Boycott caged chicken

Every second that goes by, another chicken is caged.

So says Summer's new college friend Jay, protesting the unethical treatment of poultry, but he might as well have talking about Ryan, who's too chicken to deal with Marissa's death and has both figuratively and literally put himself in a cage. One thing The O.C. is fairly good at musically, is tying a song to a theme, and this episode is no different. Placebo version of the Kate Bush classic "Running up that Hill," is used with great effect to back how both Ryan and Julie are dealing with Marissa's death. Using it in the opening montage gives this season an instant darker tone, which had to be a priority, given the criticism of last season.

Elsewhere, indie faves Bell & Sebastian lighten things up and then later we're treated with "The Bootleg Saint" from Canadian favorite Sam Roberts, which again has me asking: when will the US catch on to this talent? And to finish of the episode, we're treated with the odd pairing of Keane's "A Bad Dream" to 'The Chino Kid' fighting in a cage match... boycott that caged chicken!

Playlist: The O.C. - Episode 4.01
Tracklisting
1. "Running up that Hill" - Placebo (MySpace) - Opening montage and used for darker moments later on
2. "Save Me" - Jude (iTunes) - Seth gives Summer an update on her answering machine
3. "Song for the Sunshine" - Belle & Sebastian - Summer finishes listening to and erases Seth's message / Seth, working at a comic store, belittles girl for ignorance of X-Men comic book
4. "Mr. Blue" - Catherine Feeny - Summer surprises Seth, offers her help with Ryan
5. "The Bootleg Saint" - Sam Roberts - Summer confronts Ryan in the bar
6. "A Bad Dream" - Keane - Ryan agrees to Julie's bidding / flashback to Ryan's fight