\n Tate Donovan, Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton, Melinda Clarke, Benjamin McKenzie, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Adam Brody, and Chris Carmack.<\/span> Warner Bros Tv\/Kobal\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The O.C.<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>premiered\u00a0more than two decades ago \u2014 but California keeps Us<\/em> coming back for more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Fox series, which ran from August 2003 to February 2007, followed the secretly scandalous lives of families in affluent Newport Beach, California. After Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie<\/strong><\/a>), a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks in Chino, gets taken in by Sandy and Kirsten Cohen (Kelly Rowan<\/strong><\/a> and Peter Gallagher<\/strong><\/a>), he finds himself bonding with their sarcastically offbeat son, Seth (Adam Brody), and falling in love with the mysterious girl next door, Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton<\/strong><\/a>).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the sun setting on the Cohen family after only four seasons, The O.C.<\/em> remains part of the pop culture zeitgeist. In a world of reboots and revivals, some members of the cast think the show could make a comeback.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always said anything that [creators] Josh [Schwartz] <\/strong><\/a>and Stephanie [Savage]<\/strong><\/a> want to do, I\u2019m on board for, but it\u2019s kind of hard to figure out what you\u2019d do with the characters and where they would be,\u201d Rachel Bilson<\/strong><\/a>, who portrayed Seth\u2019s love interest,\u00a0Summer Roberts\u00a0\u2014 and dated Brody in real life while filming \u2014 told\u00a0Nylon<\/em>\u00a0in April 2021. \u201cI will say if they ever wanted to do it, I would do it. But I just don\u2019t know where you go [with the plot].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Whether the series makes a return to the small screen or not, there\u2019s no denying that The O.C.<\/em> helped shape the genre of teen drama into what it is today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Keep scrolling for The O.C.\u2019s<\/em> 10 most iconic moments:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n There was no better way to introduce viewers \u2014 or Ryan Atwood \u2014 into the world of Newport Beach than through Luke (Chris Carmack<\/strong><\/a>) punching him in the face on the beach and yelling, \u201cWelcome to the O.C., bitch!\u201d in the series pilot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While Luke eventually became a lovable, musically inclined\u00a0Golden Retriever of a character,\u00a0he started out as Marissa\u2019s stereotypical water polo-loving jock of a boyfriend that cheated on her multiple times. Oh Luke, how we loathed thee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s more romantic than a New Year\u2019s Eve kiss? One that\u2019s under a timer. Iconic TV couple status was cemented in season 1 episode 14 when Ryan rushed to find Marissa before the clock struck midnight \u2014 and she was forced to share a smooch with creepy Oliver (Taylor Handley<\/strong>)\u00a0instead. Cue the fireworks and the confetti!<\/span><\/p>\n But wait! Ryan and Marissa weren\u2019t out of the woods yet.\u00a0(Were they ever?) The twosome faced down Oliver with a gun mere episodes later when his overwhelming obsession with Marissa got the best of him. While the dramatic moment had viewers on the edge of their seats, everyone was mostly just happy to see Oliver gone for good.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The gang\u2019s trip to Tijuana in season 1 episode 7 cemented Marissa, Ryan, Seth and Summer as the core four of The O.C<\/em>. \u2014 but they paid the price when Marissa, overwhelmed by her\u00a0parents\u2019\u00a0<\/b>divorce and seeing her boyfriend, Luke,\u00a0cheating on her, overdoses on pills.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The complex and delicate nature of Marissa\u2019s story juxtaposed with the lighter moments of the episode proved The O.C.<\/em> was something special \u2014 and gave fans a clear idea of who the characters would be moving forward. Ryan\u2019s now-famous walk down the alley with a passed-out Marissa in his arms, which would also become a staple of the series, would also be revisited again during her season 3 death.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s the \u201cwhatcha say\u201d heard around the world. In the climactic final moments of the season 2 finale, Marissa shoots Trey (Logan Marshall-Green<\/strong>) \u2014 who, while high on coke, tried to rape her in an earlier episode \u2014 to stop him from killing Ryan. While the moment kickstarted what would be a long, arduous and inarguably flat third season, it was quite the cliffhanger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The scene itself \u2014 which played out to the sound of Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap \u2014 has lived on in\u00a0the meme-ified internet culture for decades.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While queer representation is on the rise in media today, seeing two women romantically linked on screen \u2014 in a way that wasn\u2019t fetishized\u00a0\u2014 was a defining moment for teen dramas and TV in general. The two girls, who developed legitimate feelings for one another in season 2, got a focus similar to any heterosexual romantic relationship in the series that didn\u2019t involve two members of the core four.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Still, not everything about the Alex (Olivia Wilde<\/strong><\/a>) and Marissa story\u00a0line was perfect. The show turned Alex into a jealous, unhinged girlfriend when it was ready to reunite Marissa and Ryan. The series also\u00a0dropped exploring Marissa\u2019s sexuality entirely after Alex\u2019s exit.<\/b>\u00a0For its time, however, it was a refreshing approach from a cable TV series in an otherwise reductive media landscape.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s be honest \u2014 there are an endless amount of epic moments between Seth and Summer throughout The O.C.\u2019s<\/em> four seasons, but Seth\u2019s initial, very public, declaration of love stands out as a classic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the pair started dating\u00a0in the back half of season one after a turbulent love triangle with Anna (Samaire Armstrong<\/strong><\/a>), Summer feels uneasy about being open about her new romance. She initially asks Seth to keep the relationship on the down low, but he refuses, jumping on a coffee cart in the middle of school to announce his love for her. After asking Summer to join him, she climbs up with him and the two lock lips in front of their classmates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Summer would later recreate the grand gesture\u00a0<\/span>in season 3 \u2014 but nothing beat the original triumphant moment where Seth officially gets the girl he\u2019s been pining over for years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The TV show that sparked an entirely new holiday. Not knowing how to raise him \u2014 Jewish or Christian \u2014 Kirsten and Sandy let Seth make up his own religion. That included Chrismukkah, a combination of both Christmas and Hanukkah that gets introduced in season 1 episode 13.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want \u201ceight days of presents, followed by one day of\u00a0<\/span>many\u00a0<\/i>presents?\u201d Seth asks Ryan when showing him how the Cohens celebrate. The fun-filled festivities, like many of the other O.C. runners, would make a return in future seasons.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the coffee cart was cute, Seth and Summer\u2019s upside-down Spider-Man kiss may go down as the show\u2019s most romantic moment. After being apart for most of season 2, Summer realizes she wants to be with Seth before leaving on a trip to Italy with boyfriend Zach\u00a0(Michael Cassidy<\/strong><\/a>). Seth, for his part, is trying to fix the TV cable during a thunderstorm \u2014<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>classic Seth \u2014 and finds himself dangling upside down from the roof.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Summer eventually shows up to save him, but not before she peels down his Spider-Man mask, which Seth was wearing to stay dry, and emulates the famous Tobey Maguire<\/strong> <\/a>and Kirsten Dunst<\/strong><\/a> smooch from the 2002 movie.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d Seth asks as Matt Pond PA\u2019s cover of\u00a0\u201cChampagne Supernova\u201d plays in the background. \u201cWhat do you think, Cohen?\u201d Summer responds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The duo\u2019s nuptials only take up brief seconds of The O.C.\u2019s<\/em> series finale, but still feel like the ultimate payoff for fans of the couple who have watched them go from enemies to friends to lovers and back again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The intimate ceremony \u2014 which was shot shortly after Bilson and Brody called it quits in real life \u2014 sees the pair reuniting after going on their separate journeys to pursue their dreams and even features. The scene even features Summer sticking her tongue out while walking down the aisle as Seth rolls his eyes \u2013 a sweet and sardonic moment that fits them perfectly. The wedding also sees Ryan and Taylor (Autumn Reeser<\/strong><\/a>) share a longing glance \u2014 hinting that those two might be endgame, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Marissa Cooper\u2019s journey was always a tragic one, but her death was the series\u2019 most devastating moment by far. With a hopeful future just ahead, Marissa gets tracked down by her vengeful ex Volchuck (Cam Gigandet<\/strong><\/a>) while en route to the airport with Ryan. The car chase ends in a fatal explosion which leads to Marissa dying in Ryan\u2019s arms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWelcome to the O.C., Bitch!<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Welcome](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Welcome-to-the-OC-Bitch-When-Luke-Beats-Up-Seth-and-Ryan-Season-1-episode-1.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>New Year\u2019s Eve with Ryan and Marissa \u2013 and Oliver\u2019s Gun Moment<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Rewinding](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rewinding-the-OC-s-Most-Iconic-Moments.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>The Tijuana Overdose<\/b><\/h3>\n
Marissa Shoots Trey<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Rewinding](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rewinding-the-OC-s-Most-Iconic-Moments-2.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>Marissa and Alex Get Together<\/b><\/h3>\n
Seth Declares His Love on a Coffee Cart<\/b><\/h3>\n
Chrismukkah<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Chrismakkuh](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Chrismakkuh-Season-1-Episode-13-Seth-Reveals-His-Made-up-Holiday.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>The Upside Down \u2018Spider-Man\u2019 Kiss<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/The-Upside-Down-Spider-man-Kiss-Season-2-Episode-14-Seth-and-Summer.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>Seth and Summer\u2019s Wedding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Marissa\u2019s Death<\/b><\/h3>\n