The episode begins inside the Volchak-described "candy ass diner on the pier." The surly surfer enters, finds our favorite foursome discussing movies (specifically, the 2000 classic Bring It On) and tells Ryan they have "unfinished business." Somewhere, the old Luke Ward is shedding a tear as Phantom Planet welcomes us to The OC.
At Harbor, Taylor grills Ryan about the stability of Seth and Summer. Could she have a crush on the only Cohen offspring? Meanwhile, Charlotte reassures Julie that she needs to pull off this charity scam, as Kirsten grows excited about the upcoming evening. Sandy, however, is not as enthralled with the fact that he has to fire four Newport Group employees due to budget cuts. It would have been nine people, but Sandy restructed some of the company's loans.
In news related to other sorts of cuts, Volchak spends most of the hour trying to bait Ryan. For example, at The Bait Shop, he grabs Marissa by the wrist; at school, he keys Ryan's car with the words "Lil' bitch." Security did a bang up job stepping in on that one. In segue news, guess who's stepping up to Seth? Trifling Taylor Townsend.
She comes by his room and actually has the gall to steal Captain Oats. One might refer to her as "treacherous" Taylor Townsend now, although we probably have already. Later, in full view of Summer, T-Diddy returns the stolen plastic horse. This Taylor-made plan (swish!) doesn't make Seth look very good, leading to a Summer of discontent (too much?). At the charity event, the couple makes up after agreeing that Taylor is really just sad and lonely. But The Files feel as though this triangle is Taylor-made (oh ... right) for disaster.
The hour ends with resolutions, redemptions ... and Rocky-like reenactments. First, Julie announces that the attendees at the event should make their check payable to a real charity, thereby thwarting any evil scheming. Charlotte can't call the police, either, because they may discover she's actually a high school teacher from Boston.
Next, Marissa's attempt to bribe Volchak away from Ryan with a nice watch (seriously, that was her plan) goes awry. Instead, the elder, horribly thin, Cooper daughter actually leaves the charity, gets into a van with this shady crew and they call Ryan from the beach. Maybe now he'll fight for his girl, assuming she's not turned sideways and he can see her. Upon arrival, Atwood goes ape, breaking a glass bottle and challenging Volchak to REALLY bring in it!!!!!!!!!!!! This frightens the insecure bully and he leaves with his surfboard between his legs. While Marissa is proud of her man for not going through with the fight, Ryan seems to be raging. The episode ends with a few forcful swings at a punching bag now hanging in the pool house. Unless there's a robotic Russin awaiting Ryan next week and the death of his former friend/mentor to avenge, this doesn't bode well for Kid Chino's psyche.
"The Anger Management" File: