Now that Ryan isn't being deprived of the privileged existence he's entitled to, we are now able to focus on some of the problems of the other characters, and other people are having issues. Take Marissa for instance. She nearly shot and killed somebody and was thrown out of her private school. Along the way, the only adult that she has been able to trust, her father, lied about getting back together with her mom, and ran away from the family rather than face the challenges of bringing them back together. Ryan took some notes on proper Newport escape procedure but Marissa had to be pretty devastated, even though she acted like it didn't bother her. She left to live with her mother, and is now effectively homeless. Oh, and her sister has been away at private school so long, I think she's actually in an internment camp.

Marissa's got issues, and there's really now way for her to express what she's feeling. Since she's been staying at Summer's house, she doesn't want to throw around the lawn furniture belonging to her gracious hosts. I made fun of the writers for trying to make us believe that Summer and Marissa shared a room, and when I aw them sleeping together in the same bed, the first thing I thought of after "Didn't I see this on Cinemax when I was 12" was "Oh come on! Summer at least has an extra sleeping bag? Why does she have to sleep with Marissa?" Well, Marissa is having nightmares about Trey, the sexual assault, and the shooting, all nicely packaged in a very McG-esque little bundle at the beginning of the show.

With no parents around to comfort her, Marissa decides to call one person who she believes she can count on for emotional support. It's late, but she wakes him up and tells him that she is scared. She's still trying to deal with Trey and she's not sleeping. This is sort of the point in time when you are hoping your boyfriend will be understanding, listen to what you have to say, and tell you that no matter what he will be there for you. Instead, Ryan says that Trey's gone, she doesn't have to be scared, and she should go back to sleep.