Season Four

Marissa Cooper died at the end of season three, or at least that’s what they told us. It was one of those TV deaths that’s designed to feel both pointless and devastating at the same time—the kind where you’re not entirely sure what the show just did to itself. I watched it happen and felt genuinely gutted, which is embarrassing to admit about a teen drama but also true.

Season four premieres tonight, and everything’s different now. The whole show had to recalibrate around her absence. Her friends moved on, her family fractured, everyone’s plan got reshuffled. There’s a long trailer Fox put out that basically telegraphs all the changes coming. You can watch it if you want the full picture, or you can wait until tonight and see it play out.

I’ll probably have it downloaded by morning, the way everyone does. No mystery there—that’s how we watch things now.

The thing about The O.C. is that it doesn’t ask for much more than your surrender. The whole show is California and drama and characters you somehow care about despite yourself. It’s glossy and ridiculous and occasionally genuinely moving, which should not work but does. Killing off your most important character is either the bravest or the dumbest move this show could make, and I’m not sure which yet.

But I’m going to find out.