Episodic Classics: The O.C., "The Pot Stirrer," "The Cliffhanger," "The Heavy Lifting" | Season 3, Episodes 13-15
Johnny Harper is dead; long live Johnny Harper
No matter how many times I read through the Season Three chapter of Alan Sepinwall’s oral history on The O.C., I still can’t quite comprehend just how certain things about this season came to be. I mentioned in last week’s review that I imagine Ryan Donowho was guaranteed a certain (albeit confusingly large) number of episodes this season; I also mentioned how that still wouldn’t excuse the execution of the Johnny character’s story or his looming presence in so much of the season (and effect on other characters’ stories). And now this week’s batch of episodes finally sees the end of the Johnny character, only for the season to somehow find a way to still revolve around him.
I imagine that anyone watching this series or season for the first time was waiting for something—anything—to happen to justify the amount of Johnny or the repetitive nature of his existence by the end of it. These episodes, in particular, really rely on that repetitive nature, in terms of Johnny’s f…
