Romance Refresh
’The O.C.’: Did Ryan & Marissa End Up Together? How Their Love Story Ended
Twenty-two years ago, the very first episode of The O.C. premiered, and viewers got to see Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) and Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) cross paths for the first time. The beloved teen drama ran for four seasons before ending in 2007.
Throughout the series, Ryan and Marissa had a complicated, on/off relationship, but where did they stand by the series finale? Scroll down for a refresh on their romance.
Did Ryan and Marissa end up together on The O.C.?
No, Ryan and Marissa did not end up together because Marissa died in a car accident at the end of the Season 3 finale. At the time of her death, Ryan and Marissa were not together, but they were slowly getting back to a good place after she ended her relationship with Kevin Volchok (Cam Gigandet). He even agreed to drive her to the airport after graduation so she could head to her new job working on a yacht with her dad.
Everything fell apart, though, when Marissa got a call from Volchok on graduation night. When she turned down his advances, he threatened her and Ryan. The two teamed up to get Volchok the money he wanted so he would (hopefully) be out of their lives forever. To come up with the cash, Marissa even sold the pearls her mom (Melinda Clarke) gave her for graduation.
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But even once he had the money, Volchok wasn’t willing to let Marissa go. After Ryan and Marissa shared a fun night together (during which she told him, “You never know,” when he asked if she thought they’d end up together), Volchok followed them in his car and ran them off the road. Ryan carried Marissa out of the burning car, but it was too late, and she died in his arms.
Who did Ryan end up with on The O.C.?
After Marissa’s death, Taylor Townsend (Autumn Reeser) became Ryan’s main love interest. They broke up at the beginning of the series finale, but later rekindled their relationship. However, when the show flashed forward several years to Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer’s (Rachel Bilson) wedding, the fate of Ryan and Taylor’s relationship was unclear. They smiled at each other during the ceremony and were clearly on good terms, but whether or not they were in a romantic relationship was left open to interpretation.
Co-creator Josh Schwartz told Entertainment Weekly in 2016 that Ryan and Taylor didn’t stay together, but said the reformed bad boy had a potential romantic future with another former character from the show: Season 2’s Alex (Olivia Wilde), a bisexual bar manager who previously dated Marissa.
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“Recently, Ryan was seated next to Alex Kelly, Olivia Wilde’s character, on a flight,” Schwartz teased. “They have a first date scheduled for Friday.”
Some fans on Reddit have pointed out, though, that Schwartz said in a more recent Instagram Live that Ryan and Taylor did end up together.
Why was Marissa killed off The O.C.?
Josh Schwartz told Huffington Post that he “regrets” killing off Marissa and noted that it was “100% a creative decision for the show.”
“It was born out of both feeling creatively like it was the direction the show needed to head and also, quite frankly, a function of needing to do something big to shake up the show at the end of that third season to get the show to come back fora fourth season, and, I think, to give the show a real creative jolt in Season 4 and move the show in its own surprising, unexpected direction,” Schwartz explained. He also said the decision “had nothing to do” with Barton herself.
The actress kept tight-lipped about her exit from the show for years, but finally opened up about why she wanted to leave in a 2021 interview with E! “I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it,” Barton shared, adding that her “complicated” feelings about the show “started pretty early on.”
She cited costar Bilson being added as “a series regular and evening out everybody’s pay,” as well as “sort of general bullying from some of the men on set” as reasons why she struggled. “About halfway through Season 2,” the demanding filming schedule began taking a toll on the young star.
“A lot of that was too much for me,” Barton admitted. “I didn’t know where the character was going. I look back on it pretty fondly, but there’s stuff I think people did wrong and the way they handled it, so I just didn’t feel I could keep going.” She revealed that producers “kind of gave [her] an option” to “sail off into the sunset” and potentially come back in the future, or get killed off so she could move on with her career.”
“My dream was to be offered those lead roles, so that’s what happened,” she shared. “I just felt like it was the best thing for me and my health and in terms of not really feeling protected by my cast and crew at that point.”
