Mixed emotions: When an O.C. character has an inappropriate or out of character reaction to a certain moment or situation.
There is a strong mixed emotion going on in the Tijuana episode aka Season 1 Episode 7 "The Escape". If you look closely at the moment when Marissa catches her boyfriend Luke Ward dancing with her best friend Holly Fisher, you will see that Marissa's reaction is spot on and normal to what's happening. On the other end of the spectrum Ryan's reaction is on a whole other island, he's delighted, I mean look at that smirk! He's a couple jokes away from barfing up his tequila! Which begs the question, is Ryan Atwood much more sadistic than we all thought at this point in the show? One theory could be he thinks seeing Luke and Holly is utterly hilarious because he knows Marissa will break up with Luke and then he can swoop in, perhaps he finds this thought exciting. But to laugh/smirk when Marissa is already going through a tough time, parents getting a divorce, her sisters pony has alopecia and Luke is a cheating douche (among other things) all the while Ryan Atwood stares back at the travesty as if he is witnessing a comedy show. Then in a split personality moemnt Ryan goes from all smiles to punching Luke out of extreme anger!
"You don't deserve her!" - Ryan Atwood
Above is a bonus clip of the whole Tijuana scene with beer goggles slow motion effect added. The slow motion effect literally makes you feel like you are in a dirty, sweaty Mexican club with a humongous buzz! You will also notice how sexual this scene is especially when one of the female patrons gets beer spilled all over her shirt (wet-t-shirt contest material).
Lastly there is something just so very epic about seeing Luke dancing drunk in slow-motion! He's making his O-face for sure!
Best line of the scene:
"I love authentic Mexican culture" - Seth Cohen