home and lays her down in the bed. He realizes he needs to stay to make sure Marissa is okay and taken care of.
When Ryan first comes to Sandy’s home, he meets Seth Cohen, Sandy’s son. Seth is a friendless geek who is obsessed with video games, comic books, and indie bands. Ryan befriends Seth and begins playing video games with him where Seth confesses that he has a major crush on Marissa’s best friend, Summer Roberts, but she does not know of his existence. Seth is so in love with Summer that he named his sailboat the “Summer Breeze” after her. Though it is extremely creepy to name a boat after a person who doesn’t even know you, Ryan’s attempts to set Summer and Seth up at the after-party shows Ryan to be a kind and caring person. However, Ryan’s plan backfires on him when Summer begins to flirt with him, making Seth jealous and annoyed. Summer is characterized as shallow, mean, and definitely, the type of person you would run into in Newport Beach. But, her mannerisms being very much a stereotypical valley girl make it funny for people who know and understand people like Summer. Seth is also a comedic character with his sarcasm and irony, when he first plays video games with Ryan he suggests playing Grand Theft Auto, “It’s pretty fun, you can steal cars and stuff.” he says, which is exactly what Ryan did to meet Sandy. The Seth-Summer subplot is an interesting story that continues to develop through the O.C.
Overall, this episode was successful in hooking people on the show. The characters that are introduced all have the potential to be a big part of the show. The O.C. shows the world of Newport Beach perfectly to both people who know and don’t know the area. In this episode, I particularly liked the bond between Seth and Ryan growing and how Seth was not judgemental about Ryan’s background but instead was the first person fully welcoming him into the Newport community. The friendship brings a warm tone to the awkward feelings portrayed in the episode. This episode reveals Ryan to be a protective and caring person, despite his past and what he has done. This can also act as commentary on the real world, and how juvenile delinquents are overlooked in society because of one action. The audience also learns about Marissa and her family situation, her mother is revealed to be a materialistic and shallow woman who clearly married Marissa’s father for wealth. Though Marissa’s father is a successful man, the IRS is currently trying to reach him for fraud, but Marissa, nor the audience does not know why. The episode does lack quality when it comes to encapsulating the true culture of Orange County, but, for the sake of drama, the O.C.’s characterization of teenagers in Newport Beach is perfect for entertaining audiences all over the world.
