The O.C. Series Finale Review

For four years, FOX’s "The O.C." was better than anyone expected it would be. The show caught on in the ratings as viewers caught on that "The O.C." was much less like a teen soap than an hour-long sitcom with some spice that was both teen and family friendly. There aren’t a lot of shows than can boast the same, much less in this era of teen drama saturation than runs the gamut of subgenres. "The O.C." was special, and it did the impossible; it stood out, distinguishing itself from shows that had come long before it on the same network, such as the original teen soap, "90210" or "Melrose Place."

This was nothing like those heavily weighted shows that took themselves all too seriously. If there’s one wonderful thing "O.C." had going, it was that it never took itself so seriously. It was as much about the fun as it was about the characters, all of whom were fully fleshed out with real dimension that made them like real people and not caricatures of stereotypes that are exaggerated for the sap of it. Benjamin McKenzie played Ryan Atwood, the boy from Chino who nearly vanished into the vortex of the juvenile system after his brother swept him up in illegal activity. The Cohen family took in the stray, and a new family unit and dynamic was born.

The best breath of fresh air was comic, fantasy, sci-fi, and anime geek Seth Cohen played to a witty and cool dork degree by Adam Brody. Seth had the shy charm with the interests, mind, and life of a real teenage boy recluse, and Ryan had the diamond in the rough edge with the anger, boundaries, and soul of a real wounded kid. It’s a testament to the show’s writers that Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke), Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson) and the rest of the ensemble never grew stale or unlikable to any absurd degree that would cause an imbalance to the well-oiled formula that defied previous formulae for teen television.

The finale was everything a fan would expect. The premise of the show came full circle and so did the characters. All returned to their roots to become the better people they had always strived to be, and our main character, Ryan, became the poster boy for juvenile rehabilitation and soul salvation thanks to the Cohens and the environment of safety and levity that they provided. Each character came to meet an appropriate future. Sandy and Kirsten returned to the home where they had been so happy at Berkeley. Julie left dependence on men behind and decided to pursue her own path with both the men in her life behind her all the way. Summer left to be the activist she had gotten started on the long journey to being, and in the end, she and Seth married as everyone knew they were always meant to do.

The finale was touching, fitting, and inspirational. "The O.C." may have had more time left in it, but the truth is that I am glad it went off the air now on this note, because it’s hard to imagine anything else they could have done being better than this end to the story. "The O.C." went off the air while it was still an exceptional show; in fact, it closed after what most believe was a refreshing revitalization of the show after the third season had begun to slow down its fluid momentum. The series never got stale or redundant, and the characters were never boring or unpleasant. "The O.C." deserves to be recognized as one of the best shows the teen trend of this time has produced.