The New Kids on the Block (The O.C. episode)

Infobox Television episode
Colour = #ffaa44
Series = The O.C.
Title = The New Kids on the Block


Season = 2
(2004-2005)
Caption = Seth gets a job at the 'Bait Shop'
Episode = 3
Airdate = November 18, 2004 (FOX)
Writer = Stephanie Savage
Director = Lev L. Spiro
Production = 2T5103
Episode list = "The O.C." (season 2)
List of "The O.C." episodes
Prev = The Way We Were
Next = The New Era

"The New Kids on the Block" is the 30th episode of the FOX television series, "The O.C." The episode was written by Stephanie Savage and was directed by Lev L. Spiro. It originally aired on Thursday November 18, 2004. The Walkmen made a special appearance playing at the 'Bait Shop'.

Guest starring

Plot

The night after Caleb's arrest, all Seth can do is worry about his bad haircut, which causes him to realize that he is too self-centered. He vows to change that and be a better, less selfish person. His official stance is that he only wants Summer back if she wants him back.

After Sandy picks Caleb up from jail, he drives him to meet Kirsten at the Cohen house. He tells Caleb to make a move and step down from his CEO position at Newport Group and appoint Kirsten. At the house, Julie shows up and asks Caleb to let her help in his recovery, she doesn't want their marriage to fall apart. He tells her she can order him some food, and that Kirsten will have everything under control.

At school Seth and Ryan are ordering their morning coffees when Ryan accidentally walks into a girl and spills his iced coffee all over her. Summer and Marissa discuss how perfect Zach is. When he joins them in the lounge, he makes it even more clear how perfect he is by listing the newspapers he reads. Summer is attracted to his brain, and asks him out.

In class, Ryan is the last student to find a seat and ends up sitting beside the girl he spilled his coffee on. She is less than thrilled to see him. When the lab teacher reads out who will partner with whom, Ryan is shocked to hear that his partner is Lindsay Gardner, the very girl he was sitting next to. Both were not amused.

After school, Seth and Ryan make their way to the new club called The Bait Shop, where The Walkmen will be performing that Friday. Seth wants to get two tickets to the concert for Summer, to prove his "friendship". It turns out that the tickets are all sold out, but that employees of the club can get tickets for free. When Seth sees a "Help Wanted" sign, he asks for a job. The manager of the club, Alex, tells Seth that if he starts working right away and doesn't screw up by that night, he can have the job.

The next morning, a lot of reassuring is going on. Kirsten and Sandy tell Ryan and Seth that Caleb's situation isn't going to affect their day to day lives, or the future of The Newport Group. Their nervous glares at one another might suggest otherwise. Meanwhile Julie is saying the same thing to Marissa, assuring her that their family will stay together this time. Marissa says that it's a shame, because if their life ended, she'd be able to move back in with her father.

At school in Physics class, Ryan and Lindsay talk about their assignment. Turns out Lindsay already completed it and handed it in without any contribution from Ryan. She thinks he might not be as smart as her, and insists she did it because she wants her grades to be good so she can get into Yale. Ryan tells their teacher about the lack of team work and he gives them another assignment to do together or they will fail.

At The Bait Shop, Seth and Alex discuss his plan to win back Summer's "friendship". Alex tells him that Summer will see right through his plan, and that it is obvious he want to win her back. She gives him the free tickets, and he immediately leaves to give them to Summer. When he does, she is confused, but accepts the gesture.

The next morning, Marissa is having breakfast with Jimmy on his boat. She vents about how horrible her mother is, and how much she hates living with her. Julie shows up then to pick Marissa up. While Marissa gathers her things, Julie admits to Jimmy that her and Caleb's life is falling apart. She tells him that she married Caleb for the money, but she married Jimmy for love.

At school, Ryan and Lindsay are working on their new assignment, but decide they can't work together because they just don't like one another. Lindsay thinks Ryan is a stupid rich kid, while Ryan sees Lindsay as a cold snob. They agree to split the assignment and meet on the weekend.

At Summer's before the concert, Zach questions Seth's motives behind the free concert tickets. He thinks Seth wants to get back together with her. Summer insists Seth is just trying to be friends and that he has changed. Zach asks Summer to go to the concert and try and figure things out with Seth before continuing a relationship with him.

Over drinks at the Cohen's, Caleb drops the bombshell announcement that he is appointing Julie as the new CEO of The Newport Group effective the next morning. That is a position that Kirsten was expecting, and Julie has no experience whatsoever, so Sandy and Kirsten are shocked. As Caleb and Julie leave, Sandy tells Caleb to find a way to make it up to Kirsten, or he'll lose them both.

As the concert gets underway, Seth is happy to see Summer arrive without Zach. Outside, Ryan and Marissa talk about Seth and Summer's relationship, and they are unsure if it will last. The undertone is that they are also discussing their own relationship. Back inside, Seth tells Summer that he started working at the club to get the tickets for Summer. He wanted to show her he is selfless so that she would like him enough to be friends. Everything goes well until he leans in and kisses her. Summer storms out in disappointment. Seth chases after her and Summer tells him that if they can't just be friends, they might have to end their relationship altogether.

The next morning, Seth is feeling awful about the night before with Summer. While Seth sulks, Ryan has to leave to meet with Lindsay to work on their physics project. Inside the house, Sandy attempts to make Kirsten feel better about being snubbed by her father. She is devastated, and decides not to go in to the office. Kirsten tells Sandy she can't quit, because she isn't a quitter and can't justify working her entire life to just end up quitting.

Over at the Nichol house, Seth shows up to talk to Marissa about what happened with Summer. Marissa tells him that he screwed up, and should just apologize. She tells him that she's at the Club having lunch with her father. When Marissa asks where Ryan is, Seth tells her that he's at school.

Back at the Cohen's, Caleb comes to mend fences with Kirsten. He apologizes for the upset he has caused her, saying that he needed to make Julie feel wanted. He offers to appoint her as the new Chief Financial Officer. Everyone knows that the CFO is the one that actually controls a company. Kirsten knows that, and seems to agree to the offer, while still loathing the idea of working with Julie.

At school, Lindsay apologizes to Ryan for treating him badly earlier. The both acknowledge that their work on the project was good work, and that they had a bad first impression of one another. As they begin to kid around, Marissa walks into the school and sees them together. She leaves the school in a broken state, again.

At the Club, Seth is dressed for lunch, to meet Summer and her father. But when he finds their table, he sees Zach sitting with them, and Zach is hitting it off with Mr. Roberts, something he himself failed to do. He leaves the restaurant to find Marissa sitting alone on a bench on the waterfront. He sits down with her telling her that he can't believe they are the loneliest people in Newport.

Music

*"California" by Phantom Planet
*"On the Table" by A.C. Newman
*"Assessment" by The Beta Band
*"No Yes No" by Pet
*"Faded Beauty Queens" by The Thrills
*"Little House of Savages" by The Walkmen
*"What's in it For Me" by The Walkmen
*"Weekends" by The Perishers
*"Worn Me Down" by Rachael Yamagata

Trivia

*The episode title references to the music group, New Kids on the Block.

External links

*imdb title|0663896|Full Cast & Crew