Ryan, Seth, and Summer decide to get Marissa back into Harbor for their last semester, even though Marissa doesn't want to go back to Harbor, and none of Harbor's students want her back, either. Marissa's reason is Johnny, who thought he had gotten back onto that stupid surfing team, only to be rejected again and sent into a sulky funk. She doesn't want to leave him, so she craps on her friends' efforts -- which included snazzy t-shirts and buttons -- and refuses to attend the hearing they set up just for her. After a visit from Ryan, noble Johnny gets Chili to lie to Marissa that he did get back on the team and that his life is good again, sending Marissa running to the hearing just in time to hear how great and wonderful everyone thinks she is as a person and as a student. It's still not enough for the board, with Sandy-hating Judge Mercer and Taylor Townsend's insanely bitchy mother leading the anti-Marissa charge. Then Taylor Townsend risks the wrath of her mom to collect a petition full of student signatures on Marissa's behalf, while Matt Ramsey's private detective gets Sandy some information about Judge Mercer's junkie runaway son, and lo and behold, Marissa is a Harbor student once again! How lucky Harbor is to have such an awesome person like Marissa gracing its halls! Also, Julie and Dr. Roberts finally come clean to their respective daughters about living in a trailer and getting a divorce, only to find that their daughters don't really care.
"Last time on The O.C.," selected bits from the entire season were shown out of order or context in a desperate attempt to make it look like cool and exciting things happened.
The gang hangs out at the lamest bar in the whole world and sip "faux-jitos," a.k.a. fruit juice. I hope they didn't pay more than a dollar a glass for that stuff. Summer's enjoying the hell out of hers, but Marissa says she's "hit a wall" with the "mock-tails." She would know; I think it's safe to say that Marissa has hit a lot of walls. Summer moans that they have to return to school tomorrow after the awesome winter break they just spent together offscreen. Then she and Seth exchange really cute funny faces. Summer wishes she could've TiVoed their break so she could play it over and over again, which would make her one of the few people left on this planet who still care enough about this show to watch it at all, let alone multiple times. As usual, it is Marissa who brings the party down by saying that they're all going to be back at Harbor together, while she'll be suffering at Newport Union. Then she leaves to pee, and Seth goes to get more fake drinks. This leaves Summer and Ryan alone together to plot a way to get Marissa back in Harbor, hopefully before this Friday's senior class photos. Summer's hoping that now that Dean Evil is gone and some time has passed, no one will have a problem with Marissa being back in school, even though sweeps month is coming up, so if Marissa were going to shoot someone again, this would be the time. Seth returns with some cleverly-named mocktails ("Safe Sex on the Beach"), and they clue him in as to their plans. He's down for it, having resigned himself to doing nothing for the entire third season but going on little escapades to help Marissa out. They toast to Marissa's Harbor return and the waste of yet another episode on her and her problems. At least they didn't dirty alcohol's good name by involving it here.
The morning finds Ryan to Dr. Kim's office to discuss Marissa's case with her while Summer and Seth plan their campaign. Ryan's late to his meeting, because it's always a good idea to inconvenience someone right before you ask them for a big favor. Dr. Kim politely asks how Marissa is doing, and Ryan reports that she's "as good as can be expected" at public school, which means, judging by what this show's writers seem to think public school is like, Marissa has managed to escape the bubonic plague and is making do with the temperamental Apple IIgs and three STD prevention pamphlets that comprise the school's library/media center. Dr. Kim is immediately sorry for giving Ryan such an easy opportunity to segue into what he came to talk about: Marissa's chances of getting back into Harbor the last semester. Dr. Kim isn't very hopeful, saying that it's the decision of the Board of Trustees, who are conveniently meeting this Thursday. Dr. Kim promises to try to get Marissa's case put on the docket, but doubts that the board would reverse its decision. She adds that since students aren't allowed to speak at board meetings even though it's the board of a freaking school, Ryan will need a parent advocate to act on his behalf. Dr. Kim says that Ryan can help his case by finding an instance where another student was expelled for violence and then let back in to use as precedent. She suggests paying close attention to fall of 1996. Nothing could make me love Dr. Kim more than if there wasn't anything remotely useful in Fall of 1996's transcripts and she was just saying that to send him on a wild goose chase. More likely, though, she wants Marissa back at Harbor as much as the rest of us don't.
Sad music plays us into Newport Union, where the downtrodden dregs of society are educated. Horribly, Johnny runs up to meet Marissa. They haven't seen each other all break, which is another reason why it sucks that we weren't privy to the gang's Johnny-less winter exploits, and Johnny's recovering from his knee surgery well. Well enough, in fact, to forget that whole robbing-the-Mini-Mart thing ever happen. Now you forget, too! FORGET! He even got back on the PacWest team as an alternate. There's a party to celebrate this on Thursday, and Johnny was hoping that Marissa would accompany him to it as opposed to Chili or his mother, who, unlike Marissa, actually were there for him over winter break and all those years before Johnny and Marissa met. But Johnny credits Marissa for making him all better. She agrees to go, and gives Johnny a hug that will no doubt lead him on some more.
Kirsten and Julie have lunch and go over their new dating service's client applications. Here's a business tip from me to Kirsten and Julie: don't go over paperwork to food and drinks. You will inevitably spill something on them and no one wants to give their money to people who can't even match a fork to their mouths, let alone people to each other. Not like this Julie-and-Kirsten-matchmaking company storyline will be progressing to the stage where we ever even see them with their clients, since we all know it might get a few mentions here and there for the rest of the season and then disappear completely by Season 4. Julie spots the suddenly ubiquitous Dr. Neil wandering around aimlessly, and takes off to say hello. Kirsten is left wondering why she even bothers to have a business partner.
"Should old acquaintance be forgot?" Julie greets Dr. Neil. Dr. Neil laughs that Julie is more than an acquaintance and not in danger of being old anytime soon. Julie takes that as a compliment as opposed to a dig at all the plastic surgery her face appears to have undergone, and exposits that Dr. Neil had her over for Christmas dinner and that neither she nor Dr. Neil have told their daughters the truth about living in a trailer or facing a divorce.
Now that they require her campaign-leading services, Taylor Townsend is friends with Seth and Summer again. She invited them to a Boxing Day party over the break that neither of them saw fit to attend or even RSVP to, but she's still ready to help them out with whatever they need from her -- until she realizes that they want Marissa back at Harbor. But when Seth and Summer hang the promise of their everlasting friendship over her head, Taylor agrees to help them out. Now that they've gotten what they want out of her, Seth and Summer leave. Taylor Townsend's tablemates -- two young ladies who appear to be friends with her despite everything we've heard about her having no friends -- cannot believe that Taylor would help get her social rival back into Harbor, especially since it was Taylor Townsend's mother who spearheaded the parent campaign to get Marissa kicked out in the first place. I'm just sad that not even Taylor Townsend is free from the Marissa love train that appears to have run over every single character on this show, be they regular castmembers or just guest stars. Even the background extras have been instructed to mouth the sentence "Marissa Cooper is great" instead of the usual "broccoli, rutabaga."
Ryan brings his case to new Parental Advocate Sandy, citing the precedent that he found (with much assistance from Dr. Kim) where one student was expelled for threatening another one with a knife, and then allowed back into Harbor. Sandy still isn't too optimistic about Marissa's case, but he'll take it on because he loves trying to beat the odds and piss people off. Unfortunately, he's pissed off the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, a hard-ass judge who hates everyone, a few times in the past, making him the best possible choice as a parental advocate for sure.
Ryan finally gives Marissa the great news about all the work they've been doing to get her back into Harbor. Marissa claims to be thrilled at the chance of finishing high school with her friends, until she finds out that the board meeting is at the same time as Johnny's surfing party. She doesn't tell Ryan that, though.
Ryan leaves, and Marissa wanders into Summer's bedroom to piss all over their plan and tell her that she already promised Johnny she'd go to his surfing party. Summer says that Marissa will just have to cancel on Johnny, and hands Marissa a phone to do it. Summer then leaves the room so that Marissa can dial all of three numbers and then hang up because she's either afraid of disappointing Johnny or just too weak from hunger to press the last four keys.
The morning, Ryan and Seth enter the kitchen with poster board and paint with which to make their protest signs. Kirsten finds their enthusiasm extremely adorable because she rarely gets a chance to be on screen anymore, let alone to show emotion, so she wants to take advantage of it. The boys leave the kitchen, and Kirsten and Sandy talk about how much Chairman of the Board Judge Mercer hates Sandy, to the point of throwing him in jail for contempt of court once because he didn't like Sandy's closing argument. Which, again, would have been much more fun to watch than Marissa's Johnny-angst, and that's coming from someone who saw the episode of Night Court where Harry went on vacation and left a senile judge as his substitute who then threw everyone in jail for ridiculous contempt charges except for Bull, who he made wear a woman's wig because the glare off his head was too bright. Even after seeing that, Sandy getting thrown in jail for contempt would have seemed fresh and new compared to the stale stuff this show has thrown at us all season.
Chili and Johnny chat about Johnny's upcoming appointment with the PacWest team doctor, who has to check Johnny even though Johnny's regular doctor said that his knee was fine. They're sure it won't be a problem, which of couse means it will be. Marissa walks up and asks to speak with Johnny alone, and Chili dutifully leaves them, promising to give Johnny a ride to the doctor's office during lunch because, at this public school, students are allowed to come and go at whim. Marissa breaks the news to Johnny about not being to go to his party because she might be going back to Harbor, and he takes the news really well. Too well for Marissa, who seems pretty put out that Johnny didn't burst into tears at the thought of not being able to seeing Marissa's shining angel face at school every day or have the privilege of sharing space with her at that surf party. Johnny says that he'll invite Chili instead, but makes a sulky face as soon as Marissa's back is turned.
Taylor Townsend wields a sign that reads "Marissa Cooper Graduates." She was so into the meta of ripping off 's famous "Donna Martin Graduates" episode that she didn't even get the facts right. It should really say "Marissa Cooper Graduates (from Harbor)." But I won't quibble. Taylor Townsend organizes the hell out of the campaign, assigning the gang to t-shirt and petition duties until her mother rushes up, absolutely furious at her daughter for being a part of this Marissa campaign when Mrs. T is on the board that expelled her. Mrs. T pities the fool who goes against her wishes, and does not approve of the hilarious "Free Winona"-style "Free Marissa" flier and t-shirt logo. She drags Taylor Townsend away to yell at her, but Seth and Summer still get to eavesdrop, thanks to Summer's heretofore unknown ability to read lips. She says she got it from Star magazine's "What Stars Are Really Saying" section, which doesn't make any sense unless Star is now putting LCD screens with short video segments into their magazines. Mrs. T is super-pissed, especially since the reason she got Marissa expelled was to give Taylor Townsend a chance to make more friends. Seth calls this "demented," which is true. It is demented, and it doesn't really make any sense. How does one person's expulsion guarantee the popularity of another unless the school only had like three students to begin with, thereby leaving the remaining student with no choice but to be friends with his only classmate? Wouldn't it have been easier if Mrs. T just had her daughter transferred to a different elite private school so that she could make a fresh start? And why is she so freaking obsessed with her daughter's popularity anyway? Chill out, Mrs. T. Mrs. T storms off, and Taylor Townsend returns to the group and sadly pulls out of the campaign. Seth is very upset about this, since it means he won't get to meet the guy who made their buttons. He was hoping to snap a couple of free ones to put on the lapel of his tight hipster blazer.
Matt Ramsey continues to exist, and he tells Sandy how the NewNewport Group's "licensed private investigator," whom Sandy did not know of until just now, dug up some information about a property they were looking at buying that will make it a very valuable investment indeed. Matt really is showing why Sandy was smart to keep him with all this concealing of company expenditures and making offers on properties without consulting Sandy first. And Sandy's showing what a great boss he really is, being totally out of the loop when it comes to just about everything related to his business in order to spend time defending Marissa's right to go to a private school I don't understand how her mother is supposed to be able to pay for. Sandy asks if their investigator can get some information on Judge Mercer, and Matt is happy to oblige. I hope they aren't paying the guy for those services with company money.
Ryan meets Marissa for lunch, since Harbor also seems to have an open-door policy when it comes to letting its students leave campus whenever they please. Marissa claims to like the Free Marissa t-shirt Ryan brought her, hoping that baseball caps and coffee mugs will be soon to follow. She might want to voice her desire for a Free Marissa tampon too, if those recent publicity photos of poor, poor Mischa Barton wearing some period-stained white pants are anything to go by. It's a low blow to mention it, I know, especially since getting caught with leakage and then having it shown to millions has to be one of every woman's worst nightmares, but what the hell was she thinking, wearing white pants and then hanging out at paparazzi den Sunset Strip? Just wear baggy dark pants for three days a month like the rest of us, Mischa! Anyway, Ryan asks where Johnny is, and Marissa tells him about Johnny's good fortune in getting back on the PacWest team. She gets a call from Chili and tells Ryan that he's not feeling well so she needs to bring him a book RIGHT NOW. She leaves her salad, yogurt, and bottled water untouched (not surprising), and takes off. Ryan volunteers to give her a ride, but she refuses it even though I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a her own car.
Summer slams Free Marissa posters on every locker, whether the locker's owners want them there or not. Don't do that, Summer. If I found my locker plastered with Marissa's face and demands to free her from the hell that is public school, I'd turn around and campaign against Marissa just because I was so pissed that someone vandalized my locker like that. Ryan asks Summer if there's something going on with Marissa and Johnny that he doesn't know, and Summer spills that Marissa feels like she's abandoning Johnny by leaving Newport Union. "Of course she is," Ryan mutters as he spins around, ready either to confront Marissa or just walk out of the scene because he's so sick of doing this every single week. Can't they recycle the footage of him being angry that Marissa cares more about Johnny's needs than his from the last seven episodes and show that instead of spending all this time and money filming new ones? Summer pulls him back, telling him that Marissa is just "wired" to be an uncaring and selfish bitch and that's why they all love her and therefore why the audience should love her too. Love her. LOVE HER!
Julie arrives at the Roberts Mansion to find Dr. Neil home but no Marissa, since Marissa and Summer aren't home from school yet. Because it's still, like, noon. Come on, Julie! Either be more involved in your kids' lives to at least know their daily schedules or just admit that you showed up early hoping to have some alone time with Dr. Neil! And what a prize he is in all his parachute-pants-wearing, puffy-bodied glory. He's home for the afternoon to have a talk with Summer and tell her that her stepmother is gone, while Julie wants to tell Marissa about the trailer park she now lives in. They both decide to go out for a drink together instead of being honest with their children.
Marissa finds Chili sitting in Johnny's trashed room. Chili tells her that the PacWest doctor wouldn't sign off on Johnny's knee, so he's off the PacWest tour again. Ha ha! Chili is devastated for his friend and probably his own entourage future and says he's never seen Johnny "like this." So he's off somewhere being a character I might actually enjoy watching? Marissa says that they HAVE to find Johnny, but Chili doesn't see the point, since they don't have anything to say to him to make him feel better. Johnny's future is ruined and his life is over. Although maybe they could say something like "how about going to college and getting yourself a new future?" At the very least, they could encourage him to get a haircut.
Seth, Summer, and Ryan hang out at the diner and bemoan the lack of petition signatures. Only thirteen people want Marissa back at Harbor. The gang attributes this failure to Taylor Townsend's no longer being on their team, but we all know it's really because no one at Harbor likes Marissa. I'm so glad the truth is finally being hinted at. Marissa walks in to the enthusiastic lies of her friends who, in order to make her feel better, are acting like Marissa is a sure thing to get back into Harbor. It doesn't work, since Marissa has far heavier things on her mind. She sighs that she won't be able to make it to the hearing after all, even though now that Johnny isn't on the PacWest team, there's no scheduling conflicts for her to blame her absence on. She just doesn't want to go back to Harbor. It would have been nice of her to tell them that earlier, but then again, they did do most of this without knowing how she felt about it in the first place.
The morning, Marissa shows up at the poolhouse to give Ryan an explanation for her feelings. "It's Johnny," she starts. Of course, Ryan's annoyed. She says that now that Johnny's out of PacWest, she doesn't want to leave him at Newport Union all alone. Except for, you know, Chili and whatever other friends he had before Marissa showed up there. She blames herself for all of Johnny's problems, and there is a definite correlation between Marissa entering his life and Johnny's life being ruined. She is a curse. Ryan tells her that she can't make Johnny's problems her problems or give up on her own future because Johnny's has been ruined. "I'm sorry" is Marissa's weak reply. Ryan says that they're meeting at the Cohen house before the meeting, just in case she wants to join them.
Matt's "guy" came through with some juicy information about Judge Mercer. Apparently, he has a junkie son who disappeared after getting kicked out of military school. So if Judge Mercer wants to be a prick to Sandy tonight, Matt says, at least Sandy will have some "ammunition." Sandy doesn't like the idea of exploiting a family tragedy and embarrassing a guy in front of the all those Harbor parents, but he also doesn't want to disappoint the show's four main characters.
Summer and Seth ask passersby to sign their petissa. "Sign this, geek," a guy snorts, with his hand somewhere below the frame in what we can assume is his crotch region. "I'm not gonna sign his genitals," Seth says, and I love that he felt the need to make that clear. Seth then dares to say that maybe they're not getting signatures because people don't like Marissa. Sacrilege! "WHOA!" Summer says, glancing towards the heavens to make sure there aren't any lightning bolts headed for he who speaketh such heresy; "EVERYBODY likes Marissa." Have the subliminal messages worked their way into your subconscious yet? She blames the school's apathetic spirit for their failure, saying that they need someone strong and terrifying to get the students mobilized. Someone like Taylor Townsend. Summer gives Seth her permission to do "whatever it takes" to get Taylor back on their side, because she loves Marissa more than she loves Seth. And who doesn't? WHO DOESN'T?! YOU DO! EVERYBODY LOVES MARISSA!
Johnny has returned home to sulk and examine the surf trophy he broke in a fit of wimpy pique. Ryan drops by on his way to school, which means that it's still ass-early in the morning and that might be the real reason why no one at Harbor wanted to sign the petition. I can't even get my hand muscles to work well enough to use a writing utensil, let alone get my brain to think about whether or not I want to sign a petition that early in the morning. Ryan informs Johnny that it's his fault that Marissa doesn't want to go back to Harbor, and that Ryan doesn't appreciate it. Johnny says he didn't ask Marissa to do anything for him. "You didn't have to!" Ryan snaps. No, he didn't, because Marissa is so good and right and just that she senses people's problems and must help the less fortunate even if it makes everyone else in her life suffer. Ryan tells Johnny that he wants Marissa to feel "free" to make her school choice, and then slams Johnny's bedroom door. Johnny makes a sad face.
Kirsten stops by the NewNewport Group to drop off some lunch for her husband. Sandy approves of this, but still seems troubled, so Kirsten asks him what's up. He tells her about Judge Mercer, who has now gone from putting him in a jail for contempt to trying to get Sandy disbarred. Judge Mercer's evil deeds expand in scope as rapidly as the size of the fish you tell your friends you caught. He's gone from "not liking" Sandy to trying to destroy his career in the space of twenty minutes! Sandy doesn't know if he should use the info about Mercer's kid to help win his case tonight. Kirsten tells him to look inside his heart or whatever.
Seth finds Taylor Townsend at her locker and says he is now allowed to offer her sexual favors in return for her assistance on the Marissa campaign. Wow, that's really, really insulting! Taylor Townsend, you are better off with no friends at all than with these jerks. She overshares that a night of romance with her would involve Seth being at the wrong end of candlewax, tube socks, and Fiona Apple's newest release, and I'm beginning to see why Dean Evil was so willing to move Back East. And while I can understand, if not necessarily approve of, the wax and Fiona Apple, I am totally lost as to the purpose of those tube socks. And I'm sure I'm better off not knowing, so please do not email me with your suggestions as to their use. Taylor says that she still won't give into her lust for Seth if it means going against her mother, so Seth tries to appeal to her heart and intense need for friends, saying that if Marissa comes back to Harbor, Taylor's friend count will be increased to four. Four crappy friends, one of whom's friendship has been known to lead to being cheated on, hit by a car, and destroying pro surfing dreams. Fun times are in store for Taylor! Taylor still remains steadfast in her decision not to go against her mother, a sports agent she calls a "bored, bitter ballbuster" who threatened to take away Taylor's college tuition if Taylor went against her. "You can get a scholarship," Seth says. Well, not really. It's pretty hard to get a full scholarship, especially if it's to an expensive private university and your parents are rich. Taylor declines. Seth gives her the petition anyway, telling her that she's "too good" to grow up and become her mother. She's too good for friends like Seth and Summer, too.
There's a knock at the trailer door. Julie assumes it's Gus and rejects his very generous offer of pigeon pie. Sadly, it isn't Gus, but Dr. Neil at the door. Julie rushes off to hide the pork rinds and any other incriminating evidence of her newly rediscovered trailer trashiness, but Dr. Neil is cool with it and offers to give her a ride to Marissa's hearing. Julie says she won't be going because she thinks that Marissa is better off without her there. Dr. Neil won't accept no for an answer. But he will accept some of Julie's pork rinds while she changes for the meeting.
Surprise, surprise! Marissa hasn't shown up at the Cohen house. Seth and Ryan are ready to give up, but Summer still holds out hope.
Marissa, however, is still at school, with no plans to go to any meeting on her behalf. Then Chili runs up and informs her that Johnny is actually back on the PacWest team, thanks to Johnny's real doctor knowing the PacWest doctor and putting in a call on Johnny's behalf. He'll be leaving month and getting his GED on the road. Chili will be joining him, thanks to his father's frequent flier miles. Because we all know how those poor people rack up the airplane trips. This leaves Marissa at Newport Union all by herself. "I gotta go," she says. She takes off, and Johnny steps out from behind a door he's apparently been hiding behind for the entire school day and shares a sad glance with Chili. You know, I like Chili when he isn't acting like a spaz. I wish we had seen more of him and less of his friends.
Some time later, Marissa still hasn't shown up for the Board meeting. Even Summer has to face the music that their mission has failed due to lack of Marissa. But then Marissa arrives! Happy happy, joy joy!
All of Newport has shown up for the meeting. Judge Mercer gives Sandy a frosty reception, and then Matt runs in with some news he wants to tell Sandy out in the hall. They pass Taylor and Mrs. T there, who are still squabbling over Taylor's support of Marissa. Mrs. T demands a vow of loyalty from her daughter, which Taylor excuses herself from by running off to the bathroom. Back with Matt and Sandy, Matt says that his "guy" did a little more digging into Mercer Jr.
Summer and Seth call Taylor and inquire as to her whereabouts. Taylor lies that she's home and won't be going to the meeting. Seth thanks her anyway, saying he understands her predicament and promises to call her about the results. "That's really nice," Taylor says as Seth hangs up on her without saying goodbye. It's not that nice, really. I mean, he didn't exactly extend any future offers of friendship or invitations to upcoming parties, did he? And it's not like Taylor Townsend wouldn't have found out what happened at the meeting from her mother.
Mrs. T and her evil evilness show up at the meeting. She greets Dr. Neil, who introduces her to Julie. Mrs. T nastily calls Marissa a "chip off the old block," and Dr. Neil agrees: both Julie and Marissa have "brains, beauty, and a flare for fashion." Except for the ill-advised decision to wear white pants during a heavy flow day.
Judge Mercer calls the meeting to order and asks Mrs. T to speak on the behalf of the parents council. She says that Marissa shot a boy in the back and, therefore, the parents don't want their kids going to school with her, nor does Mrs. T think the students want to attend school with an attempted murderer. But wait! In comes Taylor Townsend donning a Free Marissa shirt and a petition with signatures of almost the entire Harbor student population. Mrs. T shoots poison dart arrows of rage out of her eyes, but Taylor can't be stopped. Judge Mercer dismisses the petition, saying that students are not the ones making this decision, so it doesn't carry much weight. Julie stands up and says that, as a parent, she would like everyone to know that Marissa is full of "dignity" and "maturity," like the time when she had a very mature hissy fit and threw her laptop computer on the floor in a most dignified manner. Dr. Neil joins the Marissa Rocks movement and says that Marissa has been living with him for almost the entire season, so he knows all about her even though he wasn't even around until the writers decided to pair him up with Julie. "And so I can say without hesitation," Dr. Neil says as he proceeds to hesitate, "that this young lady would make any father proud and the school would be lucky to have her." And she cures cancer and makes babies smile and hugs puppies, too!
It's still not enough for Judge Mercer, who points out that there's no precedent for re-admitting a student who was expelled for violent reasons. Ryan calls Mercer right out on that one, which he should, since it's not like the knife incident happened in, like, 1896 so that it would be understandable that no one was aware of it. It was just less than ten years ago! Come on! "He's right," Dr. Kim says out of nowhere. Ryan hands Mercer a copy of the transcript and explains the incident, saying that when no charges were filed against the student, he was re-admitted. Mrs. T tells him to shut up, citing the rule that students can't speak at board meetings. Mercer has to admit that Ryan has a point there, but he still isn't going to let Marissa back in. So now it's Sandy's turn to come forward in Marissa's defense and resolve his own internal moral dilemma. He pointedly argues that sometimes kids, be they daughters OR SONS, go through a tough time and it's wrong to "close the door" on their futures because of it. You need to be there for your drug-addict military school dropout -- er, your daughter who shot some guy in self-defense. And everyone in the room thinks that Marissa is perfectly safe and a model student even though she had that OD problem back in Season 1 that we must all forget about. FORGET IT. MARISSA IS PERFECT. "It's so rare in life that anyone gets a second chance," Sandy says.
Johnny listens from outside the door as Mercer declares that Marissa can return to Harbor. Johnny is bummed. Cry me a river, Special Guest Star. Inside the room, everyone applauds with surprisingly little enthusiasm. Mrs. T walks by her daughter without even acknowledging her, and Taylor asks her "friends" for a ride home. Seth and Summer say no way, now that they have Marissa back and Taylor has served her purpose. Actually, Summer invites Taylor to sleep over her house, which half the town seems to live in at this point. I wouldn't be surprised to find all the long-forgotten characters hiding out in the Roberts's massive attic.
Sandy thanks Mercer for his decision. Mercer thanks Sandy for keeping the information about his son secret. Sandy says he has a special prize for Mercer for his cooperation -- the address of an L.A. shelter that his investigator sent Mercer Jr. to after finding him on the street! Mercer is touched and grateful. Kirsten calls Sandy her hero.
Marissa and Julie hug, and then it's time for Julie to come clean. She lives in a trailer park. Marissa doesn't really care and graciously offers to come home whenever Julie wants her to. So, never.
We pan over to Summer and Dr. Neil, who are also sharing a parental confession moment. Summer's not too sad to lose the StepMonster, although she is sympathetic to her father for losing a wife. And now she'll be heading off to the diner with her friends. Julie and Dr. Neil watch their kids leave and decide that they both raised great daughters, although obviously Marissa is better than Summer because Marissa is perfect. As for Julie and Dr. Neil, they'll be off enjoying some real cocktails and bonding through alcoholism.
Ryan asks Marissa what made her change her mind about coming back to Harbor. Marissa tactfully informs him that it definitely and under no circumstances had anything to do with her feelings for Ryan, but with the fact that Johnny and Chili were leaving school so she didn't have anything better to do.
Ryan delays his diner meal for a trip to the beach, where he finds Johnny sulking in a lifeguard booth. He thanks Johnny for letting Marissa make her own decision.
The day, Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer sit in the very front row for their senior class picture. Taylor even gets to sit beside them, but the episode ends on a picture of just the four, all beaming with toothpaste-commercial-style open-mouth smiles. Except, of course, for Ryan, who's just barely got a smile on his face.