Marissa Cooper
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| Marissa Cooper | |
|---|---|
 Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper |
|
| First appearance | "Premiere" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "The Graduates (episode 3.25) |
| Cause/Reason | Fatal car crash |
| Information | |
| Age | 18 |
| Year of birth | 1988 |
| Year of death | 2006 |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Jimmy Cooper (father) Julie Cooper (mother) Kaitlin Cooper (sister) Unnamed (half-brother) Caleb Nichol (step-father)(deceased) |
| Relationships | Luke Ward (ex-boyfriend) Ryan Atwood (ex-boyfriend) D.J. (ex-boyfriend) Alex Kelly (ex-girlfriend) Kevin Volchok (ex-boyfriend) |
| Relatives | Cindy (aunt) |
| Episode count | 76 |
| Portrayed by | Mischa Barton |
| Created by | Josh Schwartz |
Marissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television network series The O.C., shown nationally in the United States. She is played by English-born American actress Mischa Barton.
[edit] Season 1
Marissa is a rich socialite in Newport Beach, California, whose family is about to go through some dramatic changes. First, Marissa's father, Jimmy, is caught committing fraud and eventually files for bankruptcy. Soon after, on a vacation to Tijuana with Ryan Atwood, Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts, Marissa catches her long-term boyfriend Luke Ward cheating on her with one of her best friends, Holly Fischer. Marissa has a history of substance abuse, and overdoses after discovering that her parents are separating. Ryan finds her unconscious in an alleyway in Tijuana and help arrives just in time.
Throughout the first season, Marissa is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Ryan, with the relationship being jeopardized by Luke and Oliver Trask. Oliver is eventually discovered to be mentally unstable and harboring an unhealthy obsession with Marissa.
During this time, her mother, Julie, is romantically involved with Kirsten Cohen's father, Caleb Nichol. During a brief breakup with Caleb, Marissa's mother has a fling with Marissa's ex-boyfriend, Luke, which causes Marissa to run away — strangely enough — to Chino, California and, more specifically, to Ryan's ex-girlfriend Theresa's house. This leads to Ryan and Marissa once again becoming romantically involved.
[edit] Season 2
During the second season, Marissa struggled with alcohol and depression, caused largely by Ryan's departure from her life. When Ryan returned it looked as though they may have rekindled their relationship, but after finding out about her relationship with D.J., the yard guy, Ryan decided they should just be friends, which they remained throughout most of the season. Marissa's relationships in the interim period seemed somewhat specifically chosen to take stabs at her mother — first with D.J. and then a same-sex relationship with Alex Kelly, Seth's ex-girlfriend.
Marissa moved out of her mother's house briefly to live with Alex, returning home once she and Alex broke up. Her relationship with her mother improved little throughout the season. She did eventually rekindle her relationship with Ryan after a period of friendship and growing gradually closer, particularly as she helped him with his brother Trey after he was released from prison. However, this lead Trey to believe that Marissa secretly liked him, and attempted to rape her under the influence of drugs while Ryan was in Miami. This caused inevitable tensions between them, which Ryan misinterpreted as a sign Marissa hooked up with Trey. Ryan eventually found out about the attempted rape, which lead to a confrontation with Trey that turned violent. Trey had Ryan pinned down to the ground and was strangling him when Marissa, having been warned by Seth and Summer, turned up and pleaded with Trey to let Ryan go. Trey ignored her, and Marissa picked up a gun and shot Trey to save Ryan's life.
[edit] Season 3
As the series' third season opened, Marissa was under investigation regarding the shooting of Trey Atwood. In an effort to shield her daughter, Julie attempted to obstruct justice by bribing Trey into accusing Ryan. Marissa found out and convinced Trey to tell the truth, detailing that Marissa was the one who fired the gun. Ryan was let free, and Marissa faced no legal liability as she was defending another person's life using proportional force in the circumstances.
Despite a lack of legal repercussions, the event resulted in Marissa's expulsion from the prestigious Harbor School, as it was cited along with her past of flagrant shoplifting and substance abuse. During her expulsion, she attended Newport Union, where she befriended a local surfer named Johnny Harper. Johnny caused rifts in her relationship with Ryan, initially because she felt she could not talk to Ryan about what happened with Trey and later because Johnny fell in love with her. She eventually was readmitted to Harbor after a campaign led by Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa's former rival for power at Harbor, Taylor. Marissa confirmed her commitment to Ryan, and wrote Johnny a letter saying that while he was her friend and she cared for him, she would never love him. This resulted in Johnny falling to his death after a drinking binge. This tragedy resulted in Ryan and Marissa's final, tragic breakup.
In the wake of Johnny's death, Marissa struggled to find closure as well as her own place and purpose in Newport. She developed a relationship with Kevin Volchok amidst a developing estrangement from her friends, as well as a return to bad habits. During prom, she caught Volchok cheating on her and ended the relationship with him.
Throughout the rest of the season, it is suggested that Marissa still has feelings for Ryan. Like earlier, the pair deal with initial awkwardness in rekindling their friendship. In the season finale, when Marissa told Ryan her dad offered her a job on his boat, he asks her if he can drive her to the airport, since she was the first person he met in Newport, he wanted to be the last to say goodbye. She told him she was about to ask him the same thing.
En route to the airport, Marissa sustained a severe head injury when a drunk Volchok rammed their car down a hill. Ryan pulled her from the hazardous wreck just before the car burst into flames. The severity of her injuries were made clear as Ryan panicked over her semi-conscious body. Ryan was going to get help but Marissa asked him to stay with her. She died moments later in Ryan's arms.
| THE OC | ||
| EPISODES | CATEGORY | BROADCASTERS | SONGS | WEBSITE | ||
| Primary Characters |
Ryan Atwood | Kirsten Cohen | Sandy Cohen | Seth Cohen Jimmy Cooper | Julie Cooper | Kaitlin Cooper | Marissa Cooper Caleb Nichol | Summer Roberts | Taylor Townsend | Luke Ward |
|
| Secondary Characters |
Dawn Atwood | Frank Atwood | Trey Atwood | Taryn Baker | Lance Baldwin Rebecca Bloom | Carter Buckley | Gordon Bullit | Sophie Cohen Theresa Diaz | D.J. | Holly Fischer | Lindsay Gardner | Johnny Harper Alex Kelly | Charlotte Morgan | Hailey Nichol | Neil Roberts | Anna Stern Zach Stevens | Veronica Townsend | Oliver Trask | Kevin Volchok |
|
| Places | Newport Beach | Orange County | Chino | Berkeley | Providence | |
| Music | Mix 1 | Mix 2 | Mix 3 | Mix 4 | Mix 5 | Mix 6 | |
| Related | Atomic County | Chrismukkah | |
| Key Creators | Josh Schwartz | McG | Stephanie Savage | Allan Heinberg | |
