The OC returns this month for its fourth season after a shocking end to its third.

The first episode picks up about 3-4 months after the death of Marissa with Seth working at a comic book store instead of going to college. Ryan is not living at the Cohen's house anymore and is said to be doing some late night cage fighting. Summer has gone off to college in Rhode Island where she is now fighting for different causes associated with the envirorment. While at college Summer meets a boy name Che who is an environmentalist.

Summer is attending college in Rhode Island

When the series returns for Season Four, high school seems like a distant memory to the young graduates, who have been thrust into adulthood after the death of their beloved friend Marissa. The Cohens struggle to keep Ryan focused on the future, fighting the forces that threaten to pull him back into his old life. SANDY (Peter Gallagher) returns to the Public Defender's office, and he and KIRSTEN (Kelly Rowan) find themselves the happiest they have ever been with each other while rising to the challenge of keeping their family together. Meanwhile, Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) will do anything – even yard work – to avoid dealing with the loss of Marissa.

Ryan enters the dangerous world of cage fighting

In the season opener Kaitlin (Marissas Sister) and her friend Eric go to Newport plaza (mall) to study and get high. Kirsten also makes an appearance in this episode trying to get Seth add something to a care package she is sending Ryan.

Josh Schwartz, creator and executive producer of THE O.C., says of the new season: "I'm very proud of these episodes and I think they convey real emotion and drama but also, more importantly, humor and heart. I believe our fans will find this focus on our core characters and their relationships really satisfying. The show has been reinvented; rebooted. Personally, it feels like THE O.C. is back. I hope our fans feel the same way."

The group struggle to deal with the loss of Marissa

However the news of Marissa Cooper’s death seems to have taken its toll with the viewers of the show, which have posted numerous petitions in order to bring the character back, as it seems without Marissa there is no OC, nevertheless Schwartz seems to have found a new way to reinvent the show by bringing in more characters some of which are season three familiar faces Kaitlin Cooper (new series regular Willa Holland) who returns to the O.C. as the No. 1 troublemaker at The Harbor School. Over the summer she has befriended Luke's younger twin brothers, Eric (Corey Price) and Brad Ward (Wayne Dalglish), who worship her, and Taylor Townsend (new series regular Autumn Reeser) is hiding out and speaking French in the O.C. after her mysterious romance in Paris.

Chris Brown joins the cast for a number of episodes.

Another new face is Pop/R&B teen sensation Chris Brown, 17, who begins production on The O.C. in late October; episodes featuring Brown will air on FOX later in the season. Brown will play Will Tutt, a lonely band geek at The Harbor School who befriends Kaitlin Cooper. As their friendship grows, a possible romance blossoms in the O.C.

OC Fans favorites Seth and Summer generally liked because of their “really funny and cute personalities”-(Alyson) are back but different to how we last saw them, now Summer (Rachel Bilson) has left Orange County and is attending Brown University in Rhode Island, where she has reinvented herself as a left-leaning, tree-hugging activist under the sway of Che (guest-star Chris Pratt); out are Summer's celebrity gossip magazines and in are her "Chicken-lovers of the world unite!" flyers. Meanwhile, Seth (Adam Brody), lonely in the O.C. and working at a local comic book store, turns to watching golf with DR. Roberts (Michael Nouri) and hanging out with the Newpsies for social stimulation.

The fourth season of THE O.C. will premiere Thursday, Nov. 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
This season hits the ground running with The O.C.'s trademark mix of heart, humor, drama, action and romance.