Marissa Cooper

 ( The O.c. Characters ) 

Towards the end of the season, Marissa gets back together with Ryan and becomes friends with his brother, Trey, who was recently let out of jail. After Trey snorts cocaine, he tries to rape Marissa. Marissa does not want to tell Ryan because she did not want him to worry, and Trey does not want her to tell him because he and Ryan were getting along again. Marissa breaks down and tells Summer, who tells Seth. Seth is initially reluctant to tell his foster brother, knowing Ryan's volatile temperament and tendency to physically lash out when it comes to people he cared about. When Ryan finds out, he and Trey get into a fist fight at Trey's apartment. The scene ends with Marissa shooting Trey in order to save Ryan, who is pinned on the floor.

Despite a lack of legal repercussions, the event results in Marissa's expulsion from the prestigious Harbor School, as it is cited along with her past of flagrant shoplifting and substance abuse. Following her expulsion, she attends the local public school Newport Union and has difficulty fitting in. She befriends one of her schoolmates, a local surfer named Johnny Harper. Johnny causes rifts in her relationship with Ryan, who ironically befriends Johnny due to their similar backgrounds, initially because Marissa feels she cannot talk to Ryan about what happened with Trey and later because Johnny falls in love with her. She is readmitted to Harbor after a campaign led by Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa's former rival for power at Harbor, Taylor Townsend. Marissa confirms her commitment to Ryan and writes Johnny a letter saying that while he is her friend and she cares for him, she will never love him. This results in Johnny falling to his death from a cliff after a drinking binge, and the tragedy causes Ryan and Marissa's final breakup.

In the wake of Johnny's death, Marissa struggles to find closure, as well as her own place and purpose in Newport Beach. She develops a relationship with Kevin Volchok after she and Ryan break up, which causes her to go back to her rebellious ways. She begins to abuse alcohol again and tries cocaine. Marissa distances herself from Ryan, Summer, and Seth and becomes argumentative again with her mother. After some time, she comes to her senses and decides to leave Kevin. But when she finds him watching The Sound of Music, she realizes he has a sensitive side and decides she may be able to have a relationship with him. During their senior prom, though, she catches him cheating on her and breaks things off.

In the season finale, Marissa receives a letter from her father inviting her to live for a year on a boat with him in Greece, and she accepts. The day she graduates from Harbor along with her friends Summer, Ryan, Seth, and Taylor, Kevin begins calling her and asks to see her, but she declines. Marissa pays Kevin to get out of town and to leave her and Ryan alone. She says her goodbyes to her family and friends and prepares to leave for Greece. After their time together, Ryan drives her to the airport. On the way to the airport, a drunken Kevin begins hitting their car, causing them to go off the road." (episode 3.25)]]

The car flips over several times and lands upside down on another street. Marissa is unconscious, but Ryan pulls her out of the car, which begins to drip gasoline. Ryan takes Marissa into his arms and away from the car as it explodes. He tells her that he will need to go get help, but knowing that nothing can be done, she asks him to stay. After a few moments of looking into each other's eyes, she dies while in Ryan's arms.

Marissa's death has a significant impact on the fourth season, as various characters, particularly her mother Julie and Ryan, struggle to deal with their grief over her death. In the episode "The Cold Turkey", Julie decides that it was time to move on after learning that Volchok turned himself over to the police and had been arrested. Later in the episode, during Thanksgiving dinner, Ryan reminisces to Julie about the first time he saw Marissa out on the driveway and thought that "she was really hot". Marissa's death is most explicitly examined in the episode "The Chrismukk-huh?" where Ryan and Taylor Townsend, both in comas, enter into an alternate universe where he has never moved to Newport Beach, and the lives of most major characters are completely changed.

While trying to find out what is happening in this reality, Taylor stumbles into Marissa's bedroom. She surprises Julie's maid, who tells Taylor that "Miss Cooper's" plane arrives at 3 o'clock from Berkeley. Taylor then sees a photograph of Marissa and Julie on her desk, which leads her to believe that Marissa is still alive in this alternate universe.

After Taylor tells Ryan the news, he immediately wants to go to the airport to see Marissa. Taylor does not want him too, in fear that Ryan, who is still recovering from Marissa's death, would be willing to spend the rest of his life in a coma if he could be with Marissa. At the airport, Ryan catches a glimpse of a girl with a pink Berkeley sweatshirt tied around her waist. The sweatshirt resembles the one worn by Marissa in "The Day After Tomorrow." Ryan grabs her shoulder and realizes that it is not Marissa, but her sister, Kaitlin. Kaitlin then explains to Ryan that her sister died three years ago in an overdose in Tijuana (a parallel of her non-fatal overdose in the episode "The Escape"). " (episode 4.7)]]

Ryan then returns to Newport Beach, realizing that he can never be with Marissa again, alternate universe or not. At first, Ryan and Taylor believe they need to restore the relationships that existed before Marissa's death in order to wake up. However, it becomes apparent that both Ryan and Taylor need to battle their internal demons instead. For Taylor, her demon is her mother (whom she confronts along with her alternate male self at the Christmas party), and for Ryan, it is getting over Marissa.

Back in the real world, Kirsten finds a letter from Marissa addressed to Ryan but does not read it. She hands it over to Julie, who reads the letter. Marissa wrote that she still loved Ryan, but would be leaving Newport Beach because she knew that it was the best thing to do, so that they could both move on. She stated that when she got back, they might try again, as they would both be older and wiser. The letter is eventually placed right beside Ryan, which allows the letter to be "delivered" to Ryan in the alternate universe.

Ryan then goes to the beach, and upon discovering the letter, reads it. He finally says goodbye to Marissa and exits the alternate universe.

In the final episode, Marissa appears as Ryan's final flashback as he reflects on his life in Newport Beach. As he backs out of the driveway, Ryan remembers seeing Marissa standing on the corner watching as he and Sandy drive away when Ryan thought he was not coming back to Newport Beach (as seen in "The Premiere").