Over at the Newport Group, Sandy was in the process of firing Matt. The ethical issues he has waded through with this hospital deal are really starting to affect him. I thought that it would have been easy enough to just let Matt work on other projects, but I guess that wasn't enough of a buffer for Dr. Griffin. He wanted Matt fired and so Sandy decided that building the hospital was more important than loyalty and he sent Matt out the door. Matt was very upset that Sandy would fire him for ethical issues relating to partying when he knew that Dr. Griffin was dirty and taking kickbacks. He not only had proof, but also was not afraid to speak out. He tells Sandy that every time he needs to make a difficult decision, he uses the hospital as an excuse so he doesn't have to feel upset about it.

At the Roberts house, Julie and Neil just made the announcement that Julie Cooper-Nichol-Cooper was going to become Julie Cooper-Nichol-Cooper-Roberts. I am not sure what kind of person re-hyphenates their last name after getting married, but it is a lot of fun to say, so whatever. Since it is a celebration, everybody is sharing a little champagne. Marissa chugs hers down like a champ and then goes out to meet Volchok, who had just given her a call. Julie is upset that Marissa isn't happy, so she goes out to stop her. When she catches up with her, Marissa says that she will do what she wants, but not to worry, because she isn't planning on screwing up her mom's golden ticket. As harsh as that sounds, and as much as we want to believe that Julie and Neil are for real this time, you can't blame Marissa for this attitude. Her mom's history of marriages naturally leads one to think that she is more gold digger than anything else.

Summer sees that Marissa is outside talking to Volchok and realizes that the gloves need to come off. She calls up Seth, who had a date night with his mom since Summer and Sandy were busy. Having one woman that you love bored to death with kung fu movies is really not enough, so he let his mom suffer through some great rip your arm off and beat your opponent to death with it action, which is almost as good as eviscerate yourself and strangle your opponent to death with your intestines action, but they'll have to work up with that. Anyway, Summer tells Seth that Marissa is on a slut spiral and they need to call in Ryan for help. She also sort of threw in there how Julie and Neil were getting married, which seemed a lot more shocking to Seth than Marissa shacking up with some guy. It was such a surprise I though Kirsten was going to get into another crash.

Seth gets home and runs to the pool house where he finds that the door is locked. Locked? Wha? This is not supposed to happen. He's supposed to be able to walk in on Ryan no matter how embarrassing the situation. Ryan was inside with Sadie, and I guess after all of that home improvement he did over at Sadie's house, he felt confident enough to put a lock on the door of the pool house. That lock makes the make out sessions with Sadie all that more enjoyable. He can light as many candles as he wants and smooch to whatever bad emo music suits him, unless Seth is determined to really get in the way, and tonight appears to be the case. After Seth lets him know that Marissa is dating Volchok, we all expect Ryan to rush out and save her, but he decides that this time is going to be different. He says that Marissa is not his girlfriend and that she makes her choices and he does the same. Overall, a very refreshing attitude. There is plenty of time to save the world, but have some fun while you're young and enjoy life, right?

The next day, Kirsten is helping Julie move out of her trailer park. Julie is really trying to convince Kirsten that this time, love is for real. She has turned over a new leaf, she has no agenda and although it might be a disappointment for some, she is not going to be a manipulative bitch any longer. As the two of them are leaving, Gus is outside, taking a leak. If there is anything to give you inspiration to never end up in a trailer park, it's seeing your landlord with his hose out watering the garden. And when said landlord turns off the sprinkler and turns around to shake your friends hand, you KNOW it's time to leave.

At Harbor, Ryan sees Marissa at her locker. She is late for school and has missed a test. Marissa always has that sort of lost look on her face, but this time, she is really out of it. As Ryan goes over to talk to her and say "Hey!” she drops a few things, bends over to pick them up, and a flask comes of the bag. OK, now I know that Marissa is drinking, but nobody is stupid enough to take a flask to school, because having one is enough to get you expelled. What you do is take a bottle of Sprite, drink half, and then fill it with vodka or rum. It's not only more stealthy, but your breath doesn't smell as bad.

Posted by J-Unit on April 4, 2006 3:33 PM