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A couple of days after TVGasm blew the lid off the upcoming lesbian subplot for Mischa Barton's character on The O.C., wonderboy show creator Josh Schwartz explains the move in a Q & A on Out.com. And while we're talking gay entanglements, why aren't Seth and Ryan taking their relationship to the next level? Too easy:

Traditionally gay storylines on teen shows have dealt with male sexuality—what made you want to do a woman’s story? Why not have Seth explore? He’s been through it all with Summer.

There’s enough people claiming there’s a homosexual subtext between Seth and Ryan, so why make it the text? [Laughs] Seth is so tied to the Summer storyline. He wasn’t really available. Marissa has been trying to find herself and trying different relationships. Many of them are designed to piss her mom off. She seemed willing to go somewhere she never thought she’d go before.

Schwartz almost had us sold that this storyline wasn't a ratings ploy until that line, "She seemed willing to go somewhere she never thought she’d go before," which we're pretty sure is cribbed from the box of Jenna Loves Briana.