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Marissa Cooper

From The O.C. Wikia


Marissa Cooper
Gender Female
Hometown Newport Beach
Father Jimmy Cooper
Mother Julie Cooper
Sibling(s) Kaitlin Cooper
Significant Other None
Previous Relationships Kevin Volchok
Ryan Atwood
Alex Kelly
D.J.
Luke Ward
Played By Mischa Barton


Marissa Cooper was one of the main characters of The O.C., and is the on-and-off girlfriend of Ryan Atwood.

Contents

[edit] Season 1

In the show, Marissa is a rich socialite in Newport Beach, whose family was about to go through some dramatic changes throughout the season. First, Marissa's father, Jimmy Cooper, was caught committing fraud and eventually went bankrupt. Later, Marissa discovered that her boyfriend, Luke Ward, was cheating on her. During this time, she began to abuse drugs and alcohol and collapsed while she, Summer Roberts, Ryan Atwood and Seth Cohen were on a trip to Tijuana.

Throughout the first season, Marissa was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Ryan, with the relationships being interrupted by Luke and Oliver Trask, respectively. Oliver eventually was discovered to be mentally unstable and hiding an unhealthy obsession with Marissa.

During this time, her mother, Julie Cooper, was romantically involved with Kirsten Cohen's father, Caleb Nichol. During a brief break-up with Caleb, Marissa's mother had a fling with Marissa's ex-boyfriend Luke, which caused Marissa to run away — strangely enough — to Chino and Ryan's ex-girlfriend Theresa's house. This lead to Ryan and Marissa once again becoming romantically involved.

At the end of the first season, Julie and Caleb married, making Marissa stepdaughter to the most powerful, but also the most controversial, man in Newport. She was blackmailed into moving in with her mother and Caleb in their new mansion. Ryan also left her to go back to Chino after it was discovered Theresa maybe pregnant with Ryan's child. Theresa wanted to return there to be with her family and Ryan felt compelled to go with her, effectively ending his relationship with Marissa and leaving her. Marissa as a result once again restarted her drinking.

[edit] Season 2

During the second season, Marissa struggled with alcohol and depression, caused largely by Ryan's departure from her life. When Ryan returned it looked like they might rekindle their relationship, however after finding out about her relationship with DJ, the yard guy, Ryan decided they should just be friends which they remained throughout most of the season. Marissa's relationships in the interim period seemed somewhat specifically chosen to take stabs at her mother — first with DJ, the lawn boy, and then a lesbian relationship with Alex Kelly, Seth's ex-girlfriend. Marissa moved out of her mother's house briefly to live with Alex, returning home once she and Alex broke up. Her relationship with her mother improved little throughout the season. She did eventually rekindle her relationship with Ryan after a period of friendship and growing gradually closer, paticularly as she helped him with his brother Trey after he was released from prison. However this support Marissa provided Trey with for Ryan resulted in Trey getting the wrong idea, and under the influence attempting to rape her. This caused inevitable tensions between Trey and her, which Ryan picked up on and became suspicious of, causing difficulties in their relationship. Ryan eventually found out about the attempted rape, which lead to a confrontation with Trey and turned violent. Trey had Ryan pinned down to the ground and was strangling him, when Marissa, having been warned by Seth and Summer, turned up and pleaded with Trey to let Ryan go. Trey continued despite this, and Marissa picked up a gun and shot Trey to save Ryan's life.

[edit] Season 3

As the series' third season opened, Marissa was under investigation regarding the shooting of Trey Atwood. In an effort to shield her daughter, Julie attempted to obstruct justice by bribing Trey into accusing Ryan. Marissa becomes aware of this, and convinces Trey to confess the truth, detailing that Marissa fired only to protect her boyfriend, resulting in Ryan being let free and Marissa facing no legal liability as she was defending another person's life using proportional force in the circumstances.

Despite a lack of legal repercussions, the event caused Marissa to be expelled from The Harbor School, as it was cited along with her past of flagrant shoplifting and substance abuse. She eventually was readmitted after a campaign to let her in from Ryan, Seth and Summer with the suprising assistance of Taylor Townsend as well. However while at Newport Union she befriended a local surfer called Johnny Harper, who eventually fell in love with her and caused rifts in her relationship with Ryan. However Marissa confirmed her committment to Ryan, and wrote Johnny a letter saying that whilst he was her friend and she cared for him, she would never love him. This resulted in Johnny falling to his death after a drinking spree, which eventually caused further riffs and distance for Marissa and Ryan from each other. They broke up shortly afterwards, conceding their relationship was not working. Marissa then fell for Volchok, whom she broke up with him when she found him cheating on her at the prom.

During The Graduates, Marissa was presumed dead after a car crash caused by Kevin Volchok, who had been driving intoxicated and was trying to . She died in the arms of her close friend Ryan Atwood.

[edit] Season 4

Although Marissa died, she still played a big role in the lives of Summer, Ryan and Julie. Julie hired a private detective to find out where Volchok was hiding and then asks Ryan to visit him and kill him. Sandy tries to solve this problem by bringing Volchok to jail. On Christmas, when Taylor and Ryan fall into a coma and awake in a parallel universe , where they don't exist Marissa died three years earlier than in real life. Finally Ryan is able to say good bye to her and returns to the normal world.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

See Memorable Quotes by Marissa Cooper

[edit] References

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Season 1

[edit] Season 2

[edit] Season 3