By Daniel Barron for AllPop

We start 'The Disconnect' with Ryan, Marissa and Seth dropping the now uber-crippled Johnny back at his mom's house. Lucky for Johnny his mom is a nurse. Not-so-lucky for Johnny is he can barely walk up a set of stairs without toppling over ... which is exactly what happens to him after he leaves the car. Marissa runs up to him and insists she help him out for a few hours. Ryan says that's fine and Seth comments right away. Ryan replies with 'the kid has no one ... and I trust Marissa.'

Next, we see Kirsten and Julie trading ideas about their new business. Kirsten suggests a book store; Julie thinks a nude maid service is more appropriate for the residents of Newport. After going back and forth, they agree on something that they both enjoy doing and that Newport will always need - party planning!

Back at The Harbor School, Summer passes by Seth and Ryan and mentions that she's seeing Dr. Kim about a possible change in her college courses. She took her SATs late because the original date of the tests was during a Valley marathon. She received her results and scored a ... 2300!!!! 'Is that good?' Summer asks the guys. She walks away completely oblivious to her accomplishment. Seth can't believe she would score a 2300 but, Ryan reminds him, she did save Christmukkah.

Back at Johnny's house, Marissa is waiting on him hand and foot as his mom walks in. She meets Marissa for the first time and does what any mom would do in that situation - completely embarrass him by saying 'you never told me how beautiful she is!' She tells Johnny and Marissa that she found a doctor who could help Johnny with his rehabilitation, but he'll be on a waiting list for months. Johnny is crushed but Marissa says she'll look into getting a favour done thanks to her connections (always with the connections!).

Summer sits down with Seth at school and tells him about her meeting with the principal. Turns out she's 'totally smart' and has what's called 'aptitude.' She may even be able to go to Brown if she studies really hard. Seth obviously has a serious problem with this. Why? We'll find out soon enough...
Back at the Cohen's house, the smell of Thai wafts through the air and Sandy proclaims 'happy days are here again!' Matt is over and they're going over their proposal for low-income housing for the Newport Group. Budding architect Ryan makes a suggestion based on the model in front of them and Matt makes his own suggestion - that Ryan do an internship at the Newport Group.

Marissa is still doing everything she can for Johnny while he's basically bed-ridden but Johnny is uncomfortable about something, and it has nothing to do with the broken bone in his leg or his lame hairstyle. Summer comes over to pick up Marissa and ends up alone in the room with Johnny for a few moments. Johnny basically tells Summer that what Marissa is doing is too much. It's really nice, and he likes it ... and that's the problem. Johnny lays it out on the line - he likes Marissa and spending all this time with her knowing she has a boyfriend is making things very difficult for him. Summer promises she won't say anything to Marissa (I wonder how long that'll last).

We then visit Kirsten and Julie out at a restaurant, hashing out details about their new business venture. Well, that's what Kirsten's doing. Julie is busy hashing out details about what she's going to order. Kirsten leaves for the ladies' room and a man walks over to Julie asking her if she would like a drink. In the time it takes Kirsten to go to the washroom and wash her hands, Julie already has a client. The mysterious man offers to pay them $5,000 to handle a party he's throwing and the two women accept.

Seth and Summer, meanwhile, attend an event held by Brown to prospective students. They quickly find out that Brown typically only takes one student from The Harbor School each year. They're almost instantly in direct competition with each other for the one spot and it seems each is willing to do anything to set themselves apart from everyone else applying to the school.

We then visit Ryan and Matt at the Newport Group offices. Ryan is busy playing psychiatrist as he listens to Matt's problems about being dumped by an ex-girlfriend when he decided to move out to Newport ('she doesn't like warm weather'). The two have a long, busy night ahead of them after Sandy tells them they have an important meeting in the morning. They have to write up a report on two separate scenarios regarding the low-income housing, and Sandy basically leaves them to it. Matt suggests they take a break and takes Ryan out to a club called 'Bare Elegance.' If you couldn't guess by the name, it's a strip club (though it's apparently one of those strip clubs where no one actually strips). Ryan isn't really sure how this helps but doesn't really know what to do, so he follows Matt inside. Marissa calls Ryan up but gets no answer. She's waiting for him to show up at Johnny's, since he said he would come over and celebrate Johnny getting bumped up the waiting list for his rehab (it's all about the connections, remember?). Little does she know that he's getting a lap dance from a young lady in a police uniform at the moment. (in Austin Powers voice) Oh behave!

Things aren't all innocent over at Johnny's, though. Johnny falls asleep watching DVDs with Marissa and eventually, Marissa falls asleep as well. So technically, the two end up sleeping together. It's harmless enough but this could pose a problem later on. Summer drills Marissa about where she was the next morning and finds out. She spills the beans to Marissa about Johnny liking her and later says that maybe Marissa should keep her distance.

Meanwhile, Summer is busy finding her tuba to bring out to show the Brown people what she can do. Seth, on the other hand, is dressed up as a pirate, hounding a Harbor School cheerleader about being the new mascot. He only manages to creep her out. Seth and Summer confront each other and Summer asks him why he has to be better than her at everything. Seth tells her that that's the only thing he is better than her at - being smart. Awwww....poor Noodle Arms. Summer feels bad and the two decide that they'll do everything they can to both get into Brown - it's not likely, but it is possible. They finish their applications and mail them, promising that no matter what happens, they'll still love each other.

Sandy definitely won't be loving Matt after what happens at their meeting though. He shows up unshaven and tie-less and worse, he simply doesn't have the presentation done. The businessmen leave the room and so does Matt. Sandy asks Ryan if he 'has anything he'd like to tell' Sandy and Ryan fesses up about the strip club. The two return later that day to find Matt there once again. Sandy fires him on the spot. Lucky for Matt, one of the strippers happens to be a friend of his and a very gracious woman. She goes to Sandy's office later that day and begs for Matt's job back, saying he simply has been under a lot of pressure lately. Sandy isn't happy, but cracks and lets Matt back.

Kirsten and Julie show up at the mysterious man's house (Jeff) only to find that there is no party. He only wanted them over to his place so he could spend time with Julie. Basically, he spent $5,000 for a date with Julie. Kirsten leaves them, but finds out the next day from Julie that things didn't click at all. This gives them an idea though - they could start a high-end dating service as their new business venture. They're excited and settle on it.

Back at Johnny's, Marissa is helping her injured friend after he takes a big spill in the kitchen. She gives him some painkillers and in his medicated stupor, he makes another big spill - spilling the beans, that is, about his true feelings for Marissa, saying he thinks he's in love with her. Marissa hopes he forgets the whole thing and tells Summer. Marissa is hoping that it was all just a misunderstanding and he didn't really mean it, but Summer says 'a Vicodin love confession is still a love confession!' Johnny confronts Marissa later on and apologizes for what happened. Marissa says it's okay, but maybe they need some time apart from each other.

The show ends with Marissa and Ryan on the phone with each other, owning up to what really happened the other night when Ryan was supposed to be at Johnny's. A strange ending to be sure, as it's difficult to read Ryan's facial expression when he finds out his girlfriend and Johnny fell asleep beside each other ... but none of that really matters does it? Next episode is the third Christmukkah and that's always a great time. Stay tuned for the recap!

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