Certain TV moments stand the test of time, and that’s certainly the case for The O.C.‘s Season 2 finale. The scene at hand features Marissa (Mischa Barton) pulling the trigger, with the bullet piercing through Trey’s (Logan Marshall-Green) back right as Imogen Heap’s song, “Hide and Seek,” plays. This shocking soap opera-style moment wasn’t just impactful in the series, but also became a pop culture staple. A few years later, it wasn’t only remembered for its significance to the series, but because of its memeified fame once the scene was parodied on Saturday Night Live.
‘SNL’ Made a Parody of ‘The O.C.’s Iconic Season 2 Finale
According to Andy Samberg on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, he, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer were O.C. fans before drawing inspiration from the series for the “Dear Sister” SNL Digital Short. “Every episode, so much crazy shit happened on The O.C. It was peak soap opera storytelling, but in a really horny teen way… we loved it. Still do.” Upon watching the scene for the first time, he wasn’t just fascinated by its dramatic appeal, but also by the way the music set the tone for Trey’s gradual fall. He shared on the podcast that “Hide and Seek” was on repeat for him and his fellow comedians for quite some time, and two years later, NBC was able to clear it for broadcasting the sketch. Much like how it plays out in the early-aughts series, “Dear Sister” features gunshots in sync with Imogen Heap’s song.
The parody expands on its source material by following Bill Hader‘s character, Keith, writing a letter to his sister and getting shot by his friend, Dave (Samberg). This initial shooting leads to a bloodbath, with Keith getting shot by Dave, Dave shooting their mutual friend Eric (Shia LaBeouf), all three of them killing Keith’s sister (Kristen Wiig), and the cops (played by Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen) who arrive at the scene shooting each other.
As campy and unhinged as this sketch is, it amplifies the effect of The O.C.‘s scene had on pop culture. Each of these gunshots move in slow motion, with “mmm, whatcha say” sounding off at the same time as the pulling of the trigger. At the end, when the cops shoot each other, the song is played twice in an overlapping manner, making “Dear Sister” even more absurd. Although the sketch was made without the intent of everyone grasping its direct O.C. reference, audiences were able to quickly draw the connection between the parody and the teen show’s original scene. Over time, “Hide and Seek” didn’t just become linked to Josh Schwartz‘s hit series, but also for its pop culture relevance. After all, the song’s impact exceeded the SNL short.
‘The O.C.’ Creators Repurposed the Song for Another Memeified Scene in ‘Gossip Girl’
In addition to creating The O.C., Schwartz and his producing partner Stephanie Savage joined forces to adapt Gossip Girl for the screen. Instead of following Newport Beach’s elite, the series focused on teenagers growing up in the Upper East Side, wearing designer clothing and having their lives picked apart by a mysterious blogger. In Season 3, during a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Van Der Woodsens, the tensions are through the roof when Serena (Blake Lively) and Trip’s (Aaron Tveit) affair is divulged mid-meal, followed by other unexpected revelations from guests at the dining table.
Rufus (Matthew Settle) finds out that Lily (Kelly Rutherford) has lied about her whereabouts for months, Jenny (Taylor Momsen) calls out Eric (Connor Paolo) for sabotaging her at Cotillion, Blair (Leighton Meester) accuses her mom of being pregnant, and Vanessa (Jessica Szhor) criticizes the way her mother has been trying to meddle on other people’s lives throughout the whole Thanksgiving celebration. It’s drama on top of drama, with the icing on top of the cake being several of the characters leaving the table one after the other. Although the version that plays in this scene is Jason Derulo‘s “Watcha Say,” featuring the Imogen Heap sample, it still holds the same level of intensity that Schwartz captured in his first hit series.
It’s safe to say that no one, especially Schwartz, knew that the events that relay in The O.C.‘s Season 2 finale would spark a wave of memes long after it aired. From a hilarious SNL sketch that came out two years later, to Gossip Girl‘s iconic Thanksgiving scene that was released in 2009, The O.C.‘s influence and its precise usage of Imogen Heap’s song have outlasted the show itself. What started as Marissa trying to protect her boyfriend and get back at her abuser became a pop culture staple and is still discussed and shared to this day.
The O.C.
- Release Date
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2003 – 2007-00-00
- Network
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FOX
