One Tree Hill

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Elliot Panek and Betsy Wallace

The premise of ONE TREE HILL could have been borrowed from Dickens: Brothers who grew up separately, their father denying the existence of one, end up as stars of the same high school basketball team. Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) grew up poor, raised by a sweet but downtrodden single mother. Nathan (James Lafferty) grew up wealthy and pampered. Now they compete for athletic stardom, girls, and the right to wear the family name "Scott," even though they both hate their overbearing father. The ladies of One Tree Hill are Peyton (Hilarie Burton), who is often caught between the two half-brothers; boy-obsessed cheerleader Brooke (Sophia Bush), and Lucas's best pal Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz), who tries to balance friends, her music and Nathan. As is often the case with teen dramas each season brings the changing of flings and crushes.

Is It Any Good?

One Tree Hill is not without its core of melodrama. The themes can be inconsistent, including episodes that show the brothers slowly coming to accept one another, but then while playing the drinking game "I Never" at a party, Nathan says to Lucas, "I never had a dad who wished I was a stain on the mattress." All too often, the progress in the growth of the characters is halted and the series continuously proves it is lacking the skill (and class) to move beyond the continuous rich vs. poor theme.

Parents and adult characters are developed and often play a central role, which is refreshing. As many things that are wrong with the series, parents might find themselves tuning in with their teens – and using the topics for a conversation starter.