The OC - Complete Season 4 [2004]

Customer Reviews:

OC SEASON 4.......2007-12-05

Hi to all reading,

I won't make mine 100 lines long and go into boring descriptions of characters, i leave that to the people who have the time to. The OC however does bring us from Scrubs or a sit com, for it creates a feeling, that i'm pretty sure everyone would agree on. You wish you were there. And for that reason alone, you can't knock it, for no other show does it quite like the OC, its captured the hearts and minds of nations, but i'm not aiming to be judgemental, give it time and credit, it the least you could give to a great piece of media history!

PS I hope that this didn't bore you, that was not my intention.

Final Hurrah for the residents of Orange County.......2007-11-17

It was a tough place to come back from, the downbeat ending of Season 3. But it was healthy that they did come back, tie up the loose ends and give a credible finale to the lives of our heroes in Newport, as they go their separate - and sometimes a little unexpected - ways.

Tonally, the series starts off incredibly bleak as Ryan reaches an all time low, Summer and Seth have yet another problem placed in their path to eternal romance and even Sandy and Kirsten have some surprises in store... however, a few episodes in the tone changes radically. New characters are brought in, and it looks scarily like they are setting us up for The OC: The New Generation... and it sits very badly. Kaitlin, Marissa's younger sister is at first an annoying jailbait version of Marissa, but to give the writers credit she really becomes a fleshed out character in quite a short time. However, her hangers-on at school seem squarely pitched at a younger audience, as do a few of her storylines. Her mother's new boyfriends also take on a sillier bent than they have in the past, reaching a nadir with Bullit the oilman. Even the otherwise starworthy performance from Rachel Bilson as Summer Roberts is blighted by a juvenile ecowarrior companion. Thankfully, he fades away as the season progresses.

These sillier elements get the season off to a bumpy start and knock off a star from the season - but from there it gets better as the elements that have made the show a success are reintroduced. Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson) has really come into her own and her relationship with Seth reaches interesting new places. The drama inherent in growing up and leaving home adds new energy to the show, and even the at-first-annoying Taylor plotline with Ryan helps get away from the ever repeating will-they won't-they episodes that blighted the third season to some extent.

The final episode is a disappointment for most of it, going deliberately far off the rails to start off with, in order to gain audience support when they put it all right again.. however, it does seem like largely a wasted opportunity... until the last 5 minutes, when the tearful farewells to homes and between characters should tug at the heartstrings of longtime fans.

So it is an odd mix of 1 star moments and 5 star moments but it all comes out right in the final mix. None of the show reaches any deep intellectual places, but for fans of the hyper-reality of sun, sexy teens, rich Californian surfing town and soap opera story lines with a dose of issues of the day - Season 4 is no disaster, and not one to miss if you have seen the rest of the series. Newcomers however, should look elsewhere to start.

Not just for teenagers?.......2007-10-20

I came across the OC on E4 whilst having a flick around the channels when eating my lunch. It was the episode when Caleb died. I quickly became hooked! As a 40 something mum, I never watched it because I though it was just another teen drama, but it was a lot better than I expected, and I really wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters. I've recently watched the very last season, but now I will have to go round again and see what happened at the beginning! All that sunshine, drama and love triangles - great stuff! Yes the last episode was a bit of a roller coaster and too much happened, but still definitely worth a watch.

Best season yet.......2007-09-24

Don't be put off by the bad reviews. I almost was, but thankfully I did watch it and what a gem it was. Such a breathe of fresh air - no manic depressive Marissa. Although I'll miss the O.C. I do believe it was the right time to end it. I don't think Seth and Summer could have survived anymore relationship issues!

to put it short and simple..........2007-09-19

it's easy to miss the old days, the way the characters and storylines were from season 1.

but they've really given it one hell of a go this season. the very first episode of season 4 is some of the best writing i've ever seen. i don't think they could have done it any better after what happened at the end of season 3 (put it subtly just in case any newcomers are reading this!)

the first 2 or 3 episodes show everyone dealing with "the incident" and they show it well, and then after that the storylines they come up with are pretty incredible, admittedly a bit mental at times, but that just adds to the fun of it all!

one final thing to say: "bullit, bang!"

now go buy it and find out what i'm on about ;-)

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