Anna Stern was a recurring character throughout the first and third seasons of the Fox drama series The O.C.. She was portrayed by Samaire Armstrong.
Anna is a transfer student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who first shows up at the Newport Beach Cotillion. She is an independent, incredibly bright and sassy girl, who always speaks her mind, regardless of the recipient[1].
She is also incredibly creative and thoughtful, always willing to help others and give great advice, seen in her Christmas present to Seth – a handmade graphic novel about Seth and Captain Oats.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
Having just moved to Newport Beach from Pittsburgh, she was paired with newcomer Ryan Atwood to attend the annual cotillion. Seth and Anna began talking, however, and connected instantly as they talked about their shared passion, comic books. When Ryan was unable to attend, Seth and Anna went to cotillion together. Seth turned down Summer Roberts, the love of his life, to go with Anna, which became somewhat of an omen of their relationship to come.
When Anna returned to school after a summer sailing trip, she and Seth picked up where they left off. Anna, realising how much Seth liked Summer, began to give him advice on how to attract her. It soon became apparent, however, that Anna liked Seth. Anna later admitted, when asked by Ryan, that she did like Seth, but understood that he would never see her as anything more than a friend. When she kissed him later that night, Seth assumed that it was part of their plan to make Summer jealous and Anna didn't correct him.
Soon, though, Seth became aware of Anna's feelings, while at the same time Summer admitted that she had feelings for him. The previously girl-less Seth now had two amazing girls who liked him, and he had no idea what to do. Things came to a head at Thanksgiving, when he invited Anna to his house. Summer turned up looking for Marissa and he hid Summer in Ryan's pool house, then raced back to the house and took Anna up to his room. Seth spent the afternoon racing between Anna and Summer, but eventually was caught out by the two girls.
Anna and Summer formed a short-lived unlikely friendship after this, which was shattered when Seth delivered them a heartfelt apology and the two girls both did their best to try to win his affections. At Chrismukkah, however, the girls forced him to choose between them before someone got hurt. Seth, unable to choose, told both girls that he just wanted to be friends with them.
On New Year's Eve, Anna found herself lonely and morose at a New Year's party. She went to Seth's house, and the new year saw the two of them making out on Seth's bed. Their relationship had a rocky start, with both Anna and Seth afraid to tell Summer, with whom they had both become friends. When they did, she seemed fine with it, but it became apparent that she was determined to break them up. While on holiday in Palm Springs, Anna and Seth seemed likely to sleep together. But a few 'innocent' comments from Summer about them being like brother and sister put a halt to that. Later on, their similarities began to bother Seth. Summer started hanging out with the couple, somewhat intentionally trying to come between them. Seth began paying her more attention, however, and it became obvious he still had feelings for Summer. Anna realised this, and eventually broke up with Seth as a result. After a trip back to Pittsburgh, Anna returned to find Seth and Summer were together. Although she remained friends with Seth, she missed Pittsburgh too much, and decided to move back, with a tearful goodbye with Seth at the airport.
Season 3[]
Anna makes her comeback in the third season, where she bumped into Seth Cohen at a Brown Pre-Frosh event. They re-connected instantly, and Seth shared some of his recent troubles with her concerning not getting into Brown and his break-up with Summer.
She helped him get an interview with the Rhode Island School of Design and also returned to Newport Beach to attend the prom with Seth and help as well, to win Summer back.
Quotes[]
- Confidence, Cohen
- – The Heights (1.09)
- He looks at Summer and sees lips and hair and boobs. He looks at me and sees a lab partner
- – Anna admitting to Ryan her feelings for Seth
- You're smart, Summer
- – The Secret (1.12)
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Episode 1": | "Episode 2": | "Episode 3": | "Episode 4": | "Episode 5": | "Episode 6": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 7": | "Episode 8": | "Episode 9": | "Episode 10": | "Episode 11": | "Episode 12": | |
| Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | |
| "Episode 13": | "Episode 14": | "Episode 15": | "Episode 16": | "Episode 17": | "Episode 18": | |
| Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | |
| "Episode 19": | "Episode 20": | "Episode 21": | "Episode 22": | "Episode 23": | "Episode 24": | |
| Mentioned | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 25": | "Episode 26": | "Episode 27": | ||||
| Absent | Absent | Absent | ||||
| Season 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Episode 1": | "Episode 2": | "Episode 3": | "Episode 4": | "Episode 5": | "Episode 6": | |
| Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 7": | "Episode 8": | "Episode 9": | "Episode 10": | "Episode 11": | "Episode 12": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 13": | "Episode 14": | "Episode 15": | "Episode 16": | "Episode 17": | "Episode 18": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 19": | "Episode 20": | "Episode 21": | "Episode 22": | "Episode 23": | "Episode 24": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| Season 3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Episode 1": | "Episode 2": | "Episode 3": | "Episode 4": | "Episode 5": | "Episode 6": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 7": | "Episode 8": | "Episode 9": | "Episode 10": | "Episode 11": | "Episode 12": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 13": | "Episode 14": | "Episode 15": | "Episode 16": | "Episode 17": | "Episode 18": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Episode 19": | "Episode 20": | "Episode 21": | "Episode 22": | "Episode 23": | "Episode 24": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Mentioned | |
| "Episode 25": | ||||||
| Absent | ||||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- While she moved in with her aunt and uncle when she moved back to Pittsburgh, she revealed in Season 3 that her aunt and uncle and her mother and father had switched houses
References[]
- ↑ The Homecoming – Anna, decides to face Caleb Nichol regarding his recklessness towards the environment.