#bm 2x09 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

marrissacooper · 1 year

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I have just catching up on your blog, and as a fellow Marissa stan, wanted to say THANK YOU! Love your thoughts on the show. One thing that stood out to me was the q's about BM tension. By 314ish (there's the butt slap at the start of 310, the 'getting busy' ad-lib in 314). I think they were both done with the storyline tho. M has mentioned how toxic the set became and we see her isolated from the main cast shortly after and a lot of jokes made about mental health. (1/4)

It's hard I’m sure for those to not be taken personally. My hot take is that a lot of things on the show were aimed personally too, the RM fight in 2.09 Mindy has mentioned on the podcast if something happened between BM because it seemed real. And I think Mischa’s reaction in that scene is real too (that dialogue could have been aimed at Marissa and Mischa tbh), the fact that Mindy would think that B might react like that to M says a lot. All those mental health 'jokes' too (2/4).

Which isn’t surprising, because despite their chemistry on screen by 3.25, there seems to have been a total breakdown between them by mid-S3 that they never recovered from (I think they have had many, starting in S1 with their own personal romantic tension, lol). He is the only cast member to have not come out in her support once she was fired (he just called her 'a cast member'!) I think the Model Home scene in the finale is a genuine scene by Mischa – particularly the apology line. (3/4)

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Sorry for taking so long to reply! I hope you'll still see this... First of all thank you for taking the time to go through my blog 😊 I think you're right about the BM tension. Their chemistry definitely changed in the middle of s3, might be the bad writing, might be real life issues. I think they managed to switch it back on at the end of s3 for old times' sake. I'm not sure but they probably knew Mischa was leaving by then? So it might have been easier to forget about all the BTS drama and only remember the good times (the same thing that was happening on screen if you think about it.)

They definitely wrote personal things into the show, I think there's an Adam interview in the s1 dvd bonus where he says Josh did that a lot. The fight in 2x09 is already hard enough to watch as fiction, but if they were also saying these things to Mischa that's more than messed up. She was literally a teenager in a grown up world, no matter how "bad" her behavior was on set, this was not the way to address the issue. There's definitely something very real in the scene when Ryan says "You want to make a mess of your own life, FINE" and Marissa flinches. It could be good acting and directing, but you never know. That scene was brushed off too quickly and Ryan's apology was unsatisfying to say the least.

Honestly if BM really dated, it doesn't really paint Ben in a good light. That age gap was not insignificant.I can understand being mad at someone you care about because you think they're throwing away their life, but he was an adult man and Mischa was an 18 yo it girl in 2000s Hollywood. I love the model home scene (if you've been through my blog you know lol) and I LOVE Mischa's delivery of the apology. She put so much sincerity in it. But the implication that she was responsible "for all the craziness" is disappointing, especially when they mention Oliver right after like it's some private joke instead of a boy who held her at gunpoint. I do very much love this scene though, and if it was genuine on Mischa' part that's very sweet.

#ask #sorry this is very long #that's how annoying i am when i start talking about marissa #i'll answer the last part in a different post!#the oc

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safflowerseason · 4 years

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The OC rewatch - 2x09, The Ex-Factor

To the lovely and insightful anon who sent in the ask regarding my take on Ryan and Marissa’s fight in 2x09 -

I answered the post and put half of my response under a “Keep Reading” cut because it basically turned into a mini-essay and I wanted to preserve everyone’s timelines. But because this website has the clunky design of a junkyard car, the formatting got all messed up when I added tags to the ask post (@Tumblr - why can you not tag an ask post directly?!) and moved the cut to just below the original ask, hiding the whole response, at which point I got so frustrated I deleted the whole thing.

Anyway, Anon, you noted that this fight in 2x09 really encapsulates Ryan and Marissa’s baggage as a couple, and is also one of the few moments in the show they are genuinely open about their issues. As any Veep fans who read this blog know…I adore breaking down a good explosive fight (and I love writing them, too). One of my proudest accomplishments on this website is my close-reading of Dan and Amy’s fight in Ep. 5.03. So I analyzed the hell out of this fight for you, because you’re right—it is a very important fight for Ryan and Marissa. I also included the make-up conversation they have after the argument as well, because it seems to me that the two moments are linked.

First, a few opening comments.

Thematically, this episode calls back to Ep. 1.13, The Best Chrismukkah Ever, which is the last time we have really seen Ryan and Marissa confronting this idea that the way she deals with the challenges of her life—drinking and other reckless behavior—bring up very real shit for him, emotionally (even if he is also subconsciously attracted to her because of it). This dimension of their relationship kind of gets swept under the rug for the rest of S1, with the Oliver and Theresa drama. But it’s back on full display here, since Marissa is (theoretically) supposed to have spent most of the first third of S2 on a low-grade bender. Note that Ryan refers to the “Dawn Atwood special” earlier when he’s speaking to a drunk Lindsay. This is a familiar trauma, watching over a drunk woman, and it brings out the worst in him.

I also find this argument noteworthy because it shows Ryan in his worst light, but not necessarily Marissa. Yeah, she knowingly let Lindsay drink too much, which is a pretty passive-aggressive move, but she’s distinctly not Lindsay’s babysitter. And when a drunken Lindsay (somehow) makes her way back to the club, Marissa and Alex start looking after her. It’s Ryan who goes off on Marissa with very little provocation, and it’s clearly more about his own issues than hers. I just think it’s significant that this fight occurs on a night Marissa is pretty well behaved, all things considered. Not to wave away Marissa’s substance abuse issues, which are serious, but this fight at least demonstrates that Ryan’s explosions of violent overprotectiveness would not necessarily be solved if Marissa suddenly stopped drinking tomorrow. Their issues with one another are more complicated than that.

Anyway, so here we are, in the backroom of the The Bait Shop that is mysteriously run by an emancipated minor (Alex Kelly). Lindsay is passed out on the couch; Marissa and Alex are tending to her.

Marissa: I can do that. Ryan: I think you've done enough. Marissa: Oh, ok, so this is the part where you blame it all on me? Ryan: You’re right, it was Lindsay's idea to pound straight vodka and pass out…feel good to see someone else mess up for a change?

Out of all the teenagers on the show, I don’t think we ever see Ryan drink? He clearly views binge drinking as a moral failing. This is understandable given his upbringing, but alcoholism is much more than a question of good vs. bad. (Although just to be clear…I do not think binge drinking is a good thing, especially for teenagers.)

Marissa: It was her idea! And, ok, so it got a little outta control b- Ryan: It always does with you! You spent all last year trying to drag me down with you, and now her? You wanna make a mess outta your own life, fine! You’re doing a pretty good job of it if you ask me.

Ryan uses the word “mess” twice in this sequence of dialogue, which is very telling. Even more than S1, in S2 we’ve seen Ryan truly trying to capitalize on the opportunity his relationship with the Cohens has brought him. The line “drag me down with you” is extra significant. In S1, Ryan was pretty willing to throw himself into Marissa’s life and try to solve all her problems, which he views as Marissa “dragging him down.” (Lol, remember when he blew off his entrance exam for Harvard to help Marissa escape from the hospital?) But this year, Ryan has done the opposite. He’s thrown himself into things not involving Marissa, namely his schoolwork, and he clearly sees his relationship with Lindsay, studious and innocent, as part of that new direction. As a result, Marissa’s “mess” has become even more of a risk to his future.

But at the same time, Ryan is so afraid that Marissa is going to destroy her life in some way, and therefore his life. As you said, Anon, he’s conflicted about her place in his life because of the potential danger of her actions, even as he’s drawn to her beauty and vulnerability otherwise. So, he goes after her in a way that is pretty unjustified in this particular moment.

Alex: No one asked you! Ryan: (aggressively) What did you say?! Seth: Hey, Ryan, let’s…let’s go. Ryan: No, I'm not leaving her here. Alex: I’ll take care of her—you go.

As an episode that begins to set up Marissa’s relationship with Alex, this episode doesn’t do a bad job. Alex, as the one person in Marissa’s life who actually defends her, must come as an incredible relief.

And now we’re in Alex’s apartment, where Ryan has come to apologize.

Ryan: Look, I don't know…I…I guess I was hoping this could be easy...for you and me to stay friends…for you and Lindsay to be friends. Marissa: (skeptical) And have us all live happily ever after? Ryan: (sheepish) Yeah, something like that. Marissa: I know it seems like a million years ago we dated, but it wasn’t. Ryan: I know that. Marissa: And ok, maybe you're over it, maybe it doesn't mean anything to you anymore…maybe it never did...but it meant a lot to me. You meant a lot to me...still do.

I think Barton is actually decent in this scene. She doesn’t overplay Marissa’s confession. She’s very quiet and matter-of-fact, and it makes her words all the more devastating. Meanwhile, the camera cuts to Ryan’s face throughout this line, and Ben Mckenzie makes a series of expressions that make it pretty clear that Ryan has been pretty actively not thinking about his and Marissa’s relationship, because it’s just too much.

Ryan: ...it's not like that I...I don't know what it’s like… And…thinking you and Lindsay should be friends was a bad idea. Marissa: Why? I like her. And if you do the math, she's my step sister, so… Ryan: …I guess. (Mckenzie is unintentionally hilarious with this delivery.) (pause) Marissa: Look, clearly, it's gonna be strange for us for a while. Ryan: Yeah I know, you’re right. (pause, turns for the door) I’m sorry. That's what I came here to say. Marissa: I’m sorry too.

The way BM delivers that last line, genuinely heartfelt, the emphasis on the word “sorry”…it's really Ryan apologizing for his departure at the end of S1 and the manner of his return. He left abruptly, he came back abruptly, they never talked about any of it, and he and Marissa basically stopped speaking after the (contrived) DJ reveal. They never had a chance to clear the air, and it’s not like they broke up because they stopped having feelings for one other...all their joint pain over what happened has just been festering.

So, Anon, that’s my take on this great fight. Thanks so much for sending in the ask!

#the oc season two #ryan x marissa #ryan atwood #marissa cooper #alex kelly

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