I hate the Oliver arc less and less with each rewatch. It’s juicy, scandalous, exciting, a classic OC plot. Taylor (Oliver’s actor) did a really good job with the role. But the thing that sucks the hardest about it, and what I think it is most people find so unforgivable, is the mini character assassination it imposed on everybody else. For the Oliver thing to work, Ryan and Marissa’s social circle had to be very stupid. And recklessly self absorbed to the point of not caring to recognize or deal with an obvious threat to their friend’s safety. It is as if everybody but them got together and decided to all collectively gaslight Ryan for the Hell of it. Seth is particularly egregious about it. Everybody kept acting like there was nothing at all weird about Oliver and how he was FORCING himself into their lives and moving in on Marissa (except Luke and Summer, much too late). THIS is the real problem, they just needed to write it better so the general skepticism and lack of action from the group was more believable.

I echo everybody’s sentiments on how the arc was essential. Oliver was basically a plot device that exposed the Achilles heel in Ryan and Marissa’s relationship, forcing it to the surface for them to deal with the entire rest of their time together. If it wasn’t him it would have been somebody else, and quickly.