All the reasons Seth and Summer are still #RelationshipGoals
The O.C. had basically everything: drama, beautiful scenery, comedy, family love, and the greatest TV couple of all time. Awkward, nerdy Jewish boy Seth Cohen who was desperately in love with the beautiful and popular Summer Roberts. They eventually made it work, and quickly became the world’s most enviable Orange County couple. Seth and Summer, often known as Sethummer for those die-hard fans, are serious relationship goals and have been since 2003. So let’s talk about why:
They are just so ridiculously good-looking.
I mean, honestly. We can get that one out-of-the-way right now. Look at them. His brown curls and cheekbones, her incredible clothes, hair, everything…they are perfect. Their children (because they’ve definitely had children now, duh) would be so beautiful.
Even their idiosyncrasies are similar.
Seth, being the man-child that he is, was prone to spending his days chatting away to a plastic horse called Captain Oats. The defining moment in Seth and Summer’s potential as a true, bona-fide couple came when Seth visited Summer’s house to learn that she too had her own plastic horse…called Princess Sparkle. He joked that she could be a girlfriend for Oats, but c’mon. That’s fate.
They bring out the best in each other.
Seth was a sarcastic, ironic, antisocial dork with a heart of gold. Summer could be a little self-centered and mean. But after just a little bit of time together their worst traits started to soften and they both became pretty likable people. A heart-wrenching moment sees Summer ask Seth “Was I really mean to you?” as she realizes her mistakes of the past. An alternate universe even shows that in a world without Summer (and Ryan) Seth just spends his days screaming “I hate my life” into his pillow. So glad they found one another.
They appreciate each other’s interests (and differences).
Every relationship is about a little bit of give and take. While Summer once teased Seth over his perceived dorky interests, she made some effort with comic books and even dressed up as Wonder Woman to impress him at Chrismukkah. Seth, ever the gentleman, would help Summer out at the mall and watch Summer’s fave soap The Valley with little to no resistance. However while accommodating each other’s interests and learning everything they could about each other, Seth and Summer were still very different people — which they embraced.
They both love teasing and scheming.
As well as having consistently great patter, Seth and Summer were pros at scheming. When Seth proposed to Summer as he thought she was pregnant, they both realized they didn’t want to do it. However, not to be the one to break off the engagement, they went through escalating levels of farce in an effort to force the other one to confess. Being stubborn, the engagement got as far as a near-elopement. Their talents for trickery don’t just stop at one another…other grand schemes involved trying to get Ryan and Marissa back together, trying to get Ryan’s dad with Marissa’s mom, and more basically daily scheming.
They embrace one another’s traditions.
Chrismukkah. Need I say more? While the time-honored tradition of Chrismukkah (Christmas and Hanukkah) is a holiday of Seth’s invention, Summer gets adorably on board. In season two Seth declares Chrismukkah ruined and cancelled, so Summer steps in of her own accord and gets everyone on board to bring together an impromptu Chrismukkah miracle. She even wears a little Yamaclaus. It’s perfect. Summer being Summer also goes the extra mile to accommodate all of Seth’s traditions, even taking part in Passover to impress Seth’s Nana. She learns enough Hebrew to read from the Haggadah, and it’s a beautiful sight to see a couple so involved in one another’s cultures and personal traditions. We can all stand to learn a little from Sethummer at Chrismukkah time.
They hold each other accountable.
If there’s one thing that Summer can teach us, it’s that standing your ground doesn’t necessarily make you a bitch. She may have gotten over her mean-streak, but that by no means made her weak. When Seth lied to her repeatedly, she gave his dad a list of his lies, and got him into trouble. When he ran away to Portland, she refused to get back together with him (for a while, anyway). Over and over Summer refused to stand for Seth’s bad behavior until he learned his lessons.
They defied all the odds.
Seth fell in love with Summer from the first moment he heard her read aloud in class, even though she had already branded him an Emo dork and ignored him for years. Then Summer developed a crush on Seth’s new sort-of-adopted-brother, Ryan. Then she would speak to Seth — but only using the wrong name. Then she kissed him and hated herself for it. Then, with a grand coffee cart declaration of love, she finally came around.
Over the years a whole bunch of stuff got between Seth and Summer – Zack, Summer’s dad, saving the planet, George Lucas, Anna – but in the end they found each other again. They also had basically the cutest TV wedding ever, and taught us so many things about what makes a real romance work.
