The O.C. was one of the defining teen shows of the 2000s, but it never really recovered from Marissa's shocking death, which felt out of place and made audiences wonder, "Why does Marssa die in The O.C." After two charming and exciting seasons, the show introduced new characters and reformulate many of the most important arcs, including the romance between Ryan (Ben McKenzie) and Marissa (Mischa Barton). The two went through a lot in The O.C. Ryan was abandoned by his family and forced to reconcile his violent past with a new reality under the Cohens' roof. Meanwhile, Marissa's abusive parents never paid much attention to her deteriorating mental health.
Mischa Barton wanted to leave The O.C., and the writers made the drastic decision to kill off Marissa just to shake up the narrative, resulting in low ratings and, consequently, the end of the show. Marissa dies in the season 3 finale just when she's set to stay a year away with her father in Greece. That led to Ryan finding the new love interest, Taylor Townsend, in season 4, a writing decision that ultimately ruined what made The O.C. so great and destroyed Ryan's character, as he questionably moved on from Marissa so quickly. It's unknowable how things would have been different if Marissa made it to the airport, but her death does set up an interesting season 4 arc.
Kevin Volchok Kills Marissa In A Car Crash
Kevin Volchok (Cam Gigandet) is a straight-up antagonist in season 3, and he's the answer to "why does Marissa die on The O.C.," yet he's a fascinating character. Instead of acting like he's pure evil, he shows his sensitive side after Johnny's death, which brings Marissa and him together, sparking a friendship and, eventually, a casual romance. Tensions spark when Marissa catches Volchok cheating on her. Then Ryan gets involved in a felony Vokchok orchestrates, taking their feud to a dangerous level and leading to Marissa's death in season 3, episode 25, "The Graduates."
Tate Donovan left the cast of The O.C. before the end of the show's third season, but Marissa is set to visit his character in Greece on the night she dies. Ryan is driving her to the airport when a drunken Volchok intercepts them on the road, demanding that Marissa talk to him. He repeatedly rams his car into Ryan's dangerously. When Ryan refuses to pull over, Volchok drives his rival's car off the road, causing it to crash into a ditch. Ryan suffers minor injuries, but Marissa dies in his arms as the car explodes into pieces in the background.
Marissa's Death Sets Up The Best Season 4 Arc
Though Marissa dies, O.C. was partially better for it. Marissa's controversial death changes The O.C. forever, and although the show's final season is unanimously regarded as the weakest, the Ryan versus Volchok arc is the high point of the final episodes. Ryan struggles to cope with Marissa's death and turns back into the violent, impulsive person he was in The O.C. season 1, desperately trying to track Volchok and exact revenge on him. The show indirectly hints at an unhappy ending for Ryan, which would make sense, but his face-off with Volchok ends up being a powerful, realistic confrontation.
Like Ryan, Volchok is going through hell after Marissa dies; he also loved her and never meant her harm, but rage and alcohol corrupted his mind. Ryan acknowledges he's not the only one consumed by guilt, letting Volchok go. Volchok is arrested, but viewers never see his trial. The shocking face-off is a turning point in Ryan's arc and offers an opportunity for the two to finally move on. While it's clear Marissa took a part of Ryan's soul with her, the character finds redemption by not stooping to Volchok's level. Most importantly, Ryan learns how to forgive; he loses the love of his life but keeps his humanity.
Marissa's OC Death May Have Been Because Of Tension Behind The Scenes
Years after the Marissa OC death, Barton had always kept quiet about her show exit and what she thought about being killed off. There had always been rumors about behind-the-scenes issues, which show creator Josh Schwartz (sort of) denied (via The Daily Beast). When asked about the Marissa OC death and if it was because Barton asked to leave the show, Schwartz denied it and even explained that most of the young actors were bored with the show.
Schwartz explained, "It was born out of a number of issues: Creative, cast chemistry, ratings... Mischa didn't want off the show any more than any of the other kids wanted off the show. It was a complicated chemistry with the cast...but she certainly wasn't actively seeking to leave the show." Barton seemed to back up this claim in an interview with E Online, stating that she was getting movie offers, and The O.C. producers gave her a couple of options. The actor noted:
They kind of gave me an option. The producers were like, 'Do you want your job and to sail off into the sunset and potentially you can come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario or we can kill your character off and you can go on with your career that you want and what you want to do?'
The producers allowed her to leave by writing the Marissa OC death because she was more interested in pursuing a movie career, as Barton added, "I was getting offers from big films at the time and having to turn them down." However, the actor was still noticeably candid about on-set drama during the interview, and she didn't mention anything about the lack of chemistry with the other actors, focusing only on the movie roles she was being offered.
How Mischa Barton Looks Back On Marissa's Death In The OC Now
However, despite the on-set drama and lack of chemistry with the other actors that Barton might or might not have had, she still has fond memories of the Marissa OC death. Barton ed Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke's podcast, Welcome to The O.C., Bitches, to rewatch the episode where Marissa dies (via Entertainment Weekly). Though Barton prefaces the rewatch by telling Bilson and Clarke, "I think I've probably only seen it once in my life," that didn't keep her from getting teary-eyed. Barton re back to when it was being shot and that she demanded the scene be as dramatic as possible, explaining, "I was like, 'More blood, more blood.'"
The actor added, "It was going to border on being, like, a TV death and I really wanted it to be super dramatic... so that she went out with a bang." When it comes to Barton's actual feelings about the Marrisa OC death outside of her memory of shooting the sequence, the actor loves the scene. Though fans of the character were totally disappointed by the episode at the time, Barton has some poignant thoughts about The O.C. Marissa death almost two decades later. Barton explained, "It's the culmination of their whole love story. That middle part is really painful when she asks him to say with her."
