The O.C. (season 4)

Infobox tvseason
show_name = "The O.C."
season_name =The O.C." Season 4


caption = Poster
dvd_release_date = May 22, 2007
country = USA
network = FOX
first_aired = Start date|2006|11|2
last_aired = End date|2007|2|22
num_episodes = 16
prev_season = Season 3|

The fourth and final season of "The O.C." premiered on November 2, 2006 in the United States, featuring a total of 16 episodes. Season four's regulars consisted of Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen), Rachel Bilson (Summer Roberts), Peter Gallagher (Sandy Cohen), Kelly Rowan (Kirsten Cohen), Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper), Autumn Reeser (Taylor Townsend), and Willa Holland (Kaitlin Cooper). This season marks the first and only season without Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper due to her character's death at the end of Season 3. Two previously recurring characters were added for the final season; Autumn Reeser as Taylor Townsend and Willa Holland as Marissa's little sister Kaitlin Cooper both began as guest stars in season three and were made regulars for season four.

The fourth season aired Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. in the United States on FOX, a terrestrial television network. [cite web|url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-schwartzocseasonfour,0,4942024.story|title='O.C.' Creator Promises a Liberating Season|accessdate=2008-09-14|date=2006-11-02|first=Daniel|last=Fienberg|work=Zap2it.com|publisher=Tribune Media Services] The season was released on DVD as a five disc boxed set under the title "The O.C.: The Complete Fourth Season" on May 22, 2007 by Warner Bros. Home Video. [cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/OC-Complete-4th-Season/6525|title=The O.C. - The Complete 4th Season|accessdate=2008-09-14|publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com] In the United Kingdom the season premiered January 9, 2007 on E4. [cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a41270/the-oc-axed-after-four-seasons.html|title='The O.C.' axed after four seasons|first=Neil|last=Wilkes|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2008-09-14|work=Digital Spy|publisher=Digital Spy Ltd.] In Canada the season aired on CTV Television Network and in Australia it was broadcast by Network Ten.

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Crew

The season was produced by Warner Bros. Television, College Hill Pictures and Wonderland.cite web|url=http://www.soapnetmedianet.com/web/showpage/showpage.aspx?program_id=3112461&type=fact|title=SOAPnet - The O.C. IV (Production Credits)|work=SOAPnet|publisher=Disney|accessdate=2008-07-27] The executive producers were Bob DeLaurentis, McG, creator Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Plot overview

Season Four begins with everyone coping with the death of Marissa Cooper. Ryan has moved out of the Cohen household and became a cage fighter to deal with his anger. Summer begins attending Brown University, where she throws herself into environmental activism, and avoids calls from Seth, who stays in Newport and finds a job at a comic book shop. Marissa's younger sister Kaitlin returns to Newport from boarding school and starts attending Harbor. Julie, meanwhile, hires a private detective to track down Volchok, who had fled to Mexico. She plans to have Ryan take revenge on Volchok, presumably by killing him.

Ultimately, with Seth and Sandy's help, Ryan allows Volchok to turn himself in to the authorities. Ryan subsequently moves back in with the Cohens. In the meantime, Taylor Townsend who is previously thought to have been in Paris attending the Sorbonne, secretly returns to Newport after impulsively marrying a Frenchman. He then refuses to grant her a divorce. Ryan helps her by posing as her lover to get her husband to agree to the divorce, after which she and Ryan begin a romantic relationship. In "Chrismukk-huh" Ryan receives a letter from Marissa (she wrote it before planning to leave Newport), saying that she still loves him, but she was going so that they could both move on. He finally understands that he will never forget Marissa, however he will have to move on, so he finally says goodbye to Marissa.

After releasing rabbits from a laboratory, Summer is suspended from Brown for a semester and returns to California, where she and Seth reconcile. Julie Cooper begins a relationship with wealthy Texan businessman Gordon Bullit, however, she soon becomes conflicted when she falls for Ryan's biological father, Frank, who was released from prison.

Near the end of the fourth season, Kirsten becomes pregnant with a baby girl, and she and Sandy consider whether Newport is the right place to bring up another child. A powerful earthquake hits Newport, and the Cohens' house is damaged beyond repair. Ryan and Seth go back to Berkeley to convince a gay couple who live in their old house to sell it to them. Kirsten has her baby.

At Julie's wedding to Bullit she says "I can't do this without Kiki" so the wedding is brought there so that Kirsten can be with them. After seeing everything that has happened in the house the gay couple decide to sell their house to the Cohens. Ryan and Taylor begin their relationship again when they realize they both love each other still. Julie finally decides to stay single and raise her baby boy alone with Kaitlin and get her life back on track without a man. Fast forward to a few years later when Seth and Summer finally get married, Taylor and Ryan share a look at their wedding (it is up to the viewer to decide whether or not they are together), Julie goes back to college and graduates, where we see Kaitlin, Bullit, Frank, and Ryan's half-brother (again, it is up to the viewer to decide the scenario). Ryan becomes an architect and the show closes with him asking a boy, alone with only a bike, if he needs help just as Sandy helped him in the very first episode. All ends well with Ryan asking the boy, "Hey kid, need help?" The kid looks up and then looks away.

Episodes

"Series #" refers to the episode's number in the overall series, whereas "Episode #" refers to the episode's number in this particular season. The fourth season's episodes are altogether 727 minutes in length.

DVD release

The DVD release of season four was released by Warner Bros. in the U.S. on 22 May, 2007 after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including unaired scenes, featurettes, and audio commentary on the series finale.

References

External links

* [http://www.theocinsider.com/backstage/episodeguide04.html Episode Guide] at Warner Bros.' "The OC Insider"
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362359/episodes#season-4 "The O.C." Episode List] at "IMDb.com"
* [http://www.tv.com/the-o.c./show/16960/episode_guide.html?season=4&tag=season_dropdown;dropdown;3 "The O.C." season 4 episode guide] at "TV.com"
* [http://savetheoc.wordpress.com/episode-guide-and-summaries/ "The O.C." Episode Guide] at "savetheoc.wordpress.com"