Few TV deaths from the 2000s still spark as much emotion as Marissa Cooper’s final scene on The O.C.
Nearly two decades after Mischa Barton exited the hit teen drama in the shocking Season 3 finale, fans are still debating whether killing off Marissa was one of television’s biggest mistakes.
The emotional scene where Marissa dies in Ryan Atwood’s (Ben McKenzie) arms after a fiery car crash instantly became one of the defining moments of early-2000s television. But behind the scenes, Barton, 40, had already decided it was time to leave the series.
In later interviews, Barton explained that the pressures of fame, an exhausting shooting schedule and behind-the-scenes struggles contributed to her decision to walk away from the show.
“I just felt like I was in a machine and I couldn’t really get off,” she said in an interview ahead of one of her 206 Dancing With the Stars performances.
Producers ultimately decided to kill Marissa off rather than simply write her out of Newport Beach. Years later, creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage admitted they regretted the decision and wished they had found another solution.
Fans, meanwhile, still haven’t fully recovered.
On Reddit, however, some fans can’t get over the character death.
“Watching as a teen, I hated that they killed Marissa off,” said a Reddit user. “Rewatching as an adult, I wish they would’ve had her start making better choices like they did for Ryan when he realized he needed to stop dating girls that are trouble. Instead Marissa continued to make bad choices…”
“Her death devastated me the first time I saw the show back when it first aired on TV,” another fan of the show agreed in the thread.
“I was traumatized, and so mad at the network. I’m doing a rewatch now and it took me 3 days to work up the courage to watch that last episode of Season 3. I didn’t want to feel all that pain all over again. I finally watched it tonight and it was heartbreaking but not as bad as the first time.”
Others who are just discovering The O.C. are “genuinely shocked” about Marissa’s passing.
“I loved Marisa and I couldn’t believe they would kill off a main character,” said another Redditor.
“I was ABSOLUTELY shocked just now,” another chimed in. “I didn’t think she was actually going to die.”
Even cast members still get emotional revisiting the scene. During a reunion podcast appearance, both Barton and Rachel Bilson teared up while rewatching Marissa’s final moments onscreen.
And while Season 4 developed a loyal fan base of its own, many viewers continue to associate The O.C. most strongly with Ryan and Marissa’s tragic love story.
Nearly 20 years later, fans may still disagree on whether Marissa Cooper should have died—but one thing is clear: they never forgot it.
Stream The O.C. on Hulu and HBO Max.
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