A few months ago,
when popular Fox teen drama The OC introduced Alex (Olivia Wilde)
as a new female love interest for one of the show's central characters,
Marissa (Mischa Barton), creator Josh Schwartz did a round of media
interviews proclaiming their relationship wasn't a ratings stunt,
but a genuine relationship that both the characters and the viewers
would find authentic and believable.
He almost pulled
it off.
Two months into it, the
relationship between Alex and Marissa was on track to be one of network
TV's best portrayal of a lesbian relationship in several years. Alex
was a sympathetic, confidant bisexual woman to whom Marissa seemed
genuinely drawn, and Marissa's struggle with her unexpected attraction
to Alex was realistically messy but sincere. Marissa's best friend
Summer (Rachel Bilson) was surprised but supportive of Marissa's relationship
with Alex, Alex's ex-boyfriend Seth (Adam Brody) had realistically
mixed emotions, and Marissa's mother handled her daughter's revelation
fairly well (primarily because she considered it just a phase).
Anyone who had seen the
first season of The O.C., or who had paid any attention to
the media this season, knew that this was going to be a short-lived
relationship. Marissa's on-again, off-again relationship with
Ryan (Benjamin Mckenzie) has been one of the anchor relationships
of the series from the very beginning; as Alex summarized
in her final episode, Marissa and Ryan are one of those couples
who are always a couple, even when they're not.
Consequently, few viewers
were expecting Alex and Marissa to ride off in the sunset together.
But the fact that Alex and Marissa's relationship was destined to
end didn't have to mean it couldn't be a great storyline--lesbian
viewers are used to taking what we can get on network television,
and even a short lesbian relationship is nothing to sneeze at if it's
done well.
But
the way the writers ended Alex and Marissa's relationship on last
week's episode undid virtually all of the achievements by Schwartz
and company in this area, and left many lesbian viewers feeling bewildered,
cheated, and even angry.
Instead
of having Alex gracefully exit the picture because she decided to
move back home with her parents, or simply because she saw the writing
on the wall with Marissa and Ryan, the writers inexplicably turned
Alex into a jealous, psychotic girlfriend who stalked her girlfriend,
threw beer cans in a fit of jealous rage, and made violent threats.
It was as if the Alex in the last two episodes was a completely different
person than the Alex in every other episode before (and a much worse
person).
But even more bizarre and nonsensical was Marissa's
sudden switch from being really into Alex, to avoiding her like
the plague and mooning over Ryan--telling Summer that he's the only
person she's ever really been in love with, and confessing that
the only reason she hasn't left Alex's house and moved back home
is that it would make her mom too happy. Huh?
While Marissa was supposedly reacting to being overwhelmed
by the realities and responsibilities of living on her own (like
rent and laundry), that didn't explain her sudden indifference to
Alex, or her schizophrenic behavior. Prior to her relationship with
Alex, Marissa had a brief summer fling with the gardener, and while
he dumped her because he (correctly) accused her of not being that
in to him, at least Marissa was consistent about it--she was always
one foot out the door on their relationship.
But she went from spending all of her time with
Alex, asking Alex if she could move in with her, and telling her
mom about the relationship--surprisingly, not because she wanted
to upset her, but because she wanted to make it feel more real--to
lying to Alex, avoiding her, and not joking and cuddling with Ryan
as Alex walks away in the last scene after saying goodbye. All in
about a two-week period.
Melodrama is the staple of a primetime soap, and
we weren't expecting the lesbian relationship to be exempt from
the same drama that characterizes the rest of the relationships
on the show. But we were expecting consistent character development,
and plot developments that didn't defy logic.
The problem with the end of the lesbian storyline
isn't that Alex and Marissa broke up, but that both girls turned
into completely different characters in the last two episodes of
their relationship. It's as if the writers came into work one day,
decided they were too tired to try and keep this up anymore, and
voted to go back to what they knew best--Marissa and Ryan--as quickly
as possible, regardless of the credibility strain such an abrupt
reversal put on the show.
The characters deserved a better ending that that.
The show's Viewers deserved a better ending than that. With writing
like this, it's no wonder The O.C. is getting lower ratings its
getting this season--at least someone's getting what they deserve.
