By Daniel Barron for AllPop

Who breaks up in this latest episode of the O.C.? We're not not saying it's Ryan and Marissa, but you'll have to read until the end of this recap to find the true answer.

'The Road Warrior' starts off fun enough. Summer talks about how life is made of difficult decisions, and she has to make one right now - which bikini will she wear into the hot tub? She decides on a red one and her and Marissa join a very lucky Seth outside. He jokes about there being two girls alone with him and Summer and Marissa do their best to egg Seth on, in turn simply making him very, very uncomfortable.
He rushes out of the hot tub and calls Ryan to see where he is. Turns out the quasi-Cohen is at Sadie's (this seems to be happening a lot lately) helping her fix a broken pipe in the kitchen. There's a lot of flirting going on and Ryan says he'll be back home soon. Just then there's a knock at the door and Sadie sees police lights flashing. Turns out they have some questions about Johnny's death. She insists Ryan leave, which he does. He looks very worried as he walks past all the cop cars.

At the beach, Summer tells Marissa she wants to do something really fun, like have a small party. She suggests the two of them get together with Seth and Ryan, to which Marissa clarifies as being simply a double date. Either way, Marissa wants nothing to do with Ryan at the moment as he never showed up last night. Summer's having man problems of her own - that is, her dad is apparently working many long, strange hours and she barely sees him.

At Sadie's that same day, Ryan and Seth are around to hear her say that the bank is about to take Johnny's mom's house. In addition, the police have apparently found 'new evidence' where Johnny fell to his death - and they're looking to question Marissa.

Kirsten and Julie, meanwhile are still doing their usual thing - Kirsten works and things of all the ideas for their dating service while Julie daydreams and worries about her personal life. She's still obsessing about Mr. Roberts, only now it's because their relationship is still a secret to almost everyone (including Summer and Marissa).

At the Newport Group, Maya is visiting Matt. The two seem to really be hitting it off. Sandy shows up and Maya promptly leaves, not wanting to interrupt the two men and their work. Sandy talks once more about the big meeting they have with Maya's dad on Monday. It seems Sandy is willing to do anything to make sure they get the hospital he wants so badly.

At school, Summer is with Seth while she tries to call her dad, who is still nearly impossible to get ahold of. Taylor shows up out of nowhere and plops herself down on the couch right in between the two and asks 'what are we talking about?' Summer tells her quickly about her dad, and they decide that they'll try to fix Mr. Roberts up with someone.

Later on, Ryan tells Marissa about the police and their interest in talking to her. He wants to get together with her later and Marissa says she'll call him (don't they know by now that they'll ALWAYS miss each other's calls??). Ryan suggests she see Sandy about the whole police questioning but Marissa insists it's nothing for either of them to be worried about.

Back at Johnny's house, Sadie is talking about Johnny's dad and how angry she is at him. He hasn't paid child support for years and she thinks it's time he pays up. This way Johnny's mom can keep her house. Volchok shows up and tells Sadie he's ready to go. Apparently the two of them are about to go on a little road trip to visit Johnny's dad. He and Ryan have a few more choice words and Sadie stops them before it escalates and decides she should go with Ryan. As they leave, Volchok asks Ryan that since he'll be with Sadie, does that mean Marissa is all alone? Then he says 'what goes around comes around.'

During the road trip, Sadie quickly tells Ryan that Volchok was far in her past and was a mistake. Ryan tells her all about his growing up in Chino and moving in with the Cohens. Sadie knew something didn't fit with Ryan.

Back at his office, Sandy is still obsessing over his proposal. He suggests to Matt that the two of them and Kirsten and Maya go out for dinner and ask Maya about talking to her father. Before they can decide anything, Marissa shows up. She had a change of heart and decides she may need some legal advice. She wants to keep Ryan out of this whole situation. Sandy agrees to help (of course).

In next scene, Summer steals the show. She goes over to the Cohens house where Kirsten and Julie are working. She tells them that she wants to set her dad up with someone, not realizing that her dad's current love interest is standing in the room with her! She talks about all the horrible women her dad usually chooses, and gives Kirsten and Julie a list outlining what her dad likes. Everything on the list is what Julie isn't - blonde, loves crossword puzzles, fluent in Italian, etc, etc. Julie looks just a little bit worried at this point.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Sadie find the whereabouts of Jack Harper (Johnny's father). He has a business deep in the desert so off they go to track him down.

Julie plans a night out with Neil. He shows up at a restaurant to find her looking her best like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (another on the list of what Neil looks for in a woman). Another person to show up at the restaurant is Taylor Townsend, who sees (and hears) Julie talking dirty to Neil. Looks like their cover is officially blown.

Back on the road, Ryan and Sadie get a motel room for the night. Sadie asks Ryan if he's ever played poker before. He says he has and the trash talk starts up. Sadie suggests strip poker. They decide that winner gets to take the bed for the night, and it turns out Ryan isn't quite the player he says he is and loses. Marissa calls at one point during the game but Ryan ignores it. In fact, he even lies to Sadie when she asks who it is.

Ryan calls Seth the next morning, who is sleeping in his bed to make it look 'slept-in.' Seth covers for Ryan and when he asks where he is, Ryan says 'the less you know the better.' They finish their conversation and just as he's about to fall back asleep, Taylor shows up and tells Seth what she saw. Summer walks in a few minutes later and wants to know what they're talking about. Taylor wastes absolutely no time blurting out 'your dad and Julie Cooper are doing it' (and adds that it was like a Sharon Stone movie). Either Summer and Seth aren't convinced or are in serious denial, but they don't quite believe Taylor. Taylor insists it's completely true, and even knows where their next tryst will be, at a nearby golf course. Seth and Summer go undercover and do in fact see Mr. Roberts teaching Julie how to play golf.

Back in Indio, Ryan and Sadie find Jack Harper's business, but only manage to garner threats of violence from the burly men working inside.

Marissa, meanwhile, is at the beach where Johnny fell, having flashbacks of that night, as well as flashbacks of the police questioning her. Apparently, they found the note that Marissa gave Johnny, which he subsequently threw in the fire. It was only partially burnt and from what the police gathered, they think that Ryan may have seen Johnny as a threat and maybe he pushed Johnny off the cliff. Marissa defends Ryan completely and reiterates that Johnny slipped, nothing more. Marissa leaves her daze and who shows up? None other than the angry surfer Volchok. He offers her a flask but she not-so-politely declines. He tells her that Johnny used to hang out with his crew but once he got better at surfing than them, they didn't like him anymore. Volchok tells Marissa that if she's ever interested in hanging out sometime, just let him know. Marissa says she isn't interested.

Ryan and Sadie finally see Jack and tell him that his son is dead and he missed years of child support, and now Johnny's mom really needs the money. Jack flat out tells them he won't pay, and when he turns his back, Sadie takes a bat to his shiny new pickup truck. So it's of course up to Ryan to defend her when Jack goes after her. Ryan ends up lying on the ground bleeding. They make the long drive back to Newport and end up at the diner, nursing Ryan's wounds and having a bite to eat. Ryan manages to sneak away and leave in Sadie's car. He drives all the way back to Jack's place and lays a guilt trip on him, saying how he grew up with no father. Jack says he won't give the money and Ryan is ready to leave dejectedly, while Sadie shows up in a cab. Suddenly, Jack throws a package on the ground. It's an envelope full of cash. It's not all they're owed, but it's a start.

Sandy, Kirsten, Matt and Maya do end up on their double date together, though Kirsten really doesn't like the idea of Sandy and Matt asking Maya to talk to her dad. Sandy doesn't listen though, and lays it all out on the table to Maya, saying how important the hospital is to the Newport Group and they need her help. She turns to Matt and asks if he'd like her to talk to her dad. He hesitates and says yes. She agrees, but Sandy finds out that later that night Maya breaks up with Matt and tells him she's moving to New York. Kirsten was never worried about Sandy crossing the line before; now, she is worried.

And now, it's the big scene. Ryan calls Marissa from the poolhouse. She's at the pier and doesn't seem very happy. They both realize that things are just too hard right now and complicated right now and they break up! They say a thoroughly lame goodbye ('see ya at school' 'see ya') and that's that. Volchok shows up at the pier and the camera pans out. Sadie shows up at the poolhouse and challenges Ryan to a rematch of poker. It looks like are latest ex-couple are finding their rebounds very, very quickly.

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