thanks!

Last month I had wisdom teeth surgery and, while bedridden, made the fantastic decision to watch the first season of The OC (otherwise known as one of the single greatest seasons of television known to mankind). Before I knew it, I was digging out those gigantic cinderblock-sized 7 disc box sets from my parents house and rewatching the entire series, many episodes of which I haven't seen in years. And let me tell you, what a roller coaster ride it was. Because for as many fantastic characters and moments the series had, it had SO many awful ones as well. I still loved it all, but right now let's talk about EVERYONE. From worst to best.

55. Oliver Trask

This one is a no-brainer. Oliver is probably the worst tv character of all time. A whiny, intolerable liar who manipulates girls into being his friend because he's so pathetic. And then when they obviously don't like him romantically because he's such a weasel, he fakes suicides and ruins everyone's lives.

54. Johnny Harper

If Oliver is the worst, Johnny is quite a close second. He's almost equally pathetic, but it's possibly less excusable because as far as I know, he wasn't even diagnosed with a mental illness. Oh boo hoo, you got hit by a car and now you have to put off surfing for a little bit? Be a man, dude. Even his death was the dumbest thing ever. I'm sad so I'm gonna get wasted and climb UP THIS CLIFF and then rant near the edge of it. Johnny, ugh, nobody misses you.

53. Lindsay Gardner

I had an awful lot of hate for Lindsay as well. She wasn't violently psychotic like the last two, but she was just terrible. She wasn't cute and she wasn't even NICE. There was literally no reason Ryan should like her, but of course he did? And she constantly picked her dad that clearly didn't like her and abandoned her multiple times over Ryan who was always there for her. What a bitch.

52. Charlotte Morgan

This character was just insufferable, and totally pointless to boot. She was a con artist meant to befriend Kirsten (while she was at her rehab clinic, no less) and then rip her off, but she wasn't even GOOD at being a con artist. And no match for Julie Cooper, let's be serious.

51. Dean Hess

This guy was just creepy. It's weird when any man specifically targets a teenage student to get them thrown out, it's even worse when it's for the teenage girl he's banging to help her get more popular. Ew.

50. Matt Ramsey

After Kirsten left the Newport Group, this young "self starter" came in and convinced Sandy to help him run the company. Not only was he unprofessional (and not even good at his job), he later turned on Sandy (the most inexcusable thing a person can do) and threatened to bring him down. Sandy of course ends up saving this unappreciative douche, and he gets off scot-free.

49. Rebecca Bloom

Nobody should ever interfere with Sandy and Kirsten's marriage. GET OUT OF HERE, REBECCA BLOOM. She basically sparked Kirsten's alcoholism and ruined everything.

48. Henry Griffin

He was like... this evil oil tycoon sort of character? I didn't pay that much attention to him or his storyline.

47. Veronica Townsend

What a horrifying woman.

46. Chili

This guy is SUCH a terrible friend, it's insane. Right after his best friend breaks his leg, he leaves because he doesn't want to deal with it. Constantly gives his friend terrible advice, and basically leads to his friend killing himself. And am I crazy, or did he not even seem that upset after he died?

45. Jess Sathers

She was randomly obsessed with Atwoods, and really pretty pathetic.

44. Renee Wheeler

Lindsay's dumb mom.

43. Rachel Hoffman

A young, attractive attorney that worked at the same firm as Sandy and obviously wanted to get with him. Back of the line, Rachel.

42. Heather

She was a huge bitch, mainly because I guess she's insecure? Always gave Marissa a hard time because boys like her more. She sort of seemed like she changed the last time we see her, but really, who cares.

41. Reed

She was involved with Seth and Zach's comic Atomic County, and though she was mainly just doing her job, she still sparked a lot of rivalry between Seth, Summer, and Zach - and that ain't cool.

40. Taryn

She was the random Newp-sie who was given the most dialogue throughout the series. She was dumb, but harmless mostly.

39. Holly

uhhh this is that girl that Luke was cheating on Marissa with. You know, the one that caused her to OD in Tijuana?

38. Frank Atwood

Ryan's once abusive-deadbeat, now not-so-bad (?) dad. I find him to be so incredibly boring, and why Julie would even consider picking him over Bullit is beyond me.

37. Dawn Atwood

Terrible mother on the one hand, on the other - her abandoning Ryan caused him to live with the Cohens, which was obviously the best thing that could have happened to him. Way to go, Dawn!

36. Carter Buckley

Listen, anybody that gets in the way of the Kirsten/Sandy union is unacceptable. On the other, when he's sad he gets really wasted and listens to the Pixies, so he can't be all bad.

35. Zach Stevens

I didn't hate Zach. He was a nuisance because he was part of a triangle that involved keeping Seth and Summer apart, but he was a good looking, mostly nice guy that was pretty dorky, occasionally funny, but a lot of times boring. And damn, he made out REALLY well from the triangle - he lost Summer to Seth, but ended up getting the comic, which let's be honest is not such a terrible deal.

34. Casey

She was an overall pointless character. The only girl on the show that actually liked Johnny, and when she noticed Johnny preferred Marissa, she quickly cheated on him with his enemy to soften the blow. You go girl.

33. Dr. Kim

What a nice principal.

32. Hailey Nichol

She was sort of a mess, but at least she kept it interesting.

31. Spencer Bullit

Part time tennis instructor, part time gigolo. Also he's the big wolf on campus.

30. DJ

Ohhhhh the yard guy. Even HE knew how pointless he was. He carefully bowed out after a couple episodes.

29. Lance

The porn guy. At first he's pretty terrible, but him and Julie end up bonding over Whitesnake and he's not such a bad guy after all.

28. Brad and Eric Ward

Luke's younger twin brothers. Often doing inappropriate things like shaving each other's chests.

27. Kevin Volchok

Has his moments but for the most part is kind of just an insecure scumbag. He killed Marissa and pretty much gets away with it until Ryan tracked him down. He ends up turning himself in, the guiltttt!

26. The Nana

The Nana!

25. Neil Roberts

Summer's dad. My god he looks like Alfred Molina. And he's randomly the nicest man of all time. He wants to leave Julie after her unresponsive fugue state goes on for months, and lets her and her daughter just HAVE his house while he leaves and goes to Seattle. What?

24. Sadie

I know she was put in as a plot device, but I really didn't mind Sadie. She was randomly perfect and drama-free, but Ryan just couldn't find a way to like her the way he liked Marissa.

23. Donnie

Ryan's co-worker for like a second. Randomly brings guns to Newport parties and ends up shooting Luke. Now you can catch him on the Vampire Diaries.

22. Carson Ward

Luke's gay dad.

21. Trey Atwood

My god, he was a mess. He literally can't help but ruin everything, it's almost not his fault. Remember that time he nearly murdered his brother, but then Marissa shot him, and they were all "mmm watcha sayyy"??

20. Caleb Nichol

What an intense man. He was an impeccable businessman, but was he really? He was broker than MC Hammer when he died.

19. Jimmy Cooper

An overall nice enough guy, but really pretty pathetic. The first time he left was understandable, but he soon got into debt AGAIN (with meaner people) and showed us he was a bigger failure than we originally thought. Come on, Jim. You disappointed me.

18. Theresa Diaz

Ryan's Marissa before Marissa. Except she's strong and independent and tells Ryan she lost her baby so he won't hang around when she can see he doesn't love her. I was really happy to see she ended up being really successful. Girl power.

17. Alex Kelly

Olivia Wilde! First she was Seth's girlfriend, and that was weird, then she was Marissa's, and that was kind of forced.

16. Pancakes!

15. Princess Sparkle

14. Luke Ward

"Welcome to The OC, bitch" - Luke was an insufferable douche at first, but randomly turned into a really cool guy. Get this dude at a Rooney show and he'll show you what's up.

13. Kirsten Cohen

I think it's safe to say we all love Kirsten, she took Ryan in and treats him completely equal to her own son. Her marriage to Sandy is like THE picture of marriage that everyone should strive for. But let's be real here, she's also a bit bland. Which is how she ends up behind Captain Oats.

12. Captain Oats

11. Che Cook

Summer's hippie BFF at Brown. Would arguably be higher on the list because it's Chris Pratt, but he did sell out Summer and get her kicked out of school. It worked out though because she got to spend the rest of the year out in Newport and got to keep Pancakes.

10. Anna Stern

I love Anna. She was the female Seth Cohen, only more confident and put together. At first it seems crazy that Seth would choose Summer over Anna, since Summer initially treated him so terribly and then was embarrassed to be seen with him... but later it becomes clear that he made the right decision. Anna's still awesome though.

9. Kaitlin Cooper

The mini Cooper! She has a lot of the same qualities of Julie, which makes her awesome. Also her relationship with Bullit is absolutely adorable.

8. Gordon Bullit

I forgot how awesome this guy is. He makes puns out of his name, has 12 sons named after cities in Texas, is an actual billionaire, and just an extremely down to earth and nice guy. He allowed Julie to string him along, because for some reason she liked Frank Atwood (barf), but I love that they show in the finale wrap-up that he stayed close to Julie and Kaitlin despite her having a son with Frank. What a cool guy.

7. Marissa Cooper

Alright here me out. I know Marissa is a pretty hated character from this show, but I've always had a soft spot for her. I've always seen her as this extremely tragic character, and for that I always wanted to root for her to succeed. Think about it though, basically every finale involved something devastating happening to her: season 1 summer finale? ODs in Tijuana. season 2 finale? shoots Trey. season 3 finale? dies. Girl can't get a break! In spite of myself, I always rooted for her and Ryan. I just did!

6. Taylor Townsend

I love Taylor. Initially she's introduced as this pathological go-getter, and well... that's what she is. But it eventually becomes endearing, and that's what you love about her. She has a french ex-husband, is an admitted stalker, and even on a terrorist watch list. She's legitimately insane, in the most adorable way possible.

5. Julie Cooper

Or Julie Cooper Nichol Cooper Roberts Bullit Atwood(?). That's every time she's been engaged anyway. Julie's the best. She's super manipulative and totally self aware to every major flaw she has. But she has a bigger heart than most people give her credit for. She's one of those characters that's insufferable when introduced, but over time becomes one of the best. Orange County wouldn't have been the same without her.

4. Summer Roberts

OK I really wrestled with numbers 4-2. Let's just say the margin between all of them is very slim, almost equal. Summer started off as a mindless Newport mean girl, and evolved into this hysterical, weird little character with such a big heart. Her relationship with Seth is of Sandy/Kirsten proportion, and next to theirs is the most stable couple throughout the series.

3. Seth Cohen

If I had made this list when I first watched the series, Seth would have been #1, no question. His neurosis and pop culture quips are a large part of what made the show so unforgettable. He basically made being a nerd cool. I also realized that Seth Cohen gave me so much new music to discover that I would have otherwise never heard of. As amazing a character as he is, Seth also had all these crazy flaws as well - like he would randomly ruin things for no reason. Like sailing off to Tahiti (but really going to Portland), and breaking up with Summer because he didn't get into Brown. These are horrible, irrational decisions - but it's part of what makes Seth Cohen so Cohen-y.

2. Ryan Atwood

I related to Ryan so much more this time around watching this series. And although the show is largely about a collection of people, it wouldn't be what it is without Ryan. What makes the show so interesting for me is often his story: the idea that if you took a smart, naturally good-natured kid out of a shitty situation and gave him a real shot - what could he really make out of himself? Sandy Cohen was willing to find out. My favorite moments in the series are watching Ryan become a permanent part of the Cohen family, watching him grow and change, and learn to deal with his first impulse which is usually to punch someone. He never squandered any of the opportunities the Cohens gave him, and in the end he adopts a "pay it forward" approach to any kid he notices may be in the same sort of situation he was in.

1. Sandy Cohen

This was no question in my mind. Sandy is the best tv dad of all time. First off, how many rich people would actually adopt a troubled 16 year old child? He can actually solve any and every problem and understands that people need to work through the bad to make the right decision for themselves. He loves bagels and lounge singing. He plays by his own rules, and always does the thing that's right instead of the thing that's easy. Sandy Cohen is a role model. Everyone else take notes.