Dawn Atwood

Dawn Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Daphne Ashbrook. She is the mother of Trey and Ryan Atwood.

Background and characterization

Dawn has a history of alcoholism and of forming relationships with abusive men who also drink, including her boyfriend in the pilot episode A.J. and ex-husband Frank Atwood. She admitted to Ryan that she had Trey young and "didn't know what [she] was doing" when first married Frank, implying that it may have been a shotgun marriage. They lived in Fresno, California but moved south to Chino after Frank was arrested. It is unclear when she and Frank divorced.

Dawn is an expert card sharp, and has passed on this knowledge to Ryan. She used to smoke, a habit which Ryan picked up, but has not been seen with a cigarette since becoming sober.

Season 1

Dawn first appeared in the pilot episode, where she arrived at a Los Angeles area courthouse to collect Ryan, who had just been released after he and Trey stole a car. Back at their house, Dawn proceeded to argue with Ryan and her then-current boyfriend A.J. about the theft. Eventually, she threw Ryan out of the house, but not after Ryan is physically assaulted by A.J. When he returned later with Sandy Cohen, the house was empty. Dawn and A.J. had moved out, and Dawn had only left a note for Ryan. Sandy and Kirsten Cohen hired a private investigator to track her down. When they found her, she seemed genuinely regretful about having abandoned Ryan and returned to the Cohen household to try to repair her relationship with him. However, at a charity casino evening she got drunk again and caused a scene. Realizing she was unable to look after herself, let alone Ryan, she decides to leave, knowing that Sandy and Kirsten were better equipped to care for Ryan than she was.^[1]

Season 3

Dawn reappeared in the third season, when she had been in trouble with the law for writing bouncing checks. Sandy visited her in jail in Albuquerque, New Mexico and got her out and she was supposed to attend Ryan's 18th birthday party.^[2] However, she ultimately felt unable to do so and did not show up. Ryan later visited her in Albuquerque, where she was working as a waitress, to invite her to his graduation. When he heard that she had a new boyfriend, Ryan initially feared that this man would be another abusive alcoholic and retracted the invitation. However, after one of Dawn's co-workers explained to him that Dawn's new boyfriend was a recovering alcoholic and that together he and Dawn were staying sober, Ryan relented. In the season finale, Dawn came to Newport to attend Ryan's graduation, and gave him a present of a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV which her new boyfriend had restored. At the end of the episode, the vehicle was destroyed in the car crash caused by Kevin Volchok, which also killed Marissa Cooper.

References