One Tree Hill is a Teen Drama about two half-brothers, Lucas and Nathan Scott, living in the fictional town of Tree Hill, NC. Lucas was abandoned at birth by their father, and lives as a loner with his mom and his best friend Haley James. Both brothers have a love of basketball, and when Lucas moves from playing in the park to playing for the varsity team, they must deal with the fact that they have to see each other, despite the fact that they hate each other. Lucas must also deal with being thrust into a whole new circle of friends.To avoid dealing with the downfall that most shows experience when their characters go to college, in its fifth season, it jumps four years into the future after they have all graduated. In the seventh season, following the departure of Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, the show was jumped ahead another fourteen months in order to make their absence seem more credible and less sudden.Pictured is the cast from Seasons 1 to 6: Nathan, Peyton, Lucas, Haley, and Brooke. The Season 7 cast (sans Lucas and Peyton, and with the additions of Julian, Alexis, Quinn, and Clay) can be viewed here.
Tropes used:
Action Girl: Brooke. The video is from 6x13, in which Brooke kicks the ass of the guy who attacked her in 6x01, who also kidnapped her foster daughter. Peyton is also an Action Girl, to a lesser extent.
Haley's also had her moments; she got into a slap fight with the mom of the boy who was bullying Jamie, and she slapped Rachel in her Crowning Moment of Awesome. Pregnant with Jamie at the time, she was a Pregnant Badass.
Rachel: You're lucky you're pregnant...
Haley: No, honey, you're lucky I'm pregnant.
Actor Allusion: In episode 7x08, the guys discuss their favorite sports movies. Skills, played by Antwon Tanner, mentions Coach Carter as his—Antwon Tanner was one of the stars, and Mark Schwahn, the show's creator, was a co-writer. Nathan, played by James Lafferty, mentions Hoosiers, and one of Lafferty's early roles was in a movie based on the Hoosiers.
All Just a Dream: The forties episode ("We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)") from Season 6, written by the show's own Chad Michael Murray. Your Mileage May Vary, but bits of it were quite clever. There were also examples of this trope in Season 2 ("Lifetime Piling Up") and Season 4 ("Songs to Love and Die By").
Altar the Speed: In the beginning of Season 6, Lucas and Peyton were planning to Elope First Plan Later before they realized they wanted a traditional wedding. They decide to wait and set a date for the wedding. However, when they learn later that Peyton's pregnancy could lead to her and/or their baby dying before or during the delivery, Peyton begs Lucas to move up their wedding so they can get married before her potential death. Lucas refuses initially, but later gives in: not because she might die, but because he just wants her to be his wife a little sooner.
Anything That Moves: Nathan prior to meeting Haley. It's actually quite gross once you realize that he's slept with Peyton, Haley, Brooke in the sex tape, and lost his virginity to Haley's older sister...
Complete with motivational-speaker TV show and book! Whether or not his atonement is genuine or just a ruse to get money remains to be seen.
As of episode 7x08, it has been revealed that Dan's whole show is based on a lie. He did not miraculously get better without receiving a new heart; he received a back-alley surgery with a black-market heart and survived.
Auto Erotica: Attempted when Brooke ambushes Lucas in the backseat of his car, naked. Peyton implies it's happened before with all the Ravens guys. Later on, Brooke attempts this with Owen as well... and does not react nearly so kindly when Owen attempts it on her.
As of the Season 8 finale, "This Is My House, This Is My Home", Nathan and Haley have added a daughter, Lydia, to their family, and Brooke and Julian have twin boys, Jude and Davis.
The Baby Trap: The show appeared to be going this way after the events of episode 7x09: Brooke desperately wants a baby, but over the years has had many issues. They included a scare in Season 1, having to cover for Haley's pregnancy in Season 4, giving up the baby she fostered in Season 5 when it was time for her to go back to her home country, her foster child leaving to live with her birth mom and failed adoption attempts in Season 6, and another false alarm in Season 7. After she learns she's not pregnant again, Brooke throws away her birth control after tearfully asking herself, "Why can't you be the girl who gets the boy and the baby?"
Since the Law of Inverse Fertility seems to be applying in Brooke's case, she learned in episode 7x10 that she is infertile.
A more recent version of this trope is occurring in Season 7: unless the writers pull a medical miracle, Lydia James, the mother of Haley, Taylor, and Quinn, has returned to Tree Hill with the news that she is dying of pancreatic cancer.
Be A Whore To Get Your Man: Subverted in 3x04, "An Attempt to Tip the Scales". Haley's marriage to Nathan is crumbling badly and Haley wants to fix it, whereas Nathan has given up. A costume party is going on at Tric and Brooke decides Haley should be the classic "get your man to come back to you" costume— Sandy from Grease. When Brooke sees Nathan at the party, she hints to him, "Haley looks hot..." Nathan, disappointed, replies, "Haley always looks hot."
The Beard: Lucas acted as this for Anna in Season 2. Whether or not she was a lesbian or bisexual is debated.
Becoming the Mask: Nathan, who falls in love with Haley in Season 1.
Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Happens to Peyton, when she collapses due to her placenta previa after her wedding to Lucas and must be rushed to the hospital for a C-section. Haley's also isn't in the greatest condition after the limo incident in Season 3 (and the Season 4 premiere).
Breather Episode: Episode 3x18 qualifies, since 3x13 and 3x15 through 17 all have Downer Endings to the max. In 3x18, "When It Isn't Like It Should Be", you've got a cabin getaway, Brooke pleasuring herself, Pete Wentz, and Nathan re-proposing to Haley (and her saying yes). D'awwwww.
The earliest episodes of the show revolve around the initial enmity between half-brothers Lucas and Nathan, who don't really know each other very well (as they've grown up in different households and hang out in different social circles) but have basically been raised to hate each other's guts because of the last generation's drama. However, they eventually are forced to work together to get back to town in one episode and start warming up to each other. By the end of the first season, Luke and Nathan start loving each other and averting this trope. Also, their formerly-separate social cliques merge into one.
Nathan: You want me to write a list of every single girl I've ever...
Haley: No, no, I guess not every single girl. You can cross Peyton, Brooke, and my sister off of that list.
Nathan: You really think that's a good idea?
Haley: Yes! And here. I'll make it easy for you. Take the phone book and just cross off the name of every girl you haven't been with.
Celebrity Paradox: The aforementioned Coach Carter example qualifies. Also, there's references to Dawson's Creek early in Season 1 (Haley saying "Joey-loves-Dawson" and later joking about her and Lucas staring in a porn movie called Dawson's Freaks), and James Van Der Beek pops up as the director for Lucas' movie in Season 6.
Cliff Hanger: Every season finale except the ones for Season 4, which marked the end of the high school years, and Season 6, which was more of an ending due to Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton's departure.
Season 1: Haley reveals to Lucas that she and Nathan got married; Dan has a heart attack.
Season 2: Haley arrives on Nathan's doorstep while their marriage is in trouble due to her touring with Chris Keller. A strange woman tells Peyton she is her mother, despite Peyton's mother being dead (it's revealed she's Peyton's birth mom and that Peyton was adopted). Dan's dealership is set on fire by an unknown person with him inside.
Season 3: The limo for Nathan and Haley's vow renewal is driven off a bridge by Rachel Gatina, with her and Nathan's uncle Cooper inside. Nathan dives in to save them and Haley screams for help. Either Brooke, Peyton, or Haley could be pregnant (later revealed to be Haley).
Season 5: Lucas calls either Brooke, Peyton, or Lindsey and proposes. It is revealed to be Peyton in the Season 6 premiere.
Season 7: Out of all the happy endings present, the very last couple we see could have a tragic end: Katie, the stalker who's been pretending to be Clay's dead wife, shoots Quinn. When Clay runs out, hearing the gunshot, she shoots Clay as well, and leaves the both of them lying on the floor.
Code Silver: The fan and critical favorite, widely regarded as the best episode of the show, "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" (3x16) has Jimmy Edwards come to school with a gun and take hostages in the tutoring center. The tragedy is mostly averted: the only one actually shot is Peyton, who is hit in the leg and survives (barely). However, Jimmy Edwards kills himself and Dan uses the gun to kill his brother Keith, believing Keith is the one who tried to kill him at the end of Season 2.
Convenient Coma: Both Karen and Peyton gave birth while unconscious via C-section due to medical conditions: Karen had pre-eclampsia and Peyton placenta previa.
Continuity Nod: In the season eight episode "Luck Be a Lady" Brooke's soon-to-be mother-in-law says that if Brooke's wedding is outdoors she'll have to hang salami to keep the bees away and that's why she should have it in a church. Two episodes later Brooke has a nightmare about her and Julian having a redneck (and outdoorsy) wedding. In one blink and you'll miss it shot you can see salami hanging in the trailer park.
Creator Cameo: Max, the record store owner Peyton visits a couple times in Season 4, is played by Mark Schwahn, the show runner.
The Danza: Among the bit players, it's happened a couple times. Skills Taylor, whose actual name is Antwon, is played by Antwon Tanner. Bevin Mirskey, his one-time girlfriend, is played by Bevin Prince.
A Date with Rosie Palms: In 3x18, this was used hilariously when Rachel catches Brooke in the act. Brooke asks if she could've knocked, to which Rachel replies, "Well, I didn't know you'd be Brooke-ing yourself!" After that, it was adopted into the show's vernacular (a late Season 3 episode, in a joke re-enactment of Haley and Nathan's courtship scripted by Brooke, had "Haley" say the line "And I Haley myself on occasion!").
Used again in season eight when Clay tells Nathan that what with his girlfriend being out of town and him not being able to move his arm after getting shot his sex life isn't going so well. Nathan's response? "Why do you think I learned to dribble with both hands?"
Also used in season four during an argument between Nathan and Haley after the Brooke/Nathan sex tape. Haley is throwing out all of the VHS tapes in the house for fear of finding another sex tape and preceeds to tell Nathan that "the thought of you Brooke-ing yourself to yourself and Brooke really makes me sick."
Dawson Casting: The show itself was an example of this (the only one close to high school age was James Lafferty, who was 18 when production started) during the first four seasons. Part of the reason for the four-year jump was so the actors could play characters close to their ages. However, the practice was amusingly lampshaded during Season 6, when Lucas' book about their high school years was becoming a movie. Everyone joked about who they wanted cast in their role, and when Lucas replied they were supposed to be high school students, the response was usually "But have you seen how old the actors playing high school students are these days?"
Dead Person Conversation: Keith had one with Lucas in "Songs to Love and Die By", Nathan has them with Quentin Fields throughout Season 6, and two Season 7 episodes have shown Clay imagining and talking to his deceased wife Sara.
De Fictionalization: The second soundtrack album, Friends with Benefit, was the subject of a storyline on the show where Peyton and her birth mom made a benefit album to help breast cancer patients. Both of Kate Voegele's albums were promoted on the show through Voegele's character Mia, and her songs are featured heavily in Seasons 5 and 6. Clothes Over Bro's merchandise can also be purchased here.
Brooke: You went in, shoved your magazine spread in his face, and hit on him.
Rachel: I wouldn't do that to you.
Brooke: Really? Let's go over the list of things you have done to me. You tried to seduce Lucas when he was my boyfriend, take my spot as cheer captain, and two weeks ago, you told the entire school that I was pregnant! I was just beginning to think you were a real person, but you're just a slutty lying liar who lies.
Directed by Cast Member: Paul Johansson (Dan) has directed 11 times. Moira Kelly (Karen) has twice. Chad Michael Murray (Lucas) directed once, and he wrote the forties episode in Season 6. James Lafferty (Nathan) has directed twice. Sophia Bush (Brooke) and Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley) have each directed once, and Galeotti has joked that of course she got the episode with the most extras they ever had ("Screenwriter's Blues", 6x16, which involves the casting of Lucas' movie).
Drink Order: A running gag in Seasons 6 and 7 is Chase's questionable abilities as a bartender at Tric. He bonds with Mia when she, at 18, knows how to make a Long Island Iced Tea and he does not. In Season 7, he attempts to invent a drink called the "Brain Hemorrhage," which becomes a "Brain Blaster" when he is informed a drink already exists under that name, and which is absolutely terrible. As of episode 7x09, he has become bar manager and solved his problem by hiring a man who knows exactly what you will order by looking at you. This bartender was thwarted in 7x12 when he got Miranda's drink order wrong and later couldn't figure out which whiskey she would prefer.
Dyeing For Your Art: God knows how many hairstyle/color changes there have been between seasons. Just try to keep track of Haley's hair color changes and styles (dark brown, light brown, blond-ish, long, short...). Brooke goes from no bangs in Season 1 and 2 to bangs in Season 3; Peyton's curls and shade of blond varied between seasons. The boys had their fair share of changes, too.
Subversion: The first time we see a character with a tattoo, it's Haley, who in a late Season 1 episode is revealed to have Nathan's jersey number (23) tattooed on her lower back. Lucas is not amused, as he feels it's Nathan's way of saying she's his property, until Haley reveals it was her idea and she's proud of it. Her sister Taylor has a distinctive scorpion tattoo on her lower back, and she initially snickers believing that Haley's own tattoo is a way of emulating her. Later on in the series, Lucas refers to the tattoo as her "slutty little tramp stamp".
Lucas gets a tattoo of a Chinese character on his arm whilst on a date with Brooke. When Peyton and Lucas are fighting in Season 6, Peyton reveals she hates the tattoo.
Peyton: First of all, it does not mean what you think it means; I looked it up! Second of all, Brooke has a very similar tattoo... near her lady business!
Executive Meddling: Fictional accounts of executive meddling are rampant during production of the Unkindness of Ravens movie in season 6, and at the beginning of Season 7, when Red Bedroom Records is almost shut down (due to the absence of Peyton and the fact that Mia is their only successful artist).
Five Stages of Grief: 3x17, "Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?", is framed in an unusual way by showing title cards of each of the five stages as breaks in the episode. They correspond to the grieving of the cast over the deaths of Jimmy and Keith in the previous episode.
Fleeting Demographic Rule: When Brooke confesses to Haley in Season 7 that she thinks she might be pregnant, she adds that she's never been this late for her period before. Remember saying the same thing to Lucas in high school, sweetie?
Forgotten Trope: After Keith and Lucas get into a car accident, a cop informs Karen that Keith had on .09 blood alcohol level and would be in trouble if it were .1. As of 2007, being legally drunk is .08 in the US. This episode was produced in 2003, however, so maybe the limit was different then.
Good Bad Girl: Brooke. She makes a big deal out of being able to "sleep around like a guy."
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: A couple examples. Karen refused to have an abortion while pregnant with Lucas, as did Haley whilst pregnant with Jamie, though both were about 17 at the time. In Season 6, it's not so much an issue of timing as it is of medical necessity: Peyton, pregnant with her and Lucas' child, learns she has placenta previa, which could lead to her hemorrhaging and dying during the pregnancy or delivery. Lucas tries for the better part of an episode to guilt her into an abortion, but Peyton refuses even before their baby conveniently kicks for the first time. Later, Lucas agrees with her that they will keep the baby.
It's also subverted with Shelley, when she is introduced in Season 4. Brooke is covering for a pregnant Haley by saying she's the one who's pregnant, and Shelley, a "Clean Teen", tries to tell her not to have an abortion should she be considering one. She reveals that she used to be very promiscuous and got pregnant from a summer fling, aborted the baby, and has since regretted it. The experience led to her reforming her image and starting the "Clean Teens" with the slogan "Virgins for Life".
Hand or Object Underwear: Lucas is forced to leave the locker room once the guys on the team steal all his clothes as hazing. He has to use basketballs to cover his, well, uh... other balls.
Hands Off Parenting: Brooke went through this in the first four seasons. Her parents were implied to be unhappily married and had never really wanted her, so they gave her their credit cards and pretty much never saw her. Her mother, Victoria, finally shows up in Season 5 and onwards, and although she is an extremely crappy mother at first, she and Brooke gradually make up in Season 6. As of Season 7, she and Brooke are close. Sophia Bush said on a Season 5 DVD extra that she was excited when Daphne Zuniga joined the cast as Victoria, because she "finally had a grown-up to work with now!" (Brooke was the only one of the five whose parents hadn't been shown at least once.)
Happily Adopted: In Season 3, it is revealed that Peyton is adopted. At first, she's upset her dad never told her, but he insists it was for the best. She later learns that both her parents were deep into sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll at the time they had her. She grows close to her birth mom, who eventually dies, just as her adoptive mom did. When she meets her birth dad, she's excited to learn he's a famous guitarist, only to discover he's an alcoholic, and she thanks him for giving her up and then calls her adoptive dad to thank him.
Happily Married: Nathan and Haley have been married since Season 1, as juniors in high school, and have been identified as a "supercouple." Though there have been complications in their marriage, they've managed to last through the ensuing six seasons. Their teen pregnancy also gave them a son, Jamie, born on their graduation day.
High School Dance: The semiformal episode in Season 2, and the two prom episodes in Season 4.
High School Sweethearts: Nathan and Haley count, and they even got married and had their son whilst still in high school. Lucas and Peyton sort of count—they were together in high school only to break up in college, but got married and had a baby later on.
Hollywood Heart Attack: Dan has one at the end of Season 1, but he is found by Deb and survives. It's later revealed that this is due to a genetic heart condition. This leads to a recurring plot point in the next couple seasons. In Season 2, Nathan learns he's in the clear, but Lucas refuses to take the test, but is later forced to by Karen. He's positive for the condition, but bluffs his way out of it by showing her Keith's negative results. This condition, HCM, later turns out to be quite the problem: Lucas suffers a heart attack in episode 4x09, "Some You Give Away", after seeing the then-pregnant Haley get hit by a car. He gets better, though.
Hollywood Nerd: Haley. "Tutor Girl" later goes on to become valedictorian, and an English teacher after the four-year jump.
Mouth. Though he kind of averts part of the stereotype due to the fact that he loves sports, unlike the typical Hollywood Nerd.
Millie
Hollywood Pudgy: In Season 7, when Millie becomes a model, she is referred to as "plus-sized"—when she's average-sized (which, for a model, would be considered plus-sized). In real life, Sophia Bush has said in interviews that she is considered the "curvy" one in the cast, which is pretty ridiculous.
I Am Not Spock: In one interview, Paul Johansson tells the story of one fan who hit him with her handbag because he was "so mean to that boy" and he had to explain to her that he was an actor and not Dan Scott.
I Never: Happens in an early Season 1 episode. Everything the players can come up with... Brooke has.
I Just Want to Be You: Played to eerie effect with "Nanny Carrie," who desperately wants to live Haley's life. She is a Stalker with a Crush towards Nathan and thinks his and Haley's son is adorable (and a potential replacement for her own dead son), so she is psychotically jealous of Haley and attempts to get her out of the picture so that she can replace her as Nathan's wife and Jamie's mom. When that doesn't work, she resorts to kidnapping Jamie, contenting herself with being Jamie's "new mommy" even if it means they have to spend the rest of their lives on the run. Grandpapa Wolf Dan puts an end to it and rescues Jamie in what was probably his biggest Crowning Moment of Awesome.
Played for Laughs with the actress who was going to play Brooke in Lucas's movie, who follows Brooke around and needles her with annoying and intrusive questions. You see, she's a method actress, and wants to learn and imitate every aspect of Brooke's personality to prepare for her role in the movie. Brooke is not amused.
Nathan occasionally veers into this, sometimes he can be downright neglectful towards Haley and Jamie while he's focused on something that he wants, which is usually a chance to regain his lost sporting glory days.
To be fair, this is addressed in Season 8. Nathan learns that his back is degenerating again, and if he were to keep playing, he would eventually go back to being paralyzed. With this news in mind, and knowing that his and Haley's second child is on the way, Nathan decides to quit basketball and become an agent. He fears that he would become too much like Dan if he were to keep playing for selfish reasons, and part of the reason he gives for quitting is that he was so busy with his own career that he didn't even realize Jamie liked baseball rather than basketball.
Peyton is rather easily forgiven despite being downright cruel to Lindsay and doing everything in her power to break up Lindsay's relationship with Lucas, simply because Peyton wants him back.
Lampshade Hanging: One Tree Hill pioneered a particularly tragic (but very effective from a writing standpoint) way to invoke the trope: Jimmy Edwards had been a minor character in Season One, a member of Lucas's initial unpopular clique of friends at the River Court. After Lucas starts hanging out with Peyton and Brooke and after he and Nathan become close, Nathan and Brooke integrate most of Lucas's formerly-unpopular friends into their clique...with the seemingly forgettable exception of Jimmy Edwards, who was never seen or mentioned again for a long time. After a few seasons, Jimmy is brought back into the spotlight, and it's lampshaded (in an extremely depressing way) just how much he's been traumatized by the fact that his old friends all became popular and moved on without him, and this becomes the impetus for his bringing a gun to school.
Episode 4x17 features the gang crashing a prom at a small town in Texas. There then is a montage of the main cast talking to the regular high school students and realizing just how dramatic and unrealistic their lives are in comparison to normal kids.
Lucas: So nobody has a fatal heart condition? And a father who was purposely set on fire?
Kids shake their heads
Late to the Punchline: Karen has a particularly memorable one in Season 3 when she realizes her advice to Lucas—"the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else"—is decidedly not as philosophical as she believed it to be.
Law of Inverse Fertility: When the timing is inconvenient for you to have a child, you will get pregnant (Karen, Deb, Jake and Nikki, Haley). When you're engaged, your fiancee will get pregnant unexpectedly (Peyton). When you're Brooke, the richest and most successful of all the Tree Hill gang (and the one who desperately wants to have a baby), you're just screwed.
As of episode 7x10, it has been revealed Brooke can't have children. The Law at its finest, folks.
Les Yay: Lampshaded by Rachel Gatina in-show, for Brooke and Peyton.
Brooke: Hi, back-stabbing supposed-to-be-best-friend and all.
Rachel: I'm outta here, over-possessive-best-friends-with-weird-lesbian-energy... and Haley.
There's a ton over the course of the series. When they're not fighting, Brooke and Rachel experience this.
Peyton's friend Anna had a definite crush on her.
And let's not forget that time Bevin kissed Rachel
Brooke also once ordered two exotic dancers: One for Mouth and one for herself.
Lost Wedding Ring: Subverted in 3x18, "When It Isn't Like It Should Be": there's a reason for it going missing, as Nathan is trying to get a hold of Haley's wedding ring so he can "re-propose" to her at Rachel's cabin. Haley thinks it's gone down the drain and goes through a pointless search, until Nathan eventually gets the ring with the help of Lucas and Brooke.
Love Dodecahedron: oh, so very much! Lucas loves Peyton, who used to date his half-brother Nathan, who had a fling with Brooke, who used to love Lucas, who is Platonic Life Partners with Haley, who married Nathan, whose agent Clay is dating her sister Quinn. Brooke also had a thing with Felix, who's Anna's brother, who dated Lucas, who almost married Lindsay. Brooke also dated Chase, who started dating Mia in Season 6. And Brooke also had a thing with Owen, who slept with Millie, who's dating Mouth, who had a crush on Brooke and Rachel and dated Gigi. And then there's Jake, who loved, and had a relationship with Peyton, who dated and lived with Julian while living in L.A., who is now in love and in a relationship with Brooke, but their relationship is complicated by Brooke's former model Alexis, Alex for short, and now complicated again by another Alex, a male Australian designer. And it gets more complicated...
Mama Bear: DON'T even THINK about messing with Brooke's adopted daughter Sam, or you WILL get your ass handed to you on a silver platter, Xavier learned that the hard way.
Karen and Deb both have their moments as well
May-December Romance: Quite popular. Deb had one with Skills before telling him he deserved someone younger. Rachel has had two: her fling (at seventeen!) with Nathan's Uncle Cooper, and as of Season 7, the squickiness has increased tenfold as it is revealed she is married to none other than Dan Scott.
Mean Character, Nice Actor: Try to like Dan Scott. Go on, try. Watch some behind-the-scenes features, however, especially gag reel moments with Jackson Brundage (Jamie), and you'll see Paul Johansson is a perfectly likable guy.
In one interview, Johansson tells the story of one fan who hit him with her handbag because he was "so mean to that boy" and he had to explain to her that he was an actor and not Dan Scott.
Season 3: In episode 3x13, "The Wind That Blew My Heart Away", we see Peyton scattering the ashes of her birth mom Ellie in a field where Ellie once saw a concert, and she tearfully says "Say hi to my mom," referring to her adoptive mom, who died years earlier. Girl has no luck. A few episodes later, in 3x17 ("Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?"), we get Keith's funeral, and later Jimmy Edwards'. Since everyone thinks Jimmy killed Keith, Lucas finds it difficult to go, but later goes with the river court guys to support Jimmy's mother, who is alone at his grave.
Season 6: Episode 6x03, "Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.", revolves around the funeral of Quentin Fields, who is killed in a gas station robbery. Nathan and Haley have to explain to Jamie, who was close to Q, that he's died, and Jamie leaves a cape that he and Haley had made for Q on Q's grave.
Season 7: We learn that in the past, Clay had a wife who died, something he barely told anyone. We see him sitting alone at her casket before she is buried, taking off his wedding ring and placing it on her ring finger before crying.
Mile-High Club: Referred to by name when Chase makes out with Mia in his "plane" in Season 7—she asks if he has a minute to join the Mile High Club; he responds he's gotten up to a couple of minutes and you can guess what'll happen from there. They're actually on a fight simulator, as it happens. It's also mentioned in 6x02, when Peyton and Lucas are flying home from Vegas and Lucas returns from the bathroom and says to Peyton he thought she would meet him. She says something about joining the mile high club and he jokingly responds "maybe I just did."
The Missus and the Ex: In the first season, Karen and Deb form a friendship even if Deb's the wife of the guy who got Karen pregnant, abandoned her, and then got Deb pregnant three months later. They later go into business together, Deb helps Karen run against Dan for mayor of Tree Hill, Karen is the one who drives Deb to rehab for her pill addiction, and Deb is the one who's with Karen when she flatlines prior to delivering Lily at the end of Season 4.
Mood Whiplash: The last moments of the Season 7 finale, "Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You...". Julian and Brooke are engaged, Haley's pregnant again and happy after all of her depression... and then Quinn and Clay are shot by Katie, the crazy stalker. Roll credits.
My Own Private "I Do": In the premiere of Season 2, it's revealed that Nathan and Haley's sudden marriage was of the Elope First, Plan Later variety. The only people that were present were Haley's parents, as Nathan needed their permission to marry her (he was emancipated; she wasn't, as they were only sixteen). Brooke throws them a wedding reception to make up for not being at the wedding, and "bachelor" and "bachelorette" parties ensue later in the season. At the end of Season 3, they have a vow renewal so everyone can be present— except for Haley's parents, who joke that they went to her first wedding and "it was kind of boring."
No Indoor Voice: Amusingly subverted. Brooke takes her foster child, a baby who only slept after much trouble, to Jamie's birthday party, where noisy kids abound.
Obvious Pregnancy: Both Haley and Peyton went from being flat to having very noticeable bumps during their pregnancies, in very short amounts of time. The exact passage of time has never quite been confirmed. Karen, on the other hand, didn't look pregnant at all.
Odd Couple: Mark Schwahn has stated that initial reactions among the fanbase to Nathan/Haley was extremely negative, although the writers had planned it since the beginning. They are pretty much opposites: Nathan was a stud while Haley was a virgin, Nathan was athletic while Haley couldn't even master a basic basketball shot, etc. Also, Brooke's party-loving, school-flunking ways were an odd mix with Lucas' introspective, intelligent ways.
One Head Taller: Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley) is five foot three while James Lafferty (Nathan) is six foot two. With about a foot between them, the abundance of forehead kissing in the Naley coupling seems self-explanatory.
Opening Monologue: It was a pretty common device to have Lucas (or, rarely, one of the other characters) deliver an opening and closing monologue for each episode. It would usually be some kind of quote from classic literature that would relate in some way to the theme of the episode. The end of the episode would usually have another quote over a particular song that brings together the different plot threads. An example of the monologues opening and closing the Season 3 finale, "The Show Must Go On":
Opening:
Lucas: At this moment there are six billion, five hundred and two million, eight hundred and sixty seven thousand, one hundred and twenty people in the world, give or take a few and sometimes all you need is one. For better or for worse.
Closing:
Lucas: William Shakespeare wrote: "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out, even to the edge of doom."
The Other Darrin: Peyton's dad Larry switches actors between Season 2 and Season 3. Guess Peyton doesn't notice he looks a little different when he comes back from sea...
Papa Wolf: Dan may be a Jerk Ass and he's pretty far from being father-of-the-year material, but make no mistake, if you mess with his sons, and you WILL regret it.
Parental Substitute: Keith, as Lucas' uncle, helped to raise him in Dan's place. Of course, after he's killed off, Karen's boyfriend Andy acts as the father to her and Keith's daughter Lily.
Pillow Pregnancy: Brooke does this earlier in Season 4, when Haley has asked her to make maternity clothes for her when Brooke is the only one who knows Haley is pregnant. Rachel, however, catches her in the act and spreads the rumor that Brooke is pregnant, which goes on for a few episodes until Brooke finally asks Haley to admit it. Peyton also does this in Season 6, when she realizes she'll be showing quite a bit on the day she and Lucas had initially planned for their wedding (before knowing she was pregnant).
Pool Episode: 3x02, "From The Edge of The Deep Green Sea", consists of a beach party put together by Brooke. There's also a memorable pool fight in 7x14, "Family Affair", when a catfight between the James sisters slowly devolves into one.
Poster Gallery Bedroom: The decor in Peyton's room changes many times over the first four seasons; she's constantly painting and repainting the walls, putting up new drawings, etc.
Product Placement: In Season 3, One Tree Hill really wants you to know that Sunkist is a refreshing drink and that Fall Out Boy is (or now, was) an awesome band (the members of Fall Out Boy, particularly Pete Wentz, show up in person to help drill this message in). Meanwhile, ads for Sunkist were seemingly all over the high school, and in Real Life the show was doing some kind of joint promotion for some contest during the commercial breaks with Sunkist. Yeah, it's safe to say that the premiere that year might as well have opened with the line: "And now, Season 3 of OTH, brought to you by Sunkist and Fall Out Boy."
Put on a Bus: More specifically, Put In The Comet— Chad Michael Murray wanted off the show, so he and Hilarie Burton were written out in the Season 6 finale. After Peyton survives a life-threatening delivery of her and Lucas' child, they leave Tree Hill with their daughter in the Comet. They may or may not come back in the future (for a finale, etc., though it's debatable). Jake was also sent off to Savannah and hasn't been heard from since Season 3— he was asked to come back for Season 7, but Greenberg has a busy schedule (and likely no plot without Peyton).
Ready for Lovemaking: Brooke, naked in the backseat of Lucas' car in the second episode. Peyton goes so far as to describe her leopard-print bra as a welcome mat for the THH Ravens. Brooke's custom is repeatedly lampshaded in ensuing seasons.
Brooke: Naked in the backseat is so last year, it's two years ago!
Reality Subtext: Karen's going to Italy in Season 1 was written so Moira Kelly could go on maternity leave.
Really Gets Around: Hi, Brooke! As stated above, she was the embodiment of this trope early on. Peyton once remarked that she did it for a purpose, to show she could "sleep around like a guy," and Brooke herself stated "screw the double standard." Currently, among the men in Tree Hill, Brooke slept with Lucas, Nathan, Julian, Chase, Owen, most of the Ravens guys... It goes on. As an adult, and later in her high school years, Brooke hates being reminded of her tenure as the town bicycle.
Mia: Did you know Chase lost his virginity to Brooke?!
Haley: Yes... and by the look on your face, I'm guessing you didn't. Well, welcome to Tree Hill; try to find a boy who didn't lose his virginity to Brooke Davis.
From Season 5 onwards, this was replaced with No Theme Tune—merely the words "One Tree Hill" on a black background as a title card. Previously, this opening was used only when the episode would run over the allotted time, or when the episode dealt with sensitive issues (see "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept", the school shooting episode, and "I Love You, But I've Chosen Darkness", which deals with Derek's obsession with Peyton).
Back in Season 8, with the same I Don't Wanna Be and some original shots from the first season each of the old regulars (Nathan, Brooke, Haley, and Mouth) and some great new shots, probably as a sort of last-season thing, considering it doesn't seem likely that there will be a 9th season.
[[Retirony]]: Keith, who finally gets engaged to Karen a mere two episodes before getting shot by Dan.
A Riddle Wrapped In A Mystery Inside An Enigma: Lucas once observes that despite Peyton's desire to express herself through her art, she doesn't want anyone to know it's her. Peyton responds to this, "I'm just a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a bitch," but Lucas sees something else: A troubled artist.
Brooke isn't 'ridiculously successful' - she comes from money and launched her line in high school. In this day and age, people launch massive brands almost overnight on a regular basis.
Romance on the Set: Chad Michael Murray (Lucas) and Sophia Bush (Brooke) were married in real life, but divorced (after which came one of the seasons where Brucas was in full swing; talk about awkward...). More recently, Bush was linked to James Lafferty (Nathan). After she split with Lafferty, she moved on to Austin Nichols (Julian). There's also the reason Murray and Bush broke up in the first place—Murray flirting with and, after the divorce, starting a relationship with a much younger extra who was one of the cheerleaders...
Romantic False Lead: Lindsay, Lucas' fiancee from Season 5, was this. Initially introduced as Lucas' editor, it is gradually revealed that she and Lucas have been in a relationship for a while; Lindsay is good friends with Haley and later Brooke, as well. The one she cannot win over is Peyton, who is still in love with Lucas.
Eventually, they reach a truce in 5x09, "For Tonight You're Only Here to Know", when Peyton learns Lindsay's father died of cancer, like her birth mother did. However, Lindsay leaves Lucas at the altar when she realizes that Lucas' book, The Comet, is a metaphor for love... inspired unconsciously by the brand of car Peyton drives (a Mercury Comet). This leaves Lucas free to propose to Peyton in the season finale.
Runaway Bride: Twice. The Scott men just have no luck.
Season 2: Keith is left by Jules at the altar, seeing as Dan was paying her to do it and all...
Season 5: Lindsay abandons Lucas at the altar when she realizes that Lucas' book isn't actually about a comet at all... because Peyton's car is the Comet, and Lucas unconsciously wrote the book with her in mind. Ouch.
Running Gag: A number of the course of eight seasons, but one memorable one is Skills' habit of walking in on people having sex in Season 4 - after the fourth occasion in four episodes, he lampshades it: "Damn, I gotta stop doing this."
Self-Parody: The gang sees how real high school students look and act when they crash a prom in "It Gets Worse At Night".
Shallow Love Interest: Anna, Felix and Owen. A lot of fans saw Chase as this when he first showed as Brooke's new love interest.
Six Student Clique: At least in the high school years, it would look something like this:
The Main Character: Lucas
The Muscle: Nathan
The Smart One: Haley
The Wild One: Brooke
The Pretty One: Peyton
The Quirk: Mouth (at least around Season 4, when he started becoming major)
Sleep Cute: Brooke and Lucas have one of these◊ in Season 5, when Lucas has to help Brooke put the baby she's fostering to sleep. The Brucas shippers squee'd over the implied familial overtones for the couple.
Something Only They Would Say: Happens in 3x16, otherwise known as the school shooting episode ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept"). As Jimmy Edwards has taken a group of students hostage in the tutoring center, Nathan tries to find Haley. He slips his driver's license under the door and Haley goes to let him in, but when the others tell her to be sure, she whispers "Always" to the door. When Nathan comes back with "and forever," the end of their shipping phrase, she lets him in.
Sorry Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs: In Season 3, Lucas learns that he can no longer play basketball due to his HCM. He tries valiantly, with and without his medication, but eventually stops after having a heart attack after the States game (to be fair, he'd just seen Haley be hit by a car whilst pregnant). After he gives up basketball, he starts coaching instead.
Spontaneous Choreography: The Tree Hill girls dance to "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in the season 4 finale.
Stage Mom: Haley has a really minor version of this when she wants Jamie to sing and play piano during a school talent show. He ends up doing a little bit of her act and a little bit of his (cutesy stand-up comedy).
Tangled Family Tree: The Scott family. One notable mention is Lucas's half-sister Lily also being his cousin as her parents are his mother and his father's brother.
Teen Pregnancy: This show's chock full of 'em! Lucas and Nathan are both products of this trope, as Dan got Karen pregnant with Lucas right after they graduated high school, left her and went to college, and then got his girlfriend there pregnant with Nathan. Way to go, Dan. In the second generation, Jake Jagielski is a teen father, and Haley gives birth to her and Nathan's son on their graduation day. The trope was subverted by Lucas and Brooke when Brooke thought she was pregnant in Season 1— it was a scare, but she lied and told Lucas she really was pregnant for the better part of the episode in order to get back at him for cheating on her with Peyton.
Nathan and Haley: 2x01, "The Desperate Kingdom of Love", shows their wedding. 3x22, "The Show Must Go On", is their vow renewal.
Lucas and Peyton: 6x23, "Forever and Almost Always".
Brooke and Julian: 8x13, "The Other Half of Me".
Those Two Guys: Though they were never seen together, both Jimmy Edwards and Tim could be considered this. They were both seen early in the first season, but Jimmy was not seen again until Season 3, and Tim disappeared post-Season 3. Jimmy brought a gun to Tree Hill High and killed himself mid-Season 3, partly because he'd been forgotten about by everyone else, including Mouth, his former best friend. Ironically, Tim returned for a Season 5 episode that had Mouth and some of the girls reflect on the shooting whilst locked in the library. His absence had previously been explained by sending him to a school for slow students.
Junk and Fergie... they're just... there. Save for a random episode where they babysit Jamie, and their frequent appearances on Mouth and Skills' couch playing video games, what real contribution did they have to the show?
Time Skip: One Tree Hill pioneered the technique by skipping the characters' college years and only showing them in flashbacks. The skip is introduced in the titular "4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days", the Season 5 premiere. The Season 7 opener, "4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Traveling Abroad)" also begins 14 months into the future from the Season 6 finale, "Remember Me as a Time of Day", in order to more firmly establish the absence of Lucas, Peyton, and Sawyer.
Unrequited Love Switcheroo: At the beginning of season one Lucas is pining for Peyton's affections, the rest of the time it's pretty much the other way around.
Season 2: Flashbacks to Nathan and Haley's elopement, and then Keith's wedding day (later ruined when Jules abandons him).
Season 3: Nathan and Haley renew their vows in front of all their friends.
Season 5: Lucas and Lindsay. She leaves him at the altar.
Season 6: Lucas and Peyton.
Season 8: Brooke and Julian.
Whole Episode Flashback: Season 5 was very flashback heavy due to the four-and-a-half year Time Skip. This left some things not fully explained until a flashback came in—for example, Nathan being in a wheelchair, the reason for which was revealed towards the end of the season's first episode. However, 5x05, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", showed a night three years in the past that explained things we hadn't yet seen: Lucas proposed to Peyton in LA, which she turned down, leading to the bad blood between them; Nathan let his temper get the best of him on the court, which foreshadows his accident years later; and Brooke tells Lucas how much she wants a baby, though we don't learn what was said in their conversation until 5x12, "Hundred".
You Remind Me of X: In Season 7, Julian points out (fairly justifiably) that Alex is just like Brooke was as a teenager (promiscuous). Brooke does not take this kindly.
Your Costume Needs Work: Happens to Peyton in 6x16, "Screenwriter's Blues". A movie is being made out of Lucas' autobiography, and Peyton walks in to bring Lucas lunch as the auditions for her character are going on. A woman who is making sure the auditioning actresses stay in line believes Peyton is method acting when she insists she's the real Peyton Sawyer. When Peyton finally gets in to see Lucas, she jokingly recites lines from the script (drawn from their early relationship), and the director states that she's "too old, but she'd make a great Deb." Peyton is offended until Lucas tells the director she's the real Peyton.
One Tree Hill is a Teen Drama about two half-brothers, Lucas and Nathan Scott, living in the fictional town of Tree Hill, NC. Lucas was abandoned at birth by their father, and lives as a loner with his mom and his best friend Haley James. Both brothers have a love of basketball, and when Lucas moves from playing in the park to playing for the varsity team, they must deal with the fact that they have to see each other, despite the fact that they hate each other. Lucas must also deal with being thrust into a whole new circle of friends.To avoid dealing with the downfall that most shows experience when their characters go to college, in its fifth season, it jumps four years into the future after they have all graduated. In the seventh season, following the departure of Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, the show was jumped ahead another fourteen months in order to make their absence seem more credible and less sudden.Pictured is the cast from Seasons 1 to 6: Nathan, Peyton, Lucas, Haley, and Brooke. The Season 7 cast (sans Lucas and Peyton, and with the additions of Julian, Alexis, Quinn, and Clay) can be viewed here
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