Crazy-eyed Oliver's plan to win Marissa by driving Ryan away–actually, by getting Ryan to drive himself away–works to perfection. But what's up with this camping trip to the Santa Monica Mountains? Orange County has one of the top camping spots in the state with San Clemente. And if they want out-of-county mountain camping, it'd be faster drivewise to hit Mt. Baldy. (Watch for falling hikers!) Of course, staying in LA County, where The O.C. is shot, keeps the producers from having to pay union-mandated location fees. Speaking of unions, as it becomes more apparent to Seth that his girlfriend Anna is the female version of him–they dress the same, crave the same tuna melts, enjoy mocking South Coast Plaza shoppers–he is more drawn to Summer, who's torch for Seth burns so bright she latches on to unfunny funnyman Danny as a substitute. (“He watches Leno, that explains everything,” says an unimpressed Seth, a solid Jon Stewart man.) Meanwhile, the parental units share the back burner this week as Sandy and Jimmy go into business, and Julie gets hired at Kirsten's.
LOCAL REFERENCE OF THE WEEK: The Islands theaters.
WORD OF THE WEEK: Aspirational.
LINE OF THE WEEK: “Just give me the word, and I will drop the Great Gatsby.” Luke, offering to clobber Oliver for Ryan .
THE O.C. FOX/CHANNEL 11. WEDNESDAYS, 9 P.M.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.