Hi Jenny --
I couldn't agree with you more about the O.C. finale. It doesn't seem like anyone was satisfied with how the big, shocking death played out. Here's a pretty good review:
http://fienprint.blogspot.com/2006/05/oc-my-god-they-killed-huge-spoilers.html
Heather Havrilesky has an unusually astute commentary here (read "worth the day pass"):
http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2006/05/19/the_oc/index.html
Havrilesky makes an excellent point about the problem with the show, which is that the rich teenaged characters aren't as divertingly destructive as they should be. It's the same problem Beverly Hills, 90210 had: it promised to tell the stories of rich and debauched Hollywood kids, but ultimately was about a small group of oddly moral teenagers who rarely so much as drank. My guess is that the problem isn't so much the shows themselves or the writers, but rather the medium. The central characters in network shows can't really exhibit the kind of bad behavior we want to see, week after week, without alienating sponsors. Veronica Mars sidestepped that problem by making the central character an outsider who was revolted by her peers' sex and drugs. (It was pretty smart of the writers to break Logan and Veronica up so early, too, because it allowed Logan to spend the entire second season seducing trophy wives.)
-- Pete
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