Seth Cohen
Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the Fox television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth is one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts. Seth's friendship with Ryan, who eventually became his adoptive brother, formed a focal point of the series along with their romances. Seth married Summer in the series finale. His other relationships were with Anna Stern and Alex Kelly. Seth's goal was to attend Brown University, but he ends up going to Rhode Island School of Design and continuing work on his comic book Atomic County. The role saw Brody win four Teen Choice Awards from five nominations, from 2004 to 2006.
Character development
Casting and creation
Brody did not immediately get the part of Seth Cohen after his first audition because he improvised the dialogue. However, the producers called him back a month later for another test, and he was cast in March 2003. Schwartz said about Brody that he is "naturally talented, a funny guy, and has a Point of View on the world that made him feel very specific, and had a little attitude." The character is based on Schwartz, who said: "The dynamic between Sandy and Seth is very much based on me and my dad. It was as much Seth's choice not to fit in, as it was the Water Polo players rejecting him, and a lot of that came from Brody, as well as a love for Death Cab for Cutie.Characterization
Carina Chocano of Entertainment Weekly described Seth as "a nuanced portrait of a true-to-life dork relationship to Ryan is full of nice little ironies." The New York Times characterized him as "eccentric and literate" while the show's website compared him to Holden Caulfield for being an existential hero. He has also been described as "gawky".Seth is very sarcastic and uses irony to find the humor in the events that occur around him. He is shown throughout the series to be self-obsessed and neurotic, with a tendency to make himself the center of attention. However, in many episodes, he proves to be a sweet and genuine guy with good intentions and a good heart, and this is often overlooked by others. He is a self-proclaimed geek and likes comic books, science fiction, video games, and old movies.
At school, prior to Ryan's arrival, he was routinely bullied by the jocks, who would intentionally urinate on his shoes and slam him into the lockers. If not bullied, he was largely ignored by his other peers; Summer treated him with disdain, calling him "Death Breath Seth," while Marissa, who lived next door since they were in elementary school, did not speak to him until after Ryan's arrival. He would go out on his sailboat, the Summer Breeze, to escape Newport; in Season 2 he admitted to Ryan that he sold it for cash while docked at Santa Barbara and caught a Greyhound to Portland. Besides his awkwardness, his naivety in social norms and relationships contributes to his propensity to draw trouble to himself and not realizing until it's too late, a running gag in the show; for example, he has to be physically stopped by both Zach Stevens and Ryan when he tries to call his crush Alex Kelly even after she hinted for him to stay away because her ex is in town. He quickly forms a friendship with Ryan as the latter was the first person who befriended him without any preconceived notions and without judging him.
Seth was further designed as an artist in the second season. Plans of him drawing comics started at the end of the first season when executive producer Alan Heinberg impressed by Eric Wight's work asked him to be the "ghost artist". Wight, who said he easily related to Seth, first made sketches of the four main superheroes, and the rest came later as the episodes were being developed.
Character arc
Season 1
Seth Cohen was born in Berkeley, California, to parents Sanford "Sandy" Cohen and Kirsten Cohen. Raised in Newport Beach, he is Jewish on his father's side and connects and identifies with his father's religious and cultural background. However, he embraces the mutual holiday of Chrismukkah, a joint Christmas and Hanukkah holiday. He was befriended by Ryan Atwood when the latter was brought home by Sandy. Before Ryan's arrival, Seth was ignored by most of his peers due to his awkward nature and unusual hobbies. They quickly strike a friendship as Ryan did not judge him like other "Newpsies" and Seth was the first to accept Ryan as a member of the household without any reservations. Soon after Ryan's arrival, Seth became friends with Marissa Cooper and got the chance to speak to Summer Roberts, a popular girl on whom he had a huge crush since childhood. The pair grew closer after they traveled to Tijuana together, despite Summer's denial of liking him. She quickly turned him down for a date after seeing a few cheerleaders eyeing the pair. After finally admitting she liked Seth, Summer grew jealous of Seth's friend Anna Stern, whom he met at a cotillion dance practice and he shared many interests with, including comics. They started dating after Seth decided in her favour during a contest for his affection between her and Summer. However, their relationship was short lived as they broke up when Seth made it obvious that he truly wanted Summer instead and had made the wrong choice. Anna soon left to go home to Pittsburgh, but she and Seth remained friends.Though Summer and Seth started seeing each other and lost their virginity to each other, Summer still wanted their relationship to be secret. Seth refused to put up with this and declared his love for her atop a coffee cart in front of the school. Seth and Summer's relationship became official and continued until Seth's best and pretty much only friend Ryan Atwood announced he'd be returning to his home neighborhood, Chino, after his pregnant ex-girlfriend declared she wanted to keep the baby and raise it in her hometown. Seth tried to make Ryan stay and was distraught at his departure but tried to appear uninterested by it, although it pained him deeply. He couldn't face the idea of becoming a loner once more, and even though he still had Summer, he decided to sail the oceans for the summer in his boat, Summer Breeze, which was named after Summer. He left a note for her, and for his parents, who were distraught over losing both Seth and Ryan in one day.