We get a long, slow, time-filling dissolve into later that night, where Kirsten, Sandy, and Seth are seated around the dinner table, silent. There's a conspicuously empty chair there. Actually, there are three conspicuously empty chairs. What's that about? Are they expecting guests? I hope 7 'n 7 isn't one of them. Or Marissa. Maybe Taylor Townsend, though. Seth breaks the silence and wonders if Ryan has left to join a cult, which only makes Sandy and Kirsten worry more. There's a time and a place for jokes, Seth. Learn it. Just as Kirsten is about to try calling him again, Ryan comes home. Seth says they were about to put out an Amber Alert. Can you do that for a thirty-year-old? Oh, wait -- Ryan is supposed to be seventeen. How could I have made such a mistake? Sandy scolds Ryan for leaving without telling anyone where he was going, and Ryan promises that it won't happen again, which I sincerely doubt. Sandy high-hopes that he talked to Ryan's tutor and got her to come in over the weekend to catch him up on what he missed today. Ryan says that won't be necessary, and hands Sandy the guardian release form he needs signed so he can work at his new job. On a fishing boat. Sandy does not like this idea. Ryan reaches for the rolls and says that the future the Cohens planned for him is trashed. "You have to keep trying!" Sandy says. "No, I don't!" Ryan replies, and Seth and Kirsten both make "oh, it's serious talk time" faces. Ryan says he was trying, and now he has to make his own decisions and Sandy has to let him go. Sandy thinks for a minute and signs the form. Way to not consult Kirsten on that one, Dad.

The next morning, Ryan hands the guy I'm guessing is Johnny's uncle the signed guardian release form and says he's ready, willing, and able to be a fisherman. Uncle J says he has an open position. The boat's heading out for a three-week voyage at sunset the next day. I'm no boating expert, but don't boats usually launch at sunrise? Maybe they're gathering night crawlers for bait. Uncle J tells Ryan not to be late, without giving him an exact time to be there.

Sandy returns from a morning surf. He and Kirsten discuss Ryan, and Sandy says he's planning to stick to his plan of letting Ryan do whatever he wants and hope for the best. Kirsten asks Sandy if he would act this way if it were Seth. Sandy says he would and did. Kirsten thinks letting Seth spend the summer in Portland is different, since he didn't miss school. Sandy says he understands how Ryan feels, and points out that Sandy himself left home when he was seventeen, too. Kirsten still isn't going for it, because she's a good parent. Sandy assures Kirsten that Ryan will come around eventually. Marissa walks right on into the Cohen kitchen as part of her preparation for a life of homeless squatting (might want to make sure the properties are actually abandoned in future efforts there, Marissa) and asks if they know where Ryan is. He hasn't returned any of her phone calls, which she took to mean that he wanted her to bother him in person. They tell her he'll be back home soon. Sandy says it's important for them all to support Ryan, "no matter what." Hey -- you don't need a high-school diploma to embark on the exciting career of a serial killer! I can just see Sandy being all reverse-psychology supportive with that, buying Ryan that stranglin' rope he needs and not mentioning how every time Ryan's in the kitchen, one of their knives disappears. Kirsten sarcastically asks if they should throw Ryan a going-away dinner. Sandy loves this idea. ["Of course he does: it's not an episode of The O.C. without a terribly awkward party!" -- Wing Chun] Marissa asks where Ryan is going away to. Sandy and Kirsten make "d'oh!" faces.