Summer Roberts
Encyclopedia
Summer Roberts is a fictional character
on the FOX
television series The O.C.
, portrayed by Rachel Bilson
.
, with her wealthy father, Dr. Neil Roberts
(Michael Nouri
). For much of the series, she also lived with a stepmother, named Gloria (unseen character
), who is often referred to as "the stepmonster" due to her mood swings and various addictive pills. She was often paired in scenes with her best friend, Marissa Cooper
(Mischa Barton
), who was the leading female of the series until her death. Summer became the female lead character of the show's fourth season. During this all, she had a long lasting relationship with leading man Seth Cohen
(Adam Brody
). In a flash forward in The End's Not Near, It's Here, she finally marries Seth. Her character was only scheduled to appear in a few episodes, but was considered a hit, and ended up being in each of the series.
Summer is, throughout the first few episodes, portrayed as a shallow, materialistic gossip who is ditzy and can have an occasional bitchy nature. Spoiled by her divorced father, she considers him to be her best friend, and his opinion matters as much, if not more than her own.
(Samaire Armstrong
), who exhibits a similarly strong personality and shares his sarcastic sense of humour and love of comic books, the first go around. After a long wanting from Seth, Summer and Seth begin dating. It is during her transformation that Summer and Seth Cohen
(Adam Brody
) fall in love with each other. In the process of their characters' relationship, Summer and Seth experience many struggles because Summer thinks it will affect her popular reputation at their high school.
As the season progresses, Summer is affected by their relationship and is often jealous of Seth since he seems to be enjoying Anna's company so much. As a result, Summer gets angry and starts dating a not-so-funny guy named Danny, but that relationship doesn't last long, and Seth is suddenly back on her mind. Midway through the end of the first season, Anna breaks up with Seth because it is obvious he is still in love with Summer. Seth and Summer become a couple, and announce their romance at a school kissing booth, after which they become very close. Summer and Seth lose their virginity to each other. However, as soon as Ryan Atwood
(Benjamin McKenzie
), Seth's adopted brother, moves away, Seth realizes that the immediate past and present are meaningless, because before Ryan moved to Newport Beach
, Seth was a painfully shy social misfit, and he is afraid that since Ryan left, he will once again be alone and the object of ridicule again in Newport. Seth then sails away at the end of the season, leaving behind his worried parents and a heartbroken Summer.
(Michael Cassidy
). Zach is starting to become friends with Seth, who he met shortly before Zach and Summer started dating, yet their friendship is a little mixed since they both have feelings for Summer. Summer seems committed to putting Seth behind her, although at times it becomes clear that she still has feelings for him. This inevitably causes problems for her relationship with Zach, who suspected they still held feelings for each other. This is further complicated when Summer also becomes professionally involved with Seth and Zach as they develop their comic book, Atomic County, for publication. This relationship proves inextricably linked with the personal feelings all have for each other, and resulted in a bad meeting with a media executive that effectively killed their partnership.
Summer was about to go on an overseas trip to Italy with Zach and his family, when the feelings she still had for Seth prevented her from doing so and she left her heartbroken Zach at the airport, going back to Seth. Zach returned later on in the season however, and this along with Zach and Seth once again going into a partnership for a comic book strained her relationship with Seth. Zach also somewhat subtly exploited this to weaken Seth and Summer's relationship and restart his relationship with her, causing something of a love triangle. The introduction of Reed, a female attractive, older comic book executive who Seth was not initially truthful about also caused difficulties. This was eventually resolved when on the day of the Junior Prom they flipped a coin as to who would go to the prom with Summer and who would meet George Lucas for a comic book project meeting, with Zach winning the date with Summer.
However at the Prom both Summer and Zach seemed unhappy with their choices, and at the last minute Seth arrived at the prom to receive the Prom Queen/King award with Summer and reconciled their relationship. Zach apparently succeeded in impressing Lucas and it has been rumored he was given an internship and moved away from Newport as a result, explaining his absence for season 3.
Towards the end of the season Summer also becomes worried about her best friend Marissa's behaviour, unexplained bruises and a tension with her boyfriend Ryan and his brother Trey. She confronts Marissa and Marissa confesses that Trey had attempted to rape her. Summer consults Seth about this, who feels obliged to tell Ryan and as a result the tragic events of Trey's shooting happen, with Seth and Summer arriving at the aftermath of the shooting.
being expelled from Harbor as a result of her involvement in the shooting of Trey Atwood
. As a result, Summer reluctantly seeks a more involved role in student politics, thus gaining a new rival in fellow student Taylor Townsend
(Autumn Reeser
). They have since become (albeit at times reluctantly on Summer's part) friends, particularly when Taylor helped her get Marissa back in by organizing a petition.
Summer was initially insecure about her relationship with Seth, because she often felt that he was smarter than her and she feared that he would break up with her for someone more like him. However, when Summer gets a very high SAT score, Summer's personality changes upon realizing that she is smart and has the potential to be smart. This gives Summer the ambition to change and this season Summer begins to focus on school.
Also, her relationship with Seth is closer than it was during much of the previous year, and the couple's post-graduation future is one she finds harder to ignore. They had trouble earlier in the season deciding what colleges to go to and how it would affect their future together, but eventually they both agreed on going to Brown University
, which was more feasible after Summer got a high SAT
score. Summer cares a lot about Seth and when Seth starts smoking pot, she becomes worried about him and forgives him if he promises to stop. When Summer finds out that Seth is still smoking pot, she is upset with him, but Seth apologizes with a letter on a napkin, admitting his lies and mistakes and tells Summer that if he messed up again, she could show it to his parents. Summer forgives Seth. Shortly before they got their college acceptance letters Summer said that if should she get into Brown and not Seth, she would not go. When they got their college acceptance letters, to Seth's dismay this was exactly what happened. Seth, not wanting to be personally responsible for Summer turning down a major educational and life opportunity for him said he did not want to go to Brown anymore. As a result they broke up, with Seth stating when confronted by Summer that he did not love her anymore. While their future as a couple seemed uncertain at this point, (and was further complicated by the return of Seth's ex-girlfriend Anna Stern
). Summer takes a Korean Pop Star as date for the prom and when seeing Seth with Anna, Summer becomes hurt, when Summer has fallen off the stage after being announced Prom Queen for the second time in a row, Seth runs to Summer and tells her the truth about Brown and they reconcile. They have resigned to going to school together in Rhode Island
, albeit at different schools.
Summer has also dealt with several changes in her home life, such as her stepmother, an unseen character, leaving and divorcing her father. Also more recently she has had to deal with her father dating her best friend's mother, Julie Cooper
. She eventually accepted the relationship and recently announced engagement, however, seeing the happiness it had brought her father despite her own reservations on Julie Cooper.
Whilst attending college she befriends another college freshman, Che
. Che is an environmentalist and Summer joins him in an attempt to take her mind off the death of her best friend, Marissa Cooper
. She attends protests, stops shaving her legs and rearranges her dorm to fit her new lifestyle. After some time, she tries to return to her former self, but realizes that she prefers caring about the environment, attending protests and other political pursuits to reading tabloid magazines and watching television such as The Valley. She decides to balance her personality between her two sides. However, her environmental activism creates trouble for herself, when she and Che release lab rabbits from a science lab. When Brown officials investigate the incident, she remains truthful aside for not naming her accomplice. Unfortunately, Che blames her for other protest crimes that have occurred at the university, believing himself fundamental to the environmental movement at Brown, which results in Summer's year-long expulsion. Summer has moved back into her old Newport house with the Coopers and Taylor. Upon hearing of her expulsion, her boyfriend Seth decided to put off college plans until next Fall so they could return to Providence together. Close to New Year's Eve, Summer received a pregnancy scare, which ultimately caused Seth to ask her hand in marriage. Although the newly engaged Summer found out she was not pregnant, plans for their marriage stay the same.
In "The French Connection" Summer meets up with ex-bestfriend Holly Fischer
to find out what life is like as a "Newpsie-wed". Summer realizes that she has changed and no longer feels like she belongs with the crowd she used to know. Summer realises that she doesn't know who she truly is and breaks off the engagement (although maintaining a relationship) with Seth in order to find herself. She slowly works toward this as she and Seth re-connect.
Later, Summer helps rescue a groundhog in a political movement when Seth and Che were arrested. Also, in "The Case of the Franks" Summer gets offered a job at GEORGE (Global Environmental Organisation Regarding Greenhouse Emissions) travelling around the country speaking to children in high school. She believes that this is one part of her destiny while Seth is the other.
She challenges Seth to make stock film after he criticizes the films at GEORGE's art show. He mockingly steps up to the plate by filming an inflatable orca and shark in his backyard swimming pool for six hours and says that he took two naps while filming. Summer doesn't appreciate his effort and says that he should stop being lazy and actually do something. During his second attempt, which consists of various adventures of the family, he catches a conversation between Summer and Kirsten. She says that she just wants Seth to be excited about something that he loves. During a trip to rent "An Inconvenient Truth
," an earthquake hits Newport. Summer and Seth safely get out of Ryan's Jeep
when a light pole falls onto it.
Six months later, Seth and Summer fall into a rut after the earthquake, and spend hours watching "Briefcase or No Briefcase" (a television game show take-off of Deal or No Deal
). Seth tells her that she must join GEORGE, and they'll always be together. Summer leaves Seth to help the environment and they say farewell. Summer attends protests and works to save the environment and educate students on environmental issues for a year. She appears in newspaper articles as an environmentalist. In a flash-forward sequence, Summer ends up marrying Seth.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television series The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, portrayed by Rachel Bilson
Rachel Bilson
Rachel Sarah Bilson is an American actress. Bilson grew up in a California show business family, and made her television debut in 2003, subsequently becoming well known for playing Summer Roberts on the prime time drama series The O.C. Bilson made her film debut in the 2006 film The Last Kiss and...
.
Background
Summer Roberts grew up in Newport Beach, CaliforniaNewport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, with her wealthy father, Dr. Neil Roberts
Dr. Neil Roberts
Dr. Neil Roberts is a fictional character on the FOX series, The O.C., portrayed by Michael Nouri.A plastic surgeon in wealthy Newport Beach, California, Neil is the father of Summer Roberts. He was married to Summer's mother until his daughter was 13 years old, when Summer's mother left for...
(Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
). For much of the series, she also lived with a stepmother, named Gloria (unseen character
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
), who is often referred to as "the stepmonster" due to her mood swings and various addictive pills. She was often paired in scenes with her best friend, Marissa Cooper
Marissa Cooper
Marissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Mischa Barton. Marissa was among the original "core four" characters on The O.C. until her death in the season three finale, "The Graduates."...
(Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton
Mischa Anne Marsden Barton is a British-American fashion model, film, television, and stage actress, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C..-Early life:...
), who was the leading female of the series until her death. Summer became the female lead character of the show's fourth season. During this all, she had a long lasting relationship with leading man Seth Cohen
Seth Cohen
Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...
(Adam Brody
Adam Brody
Adam Jared Brody is an American film and television actor and part time musician. He began his career in 1995, appearing on Gilmore Girls and other series, and subsequently came to fame for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C. Brody later appeared in several film roles, including Mr. & Mrs...
). In a flash forward in The End's Not Near, It's Here, she finally marries Seth. Her character was only scheduled to appear in a few episodes, but was considered a hit, and ended up being in each of the series.
Summer is, throughout the first few episodes, portrayed as a shallow, materialistic gossip who is ditzy and can have an occasional bitchy nature. Spoiled by her divorced father, she considers him to be her best friend, and his opinion matters as much, if not more than her own.
Season 1
In the first season of The O.C., Summer was portrayed as a spoiled, rude, rich girl. The snobbiness is on display in the first episode, where Summer is at first attracted to newcomer Ryan Atwood until she learns he is from Chino, prompting her response, "Chino, ew." However, different sides to her character have been shown as she has developed. Before choosing Summer (after her finally showing her feelings for Seth) Seth picks Anna SternAnna Stern
Anna Stern is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Samaire Armstrong. Initially intended to appear in only one episode, she was brought back at fan request for several episodes of the first season...
(Samaire Armstrong
Samaire Armstrong
Samaire Rhys Armstrong is an American actress, fashion designer and model. She is best known for her roles in Stay Alive, The O.C. and It's a Boy Girl Thing. Her best known role to date is portraying the role of Juliet Darling in the ABC television series Dirty Sexy Money...
), who exhibits a similarly strong personality and shares his sarcastic sense of humour and love of comic books, the first go around. After a long wanting from Seth, Summer and Seth begin dating. It is during her transformation that Summer and Seth Cohen
Seth Cohen
Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...
(Adam Brody
Adam Brody
Adam Jared Brody is an American film and television actor and part time musician. He began his career in 1995, appearing on Gilmore Girls and other series, and subsequently came to fame for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C. Brody later appeared in several film roles, including Mr. & Mrs...
) fall in love with each other. In the process of their characters' relationship, Summer and Seth experience many struggles because Summer thinks it will affect her popular reputation at their high school.
As the season progresses, Summer is affected by their relationship and is often jealous of Seth since he seems to be enjoying Anna's company so much. As a result, Summer gets angry and starts dating a not-so-funny guy named Danny, but that relationship doesn't last long, and Seth is suddenly back on her mind. Midway through the end of the first season, Anna breaks up with Seth because it is obvious he is still in love with Summer. Seth and Summer become a couple, and announce their romance at a school kissing booth, after which they become very close. Summer and Seth lose their virginity to each other. However, as soon as Ryan Atwood
Ryan Atwood
Ryan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...
(Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie
Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan , better known as Benjamin McKenzie, is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Ryan Atwood in the television series The O.C. and for playing Ben Sherman in Southland. He appeared in the films Junebug and 88 Minutes which earned him a Sarasota Film...
), Seth's adopted brother, moves away, Seth realizes that the immediate past and present are meaningless, because before Ryan moved to Newport Beach
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, Seth was a painfully shy social misfit, and he is afraid that since Ryan left, he will once again be alone and the object of ridicule again in Newport. Seth then sails away at the end of the season, leaving behind his worried parents and a heartbroken Summer.
Season 2
Summer has a new boyfriend, Zach StevensZach Stevens
Zach Stevens is a fictional character in the second season of The O.C., portrayed by Michael Cassidy.-Conception:Creator Josh Schwartz described Zach as someone "who's sort of the WASP Seth, a.k.a. the anti-Cohen, and a formidable potential opponent for Seth"-Season 2:Zach joined Seth's fledgling...
(Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy (actor)
Michael Cassidy is an American film and television actor. He attended La Salle High School in Milwaukie, Oregon and graduated from the Two-Year Conservatory program at The New Actors Workshop in New York City in 2003....
). Zach is starting to become friends with Seth, who he met shortly before Zach and Summer started dating, yet their friendship is a little mixed since they both have feelings for Summer. Summer seems committed to putting Seth behind her, although at times it becomes clear that she still has feelings for him. This inevitably causes problems for her relationship with Zach, who suspected they still held feelings for each other. This is further complicated when Summer also becomes professionally involved with Seth and Zach as they develop their comic book, Atomic County, for publication. This relationship proves inextricably linked with the personal feelings all have for each other, and resulted in a bad meeting with a media executive that effectively killed their partnership.
However at the Prom both Summer and Zach seemed unhappy with their choices, and at the last minute Seth arrived at the prom to receive the Prom Queen/King award with Summer and reconciled their relationship. Zach apparently succeeded in impressing Lucas and it has been rumored he was given an internship and moved away from Newport as a result, explaining his absence for season 3.
Towards the end of the season Summer also becomes worried about her best friend Marissa's behaviour, unexplained bruises and a tension with her boyfriend Ryan and his brother Trey. She confronts Marissa and Marissa confesses that Trey had attempted to rape her. Summer consults Seth about this, who feels obliged to tell Ryan and as a result the tragic events of Trey's shooting happen, with Seth and Summer arriving at the aftermath of the shooting.
Season 3
Summer is adjusting to her senior year at Harbor School, with the year starting originally with her best friend Marissa CooperMarissa Cooper
Marissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Mischa Barton. Marissa was among the original "core four" characters on The O.C. until her death in the season three finale, "The Graduates."...
being expelled from Harbor as a result of her involvement in the shooting of Trey Atwood
Trey Atwood
Trey Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., first portrayed by Bradley Stryker during season one and then by Logan Marshall-Green from season two onward...
. As a result, Summer reluctantly seeks a more involved role in student politics, thus gaining a new rival in fellow student Taylor Townsend
Taylor Townsend
Taylor Townsend is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., played by Autumn Reeser.-Personality:...
(Autumn Reeser
Autumn Reeser
Autumn Alicia Reeser is an American actress and blogger. She has portrayed Taylor Townsend on the Fox series The O.C., Lizzie Grant on HBO's Entourage and most recently appeared as Katie Andrews on ABC's No Ordinary Family....
). They have since become (albeit at times reluctantly on Summer's part) friends, particularly when Taylor helped her get Marissa back in by organizing a petition.
Summer was initially insecure about her relationship with Seth, because she often felt that he was smarter than her and she feared that he would break up with her for someone more like him. However, when Summer gets a very high SAT score, Summer's personality changes upon realizing that she is smart and has the potential to be smart. This gives Summer the ambition to change and this season Summer begins to focus on school.
Also, her relationship with Seth is closer than it was during much of the previous year, and the couple's post-graduation future is one she finds harder to ignore. They had trouble earlier in the season deciding what colleges to go to and how it would affect their future together, but eventually they both agreed on going to Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, which was more feasible after Summer got a high SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
score. Summer cares a lot about Seth and when Seth starts smoking pot, she becomes worried about him and forgives him if he promises to stop. When Summer finds out that Seth is still smoking pot, she is upset with him, but Seth apologizes with a letter on a napkin, admitting his lies and mistakes and tells Summer that if he messed up again, she could show it to his parents. Summer forgives Seth. Shortly before they got their college acceptance letters Summer said that if should she get into Brown and not Seth, she would not go. When they got their college acceptance letters, to Seth's dismay this was exactly what happened. Seth, not wanting to be personally responsible for Summer turning down a major educational and life opportunity for him said he did not want to go to Brown anymore. As a result they broke up, with Seth stating when confronted by Summer that he did not love her anymore. While their future as a couple seemed uncertain at this point, (and was further complicated by the return of Seth's ex-girlfriend Anna Stern
Anna Stern
Anna Stern is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Samaire Armstrong. Initially intended to appear in only one episode, she was brought back at fan request for several episodes of the first season...
). Summer takes a Korean Pop Star as date for the prom and when seeing Seth with Anna, Summer becomes hurt, when Summer has fallen off the stage after being announced Prom Queen for the second time in a row, Seth runs to Summer and tells her the truth about Brown and they reconcile. They have resigned to going to school together in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, albeit at different schools.
Summer has also dealt with several changes in her home life, such as her stepmother, an unseen character, leaving and divorcing her father. Also more recently she has had to deal with her father dating her best friend's mother, Julie Cooper
Julie Cooper
Julie Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Melinda Clarke.-Background:...
. She eventually accepted the relationship and recently announced engagement, however, seeing the happiness it had brought her father despite her own reservations on Julie Cooper.
Season 4
Summer is adjusting to life in college without Seth and Marissa in an unexpected fashion. She tries to separate herself from Orange County and her former materialistic lifestyle. During the final season, she and Taylor go from being rivals to best friends.Whilst attending college she befriends another college freshman, Che
Che
Che is a Spanish diminutive interjection commonly used in Argentina and Uruguay. A form of colloquial slang used in a vocative sense as "friend", and thus loosely corresponds to expressions such as "mate", "pal", "man", "bro", or "dude"; as used by various English speakers...
. Che is an environmentalist and Summer joins him in an attempt to take her mind off the death of her best friend, Marissa Cooper
Marissa Cooper
Marissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Mischa Barton. Marissa was among the original "core four" characters on The O.C. until her death in the season three finale, "The Graduates."...
. She attends protests, stops shaving her legs and rearranges her dorm to fit her new lifestyle. After some time, she tries to return to her former self, but realizes that she prefers caring about the environment, attending protests and other political pursuits to reading tabloid magazines and watching television such as The Valley. She decides to balance her personality between her two sides. However, her environmental activism creates trouble for herself, when she and Che release lab rabbits from a science lab. When Brown officials investigate the incident, she remains truthful aside for not naming her accomplice. Unfortunately, Che blames her for other protest crimes that have occurred at the university, believing himself fundamental to the environmental movement at Brown, which results in Summer's year-long expulsion. Summer has moved back into her old Newport house with the Coopers and Taylor. Upon hearing of her expulsion, her boyfriend Seth decided to put off college plans until next Fall so they could return to Providence together. Close to New Year's Eve, Summer received a pregnancy scare, which ultimately caused Seth to ask her hand in marriage. Although the newly engaged Summer found out she was not pregnant, plans for their marriage stay the same.
In "The French Connection" Summer meets up with ex-bestfriend Holly Fischer
Holly Fischer
Holly Fischer is a fictional character from the first and fourth season of the FOX series The O.C., played by Ashley Hartman.-Season One:Holly is introduced at the outset of the series as one of the best friends of Summer Roberts and Marissa Cooper....
to find out what life is like as a "Newpsie-wed". Summer realizes that she has changed and no longer feels like she belongs with the crowd she used to know. Summer realises that she doesn't know who she truly is and breaks off the engagement (although maintaining a relationship) with Seth in order to find herself. She slowly works toward this as she and Seth re-connect.
Later, Summer helps rescue a groundhog in a political movement when Seth and Che were arrested. Also, in "The Case of the Franks" Summer gets offered a job at GEORGE (Global Environmental Organisation Regarding Greenhouse Emissions) travelling around the country speaking to children in high school. She believes that this is one part of her destiny while Seth is the other.
She challenges Seth to make stock film after he criticizes the films at GEORGE's art show. He mockingly steps up to the plate by filming an inflatable orca and shark in his backyard swimming pool for six hours and says that he took two naps while filming. Summer doesn't appreciate his effort and says that he should stop being lazy and actually do something. During his second attempt, which consists of various adventures of the family, he catches a conversation between Summer and Kirsten. She says that she just wants Seth to be excited about something that he loves. During a trip to rent "An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
," an earthquake hits Newport. Summer and Seth safely get out of Ryan's Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
when a light pole falls onto it.
Six months later, Seth and Summer fall into a rut after the earthquake, and spend hours watching "Briefcase or No Briefcase" (a television game show take-off of Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
). Seth tells her that she must join GEORGE, and they'll always be together. Summer leaves Seth to help the environment and they say farewell. Summer attends protests and works to save the environment and educate students on environmental issues for a year. She appears in newspaper articles as an environmentalist. In a flash-forward sequence, Summer ends up marrying Seth.
Trivia
- Summer Roberts was revealed to be a fan of the hit sitcom The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, along with Anna SternAnna SternAnna Stern is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Samaire Armstrong. Initially intended to appear in only one episode, she was brought back at fan request for several episodes of the first season...
. Summer referred to herself as Blanche, while Anna compared herself to character Rose NylundRose NylundRose Nylund was born May 1930 in St. Olaf, Minnesota. She is a fictional character featured on the popular 1980s situation comedy The Golden Girls, and its spin-off The Golden Palace. She was portrayed by Betty White for 8 years and 208 episodes.Rose was comically portrayed as naïve and simple,...
. - Summer's obsession with the fictional television series, The Valley, was referenced throughout the entire series. The Valley followed an unknown, choppy storyline very similar to that of The O.C., but with differently named characters.
- Based on her surname, Summer is presumably English or Welsh American.
- Summer Roberts (Rachel BilsonRachel BilsonRachel Sarah Bilson is an American actress. Bilson grew up in a California show business family, and made her television debut in 2003, subsequently becoming well known for playing Summer Roberts on the prime time drama series The O.C. Bilson made her film debut in the 2006 film The Last Kiss and...
), along with Julie CooperJulie CooperJulie Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Melinda Clarke.-Background:...
(Melinda ClarkeMelinda ClarkeMelinda Patrice Clarke is an American actress who has primarily worked in television. Clarke is best known for playing Faith Taylor on the daytime drama Days of our Lives, the manipulative and cunning Julie Cooper-Nichol on The O.C., and the professional dominatrix Lady Heather on CSI...
), were initially intended to appear in only a few episodes, but became series regulars after a successful run due to the popularity of their characters. - Summer likes to call her friends by their surnames, such as CoopMarissa CooperMarissa Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Mischa Barton. Marissa was among the original "core four" characters on The O.C. until her death in the season three finale, "The Graduates."...
, CohenSeth CohenSeth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...
and AtwoodRyan AtwoodRyan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...
. She doesn't do this with Taylor TownsendTaylor TownsendTaylor Townsend is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., played by Autumn Reeser.-Personality:...
, however. - Seth's boat was named Summer Breeze in honor of Summer Roberts before they started dating.
- Near the end of Season 1, it is revealed that Summer, like Seth, also has a toy horse. Her name is Princess Sparkle.
- Her biological mother's name is never revealed.
- She keeps one of the rabbits she rescued and names it Pancakes. It has babies in the finale, and one rabbit—named Flapjacks—is given to Ryan.
- Throughout the show, she is constantly repeating the word "eew", making her the only character to have a word associated to him/her.