The BEST episodes of The O.C. season 3
Every episode of The O.C. season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The O.C. season 3!
The O.C. is an idyllic paradise, a wealthy, harbour-front community where everything and everyone appears to be perfect. But beneath the surface is a world of shifting loyalties and identities, of kids living secret lives hidden from their parents, and of parents living secret lives hidden from their children. Cohen, Cooper, Nichol families, and Ryan Atwood, a troubled teen from the wrong side of the tracks, who is thrust into this world, and who will forever change the lives of the residents of The O.C.
#1 - The Graduates
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/18/2006
Graduation: A time for friends, family, celebration, remembrance, letting go, and moving on to tomorrow. Odd man out in all the events is Volchok. Then, it happens...
#2 - The Perfect Storm
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/2005
Is Ryan shipping out? Sandy's mind-meld persuasion skills fail to convince him to stay. But where there's a will, there's another Cohen way. Charlotte now zeroes in on Julie; Summer outwits Taylor.
#3 - The Party Favor
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 4/27/2006
Right dress. Wrong date. If you can't go to prom with the person you like, go with someone who makes the person you like jealous. There'll be many memories for the Core 4 after this prom. Not all of them will be happy.
#4 - The End of Innocence
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/22/2005
Ryan. Marissa. A romantic beach hut. You do the math. Meanwhile, the math in Caleb's will is easy: Julie gets zilch, Kirsten gets nada. Caleb was broke - and that adds up to a new dynamic for the Cohens, Coopers and The Newport Group.
#5 - The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/15/2005
Seth's a man with a holiday plan: Hold an honorary bar mitzvah for Ryan and donate the funds to Johnny's surgery. Now try to convince Ryan to do it...and persuade Johnny to accept it. Also: Julie + Summer's dad? Stay tuned!
#6 - The Man of The Year
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/4/2006
Sandy's picture will be on the cover of Riviera. Or, if the DA has his way, on a mug shot. More troubles: Volchok blackmails Ryan into a crime, Kirsten is drinking, and Seth burns down his dad's office. Didn't mean to. Honest.
#7 - The Shape of Things to Come
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/15/2005
Senior year. But not for everyone. Marissa is expelled. Julie scrambles for cash, Sandy scrambles to make sense of Kirsten's rehab and, to top it all, Ryan loses his cool and gets himself expelled too.
#8 - The Safe Harbor
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/12/2006
One semester to go. Wouldn't it go better if Marissa returned to Harbor High? Seth, Ryan, Summer and even Taylor campaign for her readmittance - and Johnny steps out of the way. For now.
#9 - The Aftermath
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/8/2005
Trey's in a coma, Marissa pulled the trigger, who's going to take the fall? Ryan? But maybe there's a way out for Kid Chino.
#10 - The Cliffhanger
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/2006
The Johnny-Kaitlin-Marissa-Ryan situation finds closure, perhaps, and tragedy for sure. Summer may be running out of forgiveness for Seth's half-truths. And Dr. Roberts makes a startling admission to Julie.
#11 - The Swells
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/2005
Party by night. Surf by first light. The Dawn Patrol beach blast is the backdrop for a developing Marissa-Johnny attraction. Meanwhile, Taylor has a crush on...Seth?! And Ryan again lets his fists do the talking.
#12 - The Game Plan
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/2005
Time to think about the future - college applications are due. Seth's eager, especially if the school is as far away from Newport as possible. Will Summer go with him? Marissa has another plan: She won't apply.
#13 - The Sister Act
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/2006
Mini-Cooper isn't so mini now. Kaitlin, Marissa's younger sister, return to O.C. - and she carries lots of emotional baggage. Plus: Kirsten-Julie dating biz is blackmailed into setting up a date for Veronica.
#14 - The College Try
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/20/2006
Some go East, some stay West for freshmen orientation weekends. Ryan and Marissa arrive at Berkeley, and Summer and student/poseur Seth visit Brown. Familiar faces also surface. Anna is at Brown. And doesn't Theresa's baby look like...Ryan?
#15 - The Last Waltz
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/29/2005
Public school? No problem. Marissa's glad to be at a school where no one knows about her. Oops. Everyone knows. Charlotte closes in on Kirsten. And Summer spies on someone lip-locked with Taylor.
#16 - The Disconnect
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/8/2005
Maybe Seth should accompany Summer to college. She's the one who (surprise!) aces the SAT. Another surprise: Sandy's right-hand man jeopardizes a Newport Group account by hanging out at a strip-club.
#17 - The Day After Tomorrow
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/6/2006
The Sweatshirt Bonfire is the party where all the seniors wear the sweatshirt of the college they'll be attending. Hey, Seth's not wearing a sweatshirt. What's up with that?
#18 - The Secrets and Lies
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/30/2006
A race to the bottom: Marissa's ties with Volchok may send her into substance-abuse free fall...but not before she gathers herself enough to save the Ryan-Sadie match. The Newport Group events turn violent.
#19 - The Heavy Lifting
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/9/2006
Life goes on. Love goes on. But how can anyone focus on Valentine's Day after Johnny's tragedy? Well, maybe love and understanding are the medicines everyone needs now. Even so, nothing will be easy.
#20 - The Anger Management
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/2005
Divide and conquer. Taylor schemes to separate Summer and Seth. Volchok tries to goad Ryan into a fight. Julie upends Charlotte's charity scam.
#21 - The Dawn Patrol
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/13/2006
No party, no surf. It's a different Dawn Patrol: Ryan's off to Albuquerque to invite his mom Dawn to graduation (maybe). Seth quits Summer (oops). And, at Volchok's party, Marissa sees something secretly poured into a drink (uh-oh).
#22 - The Undertow
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/23/2006
Trouble's at the door. It's Jess, Trey's sometime girlfriend, and she's coming on to Ryan like Little Miss Vulnerable. Seth and Summer discover a, uh, wheelbarrow. And all those burning Volchok-Marissa glances ignite a bonfire.
#23 - The Road Warrior
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/9/2006
Ryan road-trips with Sadie. Strip poker, anyone? Summer learns - ew! - about her dad and Julie. Kirsten worries that The Newport Group is corrupting Sandy. And Marissa is a suspect in Johnny's death.
#24 - The Pot Stirrer
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/26/2006
Little sister. Big problems. Kaitlin feels she's spent her whole life in Marissa's shadow - maybe now it's time for some payback. Seth, meanwhile, may be seeing his college plans go up in smoke.
#25 - The Journey
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/16/2006
A little Cohen arm-twisting convinces Ryan that, yeah, he should do something special on his 18th birthday. So who's he going to invite to the party at The Bait Shop? Sadie? For sure. Marissa? Well...