By Daniel Barron for AllPop

We start off this episode, 'The Heavy Lifting,' with the gang sitting around at the Cohens', obviously shaken after Johnny's fall off the cliff. We soon realize that he isn't in fact dead; he's in a coma at the hospital and everyone is simply waiting for a phone call about any change in his condition. After hearing the kids talk, it's obvious things are pretty grim, but they all remember that Trey was in a coma for quite a while and he came out of it just fine. But their hopes are crushed a few moments later when Johnny's mom calls the house and informs them that Johnny has in fact passed away. Kaitlyn walks in and asks what happened. No one says anything but she puts the pieces together quickly when seeing the looks on their faces.

Marissa goes to Johnny's house the next day and meets with Chili and they talk about the funeral. Chili says that Johnny wouldn't want a typical funeral, so they decide on a 'funeral' at the beach - no black, no shoes.

Later on, a mysterious girl shows up at Johnny's. We soon find out that her name is Sadie and she's actually Johnny's cousin. She sees Marissa and guesses her name and says 'it's nice to finally meet you.' Obviously Johnny had a lot of good things to say about Marissa and let them be known to Sadie.

At Chez Cooper, Justin shows up asking Kaitlyn about their relationship and Kaitlyn tells him today is really not a good day. He asks her if she wants to drive with him back to school and she loses it, slamming the door and throwing plates inside. Looks like she's more like her sister than we first thought.

At the Newport Group, Sandy tells Matt he can call Maya if he'd like. Matt tells Sandy that he honestly does like Maya and he isn't just trying to use her. Marissa makes a surprise visit to the office and asks about getting getting Johnny's mom help with all the paperwork following her son's death. Matt offers to help out.

Summer, meanwhile, walks into Seth's room and he quickly closes up his laptop. She immediately grabs it, of course, to see what dirty things he's viewing, and it turns out he's simply alphabetizing his DVD collection. Vintage Seth. Summer is angry that Seth lied to her again and he tells her she'll just have to trust him and she says that not good enough and he'll have to think of something else.

Later on, Sadie calls Marissa and asks if they can meet at the diner. When they get there, Sadie tells Marissa that she's visiting from Oregon and she makes jewellery. She actually though Marissa was Johnny's girlfriend because before he died, he asked Sadie to make something for Marissa for Valentine's day - a necklace with an angel on it, because, as Sadie says, 'that's what he thought you were.' Marissa is obviously shocked and accepts it.
The next day is the beach funeral for Johnny. There are plenty of sunglasses, flip-flops and surfboards there. And who do we see parked away from the funeral? None other than Volchok, the evil surfer who tried his best to scrap with Ryan in The Anger Management. Him and Ryan eye each other but they don't confront the other. After the funeral, Ryan sees Kaitlyn on the beach, away from everyone. She thinks she killed Johnny and Ryan actually becomes angry that she's acting this way. He says to her that she can't fix this.

A 'wake' of sorts is being held afterward at the Bait Shop. Ryan and Marissa realize it will be there first Valentine's Day together but it might be 'cancelled' because of everything that's happened over the past few days. Volchok shows up and talks to Sadie. We find out from her that she used to 'know him.' He was a friend to her apparently last summer after her dad died but that's all we find out.

With Valentine's Day coming up and Julie still being hung up on Neil Roberts, she decides to make an excuse to go to his house. She shows up and tells him that she forgot a cake knife at Kaitlyn's party. She asks him if he's working during the upcoming weekend (which just happens to be when herself and Kirsten will be throwing a big Valentine's Day dance) and surprisingly - and much to Julie's disappointment - Mr. Roberts says he plans on doing some reading, catching up on The Da Vinci Code. Julie, who was trying to give him an opportunity to ask her to the dance, can't believe it and quickly leaves the house, without her, err, cake knife.

Justin shows up once again at the Julie's trailer, where Kaitlyn is still staying. He wishes her a happy Valentine's Day and gives her a stuffed teddy bear. Kaitlyn thanks him and tells him about what happened with Johnny. He tells her that it's not her fault, that accidents don't just happen, people let them happen. He asks her about the Valentine's Day dance and she agrees to go with him and he leaves, dancing because he's so happy.

Things aren't going nearly as well for Ryan and Marissa. Marissa simply says she doesn't want to do anything. Ryan knows things have been hard for her recently but thinks they should do something since they are together. Marissa goes off on him and tells him how hard it's been on her, then leaves. Later on, Ryan and Seth talk about what happened and Seth thinks Ryan should cut her 'a weekend's worth of slack.' Marissa, on the other hand, talks to Matt when he shows up at the trailer with some paperwork. Matt tells her that they should go to the dance. She tries calling Ryan but no one answers.

Kirsten is doing her best to continue playing Cupid. She has lunch with Maya, who quickly realizes that she's only trying to do Matt a favour by getting her to go out with him. Maya is still angry that Matt never called her back but Kirsten explains what happened. Maya is intrigued now and asks 'how bad does Matt want to go out with me?' She ends up agreeing to go to the Valentine's Day dance with him.

Back at the Cohen's, Seth and Sandy are having another classic father/son talk about women. Seth tells him his problems with Summer and Sandy says that Summer sees Seth as a man, and men don't lie. Sandy tells him to show her that he's a man. When Seth leaves, he unwittingly takes the wrong bag with him (both Cohen guys buy lingerie for their significant others from the same store).

Ryan goes over to Johnny's house to pay his respects to his mom. Sadie is there packing up his cousin's room and there's some definite awkwardness as Ryan tries to offer help carrying boxes.

Kirsten and Summer open their gifts from their husband and boyfriend respectively and Summer ends up slapping Seth, as his bag has a sexy set of lacy black underwear. She tells him Valentine's Day is off. Seth actually becomes upset with her and as he's leaving her room, he tells her he also got her a card. It's a picture of Pinocchio with the words 'I cannot tell a lie' on the front and the simple words 'Valentine, I love you' on the inside.

Ryan goes from Johnny's house to the trailer where the three Cooper girls are. Kaitlyn and Julie are getting ready for the Valentine's Day dance while Marissa is simply sitting there sulking. When Ryan shows up at the door, he tries to convince Marissa to go to the dance and even shows her a necklace he bought her, but she's having none of it. She takes the necklace but says she still needs some time and doesn't want to go out. She once again gets angry at Ryan and accuses him of being happy that Johnny is dead.

It's time for the big Valentine's Day dance and the first person to get hit by Cupid's arrow is Kaitlyn who, after first breaking plates when seeing him, is happy to find Justin. Seth goes up to Mr. Roberts (who ends up going to the dance after all) and says an awkward hello, then pulls Summer aside. He gives her a written confession of all his lies and tells her that if he ever screws up again she can give the confession to his parents. Summer sees this as an excellent way to make up.

At the beach, Marissa sees Chili having a few drinks. They talk for a bit about Johnny and Chili of course tries to get Marissa to kiss him (in a completely humourous way). They laugh and he tells her that he's no longer calling himself Chili; he never really liked the nickname anyways.

Back at the dance, Kaitlyn informs Julie that she's going back to school with Justin, who does his best Eddie Hascal impression. Julie asks if she'll be okay and Kaitlyn tells her 'I'm a Cooper mom. I'll survive.' After they're done talking, Neil walks up to Julie and tells her how radiant she looks. He knows they both have complex lives and he admits he was nervous about the two of them getting together but wasn't trusting his instincts. He asks her to be his Valentine and she accepts. Things seem to be going just as well for Matt and Maya, who look to be hitting it off.

Ryan talks to Kirsten at the dance about the fight he had with Marissa. Kirsten tells Ryan that the night isn't over and maybe he should make a pit stop on the way home -

Back at the trailer, Marissa finds out Kaitlyn is leaving. Kaitlyn tells her sister that she should figure out what she felt for Johnny. Marissa doesn't think it matters any more but her little sister disagrees. As Kaitlyn and Justin drive away, Kaitlyn says 'I think I'm gonna miss this place.'

In the trailer, Marissa opens her dresser where the two necklaces sit - one from Johnny, one from Ryan. She looks at both, and picks up Johnny's and starts to cry.

Meanwhile, Ryan does make a pit stop, only it's not to Marissa's, it's to Johnny's, where Sadie is still staying. He helps her move more boxes and they talk more about Johnny. Ryan really wishes he could have saved him and Sadie says that he was at least there for him. The doorbell rings and it's none other than Volchok. He catches a glimpse of Ryan inside the house and Sadie quickly closes the door. Volchok is obviously very angry and as he walks back down the driveway to his truck, Ryan goes to the window and the two eye each other.

Back to The O.C. Season 3 Homepage