TVSquad

I was really bitter towards CW for canceling Veronica Mars, so I was planning on not watching Gossip Girl out of spite. However, as a fan of (at least the first few seasons) of The O.C., the idea of another Josh Schwartz show intrigued me. Okay, that, and the fact that I loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (shut up), and the realization that my one-woman boycott wasn't going to bring VM back, all led me to the show.

When I tuned in, I really thought it would be The O.C. East, but Schwartz and the rest of the writers did a good job of making it its own show, I'm sure in no small part due to the fact that they had a series of books to work with. In fact, last night's 90210 premiere reminded me more of The O.C. than Gossip Girl ever has. So when I read that an O.C. alum was making her way to the Upper East Side, I wasn't exactly thrilled.

Casting spoilers ahead.
Willa Holland, who played (the second) Kaitlin Cooper, is set to shake up Jenny Humphrey's life for three episodes this season. She plays a model that Little J meets through her internship with Eleanor Waldorf and turns out not to exactly be the best influence on Jenny.

In addition, John Patrick Amedori of the short-lived Vanished, is set to come aboard as a possible new love interest for Serena. He's playing Aaron Rose, a major character in the books, and apparently it's his "philanthropic side" that woos Serena away from her newly-rekindled romance with Dan (and I don't even think that's a euphemism for anything).

Granted, three episodes of Kaitlin Cooper doesn't exactly make this O.C. East, especially when the casting news is paired with a non-O.C. person. However, if you're going to invite the comparison, at least have someone good from the show guest star, instead of some second-string character that I barely remember. After all, Schwartz got Rachel Bilson for Chuck; what's Benjamin McKenzie up to? I haven't seen that dude around in ages.