Ryan Atwood-Cohen

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Ryan Atwood was a teenager living in Chino. He was caught stealing a car with his brother Trey and later met attorney Sandy Cohen. Ryan was abandoned by his mother, Dawn Atwood and Sandy eventually adopted Ryan, with some initial objections from Sandy's wife, Kirsten Cohen. It didn't take long for Kirsten to warm up to this new addition in her household, and since then, Ryan has been living in Newport Beach. He has become a brother to Sandy and Kirsten's misfit son Seth Cohen, and Sandy and Kirsten consider him as a second son. Ryan was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Marissa Cooper, the girl next door who went through traumatic changes over the entire season.

Season 1

Ryan has the tendency to punch people in the face and is constantly having to back up Seth. Ryan falls in love with Marissa Cooper much to the dismay of her mother Julie Cooper.

Season 2

Not surprisingly, Ryan returned to Newport Beach, after Theresa made him believe she had a miscarriage. He also convinced Seth to return to the Cohen household with him after he ran away to Portland.

Ryan is portrayed as much more mature in the second season. After he broke up with Marissa Cooper, Ryan had a relationship with Lindsay Gardner, who is soon discovered as Kirsten Cohen's illegitimate half-sister. Later, after Lindsay moved to Chicago with her mother, Ryan reunited with Marissa. At the end of the season, there is a cliff-hanging fight between Ryan and his brother, Trey Atwood. Trey had tried to rape Marissa, while Ryan was in Miami visiting his step-grandmother, Sophie Cohen. Eventually Ryan found out about the attempted rape which lead to a confrontation between him and Trey. The confrontation turned violent and Trey had Ryan pinned to the floor and was strangling him. Marissa walked in and pleaded with Trey to let Ryan go. Trey, in a fit of rage refused and Marissa shot him in the back as a result. It was left unclear whether Trey survived or not until the third season.

Season 3

After being in a Coma for two months, Trey wakes up and initially when offered money by Julie Cooper implicated Ryan in the shooting. He then however cleared Ryan's name afterwards when confronted by Marissa and subsequently left Newport. Ryan and Marissa both faced a campaign to expell both of them from parents at the prestigious harbour school as a result of the shooting however, which resulted in the school board and the new Dean of Discipline Jack Hess expelling Marissa, and later Ryan after he assaulted the dean. Marissa then ended up going to Newport Union public high school, with Ryan eventually being re-admitted to Harbour after Dean Hess was blackmailed over having an affair with a student, Taylor Townsend. While Marissa was at Newport Union, until she was readmitted again into Harbour, she made friends with another boy Johnny Harper and his friend Chilli, who later complicated Ryan's relationship with Marissa when Johnny fell in love with her & Ryan was suspicious about whether the feelings were reciprocated. Marissa confirmed her committment to her relationship with Ryan, and told Johnny although he was her friend and she cared for him she would never be in love with him. This rejection prompted Johnny to go on a drinking binge, which resulted in Johnny falling off a cliff despite both Ryan and Marissa trying to talk him down. This resulted in Ryan and Marissa becoming distant from each other, and both of them admitting there relationship was not working and breaking up. Ryan then started dating Sadie Campbell, Johnny's cousin who moved down to Newport temporarily to help her aunt. The relationship was short lived however when Ryan was accepted into the University of California, Berkeley and they admitted they had little concievable future together with Ryan due to leave for college in the fall and Sadie then left Newport. He recently became reaquainted with his waitress mother and had a love relationship with his mother's waitress co-worker& his graduation from Harbour is coming up. On graduation night Marissa told Ryan, that she's intending to leave Newport to work on her fathers yacht in greece. He wants to drive her to the airport, but then Volchok appears and tries to talk to Marissa. They have a terrible accident, in which Marissa dies...

Season 4

5 month after Marissa's death Ryan's life has changed completely. He didn't attend her funeral and left the Cohen's house. When Julie asks him to find Volchok and take revenge on him, Sandy solves the problem. Ryan confronts Volchok one last time, before he's imprisoned... Ryan returns to the Cohen's house and has a new job. But he still can't think of anything else than Marissa... When he has problems sleeping Taylor offers him help. She falls in love with him, but he's not ready to let go of Marissa, but then he receives a letter from her in which she tells him, why she had to leave and that she loves him, he finally can start over and starts to date Taylor. Several problems arise with this new relationship. Taylor's ex-husband Henry-Michelle from France appears with a biography about his love to Taylor alias Peaches. Ryan starts to compete with Henry-Michelle and in the end wins Taylor's heart with a sweet poem. The relationship continues a bit weird as Ryan still has the "I love you"-problem. When his father, Frank Atwood returns Ryan is reminded once again of his dark past and has to more-or-less decide between his two dads. After a few difficulties he and his father get along pretty good and grow together with the help of Taylor. During the devastating earthquake Ryan is seriously injured and rescued by Seth, who delivered him safe to the hospital. In the series finale, following a 5 month flashforward, Ryan aids in finding the Cohen's a new home, mirroring the offer they had extended to him in season 1. Ryan goes on to rekindle his relationship with Taylor, as they both face up to attending College in different countries. As the series reaches it's conclusion, Ryan reminisces on his time spent in Newport with the Cohen family, thinking back to when he first stepped foot in the pool house, his first look at the famous Cohen-house view as well as his first encounter with Seth. As Ryan drives off, he pays homage to Marissa, as the iconic final scene from the pilot is once again revisited. The final montage leaves Ryan's relationship with Taylor somewhat ambiguous, as the two share a smile at Seth and Summer's wedding. The last scene brings the show full circle, as Ryan, now a successful architect, comes across a down-trodden youth dressed in the familiar Ryan Atwood grey hoodie, on his bike next to a phone booth - mirroring the situation Ryan found himself in the pilot. Realising this, Ryan asks the kid if he needs any help as the series comes to a close.

References

Season 1

• Pilot
• The Model Home
• The Gamble
• The Debut
• The Outsider
• The Girlfriend
• The Escape
• The Rescue
• The Heights
• The Perfect Couple
• The Homecoming
• The Secret
• The Best Chrismukkah Ever
• The Countdown
• The Third Wheel
• The Links
• The Rivals
• The Truth
• The Heartbreak
• The Telenovela
• The Goodbye Girl
• The L.A.
• The Nana
• The Proposal
• The Shower
• The Strip
• The Ties That Bind

Season 2

• The Distance
• The Way We Were
• The New Kids on the Block
• The New Era
• The SnO.C.
• The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't
• The Family Ties
• The Power of Love
• The Ex-Factor
• The Accomplice
• The Second Chance
• The Lonely Hearts Club
• The Test
• The Rainy Day Women
• The Mallpisode
• The Blaze of Glory
• The Brothers Grim
• The Risky Business
• The Rager
• The O.C. Confidential
• The Return of the Nana
• The Showdown
• The O.Sea
• The Dearly Beloved

Season 3

• The Aftermath
• The Shape of Things to Come
• The End of Innocence
• The Last Waltz
• The Perfect Storm
• The Swells
• The Anger Management
• The Game Plan
• The Disconnect
• The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah
• The Safe Harbor
• The Sister Act
• The Pot Stirrer
• The Cliffhanger
• The Heavy Lifting
• The Road Warrior
• The Journey
• The Undertow
• The Secrets and Lies
• The Day After Tomorrow
• The Dawn Patrol
• The College Try
• The Party Favor
• The Man of The Year
• The Graduates

Season 4

• The Avengers
• The Gringos
• The Cold Turkey
• The Metamorphosis
• The Sleeping Beauty
• The Summer Bummer
• The Christmukk-huh
• The Earth Girls Are Easy
• The My Two Dads
• The French Connection
• The Dream Lover
• The Groundhog Day
• The Case Of The Franks
• The Shake Up
• The Night Moves
• The End's Not Near, It's Here