When he finally realises that Summer was the one for him, he stood up on a coffee cart and declared his feelings for her, which was a total swoon-worthy moment. Yet, in season three, when Seth lies about getting into Brown and breaks up with Summer just so he doesn’t have to tell her the truth – a total red flag on its own – she gets on the coffee cart and declares her love to him, saying she will love him no matter what. But instead of owning up to his lie and telling Summer the truth, Seth lies even further and tells her that he doesn’t love her anymore.
In fact, communication was never Seth Cohen’s strong point. In the first season, instead of talking to Summer about having a hard time when Ryan leaves town, he takes his sailboat and heads off to Tahiti (he only makes it as far as Portland) without a word. In the last season, Seth thinks Summer is pregnant and proposes without even discussing if that’s something that either of them wants, and he then proceeds to take back the proposal.
Perhaps, one of the worst things Seth did was successfully break up Summer and her new boyfriend, Zach (Michael Cassidy) in season two. After Seth’s jaunt up the Pacific coast to Portland, he returned expecting everything to be the same, but Summer had moved on and was happy (happy being the key operative here). Yet, Seth did everything in his power to break the two up, even giving up on his dreams of being a comic book author just to sabotage their relationship.
While Seth did have some redeeming qualities, looking back now he wasn’t quite the charming nerdy heartthrob we all fell into puddles for. The red flags were large and glaring, and while he did eventually stop lying to Summer, so much of their relationship was based on miscommunication and manipulation on his part. Yes, he was a teenager and yes he’s a fictional character, but for my tween heart he was everything I thought a boyfriend should be. Only now, as an adult with perspective, can I finally see the error of my ways. Maybe we should have all been falling for Ryan after all.