What was on TV? Thurs, May 5, 2005

20 years ago, Starbucks and The OC were keeping indie music alive. Let's see what was on TV.

8:00 The OC on Fox

2x21 "The Return of the Nana" (record Survivor on CBS)

After an episode set in Vegas proved a highlight of season one, so producers of The OC decided to take the show to Miami in season two. And they didn't just go to Miami, they went to Miami during Spring Break in 2005. The place was full of college kids ready to party. In Alan Sepinwall's book Welcome to the OC, everyone recalls how it was hard to actually film the episode when actors Ben McKenzie and Adam Brody were so famous among the spring break crowd. Showrunner Josh Schwartz explains that in a scene where Ryan, Seth, and Sandy walk down the street, everyone in the background is just staring at them. To make matters worse, Rachel Bilson was there too. She was anxious that real-life boyfriend Brody would stray the way his character does in this episode, so she accepted an invitation to a club opening in Miami the week they filmed this episode.

Anyway, this makes a pretty nice time capsule of both the OC phenomenon and spring break culture. TI performs and a televised contest involving a woman named Mary Sue played by Jamie King and whipped cream is a major plot point. Some episodes in The OC's second season are more successful as time capsules than as television. But this is a very good episode of The OC. Linda Lavin returns as the titular Nana, and she is wonderful. The boys' field trip to Miami allows for various characters to contemplate cheating on their partners (Seth kisses Mary Sue! Summer kisses Zach! Kirsten kisses Billy Campbell!). The Miami setting also allows for some fun comedy and silliness with Linda Lavin's geezer friends, and the Mary Sue thing is a really fun gag, a perfect OC reference for those who get it. The soapiness, silliness, and spring break shenanigans make the moment when things get serious and Trey sexually assaults Marissa, jarring, but in a good way. The show's trademark balance between comedy, soapiness, and seriousness is back. Not a moment too soon.

9:00 Survivor (recorded)

10x12 "We'll Make You Pay" (record The OC on Fox)

This season of Survivor has offered plenty of memorable characters, exciting challenges, and the glorious implosion of Ulong. But nothing so strategically as this episode. Ian discovered that Katie was going to flip to the alliance of Jenn and Gregg, leaving the competing alliance of Ian and Tom vulnerable. When Gregg wins reward and chooses to take Katie along, Tom and Ian know they're in trouble.

They do the math: Katie, Gregg, and Jenn will vote together. Ian, Tom, and Caryn will vote together. So a tie. Which means they draw rocks, and whoever gets the purple one goes home. This rule had been established a handful of seasons ago, but it had mostly been ignored. The idea of leaving your fate in the game to chance is anathema to the kind of person who goes on Survivor, so players usually avoid ties. But Ian and Tom decide that they're willing to go to a tie. It's better than doing nothing, and the threat of drawing rocks will probably keep Katie from flipping anyway.

The final scene before tribal council is absolutely thrilling. Gregg and Jenn are sure that Caryn is going home, and Tom keeps the charade up for Jenn. Meanwhile, Ian and Katie are off in the jungle, and Ian tells her the plan. And he was right, Katie is not leaving her fate in the hands of a rock. It's brilliant strategy, brilliantly presented. Classic Survivor.

10:00 The OC (recorded)

2x22 "The Showdown" (record ER on NBC and Project Greenlight on Bravo)

The OC tried to downshift in season two after a drama-packed season one. But the fans were clear: they wanted more drama, and more punching. This episode delivers on the punching! The fight between Seth and Zach in the comic shop is a season highlight. It's honestly a pretty great action scene. There's a novelty in seeing two nerds fight, the setting is totally unique, the audience of intrigued comics fans give great reaction shots, and Summer putting a stop to it all with her comic character's whip is a great touch. It's a little silly, but it's still punching.

Not that this episode doesn't deliver drama of the heart-wrenching variety. The scene where Marissa tries to have sex with Ryan but keeps on seeing Trey instead, with the edit switching back and fourth between actors Ben McKenzie and Logan Marshall-Green is classic OC, experimental and cinematic storytelling in service of big soap suds and big feels, except in this case they're also handling a sensitive and serious topic and handling it quite well, even in the cold light of 2026. The introduction of Kirsten's alcoholism is kind of abrupt, but Kelly Rowan sells it, and it all culminates in a genuinely terrifying car crash to end the episode. Just as in tonight's first hour, The OC is once again successfully balancing its comedic and dramatic sides. Mazel tov!

After: ER (recorded)

11x20 You Are Here"

Much has been made of The Pitt's connection to ER. But we often choose not to mention that showrunner R. Scott Gemill mostly worked on the show's maligned later years, post Romano helicopter arm incident.

But you can absolutely tell that writers from The Pitt worked on this episode. See, one of the major cases this week is a kid with sickle cell treated by Shane West's Dr. Barnett. Everyone thinks this guy is scamming for medication and dismissed his pain, but Dr. Barnett of course learns better once he gets to know the patient. It feels like a dry run for a very similar storyline on The Pitt involving Dr. Samira Mohan, who lectures several people on their failures in treating a woman with sickle cell, and then must walk her and her wife through some really grueling medical treatments. And that all came almost 20 years after this episode! Did Gemmill spend almost 20 years thinking about the research he did on sickle cell disease for this episode? Maybe!

What Else Was On

• On CSI, Marg Helgenberger learned her date was a murder suspect!
• ABC's Thursday movie was Sweet Home Alabama. Starring "Grey's Anatomy's own Patrick Dempsey and Boston Legal's own Candice Bergen and Rhoma Mitra," per the promos.
• Special Sweeps Guest Stars: Carmen Elektra on Joey. Debbie Reynolds, Alan Arkin, and Lee Majors on Will and Grace.

TiVo Status

The MTV Holocaust documentary I'm Still Here, one episode of Project Greenlight, and three episodes of Mystery! 5 hours.

Music, 20 years ago

This haunting piece of experimental electronic music is used as a motif throughout "The Return of the Nana," only playing in full at the most dramatic and tragic moment of the episode, when Trey assaults Marissa. It's interesting to see The OC use this strategy, knowing that it will culminate with the use of "Hide and Seek" in the finale, and in a moment that became bigger than the show itself.