Kirsten Cohen
Encyclopedia
Kirsten Cohen is a fictional character
on the FOX
television series The O.C.
, portrayed by Kelly Rowan
. Kirsten is the wife of Sandy Cohen
, mother to Seth Cohen
, and the adoptive mother of Ryan Atwood
. Originally portrayed as being unwelcoming towards Ryan in the Cohen household, Kirsten began to develop feelings for the brooding teenager, going on to accept him as a central member of her family.
, California
. Kirsten is the eldest daughter of Caleb
and Rose Nichol, elder sister of Hailey Nichol
, and elder half-sister to Lindsay Gardner
. She comes from a very wealthy background: her father is a real estate developer who founded The Newport Group, one of the most powerful companies in California. Kirsten was raised Presbyterian. She is presumably Scottish American
.
She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
with a degree in art history
. During her college years, she met her future husband, Sanford "Sandy" Cohen
, specifically on a campaign for the 1984 presidential elections
. Kirsten states that when they fell in love, she "lived in a mail truck and stank of patchouli
". They married, and Kirsten gave birth to a son, Seth
.
Shortly after Kirsten began her family, her mother became ill with ovarian cancer
. This prompted the Cohens to move back to Newport. She has since joined her father at The Newport Group, becoming the workaholic she was introduced as at the beginning of the show.
Besides Seth, she has two other children with Sandy: biological daughter Sophie Rose and adoptive son Ryan
.
presidential candidate Walter Mondale
in 1984, Kirsten was relatively conservative and supported the Republican Party because her parents did. Kirsten herself has admitted to being a stricter parent and has sometimes clashed with Sandy's "hippie parenting". In the pilot, Kirsten is more reluctant than her husband to invite Ryan into the house and is initially more guarded. However, by the season finale she is seen crying in the pool house over his departure.
Later on, Kirsten meets Dawn
, Ryan's mother. When Dawn tells her that she cannot take care of her son, Kirsten and Sandy eventually take Ryan under their wing, becoming his legal guardians. The rest of the season focuses on the Cohens adjusting to the newest member of the family, with Kirsten becoming a mother figure in Ryan's eyes. In turn, Kirsten comes to love and accept Ryan as if he is her own son.
Though Kirsten has a mostly stable marriage, her close friendship with next-door neighbor and ex-boyfriend Jimmy Cooper
causes tension and awkwardness between her and her husband. When Jimmy finds himself in the middle of financial trouble, she loans him money. Not long after, she and Sandy find out that Jimmy had been taking money from his clients' accounts to support himself. Ultimately, Sandy helps defend Jimmy to avoid jail time.
In the first season finale, Kirsten hints to Theresa Diaz
, Ryan's pregnant ex-girlfriend, that she had an abortion
early in her life.
Towards the end of the season, Kirsten crashes her car while driving drunk. She was in the middle of an emotional conversation with Sandy, who had told her to pull over when she drops her phone on the center console. Kirsten reaches over to pick up her phone, but doesn't see that she was approaching an intersection. A truck runs over her car, sending the vehicle all over the street.
Kirsten survives the accident with minor bruises and a few broken fingers. She convinces Sandy that she's swearing off the alcohol after the scare the accident causes, but Sandy finds a bottle of vodka in her purse. He was in the middle of confronting her when Julie calls to inform the Cohens that Caleb died of a heart attack. Stricken, she walks away from Sandy with the bottle of vodka.
Following an intervention staged by her worried family, she checks into a rehabilitation program for alcohol abuse after her father's funeral.
.
Over the course of the season, Kirsten and her husband once again found themselves amidst conflict due to his decision to take over The Newport Group. Long hours made Kirsten concerned that Sandy was turning out to be a workaholic, but it was Sandy becoming like her father, getting into illegal deals and crossing the line often that worried her the most. This causes her to relapse, yet the problem was settled when Sandy decides to quit the job at the end of the season.
, who committed vehicular homicide
by running Ryan off the road and killing Marissa. Seth gives Ryan the wrong address, and his parents show up to bring the boys home. Ryan and Seth are still not talking at Thanksgiving, prompting Kirsten to send them on a trip to the grocery store.
Kirsten attempts to garner a silent partner for NewMatch in Gordon Bullit by setting him up with Julie. Bullitt almost pulls out when his son Spencer shows up at a fundraiser hosted by Sandy, but Kaitlin Cooper
convinces him to invest. Later on, Kirsten ostracizes Julie after suspicions about the business and fires her after she uncovers it has become a prostitution ring without her knowing it.
A family crisis appears once again when Frank, an accountant The Bullit brings in to deal with NewMatch's books, reveals he is Ryan's biological father. Upon hearing of Frank's desire to see Ryan, Kirsten talks Sandy into at least giving him a chance. She invites him over for dinner, but it ended badly after they found out Frank lied about having cancer just so he could see his son again.
On the night of Kirsten's fortieth birthday, Kirsten finds out that she is pregnant. This causes her to flash back in time and remember the abortion she had before going to college. She finally comes clean to Sandy about the abortion, after having kept the secret from him for so long.
In the series finale, the Cohen home was destroyed in an earthquake. Sandy and Kirsten reluctantly begin house-hunting. After hearing their parents reminiscing, Seth and Ryan fly to Berkeley to find their old house, but the current owners were unwilling to sell. Convinced that bringing their parents would help, Sandy and Kirsten accompany their trip to Berkeley to assist with The Bullit. While there, Kirsten asks the couple that live there if she can use their bathroom. She finds that her water broke, and she gives birth to her daughter in the Cohens' house in Berkeley. Her daughter is named Sophie Rose Cohen, after Sandy's and her own mother.
In a flash-forward Sophie Rose is shown to bear a striking resemblance to Kirsten.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television series The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, portrayed by Kelly Rowan
Kelly Rowan
Kelly Rowan is a Canadian television and film actress and former fashion model. She is best known for portraying Kirsten Cohen on The O.C.-Early life:...
. Kirsten is the wife of Sandy Cohen
Sandy Cohen
Sanford "Sandy" Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX series The O.C., portrayed by Peter Gallagher.Sandy, a lawyer, raconteur, and son of Sophie Cohen, is married to Kirsten Cohen. Their eldest child, Seth, is something of a social misfit. Sandy's father left his mother when he was young and...
, mother to Seth Cohen
Seth Cohen
Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...
, and the adoptive mother of Ryan Atwood
Ryan Atwood
Ryan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...
. Originally portrayed as being unwelcoming towards Ryan in the Cohen household, Kirsten began to develop feelings for the brooding teenager, going on to accept him as a central member of her family.
Background
Kirsten Nichol was born in Newport Beach in Orange CountyOrange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Kirsten is the eldest daughter of Caleb
Caleb Nichol
Caleb Nichol is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Alan Dale during the show's first and second seasons...
and Rose Nichol, elder sister of Hailey Nichol
Hailey Nichol
Hailey Nichol is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Amanda Righetti. Seen as something of a black sheep of the family, Hailey is the younger daughter of Caleb and Rose Nichol, younger sister to Kirsten Cohen, and older half-sister to Lindsay Gardner...
, and elder half-sister to Lindsay Gardner
Lindsay Gardner
Lindsay Gardner is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Shannon Lucio. Featured only during the first half of season two, Lindsay is the illegitimate daughter of Caleb Nichol by his former secretary, Renee Wheeler...
. She comes from a very wealthy background: her father is a real estate developer who founded The Newport Group, one of the most powerful companies in California. Kirsten was raised Presbyterian. She is presumably Scottish American
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
.
She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
with a degree in art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
. During her college years, she met her future husband, Sanford "Sandy" Cohen
Sandy Cohen
Sanford "Sandy" Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX series The O.C., portrayed by Peter Gallagher.Sandy, a lawyer, raconteur, and son of Sophie Cohen, is married to Kirsten Cohen. Their eldest child, Seth, is something of a social misfit. Sandy's father left his mother when he was young and...
, specifically on a campaign for the 1984 presidential elections
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
. Kirsten states that when they fell in love, she "lived in a mail truck and stank of patchouli
Patchouli
Patchouli is a species from the genus Pogostemon and a bushy herb of the mint family, with erect stems, reaching two or three feet in height and bearing small, pale pink-white flowers...
". They married, and Kirsten gave birth to a son, Seth
Seth Cohen
Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Adam Brody. Seth was one of the "core four" characters on The O.C. alongside Ryan Atwood, Marissa Cooper, and Summer Roberts.-Background:...
.
Shortly after Kirsten began her family, her mother became ill with ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
. This prompted the Cohens to move back to Newport. She has since joined her father at The Newport Group, becoming the workaholic she was introduced as at the beginning of the show.
Besides Seth, she has two other children with Sandy: biological daughter Sophie Rose and adoptive son Ryan
Ryan Atwood
Ryan Francis Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Benjamin McKenzie. A troubled teenager from Chino, California, he is considered the protagonist of the show, beginning as an outcast and is brought to a lifestyle of luxury by the Cohen family and is...
.
Personality
In contrast to her husband, who campaigned for DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
presidential candidate Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
in 1984, Kirsten was relatively conservative and supported the Republican Party because her parents did. Kirsten herself has admitted to being a stricter parent and has sometimes clashed with Sandy's "hippie parenting". In the pilot, Kirsten is more reluctant than her husband to invite Ryan into the house and is initially more guarded. However, by the season finale she is seen crying in the pool house over his departure.
Season One
Kirsten is introduced when she meets troubled teen Ryan Atwood for the first time. Ryan was her husband's client, who he brought home with him because he had nowhere else to stay. Under the impression that Ryan was going to stay only until Sandy was able to contact Child Services, she welcomes him into their home and lets him stay in the pool house.Later on, Kirsten meets Dawn
Dawn Atwood
Dawn Atwood is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Daphne Ashbrook. She is the mother of Trey and Ryan Atwood. She has a history of alcoholism and of forming relationships with abusive men who also drink. Her husband Frank Atwood is both abusive and an...
, Ryan's mother. When Dawn tells her that she cannot take care of her son, Kirsten and Sandy eventually take Ryan under their wing, becoming his legal guardians. The rest of the season focuses on the Cohens adjusting to the newest member of the family, with Kirsten becoming a mother figure in Ryan's eyes. In turn, Kirsten comes to love and accept Ryan as if he is her own son.
Though Kirsten has a mostly stable marriage, her close friendship with next-door neighbor and ex-boyfriend Jimmy Cooper
Jimmy Cooper (The O.C.)
James "Jimmy" Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Tate Donovan. He is often described as extremely unreliable, immature and cowardly, due to his actions....
causes tension and awkwardness between her and her husband. When Jimmy finds himself in the middle of financial trouble, she loans him money. Not long after, she and Sandy find out that Jimmy had been taking money from his clients' accounts to support himself. Ultimately, Sandy helps defend Jimmy to avoid jail time.
In the first season finale, Kirsten hints to Theresa Diaz
Theresa Diaz
Theresa Diaz is a fictional character on Fox series The O.C., played by Navi Rawat. She is the child of Eva Diaz and the sister of Arturo Diaz, who is the best friend of Trey Atwood.-Season 1:...
, Ryan's pregnant ex-girlfriend, that she had an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
early in her life.
Season Two
The problems begin for Kirsten during the second season when she feared that her husband was cheating on her with an old girlfriend, Rebecca Bloom, who had mysteriously showed up back in town. Sandy and Kirsten's marriage begins to deteriorate, and she turns to alcohol to compensate. Her alcoholism was fueled by working closely with a man whom she had a crush on, Newport Living magazine editor Carter Buckley, who also drank too much.Towards the end of the season, Kirsten crashes her car while driving drunk. She was in the middle of an emotional conversation with Sandy, who had told her to pull over when she drops her phone on the center console. Kirsten reaches over to pick up her phone, but doesn't see that she was approaching an intersection. A truck runs over her car, sending the vehicle all over the street.
Kirsten survives the accident with minor bruises and a few broken fingers. She convinces Sandy that she's swearing off the alcohol after the scare the accident causes, but Sandy finds a bottle of vodka in her purse. He was in the middle of confronting her when Julie calls to inform the Cohens that Caleb died of a heart attack. Stricken, she walks away from Sandy with the bottle of vodka.
Following an intervention staged by her worried family, she checks into a rehabilitation program for alcohol abuse after her father's funeral.
Season Three
At Suriak Rehab, she meets Charlotte Morgan, who seemed to be interested in making friends with her. In reality, Charlotte was a con artist who was only after her, as Kirsten was the richest woman in Newport Beach. However, it was revealed during Caleb's will reading that he had been bankrupt when he died, and left Kirsten with nothing but a letter. Seeing the letter as a threat to the progress she has made in rehab, she runs away and spends the night in a motel with a bottle of vodka, "but I didn't drink," she tells Sandy later on. Kirsten returns home and has since created a high-class dating service, NewMatch, with her one-time stepmother Julie Cooper-NicholJulie Cooper
Julie Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Melinda Clarke.-Background:...
.
Over the course of the season, Kirsten and her husband once again found themselves amidst conflict due to his decision to take over The Newport Group. Long hours made Kirsten concerned that Sandy was turning out to be a workaholic, but it was Sandy becoming like her father, getting into illegal deals and crossing the line often that worried her the most. This causes her to relapse, yet the problem was settled when Sandy decides to quit the job at the end of the season.
Season Four
Kirsten and Sandy go to Mexico to rescue Seth and Ryan after their sons go to Mexico in search of Kevin VolchokKevin Volchok
Kevin Volchok, more commonly referred to as simply Volchok, is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Cam Gigandet.-Background:...
, who committed vehicular homicide
Vehicular homicide
Vehicular homicide in most states in the United States, is a crime. In general, it involves death that results from the negligent operation of a vehicle, or more so a result from driving while committing an unlawful act that does not amount to a felony...
by running Ryan off the road and killing Marissa. Seth gives Ryan the wrong address, and his parents show up to bring the boys home. Ryan and Seth are still not talking at Thanksgiving, prompting Kirsten to send them on a trip to the grocery store.
Kirsten attempts to garner a silent partner for NewMatch in Gordon Bullit by setting him up with Julie. Bullitt almost pulls out when his son Spencer shows up at a fundraiser hosted by Sandy, but Kaitlin Cooper
Kaitlin Cooper
Kaitlin Cooper is a fictional character on the Fox television series The O.C., played by Willa Holland. She was originally played by Shailene Woodley.-Season 1:...
convinces him to invest. Later on, Kirsten ostracizes Julie after suspicions about the business and fires her after she uncovers it has become a prostitution ring without her knowing it.
A family crisis appears once again when Frank, an accountant The Bullit brings in to deal with NewMatch's books, reveals he is Ryan's biological father. Upon hearing of Frank's desire to see Ryan, Kirsten talks Sandy into at least giving him a chance. She invites him over for dinner, but it ended badly after they found out Frank lied about having cancer just so he could see his son again.
On the night of Kirsten's fortieth birthday, Kirsten finds out that she is pregnant. This causes her to flash back in time and remember the abortion she had before going to college. She finally comes clean to Sandy about the abortion, after having kept the secret from him for so long.
In the series finale, the Cohen home was destroyed in an earthquake. Sandy and Kirsten reluctantly begin house-hunting. After hearing their parents reminiscing, Seth and Ryan fly to Berkeley to find their old house, but the current owners were unwilling to sell. Convinced that bringing their parents would help, Sandy and Kirsten accompany their trip to Berkeley to assist with The Bullit. While there, Kirsten asks the couple that live there if she can use their bathroom. She finds that her water broke, and she gives birth to her daughter in the Cohens' house in Berkeley. Her daughter is named Sophie Rose Cohen, after Sandy's and her own mother.
In a flash-forward Sophie Rose is shown to bear a striking resemblance to Kirsten.