It's been awhile since i've done one of these...since The Chrismukk-huh?, and i think that this will be the last time i'll post something like this. A few people have asked me to write something on the final episode, so here goes...If you know me you know i tend to write indepth and analyze the OC, and if you don't and you don't like it, you don't have to read it
Six Months Later
The episode opened six months after the earthquake. Had the episode picked up directly after the The Night Moves, i'm not so sure where the plot would have gone? Actually, i am sure; Here is what would have happened: The Cohens would have moved into Julie's, Ryan and Taylor would have tried to make it work, but ultimately they would have broken up, Seth and Summer would have started on their slump, Julie would have gotten pregnant and Frank would freaked out and left prompting Julie to get back with the Bullit, and...oh wait, all of that stuff happened. Had the jump not happened, the episode would have felt extremely rushed. As it was, i don't think the episode was rushed at all. It simply picked up six months after the earthquake. Everyone acted as if the earthquake was a distant memory, yet one that ultimately affected everything that happened within that six months, stuff that, if they had the time to show (had they made a full season) could have been great or it could have been boring, we'll never know. All we know is what they told us in the episode, and frankly, that's all i needed.
The first half of the episode, leading up to Julie's wedding cliffhanger, was incredible. It held the normalcy of any regular OC episode, except that along the way we had to learn what happened. In a way, it was exciting. It was as if with the earthquake Josh gave the characters, the viewers, and the show one last "blank slate," of sorts, to end on. Putting the pieces together of what happened with the characters, especially with Ryan/Taylor and Julie/Frank/Bullit. Julie being pregnant was an unexpected twist...i had to rewind my DVR during the episode to actually make sure that i heard "morning sickness" come out of Kirsten's mouth when talking to Julie. Everything about this episode was great. Ryan and Seth going to Berkeley to get back the Cohen's first house was really sweet and showed the strong family bonds, the gay waiter from the first season being the one to actually live in that house was such a cool nod to the first season too. In a lot of ways the finale mirrored The Ties That Bind.
One of the best and most touching moments was when Summer gave Julie the locket with Marissa's picture in it and says "I know she'd want to be here for you" and they both start crying into each others arms. It was beautiful and a wonderful moment between the two of them, just enough acknowledgement of Marissa for me.
What Happens Next?
In the middle of the episode we're left with a nice little cliffhanger with who Julie will choose...will it be Frank, the father of her child? or Bullit, the guy she doesn't love? Neither, and it's about time too. Throughout the show, since the very first episode Julie has been completely dependent on the men in her life. From her asking Jimmy to constantly fund her and Kaitlins monetary dalliances, to her secretly dating Caleb and asking him to help get her back into Newport scene in The Perfect Couple, to marrying for money (The Ties That Bind), and then back to Jimmy (twice - The Sno.C., The Dearly Beloved), falling for Dr. Roberts (The Heavy Lifting) and then taking his house from him (The Cold Turkey), to being with Bullit because of money and how he acted with Kaitlin. Granted, she actually loved Frank, but throughout all four seasons, we have seen Julie grow into a self-sufficient, emotionally stable, kind person. Yes, she still has hre maniplutive qualities (like with NewMatch and Kirsten and the prostitution ring storyline) but Julie has grown so much that to see her finally be able to walk away from a man and be single shows her character coming full circle. This is the episode that proves her transformation into a round character; someone who is now able to spread her wings and rely on only herself.
Ryan and Taylor semi-get back together. It's never actually confirmed, but its implied that they stay together. You can tell through Taylors usual long-winded explanation to the customs guy at the airport that they never really had a real reason for breaking up, just their usual crap, so obviously when they see each other anyone could tell that they still had feelings for each other, even though both parties tried to deny it. And when they finally rip each others clothes off at Julie's wedding, it was the moment that all Ryan/Taylor fans have been waiting for. I've always thought they had great chemisty, and them paired together was always one of the great things that was refreshing and healthy about the fourth season. They stayed together through Taylor going back to Paris, but who really knows? I'm sure that they weren't official, and that they became like any other normal couple when geography plays a part in their relationship. Sure they love each other...but they probably didn't remain together, solidly for the rest of their lives...not exlcusively anyway.
Seth and Summer finally make some healthy choices. Seth allowing Summer to go was great symbollically, as he has spent so much time in the show trying to get her to stay with him, he was able to let her go, which was so poetic. Their goodbye was really sweet and you could tell that she honestly thought that he was her destiny. Flapjacks was wicked cute also! Anyway, their goodbye shows how much has really changed in these characters, how Seth couldn't even handle Ryan leaving in the first season, but now, he has grown so much that he is able to let Summer go for a year on the road AND be able to say goodbye to Ryan.
Kirsten and Sandy and Baby Sophie Rose live happily ever after. Josh did that nod to Berkeley that he said he was going to do, which was cool. I thought the whole giving birth to Sophie in the same house that Seth grew up in was a really nice touch. Them moving to Berkeley was great, and since Sandy has wanted to leave Newport since the first season, it was a great way for Josh to have the characters move on with their lives.
The Final Montage: Encompassing All Four Seasons
The final montage was some of the most touching moments ever. When Ryan says goodbye to the Cohens, and then walks into the empty house, the house that gave him a new start, the first house that was really a home to him. Reflecting back on his first time in the house and the poolhouse, meeting Seth, having the Cohens adopt him officially...it was all too much for me to handle. It was brilliantly done, poetic, very well edited, and extremely well scripted. Josh knew what he was doing with everything, and he did it brilliantly. Everything encompassed all four years and the show so well, and when they flashed Marissa across the screen, showing that even now, Marissa is the last thing he sees when he leaves Newport, which is another way of him letting her go. Seeing Marissa for the last time just completely closes the show so well for me. (I actually gasped when i saw Marissa from the pilot episode in the montage...i was so sad).
There is so much to talk about within the final five minutes, but the best part is Ryan finding that kid, who was just like him, at the end. Life is a Song by Partick Park was the best song they could have possibly used. I can't imagine any other song. Great editing...perfect.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Kaitlin goes off to college and seems to put her full potential out there, which is great. Julie gets her degree and continues to be on her own. Frank is involved in his new son's life (which shows him changed from the Frank Ryan knew growing up). Sandy became a law professor. Seth and Summer finally got married. But the real questions are: What exactly happens with Ryan? And the answer is: Everything and anything! What we're supposed to get out of it is that Ryan lived because of the Cohens, sort of the same way that Marissa lived three extra years because of Ryan. The show is, was, and always will be about Ryan and his chance at a new life with the Cohens. The purpose of the final montage was to show that Ryan lived his life. He went on to Berkeley like he always wanted to, he graduated, he became an architect like he wanted to...he lived. The Cohens gave him that chance, and the final montage was to show how much he (and everyone else) has changed from the pilot episode. Ryan and Taylor looked at each other at Summer and Seth's wedding, which indicated that they still had feelings for each other, and perhaps they were still together, who knows. It's implied by their looks that they still loved each other, and it parallels what happened earlier in the episode at Julie's wedding when they get back together and said that they would make it work whatever. Who was Ryan talking to on the phone at the end? We can easily presume that it is his wife or at least a girlfriend that he lives with, and they purposely left it open ended so that Ryan/Taylor fans could easily be assured that Ryan and Taylor end up together (which is what i feel), and that fans who didn't want R/T together could think that Ryan simply moved on...although through the parallels between earlier in the show and the montage itself, it is implied that Ryan and Taylor are in fact together in the end. But the best part is, is that everything is closed, yet open-ended at the same time. We can fill in important details for ourselves of what happened between the Cohen's moving to Berkeley and Ryan finding the kid. I think Ryan and Taylor are happily together. They probably were finally in a place (at Summer and Seths wedding) where both of them had lived their lives seperate from each other but were finally ready for each other...the look they gave each other was unmistakable...i think that they are together in the end, that she is the one he is on the phone with at the end.
In conjunction with that, Ryan finding that kid at the end was brilliant. It was so symbolic, and definitely made the show come full circle, from beginning to end, and gave all four seasons meaning and importance.
All in all, i thought that episode was far from rushed, it was brilliant. Everything about it was extremely well put together. It may have seemed rushed only because it skipped ahead, but it wasn't. Did the Dawson's finale seem rushed? Nope. Maybe because it was two hours long, but FOX wasn't kind enough to give Josh two hours, and out of the one alotted hour, Josh created a spectacular finale, one that encompassed all four seasons wonderfully. Well done, and goodbye OC.
Life is a song, but you're scared to sing along until the very ending. Farewell OC, one of the most well-written and best edited shows on television. So much of my life is owed to this show, and i couldn't have asked for a better run and i couldn't have asked for someone as incredibly talented as Josh Schwartz. Thank Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody, Melinda Clarke, Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton, Autumn Reeser, Willa Holland, Alan Dale, Tate Donovan, Chris Carmack and all of the great guest cast including Samaire Armstrong, Logan Marshall-Green, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Righetti, Taylor Handley, Chris Pratt, Michael Cassidy, Navi Rawat, Cam Gigandet, Gary Grubbs, Kevin Sorbo and everyone else associated with the show including Stephanie Savage and most importantly Josh Schwartz! Thank you for creating the best possible finale with great closure!