Like many teen dramas in the early-2000s, One Tree Hill was messy. While the writing was often clunky and over-the-top, the characters and actors made it a cultural phenomenon. In recent years, after news broke about how showrunner Mark Schwahn consistently mistreated, abused, and sexually harassed the women (via Variety), it made many of their awful storylines feel even cruder than they already were. Further, in 2021, lead actresses Bethany Joy Lenz, Hilarie Burton, and Sophia Bush decided to take back the show with a podcast called “Drama Queens,” dedicated to re-watching the episodes and looking back on the good, bad, and ugly.
Now, while One Tree Hill was imperfect, each season, for the most part, had something great going for it. Whether it was a character finally getting their big break, a romantic relationship taking the next step, or a Lucas Scott voiceover that stayed with you, every viewer’s favorites will likely differ based on various preferences. One Tree Hill also featured one of the best soundtracks in pop-culture history, and no matter the season; indeed, many fans would agree that in that regard, choosing a favorite is nearly impossible.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
9 Season 7
The CW
The season where fans lose beloved characters is generally the toughest to swallow. Because even though viewers meet great new characters like Clay Evans (Robert Buckley) and Haley’s sister, Quinn James (Shantel VanSanten), Season 7 feels like the most disconnected piece of the One Tree Hill puzzle. While some characters are on better paths, those we were familiar with have stagnant journeys as newcomers, and contrived drama takes precedence. It’s nice to see more of Kate Voegele’s Mia in this season, but further relationship drama with women coming in between established couples was far too redundant and cheap at this point. It was also an incredibly tough season for Haley as she coped with the grief of suddenly losing her mother.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
8 Season 2
Season 2, like Season 7, felt like a significant low after the high of a great debut. One Tree Hill, unfortunately, succumbed to the sophomore slump as it attempted to up the stakes by making matters worse through drama that felt overly fabricated without allowing the characters to move forward organically. It’s the kind of season where characters feel off because their actions don’t match the growth we’ve seen in previous seasons, and new additions are only there as plot devices, making it difficult to care about their stories. It started strong with a first episode about reconciliations, yet its middle drove down dangerous roads (quite literally with Nathan’s accident) and ended with uncertainties as fans waited for Season 3.
7 Season 5
One Tree Hill’s fifth season is the first time we see the characters as adults, four years after high school. And while it has one of the most emotionally taxing 100th episode in any show’s history, the angst devised to prolong Lucas and Peyton’s relationship, as well as the addition of Nanny Carrie, played by Torrey DeVitto, is far too much not to evoke constant eye rolls. This is also the season where it felt like the series had no idea what to do with Brooke and couldn’t allow her to merely focus on the shop without added drama from every corner. There’s also much to be said about how it put Nathan and Haley through the wringer yet again after everything they fought to fortify in earlier seasons.
6 Season 6
As the final season with Lucas and Peyton, Season 6 dove into some of the most heartbreaking storylines that served no real purpose in character development. In true (and toxic) One Tree Hill fashion, the women on the show suffered far more than the men did, and as if Peyton Sawyer hadn’t mourned enough throughout the show’s run, Season 6 threw a threatening pregnancy in her direction on top of every other uncertainty she faced. Further, there was no justifiable reason to kill off Quentin, whose life was just beginning, and there was no reason to have Brooke attacked and assaulted outside her shop. Such storylines on the series always felt as though they were presented for shock value as opposed to honest storytelling. Yet, at the very least, Peyton and Lucas get their happy ending, which is worth it in the end.
5 Season 9
One Tree Hill’s final season isn’t exactly great or one of the best despite this ranking, but as we walked back through everything because of Julian’s work in adapting An Unkindness of Ravens through Brooke’s diary, something fascinating happened in the quiet moments. There was no need for Nathan’s kidnapping to separate him from his family, but the final two episodes wrap up the show’s dramatic beats with forgiveness, heart, and a whole lot of grace. Quite literally, as Brooke and Haley even mention the word as the street they both work on, showcasing that in these last few seasons, their friendship was one of the best things to come out of the show’s long run.
4 Season 8
Though Season 8 began with yet another shooting, it featured what could’ve been an exceptional ending to the series. (If we’re being frank, it should have all ended with six.) But for Brooke Davis fans especially, Season 8 treated the character best by allowing her to finally get her happy ending without too much unnecessary angst strung forward to ruin her relationships and friendships. It concluded with Haley and Brooke re-opened Karen’s café, babies being born, and happy endings for everyone, making it the perfect way for the series to go. Still, though that didn’t happen, it resulted in one of the show’s best and strongest exhibitions of character journeys in the later years.
3 Season 4
Season 4 of One Tree Hill could have been better, but much of it comes down to nostalgia as we gear toward what mattered most for the characters as they reflect upon their final year in high school. Though this is the season where Peyton suffered far too much (and unnecessarily) at the hands of Derek, it’s also the season where it became clear that this show’s heart is cemented in the friendships. When Brooke chose to rescue Peyton despite how upset she was, the girls proved that they were each other’s world and that they’d go through hell and back to ensure that. Their friendship, as well as Haley’s pregnancy and the end of their high school days, made for the kind of ending that felt earned, if nothing else. The season’s final shot ending at the infamous river court where Lucas and Nathan first rivaled with one another was a beautiful way to exhibit how far they had come.
2 Season 3
Junior year is undoubtedly the cruelest for One Tree Hill, but the series tackled some of its most serious storylines and surprisingly did it well. As we walked through the halls of the darkened high school, we were made aware of what happens when depression digs too deeply and cuts beyond repair. How the series could’ve handled such an episode like the school shooting in later years and with a better writing team is now left to the imagination, but the show’s most intense season made a clear statement about how vital it is to hold loved ones tight and how life’s cruelties can shape people. There was too drama toward the end, concluding with the kind of cliffhanger Nathan and Haley’s wedding didn’t deserve, but we know without a shadow of a doubt that at least they were each deeply loved during this season.
1 Season 1
It’s subjective to deem a whole season as the best and one as the worst, but One Tree Hill’s debut, although wildly theatrical and over-the-top, was a great start to the nine-year journey fans at the time had no idea they’d be going on. From the Pilot episode to the finale, the Season 1 set up a straightforward narrative, followed through with it, and surprised us with character developments that’d leave a lasting impression. How Nathan Scott goes from the bad boy to an upstanding husband and how Lucas Scott finds his place involves some vulnerable decisions to be made, and they get there admirably in the end. The show featured a lot of questionable choices right from the start, especially where the women were concerned, but for a teen drama, season one kicked it all into motion smoothly.
