As a whole, the season was really not that bad. I hadn't seen the episodes since they originally aired, so it's exciting to re-watch them, especially after i spent the last few months rewatching the season 1 & 2 DVD's in anticipation of getting Season 3 for Christmas.

So, let's start with the one major trend i noticed which tended to bring down the episodes as wholes: the lack of music. If you notice, there is always background music, that faint little jingle in the background of every scene throughout the first two seasons is gone in the third. I know it seems like something little, but it really makes a difference in the viewing. The third season, in the episodes where there is no music throughout much of the episodes, they come off boring, and - dare i say - hollow. Another major difference between seasons 1, 2, and 4 is the editing within the episodes. Season 4 is fantastic in reference to the editing of the episodes, but some episodes of season 3 are ridiculously horrible...whether due to the fact that Josh Schwartz was very minimally involved in the production of the episodes or whatever it was...some of the episodes were just horribly put together. Take, for example, The Aftermath, which has infamously gone down as the worst episode of the O.C. That episode had some great ideas and great scenes; the scenes with Marissa, Ryan, Seth and Summer on the beach is one of my all-time favorite OC scenes, and the opening sequence of the episode (Ryan's dream) was perfectly done...until we realize Ryan was dreaming, which takes away from its powerful effect...it should have opened with Ryan's dream and then rolled to credits, everything following. The scenes jumped around in that episode, they didn't have flow, which is really important, especially in a show like this where continuity is essential.

On to episode two, The Shape of Things to Come. This episode is actually one of my all-time favorite OC episodes. It was wonderfully scripted, acted, the music was on point. It made the premiere look like a joke. The introduction of Taylor is something i'll always remember, as her character is unlike any other on the show. The ferris wheel scene was great, especially with Dean Hess and Taylor standing right behind him. I just cannot get enough of this episode. I loved that they kicked Marissa and Ryan out of Harbor, which made for great potential in future storylines. Episode three, The End of Innocence, marks a landmark for Ryan and Marissa, where they finally sleep together. This is another fantastic episode, an episode that should have marked the beginning of a GREAT season, but unfortunately, one of the many downfalls of season 3 was that virtually every episode was written by a different writer, which resulted in a serious lack of continuity between episodes, which was shown in the fourth episode The Last Waltz. I do like this episode alot, but we went from a happy Ryan and Marissa, who finally slept together, facing adversity headon together, to an uncertain future for the couple. For me, i knew that something HUGE was going to happen to Marissa or Ryan/Marissa within this season because of this episode. To dissect the episode, we start with Marissa meeting new friends, which was the obvious start for the Seth/Summer/Ryan threesome which was soon to come. Marissa blew off Ryan to go to the Newport Union dance, and she didnt even invite Ryan to come...now, i can understand wanting to meet new friends and doing anything to get said friends, but she could have invited Ryan to the dance, so everyone can get to know everyone, as opposed to Marissa suddenly excluding Ryan, which didn't even happen during the Oliver story-arc. This is to me, was the start of their downfall. Another indication to this is the name of the episode. The Last Waltz. By association, a waltz is something elegant, something proud and seemingly effortless, and the way Ryan and Marissa acted with each was nothing of the sort, added to that, their "song" that they danced to was "Forever Young," and when you read the lyrics, it seems to hint at Marissa's eventual death, especially since we know how season 3 ends, this episode just seems to be a bit of foreshadowing to that. Also, i didn't mind Johnny and Chili at first, either...i thought they were pretty good inclusions. Did their stories go on a bit too much, YES, but for awhile his storyline was not bad.

While episodes 2, 3 and 4 were great episodes, the season takes a turn for the worse during the fifth. The Perfect Storm was just a horrendous episode. The Charlotte storyline, which in my opinion was the WORST story-arc the show has ever seen, was another reason why the beginning of season 3 was lackluster in comparison to the last two. The only thing that made this episode hold on was Summer/Taylor banter and how Sandy wheeled his powers to get Ryan back into Harbor. The thing i hated was Ryan's storyline in this episode. Fishing? Come on...Marissa was great though, because she let Ryan go with Theresa back to Chino in season one when she needed him, but she needed to tell him how she felt and give it to him hard, so bravo to her. But Ryan trying to leave his problems behind to go fishing just seems like such a reverse in his character, and not only that, but its such a cop-out and sticks out as completely out of the blue. The editing in this episode was completely tragic, as well. I remember initially watching this episode on TV and thinking that this was the start of the shows downfall. Episode 6, The Swells, was a pretty good episode, with the party at Chili's, Summer and Ryans interactions, Seth and Taylor and the senior lock in. This episode marks Taylors come-around, which is great and marks a pivotal point in her character. I like Volchok alot and he had potential to really stir up trouble, which happens later, obviously. Episode 7, The Anger Management, was a valiant effort and definitely TRIES to uncover new territory for the characters. I love how Ryan tried to control his anger and used his brain over his fists. Julie stood up Charlotte and one of the best lines of the show was born "there's only room for one manipulative b*tch," and Taylor trying to break up S/S was also hilarious. It seemed that with these two episodes that the show was trying to keep itself from drowning from the horrendous The Perfect Storm, and it succeeded. These episodes are entertaining, and definitely good OC episodes, not the best, but not bad either.

Episodes 8 The Gameplan, 10 The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah, 11 The Safe Harbor and 12 The Sister Act were also some great episodes with great writing. The Gameplan was hilarious and had some great Ryan/Marissa moments. The Chrimukkah episode was one of the better episodes of the season; Josh Schwartz wrote it, and you can tell. He knows his characters and it comes across as genuine. The Safe Harbor was undoubtedly the best episode of the season, one of the best of the series, imo, and The Sister Act, where Kaitlin returns is awesome as well...It's remarkable how much Willa Holland looks like both Julie and Marissa, and she acts just like Marissa, but she is totally mini-Julie. Now, i must say that Johnny's storyline should have ENDED with The Safe Harbor when Ryan and him part ways. There was no need at all for his story to continue on -- what? for Marissa and Ryan to have troubles? to kill him off the show? There was no need and that was my main criticism of the writers and Season 3 as a whole. Also, the way everyone treated Seth and his smoking pot was ridiculous and so uncalled for. Now, i don't smoke pot often but i have and i know people who do it; it's a pretty big habit and it's really not damaging as the writers tried to make it out to be - so unrealistic. Now if Seth was doing anything else i would have been OK with everyone trying to rally around Seth, but it is only pot. Anyway...

And then the season gets sloppy and weird and very unwatchable. There are a few VERY key reasons why much (not all) of the rest of the season is watchable, and they are Taylor, Kaitlin, and the Julie-Neil relationship. Johnny's death was very much a relief, but brough with it another Oliver-type aftermath. Once was enough, we didn't need another Oliver type storyline, but we got one...Ryan met Sadie (this years Theresa) and Marissa went off the deep end (as per usual)...but all of this could have been avoided.

What Worked this Season:

• Ryan's Storylines (getting kicked out of Harbor, getting back in, managing his anger, trusting Marissa - even when she didn't deserve it, the bar mitzvah, helping Johnny, interning at the Newport Group, learning to become a better boyfriend and a more open person - even if it was Sadie who got him there, Berkely, his mom, Marissa, his interactions with Seth and especially Summer
  
• The whole second and third episodes
• Taylor Townsend
• The return of Mini-Coop
• Ryan and Marissa actually happy
• Seth and Summer working as a team
• Kirsten's storylines. I LOVED her this season, she went from being the ice queen to someone who is warm and caring. Her and Sandy were really really cute this season, and to those who say that Kirsten had no storyline, i suggest you re-watch the season. NEWMATCH!
  
• Julie Cooper and the Trailer park - hilarious. The Gus lines are forbidden - i hated this chick! How could Ryan do that to Marissa, and how could Marissa move on so quickly, which brings about the next major issue:
• Continuity. For soul mates, neither Ryan or Marissa seemed interested in sticking it out with eachother. In The Perfect Storm Ryan didn't go out to sea because he said "i don't know where my future is, but i know it's with you and not on some boat in the middle of the ocean" yet Marissa was leaving Newport and Ryan to go sailing with her dad...she obviously didn't feel the same way, yet we were made to believe she did, and neither of them invested the time to work it out.
  
• The editing of *some* of the episodes was so poor...The O.C. is a great show that deserves 100%
  
• Johnny's storyline. First off, he should not have been a main focus of the teen storyline. I mean, we couldn't go 2 minutes without hearing his name, or seeing his b*tch-boy crying face. His story should not have been so large, and it should have ended at The Safe Harbor.
• Sandy and his becoming Caleb, with Henry Griffin and getting mixed up with the Hospital stuff.
  
• Seth and his pot addiction/lying to Summer...wtf was that about.
• Marissa choosing to spend time with Johnny over Ryan, her new friends over her best friends, Volchok over Summer.
• Marissa's downward spiral. With the Alex relationship during season 2, and finally becoming 'friends' with Ryan at the end of season 2, Marissa showed great improvement and a greater maturity. Yes, she had alot to deal with with Trey and the shooting, but she should have talked to Ryan about it. They could have worked it out...but the writers were determined to kill her chances. Now, yes, i am a Marissa fan, but i'm not delusional. Marissa was ridiculous this season, but she did show some improvement, which was taken away. I just hated how when she crashed with Volchok, she really really crashed hard and went deeper into a spiral then ever before.
  
• Matt Ramsey - I hated him and his stories, he just brought Sandy down...and him and Marissa thing was just weird.

Luckily for season 3, the showed picked back up to its full glory with episode 22, The College Try and continued on to The Graduates. These four episodes were fantastic and really showed what the show was made of. I liked the idea Marissa/Volchok, but it could have been done different. I liked Volchoks character in a way, but he was too bad. There are things i liked about every episode, and i feel that this season was a buffer for the fantastic season four. It was a great bridge to get the show out of the land of predictability, and in the end had some great stories and introduced some great characters. Marissa was a beloved character, but her death was very symbollic, and that finale episode will forever be my favorite finale, it was so bittersweet and symbollic, well done, well scripted, and well edited. The good storylines were great, however the bad storylines were pretty bad. I just wish they would have given Ryan/Marissa a real shot within the season. But Josh did a brave thing in killing off Marissa, and i stand him and his creation. He is a creator, a writer, an artist, and he knows what's best for his characters...and an even better show has come from it.

Season one was a great set up and forbidden>All in all, all four seasons represent a whole story, and thats why i LOVE The O.C.