Taylor Townsend is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., played by Autumn Reeser.

In light of her more prominent castmate Mischa Barton's departure, Autumn was promoted to main cast.

Taylor is the daughter of Veronica Townsend, a successful sports agent and chair of the parents' committee at The Harbor School.

She is thought to be multi-lingual, speaking French, Spanish and Korean in several episodes, and narrating a majority of her valedictorian speech in Latin.

Taylor does not get much attention from her mother and Reeser described her character's "desperate ambition" as a result of troubles in her home life.

[2][3] Described as the "preppy, double-crossing nemesis of Summer Roberts"[4] who is said to be able "to handle a chainsaw",[5] Taylor Townsend was introduced into the show in the third season as a neurotic and annoying "goody goody"[2][6] who stalks Seth and attempts to sabotage his relationship with Summer.

This is largely the result of the lack of a father figure for much of her life and her being emotionally neglected by her perfectionist mother.

Taylor first appears in the third season, as Marissa Cooper is expelled from Harbor High School and thus barred from keeping her position as student social chair.

Taylor's gain is part of the fallout from Marissa having shot Trey Atwood in order to defend his brother and her boyfriend, Ryan.

Taylor's power-grabbing encourages an otherwise reluctant Summer to seek the social chair position.

Summer's biggest test as social chair comes in organizing the annual school carnival, as she successfully coordinates the mix of rides, food, and events.

However, when Summer plans a Fall dance for the school, she is overshadowed by Taylor, who takes credit for it, and the new Dean of Discipline at Harbor.

Seth and Summer eventually convince Taylor to go to an area motel (the same motel where Luke Ward and Julie Cooper had an affair, as well as where Ryan met up with his onetime girlfriend Theresa Diaz one night) to meet with the "Dean," only to surprise her when they answer the door and begin throwing out accusations.

In return for keeping quiet, Sandy tells Hess to let Ryan (whom he kicked out) back into Harbor, and then resign.

Taylor, wanting to keep him for herself, refuses to allow a late Summer to come to the lock-in by pretending that she could not hear her.

Her own mother, a highly driven sports agent, is shown as emotionally cold toward her daughter.

In Season 4, Taylor secretly arrives back in Newport after attending the Sorbonne University and needs to seek legal advice as she is married to a Frenchman.

Taylor tries to make him jealous by paying a homosexual guy named Roger to pretend that he likes her, but he uncovers her move and tells her he's not sure about a relationship, something she says is a long way off, and that any current relations should be purely physical.

Taylor and Ryan kiss in a closet and start making out while playing a game of seven minutes in heaven.

In their comas, they entered an alternate universe and Taylor hears information that convinces her that Marissa is still alive.

Veronica Townsend (after some persuasion from Julie) comes to the hospital to see Taylor but is more disappointed that she missed her flight to Mexico.

Back in the alternate universe, Ryan, still not sure what to do, tries to matchmake everyone with the right person but realizes that that's not the case—it was that he had to read a letter from Marissa and move on from her.

Ryan attempts to organize a special rendezvous for himself and Taylor in The Earth Girls Are Easy but is foiled when Seth decides he and Summer will "tag along" on the trip, due to Seth's failure to plan New Years festivities for Summer.

Events come to a head when Ryan discovers Taylor lied about his job, telling her ex-husband that he was an academic.

She was devastated when Ryan told her that the Cohens are moving to Berkeley, meaning she won't be able to see him anymore.

Initially they both agree to be friends but unable to resist they kiss passionately and end up making out on the bed together, interrupted by the house owner.

Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict described Taylor and the other new characters as "detestable additions to the Season Three cast" but then went on to say that she was "a more likeable version of Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls".

[9] Daniel Fienberg of Zap2it described Taylor as going "from recirculated Queen Bee cliche to unexpected quirky charm in a matter of episode[s].

TV described Reeser's character as a "smart, French-speaking valedictorian [who] became a fan favorite with her sheer exuberance".

[12] Alan Sepinwall, a television critic for The Star-Ledger, described Taylor's pairing with Ryan as "inevitable" because she was the "only available, age-appropriate female regular".