The O.Sea

Infobox Television episode
Colour = #ffaa44
Series = The O.C.
Title = The O.Sea


Season = 2
(2004-2005)
Caption = Seth and summer at Junior Prom
Episode = 23
Airdate = May 12, 2005 (FOX)
Writer = J. J. Philbin
Director = Michael Lange
Production= 2T5123
Episode list = "The O.C." (season 2)
List of "The O.C." episodes
Prev = The Showdown
Next = The Dearly Beloved|

The O.Sea is the 50th episode of the FOX television series, "The O.C.". The episode was written by J. J. Philbin and was directed by Michael Lange. It originally aired on Thursday, May 12, 2005.

Guest Starring

Plot

Seth wakes Ryan up at 5:30 a.m. with a new wrinkle on the Summer-doesn't-want-Seth scenario. The prom is coming up and Summer's been dreaming about going since 5th grade. And now he's dreaming about going with her. Suddenly the phone rings and it's Sandy, informing them that Kirsten's been in a car crash and is in the hospital.

Outside the hospital room, Sandy speaks with a police officer friend who tells him Kirsten blew a .08. He tells Sandy he'll look the other way if he promises to get Kirsten some help.

Julie drops by the Cohen house with a gift basket and a pre-nup that she wants Sandy to look over. The pre-nup stipulates that if she and Caleb have been married for a year, she gets 3 million dollars. Less than a year, she gets zip. Julie points out that they've been married 11 months and 27 days which may have something to do with Caleb's rush to file for divorce. Sorry, no loopholes. All Caleb has to do is file with the county clerk by Monday. So unless she can find a way to stop him, she's out of luck.

Seth and Zach run into to Summer in the student lounge and before the two of them can get their apologies for the launch party debacle out, she tells them that she has no plans of forgiving them but she does have plans to attend tomorrow night's prom. And they include either Seth or Zach. She doesn't care which, but one of them will be in front of her house tomorrow night with a corsage. Before Seth and Zach can figure out how to decide who gets to go, Reed texts Zach with a request that he and Seth meet her for lunch at noon.

Sandy brings Kirsten a cup of tea and a brochure for the best rehab facility on the west coast. But Kirsten claims that after a scare like last night, she's done drinking. She heads downstairs to pour out every drop of liquor.

Ryan catches up with Marissa on campus and confronts her about what's going on with her and Trey. He saw Trey leaving her house last night. He asked her what happened and she's not talking so he's taking his best guess. Marissa is offended that Ryan actually thinks she hooked up with his brother. She tells him to go ask Trey what happened.

Marissa shows up at Trey's place and warns him that Ryan's probably going to be coming by after school to ask him what happened. Her advice? Get out of Newport.

At lunch, Seth and Zach's apology doesn't seem to go any further with Reed than it did with Summer. Reed wishes she didn't have such good news for them but she does. George Lucas is interested in "Atomic County" and might want to make it into his next movie. He's coming into town and wants to meet with them. But Reed is only letting one of them go. She doesn't care which, but one of them is going to be at the meeting tomorrow night. So one will take the meeting and one will go to the prom. Now, if only they had any idea how to decide.

Caleb drops by the Cohen house and confronts Kirsten about her drinking. He wants to know if she gave any thought to her children while she was drinking and driving. Kirsten retorts that she's a good mother. Caleb tells her she's also an alcoholic, just like her mother. Kirsten goes off on Caleb, screaming that if her mother had a drinking problem, it was because of him. And while she's at it, she reminds him of what a horrible father he is as well.

Caleb, who's allowing Julie to temporarily occupy the mansion, drops by for his sleeping pills. He explains that he had a bad fight with Kirsten and hasn't been able to sleep. Julie goes to the bathroom to get the pills and seems to be contemplating something before returning with the container. Then she asks Caleb out for one last celebration on the night before he files. Julie reenters the bathroom and lifts a towel revealing a handful of pills she's squirreled away.

After listening to Seth's lecture on the virtues of trust and learning from one's mistakes, specifically Seth's mistakes, Ryan decides to ask Marissa to the prom. She's thrilled.

Jess corners Ryan at his locker and asks for a date to the prom. Sorry, he's taken. She's surprised he's willing to take his brother's "sloppy seconds." Ryan tells Jess nothing happened between Marissa and Trey but Jess scoffs at that. Ryan asks for the story but she tells him to ask his brother, who's apparently not too anxious to answer since he took off for Chino last night.

Seth and Zach flip a coin. Heads Seth goes to the prom, tails Zach goes. They both seem to be cool with the outcome, whatever it was.

Julie fixes Caleb a margarita, on the rocks, with salt and sleeping pills. However, he decides to start with a scotch instead.

Ryan tracks Trey down at his favorite bar in Chino and convinces Ryan that he and Marissa got drunk, really drunk, and she threw herself at him. They agreed not to tell him. Ryan asks if Trey swears that's the truth. He swears on their mother.

Outside the bar, Ryan leaves Marissa a message that he's not feeling well and won't be able to make the prom. Then he runs smack into Theresa. She's just visiting from Atlanta for the weekend. What brings him back home? Ryan explains the situation with Trey and Marissa, and Theresa convinces Ryan that despite the fact that both Trey and Marissa love him, Marissa's the one he can trust.

Summer is sitting on her front steps with a limo pulls out. The door opens and Zach emerges in his tux. She's glad it's him but her smile is a touch sad.

Meanwhile, Seth and Reed sit at a super-hip restaurant with George Lucas. Seth asks Lucas if he went to his prom. Reed's embarrassed by Seth's line of questioning but Lucas seems to be enjoying it. No, he didn't go to his prom. He stayed home and sketched Ewoks. Seth announces that if George Lucas can skip his prom, so can he. Lucas tells Seth that not a day goes by that he doesn't regret missing it.

On the dance floor, Zach's cell is buzzing with text messages from Reed but he tells Summer he doesn't have to check them. But Summer can see he wants to and they both admit they're a bit disappointed with the outcome of the coin toss. Summer tells Zach to go, just because her dream didn't work out doesn't mean his still can't.

Zach shows up at the restaurant and offers Seth his tux, his limo, and a clean break. They're just not meant to be friends right now. Seth accepts.

Meanwhile, back at the Cohen home, Sandy and Kirsten are laying low. The Chinese food arrives and Sandy, realizing he's out of cash, goes to grab Kirsten's wallet out of her purse and sees a pint of vodka.

Back at the prom, they announce the King and Queen. As soon as Summer hears her name she tries to make a run for it but the spotlight catches her. Suddenly Seth shows up and joins Summer on stage. After a few heckles from the crowd, Seth takes the mic and concedes that he may not be good-looking or athletic or the person anyone voted for, but he loves Summer, so he guesses that makes him King.

Outside, Marissa sits alone on the grass when Ryan shows up. He apologizes for missing the prom but she tells him he's right on time.

At the mansion, Caleb is taking a dip in the pool when Julie approaches with his margarita. Caleb tells Julie that he really did love her. He's about to take a sip when Julie suddenly snatches the drink away. Oops, she forgot the lime. Inside, she pours the drink down the drain.

In the pool, Caleb is suddenly overcome with chest pains. He tries to scream but can't. Julie comes outside and sees him slumped over. She dives into the pool, desperate to save him.

Back at the Cohen home, Kirsten returns from her shower and Sandy tells her he found her stash. Kirsten tries to explain it away but Sandy isn't biting. Suddenly the phone rings. Sandy picks it up. After a moment he hangs up and gently tells Kirsten what she seems to already know. She stands in shock then picks up the vodka and heads into the other room.

Music

*"The Bad Touch" by The Bloodhound Gang
*"Dirty Lives" by Love as Laughter
*"Panther" by Wilco
*"Rae" by My Pet Genius
*"Antmusic" by Hyper
*"Cava Del Rio" by Senza
*"Love For Granted" by Phoenix
*"Nothing Like You & I" by The Perishers
*"Fix You" by Coldplay

Trivia

*This episode marks the last appearance of Caleb Nichol. Caleb was the first main character to be killed off the show.
*This marks the last appearance of Zach Stevens.
*This is the last appearance of Reed Carlson, portrayed by Marguerite Moreau.
*The episode reached 6.1 million viewers in the US Nielsen Ratings.
*This episode is the first to use the alternate credit music.

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/oc/recaps/223.htm Recap from the official website]