| "The Rainy Day Women" | |||
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| The O.C. episode | |||
Ryan discussing his future with Lindsay, who is contemplating moving back to Chicago. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 (2004–2005) Episode 14 |
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| Directed by | Michael Fresco | ||
| Written by | Josh Schwartz | ||
| Featured music | "California" by Phantom Planet "In Every Sunflower" by Bell X1 "No Rain" by Blind Melon "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men "Save It for a Rainy Day" by The Jayhawks "No Easy Way To Say Goodbye" by Joe Evans & Friends "God Killed the Queen" by Louis XIV "Champagne Supernova" by Matt Pond PA |
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| Production code | 2T5114 | ||
| Original air date | February 24, 2005 (Fox) | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Michael Cassidy |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| The O.C. (season 2) List of The O.C. episodes |
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"The Rainy Day Women"[1] is the forty-first episode of the television series The O.C. and is the fourteenth episode of the show's second season. It first aired on the Fox network on February 24, 2005.[2] Written by series creator Josh Schwartz and directed by Michael Fresco, the episode continues the storyline of Lindsay's struggle to have a father.
The episode's title alludes to the Bob Dylan song, "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" on the 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde.[3]
Contents |
A huge thunderstorm system that lasts for more than 24 hours is lashing Newport Beach. Seth doesn't want to lose Summer to Zach and tries to find a romantic gesture to win her back before she travels to Tuscany with Zach. He buys back his old boat, the "Summer Breeze" (named after Summer), as a romantic gesture to get her back. The "Summer Breeze" is now called "Gimme Sex", yet Seth still thinks it works as an objective correlative. But when he calls Summer to give one last chance, she refuses to do so. Seth wants to watch TV, but the satellite is out due to the storm and he wants to repair it. He climbs up the roof, wearing his Spider-Man mask and tied to a chimney, when he slips and hangs upside down from the roof. At the airport, waiting for the flight to Tuscany, Summer finally decides she wants to stay with Seth when she see's a young boy (who looks like a younger version of Seth) playing with a toy horse and comics; Zach seems to understand.
Lindsay doesn't talk to Ryan after the postponed adoption. She thinks about moving to Chicago with her mom. The paternity test is positive after all, but she still decides to go to Chicago.
Marissa tells Julie about her new girlfriend Alex. She moves in with Alex, but is having problems with this independent life she's not used to.
Sandy wants to bring Rebecca back to Newport, but the road is closed and they have to stay in a motel. Sandy really wants to go home to Kirsten, telling her that he would walk home if he had to. On the drive home a careless moment causes a crash; Rebecca flees from the police, while Sandy takes the bus home. Once Sandy is off of the bus he immediately seeks Kirsten, and they reconcile.
Marissa walks Alex to work, and when Alex goes in, Marissa sees Ryan standing in the rain alone. Marissa walks up to him and asks, "Are you O.K.?" to which a hearbroken Ryan replies, "Yeah". Marissa sympathizes for Ryan and puts her arm around him.
After Summer leaves Zach, she and Seth share a kiss in the style of Spider-Man.
Although the show is set in Newport Beach, financial penalties imposed for filming outside the "Thirty Mile Zone" forced production to the Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County region. After the pilot episode all filming of the Cohens' home was not done on location but at a recreated soundstage at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach.[4][5] The Pink Motel, where Sandy and Rebecca stay overnight, was actually filmed at 9457 San Fernando Road in Sun Valley.[6] Scenes from the Cooper-Nichol mansion were actually shot at the home of former NFL footballer Brian Bosworth at 6375 Meadows Court, Malibu near Point Dume.[7]
The episode was directed by Michael Fresco, the script was written by show creator Josh Schwartz and edited by J.J. Philbin.[8] Michael Cassidy (as Zach Stevens), Shannon Lucio (as Lindsay Gardner) and Olivia Wilde (as Alex Kelly) all guest-star, having taken up recurring roles at the beginning of the season.[9] Kim Delaney guest stars in a recurring role for the final time as her five-episode arc as Rebecca Bloom, the ex-fiancée of Sandy Cohen, comes to an end.[10] Lucio and Kathleen York also make their final appearance, with York having guest-starred in a recurring role as Renee Wheeler, the mother of Lindsay for five episodes.[11]
The episode was watched by 7.23 million viewers in the United States, and it was the sixty-ninth most viewed program that week.[12] It received an overnight rating/share[nb 1] of 5.6/8 and a share of 3.2/8 in the audience demographic of 18–49-year-olds.[15]
Annie Barrett of Entertainment Weekly describe the episode as "the absolute best show in the history of television ... or at least on Fox in 2005", adding that it "could have even been the series finale".[16] She commended the episode for ending the "infuriating and tired-out subplots" of Lindsay and Rebecca.[16] Jesse Ataide of DVDVerdict.com described it as a "standout episode" of the season.[3] Emma Ashelford of AfterEllen.com, which is a website that focuses on the portrayal of lesbians and bisexual women in the media, notes that "bisexual does not seem to be in [the show's] vocabulary", but comments that when Marissa comes out to her mother, Julie, she "seems genuinely happy to be with Alex".[17] She also commends a later scene where Marissa "greets Alex with a full-on kiss, which is a welcome relief from their former pecks on the cheek".[18] Ashelford remarked that the Spider-Man kiss was "slightly cringe-worthy, but it was also sweet".[18] Daniel Blau of Television Without Pity graded the episode as a "B" and commented that Schwarz spends "the whole hour making obscure '90s pop culture references".[19]
The O.C. was known for its reference to popular culture. In this episode there are two references to the film Spider-Man. During dialogue between characters, Alex tells Seth that "with great power comes great responsibility", which is a line from the film.[20] The other reference is a kiss between Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts that recreates the eponymous kiss between Spider-Man and M.J.. During that scene a cover of Oasis' "Champagne Supernova" is played by Matt Pond PA.[21] After the show's conclusion, creator Josh Schwartz described the kiss as one of his favorite moments both musically and on-screen.[22][23] Another film is directly referenced when Seth is in the thunderstorm and mentions that it looks like a scene from The Day After Tomorrow.[20] The episode criticized show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County through the analogous onscreen show Sherman Oaks: The Real Valley. Seth described it as "watch[ing] real people in contrived situations" instead of "watch[ing] the angst of fictional characters".[16]
In an interview, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas described the inclusion of the Boyz II Men song "End of the Road" as Schwartz "being inspired, and writing to the scene".[24] Mid-90s band Blind Melon's "No Rain" is used to open the episode and depict the unusual occurrence of rain in Orange County.[2] Patsavas stated that they were receiving 400 or 500 CDs a week,[24] and Bell X1, who feature in this episode with "In Every Sunflower", were a band that "none of us had heard of [previously] and just liked".[25]