(S04E01) The OC is back with a vengeance... big time. After what I think most considered to be a lackluster third season, I think both die-hard and casual fans are going to be impressed with what this show still has to offer. We pick up five months after the death of Marissa Cooper and everyone, especially Julie and Ryan, has had to adjust their lives in the wake of her passing. Corny as it sounds, nothing is going to be the same.

This show has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I didn't watch it during the first season though. I waited for the DVD. Needless to say I was glued to the TV set for a whole weekend once I got it. Let me go on record as saying that the first season of The OC is one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched. That first season? Yeah, it's that good. Then came the sophomore slump. Not bad but not great. Then last season? A stinker? A bomb? I could be harsher, but the general consensus seemed to be that season three wasn't all that good. At least I didn't think so. To top it off, Mischa Barton killed the finale for die-hard fans when she blabbed about Marissa's death days before the episode aired. Frankly, that didn't bug me and I was glad to see the demise of the ever-moody Cooper sister. So going into this season, I don't think expectations are too high, especially since FOX has only ordered 16 episodes as of right now. Well let me cut to the chase and dash away all The OC naysayers. I've screened the first four episodes of the new season and they are impressive.

(S03E24) Prom is over and enter the aftermath. But surprise, surprise...Volchok? Not dead. Thank God. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care if the guy lives or dies, but it would have just been bizarro times infinity if another one of Marissa's love interests ended up in the morgue. She does seem to like them on the brink of death.

But nope, Ryan rushes (not really, more like leisurely drives) Volchok to the hospital during a trippy, light-filled montage, and Volchok awakes without even seeing a doctor. Volchok (ever the good guy) doesn't sell Ryan out and claims he was jumped by a group of thugs. But it turns out that Volchok is not "ever the good guy."

America's favorite troubled teenager might be walking away from her job. Rumors are flying that Mischa Barton has had enough of her role as Marissa Cooper on The O.C.

Supposedly, Barton is worried about being type-cast as well as the show's mediocre ratings. I suppose I can't blame her for being ticked off about the ratings. Stacking this show (any show for that matter) against CSI is going to hurt eventually. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this season ends. It'll be weird if Marissa is involved with any sort of cliffhanger only to be absent when the next season rolls around. If she does leave, the show just won't be the same. Anyone think it would work without her?

[via UPI]

(S03E20) It's college acceptance (or rejection) day in Orange County. I just love how via the magic of television everybody finds out on the exact same day if they got into college or not. I also love that none of the characters oo the show applied to any safety schools. You would think that a guidance counselor would advise them to apply to at least two schools, but whatever, everybody got into the school of their dreams...minus poor Seth.