By Daniel Barron for AllPop

In 'The Journey,' we start off the episode watching as the Cohen's finish dinner one night and the topic of Ryan's upcoming 18th birthday begins. Ryan, not surprisingly, doesn't want anything big as he's not used to birthday parties (he hasn't had one since he was nine years old). After much pushing and prodding, Ryan agrees to have something planned for him. Seth doesn't care what it is, as long as there's a party. Oh, and Ryan makes sure that no one invites Marissa, as they broke up. An awkward moment ensues as Ryan walks to the poolhouse to do some homework. He stares at the phone as he lays there and we see a shot of Marissa, who is doing the same thing at the moment - staring at the phone, but not actually doing any calling.

At school the next day, we see Summer talking to Marissa. Summer is worried about her new single friend, as she hasn't been eating or sleeping since they broke up. Marissa reassures her and walks away abruptly when she sees Ryan across the hall. Summer goes up to Ryan and asks him if he's interested in joining the lesbian pride group, as that's what he's reading so intently. Summer is obviously fed up with the way the two are acting and just wants them to talk again.

Under the category of Worst Idea Ever, Kirsten tells Sandy that they (and by 'they' I mean 'Sandy') should look for Ryan's mom. She thinks it would be nice for Ryan if he could share his special day with his mom. Whatever. Sandy agrees to try and hunt her down.

Back at school, Summer tells Seth they have a big problem with Ryan and Marissa broken up. They have to either get back together or move on. Seth lets it slip that there's going to be a party for Ryan and they don't know if Marissa will be invited or not.

Julie and Neil are seen at his house quickly putting their clothes on while coming out of the bedroom. They still haven't told their respective daughters about their relationship and the only time they can safely be together is during the day when they know Summer and Marissa are at school. Julie wants to tell the girls but Neil blabbers on about not being ready and walks away, leaving Julie looking bewildered and confused.

Ryan is seen back at Johnny's mom's house, helping Sadie fix the place up, and by fixing it up we mean breaking down a wall so she can put a bar in. Ryan tells her that he and Marissa broke up. She asks how the breakup went and he says that they don't talk and completely avoid each other. Sadie thinks they should talk to each other. Ryan is more worried about fixing up the house.

We see a quick scene with Marissa at the trailer. She catches Volchok spying on her outside. The two make eye contact and he quickly runs off, looking terrified.

Seth has some good news for Ryan - he managed to rent out the Bait Shop for Ryan's birthday party. Well, it's good news to someone at leastOeRyan has another huge dilemma: does he invite Marissa or not? He basically has until Sunday to decide.

At the Roberts' house, Seth is talking to Summer about the whole party invitation thing. Marissa still doesn't even know about the party and Summer feels guilty not telling her. The subject moves to Summer's dad seeing Julie Cooper and surprisingly Summer seems okay with it. The doorbell rings and Summer signs for a package for her dad. The door closes and she wastes absolutely no time promptly ripping the package open. It's a cruise that her dad is going on in a few days, which normally wouldn't seem like a big deal, but according to Summer, her dad proposed to his last two wives on a cruise!! Does this mean a proposal to Julie is in the cards?? Summer is terrified.

Ryan is back at the Harper's helping Sadie renovate the house. He gets the courage to give Sadie an invitation to his party but she unfortunately can't make it. She's seeing a 'friend' in L.A. Ryan is a little taken aback and somehow manages to drop Marissa's invitation, which Sadie notices. Sadie asks Ryan if he's going to give it to her and he still has no idea. In fact, neither of them have any idea what to do about the situation, so they just shut up and get back to work.

Marissa on the other hand is having the same type of problem. She doesn't know if she should get Ryan a gift or not, for the same reasons Ryan's unsure if he should invite Marissa to the party - will she look desperate? Will she look like she doesn't care? She decides on a mix CD for him if she does give him anything. Summer tells Marissa about the party and Marissa insists she's not going to go unless Ryan specifically invites her.

Later on, Summer goes to her house, knowing full well that Julie will be there. Julie quickly tries to make an excuse but Summer just comes out and tells her she knows that Julie is seeing Neil. Julie swears she was going to tell them soon. Summer quiets her quickly by saying she's okay with everything, but mentions the cruise and the fact that Neil is probably going to propose to Julie.

Next, we see Sandy in a jail in Albuquerque where Ryan's mom Dawn is staying. Apparently she got involved with a bad guy and wrote some bad cheques and landed herself in the slammer. Despite being in a very bad way, she's very interested in hearing how Ryan is doing. Sandy says he'll pull some strings, which he does, and he manages to get her out, paying bail as well. He tells her he has a plane ticket ready for her, though she insists on going somewhere to clean up first. Sandy gets her a hotel room and returns a few hours later before their flight to find Dawn gone with a note left behind for Ryan.

Big things are happening back in Newport. It's Ryan's birthday and Seth comes in asking what he did (or didn't) tell Marissa. Ryan says he didn't invite Marissa. Seth says he should call Sadie up and tell her that.

Julie finally gets the courage to take Marissa out to lunch and tell her about her fling (or whatever it is) with Neil. Surprising once again is that Marissa is fine with it. In fact, she's happy for her mom!

We then have a scene that instantly shows how much more caring Sadie is in a couple of episodes than Marissa has been in three years on the OC to Ryan. Sadie buys Ryan a hammer for his birthday - perfect for a budding architect, Ryan tells Sadie that he didn't invite Marissa to the party and Sadie owns up to Ryan by telling him that the 'friend' she's seeing in L.A. is actually the guy she was seeing before she left to help Johnny's mom out. They're trying to work things out. Ryan is obviously shocked but keeps his composure. Sadie gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Marissa on the other hand is going after some not quite so appealing. She goes to the beach in search of Volchok. She asks a random surfer if he knows where Volchok is. He says he doesn't know. Ever since Johnny died he's been acting strange.

Neil and Julie are having a romantic dinner and Julie spills the beans about knowing about the cruise that Neil is taking her on and she says she would love to go. Neil seems taken aback but Julie doesn't notice.

Ryan goes to the trailer with Marissa's invitation, as he obviously had a change of heart. He sees pictures of him and Marissa together, then sees the CD she made him, full of songs that they used to listen to (remember The Model Home Mix from season 1??). In fact, 'Paint the Silence' by South, which is the first track on the first OC Mix CD starts to play during the episode.

At the same time, Marissa is going to hunt down Volchok, who is at work. And where does he work? you may ask. None other than the model home, which is finally being finished up after burning down in one of the first OC episodes ever. Marissa talks to Volchok briefly, then starts to have flashbacks from when she and Ryan first started talking. She becomes overwhelmed and passes out, falling down the stairs. At the trailer, Ryan also becomes overwhelmed and stops the CD and puts a picture of him and Marissa face-down on the table and leaves quickly - leaving the invitation in the process.

We finally end up at Ryan's birthday party. The theme, which Seth thought up, is the future. We see large pictures of Ryan photoshopped onto different outfits - fireman, cowboy, etc. Ryan doesn't know tons of people so Seth had to bring in random people to make the party look more packed. In fact, two bums that Seth invited in get in a fight near Scientist Ryan.

Volchok, meanwhile, helps Marissa back to the trailer. She hurt her hand in the fall but is otherwise fine. She tells Volchok about why she fell. He tells Marissa about why he's been acting strange. He feels Johnny had a lot going for him and it's not fair that he died. Volchok leaves, but first gives Marissa his number. Marissa goes inside and sees the invitation to Ryan's party.

Back at the party itself, Neil tells Summer that he bought the cruise tickets months ago. He was planning on re-proposing to his ex-wife but it didn't work out that way. He still ends up going on the cruise, and in fact, pulls out a huge ring and puts it into his bag before he and Julie go to leave.

Sandy tells Ryan about his mom, though he leaves out some details, like the fact that she left without any real explanation. He gives Ryan the note. Ryan reads it outside (we don't see what's on it except for a few words) and as he finishes, Sadie shows up. They talk and we see Marissa walk toward them. But she sees Sadie talking to him and she changes her mind and leaves. She goes to the pier and calls volchok, who shows up soon after with a flask, which he and Marissa share.

At the party, Seth's big surprise is a Journey tribute band, which actually starts singing a Foreigner song. The episode ends with Sadie and Ryan slow dancing very close to each other and Marissa resting her head on Volchok's shoulder. Good times, good times.

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