It's been a tough month, you know? Between mid-terms, the Red Sox post-season and the Presidential Election, I've been feeling pretty drained lately. But as I sat down on Thursday night to take my Econ midterm, I had renewed confidence; the season premiere of The O.C. was a mere two hours away. So what if I had forgotten what an export subsidy looks like? I hammered through that test like I had written the textbook. I wasn't going to miss a second of those clear skies, stretches of beach, teenage depravity and debauchery, coy sarcasm and enough drama to forget the words "3-0 deficit" ever existed.

For those of you not in-the-know, The O.C. is the Fox Network's hit teenage drama, one among the myriad of thinly-veiled, primetime soap operas that have walked in the shadows of Beverly Hills: 90210 during the last decade. It is utterly escapist, and while loosely based on the high school experience of show creator and writer Josh Schwartz, it can hardly be considered "real." Yet somehow, Schwartz's brainchild has drawn a surprisingly broad audience, especially for a show about sheltered and privileged adolescents coping with achingly atypical tribulations

The O.C. follows Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie), a teenager abandoned by his family and semi-adopted by Public Defender Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher, American Beauty) and his businesswoman wife Kirstin Nichol (Kelly Rowan, 187). Despite forging a quick friendship with their son, Seth (Adam Brody, T.V.'s Gilmore Girls) the Chino-born Ryan soon finds himself an outsider amid the posh atmosphere of Orange County's wealthy Newport Beach. We meet Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton, The Sixth Sense) and Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), Seth and Ryan's respective, prospective love interests, as well as Marissa's parents, Jimmy (Tate Donovan, Swordfish) and Julie (Melinda Clarke, T.V.'s Days of Our Lives).

We see symmetrical love-triangles emerge: one between Ryan, Marissa and her unfaithful boyfriend Luke (Chris Carmack, Bring It On Again), and one between Seth, Summer and the eccentric Anna (Samaire Armstrong, Not Another Teen Movie). We see the financial woes of Jimmy and his subsequent divorce from the money-hungry Julie. We see Ryan slowly adapt to the exclusive Newport, despite a continuous rollercoaster of drama and emotion persisting throughout the season.

While superficially petty, the characters of The O.C. run surprisingly deep; a constant theme is the assumption of stereotypical social roles to disguise insecurities. Ryan is tough and brooding, Seth is reclusive and cynical, Summer is sexually confident and Marissa seems to represent the very shallow stability that envelops the surface of Newport Beach. With Ryan's arrival we find an immediate cloud of unrest settling over Orange County, with each of these characters eventually confronting each other with newfound honesty, and finding-despite the continuous tumult-some new semblance of stability.

So is this different from any other soap opera? Keeping suspense at a maximum, the writers ensure that viewers invested in the storyline rarely waver. Hardly an episode goes by without a fight, betrayal or shocking revelation, yet there is some quality at work that is immediately relatable. Schwartz's reality is entirely fictitious, but no teenage soap has better tapped into its audience's experience than The O.C. And while the show's ostensible focus falls on Ryan and Marissa, the culprit of The O.C.'s universality happens to be the inimitable Seth Cohen.

A self-proclaimed "emo-kid," Seth's bedroom walls are papered by posters of bands Atom and His Package and Rooney, just as every episode is papered by his lovable, self-conscious wit. He is socially awkward, relating to Ryan as a fellow "outsider." He hates Newport and longs to depart, his discontent manifested through his stabbing sarcasm, yet Ryan's unlikely friendship assists him in finally finding comfort. While I might offer him some musical suggestions, I can't help but identify with Seth Cohen. He is intelligent yet disgruntled, and he despises his surrounding suburban torture. His schoolboy crush for the shallow Summer-a girl representing the very social atmosphere he abhors -ultimately blossoms as the two begin dating. Just as Ryan brings out the best in Seth, the shy "emo-boy" does the same for Summer, whose character is masterfully developed as the season progresses. So he's no Holden Caulfield, as The O.C.'s Web site claims; however, Seth Cohen is a refreshing centerpiece of this wonderfully self-aware drama.

So where does that leave us? During last season's finale we saw Julie marry Kirsten's father, the wealthy real estate mogul and pseudo-villain Caleb Nichol (Alan Dale, Hollywood Homicide), and Ryan return to Chino after discovering that Theresa (Navi Rawat), his ex-girlfriend, may be carrying his child. We saw Caleb confess to Sandy that his company, the Newport Group, is heavily in debt and will likely be investigated by the District Attorney. As a result, Kirsten-an employee of the Group-could be at risk. Finally, we saw Seth despairing over Ryan's departure, eventually leaving notes for Summer and his parents and enigmatically sailing toward the horizon.

As the season premiere begins, we find both the characters and setting of Newport Beach in immediately apparent states of chaos. Just as their home is being remodeled (and inexplicably infested with shirtless construction workers), Kirsten is heartbroken by Seth's departure. Grasping for normalcy, Marissa and Summer attempt to forget their departed boyfriends. Marissa, in particular, has been crippled by Ryan's departure: she has been eating less and drinking more, and-having been forced to live with her despised mother-feels increasingly trapped and helpless. She eventually breaks down in front of her mother, violently screaming and throwing furniture into her pool. Caleb has become excessively paranoid, fearful of his unknown fate at the hands of the DA. In Chino, Ryan has begun working construction and living with Theresa, yet cannot shake the thought that he is not where he belongs. Finally, we find Seth in Portland, living with the departed Luke (who is in quasi-exile after ending his affair with Julie last season) and content with his departure from Orange County.

With summer's end rapidly approaching, Kirstin convinces Sandy to go to Portland. After giving Ryan a plane ticket to do the same, Sandy unsuccessfully confronts Seth. He leaves Portland as Ryan arrives, but with no hope of Ryan returning to Newport, Seth remains unconvinced about returning home. In the season's first (convenient) surprise, Ryan then receives a call from Theresa: she has had a miscarriage. Explaining to Ryan that they should take the tragedy as a sign, Theresa realizes that Ryan is no longer meant to be in Chino. Naturally, Ryan and Seth return home to the delight of Sandy and Kirstin.

But we are left with two surprises. Warning Caleb that "the clouds have gathered," Sandy foreshadows the forthcoming legal storm approaching the Newport Group and their respective families. In the episode's biggest shocker, we then learn that Theresa's mother convinced her to lie to Ryan; she is still pregnant. But with our protagonists' returns we seem to see our setting finally normalize, even if temporarily.

So, there we have it: Josh Schwartz has delivered the first of many installments of the nail-biting second season of The O.C. Yet despite the forthcoming drama, The O.C. again triumphs because it refuses to take itself too seriously. As the episode ends, we see Ryan and Seth entering Ryan's pool-house home, engaging in the typically witty exchanges and light-hearted quips that often end episodes. Ultimately, this is The O.C.: a tale of unlikely co-dependence and brotherhood. With such ominous potential left in the wake of the season premiere, we can at least depend on this central theme balancing our two heroes throughout. And I admit it: I can't wait.