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Why The Creator Of The OC Decided To Kill Off Marissa Cooper

10 years since the fateful episode aired, Josh Schwartz is still haunted by the decision

10 years after Josh Schwartzโ€™s decision to kill Marissa Cooper off The OC in the season 3 finale, the showโ€™s creator is still speaking out about the tough choice.

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He recently spoke at a writerโ€™s room reunion for The OC at the ATX Television Festival, along with executive producers Stephanie Savage and Leila Gerstein and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas.

โ€œItโ€™s something we still wrestle with,โ€ said Josh. โ€œSteph and I still talk about it and play it back.โ€

The death occurred when Ryan (played by Benjamin McKenzie) and Marissa (played by Mischa Barton) were involved in a car crash, and Marissa died in Ryanโ€™s arms. Josh Schwartz said that the reason for the choice was based on a couple of factors.

โ€œItโ€™s complicated,โ€ he said. โ€œThere were a lot of factors involved and it was something we really wrestled with and there were reasons both creative and in terms of just the show itself and where we were at that moment with the network.โ€

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The death was met with mostly celebration from fans at the time, however there was also anger and fan art that was sent to the creators according to Schwartz. 

He also explained the reason the casting team chose Mischa Barton in the end for the role instead of Olivia Wilde.

โ€œMarissa was obviously a character who Ryan needs to save,โ€ Schwartz said, โ€œAnd Olivia Wilde needs no saving. Sheโ€™s pretty toughโ€.

During the session, Stephanie Savage also revealed that Seth Cohen was the character that Josh had inserted as himself into the show. He related to Seth through his geekiness, and being Jewish at a school full of white water-polo players.

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โ€œSeth Cohen was Joshโ€™s way into the show and it was also what made the show in many ways unique,โ€ Savage said. โ€œBecause it was unique, it was challenging for the network who wasnโ€™t used to seeing a character like that in their glossy primetime soap.โ€

The writers knew that the fourth season would probably be the last at the time and took the opportunity to push the limits of the show. For instance, Taylor Townsend (played by Autumn Reeser) played a bigger role in the season and added a different voice to the show.

โ€œIt was freeing creatively. We did some pretty weird stuff in season four,โ€ Schwartz said. โ€œWe took some chances that I think we probably would have felt uncomfortable doing before that.โ€

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