Episodic Classics: The O.C., “The Rager,” ”The O.C. Confidential,” ”The Return of The Nana” | Season 2, Episodes 19, 20, & 21
The Trey saga takes a tragic-but-inevitable turn
There’s a major moment that happens in this batch of O.C. episodes, one that really hurtles the show toward this season’s finish line in a way that could have never been expected: as we see in “The Rager,” Ben McKenzie finally got a haircut. In a way, this moment was the season’s way of saying it’s time for us to finally heal, as Ryan’s hair was really hurtling itself, seemingly toward an unfortunate bowl cut-mullet hybrid situation. Thankfully, that is all over now.
From Risky Business to an out-of-control rager—and then even to sexual assault—I suppose that this chunk of The O.C. Season Two (the Trey Atwood saga) unexpectedly ended up recontextualizing the ‘80s teen movie. Admittedly, as someone who has written so much about these episodes, there’s really not a lot to say about this batch of episodes specifically, beat-by-beat. Besides the fact that they all somewhat blend together—not just in the Trey saga but also in the graphic novel/Seth/Summer/Zach realm, as well…