Ryan Atwood
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (December 2007) |
| Ryan Atwood | |||||||
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| File:RyanAtwood.jpg Benjamin McKenzie as Ryan Atwood | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Benjamin McKenzie | ||||||
| First appearance | Premiere (episode 1.01) | ||||||
| Last appearance | The End's Not Near, It's Here (episode 4.16) | ||||||
| Created by | Josh Schwartz | ||||||
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Ryan Atwood is a fictional character in the American television series The O.C. He is played by Benjamin McKenzie.
Character history
Season 1
In the beginning of the Season 1, Ryan Atwood is a teenager living in Chino, California. He is pressured by his brother Trey and is caught attempting to steal a Camaro. When apprehended, he meets his attorney, Sandy Cohen. When Dawn, Ryan's mother, hears of Ryan's arrest, she kicks him out of the house. He is taken in by Sandy, despite objections from Sandy's wife, Kirsten, but after meeting Ryan's mom and realizing she is unable to take care of him, Kirsten's maternal instincts kick and and she welcomes him to stay. Ryan slowly becomes part of the Cohen family, living in their pool house. He becomes a brother to Sandy and Kirsten's misfit son Seth, and Sandy and Kirsten consider him as a second son. However, even though he is accepted by the immediate Cohen family, he is still considered an outsider to many including Kirsten's father, Celeb Nichol, and the Cohen's neighbor Julie Cooper.
Ryan and Julie's daughter, Marissa Cooper, a popular but somewhat troubled teenage girl, develop an attraction for one another that initially has its difficulties because of her relationship with Luke Ward and the differences in their backgrounds. However she and Luke break up on a trip to Tijuana when she finds him cheating on her and she overdoses in an alley. Ryan saves her and they became closer, forming a turbulent but strong relationship. As time goes on, Luke abandons his hostility towards Ryan and they become friends.
During the middle of the season, Ryan's relationship with Marissa is interrupted by Oliver Trask, a mentally deranged person who Marissa met in Therapy, and who developed an unhealthy obsession with her. Ryan became very suspicious of Oliver's behavior, his background, and his feelings for Marissa. This brings significant trust issues between him and Marissa to the core, which eventually result in them breaking up. When Marissa realizes Oliver's obsession for her, she seeks Ryan's help and Oliver, after threatening to commit suicide were she to leave him, is committed to a mental hospital. Afterwards Ryan cannot forget how easily someone succeeded in coming between them, and refused to resume their relationship, although they remain friends.
At the same time, Theresa, Ryan's childhood sweetheart moves to Newport, which results in them having a relationship. Theresa leaves Newport after her fiancé Eddie arrives in Newport and convinces him to return to Chino with him. Ryan and Marissa resume their relationship shortly after, but this was complicated when Theresa arrived back in Newport after suffering domestic abuse from Eddie. Theresa revealed to Marissa that she was pregnant, and did not know whether the father was Ryan or Eddie. After some reflection, she decided to keep the baby and decided to go back to Chino to be with her family. Ryan felt compelled to go back with her to help her bring up the child, leaving Marissa and everything behind.
Season 2
Ryan begins the season living with Theresa and working in construction. Theresa realizes that Ryan is unhappy and encourages him to visit Seth in Portland where he is currently staying with Luke. He goes, but while he's there Theresa telephones him and tells him she's miscarried. Ryan wants to return to her, but Theresa refuses and encourage him to return to Newport with Seth.
After his return to Newport, Ryan meets Lindsay Gardener, a new student. While their relationship starts as adversarial, as they share a less economically-advantageous upbringing and are both socially awkward, they soon become friendly and later romantically involved. Eventually, Ryan's romance with Lindsay is scuppered when it emerges that Lindsey might be Caleb Nichol's illegitimate daughter, causing Ryan think of Lindsay as his Aunt (since Kirsten is like a mother to him) and Lindsay's emotional confusion at the discovery. They overcome their problems, but Lindsay eventually decides to move with her mother to Chicago, leaving Ryan behind. After she leaves, Ryan misses her and is intent on visiting Lindsey, although Seth convinces him that leaving Newport to be with Lindsey isn't the right solution.
After Lindsay, Marissa and Ryan are constantly being pulled closer together (partly because of Seth's idea of a reunion of the 'Fab Four'). Marissa admits to Summer that Ryan was the only one she ever loved and misses him everyday (with Ryan, of course, overhearing the whole conversation), and when he talks about how he and Marissa first met it is clear that he still has feelings for her. When things seem to be getting back to normal between the two, Trey is released from jail. Ryan, along with the Cohens and Marissa attempt to get Trey back onto his feet. At first, all is well, but while Ryan is on a trip in Florida, Trey tries to rape Marissa while on drugs. Marissa does not tell anyone for a while, causing tension in her relationship with Ryan who concludes that something happened between Trey and Marissa while he was away. When he questions both Trey and Marissa, both avoid telling him the truth, leading Ryan to think that Marissa cheated on him with Trey.
In an interlude, Ryan ends up in Chino. He bumps into Theresa visiting her mother. Ryan confides in her about his problems, and Theresa tells him that out of the two, Marissa would never hurt him and she would be the one to trust. At her mother's door, she blocks his entry, not allowing him to go in with her even though he wanted to say hello to her mother. As Ryan leaves, she goes in and greets her mother who has been looking after her baby. It appears that she didn't miscarry after all. Following Theresa's advice, Ryan makes up with Marissa and they're happy.
Meanwhile, Sandy has become concerned with Kirsten's drinking and decides to stage an intervention. Seth is reluctant to accept that his mother has a drinking problem and doesn't think that forcing his mother into rehab is the right course of action. Ryan, however, has been more aware to Kirsten's increase drinking and is quick to realize she has problem. He reassures Sandy that it's the right thing to do. He takes part in the intervention, telling Kirsten he wouldn't be able to bear it if he lost someone else he loved to drink, as he lost his real mother. Following similar statements of love from Haley, Sandy and Seth, Kirsten gives in and checks herself into rehab.
Marissa, eventually tells Summer about what really happened with Trey, who tells Seth. Seth immediately tells Ryan, prompting a confrontation between Ryan and Trey. An angry Ryan drives to Trey's apartment and a fight breaks out between the two brothers when Marissa walks in, pleading with them to stop. Trey refuses and Marissa shoots him in the back with a gun Trey has in his apartment in order to save Ryan. It is left unclear whether or not Trey survives until the third season.
Season 3
In the aftermath of Season 2, Trey has survived the gunshot, but remains in a coma. After finally waking up, Julie pays Trey to blame the incident on Ryan so Marissa won't be in trouble, but Marissa talks Trey into telling the truth after Ryan is arrested. Marissa is expelled from Harbor High and attends public school, making new friends that lead to trouble. Ryan becomes jealous of Marissa's relationship with Johnny, fueling their on and off again status. After Johnny dies in front of Marissa, she begins a disastrous relationship with Volchok. Ryan and Volchok develop a hateful relationship with each other, leading to a horrible conclusion. In the season finale, the Fab Four finally graduate, heading towards their prospective futures, including Ryan headed to UC Berkeley. Elsewhere, Volchok needs to get out of town and tries to blackmail Ryan into giving him money for this purpose, with the threat that he would tell the police about Ryan's involvement in a robbery that he had forced Ryan to help out with earlier in the season. Marissa gives Ryan the pearls her mother bought her as a graduation present to pawn for Volchok's escape money. After getting the money, Volchok continues to try to blackmail Ryan, but wants to talk to Marissa. In the midst of his threats, Marissa pulls up in Ryan's car which clearly upsets Volchok. While Ryan drives Marissa to the airport, an angry and drunk Volchok tries crashing into Ryan's car to get him to pull over, so they can finish their rivalry on the side of the road. He sideswipes Ryan's car and knocks it over a barrier, the car rolling down an embankment and coming to a stop on a road below. Ryan sustains no serious injuries in the accident, but Marissa suffers a head injury and dies in Ryan's arms on the road.
Season 4
Ryan has changed greatly since Marissa's death. He has moved out, tries to avoid the Cohens, and has resorted to cage fighting as a way to release his anger about her death. Julie passes information from a private investigator about Volchok's whereabouts to Ryan, who tries to find him in Mexico to take revenge. Seth warns Volchok in advance and Ryan returns to the Cohens, but Ryan's friendship with Seth is damaged. After Sandy acts as Volchok's defense attorney, Ryan encounters Volchok in a hotel where they begin to fight. Just as Ryan is about to kill him, he decides to spare his life. Ryan says, "You didn't stop. You didn't even try to help and she died....on the side of the road." Volchok tells him that he was scared which was why he fled. Ryan tells him that he's going to have pay for what he did and live with his guilt. He leaves the room while police arrest Volchok. Sandy tells Ryan he's glad that he made the right choice. Volchok and Ryan share one last look as he put into a cruiser.
After this event, Ryan settles back down to life in Newport, determined to have an uneventful summer, however, a married Taylor returns from France seeking help in getting a divorce, as a divorce will only be granted to her if she proves she's been unfaithful. Ryan is reluctant to be drawn in, however, in a heart to heart with Sandy, he's reminded that he helps people when they really need it, that's who he is. Ryan rushes to Taylor's aid, and helps her by kissing her in front of her husband's lawyer. The lawyer concedes that the kiss looked real, they were obviously lover. Later, Taylor brings him a peach torte as a thank you. Ryan is at first confused and then bemused, but admits that the torte is wonderful. Unknown to him at the time, Taylor has developed a crush on Ryan for helping her.
Around this time, Ryan suffers from insomnia. Taylor, looking for a way to spend more time with Ryan intervenes, acting as a sleep therapist, but ultimately fails to cure Ryan's insomnia with her suggested remedies. Although she fails, she gets him to admit that his insomnia stems the events from Marissa's death and subsequent events with Volchok, and she encourages him to deal with the emotional fallout rather than simply ignore it.
Seth, who has become aware of Taylor's crush on Ryan, tells Ryan who has remained oblivious until then. Ryan is flatter, but feels he's not over Marissa. Ryan confronts Taylor who initially denied it, but then admits that she does like him because he's wonderful. She asks him to kiss her to see if he feels anything. Ryan agrees, and they kiss. Taylor runs out of the pool house immediately afterwards in embarrassment, while Ryan collapse on a nearby seat and exclaims 'wow'.
Ryan eventually tells Taylor that he does like her but doesn't want anything too serious. Taylor laughs and tells him in return that she didn't want anything serious and wanted to use his body as a jungle gym. They get together in a game of Seven Minutes In Heaven, where they kiss for a long time after their seven minutes are up.
At Chrismukkah, Ryan discovers a letter in the mail that is from Marissa. He starts to open it, but is interrupted by Kirsten. Later when Ryan is hanging decorations, Taylor arrives with a present for him, but preoccupied with Marissa's letter he acts coldly towards her. They fight, with both falling off the ladder, rendering them unconscious.
While in a coma, Ryan and Taylor are transported to an alternate universe, one that shows what Newport would be like if Ryan never showed up. Taylor, having a sci-fi phase once, tells Ryan that the reason they are here is to fix something and they can't return until they fix what needs to be fixed. They split up to right wrongs. On her own, Taylor discovers that "Missy Cooper" is arriving home from Berkeley shortly and assumes Marissa is alive in this universe. She tells Ryan, who is shocked and immediately heads to the airport to meet the incoming flight. As he looks around, he sees someone with a pink Berkeley sweatshirt. Thinking it's Marissa, he calls her name and reaches out to her only to find that it's Kaitlin. Kaitlin, not recognizing him, tells him that Marissa died 3 years ago in alley in Tijuana. (Since this world shows what Newport is like without Ryan, that means that he wasn't there to save her).
Meanwhile, while Ryan is still unconscious, a nurse tells Kirsten that the paramedic found something in Ryan's pocket. It was the letter. Kirsten then shows the letter to Julie who takes it to read. She later reports that it was written to Ryan before she left for Greece. Marissa writes that she had to leave because while she still loved him and they couldn't be together. Julie goes into Ryan's room and sets the note beside his bed, thus 'sending' the note into Ryan's dream. Ryan reads the letter. After reading it, he reflects on it's content for a moment and then walks away, leaving it behind. As he does, his voice is heard saying "Goodbye". Ryan's wrong to put right was to find a way to forgive himself for Marissa's death and to find the strength to move on. He then awakens from the coma.
A few days later Ryan finds out from Sandy that his father, Frank Atwood, is out of jail and wants to see him. Ryan is initially hesitant as he remembers his father's alcoholism, but Frank convinces him by lying about having lung cancer. At dinner with the Cohens, the truth is revealed and a fight ensues, causing Frank to leave Newport.
Taylor's ex-husband, Henri-Michel, comes to Newport on a book tour for Henri's best-selling novel about his marriage to Taylor. Feeling insecure about Taylor's exotic life in France, Ryan breaks up with Taylor claiming that they're both "too different." After a week, Ryan decides he was wrong, but discovers that it might be too late as Taylor is already considering a reconciliations with Henri who still loves her. In a moment of desperation, Ryan upstages a poem reading by Henri Michel at a local book store with a poem of his own in which he confesses that he could grow to love her, given time. Taylor says she treasures Ryan's poem but needs to work on discovering who they are before fully pursuing their relationship again. However, Taylor cannot stand being apart from Ryan and stalks him, only to feel humiliated when he catches her. In a comical scene, Ryan tells Taylor that they can work around it, suggesting the idea that they should take turns stalking each other.
In "The Shake Up", Taylor and Ryan prepare for her 19th birthday. Ryan is under pressure when he tries to decide if he should tell Taylor that he loves her on her birthday. Eventually Ryan tells her that he loves her before tenderly kissing a drunken Taylor who is pretending to be asleep. When Taylor reveals that she got accepted into Berkeley, Ryan assumes it's because of him, although she actually got accepted long before they started dating. This makes Ryan feel uncomfortable and he backs off, making the situation worse when he gives her a pocket dictionary for her birthday. However, seeing her disappointment at the gift, he gives her his original present: a bound book full of love poems that Taylor translated for Ryan. He admits that he loves her and they share a long kiss. As they reconcile, an earthquake hits Newport.
Ryan and Taylor survived the earthquake, but a fragment of glass and blood is seen on Ryan's back. Ryan calls Seth for help, and Seth realizing the seriousness of Ryan's injury takes him to the hospital. Along the way, they get a flat tire. After failing to fix it, Seth attempts to finds new transportation and is spotted by Frank and Julie from their car. The next scene takes place in hospital, where Ryan is recovering from his wound. Seth mentions that he donated blood to Ryan, and that they were now really brothers.
Six months later, he and Taylor have broken up. However, feelings still linger when Julie and Bullit's wedding is close to fruition and they end up kissing. Ryan and Taylor spend time together as a couple before Taylor leaves Newport for college in Paris.
Later, Sandy and Kirsten depart from their Newport home, which is damaged beyond repair due to the earthquake. They're moving to Berkeley with Ryan. Ryan and Seth part, after an emotional hug. After Seth rides off in a taxi, Ryan walks through the empty house, with flashbacks representing memories (including first walking into the pool house and first meeting Seth). As Ryan gets in his Jeep, his last memory is of Marissa standing on the curb watching him drive away, as seen in the "Premiere".
In a flashforward, Ryan attends UC Berkeley while living with the Cohens in Berkeley, California. At Seth and Summer's wedding, Ryan and Taylor share a look; it's assumed that they continue their relationship, possibly getting married. He becomes a successful architect. His story comes full circle when he comes upon a kid at a pay phone, down on his luck. Ryan looks away for a moment, having flashbacks from the pilot episode when he was in the same situation. Knowing what he should do, Ryan calls out his last words (and the last words of the series): "Hey kid, need any help?" The kid looks up at him and it's assumed that he accepted Ryan's help and Ryan took him in, ending the show with the way it began: helping a kid in need.
Family tree
Parents
- Frank Atwood (father)
- Dawn Atwood (mother)
- Sanford "Sandy" Cohen (adoptive father)
- Kirsten Cohen (adoptive mother)
Sibling(s)
- Trey Atwood (brother)
- Seth Cohen (adoptive brother)
- Summer Roberts(Cohen) (adoptive sister-in-law)
- Unnamed Atwood (half-brother)
Grandparents (all adoptive)
- Julie Cooper (ex-step maternal grandmother)
- Caleb Nichol (maternal grandfather)
- Sophie Cohen (paternal grandmother)
Other relatives
- Hailey Nichol (adoptive aunt)
- Lindsay Gardner (illegitimate adoptive aunt)
- Marissa Cooper (ex-adoptive step aunt)
- Kaitlin Cooper (ex-adoptive step aunt)
Romantic relationships
- Theresa Diaz (childhood friend/childhood sweetheart)
Theresa is Ryan's childhood sweetheart from Chino. She's the girl he left behind, and it emerges that Ryan never told Theresa about leaving, let alone say goodbye to her. However, their shared bond as childhood friends and lovers is never quite broken. Theresa occasionally turns up in Newport for work and to see Ryan when she needs a break from her life in Chino. Theresa's lack of academic qualifications, low paid job, early marriage and motherhood indicates what Ryan's life might have been like, if the Cohens hadn't offered him an opportunity to escape from the economically deprived Chino. This is emphasized when Ryan briefly returns to Chino to be with Theresa at the end of season 1 and the start of season 2, where we see Ryan living with a pregnant Theresa and working in construction, before he returns to Newport. Eventually, in season 3, Theresa realizes that with the differences in their lives, particularly in the level of responsibilities, she has outgrown him. Theresa does not appear in season 4.
It is ambiguous as to whether Ryan is the father of Theresa's child. In season 3, Theresa tells him that the baby is not his. However, she has lied to him before, telling him she miscarried in season 2, so Ryan can return to Newport. It's an example of her willingness to lie and to let him go, for what she believes to be his own good. Ryan does not question her, and it is unclear whether Ryan really believes her or if he realizes she might be lying but realizes that she's giving him a way out and accepts.
- Marissa Cooper (soul mate; deceased)
Marissa lives next door to the Cohens and meets first Ryan outside, with Marissa asking, "Who are you?" With Ryan replying, "Whoever you want me to be." Throughout the season 1, Marissa is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Ryan.
- Lindsay Gardner (dated)
- Sadie Campbell (lovers/dated)
- Chloe (one-night stand)
- Taylor Townsend (lovers/dating)
- Gabrielle (fling)
Trivia
- Ryan's favorite fruit is peaches, possibly a reference to his romantic relationship with Taylor, who is nicknamed "Peaches" by her ex-husband.
- Ryan's favorite band is Journey.
- Ryan plays soccer during his sophomore year of high school. He may have also played in later years but it is not mentioned on the show although a soccer ball is sometimes seen in his bedroom.
- Over the four seasons of the show Ryan worked as a waiter/busboy at the Crab Shack, a construction worker, an intern at the Newport Group, a barback in a very shady joint and again as a waiter/busboy at a Mexican restaurant in the mall.
- It is known that Ryan lost his virginity sometime around his freshman year of high school and it may or may not have been to Theresa, at approx age 14.
- Ryan was physically abused by Frank Atwood and some of his mother's boyfriends before being adopted by the Cohens.
- Ryan participated in musicals when he was much younger.
- In behind-the-scenes with Beach Couture, the hairdresser and makeup artist tells viewers that in all, there are about 50-100 wife-beaters in Ryan's closet. One is used in each episode.
- Ryan is the only character of the "Core Four" to never be seen under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Although he was seen smoking a cigarette and drinking a little in the first episode, and a beer and glass of wine at Taylor's house, he has never been drunk.
- Ryan and Marissa have been the only couple to break up and get back together more than 3 times.
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