(S04E02) After last week's outstanding season premiere, I had very high hopes for this episode. With last season still fresh in my mind, The OC did something I'm not entirely used to -- it delivered.

Picking up right where we left off, Ryan is dead set on finding Volchok and gutting him. It's all he wants, all he thinks about. It's great to have some serious moral conflict in this show instead of all the "Will Seth pick Anna or Summer" or "Uh oh, Marissa got drunk again" drivel that got fed to us last season. This is the side of Ryan we never fully saw. It's what left him the second he became a part of the Cohen family in the pilot episode. Well, newsflash. Ryan Atwood? Extreme badass.

We found out that Volchok has taken up residence south of the border. So Ryan and Seth made a second trip down to Mexico, minus the whole Marissa OD'ing thing. Although, I was surprised the writers didn't weave in a sentimental line or two regarding what happened the last time they came down.

Elsewhere, Summer returned to Brown only to find Taylor sleeping in her bed. Turns out Taylor got married while in Paris and she fled home to avoid her new hubby. I suppose this is how it's going to be for most of the season -- lots of red-eye cross-country flights to see people and reveal one snippet of information. Still funny though. I wonder if Sandy will have to help Taylor get out of this one? I guess it isn't a surprise. We know Taylor likes the older men (Dean Hess). And Koreans. Can't forget the Koreans.

Down in Mexico, Seth found out where Volchok was before Ryan. He then lied about where, and tipped off Volchok before Ryan could get to him. If anything, this should raise Seth's status as a friend. However, given the circumstances, Ryan was royally PO'ed that he didn't get to have at it with Volchok.

Random Mexico moment? Seth running into a bunch of marines (led by Steve-O) and getting tattoos with them. But Seth got Little Miss Vixen on his right arm. Aww... he misses Summer.

Kaitlin and Julie's story was the only one that fell flat for me. If anything, I liked it only because it solidifies Kaitlin as her mother's daughter. Much like Julie, Kaitlin just doesn't care. She stole clothes from a clothing drive and sold them to consignment shops! Keeping with the Mexican theme, that takes cojónes. Julie is definitely on the outs now that Sandy knows she sent Ryan to kill Volchok. I don't think she realizes how wrong that was though, a) because she's Julie and b) because she's doped out of her mind right now on all the pain-killers.

Nice to see that they've casted Tia Carerre to fill the shoes of Eric Mabius as Harbor's Dean of Discipline.

Best scene of the episode didn't happen until near the end. We got to see how bad Summer is hurting. After a tongue-lashing from Taylor about ignoring Seth and spending too much time with tree-hugging Che, Summer finally tried to put how she was feeling into a letter and came up with nothing. Went through page after page. But she couldn't. She admits out loud to herself that she still loves Seth... but it's tough. I think everything will work out though. What's that saying? Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end.

Best quote?

Kaitlin (talking about Mr. Ward and her mother): "Gay dad always trumps slutty mom."