By Daniel Barron for AllPop

"Whatever happened to crazy??" - Chris Rock, Bigger and Blacker.

Yes, whatever DID happen to crazy? For the answer, maybe the folks of the O.C. should ask not Marissa, not Julie ... but Taylor Townsend, who is starting to look like a cross between that psycho in 'Misery' and Alicia Silverstone's character in 'The Crush.'
The latest episode of the O.C. is all about the crazy folks in the O.C. There's Taylor, Charlotte trying to milk people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars at a charity event and Julie supposedly going along with this crazy plan, and it looks like Sandy's new partner may be a little crazy himself, or at the very least just stupid.

The episode begins at, surprise surprise, the diner, where super-surfer Volchok shows up to inform Ryan that he wants a rematch of their little punch-up on the beach the week before. Ryan wants no part of it but Volchok isn't so willing to let things go. We find out later that Ryan's self-control will be pushed to its limits in this episode.

At the Cohen household, Sandy is a little nervous about his first day leading the Newport group and Kirsten is busy organizing the charity event. Kirsten is unsure if she should have booze at the event but later decides it should be okay.

Later on, Summer and Marissa are talking about the situation with Johnny. Summer thinks Marissa should ask him if he likes Marissa but she knows that would be a horrible idea. It's still an awkward situation though.

The two other friends, Ryan and Seth, are talking in the poolhouse later that day and Seth is busy convincing Ryan not to fight Volchok. Ryan apparently doesn't need convincing though, as he claims he's 'hung up the hoodie' for good.

It looks like Seth may need some help of his own though. Taylor bumps into him in the halls at school and goes on and on about how they're such a good team and they should plan the Christmas dance together. Seth is looking as uncomfortable as ever and says maybe they should ask Summer about the plan.

Later on, Taylor tries a different, slightly crazier approach and asks Ryan about Seth and Summer's relationship. She asks how stable the two are, from 1 - 10 and Ryan says '10' (good man!). Taylor likens the two to Bran Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, though - who were also probably a 10, but eventually split up. The cuckoo clock looks ready to strike midnight.

Back at the Newport Group, things already are going very badly for Sandy. He and Matt crunch some numbers are realize they're going to have to fire nine people in order to stay profitable, and it'll be Sandy's job to do the firings. It's definitely something he's not looking forward to.

Back at Newport Union, Marissa, Johnny and Chili are talking about the whole Volchok situation. Johnny is adamant that this 'isn't Ryan's fight' and Johnny should be the one challenging Volchok. Marissa whines and walks away when Johnny doesn't immediately agree to not fight the surfer, but of course she once again gets her way when Johnny cracks and says he won't fight him.

Volchok himself seems much more interested in fighting Ryan, not Johnny. He shows up in the Newport High parking lot on top of the Cohen's Land Rover, eating fast food with his surfing buddies. He drops a drink on it, then keys it. Ryan clenches his fists, but somehow manages to keep his cool and walks away. Later on in the poolhouse, he shows Marissa a punching bag he plans on using to get his aggressions out.

Still at the Cohen's house, Seth is in his room reading a comic, when who walks in but Taylor Townsend herself. Before Seth can stop her, she states that she likes Seth and says she heard that him and Summer are breaking up. Okay - she made that part up completely but she still thinks Seth would be great with her (Taylor). Seth gets a call from Summer, who hears a girl in the background, but Seth makes an excuse and doesn't say it's Taylor. While he's talkin to Summer, Taylor takes - GASP! - Captain Oats and gives him a new stable in her purse. She promptly leaves Seth's room. This can't be good...

We see a quick scene with Charlotte talking to her boyfriend, telling him how she won't be giving any of the money they plan on stealing to Julie.

In another quick scene at Sandy's office, he says that with a few adjustments, he'll be able to cut only four people. One of these 'adjustments' includes him cutting his own salary by 30% - this guy is a king!!

Things start really going awry at the Bait Shop where the gang hang out to watch a concert and help take Johnny's mind off of his ex. First, Taylor shows up (and tells Summer she looks cute, to which Summer replies 'I know') and hands Seth Captain Oats in front of everyone. Seth of course didn't even know she had him but Summer freaks out and also realizes that Taylor was the one in his room when she was talking to him earlier on the phone. Rest assured no breakups occur because of this, but it seems this would be what Taylor is attempting to do.

And who else decides to show up at the Bait Shop? None other than Volchok. He tries to egg Ryan into a fight again but Ryan once again keeps his composure - until, that is, Volchok puts his hand on Marissa and Ryan almost snaps. He grabs Volchok, who now knows exactly what pushes Ryan's buttons. A bouncer kicks Volchok out of the club, but things definitely aren't over yet.

Marissa makes a big mistake the next day by driving to the beach with Chili and offering Volchok an expensive watch to stay away from Ryan. He takes the watch and agrees to stay away.

Another strange thing happens at the Newport Group office. It's Sunday and Sandy gets a call from Matt saying that he called in all the workers getting fired. Sandy doesn't understand why Matt would bring them in on a Sunday, but Sandy tells Matt not to do anything and wait for Sandy to show up. Sandy goes to the office and does what he has to do. It's very suspicious that Matt would call the people in, then call Sandy. Could he be trying to get Sandy into the doghouse at the Newport Group?

Things are becoming tense for Julie at the charity event. She's having serious second thoughts about taking the money and tells Charlotte this. Charlotte tells Julie that if she backs out, Charlotte will leave with the money regardless and blame it all on Julie. At the last minute, though, Julie makes an announcement to everyone to write their cheques out to the foundation, not Charlotte - thus screwing over Charlotte completely. Charlotte confronts Julie one-on-one and in the Line of the Episode, tells Charlotte that there's 'only room for one manipulative bitch' in Newport. We still may not have seen the last of Charlotte though.

Also at the event, Taylor shows up with her mom and gives Seth a very-difficult-to-find DVD as a gift. Taylor begins to cry and pours her heart out to Seth, saying how unhappy she is because no one likes her. Seth finds ways to compliment and says he does like her. Taylor takes Seth's hand and starts stroking it. Seth sees what's happening and quickly takes off. When Taylor is alone she beams and says to herself 'what's happening?' We don't even want to know!!

Volchok's girlfriend comes up to Marissa at the event and tells her that Volchok changed his mind and doesn't want the watch. Marissa goes out to the parking lot where Volchok is sitting in his van, and he tells Marissa that he wants cash, of which she has none on her. He says he can drive her to an ATM machine. So what does Marissa do? She gets in the scary van with the strange man of course. Sheesh.

Volchok calls Ryan from Marissa's cell later on and tells him that they have Marissa at the pier. Ryan goes down there with Johnny and hatches a plan that hopefully will avoid Ryan having to use force. He simply tells Johnny to go along with whatever he does.

When he arrives at the pier, Ryan goes into a rage and breaks a bottle and throws a piece of wood toward Volchok. Ryan tells him that he's going to have to kill him if they're going to fight. Ryan of course isn't serious - he's just trying to call the surfer's bluff. After a tense moment, Volchok backs off and says 'this guy is crazy.' He runs off with his friends and Ryan and Marissa go back to the poolhouse. Marissa tells her boyfriend he's a 'totally different Ryan Atwood.' She leaves, and Ryan unloads some punches on the punching bag, hitting it so hard his hands start to bleed. It seems you can take Ryan out of Chino, but you can't necessarily take the Chino out of Ryan...

Back to The O.C. Season 3 Homepage