So I started watching The O.C. again

And this is why it's a brilliant plan

A few days ago it officially became ten years since I graduated from my high school in Paris. It was actually intended that a reunion would take place last weekend, but it's quite difficult to arrange something like that while everyone is really fully scattered around the entire globe. So instead of seeing my old high school friends, I thought it would be a good idea to do something else to get that nostalgic feeling from the past back. Enter: The O.C.

At my school, everyone was always divided into two teams: either you watched The O.C., or you were obsessed with One Tree Hill. I was part of the first and thank god I had a girlfriend who back in the days was really good at online streaming (I didn't understand anything back then). We had fixed days when we would gather at someone's place to drool over Ryan. Or Seth, whichever one you preferred.

But anyway, I started watching it again and I'm completely hooked on the series. Obsessed. So if you're wondering what I've been doing all day today... Californiaaaaaa, here we cooooome.
And this is why it's a brilliant plan that you are going to watch it again too. Or watch it for the first time (shame on you!), although you can expect a few spoilers now, sorry.

1. He has the best playlist ever. From a ‘Death Cab for Cutie’, a ‘Rooney’ and a ‘Modest Mouse’ to that one song ‘Dice’ by Finley Quaye that was played during that epic New Year's Eve scene when Ryan ran in at the last minute to kiss Marisa at midnight. Oh oh, and that scene where Summer becomes prom queen and ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay is played. Sigh. If you were a mega O.C. fan, you were guaranteed to be listening to the best music.
2. The first meeting between Ryan and Marisa. ‘Who are you?’ ‘Whoever you want me to be.’ My future hubby, that's who I want you to be.
3. Seth and Ryan. If you want to talk about the origin of bromance; this is where it all started. And you and your friends probably didn't always agree on who you thought was the cutest of the two.
4. Seth and Summer, my god, that eternal WHEN WILL THERE BE SOMETHING BETWEEN THOSE TWO. And then it finally happened. And how. Man oh man, that Spiderman scene where Seth was hanging upside down after almost falling off the roof with his Spiderman mask and then Summer comes and ugh, and then also the song ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis. Not. To. Do.
5. The creation of a whole new holiday: Chrismukkah. Christmas and Hanukkah in one. And what do you eat then? You order Chinese. Love it.
6. The cray cray Julie Cooper who first marries her daughter's father, then has an affair with her daughter's ex-boyfriend and wore those Juicy Couture outfits (which we thought were the shit back then). She was exactly the kind of character you had an intense dislike for, but you couldn't help but love her at the same time.
7. Just like with Gilmore Girls the creators of The O.C. were really good at incorporating pop culture references into their script. Jokes about celebrities and movies – well, then you're really speaking my language. ‘Ryan, I was Nemo and I just wanted to go home.’ But they also made fun of each other, because Seth once made a joke about that creepy girl from The Sixth Sense. Just in case you didn't know; that role was played by Mischa Barton, a.k.a. Marisa when she was very young.
8. Captain Oates and Princess Sparkle. I mean.
9. All the familiar faces you encounter in the series who weren't that famous at the time and are now huge. I'm talking about a Chris Pratt, an Olivia Wilde, and also an Amber Heard pre-Johnny Depp.
10. You can say what you want about his eyebrows, but Sandy Cohen might just be the best TV dad ever. And secretly, very secretly, you hoped that he and Kirsten would adopt you too and you could live in California in the guesthouse with a pool overlooking the beach.
11. Actually the complete exaggeration of everything they went through. Just when Marisa was getting over her drinking problem, there was another teenage pregnancy and then domestic violence and people cheating, Marisa suddenly falling for women and then suddenly not anymore... Pfff, the drama just kept on coming and I must honestly admit that after the death of one of the main characters, I actually kind of stopped watching. Still: the first three seasons are so worth watching again.

Happy binging!