9 Times The OC Made Little To No Sense At All

The OC is, without a doubt, one of the finest teen dramas to ever grace our screens. But that doesn’t mean it’s without its problems - here are 9 times this show confused the life out of us.

1) When Jimmy and Julie’s dog disappeared

Do you remember the Cooper family’s canine companion? Not many people do, because it featured in like, three episodes, and then vanished, never to be seen again. Its name was Dustin, or Justin, or something else kind of weird and unsuitable for a dog, and it clearly was not integral to any storylines.

2) When Sandy and Kirsten’s maid, Rosa, did the same

Rosa seemed like a gem. She was always around to change the sheets and offer a knowing smile to the show’s protagonists… UNTIL SHE WENT AWOL. Did she leave with the dog? Did they discover Seth’s copy of On the Road and go travelling together? We’ll never know.

3) When Sandy kissed Rebecca

So out of character. So upsetting. The Rebecca sub-plot of season 2 was the worst, and to make things even more heartbreaking it saw the start of Kirsten’s spiral into alcoholism. GET OUT OF SANDY’S SURF SHACK, REBECCA. WHILE YOU’VE BEEN GONE WE’VE BEEN BUILDING A LIFE. UGH.

4) When Ryan felt Lindsay’s links to his family were weird but didn’t question Marissa’s

Remember in season 2, when Lindsay finds out she’s actually Caleb Nichol’s illegitimate love child and for a while it’s like “Is she Ryan’s aunt? Is this weird? Do you think it’s illegal for them to make out?” and so on? Ryan kinda does think it’s weird for a bit - so much so that he considers ending things with Lindsay altogether. But HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE when in season 1 Marissa’s mom marries Caleb, making Marissa Ryan’s cousin or great grandma or second niece thrice removed or something. I CAN’T DO THE MATH.

5) When Kaitlin was 12… but then she was 15

Poor, forgotten Kaitlin is sent away to boarding school at the age of 12 and barely spoken about again until season 3 when she returns as a rebellious 15 year-old with a penchant for skinny dipping. Fine - slightly weird, but fine - except OC geeks have noted that only about 18 months pass between these two periods of time. Unless Kaitlin’s boarding school taught her how to speed up the ageing process, we’re pretty baffled.

6) When Marissa was supposed to be Harbor’s Social Chair but NEVER EVER had to turn up early to set up

I never wanted to be on any kind of prom-related committee because I knew it would involve showing up at 4pm, pretending to like my peers and blowing up balloons. But Marissa is Social Chair and somehow never gets roped into any pre-event activities bar carrying the occasional banner and stuffed penguin - she rocks up at 8pm with Ryan and the rest of the gang and leaves whenever she fancies. Honestly, it’s no wonder early-season-3-Taylor was peeved.

7) When they stole the egg from Risky Business and the police didn’t get involved

WHY YOU GOTTA KEEP RUINING STUFF, TREY? If you can’t recall this one, basically: Ryan’s morally-confused brother Trey steals a famous movie prop (a glass egg) and sells it, Seth and Ryan go to get it back, the guys who purchased the egg aren’t up for selling it on (DUH, they just bought the thing) so Ryan punches one of them in the face, throws the money on the ground and runs away with Seth and egg in hand. WHY WERE THERE NEVER ANY REPERCUSSIONS TO THIS ACT OF SEASON 2 INSANITY?

8) When Sandy blackmailed Dean Hess into letting Ryan back into school

This was another weirdly un-Sandy-ish moment. Taylor was 16 or 17 when she was gettin’ it on with Dean Hess - we can all agree that’s gross, wrong and a complete abuse of power on his part. Sandy thinks so too, but instead of reporting it, he uses the Dean’s illicit liaisons with a student as leverage to reverse Ryan’s expulsion and tells Hess to “find a job on the east coast.” So there’ll be nothing on the Dean’s record and he could easily do the same thing to a vulnerable girl in NYC - perhaps a Gossip Girl character - but at least Ryan’s going to private school again. WHAT?

9) When anyone believed Ryan was between the ages of 15 and 18

What is it with American teen drama high schools? They’ll let anyone who says “Uh… yeah, I’m 16!” in, no questions asked. If Ryan had turned up to my secondary school, he’d have been ushered into the staff room and asked if he was Mr. Jenkins, the new French teacher. If he’d hung out with me at my town’s equivalent of the Bait Shop, there’s not a chance in hell he’d have been IDed. When I was Ryan’s age I still had a brace and trainers with curly laces in ‘em, but whatever.