The O.C. Wiki
Register
Advertisement
The O.C. Wiki

Sandy Cohen is a main character in the television series "The O.C." . He is portrayed by Peter Gallagher.

Sandy, is married to Kirsten Cohen (née Nichol), and initially, they have a single son : Seth Cohen. At the begins of the series, Sandy is a public defender, and is him, that takes the case of Ryan Atwood, who had stolen a car with his brother. He ends up becoming Ryan's legal guardian with his wife, accepting him into the family. Later, in the second season, also allows Ryan's older biological brother, Trey, to stay with them.

Sandy has a loving, mostly stable marriage with Kirsten, although the pair - like most married couples - does suffer from occasional conflicts. In general, though, Sandy and Kirsten resloutely face and defeat such problems, due in no small part to (or sometimes despite) Sandy's determination.

Throughout the series, Sandy serves as a moral center, often guiding and supporting his sons through their problems, bringing them both wisdom and a well-placed sense of humor.

Life before Season 1

Sandy went to the University of California at Berkeley to study law where he met and fell in love with Kirsten Cohen. Before, he had been engaged to Rebecca Bloom.

Season 1

Sandy Cohen is the rock of the family. He prides himself on being a public defender but when an offer comes from a much bigger company, Private Practice at Partridge, Savage and Kahn, he decides to go for the bigger paycheck. In reality this allows him to do more pro-bono work. His boss, Rachel Hoffman, begins to make advances towards Sandy causing problems with his marriage. Sandy finally stops the advances and eventually quits/gets fired. He then decides to open a restaurant, The Lighthouse, with his old friend Jimmy Cooper. However, after some legal troubles due to Jimmy's past, they cannot obtain a liquor license. Eventually they sell the restaurant to Caleb for millions. The season ends with Sandy saying goodbye to Ryan and telling him that he will always be welcome in their home.

Season 2

In the season 2, Sandy, re-meeting her first love : Rebecca Bloom, daughter of an old Berkeley professor : Max Bloom ; Rebecca is wanted by the FBI for a subversive act she had accomplished twenty years ago and Sandy helps her hide in Newport, initially to greet her dying father, then to defend her in court. Soon the two become very intimate, thanks to Sandy's silence with his wife, and they kiss each other; the episode remains however isolated. Sandy chooses to stay with Kirsten, and Rebecca is forced to flee, disappearing forever. Unfortunately, Sandy's problems with his wife are not resolved, his flirt with Rebecca, contributed towards her growing alcohol problem, and the distance between her and Sandy caused her to almost have an affair with a magazine editor, Carter Buckley, was hired as editor of Newport Living, a magazine edited by Kirsten and Julie ; it is a political activist with whom Sandy immediately makes friends, but towards which his wife Kirsten develops a strong emotional bond, although he left before anything happened. The departure of Carter, drops Kirsten, in a state of deep depression, which culminates with her father's Caleb Nichol, death ; Despite, Sandy is very close to her, during this hard moment, Kirsten's drinking problem to run out of control, after attending Caleb funeral, forcing the entire Cohen family and Kirsten's sister Hailey to stage an intervention and put her in rehab.

Season 3

In season 3, after Caleb's death Sandy took over management and ownership of The Newport Group. However being The CEO of Newport and the underhanded business dealings neccessary to survive have proven a test for Sandy's character. This leads to a very rough patch with his family. On the night that he is elected 'Man of the Year' he says he cannot accept the award and decides to devote himself to his family.

Season 4

In season 4, Sandy helps Ryan sort things out with Kevin Volchok, who was responsible for the death of Marissa and he was also the one who talks Ryan into helping Taylor, who was in the middle of a divorce from her French husband, Henri-Michel.

Later in the season, Sandy bumps into a man at the New Year's Eve party and investigates further. The man is revealed to be Ryan's biological father, Frank Atwood, whom Sandy meets. Frank wants to see Ryan, so Sandy tells Ryan who refuses. Frank tells Sandy that he has cancer so Kirsten invites him to dinner but Sandy is suspicious. It is later revealed Frank lied in a last-ditch attempt to see Ryan, prompting Sandy to punch him in front of everyone.

Sandy helps in the preparation for Kirsten's fortieth birthday. He finds a mail truck, exactly the same model as the one that both of them lived in Berkeley, while his real present to her was two first-class tickets around the world. When he tells a stunned Kirsten, she announces that she is having a baby. After an earthquake hits Newport Beach, Sandy finds Kirsten on the ground, and tries to help her up, but had difficulties because of the falling objects around them. At the hospital, Sandy and Kirsten discover that they are going to have a daughter.

Series finale

Six months later, he and Kirsten move to Berkeley ; back to the house where they had Seth. It is in this house that Seth and Ryan's sister, Sophie Rose, starts her life. In the flashforward set five years later, Sandy is now a law professor at UC Berkeley.

Memorable Quotes

See Memorable Quotes by Sandy Cohen

Apparitions or References

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Advertisement