The Way We Were (The O.C.)

"The Way We Were"
The O.C. episode
Episode no.	Season 2 (2004-2005) Episode 2
Directed by	Michael Lange
Written by	Allan Heinberg
Production code	2T5102
Original air date	November 11, 2004 (2004-11-11) (Fox)
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Distance" Next → "The New Kids on the Block"
The O.C. (season 2) List of The O.C. episodes

"The Way We Were" is the 29th episode of the Fox television series, The O.C. The episode was written by Allan Heinberg and was directed by Michael Lange. It originally aired on Thursday November 11, 2004.

Guest starring

Actor / actress	Character
Amanda Righetti	Hailey Nichol
Michael Cassidy	Zach Stevens
Nicholas Gonzalez	D.J.
Michelle Hurd	Ms. Fisher
Bruno Amato	Archie

Plot

Seth and Ryan are in the pool house debating whether or not they should be going to the first day of school. Seth seems to be dreading his return to high school, especially his reunion with Summer. Seth makes excuses about calling Summer now that he's back in town and Ryan blurts out that Summer is probably over him by now anyway. This sends Seth into a paranoid spiral ("She's going to have me killed"). Seth asks if Ryan has called and apologized to Marissa yet. Ryan remains silent for a moment, and decides not to go to class.

The two walk into the kitchen where Archie is grabbing food and coffee and the house is still a complete disaster. Before Archie and Sandy can begin their bickering, the telephone rings. Archie forces the phone in Sandy’s face, but Kirsten politely takes it away and answers. "Hello?" The person on the other end hangs up.

Kirsten tells the boys that they're both registered for school, they just need to fill out some additional paperwork. Then she mentions that Sandy is going with if they need help. This catches Sandy off-guard because he thought Kirsten was going to take them. The Cohen adults argue about who is going to take them, and Seth offers to simply stay home. Archie offers the boys a ride to school.

Once at school, the boys hop out of Archie's pickup truck and Ryan reassures Seth that no one saw them show up that way. Standing above them on the stairs of the school are Summer and Marissa. The four square off with smiles and looks of disappointment. Marissa shuffles down the stairs and hugs Ryan, but Summer turns away and heads into school. Seth, disgruntled, chases after her. Ryan and Marissa plan to play catch-up after school. Summer keeps pressing on while Seth tries to get a moment to plead his case. Summer lays it out that she has nothing to say to him, and has started dating someone else.

Sandy finds Caleb at a local bar, already drunk. Caleb tells Sandy that the D.A. finally had enough evidence to indict him and that he fired his lawyer; he has been charged with bribing city officials. Sandy asks if it's true and Caleb denies any wrong-doing. Caleb asks for Sandy’s help, but Sandy isn’t sure there's anything he can do.

Ryan meets with his guidance counselor, Ms. Fisher, about his class schedule. She commends him on his GPA from last year and asks him if he has any interest in college. He tells her that he can't really afford college and he's not going to let the Cohens pay for it. She gives him a blank booklet so he can record what he likes and dislikes about all his classes. Then he can bring it back to her tomorrow and they'll discuss what he's written.

Summer drives Marissa up the driveway of the Nichol estate. Summer asks about Ryan and whether or not they'll take another spin on the Ferris wheel. Summer puts her foot down and tells Marissa that Ryan and Seth can't walk in and out of their lives whenever they want. When they reach the house, the gardener, D.J., has blocked Marissa's car in the driveway. Marissa makes a fuss about it and he cold-shoulders her as she walks by him.

Up in Marissa's bedroom, she looks into her vanity while refreshing her lipstick. Standing in her doorway is D.J. Marissa jumps up and asks why he's there. There's a moment of tension between the two before they erupt into a kiss. It turns out Marissa and D.J. have been seeing each other secretly all summer.

Meanwhile, Summer's revelation has inspired Seth to return to his roots by starting a new comic book club. He presents a hand-drawn poster which depicts an image of Seth, "with powers." Seth presents his argument to Ryan for the club using the word, "we" repeatedly. Seth gives Ryan a stack of the posters to hand out right before Ryan makes a quick escape.

Marissa is freaking out about Ryan being back and she doesn't know what to tell Ryan about D.J. Summer thinks for a moment before she puts D.J.'s name with the face. Summer is upset that Marissa never told her. Marissa doesn't know what to do now that Ryan is back.

Sandy drags the drunk Caleb up the stairs of his home where they're confronted by Julie. She accuses Sandy of getting him drunk and demands to know what's going on. Caleb escapes to the bedroom while Sandy lays out the bad news to Julie about Caleb's indictment. Julie figures out that they've been investigating him since before the wedding and she is furious. Julie tells Sandy that he had better help because if Caleb goes down, Kirsten is going with him.

After school, the first meeting of the Harbor School Comic Book Club gets under away. The only two at the table are Seth and Ryan. Ryan doesn't know how to handle this barrage of geek behavior and tries to get Seth to move the meeting to their house. During the argument, Zach walks up. He's there to join the club. Seth seems suspicious at first because Zach is on the water polo team. Seth steps up and fires off a series of comic questions to test Zach. Zach fields them all like a pro. Seth takes a shine to Zach immediately.

Hailey and Kirsten are having lunch on the boat, and Hailey reveals that she's been offered a sales job in Tokyo. Kirsten asks if Hailey has told Jimmy yet, and she says she hasn't because Jimmy has been so happy lately.

Ryan and Marissa walk the grounds of Caleb's mansion, and Marissa tries to figure out where Ryan stands with Theresa. Ryan tells her that they were never really a couple. He then asks Marissa if she's dating anyone. Marissa confidently says no which prompts Ryan to ask her to the kickoff carnival. Marissa agrees and Ryan moves in for a kiss. Marissa opens her eyes and sees D.J. looking down from a balcony.

Kirsten lugs groceries into the kitchen, and Ryan meets her halfway to help. Then Sandy and Archie storm into the kitchen arguing about a missing wall that Archie has been covering up. Ryan figured out where the missing wall was and Sandy called Archie out on his error. Ryan tries to offer help to Archie to remedy the situation, but it only makes things worse. Archie storms out of the house. Kirsten wants Sandy to apologize, but Sandy explodes in anger.

Seth sits in his room, frustrated and depressed about the situation with Summer. Ryan advises him to settle for being her friend, but Seth thinks it's too late and is giving up.

Hailey fills Jimmy in about her college roommate Susie, setting him up to tell him about Tokyo. When she reveals the news, Jimmy doesn’t know what to say. Hailey wants to move, but knows Jimmy has to stay behind. Jimmy offers to fund her fashion job in the States, and then he asks Hailey to marry him.

Summer is practicing yoga in her room when Ryan knocks on the door. The two stand uncomfortably for a moment, then she lets him in. He tries to take the blame for Seth running away and ruining the relationship, but Summer says it's in no way his fault. Ryan tries to plead in Seth's defense, but she says this all would have happened anyway.

D.J. confronts Marissa about seeing Ryan earlier. When Marissa begins crying, but D.J. turns to comfort her. They begin to kiss as a pair of headlights shine on them. Ryan is in the truck and sits, baffled.

The next day, Ryan is telling Seth what he saw when he went to visit Marissa. Seth doesn't know what to make of it either and offers anything but comfort. Ryan had told Seth that he was at Summer's place the night before to talk about Seth, and what Summer had said about Zach not being her boyfriend. This leads Seth to believe that it's time for another coffee-cart Cohen grand gesture to win Summer back. Ryan remembers Ms. Fisher's assignment and begins writing in the book.

Kirsten enters the kitchen where Sandy is making breakfast for Caleb, who is sitting patiently at the end of the counter. Julie isn't talking to him and has gone for a spa treatment. Caleb came to apologize to Kirsten and to remind her that whatever he's done, right or wrong, he's done for his family. Sandy invites him to have dinner with them instead of spending time at home covering up evidence.

Ms. Fisher is going through Ryan's assignment book and she finds the drawing Ryan did of the Cohens' living room. She grabs Ryan's schedule from him and enters him in advanced math and science classes. She sees his potential to be an architect.

Ryan and Seth stand at the entrance to the carnival, debating whether or not they should stay or turn back. Ryan knows they have to go in. They see Marissa standing alone. Seth leaves Ryan to do his best as he goes in hunt of a hot dog stand.

Marissa says she was going to tell Ryan, but Ryan knows she wasn't. Marissa explains that Ryan wasn't coming back and that she had to keep D.J. a secret. Ryan tells her that they should just be friends but Marissa knows they've never been just friends. Ryan says goodbye and turns away from her.

Zach and Summer walk through the crowds, and Zach goes off to get her something to eat. Summer does a double-take as she sees Seth struggling to climb the counter of a hot dog stand. Seth begins to confess his love as Zach walks up. Summer is furious that Seth is doing this and Zach asks Seth to back off.

Zach and Summer get in their car and head off, but not without Seth jumping in front of them. Zach hits the brakes hard and Summer jumps out of the car, saying, "You only want me when you can’t have me." Ryan steps in to support Seth and the two head home.

Sandy, Kirsten, and Caleb are eating Chinese food while Ryan and Seth lay out all the details of their terrible day. The doorbell rings. When Ryan opens the door, a police officer asks for Caleb Nichol. The family looks concerned, but Caleb goes quietly. Sandy tells the police that he's Caleb's lawyer. Sandy shares a concerned look from Kirsten before heading out the door.

Music

• "California" by Phantom Planet
• "Trouble Sleeping" by The Perishers
• "Walnut Tree" by Keane
• "Ester" by Elefant
• "The End's Not Near" by The New Year
• "To Be Alone With You" by Sufjan Stevens

Trivia

• Seth's climbing onto a table to win Summer back refers to the episode "The Telenovela", where he did the same thing to force her to admit they were dating.
• The Way We Were is also the name of a 1973 film.
• The title of the song "The End's Not Near" was later used in the title of the final O.C. episode.

Mistakes

• When Marissa and Summer drive to Marissa's house, her nailpolish is red. Few seconds later to the show, in her room the colour changes to burgundy.

External links

• Full Cast & Crew at the Internet Movie Database