By Daniel Barron for AllPop

We start 'The Undertow' as every O.C. episode should start - with the gang, minus Marissa, in front of the television playing video games. Ryan, Seth, Summer and Sadie are relaxing with Seth's PlayStation 2. He challenges Sadie to a game while Ryan and Summer go off for some snacks. Summer tells him that he seems to be moving on quite well after the Marissa breakup and Ryan says that the two of them really weren't meant to be.

In the other room, Seth completely underestimates her gaming abilities as she quickly whups him. He can't believe how cool Ryan's new girlfriend .... errr .... friend is. He stumbles over the word 'girlfriend' which makes for a very awkward moment. It's broken by someone at the door. Ryan answers and it's Jess. She has a belated birthday present for him ... from Trey!! It looks like Jess lived with Trey for a bit in Las Vegas but left and is trying to turn her life around. Sadie comes to the door and Ryan quickly says goodbye to Jess. Sadie asks who it was and Ryan simply says 'no one.'

Ryan opens the present later and sees that it's a little toy car. Seth shows up and asks why Trey would be so cheap. Ryan says it's an inside joke that Seth wouldn't understand. Kirsten also shows up at the poolhouse and asks Ryan where he got the car from. Ryan tells her it's from Trey and makes it clear that he doesn't want his brother back in his life.

Marissa is skipping school and is spending the day at the trailer when Volchok shows up with the watch that Marissa gave him back when she tried to bribe him into staying away from Ryan. Turns out he never sold it after all. volchok tells Marissa that he'll be at the beach later and maybe he'll see her. How does Marissa reply? 'Don't count on it.'

Back at the Harbor school, Seth has his 'makeup' Brown interview and aces it, thanks in no small part to the fact that his interviewer shared his love in anime. Summer congratulates Seth and they decide to celebrate by having a night involving the 'Blade' trilogy and thai. Taylor learns about this plan and asks Summer if her and Seth have 'lost the magic.' Taylor is worrying Summer, telling her that when the two of them go away to university that Seth will be chasing after all the college girls. Summer reminds Taylor that she's 'five levels hotter' than Seth but she still seems a little worried.

Sadie shows up at the poolhouse to visit Ryan. She also asks Ryan about the toy car as well as the 'Hooter's waitress' from the other night (Jess) but Ryan really doesn't want to get into it, so Sadie leaves, slowly realizing just how quiet Ryan is.

At the Newport Group offices, Dr. Griffin (Maya's father) pays Sandy a visit. He tells Sandy that there have been complaints about Matt and the board wants him off of the hospital project. Sandy can't believe it. He can't boot Matt off the project but Dr. Griffin tells him to mull it over, asking him if he really wants to lose everything over a 26 year old hotshot.

Marissa is at the beach and is looking at her phone. She up and decides to go to Matt's house because she's basically going out of her mind. She wants someone to stay with and Matt welcomes her with open arms. He has to go to L.A. early the next morning but she can stay for as long as she'd like. Little does he know this could cause him a lot more problems than he realizes...

Back at the Roberts' household, Seth and Summer are doing just what they planned on doing - watching the Blade Trilogy. Summer, obviously thinking of what Taylor said earlier, tries to seduce Seth, what with the house being empty and all. Seth pushes her away as he's trying to focus on the movies and Summer gets angry at him. Seth tries to make it up to her by seducing her right back (with hilarious results) but it's just not happening.

Ryan calls Sadie and leaves her a message saying he'll be at her place in 20 minutes to take her out to dinner. But he goes to Jess' house first (big mistake) to find out a bit more about Trey. Turns out he's dealing black jack in Vegas and staying out of trouble. Ryan is about to leave after hearing enough but Jess begs Ryan to stay and says she just has to put some clothes on (as she was about to take a swim and is wearing a robe). She turns and walks up the stairs seductively and slips out of her robe.

The next day we see Ryan in the poolhouse going nuts on his punching bag as he has flashbacks of when Trey came back into his life last year. Kirsten appears and asks Ryan if he's okay. Ryan says he's worried about Jess because Trey is a part of her life and doesn't want her life getting ruined because of him. Kirsten makes it clear that Ryan shouldn't let Jess get in the way of Sadie.

Sandy, in the meantime, goes to pay a quick visit to Matt at his place but when the door gets answered it's by Marissa, not Matt. Marissa explains that absolutely nothing happened and she's only there for company and Sandy says it's fine, but she doesn't belong there and she should leave. He obviously isn't very happy.

Back at the diner, Taylor sees Summer show up to pick up some food. Taylor asks if Summer gets the 'short end of the straw' to which Summer has no idea what she's talking about. Taylor assumes that after a long, passionate night alone with Seth, Summer was forced to get breakfast the next day. Summer tries to pass it off as that but Taylor quickly realizes that the couple never had sex. She's aghast at this and insists she can help them put a spark back in their relationship.

At the Harper's house, Sadie actually forgives Ryan for not showing up the night before, but says he owes her a dinner, to which he agrees to right away.

Kirsten and Sandy are busy getting dinner ready and Seth and Ryan walk in. Ryan's cell phone rings and he quickly leaves ... for Jessica's house.

Marissa and Summer meet at the Bait Shop to talk. Summer is growing more and more worried about her relationship with Seth and Marissa gives her something to think about. She says that 'the more emotionally unavailable you are, the more you end up wanting each other.' Funny though, is that when she says this, she's looking directly at Volchok, who is sitting in the Bait Shop, eyeing Marissa.

Ryan makes his way to Jess' place. She's scared because she broke up with Tim, her old boyfriend, and he's practically stalking her. He's upset and she doesn't know what he may be capable of doing. There's a confrontation between Tim and Ryan but Ryan makes quick work of things, threatening Tim, who quickly backs off. Jess thanks Ryan but still looks worried when Ryan asks if she's okay. She insists he doesn't have to stay but he does - after seeing a picture of Trey in Jess' purse. He's unfortunately always drawn to the proverbial girl tied to the train tracks.

The next morning as Ryan and Jess lounge outside, Trey calls Jess. They chat for a moment and Jess asks if Ryan wants to talk to his brother. Ryan says no. She hangs up and says that Trey wants her to come back to Vegas. Ryan says she shouldn't, but he can't babysit her. He gets up to leave and Jess pleads with him to stick around ('what if I freak out?!'), but Ryan actually sticks to his guns for once and does in fact leave.

At the Cohen's, we find out that Summer isn't the only one worried about the 'spark' in the relationship. Seth asks his dad for more woman advice (always hilarious). The meeting doesn't last long though as Sadie shows up looking for Ryan with - bagels!! (she really is perfect for Ryan). Sadie asks where Ryan is and though they all know he spent the night at Jess', they all try to cover for him, especially Kirsten, who walked in the room earlier. Sadly, she's a horrible liar and Sadie figures out quickly what's going on. Kirsten and Sandy leave the room and Sadie and Seth have a little one-on-one (a conversation people - get your minds out of the gutter!!). She assures Seth she's not jealous or anything, but she's not sure if her and Ryan are right for each other. Seth implores her to just give him a bit more time.

Summer arrives on a Sunday at the Harbor School (ew!) to help Taylor with something. She meets with Taylor inside and then sees Seth - it was a setup by Taylor to get them some sex counselling courtesy of Taylor herself! She explains that she's not a licensed sex therapist or anything but her dad was and she listened in on meetings he had with clients in their home. They try a few exercises and nothing is happening. Frustrated and dismayed, Taylor let's them know that she also does breakup counselling.

Sadie and Ryan, meanwhile, are finally ready to enjoy their dinner (at the diner), when Ryan's phone rings. He sees on call display that it's Jess. He answers and it's actually a friend of Jess' on the line. She explains to Ryan that Jess threw a huge party and has locked herself in her poolhouse and won't leave unless Ryan comes over. She's also drunk and crying. Being the sauve guy he is, Ryan decides to leave Sadie all alone and go to Jess' house.

Marissa meets up accidentally again with Volchok. Volchok tells her that she doesn't want him to go away and that he can help her. Marissa says that she's doing just fine on her own and storms away.

At Jess' house, Ryan finally gets her to unlock the doors. She hugs him and thanks him for coming. She says that Ryan knows how to take care of her. She starts to kiss his neck and Ryan pulls away. Just then, Jess' ex shows up and they go outside to take care of things. A fight is about to erupt when Ryan pins him on the ground and tells the guy to stay away from Jess because she's nothing but trouble. Ryan walks away as Jess once again pleads for him to stay but he's having nothing of it.

Seth is sitting on his bed when who shows up? None other than Taylor, complete with a copy of the kama sutra. She sits down with him and explains that this will do wonders for his relationship with Summer.

Sandy is having dinner with Dr. Miller after doing the mulling the doctor told him to do. Sandy soon finds out the real reason for the 'witch hunt' on Matt - Dr. Miller is still angry with Matt for hurting his daughter Maya so much. Sandy pleads with him to change his mind but he refuses to. He gives him an ultimatum - the hospital, or Matt. For the rest of the episode, Sandy avoids all of Matt's calls. He's obviously torn with what to do and things aren't looking very good for Matt.

Summer is sitting in her room waiting for Seth, who called earlier, to come home. She's convinced he's coming to break up with her. He comes into the room with the Kama Sutra and starts to explain it to her. He tells her that Taylor showed up with the book and Summer can't believe it. She tries to hit him over talking about sex with Taylor but Seth blocks it. She tries again and Seth blocks it again. She's unbelievably angry at him and it's this very emotion that sparks the fire they both need. They jump into bed and the rest is history.

Ryan has a record third conversation with Kirsten this episode, once again about girls. Ryan is worried that it's too late to patch things up with Sadie but Kirsten tells him 'it's never too late - just talk to her.' He goes to visit Sadie and tells her everything - about his childhood, about Trey, and about how they used to play with toy cars outside when they were kids whenever their mom started to drink, which is why Trey bought him a toy car for his birthday. Sadie tells him that listening is one of her talents, but he just has to let her do it. Not much talking is necessary between them that night either way as they end up sleeping together.

They're not the only ones though. Marissa goes back to the trailer to see Volchok. She walks by him without saying a word and leaves the door open. Volchok follows behind and we see them passionately kissing and tearing each others' clothes off.

Looks like there's a whole lotta lovin' going on in Newport.

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