Then again, Marissa doesn't really seem to care if she gets caught. Summer sees her outside lying on Summer's car. Summer has seen Marissa go through a lot of things, so she is worried and tells her that she can't act this way, especially now that they are sisters. When Summer says that she knows about her and Volchok, Marissa says "Wow! Aren't you a regular Veronica Mars! Way to solve this week's mystery!" You know, I've noticed some similar story lines among the teenage dramas produced by Warner Bros (Smallville, Veronica Mars, The OC to name a few) but this is the first time I heard them give any cross-studio love to somebody else. Summer seems insulted and tells Marissa to grow up and get over herself. That leads Marissa (who is much better at the insults to be perfectly honest) to make fun of Summer and her emo boyfriend, which leads summer to make fun of Marissa and her heavy metal vomit party boyfriend.

It's not often that Summer and Marissa fight, so you know that this whole thing is serious. As of right now, Summer is the only one who cares. Ryan is trying to get through that first date with Sadie. He wanted to take her some place nice, but I guess Arches and the Yacht Club were booked, so he couldn't think of anyplace else to take her and settled on the diner. But let's not forget, since she is poor, she doesn't mind the subtle romance of chili-cheese fries and a diet Coke. Everything is going great, and Sadie is just about to deliver some good news to Ryan when some of Volchok's friends enter, and they are talking about Marissa, how hot she is, and how she has been scratching Volchok's back.

Sadie wants to leave, but Ryan needs to say something. Ugh, I guess this is the point where he goes in and tells them that he wants to meet Volchok somewhere. I know Ryan gets in a lot of fights and is supposed to be a tough guy, but maybe they should get somebody to rewrite some of his tough talk. I mean "Tell Volchok to meet me by the pier tomorrow morning" is not bad, but when he wants to get his point across he gets the Ryan Atwood look on his face, drops his voice down to an octave and says, "Think you can remember all that? Or Do you need me to write it down?” Wow, I'm scared stiff. Hopefully next time Ryan doesn't say, "Can you remember all of that? Or do I need to SEND YOU AN E-MAIL??!!” I might have fainted. Luckily, Volchok's friends didn't see Ryan when he is really upset and says things like "Can you remember all of that? OR SHOULD I SEND YOU A TEXT MESSAGE JUST IN CASE!!! Go ahead, make my day! I'LL PUT A STICKY NOTE ON YOUR WINSHIELD IF YOU THINK YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT". Whew, that was really close.

The next day, Ryan does in fact meet Volchok, and although I am expecting him to give some lecture, he once again surprises me. He says that he's not judging who Marissa goes out with because that is none of his business, but he does want Volchok to know that Marissa has a drinking problem. Finally, he says that he won't be looking after her anymore, so now it is all on him to treat her right, because she deserves it. This is clearly so out of character for Ryan, which is probably why I think what he said was perfect. He can't just cut Marissa off and I am sure they are still leaving the option open for Ryan to save her at the end of this season, but he really needs to let thing go with her. When these two aren't tied up, it allows for so much more freedom in the story lines, and I think we already see things getting better.

Ryan and Volchok might have buried the hatchet, but that doesn't mean that Summer and Marissa are anywhere close to doing the same. During breakfast, they don't want to share bread, share preserves, or even look at each other. It becomes Marissa in her Fendi sunglasses vs. Summer in her Gucci shades. I never would have imagined that the Julie and Neil marriage would last longer than the Summer and Marissa friendship, but I guess I was wrong.

Now that Ryan has said his peace with Volchok, he wants to go see Sadie and tell her how he really feels, but when he gets to her house, some guy named Bob is there. Bob bought the house, which I would think that Ryan would have been prepared for, but he hadn't really thought about what was next for him and Sadie. I don't think that Sadie thought about it much more than Ryan, but she knew enough that it wouldn't be smart of her to change her whole life for a guy who is distracted. Therefore, she is moving back to Oregon.

The new Roberts family was having another one of their dinners, except Marissa hasn't joined the party. Marissa's behavior is affecting more than just her relationship with Summer, although it's not such a big deal since Marissa has her own room now. Neil and Julie aren't even married and they are already arguing about Marissa. Summer wants her dad to be happy, and he does seem happy with Julie, but she has no support. Ryan has another girl and Seth is on another date with his mom. This leaves Summer to deal with the slut spiral all by herself, and the spiral doesn't look like it is going to end.

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