A single quote from Julie Cooper (played by Melinda Clarke) is probably enough to simultaneously give background on the history of "The O.C." as well as shed some light on what makes this show so great.

"Why wouldn't America be fascinated with the lives and loves of Orange County's rich and fabulous? We're all beautiful and we're all dysfunctional. Surf, sex and scandal, it's a recipe for a cultural phenomena. Don't you think?"

Certainly, "The O.C." has crossed over from being a mere TV show and more of a cultural phenomenon. It's not like we haven't seen the stories before: high school love affairs, corporate power plays, cheating, backstabbing and a few genuinely heartfelt moments are nothing new to our television screens.

But the quote above also proves the show is not only smartly written but also aware of its status as a cultural icon. Instead of falling into the realm of self-parody or taking the stories in a different direction, "The O.C." embraces its strengths and plays to them. As long as there's going to be affair after affair and melodrama galore, it might as well have some fun while doing it.

Even the show's weaknesses become its strong points. Case in point, apparently Orange County is blessed with just about everything — except locks on their doors. More specifically, if a couple is making out that probably shouldn't be, you can guarantee someone else is coming into that room. Instead of feeling trite, it keeps the viewer even more interested. It's not a matter of if someone's coming through, it's who, and what new problems that is going to create.

This year, Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) continues to tread into un-chartered territory as not only the video game playing emo-geek but also a trend-setting heartthrob. Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) finally gets a few lines of his own this season, sometimes even getting in a good comic barb in response to some of Seth's wilder antics. The more serious story arches this year are left to the adults: Sandy, Kirsten, Caleb (Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan and Alan Dale respectively); showing that while the kids are still fascinated with alcohol and who's kissing who, the adult world has grave problems of its own.

Sometimes Season Two does feel like a retread of its predecessor. Do we really need another "new girl" who doesn't really fit in but then ends up dating one of the two male leads? Probably not.

And sometimes character exits from the show can be jarring, making it too obvious they have been written out. Hailey (Amanda Righetti) is moving to Japan? Jimmy (Tate Donovan) has to go to Hawaii to collect his thoughts? C'mon, at least take a cue from "The Sopranos" and have everyone get capped.

As for special features appearing on the seven-disc, 24-episode second season, they are fairly sparse. You get two episodes with full-length commentary, a featurette on O.C. fashions, a TV special on the show's success and outtakes from both seasons. The commentaries are lively and insightful, making it worth sitting through the episodes twice. The other features, however, are only mildly interesting because they tend to get bogged down showing too many clips from the shows you have already seen.

The first season of "The O.C." was a hit due to its smart writing, interesting characters and its fresh take on old storylines. Season Two was no exception. Plus it's good entertainment, and just like your life — except when the people on the show screw up, they look really, really good doing it.

Grade: A

Special Features: BC

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 1, 2005.