"The O.C." Finale: Going Out On Top

So, if you read my previous post, you know that I was very worried about “The O.C.” finale. There were just too many things in the previews that I didn’t like and I was concerned we were headed for another gutwrenching moment like the end of season one.

But in the words of the late, great Jerry Orbach (from “Dirty Dancing”), when I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong. And I couldn’t have been more wrong about this one…

Warning: The remainder of this post contains details of tonight’s series finale of “The O.C.”…

From the incredibly confusing opening scene, it was obvious that this episode was going to be classic “O.C.”—smart, funny, and not taking itself too seriously. When I first heard that the final episode would pick up six months after last week’s, I didn’t like it since the show had been playing stupid time tricks all season. But this time, it actually made a lot of sense as it helped move the story along more quickly and produced the best five minutes of the whole season—even if it did confuse the crap out of me.

The Cohens were living with Julie and Kaitlyn. Taylor and Ryan had broken up and Taylor had gone back to Paris. Seth and Summer were living a slothful existence in Summer’s room, a la Joey and Chandler in their La-Z-Boys in season two of “Friends.” But most shocking was that Julie was pregnant and engaged to the Bullet—not Frank.

But by the end of the hour, everything was back to normal. Taylor and Ryan patched things up, Frank finally admitted that he wanted to be a part of his child’s life, Julie decided to try and make it on her own and the Cohens returned to their Berkeley home with their new baby, Sophie.

As I said, classic “O.C.”…

“The O.C.” was always at its best when it was funny and this episode was full of funny moments. I especially liked how the show mocked soap operas by having the guys who owned the Berkeley house conveniently be a midwife and a wedding planner (“I know this sounds a little random…”). It was also great when Bullet decided to move the whole wedding ceremony to the house because Julie wouldn’t do it without “KiKi.”

In fact, it was all so great that I didn’t even mind the episode’s most heartbreaking moment—when Seth and Summer said goodbye. As much as I hated it, it actually made sense. But that didn’t stop me from crying anyway…

Thankfully, though, it didn’t end there as there were a few things the previews didn’t give away…

With Patrick Park’s “Life’s A Song” playing over it, we got a montage showing us the future of all of the characters. Julie graduated college with Kaitlyn, Bullet, Frank and Frank and Julie’s son cheering her on (in a scene extremely reminiscent of “The Object of My Affection”). Ryan went to Berkeley and became a part of the class of 2012.

But the moment that made me actually clap my hands was the sight of Summer in a wedding dress as she walked down the aisle to her beloved Seth. It was a wonderful moment we had waited four years to see. Granted, we didn’t get to see the whole thing, but just knowing they ended up together was enough for me.

We can’t really say the same about Taylor and Ryan since their future was left a little ambiguous. The two shared a meaningful look at the wedding, but that was all we got. And even that was okay with me.

The final scene showed Ryan, the architect, walking away from a building site and noticing a young kid sitting by himself, looking very much like Ryan after he was kicked out by his mom in the pilot (which we saw in flashback).

“Hey, kid. Do you need some help?”

The kid didn’t answer as the show faded on Ryan’s concerned face.

And yes, I cried again, because my beloved “The O.C.”—that had frustrated me for two long years—had gone out on top...