Ohhh yeah, that was back when Bilson wasn't a pale bag of bones. SUPER-nubile ultra-juicy Season One Bilson? Oh, HELL yes.
And yeah, Taylor/Ryan was a huge mistake made surely because they thought it was the most convenient option. Taylor's chemistry had all been with Seth, and what made it worse was the fact that Seth and Summer lost their zing somewhere in the second season and were just being forced down our throats for two years after that. They should've broken them up and paired Seth/Taylor, done whatever with Summer, and brought in somebody new for Ryan. They kept bringing in new girls for him and then never allowed anything to grow, just kept shipping them back out. Marissa and Ryan were great, but her choices in the S1 Oliver story (it's HER I hate for that story, not Oliver...it was actually a well written story arc) made her unforgivable. It ruined any potential for her and Ryan (as it is, I think he never really forgave her, but simply came to pity her and lament what could have been), and worse, the way she handled things with Oliver threw the entire series off track. We know now that it never really recovered. Marissa Cooper was a world-class fuckup.
And yeah, Taylor/Ryan was a huge mistake made surely because they thought it was the most convenient option. Taylor's chemistry had all been with Seth, and what made it worse was the fact that Seth and Summer lost their zing somewhere in the second season and were just being forced down our throats for two years after that. They should've broken them up and paired Seth/Taylor, done whatever with Summer, and brought in somebody new for Ryan. They kept bringing in new girls for him and then never allowed anything to grow, just kept shipping them back out. Marissa and Ryan were great, but her choices in the S1 Oliver story (it's HER I hate for that story, not Oliver...it was actually a well written story arc) made her unforgivable. It ruined any potential for her and Ryan (as it is, I think he never really forgave her, but simply came to pity her and lament what could have been), and worse, the way she handled things with Oliver threw the entire series off track. We know now that it never really recovered. Marissa Cooper was a world-class fuckup.