California Here We Come
[vc_row][vc_column][title type="subtitle-h6"]Laura Schmitt[/title][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="11/12"][vc_column_text]In the beginning of April, Hulu made all four seasons of The OC available for streaming. For anyone between the ages of 18 and 28, this might be overwhelming news because the best thing from our middle school years is coming back into our lives like the one-that-got-away.The OC is a young adult drama that aired from 2003 to 2007 and was produced by TV wunderkind Josh Schwartz at the age of 26. Schwartz has gone on to produce Gossip Girl, The Carrie Diaries, Chuck, Hart of Dixie, and Pretty Little Liars since the show ended, but The OC still remains some of his most original work in the industry.If you were a person who watched the show religiously, the rather abrupt ending to The OC after cast member conflicts and the emergence of Grey’s Anatomy in a competing timeslot probably still stings, but having access to all four glorious seasons whenever you want can now begin the healing process. If you haven’t seen The OC, I cannot stress how great of a show it is, but I will try.The series follows the lives of four teenagers living in Newport, California, a city that resides in the notoriously wealthy Orange County. Unlike most teen dramas today, the characters on The OC do not follow traditional archetypes of teenagers like the popular girl, the jock, the nerd and the artsy one. Schwartz may use sketches of these forms as a jumping off point, but within the first three episodes it is clear that the characters and stories depicted in The OC are complex, and Schwartz intentionally challenges these archetypes to create authentic and compelling characters that experience relatable trials and triumphs.The complexity of the show’s characters is best captured in Seth Cohen, the sarcastic, neurotic and slightly self-absorbed Jewish outcast that somehow manages to be both boyish and elderly as a Newport high school student. Schwartz wrote the entire first season of The OC himself, and Seth’s witty dialogue and character quirks is what made me fall in love with the show because I had never encountered a character quite like him. Schwartz successfully created an outcast personality in Seth Cohen that eventually became mainstream. Seth listens to bands in 2003 that are now performing at Lollapalooza and has a style that can now be seen on guys across college campuses. Seth Cohen plays by his own rules and was very much ahead of his time, which now makes him as relevant as ever.Although The OC takes place in a rather unfamiliar social world where teenagers throw parties in the penthouse hotels their parents own and attend black-tie events on the reg, Schwartz manages to capture real life in the relationships he creates between the characters. Something that sets The OC apart from many teen dramas on TV right now is the exploration of the relationships between children and parents. Unlike most shows that target a younger audience, The OC develops parents into more than just two-dimensional authority figures. The Cohens and Coopers navigate the issues of trust, understanding and responsibility, highlighting the struggles of what it means to look up to your parents but know that you don’t want to be like them.Like all TV dramas, the plots twists on The OC are phenomenal and will keep you watching until you realize it’s 2:00am and your textbooks are sitting on the table untouched. An added bonus: The OC has the best theme song for any TV show to date. Give it two episodes and you won’t be able to stop yourself from singing along.
Featured image courtesy of Fox
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