REACTION: Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 7

“The Escape” was the focus of Tuesday’s “Welcome to The OC, Bitches.”

As I’ve previously discussed, “The O.C.” premiered in August and went on hiatus in early September so FOX could cover the MLB playoffs and World Series. “The Escape,” the show’s seventh episode, had a big cliffhanger ending to keep viewers waiting with baited breath for the series’ next episode in October. It was pretty genius scheduling / marketing — get viewers hooked with a tantalizing batch of episodes to establish your new series before the fall TV season kicks off in earnest.

In this installment, before the cliffhanger, Ryan (Ben McKenzie), Seth (Adam Brody), Marissa (Mischa Barton), and Summer (Rachel Bilson) travel to Tijuana. Perhaps needless to say, the trip doesn’t go quite as planned. The episode was written by series creator Josh Schwartz and directed by Sanford (“Sandy”) Bookstaver, who helmed two additional episodes (including fan-favorite “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”). Bookstaver also directed one hour each of “Dawson’s Creek” and “One Tree Hill.”

Bilson and Melinda Clarke (Julie) discussed the episode with Matt Ramsey, who was an editor for the series across the first three seasons. And here’s a fun fact: The character Matt Ramsey, played by Jeff Hephner, was named after this Matt Ramsey!

Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 7, “The Escape with Matt Ramsey”

• Melinda and Rachel started with chit-chat about coffee / caffeine, morning rituals, and exercise for about three and a half minutes (great length!) before Rachel announced they were joined by Matt and Melinda did one of her humorous intros detailing his career. Melinda then introduced the episode with the synopsis and gave the writer and director.

• But before diving in, they wanted to know about Matt’s “journey” and his role as an editor. He explained how he gets the footage and works with the producers and director to put it together into an episode. As he rewatched this episode, he remembered “The O.C.” was shot on film. He said with high-definition today, they’d never be able to get away with the fake background used for the pool area.

• Rachel likened editing to putting together a puzzle — or piecing together a performance “to make it not suck.” Matt said they can also make story changes, such as rearranging scenes, in the editing room. “The O.C.” was his “second or third” job and he expected to be “mortified” while rewatching but he was “pleasantly surprised.” Melinda said the show “holds up,” except for the tans, ha. Matt said Josh’s scripts were “so well-written” and, from an editing standpoint, the pace of the actors’ performances was “spot-on.”

• Matt spoke about acclaimed film editor Walter Murch being one of his inspirations and how he advocated for focusing on emotion, story, and performance, which makes matching (continuity) less important… unless it’s egregious. He also said Norman Buckley, who worked on the show, was his mentor during season 1. Matt: “It was all fun and we made such great friendships. I’m still friends with people I met on that show 18 years ago.”

• After a break, Melinda asked Matt, “I have a question. Who was the most fun to edit — Mindy or Rachel?” Matt and Rachel cracked up. He then quipped that for this episode, it has to be Rachel because Melinda isn’t in it. Matt on doing seasons 1-3: “My last episode, I killed Marissa and then I walked out the door.” Rachel: “You were like, ‘mic drop.’” Matt joked that he’s going to get “hate mail” now. 

• Rachel wanted to know who messed up their lines the most. He didn’t answer, but went on to praise Rachel’s performance in this episode. Matt then said Adam was fun to cut because of all his “crazy ad libs.” Melinda said she remembered Kelly would “get the giggles the most,” but Matt said there was always giggling when Tate was on set. Rachel said she loses it “easily,” and Ben gave her a tip that if you tell yourself it’s so funny, you stop laughing… and she still does that and thinks of him today. Melinda: “This is making me laugh.”

• Matt said assistant editors put together the blooper reels, but he remembers there being “pretty funny ones,” including one where Tate “passes gas.” They enhanced the sound and played it at a wrap party. Tate then went to Matt and “defended himself” and tried to deny he passed gas. Rachel wiped tears from laughing at this. Melinda said her dad was on a soap and for 40 years he never ended up on a blooper reel, so she learned that you don’t “fuck up,” but then she realized she should have fun more on set.

• Melinda said Adam would make Ben laugh a lot. Rachel: “Adam made everybody laugh quite a bit and in all fairness, most of my scenes — not most, but a lot — were with Adam and I was always laughing because he’s hilarious. It’s all his fault. That’s why I was on the blooper reel. It’s all Brody’s fault.” Melinda told fans the blooper reels are online to watch. Rachel: “Blooper reels are always more fun to me than the episodes. I mean, certain ones anyway.” Melinda said Josh took the blooper reels “very seriously” and Matt confirmed it was “a thing.”

• Rachel asked Matt if he had a favorite storyline he edited. He said when he was asked to be on the podcast, he wondered what episode he was going to be discussing. He said that he and his family have watched the first Chrismukkah episode (the aforementioned “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”) a few times. He revealed his oldest daughter is a “huge fan” of the show today… after being born at the end of season 2. Matt: “This episode was huge because it was our summer finale… Everyone thought Marissa was dead for six weeks of baseball.” They talked about the ratings and the show’s success, with Melinda cracking, “That’s why we’re here today.”

• Matt’s favorite storyline was… drumroll, please… the Matt Ramsey storyline! Matt revealed the character’s original name was Mark Fish, based on a writer on the show, but EP Bob DeLaurentis questioned using that name for so many episodes. Matt told a funny story about the script being changed with all references to “Fish” automatically becoming “Ramsey.” That inadvertently led to a Seth line being changed to, “Do you see me as a big Ramsey in a small pond or a small Ramsey in a big pond?” Matt said the director, Ian Toynton, didn’t realize it was a mistake at first. This was pretty hilarious.

• Though they couldn’t stop laughing, Melinda said this is a “pretty serious episode.” Melinda: “Did that ruin the mood?” Matt said looking back, he wishes there was less music in this episode in terms of the score and some of the songs. Matt said the editors “had a lot of power… to decide when the music started and stopped.” They had “spotting sessions” where they would meet with the sound and music people to discuss how the scenes were scored and now Matt wishes he “listened to them more” when they suggested less music. In this ep, for example, he didn’t like the music continuing to play when Marissa went back to the hotel room after seeing Luke cheating on her. He also didn’t like the music playing while Sandy and Rachel (the character) were at The Crab Shack.

• Matt said Josh wrote a lot of songs into the script “and most of the time it worked because he was really good at that.” In addition, twice a month, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas would send them CDs of new music. He and Josh would then discuss which songs could work and where. Matt: “It was a lot of fun to be part of that.” Melinda made an insightful observation that while not “manipulating” the audience, “you’re guiding them” with music on how to “feel.” Matt said that was the trend on network television then, but now he thinks there should be some silence for the audience to feel whatever they’re feeling themselves. That also lets the music, when there is music, to have more of an impact.

• Rachel wanted to know “who wound up on the cutting room floor the most.” Matt said likely the adults because the show “skewed” toward the younger characters. Matt: “Since I’m dogging on Tate today, I’ll just say Tate.” Matt edited Tate’s episode that he directed. Matt: “I just remember there was a surf contest and Johnny got hit by a car.” Rachel: “God, how many car things? There’s a theme throughout this whole series.” Matt: “It was a soap opera!” Melinda: “On and off the screen. Not for me.” Rachel: “No comment. I’m just kidding.”

  • Was that Mischa shade…?

• Matt asked if Melinda always has her “O.C.” poster behind her and she joked that her house is a “shrine” to the show. She explained how it’s a signed poster that was given to her daughter and that it shows one of her favorite photo shoots. She read Adam, Rachel, and Ben’s amusing inscriptions.

• Matt said he was given an outline for the first seven episodes before he took the job, before the scripts were even written, and they ended up staying pretty faithful to it. Matt: “I just remember Ryan hooking up with Caleb’s girlfriend was definitely in that bible.”

• Rachel: “Let’s go to TJ.” She revealed that at her community college, it was common for the students to take trips to Tijuana. Rachel: “We basically did what the kids, what you see them at the club doing. I’ve never been more sick in my life. Basically what the scene shows is what I experienced.” Melinda said growing up, she would go “at least once a month” and “many of my friends got arrested.” Melinda: “So this was exactly the way my teenage years were.” Rachel: “It didn’t change, apparently, when you were there, when I was there, and then when we were there on ‘The O.C.,’ except we were on the Universal backlot, but anyways.”

• Rachel explained how the backlot was made to look like Mexico. She recalled her sister, then 1 years old, visited during the shoot. Melinda noted how the episode started with a “classic Cohen kitchen scene.” She wondered if this was the first time Comic-Con was talked about in a show. Matt said he was wondering that too.

• Rachel was “embarrassed” watching Marissa and Summer talk about sex and the “giddy-up” line. Matt joked about how he cut to the wide shot to show Summer doing the whole cowboy move. Rachel conceded, though, that she’s okay making an “ass of herself.”

• After another break, Melinda said it was “very cute” when Seth pats the bed to encourage Ryan to come talk to him and thought it was a “Brodyism.” She made a good observation about how Seth had to lie to his parents about where he was going and Marissa’s dad was too distracted to really care. Matt figured Josh would’ve needed to lie to his parents too about such a trip.

• Rachel brought up the introduction of Rachel (the character) “and it’s like uht oh, here we go!” She then brought up Jimmy and Kirsten’s kiss. Rachel: “There’s a lot [going on] here, you guys.” Matt: “It’s a jam-packed episode.” Rachel noted that it needed to be because they wanted to hook people until they came back on the air weeks later.

• Matt said Bob used to complain that the score sounded like “Weather Channel music” and that’s stuck in his head all these years later. Matt made interesting observations on the tight versus long shots on Marissa and Luke’s makeout and how it changed as she showed her disinterest. They all liked Sandy, the director, and his work with this ep.

• Melinda had another insightful comment on how the actors do their thing, the director does theirs, and then the editor puts it together in “a pretty little package with a pretty little bow but every editor might have their different styles.” Matt said the goal,  despite that, is for all the episodes to be consistent in their look.

  • Director Michael Lange, who worked on “The O.C.” and several other teen dramas, told me something similar in our 2010 interview.

• Rachel brought up “Laguna Beach” and how it was inspired by “The O.C.” and wondered if Kristen Cavallari’s “What happens in Cabo, stays in Cabo” line was a rip-off of the line in this episode, “What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico.” Matt asked if they watched “Laguna.” Melinda said she didn’t. Rachel recalled Mischa seeing the “Laguna” cast on a magazine cover and being like, “Wait, what? Is this supposed to be us?”

• Melinda said Summer’s outfit as they left for TJ was “mini Julie Cooper.” She was amused by Sandy’s “Summer’s hot” comment and Matt was amused by Seth’s reaction. Melinda said she thought this episode had the most “ew” lines. Rachel said Summer was “so annoying” in the car and a “high-maintenance pain in the butt,” but the banter with Seth was “fun.” Melinda wanted to know if Rachel’s banter was like that with Adam in real life. Rachel couldn’t really remember but said “probably.”

• Melinda said there’s a theme with Seth making references to his hair. They laughed over Summer’s “You’re Jewish?!” line and Matt called it “stuff you couldn’t do now.” Matt liked Seth’s “diabolic plan” of getting Ryan and Marissa in the car together and the great comedy as they set off on the trip.

• Melinda to Rachel: “Is that the first and only time you’ve had to say ‘pubes’ on camera?” Rachel: “It was the debut and the end.” Melinda noted that Seth has been standing up to Summer in these episodes. Rachel: “Because she’s annoying!” She remembered filming the scene where Seth and Summer are at breakfast. Rachel: “It’s really pivotal and you’re establishing the connection between these two.”

• Rachel then brought up one of my favorite scenes of the whole series — Ryan and Marissa at the vending machine. She even recited my favorite lines: “Did you wonder why I came to the pool house to find you?” “Every day.” Rachel mock cried and said she wanted them to kiss. Matt said Ben was “really good” in the scene, showing both his anger and his hurt. He brought up how Marissa got into bed with Ryan later on and Rachel said she wanted Ryan to hold her and was happy to see he was when they woke up.

  • I love how much of a Ryan-Marissa shipper Rachel is! 

• Melinda agreed it was a “really powerful scene” and wanted to know, from an editing perspective, what’s more powerful — the dialogue or the reaction? Matt said he was thinking about this and noted how many reaction shots there were of Ryan when Marissa was on the phone. He couldn’t remember if it was scripted that way, but he thought it was “more powerful” to see Marissa come into the room upset than if you had “already seen her fall apart” outside.

• Matt pointed out that the first Death Cab song on the show was in the car ride. Rachel recited Summer’s funny line complaining about it. Matt said that Adam had told Josh his favorite Death Cab song and Josh put it in the script. Matt: “And then they became the ‘O.C.’ band.”

• Melinda said Summer was “wearing very sexy PJs” in the hotel room. Rachel was boggled by that, along with Summer’s platform wedges that she was wearing with her pajamas. They joked about Seth’s reaction to seeing her dressed like that.

• Melinda and Rachel agreed the club was “realistic” for Tijuana. Matt: “I was surprised by how much I liked the way that scene was cut” with the reveal of Luke and Holly hooking up. Melinda wanted to know how long it takes to edit a big scene like that. Matt said it would be “a while.” He said right now he’s working on a scene for the upcoming Starz show “Heels” and it’s like “40 scenes” in one and it’s been taking him “days.”

• Rachel liked how Summer stepped in and pushed Holly and that Ryan stood up for Marissa too and punched Luke. Rachel: “Which is what everyone wanted to do, so thank you, Ryan.” Matt revealed there was a different Chemical Brothers song set to the scene at first, but there was a spoken-word portion and they couldn’t get it cleared, so they had to swap it. Matt: “There was a lot of drama in the editing room when that happens.”

• Rachel: “This is the beginning of the end, so to speak… By the way, all Summer’s fault. Summer’s really responsible for a lot of this — the pressure to go to TJ, leaving the pills, spilling out of her purse. It’s all Summer’s fault.” Rachel said Mischa is “so good” and “so committed” during the overdose scene. She also praised “the way it was shot and everything else.” Rachel: “I watched it a few times.” She wanted to know what it was like for Matt to edit it. He credited Josh — “he had this vision in his head of how the scene should be.” It was inspired by a Vanilla Sky sequence, Matt revealed.

• Melinda wanted to know if the way Mexican music was incorporated as Marissa got sick in the bar was Matt’s doing. Matt said that also came from Vanilla Sky and he had the composer score the entire scene and then also had the main song and “messed with it over and over” to decide which should be heard more when as they overlapped. This took days too. He also gave credit to Norman for helping with the music here. Melinda: “I cried last night watching it.” Rachel: “I cried too!... He lifts her up and you don’t know — and the Mazzy Star song again, ‘Here Comes the Dust,’ and you’re like, here come the waterworks.”

• When Rachel told Matt they had quiz questions for him, he quipped, “Oh boy! The fun part of the podcast.” The first question: What did Marissa choose from the vending machine? He correctly answered cheese sticks, though he disagrees with Marissa’s anti-Ding Dongs stance. Melinda said Santa would bring her Ding Dongs in her stockings every year. Matt said he always got them in his lunch. As he went on about Ding Dongs and Rachel tried to give the next question, Matt cracked, “Cut out the editor! Cut him down! Who ended up on the floor the most on the ‘OC, Bitches’ podcast? The editor!” It was very funny.

• The second question: What does Seth say he needs from the pharmacy in TJ? Matt rightly answered antihistamine and recalled another time Seth needs his humidifier, which prompted Rachel to joke that he has a “nasal issue.” The third question: How many times do Ryan and Seth hug throughout the entire series? Matt guessed twice and that was correct. Matt: “Who counted that?!” Rachel: “Not I!” She then said it was Diana, their producer, “who also wants to know if you can edit this podcast.” That cracked Matt up.

• The fan on the voicemail wanted to know if they thought Marissa “had a right to be annoyed with Ryan because of what happened at Caleb’s party in the last episode.” Rachel: “She did show up to the party with Luke, so what was Ryan supposed to do?” Melinda said Marissa was trying to pretend she didn’t care, but she’s “realizing it bothers her because she has such strong feelings” for Ryan.

• Melinda said the vending machine scene is one of her favorites between Ryan and Marissa (again… me too!). Melinda: “It was real. They’re frustrated with each other. Where is this going, this world of drama? I buy it. I buy ‘The O.C.’ Whether it’s heightened, operatic soap or comedy, I buy it.” Matt made a good point that Ryan and Marissa could do comedy, too, like when they ran into each other at The Crab Shack, saying it came out of “edginess.” 

• Rachel: “This has been a great trip to TJ together.” Melinda said it was a “joy” to “reconnect” with Matt: “We’re having a ball and guests like you make it even better.”

You really can tell Rachel and Melinda are having a ball. Their joy, as Melinda put it, really comes through and that makes this such an enjoyable podcast to listen to / watch. They are both really funny, providing a lot entertainment that’s actually related to the show instead of off topic, and then a lot of the more serious comments are really astute. That balance is well done.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the series, so I was very much looking forward to this installment of the podcast. Rachel and Melinda, once again, didn’t disappoint. They’re passionate about what they’re doing, they’re passionate about one of my favorite shows, and that makes me passionate about “Welcome to the OC, Bitches.”

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