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Thursday, February 2, 2006

Episode 14 - The Cliffhanger


By Daniel Barron for AllPop

Am I the only one who thinks this episode has the most insensitive title of any OC show yet??

We start off the episode with Sandy walking into Ryan's room, upset because he can't find Seth anywhere. He asks Ryan if he knows where Seth is, and Ryan quickly makes up a story about him being at school (couldn't he think of a better lie than that?!), cramming for a calculus exam). Sandy asks Ryan if there's anything he should know about Seth that's going on. Ryan again lies through his teeth and tells him no.



Ryan leaves the house and guesses the one place where Seth is, and he's right on the first try - he's at the pier trying to score some more weed. Seth finally owns up to Ryan about skipping out on the Brown Interview. Ryan doesn't judge him, but still thinks he should tell Summer. It seems Seth is in serious denial right now.

At the trailer, Kaitlyn is deciding on a swimsuit to wear because she's going swimming with Johnny. Marissa is there and as always seems to be acting strange. Kaitlyn confronts her sister once again about whether or not she has feelings for him. Marissa once again denies any feelings for the pretty-boy surfer, yet when he shows up to get Kaitlyn, Marissa promptly leaves.

Meanwhile, Julie is having boy troubles of her own. She's feeling some serious heartache over Neil Roberts breaking off their blooming relationship. Herself and Kirsten are busy choosing clients for their New Match dating service when Kirsten thinks of the idea to set Neil up with a woman. Julie naturally thinks she's crazy, but there's a method behind Kirsten's madness. She says that by having Julie set Neil up with another woman, it'll keep Julie on his radar while not actually pursuing him. Then, when things end up going bad with his date (which they surely must!), he'll realize that Julie is the right woman for him. Julie loves the idea.

Back at Harbor, Summer is on a bench outside writing a thank you letter to her Brown interviewer. Seth comes up and asks her what she's doing and she tells him that she's writing to Shelley, the Brown interviewer. Seth tells her he's surprised that she's on a first name basis with 'her' ... unfortunately, Shelley isn't a 'her' at all, but a 'him.' Seth does some of his famous quick-talking and gets himself out of trouble ... for now.

At the beach, Johnny is teaching Kaitlyn some surfing lessons ... on the sand. Kaitlyn is all-action though (heh heh) and wants to get in the water and actually start surfing, but Johnny tells her they won't even go near the water today. Kaitlyn says he seems distracted and knows it's about Marissa. She encourages him to tell her exactly how he feels.

Back at the Newport Group offices, Sandy informs Matt the the hospital deal isn't really a done deal. Matt says that one of the advisor's daughters used to have a thing for him back in college, and he may be able to swing something to get some brownie points, but Sandy informs Matt that he would like to use a strategy that doesn't involve liquor or sexual favours.

Ryan comes home from school that day to find Kaitlyn lounging on a chair in the poolhouse. She informs him that Johnny thinks he has a chance with Marissa. She adds that she asked Marissa point blank if she has feelings for Johnny and she didn't deny it. Though Ryan seems assured that everything with him and Marissa is okay, he actually takes Kaitlyn's advice and asks Marissa later on at the diner, point blank, if she does in fact have feelings for Johnny. Once again, Marissa does everything but deny it, saying 'I'm with you.' Ryan gets quite upset and tells Marissa that until she figures things out, he doesn't want to see her and storms out.

The next day, Seth tells Ryan that once again he chickened out of telling Summer the truth about the college interview. Ryan informs Seth that him and Marissa are on thin ice. Things aren't looking good for the boys.

Things aren't going well for the two sisters either. Marissa tells Kaitlyn that she had no right to talk to Ryan about her and Johnny. She thinks Kaitlyn is punishing her for something and tells her she can't wait for her to leave.

At Harbor, Summer talks to a guidance counsellor about Seth's Brown interview. The counsellor tells Summer that there was no interview; Seth couldn't make it because of a huge crash on the highway the day of the interview. Naturally, Summer becomes livid.

Meanwhile, it looks like everyone, young and old alike, is getting bad love advice from friends. Neil gets set up with someone and Julie decides it's about time to do things 'The Julie Cooper Way' and plots to spy on the two during their date. Chili, on the other hand, tells Johnny that he should just go ahead and tell Marissa exactly how he feels about her.

So what does Johnny do? He takes the advice from his loser single friend of course! He meets Marissa at the pier and blurts out 'I love you and I think you love me too.' Marissa is of course shocked. Johnny simply tells her to think about what he said and then leaves.

The next we see the Cohens and Ryan in the kitchen in the morning. Summer comes over and politely asks to see Seth alone in his room. She promptly hits him when they get to his room and tells him his falling into a deceit spiral. Seth pulls the pity card and tells Summer that he got nervous; he's just a social outcast with a mumbling problem (the last point Summer doesn't argue) and if they both go to Brown, he'll just be the nerdy boyfriend. Summer - unbelievably - shows pity and says that they have to be honest with each other. Seth agrees, yet chooses NOT to tell her about his pot use.

Sandy, meanwhile, is playing bad guy with Matt. He saw Matt the night before at a restaurant with the woman he was talking about earlier who may give them an 'in' with their hospital proposal. He confronts Matt about it, but it turns out Matt was actually asked out by the woman, not the other way around. Despite this, Matt tells Sandy that he respects him, but he'll have to bend the rules sometimes to get what he wants.

Ryan looks to be nearing the edge of his patience (it's been, what?, two episodes since he last punches someone?). Johnny shows up and tells Ryan about their meeting at the pier where he told her his true feelings. Ryan says 'what do you want, my blessing?' to which Johnny simply apologizes. Ryan, looking none-too-happy, tells him to leave.

Julie's turn at playing spy goes horribly awry. She covers herself up and seats herself right beside the table wher Neil and his date are sitting. Things are going well until a friend sees her, then sees Neil, completely blowing Julie's cover. Neil realizes almost instantly what Julie is trying to do. Julie turns to run and crashes into a water. She leaves, completely humiliated.

At Johnny's house, he just comes out of the shower to find that Marissa left a note for him that she left with his mother. Marissa then goes to Ryan's and says she's sorry she ever made him wonder. Things aren't going to be that easy though. He tells her they can't just snap their fingers and make everything go back to the way it was.

Johnny obviously didn't like what the letter said and goes to the trailer park for some rebound action with the Mini Cooper. He asks Kaitlyn if she wants to go to the beach to party with tequila and a bonfire. Kaitlyn, though a little wary at first, agrees.

The two Cohen guys are having some serious problems. Sandy is talking to Kirsten at the Newport Group offices, torn over how to run the business. He doesn't want to overstep the boundaries of what is right and wrong. Kirsten tells him that she's confident he'll do what's right. Seth on the other hand, is smoking up in his room when Summer comes over for a movie. The movie finishes and Summer knows something is up with Seth (who is acting quite strange). She sneaks off to his room and finds the pot - 'ew!'

Things are looking a little more 'up' for Julie. She gets a knock at the trailer door that night and it's none other than Neil Roberts. He thanks her for setting him up on the date and Julie, who is still bitter, becomes irritated and tells Neil that she has a Hot Pocket and a wine cooler waiting for her inside. She wants to know what he wants. To this, Neil simply replies 'you.' He tells her 'when I'm not around you, I miss you.' In a nutshell, he says he's fallen for her. Julie tells Neil it's his lucky night - she has an extra Hot Pocket inside.

Back at the beach, Johnny is getting very drunk off the tequila. He shows Kaitlyn the letter from Marissa and burns it in the bonfire. Kaitlyn gets worried when he starts climbing up a nearby cliff. Things get so scary for her, that she's forced to call Marissa, who is busy making out with Ryan (looks like they made up!). Ryan takes the phone from her and decides that she's being truthful and goes to the beach with Marissa.

Once they get there, they see Johnny still acting erratically. Ryan tells the Cooper girls to keep talking to Johnny while he goes around the other side, up to where Johnny is. Ryan gets there and tries his best to talk Johnny away from the edge. Johnny mockingly tells Ryan that he must be there to save Johnny once again, making Ryan look like the hero. All Ryan wants is to get Johnny out of harm's way. Tragedy strikes, though, when Johnny slips off the side and Ryan is unable to grab him in time. We see Marissa and Kaitlyn's horrified faces and the episode ends.

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