Veronica Townsend

Veronica Townsend is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Paula Trickey. She is the mother of Taylor Townsend.

Background and characterization

Highly driven and extremely judgemental, she is a highly successful sports agent and served as the chair of the parents' committee at The Harbor School, a prestigious private school where her daughter, Taylor Townsend, was a pupil. She is divorced from her husband, Taylor's father, who seems to be fairly multi-talented, as he is said to be both a wealthy auto dealer and a former sex therapist (although this may just be a continuity error within the series). Exceedingly wealthy thanks to her divorce and her lucrative career, Veronica's success seems to have come at the expense of her relationship with her daughter, of whom she is highly critical.

Taylor once described her as "kind of like Idi Amin with fake boobs. You know, big on the torturing and the tyranny, not so big on the nurturing."^[1]

Storylines

Season 3

Veronica was first introduced when she opposed attempts by Ryan Atwood, Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen to get their friend Marissa Cooper re-admitted to Harbor. Marissa had been expelled after shooting Ryan's brother Trey. When Taylor took Marissa's side in the dispute, ultimately helping get Marissa back into the school, Veronica was furious with her daughter. Several episodes later, Veronica appeared again when she joined Kirsten Cohen and Julie Cooper's dating service, getting them to set her up with Dr. Neil Roberts. Julie set the couple up together, but as she too liked Dr. Roberts, she spied on their dates and eventually wins Dr. Roberts' affections. Seth eventually turns Veronica off Dr. Roberts by lying to Taylor that Dr. Roberts has genital herpes, which is relayed to Veronica.

Season 4

In season 4, Veronica has been oblivious to the knowledge that Taylor returned to Newport instead of studying in Paris as planned. During the Thanksgiving holiday, she learned the truth about where Taylor was and that Taylor had impulsively married during her brief sojourn in France. Implying that her daughter's behavior was immature and irresponsible, she then kicked Taylor out of the house. When Taylor and Ryan later fell off the Cohens' roof and were both unconscious in hospital, she showed little concern for her daughter's health and was instead angry that her holiday plans had been disrupted by Taylor's accident. While Taylor and Ryan were unconscious, both went to an "alternate universe" where Ryan doesn't exist, and where Veronica still had a child called Taylor - but this Taylor was a boy. While in the alternate universe, Taylor overheard Veronica belittling her son and confronted her about her abusive behaviour.

During the episode The Night Moves, Veronica comes looking for Taylor. Taylor, not expecting her mother to care about her, thought her mom was an intruder and shot her in the foot with a flare gun. Taylor rode her mother to the hospital on a bike with a wagon attached to the back of it. The two reconciled after telling each other "I Love You" and sharing a hug. They then leave the hospital with the Cohens, the Coopers, Frank Atwood, and Summer.

References