'The OC' Was Dead To Me

After each episide of The OC for the past three seasons, I'd tell my wife that show was dead to me -- only to find myself queuing up the Tivo seven or eight days later. It's unexplainable ... perhaps it's the chisled-faced women and the David Hassel-coif that Peter Gallagher (who plays Sandy Cohen) sports with no shame. Or perhaps it's that whenever the plotlines lose steam, they just have Ryan (played by a guy who's name I still don't remember after all this time) pummel someone.

His favorite punching bag and my favorite new villain for season three was this cocaine sniffing wake-n-baker named Volchok (pictured above, actor unknown). He was Marissa's love interest and corruptor du jour, and let's just say Ryan -- even though involved with about 10 other chicks -- was not cool with that.

Anyway, we watched the season finale last night, and here's how they wrapped it up: Sandy decided to quit being a great white land development shark and go back to being a magnanimous, five-figure-making public defender -- but of course he and his sometimes-employed, sometimes-sober wife Kierstin will remain in their $10m estate without explanation. Ryan was driving Marissa to the airport and she was killed off the show when Volchok ran them off the road and Ryan's car flipped five or eight times then exploded.

So with (Mischca Barton's) Marissa gone and the show facing the same kids-go-to-college-and-the-show-crumbles fate as Beverly Hills 90210, I again declared The OC dead to me last night. But then my AIM window popped up a few minutes ago with this from my wife:

"Katelande: here's my OC prediction... Sandy will have to defend Volchok when he goes back to public defenders office... heard it here first."

So it was writ, and so season four shall be watched. In the beginning anyway.

If only to see how they come full circle ... how they start at go with Sandy taking Volchok under his wing like he did Ryan three years ago. Will Ryan's fists fly when he finds out? Will Sandy's acerbic son Seth (played by Adam Brody) end up with Summer (played by some girl that Brody dates in real life), or will he end up with that blond chick from James Cameron's office that E was hooking up with on Entourage? Hopefully it's the blond, because even if The OC is no longer dead to me, E definitely is.