Four Episodes Into The OC Rewatch and I Cannot Stand Summer

As you all know by now, I’m rewatching The OC because, frankly, there’s not much on TV right now.

I’ve already delved into why The OC pilot hits differently as an adult, and now, four episodes later, I’m trying to make sense of what the writers were doing with Rachel Bilson‘s Summer Roberts.

I look back on Summer’s character favorably because she becomes one of the best, if not the best, characters by the end of The OC Season 1.

She’s funny, fiercely loyal, and winds up getting some of the best material on the show. But damn, these first few episodes really didn’t know what to do with her.

It’s like the writers wanted her to be Marissa’s best friend and the girl Seth had spent years pining after, but they never gave us much of a reason to understand why.

Summer exists because the plot needs her to, not because she feels like a fully formed person.

It’s hard to believe how much The OC invested in this supposed love story between Seth and Summer when they’d barely shared a meaningful interaction.

Without Ryan arriving in Newport, I’m not convinced Summer would have ever acknowledged Seth’s existence.

That also got me wondering where all of these characters would have ended up if Ryan had never disrupted their lives.

The OC Had Many Great Storylines

Sandy took him in because it was the right thing to do, but Ryan completely changed the trajectory of everyone around him.

Would Summer have become the fierce, climate-conscious young woman she was by The OC Season 4?

I genuinely don’t think so because these early episodes paint her as someone who doesn’t really care about anyone but herself.

Sure, she’s confused when Marissa starts spending more time with Ryan and Seth, but it also comes across as jealousy.

Her best friend, the person she’d always done everything with, was suddenly making room for other people.

But seriously, what did Marissa and Summer even talk about before Ryan and Seth entered the fold?

Marissa already has an edge to her. She questions people, makes mistakes, and feels like someone trying to figure herself out.

Summer, meanwhile, doesn’t get that same treatment. She feels like a plot device waiting for the writers to decide it’s finally time to flesh her out.

While I love The OC for what it was, it’s astounding how much of a non-factor Summer is in these opening episodes of the FOX smash. One-dimensional is probably the best way to describe her.

That’s why I loved it when she turned her nose up at Seth introducing her at Cotillion, only for him to genuinely connect with Anna instead.

To me, that’s the first time Seth starts realizing he deserves better than chasing someone who barely notices him.

It’s made even sweeter when Summer ends up asking him because she’s desperate, and he turns her down in favor of Anna.

Looking back, though, it’s wild that Seth was so enamored with Summer in the first place.

They’d barely spoken. He wasn’t really in love with Summer so much as the idea of her, and that borders on obsession more than romance.

What so many people looked back on fondly 23 years ago would probably be viewed very differently today.

I don’t even think Seth naming his boat after Summer would make it into the script now.

It feels less like a grand romantic gesture and more like one of those early-2000s TV moments that hasn’t aged particularly well.

Thankfully, the writers eventually realized there was so much more to Summer Roberts than being the object of Seth Cohen’s affection, and The OC was infinitely better for it.

What are your thoughts on how Summer was written in the early episodes of The OC?

Did you expect her to become such a pivotal figure after that writing?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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