The O.C.: 10 Minor Characters Who Stole The Show

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The O.C. only lasted for four seasons, but it made a lasting impact! The series started out strong as one of the best shows on air in 2003, but quickly went downhill. The show follows the story of Ryan Atwood, who’s adopted into a wealthy Newport Family and creates a new life for himself alongside his foster brother Seth Cohen and his off and on love interest, Marissa Cooper. Similar to most great shows, The O.C. was such a success because of beloved main characters like Seth Cohen, Summer Roberts and Ryan Atwood, but there were also a lot of minor characters who came onto the scene and spiced up the storyline! Here’s a look at 10 minor character from The O.C. who stole the show!

10. Charlotte Morgan

Charlotte Morgan met Kirsten Cohen during a stint in rehab and, unfortunately, she didn’t have the best intentions. She tried to scam the poor vulnerable Kirsten by pretending to be an alcoholic to get Kirsten’s money. Thankfully, Julie Cooper is all up in everybody’s business in Newport and when she realized what Morgan was up to, she gladly ran her out of town. Villains are never fan favorites, but they are always memorable because they annoys us so much we simply cannot forget them!

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9. D.J.

D.J. made his brief appearance in season 2 of The O.C. as Julie Cooper-Nichol’s yard boy. He has a romance with Marissa Cooper in the summer between season 1 and 2. D.J. was mainly memorable just because he was so good looking! In Summer’s exact words, DJ was “a hot, hot yard guy, who was hot.” He only sticks around for about six episodes, just long enough to enrage Julie Cooper, who thinks D.J. is beneath the social status of her daughter. She tries to pay him off, but he just gives the check to Marissa and then dumps her because he feels like she’s only dating him to get back at her mother — which she definitely was!

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8. Rebecca Bloom

It’s never good news when an old flame shows up in The O.C. We saw it happen more than once, and perhaps the most memorable cautionary tale was Rebecca Bloom, an old fling of Sandy Cohen. She was one of the most hated minor characters from the show, but was definitely memorable because she shook things up majorly! She did her best to come in between one of the most beloved couples on television, Kirsten and Sandy Cohen. Although she wasn’t able to tear them apart, she did some pretty bad damage and then once again fled from Sandy’s life once she realized their relationship was a thing of the past.

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7. Sophie Cohen

Sophie Cohen, also known as “The Nana,” was a great minor character who came on the scene to provide some comic relief and was one of few minor characters who weren’t manipulative or scheming! At first she’s depicted as this mean woman, but in season 1 when she visits the Cohens and they find out she has lung cancer, her character immediately turns around. She was the coolest lady ever who somehow knew how to draw people in and have them fear her at the same time!

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6. Carter Buckley

Similar to some of the other minor characters on this list, Carter Buckley was manipulative and scheming. He knew exactly what he was doing when he took Kirsten Cohen to a wine tasting, got her drunk so she couldn’t drive home and then tried to shack up with her in the same hotel room! To be fair, Kirsten was the one who sought him out to help with an issue of Revolution, but their relationship develops into something more. He was a major reason that Kirsten turned into an alcoholic as the two began drinking together a lot. When Carter Buckley leaves, Kirsten starts to drink even more, making his stint in season 2 definitely memorable!

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5. Chili

Dennis “Chili” Childress was a pretty minor character in season 3, but he was hilarious and lovable. Even though he was only introduced as a friend of Johnny, he ended up being more well liked than his friend. He acted as Johnny’s wing man and middle man between Johnny and Marissa. He was the one who kept Johnny sane after his accident and encouraged Johnny to confess his feelings to Marissa.

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4. Oliver Trask

Oliver Trask goes down in history as one of the most hated O.C. characters of all time! Even the producers have since admitted they took his storyline too far, but hey, at least he was memorable! He definitely stole the show for nearly the entire first season as he manipulated his way into a close friendship with Marissa and essentially tore apart her relationship with Ryan even after he was gone! Despite his bad reputation from the show, he remains one of the most defining characters from the show and was the center of one of the show’s most exciting storylines.

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3. Dean Hess

Dean Hess was such a wet blanket on the show, but he fulfilled the role of Harbor’s villain pretty well, making him quite memorable. He was the Dean of Discipline at Harbor High School and he was out to get Ryan Atwood. Of course, Hess wasn’t exempt from scandal himself! He was having a secret affair with brown-nose Taylor Townsend. The best part about Dean Hess’ time on the show was when Ryan Atwood finally punched him.

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2. Taryn Baker

Taryn Baker was another character who provided a lot of comic relief amidst a lot of doom and gloom on The O.C. She was the best Newpsie in Newport. She was just another bored, wealthy woman who lives in Newport Beach and spends her days going to lunch with other ladies, shopping and gossiping, but she kept us entertained with her sexually explicit jokes about her bedroom antics.

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1. Trey Atwood

As the brother of Ryan Atwood, Trey played a fairly major part in season 2. He comes back into Ryan’s life after he’s released from jail, but then proceeds to try and drag Ryan back into his old ways. Trey definitely wasn’t a well-liked character from the get-go, but there was always that hope he’d turn his life around like Ryan. Sadly, that didn’t happen and instead he took advantage of everyone, especially Marissa! His storyline on The O.C. ended up being one of the most significant and was responsible for changing the direction of entire series. When Marissa shot Trey, her storyline on the show took a dark turn and marked the beginning of the end for her character.

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Katherine G

Katherine G

Katherine is the Managing Editor for Health and Parenting, but she has a soft spot for entertainment. She loves binging shows on Netflix, reality TV is a guilty pleasure, and country music is her go-to playlist. When she's not writing, she's spending time outdoors, especially with her puppy Zoey!

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