REACTION: Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 9

Tuesday’s “Welcome to the OC, Bitches” covered the first day of school… and then some.

In “The Heights,” the ninth episode of “The O.C.,” Ryan (Ben McKenzie) has his first day at Harbor and clashes with Luke (Chris Carmack) as Marissa (Mischa Barton) returns to school after her overdose. Anna (Samaire Armstrong) surprises Seth (Adam Brody) when she shows up too, making Summer (Rachel Bilson) jealous. Meanwhile, Sandy (Peter Gallagher) risks conflict with Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) by taking up a legal case against Caleb (Alan Dale).

The episode was written by Debra J. Fisher, who was on the podcast earlier this month, and Erica Messer. It was directed by Patrick R. Norris, who helmed six hours of the series, including the season 1 finale and the penultimate episode. Norris also directed installments of “Dawson’s Creek” and “Gossip Girl.”

Now Norris joined Bilson and Melinda Clarke (Julie) as they delved into the episode.

Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 9, “The Heights with Patrick Norris”

• Rachel called Patrick one of her “favorite” directors and noted she also worked with him on “Hart of Dixie.” Melinda rattled off some of Patrick’s other well-known projects, specifically mentioning “Chuck” and “Gossip Girl,” both of which were Josh Schwartz shows too (as was “Hart” as well).

• Patrick revealed he was a bit of a real-life Ryan when he was a kid: His mom was a single parent and he was a “juvenile delinquent” who was in and out of juvenile hall. So when he read the script for “The O.C.,” he connected with the character of Ryan right away.

• Patrick’s career began in the laundry room at Warner Bros. He rose through the ranks and started doing costume design for shows like “Thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life.” He even won two Emmys for his costume work on “Thirtysomething.” But while on “My So-Called Life,” he transitioned into directing.

• Patrick rewatched the episode twice in preparation for the podcast (just like Michael Lange last week — maybe it’s a “director” thing!). He admitted that he heard through his agent at the time that execs weren’t happy with how the episode came out and, as a result, he didn’t think he was going to be offered more episodes. But he really wanted to do more, as he spent a lot of his career “in the teen world.”

• Well, it turns out Patrick had a very good reason why he didn’t do his best work: This episode was his first job after completing chemotherapy for cancer… and he was doing daily radiation at the time. So each morning, he would go for radiation before going to set. But he kept this a secret from everyone while the episode was in production.

• Patrick later acknowledged to everyone why he was “a little off” and “came clean” about his health situation. Executive producer Bob DeLaurentis decided to give him a second chance and that in turn led to more episodes. Melinda: “Sometimes Hollywood does have a heart.”

• This led them to discuss how there are no “sick days” in the television industry and you work under pretty much all circumstances unless you’re hospitalized. Patrick proudly said he hasn’t missed a day directing since he returned from chemotherapy.

• They got to the episode after the first break, about 20 minutes in. Melinda pointed out that she wasn’t in the episode, quipping, “I miss me.” Rachel admitted she didn’t even realize that because she had watched this episode and last week’s together. Rachel read the synopsis that was pretty much word for word from the episode’s wiki page.

• Patrick said that coming on to a series to direct an episode feels like a “playdate” to him and he wants to have “fun.” His favorite scene of the episode was Seth and Sandy talking in the kitchen about Ryan in the beginning of the ep.

• Rachel praised the transitions as the households got ready for the first day of school. Patrick said some of that was his directing choices, but gave credit to editor Matt Ramsey for some of it as well. Melinda said the real-life school used for the Harbor exteriors was “beautiful.” The interiors, however, were on their soundstage. Patrick commended the production design for how they set up the school.

• Rachel liked that Summer had Marissa’s back as they returned to school. Patrick called Summer “cool” and liked the energy she brought, especially in contrast to Mischa / Marissa. But there was an astute comment about how when it’s Summer in a vulnerable position, that energy is dialed down and she pulls inward.

• Melinda liked the vulnerability Ryan showed with Marissa. Rachel brought up the couple making out behind Ryan in one of the scenes and said she was surprised that tongue-kissing like that was allowed. Patrick revealed that it was written in the script that way and they purposely brought in boyfriend-and-girlfriend actors for it. He said he just let the camera run as they went at it — which he also did for Peter and Kelly… and she would beg to cut. Melinda said an instance of that is on the blooper reals.

• Patrick said it was hard to get Ben to loosen up and get him to smile. He’d give Ben notes and wasn’t sure if Ben was going to punch him or take the direction. Melinda argued that perhaps Ben’s awkwardness lent itself to the awkwardness of his character being in a new world. Patrick said he just wanted to influence Ben to “bring more mystery and romantic vibes as opposed to his gangster vibes.” He claimed Ben was “resistant” a lot and “it could be a chore” working with him. He added, however, “That’s not a dig.” Patrick also said Ben didn’t like some of the lines and he told him to say them so they could go home.

  • Yikes! I’d really like to hear Ben’s take on this.

• Rachel liked the “trio” of Summer, Seth, and Anna in the episode and called out Summer for “treating him like shit.” She also liked Summer and Anna’s dynamic, with them dishing it back to one another.

• Melinda liked seeing Sandy as a lawyer. She said the Balboa Heights storyline paralleled a real-life issue in Orange County with an ecological reserve and praised Josh for bringing in that bit of reality. She also liked the dynamic between Sandy and Kirsten in this episode, saying that neither of them is a “pushover.” Patrick called them a “cool” and “believable” couple. Melinda also noted how they recover quickly after fighting, calling that a sign of a healthy marriage.

• Rachel said those really were dead frogs in the science class scene and wasn’t sure if PETA would allow that today. She also revealed that it was her birthday when they shot that and Adam gave her a present. (She wasn’t sure if they were dating yet.) When she went home and unwrapped it, it was one of the dead frogs. Rachel said it was the “first prank that set off a spiral of pranks on set.”

• Patrick discussed how easy it is become like a family on a set, a “tribe of pranks and drama.” But getting close helps make everything “move smooth.” Rachel said she was grateful to go through the height of the show with Adam and have that support. Patrick said they were “cool to hang with.”

• Patrick brought up how you sacrifice a lot to make entertainment, like filming in the middle of the night. They discussed overnight shoots, which led Patrick to bring up the carnival, which was his favorite act of the episode. He revealed they rented a parking lot in Marina del Rey and brought in carnival equipment. Rachel said it was a huge sequence for the show plot-wise, but also a huge scene to shoot.

  • Patrick described using a crane to shoot the Ferris wheel parts, which reminded me of Michael Lange discussing a similar carnival scenario on the “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” podcast last year.

• Patrick was at radiation at 5:30am that morning, as he was every morning, but then the shoot didn’t begin until 6:00pm that night. They then had about nine hours to get everything filmed. The last shot was at dawn and then he rushed off to radiation again.

• Rachel brought up Ryan and Marissa’s first kiss, with Patrick calling it a “big moment” and joked that someone should’ve told Ryan to think of Luke. Melinda said that joke — of there being secret feelings between Ryan and Luke — keeps coming up. Patrick said that’s where the show should’ve gone.

• Melinda noted how Mischa is always beautiful, but thought she looked especially “ethereal” on the Ferris wheel. Rachel said she cried when Marissa and Ryan kissed and revealed that she texted with Josh and Ben about it as she watched. Patrick called it a “classic storybook moment, fairytale moment.” He said he would’ve experimented with it more if he had more time, but he was happy with how it came out.

• Rachel brought up Seth and Anna again, saying she wanted Seth to be with Anna when he gave her the sock monkey. She said they “played it so well” and Patrick said viewers were right to believe there was something between them. Melinda observed that Seth didn’t “realize the feelings he’s starting to have for Anna.” She mentioned how there’s “Team Anna” and “Team Summer,” which prompted Patrick to quip, “When in doubt, give the monkey to Luke.”

• Rachel and Patrick noted how they both went on to work on “Nashville” with Chris. Melinda said she and Patrick have a lot of shows in common but never crossed paths on them.

  • Side note: Melinda revealed in an Instagram comment that Chris will be on the podcast “soonish!!!!!”

• They invited Patrick to play trivia about the show and he warned them, “Just remember there’s been a lot of weed between then and now.” Melinda: “That’s a recurring theme on this show we’re finding.” Rachel: “Apparently everyone was really stoned.”

• The first question was, “How long has Seth liked Summer?” Patrick didn’t know, but thought at least since the summer. The actual answer was since he was 10.

• The second question was, “Is Ryan Team Cotton Candy or Team Funnel Cakes?” Patrick correctly answered cotton candy.

• The third question was, “What soccer position does Ryan play?” He wasn’t sure on that either. The correct answer was striker.

• They said their goodbyes to Patrick before moving on to fan voicemails. The first fan wanted to know what their most awkward moment was filming the show. Melinda said she had an answer come to her right away: “I know it was really well-received, but the whole ‘Julie did a porno’ was really awkward for me.” She noted how Josh crafted it as an homage to executive producer Doug Liman, with The Porn Identity being a spoof on The Bourne Identity. But it was “extremely uncomfortable,” she said. Rachel deadpanned that she didn’t know why. As for her, Rachel said dressing up as Wonder Woman and everything that involved with the costume, hair, and makeup. She felt it was “embarrassing.”

• The second fan voicemail was from someone who wanted to know whether they think the show is still relatable to teens today. Melinda said the show’s themes are “universal” and noted that her daughter just watched the show for the first time a few years ago, when she was 18, and finally understood what the hype was about.

It’s a funny coincidence that both “9021OMG” and “Welcome to the OC, Bitches” covered the first day of school this week. The discussion today wasn’t too linear, with Patrick even clarifying the order of things at one point. I really prefer when they go scene by scene chronologically, so I hope they go back to that because I think they’ve drifted a bit the last few weeks.

Patrick’s backstory about his childhood and career was really interesting, but it took too long to get into the episode. It was then fascinating, though, to hear how he was secretly battling cancer as he shot this episode and how that affected things. He had a lot of good insight on how various things were framed, but in addition to the Ferris wheel, I would’ve liked to hear about directing the soccer sequence specifically.

“Welcome to the OC, Bitches” still outranks “9021OMG” in quality, by far, but now I’m eager to see how “Drama Queens,” the new “One Tree Hill” rewatch podcast, will compare. Stay tuned for that reaction post later this week!

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