One Tree Hill, 2003-2012
✫ 9/10
Favorite Character: Brooke Davis
“Life kicks you around sometimes. It scares you and it beats you up, but there comes a day when you realize you’re not just a survivor, you’re a warrior. You’re tougher than anything it throws your way”
One Tree Hill began its run in 2003 on The WB, which would later be renamed The CW after a merge with UPN, and ended in 2012. One Tree Hill was, and continues to remain, a cultural phenomenon with old fans and new ones alike still watching this iconic teen drama to this day. One Tree Hill also recently celebrated its 20th anniversary with many of the cast coming together to mark the occasion!
Like any teen drama for its time, they featured any type of drama that typically impacts a teen in high school; or at least those depicted in media. From divorced parents to love “rectangles plus one, whatever that is” and, of course, where would a teen drama be without its murder storylines?
However, One Tree Hill (often abbreviated to OTH) wasn’t afraid to venture out of its comfort zone and delve into darker and deeper issues. The most infamous being that of a high school shooting. In the 16th episode of the third season, a character whom, albeit we weren’t all too familiar with, we liked, brought a gun into the school and began shooting his fellow students. It is often regarded as the turning point for this show, especially since it involves the death of *spoiler alert* our beloved Uncle Keith who was murdered by none other than his younger brother, Dan Scott; the father of the 2 male protagonists, Nathan and Lucas Scott.
What set this episode apart from the rest of its other teen dramas who’ve attempted to tackle this very real ongoing issue in both past and recent years, was both the incredible performance the cast put on and the fact that OTH continued to follow through the storyline and show its impact on our beloved characters, not just in the following episodes, but also in the later years to come.
However, like many shows that run for several years and seasons, OTH falls short during certain storylines and certain seasons can feel like a drag on a rewatch. But, one thing it deserves praise for is its character development.
Brooke Davis, played by Sophia Bush, is often hailed as one of the best female characters of all time as well having one of the best on-screen character developments. She started out as the typical clichéd popular, promiscuous cheerleader but as the show navigated through its nine seasons and progressed from its high school nature to following the characters into adulthood, Brooke developed with it. We learned that she had absent parents and practically raised herself. She went from riches to rags and lost her home before realising her talent and fondness of clothes design. She built her very successful clothes line ‘Clothes Over Bros’ before being forced to sell her business in season eight. She even had to overcome being attacked and stalked in season 5 - something which followed her through to season 9.
Brooke was involved in the show’s most infamous love triangle between another female protagonist, her best friend Peyton Sawyer, and the aforementioned Lucas Scott. As she navigated heart break, she learned to love herself and realised she deserved to be treated like the incredible human she is. She later met her eventual husband and love of her life, Julian Baker, in season 6 and, though initially diagnosed as being unable to bear children - something she’d wanted for so long - she welcomed twin boys with Julian in the show’s final season.
One Tree Hill, however, unfortunately couldn’t escape the drama behind the scenes. In a letter penned by the cast and crew, it was revealed that women who worked both on-screen, including the main 3 cast members, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, and those behind the scenes, had to deal with inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment from their show runner Mark Schwahn. This unfortunately just highlights how much of an ongoing issue this is and, whilst measures are currently in place, it’s something that many people experience with Hollywood and is something that needs to change.
This, however, led to Bush, Burton and Lenz starting their own podcast in June 2021 named ‘Drama Queens’ where they decided to take back and own their experiences by rewatching the show and sharing details most fans didn’t know, including behind the scenes information. They are currently on season 6 of their rewatch and is definitely worth a listen!
To this day, One Tree Hill remains near and dear to my heart. Like so many others, I grew up with this show. For those who’ve never seen it, it’s worth a watch. If you look close enough, you may just find someone like you.