'One Tree Hill': The more things change, the more they stay the same
It's four years later in Tree Hill, and although a lot of time has passed things don't seem all that different. Perhaps it's because their parents were never around and school played such a small part in the proceedings, or perhaps it's because all of the actors look the exact same age, but Tree Hill of the future feels shockingly like the Tree Hill we saw back in May. Still, people have changed (slightly) and hairstyles have changed (dramatically) but that One Tree Hill drama we know and love remains intact.
Let's do a rundown and see where all of our favorite Tree Hill denizens find themselves after a four-year jump, shall we? (Unless you can see into the future, you should know that spoilers lie ahead...)
Lucas: I would say the prodigal son of Tree Hill returned, but it sort of looks as if he never left. Now a published author of the seemingly successful and obviously semi-autobiographical novel An Unkindness of Ravens (nice callback to the pilot!), Lucas is now struggling to write his second novel, coaching the Tree Hill basketball team with Skills as his assistant coach and living with his very hot editor and girlfriend Lindsey, who from the looks of the ring stashed in his dresser drawer he is hoping to make his fiancée sometime soon. I would harp on the implausibility of a 22-year-old with a published book and a highly anticipated sequel on the way, but that's only like 137th on the "least believable thing to ever happen on this show" list, so I'll let it go. For now.
Peyton: We find Tree Hill's own walking tragedy magnet in Los Angeles, working a soul-sucking job as the "Assistant to the Assistant" for the head of a record label who believes in the almighty dollar more than the power of music. His general sliminess and Peyton's rampant idealism are a terrible match, and after he bluntly rejects her suggestion for a new band to sign, she tells him to shove it, quits, and returns to Tree Hill to find her passion again. Her passion is music, but when she sees Lucas at the River Court it seems she might have come back for more than just her dream of starting a music label. Which brings us to...
Lucas & Peyton: They haven't dated in three years, but unresolved feelings are definitely still there. Peyton seems very keen to start something with him again until she learns of his relationship with Lindsey, who is obviously going to be the third leg in the love triangle this year. The one question is: if Peyton appears to be so eager to start something again with Lucas, why did she tell him she knew they weren't meant to be? And my personal question is: will this love triangle be more tolerable than the never ending Peyton/Lucas/Brooke triangle seasons one through four? One can only hope.
Brooke: Talented, successful, running her clothing line Clothes Over Bros and living in New York City, Brooke seems to have everything she ever wished for, except one thing. Love. A heart-wrenching phone call from Peyton and her being forced to fire a mystery "friend" against her will (Rachel, perhaps?) makes her realize she misses her friends. She returns to Tree Hill for a visit and enjoys her time so much she eventually decides to base her company there for good, renting out the old Karen's Cafe for her offices. Awww. Her joy in rediscovering all of her friendships is a pleasure to watch and gives a sense of lightness to every scene she's in, a trend that I hope continues. There isn't even a hint of drama with her and Lucas, a trend that I also hope continues. And her hair looks fabulous, that should never be discounted. Also fabulous? Her hard-core CEO (played by Daphne Zuniga!) who is none-too-pleased with Brooke's decision to move to Tree Hill for good. I predict some juicy things happening in future episodes with her.
Nathan: Out of everyone, Nathan is the most changed. After a stellar college career, shoe contract signings and with a bright NBA career in his future, Nathan was injured in a ridiculous bar fight with a cartoon-y jerk the night before the draft. Now struggling to walk again, he is bitter, sullen, removed from Haley and their adorable son Jamie, and generally just a completely self-absorbed, alcoholic jerk with a terrible, terrible haircut. His hair shows his pain! And he must be in some pain, because that is some hair! He acts like a completely immature idiot for the entire premiere until Haley threatens to leave him if he doesn't get help. At the end of the episode he starts to turn around by helping his son Jamie get over a big fear and working on his physical therapy. Now he just needs a haircut and he will be all better!
Haley: Haley looks fantastic, let me just get that out of the way first. Despite her looks, though, she is very stressed between the consequences of Nathan's injury and depression, trying to raise a four-year-old basically alone and starting her new teaching career at Tree Hill High. Unfortunately for her, she has the class from hell that immediately start taunting and even sexually harassing her on her first day. The biggest culprit is the star basketball player, who eventually walks out of her class and out of a spot on the varsity team as a result. I have a feeling he'll be back, so remember that tall obnoxious dude who's name I can't remember. Trust me on this. Eventually, Haley gets control of her class and gets a (gorgeous) nanny to help her out at home. Everyone comments on her foolishness in hiring a hot nanny, so I'm thinking a Hand That Rocks the Cradle storyline is inevitable.
Mouth: Yes, Mouth survived the four-year jump. No, I don't know why. The gist of his story is: he wants a reporter's job, he gets a logger job that is much more realistic with his work experience, his boss hates him, he has horrible hair.
Skills: Skills survived the jump as well, but at least he's entertaining. Beyond being the comic relief and Lucas's assistant coach, he doesn't have much to do yet. Perhaps Bevin can come back! Those two are comedy gold together.
All in all, a pretty entertaining two episodes, even if it doesn't really feel all that different from when they were in high school. Still, the decision to skip college was pretty inspired and opens the door for plenty of possibilities for young adult drama this season...and I say bring it on.
What did you guys think? Are Lucas and Peyton going to get back together? Was Brooke firing Rachel? Will Lucas ever finish his second novel? And will Nathan ever cut his crazy hair?
I thought what they did with Nathan's life was a little ironic he crashes out of a big window and can't feel his legs(so soap-opeary) & they should have not hurt Peyton heart and at the end of it she should have been crying to Sugarland's hit song Stay. She should have just left LA from the beginning and went back to Lucas for forgiveness, I hate when writers try to screw up infamous or great TV shows like for example that m***acre on Dynasty, if they did that on Desperate Housewives the show would automatically be cancelled, but for One Tree Hill, the first new episode in awhile was ok I give it a 7 out of a 10 and why did thry do Mouth hair the way did it, it look retarded.
I was happy to see the Tree Hill gang again. It had to be Rachel who was fired. Still need to see what Karen is up to and Dan in prision. For 2 hours, I thought they could have covered more.
I honestly would have liked it more had Nate made the NBA, and maybe they dealt with Hayley and kid at home alone while Nate pops in and out being a pro player. But instead they insist on keeping him on the path to being his father, which is getting old. Everytime you think he turns a corner, he goes right back to being Dan Jr.
And yeah, Bevin needs to make an appearance. All and all I'm just happy the show is back. And props to them for playing The Freshman by The Verve Pipe at the end of the first hour.
I too wished Nathan had made the NBA and if he was going to get hurt maybe something more like the Chicago Bulls' Jayson Williams did while riding a motorcycle or something more like that.
I found the fight way too unbelieveable and forced. come on, Nathan spent 3 or 4 years playing college ball. He's dad is in prison for killing his brother and Nathan was involved in point shaving. Not to mention Dan is his father. Nathan would have develope alot thicker skin than to let a couple of guys bug him about his future team sucking get to him. Maybe if Harley had still been there getting h***led I might have believe it. but come on.
Not sure I'm buying Lucas as a hard *** coach either. Nathan I could see, but Lucas?
and as cute as the kid is, thought there was a little too much of him. would have rather see Karen and Whitey.
Past that I loved the show and it was nice seeing the gang again.
Not sure if we're getting a "full" season of this due to writers strike, but I have no doubt that Nathan is going to be the one to set the "wayward" basketball player straight. It will be very interesting if we find out Lucas is over his head as a coach. There are alot of potentially good things they can do with this fast forwards. So let's keep our fingers crossed.
That little kid Jamie was so cute. He should be in it all the time.
I think Brooke fired either Rachael or Bevin. I'm glad the show came back for a fifth season.
Thanks for recapping this (carrie, I know it's you, even though your name isn't on the byline)..because I totally fell asleep and missed it! I will definitely be in this season though.
It's good to have OTH back with new episodes. I think they might have filmed only 13 episodes, but it's better than nothing. I haven't read any spoilers, but I wasn't surprised by any of the characters four years later.
I agree with the other comments that did not like how contrived Nathan's fight scene was. The writers should have had Nathan injured in a more believable accident. Friday Night Lights set the TV standard when they wrote in Jason's paralyzing accident in the pilot episode.
On a more shallow note, I thought that Haley and Brooke looked lovely with their new haircuts, while Lucas and Peyton looked the same as they did last season. I was also begging that Nathan could cut his hair ASAP! He looked so much better in the flashback scenes. ;-)
I enjoyed OTH last night, and I'm hoping that I continue to as this season continues.
I, too, wish Nathan had made it in the NBA. That would have been much more interesting than the Nathan is Dan anvil they kept hitting me over the head with. It seems as if it could have been a very fertile plot.
I really want to comment on the charcter list.
For Skills, it says..."Skills survived the jump as well, but at least he's entertaining. Beyond being the comic relief and Lucas's ***istant coach, he doesn't have much to do yet. Perhaps Bevin can come back! Those two are comedy gold together." I believe that one of the main reasons that Skills was bought in, is because in Season 4 he and Haley really bought their friendship into the light, and he promised to always have her back and her kid's back. There is the beautiful relationship between Skills and Jamie, I could actually believe that Skills was their for Haley, when she needed a babysitter and I could imagine him changing Jamie's diapper.
Now for Mouth, it says "Yes, Mouth survived the four-year jump. No, I don't know why. The gist of his story is: he wants a reporter's job, he gets a logger job that is much more realistic with his work experience, his boss hates him, he has horrible hair." This made me a little mad. To bring back all these other characters and leave Mouth out, especailly after the last season, would be really wrong. We saw a lot of Mouth last season and although he isn't a main character he's the sweet, lovable, and never changing guy next door that I think the show needs. As for his hair, well I'll give you that.
On a side note, I love the way Jamie says "Mama"