episode 9 season 2

EPISODE 09 – “The Ex–Factor”
1/20/2005

Seth stops by The Bait Shop to invite Alex to dinner. Uh, she can’t -- her ex is in town, well, actually, in her office. Seth thinks it’s time for the X to step aside for the I and the U. Yeah, except turns out the ex isn’t technically an ex. They haven’t officially broken up.

Marissa shows up at school wearing one of her usual Cosmo cover-worthy outfits, which Lindsay admits is just a bit intimidating. Ryan suggests the three of them hang out together so Marissa stops being an “ex” and starts becoming a “friend.”

At home, Kirsten asks Sandy if he has any ideas to help improve the Newport Group’s sullied image. As a matter of fact… Sandy just got a call from the Newport Housing Initiative about putting up low-income housing downtown. The Newport Group could back it. Perfect!

In the student lounge, Summer appears to be following her own self-improvement plan with some extracurricular reading when Zach shows up with an anniversary cupcake. Six months! He invites Summer to a romantic anniversary dinner at the Arches. Wow, six months. Really?

Later, Summer and Marissa reminisce about the good old pre-boy-drama days when they used to have sleepovers and watch “Full House” and “Step By Step.” They decide it’s time for a girl’s night out.

Kirsten enters Julie’s office with the good news about Sandy’s amazing idea to kick start the image make-over for the Newport Group, but Julie has an even more amazing idea! She unveils a giant blow-up of… herself, on the cover of a magazine called “Newport Living.” It’s a new magazine about Newport life – restaurants, events, gossip. Kirsten is suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of Julie in one room. She attempts to describe Sandy’s housing idea but Julie cuts her off. “We’re trying to appeal to the Newport elite -- bored, rich, gossip-mongers who like to shop. They’re me. And I don’t care about low-income housing.” Kirsten has to admit that she’s got a point.

Ryan walks Lindsay to the outdoor lunch terrace before leaving for an “emergency comic book meeting” called by Seth. Before heading off, he sees an opportunity to foster a friendship between Lindsay and Marissa by asking Marissa if Lindsay can join her and Summer for lunch. Lindsay assumes they don’t even eat until she sits down amongst the fast food bags. Lindsay comments that it’ll probably take Marissa and Summer hours on the elliptical trainer to work off those giant burgers. Huh? Exercise? Not these girls. “So you guys can just eat cheese burgers and look like you?” Marissa invites Lindsay to join their “girl’s night out.”

Back at the emergency comic book meeting, Seth solicits dating advice from a couple of pre-pubescent nerds. Seth is determined to see the guy he’s losing Alex to… and conveniently he hasn’t picked up his paycheck yet. And boy does he need that 38 bucks. A man’s got to eat after all. Ryan offers to pick up his check and snoop around for the ex.

At The Bait Shop, Ryan meets Jody, the ex. Later, at the Poolhouse, Ryan claims he didn’t see anything. Really, no guys? Definitely no guys. Ryan’s saved from Seth’s interrogation by a visit from Zach. Zach admits he’s upset because he thinks he freaked Summer out with the whole anniversary thing. She bailed on their dinner for a night at The Bait Shop with the girls. Seth suggests they go down to The Bait Shop too, but Ryan tries to sway them in another direction. How about a real guy’s night out? Seth’s in, he thinks a little investment in his manhood might be just what he needs right now.

Caleb drops by the Cohen house to discuss Julie’s magazine. He tells Sandy that if Julie launches this ungodly thing, she’ll embarrass herself, the company and the family. Hey, for once they agree on something.

Lindsay’s the first to arrive at Marissa’s house. They hang out in Marissa’s bedroom, or more accurately, they sit awkwardly in Marissa’s bedroom. Finally, Marissa pulls out a whiskey flask and suggests an icebreaker. Lindsay politely declines. More awkwardness… saved by the doorbell. Marissa goes to let in Summer while Lindsay browses her photo collection – including photos of Marissa and Ryan. She suddenly wonders what she’s doing there.

Back at the pool house, the guys are still planning their big night out. Seth suggests they go out there and do what guys do. Then he turns to Ryan and asks what guys do. Ryan throws out a few ideas but it’s clear that Seth and Zach just want to stay home and play video games. Seth proposes a “Guys night in.”

At The Bait Shop… the girls are a little at a loss. What happens now? Boy talk? Lindsay suddenly thinks a drink might not be such a bad idea after all.

Back at the Cohens, Seth and Zach discuss their respective girl troubles. Not exactly what Ryan had imagined for a guy’s night out. Suddenly Seth thinks they should head down to the club and put up a fight. Ryan protests and Seth realizes he knows more than he’s saying. After some expert pleading by Seth, Ryan admits that he met the ex. “And? Who is he?” Uh… “He’s a she.”

On what appears to be a somewhat painful double date, Julie pitches the magazine to Caleb, Kirsten and Sandy -- “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.” Caleb defers to Kirsten who defers to Sandy, who doesn’t mince words --- “Julie, it’s a lousy idea.” Julie looks to Kirsten, who would clearly like to back up her husband but has to admit that Julie might be on to something. Sandy tells the waiter that Caleb will take the check, then he takes off.

The guys hit The Bait Shop and Ryan finds a very drunken Lindsay. He looks at Marissa accusatorily, but she looks the other way. Seth pounds on the office door until Alex lets him in. She wants to know exactly how she wronged him. Well, for starters, she lied to him. Alex denies lying. She told Seth her ex was in town and he filled in the blanks. “Yeah, blanks that you left blank.” Seth thinks blowing him off is all part of Alex’s whole “too cool Jem and the Holograms rocker chic thing.” Then he blows her off and heads out the door.

Ryan takes Lindsay on a walk down the beach to get some fresh air. He leaves her by the water to grab some coffee and when he returns all he sees is a floating shoe. He dives into the water, yelling for her... but she’s nowhere in sight. Suddenly Seth comes out and starts yelling too. “Ryan, what are you doing?!” Seth assures Ryan that Lindsay’s fine. She’s passed out in Alex’s office. A frustrated and wet Ryan heads into the office and finds Marissa taking care of her. Marissa offers to drive Lindsay home but Ryan thinks she’s done enough for one night. Marissa claims innocence but Ryan isn’t buying it. “Right, it was Lindsay’s idea to pound straight vodka and pass out.” Actually, it was. Ryan yells a little more then he and Seth take off.

Meanwhile, Summer finds Zach at the diner drinking a milkshake. She apologizes and explains that when it comes to dating, her entire experience amounts to a six month angst-fest with Cuckoo for Cohen, so when she’s with someone sane and normal like Zach, it’s like she’s been raised by wolves. And, she needs to take baby steps. Zach understands and promises that if they’re still together at the one year mark, he’ll totally blow it off. Music to her ears.

Seth and Ryan head over to Alex’s place to apologize. Ryan tells Marissa he was hoping it was going to be easy for them to stay friends and for her and Lindsay to become friends. Marissa tells him that it may seem like a million years ago that they were dating and he may be over it, but it meant a lot to her. Still does. Ryan admits that thinking she and Lindsay should be friends was a bad idea. Marissa agrees that it’s going to be strange for a while, but she likes Lindsay and, if you do the math, she is her step-sister. Ryan apologizes one more time before heading out.

Outside, Seth asks Alex if she and Jody are getting back together. Alex doesn’t think so. But she’s also not ready to jump back into anything with Seth. Alex thanks Seth for coming by.

Alex re-enters the apartment and finds Marissa on the couch watching a horror flick. Works for Alex. She grabs a blanket and throws it over them. A lingering look between them says this just might be the start of something.