Alex Kelly, The O.C

Alex Kelly (Olivia Wilde)

On teen drama The O.C., Alex Kelly was introduced in second season as a high school dropout and the manager at the Bait Shop, a club the main characters visited frequently. She started dating Seth after hiring him to work at the club, but two quickly broke up when Jodie, an ex-girlfriend of Alex, showed up and caused strain between them. Soon after, Alex became close with Marissa and they flirted and held hands, leading Marissa to question her sexuality. On a highly-publicized Valentine’s Day episode, Marissa went to see Alex at the Bait Shop after an awful dinner with her mother, and they shared their first kiss on the beach. Though Alex felt that Marissa was embarrassed by her because she was reluctant to tell anyone about them, but Marissa eventually told her best friend Summer, making Alex happy. Due to ongoing conflict with her mother, Marissa soon moved in with Alex. However, Alex and Marissa ended up experiencing some problems in their relationship, mainly as Alex thought Marissa still had feelings for her ex-boyfriend, Ryan, and they later broke up over it. Alex was left feeling devastated, prompting her to decide that she wants to go back home and return to high school, and she left the show.

Even though The O.C creator Josh Schwartz insisted the Alex and Marissa storyline wasn’t done as a sweeps stunt, many viewers were upset with how it ended and felt differently, claiming Alex seemed out of character and became a jealous psychotic girlfriend out of nowhere in the episodes leading up to the break up.

Read more: A Disappointing End to The OC’s Lesbian Storyline

Appearances:

• 13 episodes. Season 2: 2x03 - 2x16

Female love interests:

• Marissa Cooper 💀 (Mischa Barton, main cast, 78 episodes)
• Jodie (Emmanuelle Chriqui, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Seth Cohen (Adam Brody, main cast, 92 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? Yes

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.