Looking back at One Tree Hill

Let me tell you about my story with this series called One Tree Hill. I finally was able to figure it out that indeed One Tree Hill has ended. I would figure it out sooner or later because I have internet...

Today I watch entertaining television on a regular bases (sort of), I watch a number of series, but a few years ago I didn't. One Tree Hill was one of the first series I seriously watched it. Actually I started watching when Season 5 was running. Anyway, I consumed One Tree Hill like never before. I kept watching and I kept watching. 

You see this picture above, this was One Tree Hill. Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Peyton and Brooke. 

You can argue that these characters were archetypes. Lucas, the outsider. Nathan, the sporter. Haley, the tutor. Peyton, the artsy and Brooke, the hot cheerleader. One Tree Hill was set on a small town, it was about family, it was about high school and everything that comes with it and it was about a sport, basketball. 

The stories were taken seriously and characters developed and the change was believable. The girls were fighters and strong. From the beginning it felt honest and it was the kind of story I could and I would take seriously. I don't think many teenage series from this time or even from today allows this position. 

One Tree Hill was Lucas Scott's voice over at the beginning and at the end of each episode, sometimes quoting Tennessee Williams or other authors and other times just his own observations.

This intro above was One Tree Hill.

You know those Youtube videos you call Youtube videos? I made a lot of those of One Tree Hill.
These quiet revelational moments, like when Haley sang for the first time.

One Tree Hill was about music and bands no one had heard before. Like Wakey! Wakey!

We all wanted Nathan Scott to be the man who would father our children. Or a big brother to play basketball with. I always found James Lafferty a bit stiff as Nathan and unexperienced as an actor, it was also a knowledge kept for myself. And who cared? No one cared. I didn't care. He was Nathan Scott.

I don't want to say old One Tree Hill, just One Tree Hill. And the sequence above, the end of Season Four, followed with Ray Lamontagne's Within You, couldn't possibly be a better end to a four year pretty consistent show. We had been crying like there wouldn't be no tomorrow for the last couple of episodes, we were ready. Highschool was over. That final game, that final image still, it felt like everything and everyone would fell into their unpredictable paths.
I remember a close friend watching four seasons straight of One Tree Hill in two weeks, for real. And like we all, when she got into season five she was crushed. We were all crushed by season five opening episode. Not that five years have passed, but because, ok it was five years. Everything changed, but more importantly, Nathan Scott was all fucked up. Always and Forever was all shaken. Indeed, everyone had fallen into their roads. Everyone was separated. There were lot of new additions, some very pleasant like James Lucas Scott. It was a tough road ahead. But gradually I kept watching.

As adults, troubles would come naturally as they would come in teens. Jamie Lucas Scott brought adorableness. New characters brought out the patience and acceptance in us. Episodes kept floating and so basketball and bands. Now Lucas Scott was a publisher. Nathan Scott was in his comeback, still a sports' man, obviously. Haley went from tutoring to teaching. Peyton was still the lonelier but with a music production and motherly Brooke. The world was full of magic, we just had to believe in it.

Slowly, somehow everyone was finding a way to balance their own dreams. Weather many wanted to believe or not, Lucas and Peyton were together for real and expecting a baby, Nathan was going to play basketball for the NBA; Haley was able to reconcile her music talents. Brooke, well she had her boy issues, but that was eternal. So, here we were me and my friend, sat on each edge of the sofa, from the opening episode of season six finale, crying like babies. Boy, did I cry. The basketball court where everything started, it was over. I guess we both knew that for us, this was the end, at least our end. And it was really good. Except that it wasn't the end. I don't know if I should even go into season 7, because I did watch a number of episodes. But then I just stopped. 

Now in this melancholic retrospective, I really really want to see One Tree Hill, I would love to see One Tree Hill again but I really really can't. I guess I'll follow my friend's advice and not watch. I do know the storylines that developed, I know Haley had a girl... Ah, it's over.
So, here they are once again.

Chad Michael Murray - Lucas Eugene Scott.

This cute blond guy was the good guy. Ah, he was often boring! But I did enjoy a lot of his quotes. Did you all remember his weird haircut and style in Season 4?

Hilarie Burton - Peyton Sawyer.

I always liked her independency and feisty moods, but she could also be really depressing.

Bethany Joy Lenz - Haley James Scott.

I always liked Hayley and Bethany Joy, really. She's one of those really talented girls, really talented. Possibly one of the least known cast members, she grew instantly in our hearts and she gradually became one of the more significant presences in the series. She had a great comic timing, great maturity both in and out of character, she singed always so well. And I believe she carried One Tree Hill from Season 7 until the end.

James Lafferty - Nathan Scott.

Boy, did we watch Nathan Scott grow. 

Sophia Bush - Brooke Penelope Davis.

Sometimes she was hilarious, she would almost make us cry but then there were other times when she was the Natalie Portman of crying. She cried a lot.

Oh, the corny (youtube) videos I've made of these two.

Moments.

I think I'm not yet done with this...