In the Line of Fire

O.C. Exec Defends Oliver

On tonight's episode of The O.C., the clichéd plot device commonly known as Oliver Trask makes a dramatic exit from the hit soap — and not a moment too soon. Fox's first-year dramedy flirted with some serious jump-the-shark territory with its introduction of the cookie-cutter villain, whose only purpose in life was to throw a kink in Marissa and Ryan's blossoming romance. It was a glaring misstep for a show that seems to pride itself on being the thinking person's 90210. To commemorate Oliver's hotly anticipated swan song, we rang up series creator (and recent Writers Guild of America Award nominee) Josh Schwartz to find out what the heck he was thinking. TV Guide Online: Dude, what were you thinking? Love the show. Hate Oliver. The guy's a cartoon.Josh Schwartz: That's fair. But I make the argument that his actions are coming from a place of lone