It's been way too long since I've done one of these, and with the official start of Summer (or Winter, depending on which hemisphere you live in) just around the corner, what better topic to bring us all together than that of those two seasons!

For those unfamiliar with how these have worked in the past, please check out the old threads here, here and here. As with the previous contests, the winner will receive a special emblem and a Supporter Tier; the participants will receive a participatory emblem, but no Supporter Tier.

The theme for this contest is that of either Summer or Winter. To enter, simply write a review about a piece of entertainment (whether it be book, film, TV show, piece of music, theatre, poetry or anything else entertainment-y not already mentioned above) that has something to do with Summer or Winter. It doesn't have to be a direct connection by any means; it can be something you associate with one of the seasons, or can be more oblique than that! Below are the rules, so read them carefully before entering.

1. Anyone can enter. Yay!
2. All reviews should be written in English.
3. Please spell-check your work and make sure your grammar is good.
4. The theme of this contest is Summer and/or Winter. Please make sure your review mentions this theme in some way. (As mentioned above, it doesn't have to be a direct reference... Essentially, it's up to you how to construe 'Summer/Winter', so long as you do construe it in some way.)
5. You can write about either season you wish. For example, if you live in the northern hemisphere, you can write about Winter if you want to, even though Winter will not rear its head for a while yet! And vice versa for those living in the southern hemisphere.
6. Post your entries in THIS THREAD. If you want to change it before the deadline, then just edit your post rather than making a new one.
7. Reviews should be more than 500 words, but less than 1,500 words. (Good reviews aren't short, but they're often concise.) THIS WILL BE ENFORCED!
8. This is a REVIEW contest, not a RECAP contest: a little bit of plot summary is nice and often necessary for bits of culture that involve narrative, but good reviews are analytical and yours should be too.
9. Use paragraphs and avoid using extraneous formatting like underlining/bolding unless you think it is really justified.
10. Extraneous information (pictures, a final rating, credits etc.) are not necessary but, if used well, can enhance your review. Think before using them, though… in particular, think about how your formatting will look on different PC styles.
11. Proofread your work before submitting it, and don't be afraid to sleep on it before finally clicking 'Reply'.
12. The contest will end at midnight UTC+1 on Saturday 21st July, 2012! Winners will hopefully be announced a few days later.
13. I will be the only judge this time, so no bribing me!

So, without further ado, review away! :D

Going for a summer theme, The O.C. is my entertainment of choice as a TV show. In case you're reading and asking, what does that stand for? Not only for a TV show, but it stands for Orange County, which is located in California. The TV drama show is appropriate mainly for teens and if you love teen shows, this is the show for you!

The O.C. is also a sibling to the popular show One Tree Hills, only One Tree Hills has survived much longer. The O.C. lasted 4 years (seasons) from 2003 to 2007. The casts are truly magnificent. They include Kelly Rowan(Kirsten Cohen), Peter Gallagher(Sandy Cohen), Rachel Bilson(Summer Roberts), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen), Melinda Clarke(Julie Cooper), Tate Dovonan(Jimmy Cooper) and Benjamin McKenzie(Ryan Atwood). The reason I would list the overall cast as above average? The others such as Mischa Barton(Marissa Cooper) and Willa Holland(Kaitlyn Cooper) could easily be replaced, as they both played a huge role in their part for the show.

It seems to be like this with many shows out there, but as the seasons wound down, it seem to have gotten worst in terms of the storyline, at least for the fans, possibly? The first season was definitely the best, possibly a tad bit better than the second, it really all depends on how you like it. Reason? Of course it's what started the amazing journey of The O.C.! Plus the storyline for the first season is definitely tear-jerking.

The second season is no exception and really has no disappointment. Kelly Rowan's character dealing with alcoholism, her father's death (Caleb Nichols, starred by Alan Dale) and the return of Ryan Atwood brother, Trey. Trey was Ryan's older brother, who always get in trouble for the worst. These storylines are quite extraordinary and overall perfect.


The entire season three was a bit of a downer for me. The death of Johnny, a random new friend of Marissa Cooper's after being transferred to a new school against her will, has hurt the show a lot. Which led to Volchok, another random friend of Marissa's. All and all, the show just went downhill for the third season and didn't hold up to par compare to the first two seasons.

Finally, the fourth and final season. Marissa died at the end of season three, with a very sad scene in the season finale, it also pretty much killed this show. Lost a lot of audience, the storylines were definitely not any better than average and so forth. Willa Holland makes her debut as a regular cast for the fourth season in The O.C. and as being a sister of Marissa's, she wasn't quite the best nor the most interesting character. All and all, this show is still topped as one of my favorites. If you like One Tree Hills as one of your favorites, you will definitely like this as well. Romance, drama, comedy and tragic are all included here.

The one important thing I'd like to add, this show does a believable job of presenting the class issues involved in having some "poor kid" moving in with a "rich family" after being abandoned by his biological mother and her drunken boyfriend. The show does have some missing points, about how any parents would like to avoid having their own child (in this case, the Cohen's son, Seth) being friends with someone like Ryan. Although the storyline of Julie Cooper hating Ryan for being who he is and not wanting Marissa to see him pretty much cleared that point on that side. Even after Ryan got fitted in and four seasons in, there are still bits and pieces to prove how much of a difference the world of Ryan's and everyone around him for the entire four seasons are still different.

As for the conclusion, The O.C. is overall an enjoyable, interesting and very refreshing show for the teen genre.

[QUOTE='Deep Space Homer'(The Simpsons)]Scientist: [resigned] Well, Homer, I guess you're the winner by default.
Homer: Default? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: de-fault! De-fault! De-fault![/QUOTE]
But, nevertheless, congratulations to Sector Revenge - whose review was actually quite good as well. Emblems/supporter tiers will be delivered shortly. Thanks for reviewing!