10 Worst Ways TV Characters Were Written Out
8. Marissa Cooper - The OC
The O.C is one of the great teen dramas of our time. Lovingly details, beautifully acted, funny and warm, it wasn’t always brilliant but it was consistently enjoyable - but it had a tendency to throw in the odd ridiculously big moment, not always to great effect. One such moment was the death of Marissa Cooper.
By the end of season three, Mischa Barton was itching for pastures new, and so Marissa, one of the main characters from the off, had to go. For whatever reason they decided on a scorched earth approach here: rather than having her leave town or fall into a coma, they killed her off in a madcap car chase, with the season’s surfer baddy Volchok.
The moment itself is perfectly fine, with Marissa dying in the arms of the stoic hero Ryan. The follow up, though, was kind of odd. Ryan dwelled on the death of his love for a while (he was a cage fighter for a bit, in one of the series’ most ludicrous ideas), and then everyone just moved on with their lives.
There maintains some uncertainty on whose idea it was to snuff Marissa, but the whole thing has the air of a sour note about it.