Over the course of four seasons and 92 episodes, The O.C. had its share of great moments. From Cohen family hilarity to heartbreak and grief, the series ran the gamut of styles and tones, creating a wide variety of unforgettable scenes. (It was so ubiquitous, in fact, that The Lonely Island parodied it in a digital short without needing to mention it by name.) To mark series landing on HBO Max, Paste presents The O.C.’s 50 Best Moments, listed in chronological order. (Read our complete episode ranking here.)
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Ryan gets arrested with his brother and meets Sandy Cohen.
Ryan meets Marissa for the first time.
Seth meets his new brother, Ryan.
“Welcome to the O.C., bitch!”
Ryan and Luke fight—burning down a model home as a result.
Seth and Summer kiss, beginning The O.C.’s best romance (of many).
The gang goes to “TJ” (Tijuana).
Marissa overdoses on pills and booze.
Ryan and Marissa share their first kiss atop a ferris wheel.
“Yogalates.”
The Cohens introduce the world to Chrismukkah, the holiday sweeping the nation.
Summer gives Seth his Chrismukkah present: His own, real-life Wonder Woman.
Ryan rushes to kiss Marissa on New Year’s Eve.
Oliver loses his goddamn mind.
Summer and Seth have sex for the first time—and it’s awkward.
Sandy and Seth have “the talk.”
Seth and Summer share a dance.
Seth publicly proclaims his love for Summer.
Anna leaves for the East Coast and says goodbye to Seth.
The Gruesome Twosome get engaged.
The O.C. goes to The Vegas.
The most unholy of all unions.
Ryan goes back to Chino and Seth sails to Tahiti.
Marissa’s hilariously stupid meltdown.
Yarmul-Clauses!
Kirsten finds out about her long lost sister, then attacks her father.
Seth ruins his comic book meeting by being jealous and over-caffeinated.
Seth and Summer reunite with a Spider-Man-style kiss.
Trey attacks and forces himself on Marissa.
Kirsten gets in a car accident after drinking and driving.
Caleb Nichol has a heart attack and dies.
Kirsten’s substance abuse problems lead her loved ones to stage an intervention.
Marissa shoots Trey.
Ryan punches the dean of his high school.
Seth doesn’t give a crap about school anymore.
Kaitlin Cooper returns to Newport.
Johnny dies. Finally.
Marissa and Ryan break up one final time.
Summer gets into Brown and Seth doesn’t. The two break up because of Seth’s lies.
Ryan, Seth, Marissa and Summer graduate from high school.
The gang return to the model home to say goodbye to each other.
Marissa Cooper dies.
Seth makes a comic book for Ryan.
Summer rapidly goes through the stages of grief.
Ryan and Taylor have their first kiss.
Ryan and Taylor share a Chrismukkah coma dream.
Seth proposes to Summer.
The O.C. flashes back to young Sandy and Kirsten.
An earthquake hits Orange County.
Seth and Summer get married.
Ross Bonaime is a D.C.-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. Yogalates. You can follow find more of his writing at RossBonaime.com and follow him on Twitter.