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Thursday, January 26, 2006

Episode 13 - The Pot Stirrer


By Daniel Barron for AllPop

The battle of the Coopers heats up in episode 13, The Pot Stirrer (worst episode name ever, by the way!).

The two Cohen boys start the day off in a nervous state of mind. Sandy is presenting today to a group, hoping to build a hospital for the Newport Group, while Seth is preparing for an interview he got with a Brown University representative. You would think he would be ecstatic about this interview but Seth is strangely quiet (and we all know how strange that really is). Sandy and Kirsten leave the room and Ryan asks Seth if everything is okay. Even though he's been planning his escape from Newport as a child on his Etch-A-Sketch, Seth is nervous because it's such a big change. As he so succinctly puts it: iNewport, I hardly knew you.i

Turns out Summer also got an interview with Brown. She tells Seth that apparently they only interview students they're serious about taking. She's pumped, and Seth asks her if she isn't feeling the least bit of anxiety. She's not, and this seems to make Noodle Arms even more antsy.

Back at work, Sandy and Matt put together a pretty darn good presentation. Unfortunately, Matt says he saw the other group's presentation and it was really good as well. He also informs Sandy that the group has also been whining and dining the prospective bidders for months now. This gives them an unfair advantage, and Sandy knows it, but he tells Matt to just let their work do the talking.

Back at Harbor, Marissa is busy going through old photos of Kaitlyn. Her birthday is the coming Sunday and Marissa wants to make her little sister a photo album. As she looks through the pictures, she realizes she barely knows her anymore...

...She definitely doesn't know that Kaitlyn and Johnny have been seeing a lot of each other since Kaitlyn's late-night swim from last week. The two are strolling on the boardwalk, talking about Kaitlyn's family and how she's afraid to tell her sister about them seeing each other (Johnny feels the same way).



At the Cohens house, Seth is quietly contemplating things with Captain Oats when his dad walks into his room. Seth tells him straight up that he's worried about going to Brown. It's a huge change and he'll be leaving a lot in Newport. He says it doesn't feel like a beginning; it feels like an end. Sandy is right in the middle of giving him some sage advice when his cell phone rings. Seth is disappointed his dad won't talk to him so he goes for a walk.

He ends up walking to the pier, where he sees Kaitlyn smoking pot. She tells him she had to cool down after she found out that her mom forgot about her upcoming birthday. She grew up being in the shadow of her sister, and the one day of the year where people actually noticed her was her birthday. Now she doesn't even have that .She offers him some pot but he politely declines, as he's esaving the drug thing for college.'

Marissa later comes up to them without seeing the drugs. Kaitlyn asks Seth not to tell her, and he agrees. As she's walking away, she tells him that the offer is up anytime if he needs any.

Later at the trailer, Johnny calls Kaitlyn's cell. Marissa is the only one around and it continues to ring, so she just answers it. It's Johnny, and Marissa asks him why he's calling Kaitlyn's phone. He makes up a story that he was trying to get ahold of Marissa but her phone wasn't ringing so he just called Kaitlyn's. Mini Cooper, meanwhile, steps out of the shower and wants to know why her older sister is talking to Johnny on her phone. Marissa assures Kaitlyn that Johnny is calling for Marissa. She has no idea what the truth really is. Nonetheless, Kaitlyn is still angry that her sister would assume, as always, that it's for her.

Julie shows up at Neil Roberts house in the evening to change plans she made with him earlier to go to dinner on Sunday. She completely forgot it was her daughter's birthday. She has no idea what she's going to do though since they live in, well, a trailer. Neil insists she hold a party at his house. He gives her the key to his house (a new record I think!) so she can set up, and he runs off to work. Julie can't believe what just happened and seems extremely happy.

Ryan is busy practicing the Brown interview with Seth and Summer. He asks Summer a question, and Seth isn't satisfied with her answer, as she names a fashion designer as a big influence in her life. Summer gets fed up and leaves, telling her boyfriend that she doesn't want to practice giving the interviewer the answers he wants to hear. She wants to show him the real Summer. Ryan asks Seth where he'd like to be in 10 years, and Seth goes off on a very Seth-like tangent, saying that he'd basically like to be exactly where he is right now, because people are taught at a young age to hold on to what's important, and everything important to him is right there in Newport. Looks like Seth is slowly losing it!

Later that night, Marissa and Ryan are hanging out at the bait shop, and Johnny and Kaitlyn show up together (Kaitlyn does this on purpose to annoy her sister). Marissa finally puts the pieces together and seems very angry about them seeing each other. Not because she's jealous, she says, but because they weren't honest with her in the first place. Kaitlyn leaves and seems very satisfied with what just transpired.

The next day is Sunday. It's Kaitlyn's birthday and it's also almost time for Seth and Summer to have their interviews with the Brown rep. Seth is in his room staring at some joints he bought the night before from Kaitlyn after she left the Bait Shop. He gets some reassuring words from Sandy, but isn't very reassured, and lights one up.

Back at the trailer park, Julie tells Kaitlyn about the big party at the Robert's house. She says she doesn't want a party unless she can invite friends. Marissa knows she means Johnny and tells Julie that it should just be a family thing. Julie sides with Kaitlyn (since it is her birthday) and tells her she can invite whoever she wants. Marissa tells Kaitlyn that Johnny is too old for her, and Kaitlyn tells her that there's a bigger reason why she doesn't want her little sister seeing him.

Kaitlyn pops up later on at Ryan's poolhouse, doing her best to mess with his mind, trying to convince him that Marissa is jealous of Kaitlyn and Johnny. At first Ryan is having none of it, but after she leaves, he seems to be wondering if she's actually telling some truth.

Ryan later checks on Seth, who is high as a kite. It's a half hour to the interview and Ryan does his best as protector of his best friend and sobers him up. They arrive at the school and Summer wishes him luck. Ryan and Summer leave together and Seth waits a moment, looks toward the door .. and promptly turns the other way. He completely skips the interview.

At Mr. Robert's house, Kaitlyn takes Johnny upstairs. She does her best to seduce him, even after he says earlier on in the episode that he just wants to be friends. She says there's no reason for them not to be together, unless he has feelings for Marissa. Johnny insists he doesn't, and Kaitlyn tells him to prove it by giving her a birthday kiss and he obliges.

They go back downstairs and Marissa sees them. She wants to know where they were, and Kaitlyn says he was just showing her his present for her. Kaitlyn tells her sister that she's leaving the party, and before she goes, she has a quick, heated one-on-one talk with Marissa, telling her she knows Marissa likes Johnny, no matter how in love she is with Ryan. Marisssa tries to convince Kaitlyn n and herself apparently n that it isn't true, but she doesn't sound like she's convincing anyone.

The show ends on a sombre note for almost everyone, save Summer, who still thinks Seth had a great interview (he never told her that he backed out on it). Sandy got the hospital deal, but basically did it the same way the other group almost got it n by wining and dining the buyer. Neil sees all the turmoil in Julie's life and tells her he's having second thoughts about their blossoming relationship. Ryan looks at a picture of him and Marissa, obviously having thoughts about whether Marissa really does like Johnny. Kaitlyn sits outside the trailer, upset over how bad her relationship is with her sister.

And Seth is shown sitting in his room, smoking another joint.

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