S3E16 The Road Warrior 3/9 episode discussion thread

[killer_cab]

Yeah, they were... I loved when Seth sorta roared...

[sethsangel123]

lol! yeah andd when he was rollin around in ryans bed! lol! hahahahaha! classic s1 seth pretty much!

[BenBrazilianFan]

after hoping Maryan to break up for months, i was really sad... i still am (just saw the episode)... i know, marissa is a bitch, she deserved it, but i have to admit i felt sorry for her (this is incredible!)
Ryan was... different. I don't think he was actually happy, or that he'll be in the next episodes, even with Sadie.
Seth and Summer, really cute!
Taylor rocks!
Disapointed with Sandy! Kiki finally active, thank God.
Julie/Neil - a cute couple...

[iwantalexback]

How many times did Ryan and Marissa break up? I lost count.

[sethsangel123]

that would be time no 3!

[iwantalexback]

Only three? It seems way more than that.

[afrocurl]

Oliver is 1, Theresa is 2, Trey is 3 and the one in the CLiffhanger is 4 and this one is 5.

Care to argue any of those, but that's what I can remember.

[iwantalexback]

I would say when she was with Alex,but they were already broken up then.

[Porcelain Heart]

Note: This is going to be an extremely lengthy post with lots of overanalyzing and picking apart that comes across like drugstore psychology. Be ye warned.

Ryan/Marissa
What was that quote from The Village? That it's the things that you want the most that you shy away from? Something like that having to do with Lucius and what's-her-name... my point being, I think that the initial attraction between Ryan and Marissa was really intense and because of their differences, dysfunctions, and all of the complications, it terrified both of them. I think that somewhere deep down, Ryan realizes that he cares for Marissa in a way that he hasn't ever cared for any other girl (sorry Ryan/Lindsay, Ryan/Theresa, Ryan/Sadie fans), and he's the most scared of being vulnerable and open with her because she's the one whose opinion matters the most to him. In the same breath, Marissa has such a fear of rejection and abandonment (AKA her relationship with Julie season one, her dad always leaving) that she's scared to get close to people, and she transfers this into being drawn towards guys like Johnny and Oliver who she can "fix" and who she knows on some subconscious level won't leave or abandon her.

I hate to completely brush aside relationships (well, actually, I love to do it), but seriously: When things were hard for Marissa with her home life, she turned to Oliver and made him her "project." When Marissa and he weren't working out, Ryan ran straight into Theresa's arms... or rather... her bed. When Ryan left, Marissa looked for comfort in DJ, and then when Ryan was discouraged with Marissa, he latched onto Lindsay. Then, Alex, this great, understanding, pretty girl who happens to be bi comes along, Marissa, who's been going through this whole emotional crisis and who still has feelings for Ryan, becomes emotionally attached, and they start up. The same thing happened in this season with Johnny and Sadie... goodness I despise that family.

I still don't think that Marissa ever really had time to process what happened between her and Trey. Everyone writes her off as this cold-hearted, uncaring, irresponsible biatch, but it's so obvious in so many ways that she has so much love inside that she's just dying to give to someone. She was trying to make things work with Ryan, Trey was kind of like a stray that she found on the street, and both because she genuinely cared and wanted to help him and because she cared for Ryan and wanted the two of them to work things out for his sake, she invested a lot of time and energy into him. Then, he turned around and attacked her like that. I won't pretend that I know anything about rape or attempted rape, but I would THINK that when something like that happens to you, you can't just automatically snap your fingers and be done with it. I'm not even talking about Marissa shooting Trey; I'm talking strictly about the attack.

People go on about Marissa blowing Ryan off, but he did the same thing to her... she wanted to talk about things and thought that they were weird, but he just barreled over it, trying to convince her that things were "fine". Well, Marissa still had so many unresolved feelings about that situation that they overflowed, and she didn't feel comfortable talking with Summer and having it all get back to Ryan via Seth, so she confided in Johnny, who consequently fell in love with a beautiful girl who was always trying to save him.

Yes, Marissa has had her fair share (and more) of the blame resting on her shoulders when it comes to their multiple failed attempts over the year, but this time, just as in the Theresa time, it was an equal blame situation. Ryan avoids the real issues and tries to pretend that they don't exist; Marissa then starts to avoid him because she doesn't feel comfortable bringing it up. Their break-up was a complete cop-out, but to me it seemed fitting for this stage of their relationship. He was breaking up with her over the phone because he didn't have the guts to run away from her to her face, she was rushing him through it and adding things in because she felt like it was her fault and knew to a certain extent it was because of Johnny and Trey and because of a lot of her mistakes.

I have my own anti-Ryan views at the moment, though, which I'll say more about down here.

Ryan/Sadie

Huh, so now he's going around pulling a Marissa? Why is it that every time things get tough, Ryan goes for the "easy" things? People go on about him being overly mature, but to me there's this completely immature side of him where he runs away from anything that breathes "hard"; it's almost like because his earlier life was so difficult he thinks that he doesn't have to cope with anything now. Honestly; playing strip poker with some girl you've known for what, three weeks top, while you're still together with your girlfriend? Tacking on being hanging around her to wanting to help Johnny's mom out? His intentions were in no way, shape, or form pure, and pretending that they were just lowered my opinion of him; he should've at least had the credibility to admit to himself and Marissa and Sadie what he was doing.

People keep on going on about what a tough girl Sadie is, but seriously? Could she DO anything more insanely stupid than take a crowbar to an ex-con's truck when she and Ryan are outnumbered by however many people? Consequently, if she and Ryan had just left and then Ryan had come back later, they most likely would still have gotten the money, and Ryan, the perpetual Knight in Shining Armor, wouldn't have had to get that shiner or bloody nose. She goes on about how she cares about Johnny, but if they were that close and she really thought that Marissa meant that much to him, why would she screw the girl over by taking advantage of Maryan's already on the rocks relationship? Playing strip poker with a taken guy, even if he is about to put himself back on the market, is still wrong on so many levels.

I wouldn't have minded the two of them together if they'd done it in a different way, the same way I didn't mind Seth/Anna and Marissa/Alex. In the end, though, a relationship started with one person running away and lying (even if it's just "little" lies like it being your girl friend calling your cell) is pretty much doomed from the start. I don't see them being this big old epic romance. That's purely my opinion, though; a bunch of people seem to like them.

Seth/Summer
They were great in this episode. It was nice to see them ditching the tackiness of some of their episodes this season and shedding all of the petty fighting as well. I have a good feeling about the two of them + Brown next year.

Sandy
Huh... you're your dead step-father... I guess you can only be a pigeon around hawks for so long without starting to act like a hawk... let's just hope that you've still got some of that pigeon-y-ness down in there somewhere, though, eh?

Volchok/Marissa
I ship this couple. Marissa needs a good rebound, and even if he is just using her to get back at Ryan... it serves him right. They have chemistry, and I certainly don't see them long-term... but Josh seems desperate to keep RyRissa apart and throw them together with random people, making it seem "deeper" or w/e, so good for Marissa. She still took more time to move on than Ryan.

[Divine order]

Just finished my paper and dropped in. Had to responnd...Very long post ahead...

Ryan realizes that he cares for Marissa in a way that he hasn't ever cared for any other girl (sorry Ryan/Lindsay, Ryan/Theresa, Ryan/Sadie fans), and he's the most scared of being vulnerable and open with her because she's the one whose opinion matters the most to him.

Very true. He loves her. He told her that. I think he cares alot about Theresa and cared for Lindsey, but he loves Marissa. Sadie is too new for them to have developed anything.

She was trying to make things work with Ryan, Trey was kind of like a stray that she found on the street, and both because she genuinely cared and wanted to help him and because she cared for Ryan and wanted the two of them to work things out for his sake, she invested a lot of time and energy into him. Then, he turned around and attacked her like that. I won't pretend that I know anything about rape or attempted rape, but I would THINK that when something like that happens to you, you can't just automatically snap your fingers and be done with it.

I agree that almost being raped is traumatic. BUT.....Marissa knew Trey was trouble. Ryan stressed that Trey was a problem and that he wanted to handle Trey. Now I know that if my boyfriends brother just got out of jail and he was the reason my boyfriend landed in the justice system in the first place...red flags would go off. If my boyfriend told me to stay away from him and to let him deal with his brother, I wouldn't go hang out and get drunk with this person I don't really know in their apartment alone. I mean come on...how dense can you get. Marissa has the problem where she can't clue in when someone is sending her signals. Trey was sending signals and they were obvious. I don't doubt that her intentions were good, but her method is questionable.

People go on about Marissa blowing Ryan off, but he did the same thing to her... she wanted to talk about things and thought that they were weird, but he just barreled over it, trying to convince her that things were "fine". Well, Marissa still had so many unresolved feelings about that situation that they overflowed, and she didn't feel comfortable talking with Summer and having it all get back to Ryan via Seth, so she confided in Johnny, who consequently fell in love with a beautiful girl who was always trying to save him.

Come on, he did not do the same thing to her. He never blew her off. Marissa has glossed over alot of situations as "fine" when Ryan asks her if she's ok (every five seconds...annoying) even when she is not. After the Trey thing, they BOTh acted like they were fine and went on their merry way. It was Summer and Seth that questioned whether R/M would be able to get passed all that had happened.

Please tell me when she wanted to actually talk about things and he refused or shut down. I can think of one and that was the 4 am call, which what the heck was the guy supposed to do? He can't fix what happened and why is it ONLY his responsiblity to provide the comfort. They BOTH need comfort. Its extremely difficult to provide something for someone else when you can't provide it for yourself. Any other time, something would come up and Marissa would leave. Somebody please point out all these times where she wanted to talk about it and he blew her off. Ryan started talking about stuff in 301 and Marissa wanted to put it behind them so he stopped talking about his feelings about Trey in 301. So I guess they're one for one.

So Marissa is the only one with unresolved feelings? Uh no. Ryan had many unresolved feelings about Trey that went way back to Chino. The Marissa thing, stealing of the egg and the drug deal were all heaped on top. I would feel horrible if my sibling came to a new place where i din't even fit in yet and started reaking havoc. his mom already embarrased the crap out of him, now his brother? He had noone to talk to, but he certainly didn't seek out some chick to talk to and leave Marissa in the dust. People don't fault Marissa for confiding in Johnny (at least i don't), its that she finds these people and completely ignores her boyfriend for them. she also shoves this new guy down her current boyfriends throat. No guy would stand for that crap, not one. She did it with Luke and she did it with ryan. She even started to do it with Alex. I mean after the entire lying to alex about the sleeping bag, Marissa knew there was tension with ryan and alex. But STILL she asked Ryan to go over to Alex's to work on the bonfire...That is just rude. Do it at school or at the poolhouse. I felt horrible for Alex.

Ryan avoids the real issues and tries to pretend that they don't exist; Marissa then starts to avoid him because she doesn't feel comfortable bringing it up. Their break-up was a complete cop-out, but to me it seemed fitting for this stage of their relationship. He was breaking up with her over the phone because he didn't have the guts to run away from her to her face, she was rushing him through it and adding things in because she felt like it was her fault and knew to a certain extent it was because of Johnny and Trey and because of a lot of her mistakes.

Everything your pinning on Ryan is the same thing Marissa does. They BOTH avoid teh real issues. this past episode showed that clearly. not one of them made an effort to talk or even see the other. Summer had to force marissa to call him. They broke up over the phone. Had she gotten a hold of him over the phone earlier, the results would have been the same. They were both copping out and didn't want to face eachother. She was rushing it because she didn't want to deal with it as much as he didn't want to.

Huh, so now he's going around pulling a Marissa? Why is it that every time things get tough, Ryan goes for the "easy" things? People go on about him being overly mature, but to me there's this completely immature side of him where he runs away from anything that breathes "hard"; it's almost like because his earlier life was so difficult he thinks that he doesn't have to cope with anything now.

He goes for the easy things? Hmmm....what does that mean? At that age people do run away from what breathes hard. Seth has done it, Marissa has done it alot. Running away is what kids do at that age when things get shitty with parents or boyfriends. Marissa and Ryan don't like to confront eachother. They skulk away instead.

I don't think his intentions were pure, he likes Sadie, she's different from Marissa and that's what he needed. I don't think he ever pretended they were pure...he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Pretending would be telling Marissa that nothing was going on, he had no feelings for Sadie, its not what you think, its not what it looks like.....oh wait...that's all the things that Marissa told ryan about Johnny. That is pretending. he told Sadie he needed to feel something different and why he went on the trip with her. What exactly was he supposed to say to Marissa? "Hey, we are on the outs and we haven't talked in days and we are avoiding eachother, but I'm going to go on a road trip with sadie so I could clear my head." Yeah Right.
They didn't play strip poker people. They played for sleeping arrangements...sheesh. It was a joke.

She goes on about how she cares about Johnny, but if they were that close and she really thought that Marissa meant that much to him, why would she screw the girl over by taking advantage of Maryan's already on the rocks relationship?

Why not? she doesn't have any obligations to Marissa. What does Johnny have to do with it? If she knew how things went down between Marissa and Johnny, she probably would have jumped Ryan in the motel room. I think poor excuses are being developed in order to hate Sadie. The girl didn't do anything at all. Its R/M problem, not hers.

In the end, though, a relationship started with one person running away and lying (even if it's just "little" lies like it being your girl friend calling your cell) is pretty much doomed from the start.

Really?!? Like Ryan and marissa then. Her lying and deceiving Luke to see Ryan? Hmmmm...that's a relationship that was started on a pile of lies. I guess R/M are doomed.

[impik]

Originally Posted by afrocurl

Oliver is 1, Theresa is 2, Trey is 3 and the one in the CLiffhanger is 4 and this one is 5.

Care to argue any of those, but that's what I can remember.

Oliver was 1, Theresa was 2, and then they were apart for most of season 2. This is number 3. They didn't break up over Trey, they actually got back together after Trey arrived, and The Cliffhanger wasn't a breakup, it was a pause for a couple of days until Marissa decide what she want.

[impik]

Originally Posted by Divine order

Just finished my paper and dropped in. Had to responnd...Very long post ahead...


Very true. He loves her. He told her that. I think he cares alot about Theresa and cared for Lindsey, but he loves Marissa. Sadie is too new for them to have developed anything.



I agree that almost being raped is traumatic. BUT.....Marissa knew Trey was trouble. Ryan stressed that Trey was a problem and that he wanted to handle Trey. Now I know that if my boyfriends brother just got out of jail and he was the reason my boyfriend landed in the justice system in the first place...red flags would go off. If my boyfriend told me to stay away from him and to let him deal with his brother, I wouldn't go hang out and get drunk with this person I don't really know in their apartment alone. I mean come on...how dense can you get. Marissa has the problem where she can't clue in when someone is sending her signals. Trey was sending signals and they were obvious. I don't doubt that her intentions were good, but her method is questionable.



Come on, he did not do the same thing to her. He never blew her off. Marissa has glossed over alot of situations as "fine" when Ryan asks her if she's ok (every five seconds...annoying) even when she is not. After the Trey thing, they BOTh acted like they were fine and went on their merry way. It was Summer and Seth that questioned whether R/M would be able to get passed all that had happened.

Please tell me when she wanted to actually talk about things and he refused or shut down. I can think of one and that was the 4 am call, which what the heck was the guy supposed to do? He can't fix what happened and why is it ONLY his responsiblity to provide the comfort. They BOTH need comfort. Its extremely difficult to provide something for someone else when you can't provide it for yourself. Any other time, something would come up and Marissa would leave. Somebody please point out all these times where she wanted to talk about it and he blew her off. Ryan started talking about stuff in 301 and Marissa wanted to put it behind them so he stopped talking about his feelings about Trey in 301. So I guess they're one for one.

So Marissa is the only one with unresolved feelings? Uh no. Ryan had many unresolved feelings about Trey that went way back to Chino. The Marissa thing, stealing of the egg and the drug deal were all heaped on top. I would feel horrible if my sibling came to a new place where i din't even fit in yet and started reaking havoc. his mom already embarrased the crap out of him, now his brother? He had noone to talk to, but he certainly didn't seek out some chick to talk to and leave Marissa in the dust. People don't fault Marissa for confiding in Johnny (at least i don't), its that she finds these people and completely ignores her boyfriend for them. she also shoves this new guy down her current boyfriends throat. No guy would stand for that crap, not one. She did it with Luke and she did it with ryan. She even started to do it with Alex. I mean after the entire lying to alex about the sleeping bag, Marissa knew there was tension with ryan and alex. But STILL she asked Ryan to go over to Alex's to work on the bonfire...That is just rude. Do it at school or at the poolhouse. I felt horrible for Alex.



Everything your pinning on Ryan is the same thing Marissa does. They BOTH avoid teh real issues. this past episode showed that clearly. not one of them made an effort to talk or even see the other. Summer had to force marissa to call him. They broke up over the phone. Had she gotten a hold of him over the phone earlier, the results would have been the same. They were both copping out and didn't want to face eachother. She was rushing it because she didn't want to deal with it as much as he didn't want to.



He goes for the easy things? Hmmm....what does that mean? At that age people do run away from what breathes hard. Seth has done it, Marissa has done it alot. Running away is what kids do at that age when things get shitty with parents or boyfriends. Marissa and Ryan don't like to confront eachother. They skulk away instead.

I don't think his intentions were pure, he likes Sadie, she's different from Marissa and that's what he needed. I don't think he ever pretended they were pure...he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Pretending would be telling Marissa that nothing was going on, he had no feelings for Sadie, its not what you think, its not what it looks like.....oh wait...that's all the things that Marissa told ryan about Johnny. That is pretending. he told Sadie he needed to feel something different and why he went on the trip with her. What exactly was he supposed to say to Marissa? "Hey, we are on the outs and we haven't talked in days and we are avoiding eachother, but I'm going to go on a road trip with sadie so I could clear my head." Yeah Right.
They didn't play strip poker people. They played for sleeping arrangements...sheesh. It was a joke.



Why not? she doesn't have any obligations to Marissa. What does Johnny have to do with it? If she knew how things went down between Marissa and Johnny, she probably would have jumped Ryan in the motel room. I think poor excuses are being developed in order to hate Sadie. The girl didn't do anything at all. Its R/M problem, not hers.


Really?!? Like Ryan and marissa then. Her lying and deceiving Luke to see Ryan? Hmmmm...that's a relationship that was started on a pile of lies. I guess R/M are doomed.

No, i just had to quote this whole message, so people would think i wrote it.

Just wanted to add couple of things:

1. A whole campaign was built over Ryan supposedly unwillingness to talk about Trey. In reality, all we saw was that one middle of the night phone call. We did see Ryan trying (twice: the gym scene in The Swells, and when he offered his help her write that letter in The Game Plan) to listen to her, and she was the one who didn't want to go there.

2. What Marissa did with Johnny would get any normal boyfriend out of his mind, and the relationships, a long long time ago. I could understand the friendship (they could talk, blah, blah, blah) until he confessed his love in The Disconnect. That's when Oliver's lesson should have been put to use, that's where she had to put an end to it, that's what she said she'll do, that's what she didn't. Instead, Ryan's whole purpose became to serve Marissa's relationships with Johnny. He went to fight Volchok, because of Johnny. He did that stupid Bar Mitzvah, because Marissa was obsessed with helping Johnny (hell, he went through with it AFTER he saw them hugging on the beach), he went to stop Johnny from robbing that store. For Johnny to tell Ryan that "you were a really good guy to me" was the understatement of the year. Ryan did all that just for Marissa.
What Marissa did to Ryan (and to her best friend, Summer) in The Safe Harbor is inexcusable. The way she freaked out over Kaitlin and Johnny was ridiculous. What exactly was that "loop" Kaitlin and Johnny throw her for??? And the list can go on and on.

3. Yes, Ryan liked Sadie form the first moment. She's the only one who wasn't mean to him in The Heavy Lifting. Seth told him stupid jokes, Sandy totally ignored him, Kaitlin accused him in Johnny's death, and his girlfriend, whom he loves so much, told him that he was happy Johnny's dead. He wanted to do something with his guilt feelings, so he went to help Sadie pack up Johnny's room. He never expected her, a stranger, the COUSIN of the dead boy, to see through his pain and ask him what he's thinking.
She didn't make a move on him during that road trip, obviously they didn't really played strip poker, and clearly he was very comfortable with her, "feeling something different" than that non-stop heavy drama he's use to. It was shocking to see that Ryan actually have the simple function named "smile".
My only problem with Sadie, was the fact that she showed up in the pool house few hours after they came back. he told her that he needs to speak with Marissa, she knew they were gonna break up, she should have give him space. It was a mean decision by Josh to make her show up 2 seconds after the breakup, not giving Ryan some time to react, thus makes him look bad in the eyes of the fans. But i guess that's was the purpose of that, and the phone break too. The fact that Ryan initiate it, is enough to make him the bad guy. The fact that Marissa totally agreed with him, saying that "it's not working", been totally ignored. The writers saw a chance to regain fans sympathy towards Marissa and hurt Ryan's "perfect" image, and took it. Cool, i'm okay with that. I wasn't a fan of "saint Ryan" anyway. I love him because he is so beautifuly messed up.

4. Ryan is not innocent in this breakup, but IMO he's by far the lesser responsible. He's got tons of issues to deal with, and i think that's the main reason why he decided to quit this thing. He needs to figure out who he is, and frankly so is Marissa. Only then they can go back to each other, because one thing is indisputable IMO: The totally love each other.

I guess that was more than couple of things.

[Wieke]

Sandy scared me this time: how he approached maya.... not very clever.. I feel sorry for matt because I thought he was really in love...

I love seth and summer.. sooo cute.. And I love how cute summer is... I enjoy watching her really loving seth. So much more enjoyable then s1! They are almost 'equal'...

[BenBrazilianFan]

Sorry about the long post.
Impik and Divine Order, I completelly agree with you two.
I wish they would explore more the deep of these characters.
Ryan is a very complex young man. Since he found out about Trey's attack to Marissa, he's been very sad. We can see it in his face when he found out. Not only because of Marissa's suffering, or because of Trey's betrayal. It meant it was one more person in his life that was letting him down. Another one in his family that was screwing with him. It meant he was alone again. Yes, the Cohens are like a family to him, they love him and he loves them very much. But it is still too recent, this complete change in his life. He's still very attached to his mom, his brother and his dad. He loves them, even if they were mean to him, and he wants them to be a real family. So, when Trey did that, he completely ruined Ryan's attempt to "save" his family. After the fighting and the shooting, Ryan was, besides disapointed and worried about jail, blaming himself for the coma of his brother, the accusation of Marissa, and her trauma with the whole rape-shooting. When Trey finally woke up, he left. Ryan was abandoned, again. Like he was by his father, mother, the cohens and Marissa (Oliver incident) and Lindsay. He still has to live with all these issues. Anyone would be devasted with that.

The fact is that Ryan isn't used to talk about his problems. He has real trouble with that. We can see that in The Truth, when Sandy tried to talk to him. I know it's a seroius deal because, at this point, i'm very like him. Talking about your issues, even with someone you love, can be very hard. It's like a way of showing your weakness. But not talking about the problems, or trying to escape them, doesn't mean they stop haunting you. This shadow is hangins over Ryan all season long. The only episodes they really dealt with his situation were The Aftermath and The Anger Managemnt. And it's not gonna go away too soon, in some way it'll be always with him, like all his traumas from Chino. You can't put entirelly your problems in the past, even if you try to. He tries to do it, but, someday, he has to face them.

Marissa should know him by now.That the shooting was hard on him too, specially by the fact it meant another person that he loved out of his life. She must have noticed he holds his problems inside, and that it must be torturing him. So, she shouldn't act like it's okay for him, and she has all the shit to deal with. She didn't try very hard to talk to him before she ran to Johnny. That was only that 4AM call. Well, if you want to talk something important to your boyfriend, and you notice he hasn't talk to you not because he's selifsh or stupid, but because he has real problems with it, you try harder. He tried to talk to her after, and she ignored him, since The Swells.

Well, we all know what happened. She completely ignored Ryan, his attempts to talk to her, to save their relationship, and to save her and her beloved "friend" Johnny. Any human being would be disapointed and pissed if didn't get any recognisement for your merits, Ryan was completelly frustrated with their relationship. When she told him he was happy with Johnny's death, it was end of line. He was already very sad with Marissa's behaviour, but that just hurt him so much. Even though he loves her, he couldn't bear with it anymore. And that, for me, is what made him end their relationship, that was already dead. With or without Sadie, it would've happened.

Ryan always tries to escape from his problems, and he does that trying to find comfort somewhere else. In the end of the day, that's what we all do. Well, his escape, since he has been ignored his whole life, is finding someone who gives him some attention, cares for his feelings. That's what happend with Theresa in S1 and now with Sadie. Can you blame him? I can't, because if I'm miserable, and I find a way too have some joy, I'll go for it. The fact that Sadie is comforting him and making him a little happier doesn't mean he loves her, or that he is over Marissa. He loves Marissa, even after all she did to him, he just need some time to forgive her. And that love, for me, is what is gonna ruin his relationship with Sadie.

I think that's it. I felt sorry for Marissa, yes, I have to admit it, but we all know she deserved it. And I'm not as happy as I thought I'd be for Ryan after the break up, because, even if he seems to be happy with Sadie, deep deep down he's really messed up and sad.

[lasha4god]

Delighted is just one word to describe myself after finishing this episode, which, I had almost missed do to Canada’s CTV altering the schedule because of American Idol and CSI. I don’t think I had been this engaged, entertained and satisfied at any other point in this season.

It’s strange to say when talking about an episode that included a voice-over from Summer, flashbacks from Marissa, oh and Julie Cooper as Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Those elements combined could leave a person wondering how this episode could ever work or sustain a viewer. It sounds campy at best. But the truth was, it all succeeded.

This episode was fulfilling because it perfectly balanced all the elements that strengthen an episode of The O.C. It had Chino-like drama, sexy flirtations, valid and genuine comedy, great character development, implied Seth and Ryan jokes and the list continues. Except for Marissa refusing alcohol from Volchok, little seemed forced or out of place.

Besides Seth, Summer is the only character that could pull off a voice-over. She truly is a person who over-thinks and is probably having conversations in her head more often them she’s making out with her boyfriend. I took the voice-over as being an in-the-moment action. This was the voice literally going off, in her head, and, at that moment. I’ll admit, when I first started to hear Summer’s voice float over the scene I thought I was transported to an alternate version of The O.C. Combine that with the ease into Marissa, Seth and Summer cozying up in a hot tub and I was sure something was awry. But then it occurred to me to just go with the flow. And I’m glad I did.

Choices, was the main theme of Summer’s voice-over. It was at the moment Ryan made the choice to take to the road with Sadie I knew he had made his preference and it certainly wasn’t Marissa. There was no question in my mind Ryan and Marissa were to come to an end. Ryan’s adventures with Sadie simply sealed the deal.

Sadie and Ryan were a pure joy to watch. They had a natural chemistry and a certain way with each other. I was absolutely embodying the feeling of joy as they almost took on the role of a great comedy duo. Gracie Allen and George Burns, maybe they weren’t, but Ryan’s sly rebuttals and one-liners put a wide grin on my face. It was a refined and toned down version of what he had with Lindsay. It was more believable.

The drama and physical side of their story brought a genuine feeling of Ryan’s Chino past. Ryan was fighting for a reason and a purpose. And it aligned so well with his true character. Not the shirt and tie wearing Ryan who can’t shut-up, but rather the Ryan who knows when to folds his cards, talks based on necessity, and fights for those he loves just as much as he questions his relationships.

While all this went down, Marissa took to moping and hanging with Summer. Two things she does well. Somewhere mixed in was a lack of effort in trying to save her relationship with Ryan and being stalked by Volchok. Both things allowed for Marissa to be apathetic almost through the whole episode. She never told Volchok off or took his alcohol to drown her sorrows. She never did more than give Ryan a phone call. And when they finally did talk, she couldn’t stand her ground or declare her true feelings. Ultimately, Ryan had to do all the work for her. She simply waited upon him to make the final choice. It was both sad and pathetic.

This is why I may have not been so empathetic to the fact that Ryan broke up with her over the phone. Still, I longed for Ryan to say his perfect and straightforward words to her face. It was never about Johnny, or anyone person. It just wasn’t working. Those words were so simple, yet, so powerful and spot on. I wonder how Marissa would have reacted having had to deal with this face-to-face. Would she still have been a mix of indifference and tears?

Marissa’s flashbacks of Johnny and her police questioning with Sandy unexpectedly worked for me. The choice of scenes and the editing strengthened the purpose and brought context. It was definitely stronger than the flashbacks in this season’s premiere, which, in contrast, came off muddled and confusing.

It was a pure delight to see Taylor back and being used appropriately. She offered more than a cheap laugh and bubbly presence. She actually furthered storyline, but wasn’t so interfering in the Julie and Dr. Robert plotline that you would feel she overpowered. She highlighted at just the right moments. She’s essentially the perfect female sidekick to Seth and Summer who, unpredictably, I thoroughly took pleasure from.

Summer was her most charming trying to play matchmaker and happy-source-finder for her dad. It was gratifying to watch, seeing how warm, funny and sweet each scene she inhabited was. Seth, both on his own and with Summer, was equally funny and pleasing to watch. From his reaction to the hot tub time, to his shocking comments about Julie, and finally with his bizarre sleep habits when Ryan was away, it all charmed me. I never thought I could still be this enamored by Seth Cohen. I was pleasantly proved wrong.

I also thought I couldn’t of been so interested in Sandy’s character development, or lack there of, as I once was. While it may have been more subdued, and arguably the weaker storyline, there was still something engaging about Sandy loosing a bit of his moral ground. Once again he’s fallible and imperfect, but not to the point of losing his character. He genuinely feels he’s doing these morally unsound things for the right reasons. It’s complex. The biggest disappointment for me wasn’t Sandy choices, but rather how condescending Kirsten was with him. I hope she can be more understanding and nature him back to the path of righteousness without making him feel as though he failed his supposed standard of morality.

I sometimes wonder if Julie has peaked, but them I’m instantly shown wrong as a new episode passes. She was amusing and comical as she tried to deal with her affair with Dr. Roberts. I couldn’t imagine her actually taking on the role of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. But she did. I was first taken aback. But then I took it for what it was, a classic Julie Cooper moment. She was going to do what ever it took, no matter how foolish she looked doing it, to keep the affections of Dr. Roberts. Their relationship has stunned me. When first they were interacting I never had an inclining for them to be a couple. Now I can’t imagine one without the other.

The ultimate positive to flourish from Dr. Roberts and Julie’s relationship is we got to see a growth and adult nature in Summer. She could have easily disbanded their union. But when she discovered just how happy Julie made her father she relented. She knew her father’s happiness is what mattered most, and she quickly learned to temporarily accept Julie as the woman who was making him happy.

The ending almost felt essential as we came back to the same song that had played over an initial scene from an earlier episode that hinted all would not be well with Ryan and Marissa. It was the Youth Group’s cover of Alphaville’s “Forever Young”. It was the perfect way to end had it simply stopped on that note. Unfortunately Marissa’s closing scene was slightly marred by an appearance of Volchok. I would have left his continued presence to be implied. Having him loom over her as she cried was too foreboding and direct.

I can surmise by simply stating, The Road Warrior, in my opinion, is the strongest episode of the season. All the essential elements were present. It progressed with solid flow and had me eagerly awaiting the next episode. It’s a shame the ratings have dropped from last week, now, just when the show is improving. I seriously hope the quality of the show continues and viewers can give it the chance it now deserves.

**** ½ out of ***** stars