Taylor Townsend
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Taylor Townsend is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., played by Autumn Reeser. Her mother, sports agent Veronica Townsend, is chair of the parents' committee at The Harbor School. Her father, unnamed so far, is an area auto dealer. She is probably best described as a more eccentric and humourous version of Lindsay Gardner.
Taylor first appears in the third season, as Marissa Cooper is expelled from The Harbor School and thus barred from keeping her position as student social chair. Taylor's gain is part of the fallout from Marissa having shot Trey Atwood in order to defend his brother and her boyfriend, Ryan.
Amid the resulting power vacuum, Taylor quickly and unofficially assumes the social chair responsibilites Marissa once held, with a demeanor that suggests some similarity to the personality of Tracy Flick, a character portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the 1999 film Election. Ambitious, over-achieiving and conniving, Taylor's actions soon anger Marissa's best friend Summer Roberts.
Taylor's power-grabbing encourages an otherwise reluctant Summer to seek the social chair position. Summer's biggest test as social chair comes in organizing the annual school carnival, as she successfully coordinates the mix of rides, food, and events. However, when Summer plans a dance for the school, she is overshadowed by Taylor, who takes credit for it, and Jack Hess, the new dean of discipline at The Harbor School. Taylor memorably remarks during the episode, "This is... the end of Summer."
Initially, only Summer seems aware of Taylor's scheming, while Marissa seems mildly interested in the goings-on in Taylor's life, and Summer's boyfriend Seth Cohen seems to not believe Summer's story at all. At this particular dance, Summer follows Taylor and catches her kissing Dean Hess in his office. Though she tries to convince Seth of what she's seen, no one will believe her.
However, for all of her manipulative and strategic strength, Taylor can just as easily find herself the victim of her own games. In "The Perfect Storm", Summer manipulates Taylor to finally get proof of an affair between her and the dean to present to Seth by telling the girl that Dean Hess and another faculty member at the school were making out under the bleachers.
Seth and Summer eventually convince Taylor to go to an area motel (the same motel where Luke Ward and Julie Cooper had an affair, as well as where Ryan met up with his onetime girlfriend Teresa one night) to meet with the "dean," only to surprise her when they answer the door and begin throwing out accusations. Apparently, Summer had used a Sidekick to take pictures of Taylor and the dean kissing, sending the pictures to Sandy Cohen. Later, Sandy reveals that Taylor had told him everything about the affair when he confronts Dean Hess.
Despite being something of a socialite, Taylor is highly looked down upon by her classmates. During "The Swells", classmates threw things at her after she organized a mandatory senior lock-in and attempted speaking to her classmates. Seth came to her rescue, unwittingly gaining Taylor's affection in the process. Taylor, wanting to keep him for herself, refuses to allow a late Summer to come to the lock-in by pretending that she could not hear her, simply to take Seth for herself. It is also in this episode that we learn why Taylor may be so conniving and manipulative. Her own mother, a highly-driven sports agent, is shown as emotionally cool toward her daughter.
Their relationship is again brought into focus in "The Safe Harbor". When Seth and Summer wanted to get Marissa back in Harbor, they went to Taylor as she could get more names for their petition to reinstate Marissa. Taylor at first wanted nothing to do with it, but she soon helped out. Threats from her mother to take away her car and college money momentarily deterred Taylor from protest efforts, but she emerged at a school board hearing on Marissa's side, defying her mother. It was a decision that earned Taylor new respect from her classmates, and from Summer specifically.
After being more of an adversary, Taylor now is a friend to the series' central characters — eagerly on her part, though occasionally begrudgingly on theirs. Her personality, though softened by a new circle of friends, remains largely almost exhaustingly energetic and eager.
| The O.C. | ||
| Episode List | [Official Website] | ||
| Current Main Characters | Ryan Atwood | Kirsten Cohen | Sandy Cohen | Seth Cohen Julie Cooper | Kaitlin Cooper | Summer Roberts | Taylor Townsend | |
| Former Main Characters | Marissa Cooper (S1 - S3) | Jimmy Cooper (S1) | Luke Ward (S1) | Caleb Nichol (S2) | |
| Recurring Characters |
Dawn Atwood | Trey Atwood | Lance Baldwin | Rebecca Bloom Carter Buckley | Reed Carlson | Sophie Cohen | Theresa Diaz Lindsay Gardner | Johnny Harper | Alex Kelly | Charlotte Morgan Hailey Nichol | Matt Ramsey | Jess Sathers | Anna Stern Zach Stevens | Veronica Townsend | Oliver Trask | Kevin Volchok | |
| Places | Newport Beach, Orange County, California | |
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