e-l.net

Sarah, your holiday card was the first I received of the season! Whee! Alie and Marianne, yours arrived today. So exciting. Thank you, thank you. :)

I'm super behind on current TV (Grey's, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, etc) but instead of catching up, I decided to open my OC season 4 DVDs and watch the series finale instead. :D Plus, I figure with the writers strike, I'll have time in the next few months to get up to speed.

Gawd, I miss this show. I don't think I ever blogged about the finale so here goes...

I really adored the entire episode. I was touched by the callbacks to the first season... from the score to the flashbacks of pivotal moments from the pilot (Ryan meeting Seth, Ryan gazing at Marissa as Sandy drives him back to Chino). But what I loved the best was seeing where the characters ended up.

The Coopers (Julie and Kaitlin, that is) are made of awesome. :) I didn't particularly like Kaitlin when she first came back to Newport but in the last season, she showed vulnerability and heart and that was reflected in her relationship with Julie. They turned into such a great mother-daughter team. And when Julie got her college degree with Kaitlin in the audience cheering her on... well, that was icing on the cake.

Seth and Summer getting married was totally expected but I still loved seeing it happen. Their best moment of the finale by far, though, was their goodbye scene. When Summer sat down on the bus, looked at Seth through the window, and put her hand on the glass... Guh. I fell in love with them all over again.

Ryan and Taylor's ending was left open-ended (damn you, Josh Schwartz!) but I think their scenes left pretty good hints of what's to come. :D Or at least that's what *I* like to believe. I mean, come on -- did you SEE Taylor rip Ryan's shirt off as soon as they had a moment alone together? They ooze sexual tension.

I do wish that there would have been some room in the finale for one last Sandy/Ryan scene... and I wish they would have filmed the Berkeley scenes on location. The UCLA and Caltech campuses are gorgeous but they just don't look anything like Cal.

But back to my other favorite moments...
-- Summer giving Julie the locket with Marissa's photo. I always tear up during this scene and I've seen the finale at least 4 or 5 times now.
-- The Valley meta... "Real life Jake and real life April broke up!" I know it can be overdone but I like that the show can poke some fun at itself.
-- Ryan taking Flapjacks out of his hoodie pocket. Awww. Though I admit his pocket was not exactly the best place to hold the little guy.
-- And THE BEST scene of the episode, was definitely this exchange between Ryan and Seth...
Ryan: "I'm a lot better off than when you found me."
Seth: "Me, too."

Yay! I'm glad you got the card so quickly :D I like for things to be before the date or on time hehe.

I never saw the last season of the OC. I've heard good things about Ryan/Taylor so maybe I'll give it a shot some day I'm bored.

I'm glad my card arrived! Now I just hope the other part arrives. :D