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Sandy tells Ryan that his father is out of jail and in town. At first, Ryan doesn't want to see the guy, but then Frank says he's dying of lung cancer and Ryan changes his mind. This leads to another Awkward Family Dinner, much to Sandy's chagrin, as he's feeling a tad competitive with the New Old Father. Especially since Frank seems like such a cool awesome guy and comes complete with adorable Ryan baby pictures. Oh, wait -- that would make things easy for Ryan, and we can't have that. Sandy finds out that Frank was lying about the cancer and takes advantage of the opportunity to punch Frank in the face before kicking him out of his house. On one hand, you're like, "Go, Sandy, go! He deserves it!" But on the other, you're like, "Boo, Sandy, boo! You're supposed to be the father who doesn't hit people!" Ryan isn't too pleased with BioDad, but says he'll give him a call anyway. Because Ryan is a saint. With hot sideburns.
Meanwhile, Kaitlin is forced to work with classmate Will, who's supposedly really good at school even though he can't enunciate worth a damn and has no personality. Seth and Summer try to make each other call off the engagement neither of them really wants now that Summer's not pregnant, in several contrived and ridiculous ways that would be tiresome if they weren't so entertaining. Speaking of entertaining, Julie spends the episode helping Summer convert to Judaism (with flashcards!) and falling for Frank (why???). Want more? The full recap starts right below!
First of all, many thanks to Jacob for covering for me for the past two episodes. As I was in that coma and still haven't removed CSI from my TiVo season pass even though I haven't watched that show in years, I didn't get a chance to actually watch the last two episodes, so I apologize ahead of time if I get something wrong. Second of all, The O.C.'s beginning every episode title with the word "the" conceit is getting a little out of hand. "The My Two Dads" doesn't even make sense. My TiVo wouldn't even go for it, and says the episode is simply called "My Two Dads." I was sort of hoping to see Greg Evigan or Paul Reiser, but they where nowhere to be found in this episode. Which I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about it. Finally, yes, this show has been cancelled. There are only eight more episodes until what is sure to be a bittersweet end. On one hand, it sucks for the fans of this show that it's going to be over. But on the other, I don't know how much life this show had left in it. Especially since the cast members would probably be taking off as soon as their contracts would allow them to. Maybe it's better to go out now on a high note than groan along for ten seasons like Beverly Hills . We'll always have Tijuana.
We begin with Summer, lying in bed and staring at her new engagement ring. It stares right back at her. Because it's an eyeball. Taylor Townsend enters the room, dressed and ready for the day as she woke up early to compile a list of New Year's resolutions. "Stop waking up early to do stupid stuff like make a list of New Year's resolutions" should probably be pretty close to the top of that list. But no, all Taylor Townsend has is "stopping mooching off other people's families and get a job" and "start taking calcium supplements." I applaud her for that second resolution -- women especially need calcium to ward off the ravages of osteoporosis later in life and the younger they get started, the better -- but who is she really kidding with the first one? No one in this town has a job. Even the people who have jobs don't really have jobs. Summer suggests a third resolution: planning her wedding.
Summer and Taylor make their way into the kitchen, where Summer says that while she's sure she'll be getting married at some point in the future and most likely to Seth, she doesn't really want to get married now that she isn't pregnant. "Getting married is kind of a big deal. I should know," Taylor says. I guess she means she knows this now and not when she was trying to get out of her marriage by running away and making a friend pose as her secret lover. Because then, she didn't seem to take it all that seriously. Summer wants to break the engagement off, but doesn't want to actually tell Seth this, since he was so sincere when he proposed and this would break his heart. Taylor the Optimist says she's always wanted to plan a wedding and suggests "bagpipes" and "a replica of the Starship Enterprise." This sounds like it might possibly be the most awesome wedding ever.