REACTION: Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 2

The second installment of “Welcome to the OC, Bitches” on Tuesday focused on “The Model Home.”

“Welcome to the OC, Bitches,” an “O.C.” rewatch podcast hosted by Rachel Bilson (Summer) and Melinda Clarke (Julie), premiered last week. The pair chatted with Josh Schwartz, the creator of “The O.C.,” about the show’s origins and closely examined the pilot episode. It was an impressive debut, which made me eager to see today whether they would meet the high bar they set with episode 1.

This installment covered episode 2, “The Model Home,” in which Ryan (Ben McKenzie) hides out in, yes, a model home to avoid social services and keep up his newfound friendships with Seth (Adam Brody) and Marissa (Mischa Barton). It all goes up in flames, though, quite literally, after Ryan and Luke (Chris Carmack) get into a physical fight that sparks a fire.

For the discussion, Rachel and Melinda were joined by Patrick Rush, the show’s casting director.

Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 2, “The Model Home with Patrick Rush”

• Melinda said how “awesome” it was to talk to Josh Schwartz last week. Rachel joked that they were “reliving their youth” with the pilot discussion. Melinda introduced Patrick and rattled off the other well-known shows he worked on. Patrick: “Does this make me an honorary O.C. bitch?” Melinda shared that Patrick has cast her in a “number of things,” including “Everwood.” Rachel revealed she auditioned for “Everwood” too and it was a “tough blow” when someone who looked like her was cast. But because of that, she said, Patrick brought her in for “The O.C.,” which wouldn’t have been an option if she booked “Everwood.” Patrick: “It worked out the way it was supposed to.” Melinda pointed out that Chris Pratt was also on “Everwood.”

• Patrick said he loved the pilot script as soon as he read it. He had cast youth shows before, or, as he called them, “pretty crying white kids shows.” What he “loved about ‘The O.C.’” was that it was funny. He credited Rachel and Melinda as sources of “humor.” Patrick: “It just didn’t feel like another teen drama. It felt more layered. The characters felt more dimensional.” Patrick said Josh is a “genuinely good human being” and the “same today as he was then.” Melinda said she’s watching the show “with completely new eyes” now that she’s gone through the teen years with her daughter. Patrick credited Josh for how he was able to “bridge both worlds” between the adults and the kids and not havr it “feel schticky.” Patrick said the adults “weren’t just ‘Dawson’s Creek’ parents.” (FYI, Patrick is credited for casting on one DC episode, season 3’s “Two Gentlemen of Capeside,” which is one of my favorites.) Melinda said she “starts beaming” when she sees Peter and Adam onscreen together, calling it a “great original relationship.”

• Rachel wanted to know what it was like for Patrick to do the casting for the show. He said the studio and network wanted names that could play the adults. “As you make those lists and you sort of put the names that are dream names on it that you don’t think are gonna do it, and then you hear Peter Gallager responded to the material,” he recalled. The network wanted Peter to test, though, and he did, asking the execs what “song and dance” he had to do to get the role. One exec apparently replied Guys & Dolls… and he did it. Patrick: “I remember Josh saying ‘I never had anybody that famous read my words.’” Patrick called Peter an “anchor” for figuring out the rest of the cast. Melinda explained the process of testing and how it can be “nerve-wracking” and “adrenaline-producing,” but since she and Rachel were guest stars, they didn’t test. They just had regular auditions for their bit lines. Patrick: “You guys turned those lines into careers and characters we couldn’t live without.”

• Patrick said “you’re signing the next seven years of your life away, hopefully” when you come in for testing, indicating the pressure of the moment. He said “The O.C.” execs made the actors feel “warm and welcome,” but that isn’t always the case. Patrick said Josh and Stephanie never said to him “we’ll know it when they come in” in regard to what kind of person they wanted for a particular part. Rather, they had visions of what they wanted — including vision boards — and that’s exactly what Patrick prefers.

• That said, after a break, Melinda pointed out that those who were eventually cast on the show weren’t what Patrick and the producers were originally looking for. Patrick: “Ryan was a really hard role to cast because he sort of had to be everything, the bad boy but sexy and also have an edge but also fit into this world.” He said it was “probably” the last character cast of the series regulars. Patrick said he walked past Ben outside the audition, never having met him before but hoping he was the guy scheduled to audition. Patrick said Ben was “prepared” and his “heart opened when he did it.” Fortunately, the other decision-makers loved him as much as Patrick did. Patrick said they wanted to test Garrett Hedlund, but he was cast in Troy and unable to. He revealed they also auditioned Chris Pine “but at the time, Chris Pine’s skin was really bad and that broke my heart because I was a kid with acne.” Melinda said she was too and that she has a new breakout now, joking it was her “teenage angst” coming back. Patrick said Chris was “so good” and that Justin Hartley was another good one who auditioned. But Ben was “the one.” Melinda thought it was a great point that Ben was rejected on another pilot but recommended for this one and it worked out. Rachel noted how it was the same for her. Rachel: “Everything works out as it should. Who else could’ve played Ryan? No, Ben had to play Ryan. He was Ryan.”

• Patrick said rewatching the episode, he thought Ben was “so good” and “broken in a perfect way for that role.” Rachel: “Rewatching it, I’m so blown away by how good everyone is, but really taken with Ben.” She said she’s “not patting myself on the back” because she wasn’t in the first two episodes much. Patrick recited one of Summer’s lines, though, and Melinda said she wrote that one (the Oxycontin one) down too because she loved it. Patrick noted how they tested Olivia Wilde for Marissa and thought she was “spectacular,” along with Kate Mara. Rachel never knew that Kate auditioned, prompting Patrick to say they’ll get together with his pilot notebook and she can see “everyone with every note.” Melinda said they’ll bring him back for another podcast just for that. Patrick: “I always said, if I die, burn my notebooks.”

• Patrick said Shailene was 11 when she was cast. Rachel wasn’t sure how many episodes Shailene was in, guessing it was two, while Patrick thought it was about 10 — the actual answer is six. Rachel stressed how she’s never watched the show before and is “catching up” and will “eventually get there.” Patrick said Julie’s best line was “China has alopecia.” Melinda said there are “cult followings” for their characters and that’s an “infamous” line among them. They also laughed again about Summer’s Oxycontin line and Rachel thanked her Valley high school friends for the “inspiration” for her delivery. Melinda said she’d tell Patrick privately later who she “stole from” to play Julie. I’m quite curious now.

• Rachel gave the synopsis for “The Model Home” and Melinda set the stage with the opening scene. She made a joke about how the Newport landscape was better than Chino’s, then apologized, and then quipped she was becoming Julie Cooper. Rachel: “She’s taking over.” Melinda recounted the opening beats of the episode and Patrick pointed out that Ben’s body was on “full display” in the pool while Adam had his back to the camera the whole time. They all cracked up over it and Patrick said it made him wonder if Adam was hairy. Rachel awkwardly said that he wasn’t and she knows “a little bit about it,” and noted how Adam is a surfer (meaning he’s fit) and said it was “probably a camera choice, not a body choice.” Rachel: “I’ll stick up for Brody here.” Patrick: “By the way, is there ever going to be a podcast where we talk about all the romances that were happening?” Rachel then recalled Patrick telling her about another on-set couple in a previous job whose first kiss with each other for their show was the last time they kissed a new person romantically. Rachel: “You said this to me about myself and Adam Brody. Now I don’t want to call you out that you were wrong, but…”

• Patrick then told the story, saying he was casting a WB show and chemistry-tested a young pair in which the actor kissed the actress when he wasn’t supposed to and apologized afterward, saying he had to do it because “if I don’t get the job, I’ll never get the chance to kiss her again.” He got the job “and they’ve been together ever since.” So who was the couple? Chyler Leigh and her now-husband Nathan West. Patrick: “They’ve literally been together since that moment.” He pointed out, “Nowadays, you couldn’t do that.” Melinda wanted to know when Rachel and Adam started dating. Rachel guessed during the first season.

• Melinda said she was taught that with romantic scenes, even if you’re not really into your partner, you have to find something in them you’re attracted to. Rachel asked Patrick if he did chemistry reads for casting this show and he said Mischa, who was the second cast after Peter, and Ben did one. Patrick said Mischa was 15 when cast and turned 16 during the pilot, but I think he was off by a year (she was 16 and turned 17). He revealed she had to do the “Mischa lean” to not look taller than Ben, but said she did it “effortlessly” and without even being told to.

• Melinda tried to praise Mischa as a “seasoned actor” by that point, with “technical skills,” because she had been working since she was a kid, but Patrick clearly disagreed and his visual reaction was priceless — just one of the bonuses of getting to WATCH this podcast versus only listening to it. Still, Patrick said, “At the end of the day, she was perfect as Marissa. She was really the right choice… She was an ‘it girl.’” Rachel: “She was the O.C. — beautiful and all of the above.” Patrick compared Mischa to Ali McGraw in Love Story.

• Melinda loved how “every line” out of Seth is witty and sarcastic. Patrick pointed out Adam’s mumble and how he was so “quick with the dialogue” that you could miss what he was saying. Melinda joked about needing to watch with subtitles. Melinda noted that Ryan’s genuine interest in Kirsten’s model home “foreshadows” what happens at the end of the series — a great observation. Melinda said how much she “loves” when Sandy and Seth tease Kirsten throughout the series about her inability to cook. She also made the great point that Ryan has probably never seen a family dinner before this. Patrick: “We got to see through his eyes how out of place he felt without any dialogue, which was a testament to how great he was.” Rachel says watching it now as an audience member, she’s “fully in it” with Ryan and seeing things from his perspective.

• Patrick said Seth was “cool because he wasn’t cool” and that he thinks “more girls fell in love with Seth than Ryan.” He compared it to “Dawson’s Creek,” with the expectation being girls would fall in love with Dawson, but they actually fell in love with Pacey. (For the record, I’m a Ryan girl and a Pacey girl.) Melinda argued that Seth thought he was cool, but his reality gets shifted when he talks with Marissa. She had another spot-on observation that Marissa’s drinking reminded Ryan of his mother and how, like with his mom, “he’d always be rescuing her from these situations.” Patrick: “I love a rescue project. That’s been my whole adult life.” 

• Patrick revealed he set Adam up to read for Seth, but he came in saying he wanted to audition for Ryan. He did, but then he had to come back and audition for Seth. To Rachel, this showed Adam’s confidence and Patrick noted that he wasn’t “pompous or a douche about it.” Patrick: “But I knew the network and the studio were never going to hire Adam to be the bad boy from Chino.” Melinda said she first thought Ben was playing Seth because he was “quiet” and thought Adam was playing Ryan because he was more “gregarious” and then learned it was the opposite casting. Patrick said he would’ve been “happy to be wrong” if Adam was right about himself playing Ryan. 

• Patrick said he always strives to be on the side of the actors: “You guys have kept me employed.” Both women then credited him for keeping them employed. Patrick: “I get to play a small part in people’s dreams coming true.” Melinda: “If everyone does their job, we get this magic on the screen and 18 years later we’re talking about it and having a blast.” That is a really wonderful summation.

• Patrick: “It’s literally a lifetime ago for you, Rachel.” Rachel said she was 21 when she shot the pilot — “different person completely, different life.” She said she’s “had such an emotional reaction” rewatching herself and thinking about her life then and “everything that’s transpired since then.” Patrick said the show doesn’t “feel dated” and he felt “proud” rewatching it and seeing that it’s a “really good show.”

• There was another break at this point and something that’s cool about the video version is that there’s visual components to the ads. In addition to seeing Rachel and Melinda talk about whatever they’re plugging, there are pictures and whatnot showing the product. Even though it’s still advertising at the end of the day, it feels like it adds something to the experience.

• Anyway, after the break, Melinda said how this episode really allows you to see the characters’ personalities and how they form relationships after the pilot. She called it a “pretty iconic scene” when they’re driving and Seth learns Marissa likes punk. Melinda wondered if that was formed from a real-life moment with Josh and Rachel confirmed that there was a real “epiphany” like that where Adam learned Mischa liked the same music as him, something you would never guess by looking at her.

• In addition to noting how that moment sets up Seth and Marissa’s later discussion, Patrick said Marissa and Ryan had a “really lovely moment that I didn’t remember” at the model home while Seth is skating in the empty pool. Melinda called it a “classic California scene” with them eating In-N-Out and skateboarding, but more seriously, they spoke about how much was said between Ryan and Marissa without saying a lot.

• Patrick also credited Josh with not “jamming all of that into the pilot.” Melinda: “This is how teenagers talk to each other.” She noted how comfortable the actors looked, saying, “I felt like I was watching Adam, Mischa, and Ben,” as opposed to Seth, Marissa and Ryan. Melinda: “We bond with our castmates and then we get to take that energy on to set.” Rachel: “We really did all hang out, like a lot.” Melinda thought there was a continuity error with the skate ramp seemingly disappearing and reappearing.

• Patrick: “Did anyone pick up a little ‘Luke was in love with Ryan’ vibe today?” This cracked them up. Rachel: “I want to watch the show you’re watching.” Melinda: “Patrick needs to join our podcast every week.” Patrick: “Cut me!... I think Luke was in love with Ryan. I stand by it.” Patrick pointed out how Luke carried Ryan out of the fire and picked him up hitchhiking. Rachel: “I see where you’re going.” Melinda: “Julie just seems to love Luke.” Patrick: “Whore!” He then said, “I wanted to be you for Halloween. I wanted to be Julie Cooper for Halloween.” Melinda: “I’ve heard of people being that.” Patrick: “It’s the ultimate compliment.”

• Melinda pointed out Ryan’s “guns” and Patrick clapped. Melinda: “Did you pause on that?” Patrick: “There might’ve been a rewind.” Rachel: “Now I have to go back and see!” Melinda said it was “immediate[ly]” clear in this episode that Josh was already tailoring things for Adam’s “talents.” Patrick acknowledged it was “a little dated” that Marissa and Seth brought Ryan a mixed CD and Rachel said she actually just got her daughter a cassette player because she doesn’t want them to “die.”

• Rachel said she remembered the pier montage with Marissa on Ryan’s bike “so vividly,” calling it “an iconic little montage.” Patrick called it “beautiful.” Rachel said it was “real” that they were having so much fun together. Melinda said they “got a lot of flack” for shooting at the Redondo pier instead of in Orange County, but union rules dictated how far they could go to film. She also quipped that they were at least filming in the right “vicinity,” versus a show like “Boston Public” filming in California. They did lament the traffic, though.

• Patrick called Kirsten a “narc” for calling the cops after Ryan went missing. Melinda called this exchange “iconic” — Kirsten: “What is it about this kid?” Sandy: “I was this kid.” Melinda also loved Jimmy’s reaction when Julie came in all upset about China having alopecia. Rachel said the diner was “iconic” and ultimately built on set, but she still sees photos of fans going to the real one. When Rachel said Luke and his crew show up at the diner and things go “awry,” Patrick cracked, “Because Luke’s in love with Ryan. I’m just gonna stick with that.” Melinda said she got “excited” like Seth did over the adrenaline of the fight and how he was finally “living life” instead of “living in books.” Melinda called Chris “the sweetest guy, but he just plays that bully so well.” Patrick liked the 8 Mile line and how Chris delivered it.

• They laughed again over the Oxycontin line, calling it “so O.C.” Rachel quipped that even though she wasn’t in the episode much, she still “left a mark.” Rachel brought up the use of “Hallelujah” and how Ryan telling Marissa to go “breaks your heart” because you could tell he already loved her. Patrick: “And she loves him!” Rachel: “That was love at first sight. I’m fully on board.” Patrick: “I was sort of guilty of that with Ben myself.” Rachel: “So was Luke. I’m just kidding.” Melinda: “I was having Ben dreams lately.” Rachel: “What?!” Melinda: “No, I literally have ‘O.C.’ dreams now because we’re doing this.”

• Rachel said that Luke pulling Ryan out of the fire shows he “does have a heart.” Patrick: “He’s not one-dimensional. It was really smart… to show that.” Melinda joked about Julie’s monochromatic makeup, saying she hopes it gets better as the show goes on. They were blown away by Patrick pointing out how Julie entered a scene with her big wedding ring on display. Patrick: “Honey! Invite a gay guy to the party — he notices shit like that!” But more seriously, he thought it “really says who Julie is.” Patrick: “She was gonna move on up to the O.C. She got herself a husband and a ring and a horse named China.” 

• Melinda loved how point-blank Seth told Sandy how he’d been forced to live amongst these “pod people” and then the first friend he gets, you kick him out. She was impressed by how Sandy got it from Seth’s perspective and how they reached a “mutual understanding.” Less seriously, Melinda observed how Marissa was wearing Uggs and Patrick held up a Post-it showing he had made the same observation and joked that he “blames Mischa” for the trend. He also said that when the episode originally aired, he thought Mischa was wearing the Uggs by mistake and hadn’t changed into her actual shoes for the scene. Rachel revealed she still has a pair of Uggs on which Adam drew himself, Ben, and Peter, but for Peter, “he just drew eyebrows.” That made me laugh aloud. 

• Patrick called working for Josh a “dream” and said he feels like he has to “cast Josh in every project… Josh was Seth. Then when I did ‘Chuck,’ Josh was Chuck.” He gave “Marvel’s Runaways” as another example. Patrick also recalled seeing Sam Rubin of KTLA (the same guy who was on the live “9021OMG” podcast last week) do a review of the show when it premiered and saying the actress playing Julie was “too young” and the actress playing Marissa was “too old.” He then sent a letter to Sam defending the actresses, pointing out Mischa was the right age and Melinda was old enough to be her mother, and asking for an apology… and the next day Sam apologized. Patrick did acknowledge, though, that Mischa looked older than her actual age and said that required them to cast older actors opposite her in order for them to look similarly aged. 

• Melinda said she “always played a little older” and Rachel recalled Kelly saying she could “date my son” because the age difference between her and Adam wasn’t that significant. Patrick: “Kelly Rowan’s really good in this show.” Both Rachel and Melinda called her “fantastic.” Patrick: “Kirsten could’ve been unlikable and I think she really did the trick of making her sympathetic.” Melinda: “I totally understand her point of view as a mother.” 

• They then quizzed Patrick, with the first question being: “What was Ryan’s dad in jail for?” Rachel admitted she wouldn’t be able to answer that if she didn’t have the answer in front of her. But Patrick got it right — armed robbery — and they were very impressed. Patrick then tried to turn the tables, asking who played Ryan’s dad, and Melinda correctly answered Kevin Sorbo (while Rachel thought he was never actually seen), but then Patrick wrongly said it was Jeffrey Dean Morgan. In actuality, Morgan appeared in one episode as an entirely different character from Sandy’s past. They were very confused about this, but Rachel and Melinda hilariously lost it when Patrick called Sorbo a “fucking weirdo.” (More details on Sorbo here.) Patrick: “I regret [casting] that one!” Patrick then rightly remembered that Morgan tied into Kim Delaney’s storyline, but they couldn’t remember what the storyline was. Patrick: “I wish he had played Ryan’s dad.” Melinda: “Me too.” Patrick then wrongly said Morgan was also a “dad on ‘Dawson’s Creek.’” You’re 0-for-2, buddy. Best to move on.

• The second question: “What item did Marissa not bring to the model home?” This one was multiple choice and Patrick called it “so easy” and got it right (the answer was a face mask). Patrick: “Ask a straight guy that. A queen’s gonna know!” Rachel loved that they brought toilet paper for Ryan so he could “take a poop” and Patrick gave “props to the prop guy” for giving them a “really beat-up roll of toilet paper.” The third question: “How much [money] does Jimmy need?” He got that one right too ($100K), so here he was 3-for-3. Kudos. Patrick: “I didn’t even know there was gonna be a test, but I love that I was paying attention.” Rachel said he “passed with flying colors.”

• Melinda asked Patrick about his charity project, “Best in Drag Show,” which she and Rachel knew from way back when, and he detailed how they still pulled off the event during the pandemic. Melinda said she was a “judge a couple times” and called it “one of the best evenings of the year.” Patrick explained how it benefits the Alliance for Housing and Healing, which helps homeless people with HIV find housing and medication. He warned, though: “It’s not RuPaul-quality drag queens. It’s guys who shouldn’t be in drag, basically.” Melinda called it “so unique.”

• Rachel thanked Patrick for coming on “and bringing up the things people really want to know.” Patrick said she was “a little bit but perfectly evasive.” Melinda asked if he’d come back for future episodes. Patrick: “I’m usually never invited somewhere twice so I’d be thrilled to come back. Plus, I don’t want to wait 18 more years to see you guys.”

• They then played a voicemail from a fan who asked what aspects of their personalities are in their characters and what didn’t emerge or could’ve been done more in-depth. Melinda said she didn’t think they could “do any more” with Julie than they did, given the full arc she went through over the course of the series. Rachel agreed for Summer and also noted how Josh liked to put “a lot of myself” in the character. Rachel: “I kind of feel like we summed it all up quite nicely.” Melinda noted how Julie and Summer were different characters, but went through similar things (namely, the death of Marissa) and came together in season 4. 

• Patrick was off the call now, but Melinda said again how she hopes he comes back and Rachel said she wants his “commentary” just in everyday life. Melinda: “I think that’s what’s wonderful about the podcast. We’re gonna have different guests who had a completely different experience from us.” She said it “would get really boring” if we were only hearing from her and Rachel. They ended with Rachel thanking the fans and Melinda asked them to “follow, rate, and review.”

So I have two main gripes: First off, while the podcast audio seems to be posted first thing in the morning, the video version doesn’t go up until sometime in the afternoon. As someone who prefers the video format but has a schedule that favors beginning my watch earlier in the day, it’s disappointing that the video version isn’t released until so much later. I don’t see why they shouldn’t go up simultaneously. Post both at the same time and allow fans to pick their preferred format. But like last week, I had to start by listening to the audio and then later switched over to the video.

Second, at 82 minutes, this second installment was only marginally shorter than last week’s debut. I’m really torn on this, to be honest. I think the length is an asset to them because it is allowing for really detailed and deep dives. But as the consumer, it feels like ugh. Perhaps I’m wrong, but many people don’t have excessive amounts of time to devote to podcasts and other recreational activities. If your time is limited and you already have various other commitments and / or podcast subscriptions, adding a new one that is more than an hour each week can feel like a burden, even if you greatly enjoy the subject matter. Selfishly, I wish they capped things at 45-60 minutes, but I do understand that it may be a trade-off — a shorter podcast could also mean a less fulfilling one.

I will say, though, even with it being long, both last week and this week the podcast felt like it went by fast. I never feel that way with “9021OMG.” And for as long as it is, this was a tight 82 minutes. It was 82 minutes that stayed about 99 percent on topic. It was 82 minutes that was genuinely devoted to the show. It was 82 minutes that was jam-packed with relevant content. It was very entertaining, very informative, and very insightful, just like last week.

Patrick was a hoot, though he probably crossed the line a few times. Rachel was better at asking questions this time and helping lead the discussion, versus being more passive last week. And I just love how they literally go scene by scene to dissect the episode. They’re clearly working from a detailed outline that gets at all the specific beats of the episode That’s a true rewatch podcast. The whole experience just feels richer.

I may lament the time commitment each week, but that’s a helluva lot better than the lamenting the quality.

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