My rants concerning One Tree Hill post #2
Spoilers!
Okay, so I've just finished the third episode of season five. I flew through season four pretty quick.
I like the Karen's pregnant with Keith's daughter, although I still don't miss Keith. There's been a couple of episodes where he's popped up on the show, but I'm just like, "Bruh, you wanted off. So stay off." Maybe that's a little harsh, but I'd rather he just be gone. It's easier to deal with that kind of stuff instead of always bringing someone dead back up in dreams or to haunt someone. I find it funny that Keith, as a kid, is the one that haunted Dan the majority of the time, though. That's a little more eerie, but it's still kind of meh. I guess I get it because Dan shot Keith and now he's guilty, but not entirely my cup of tea.
I knew it was only a matter of time both life threw Haley and Nathan more curve balls. Season two had her running around New York with Chris Keller, and now Nathan's choices are causing some ridges. He's becoming more serious about basketball during his senior year, especially when he learns that many major schools are eye balling him for their teams. Haley feels left out, and she also thinks that he's got feelings for Rachel. That kind of comes out of nowhere, but it's a soap, so I guess I'll overlook it for now. Haley goes into labor near the end of season four, right when she's giving her speech at graduation. It's typical, but nevertheless effective and I love how the camera moves in slow mood as everyone comes to her rescue. It's cute.
And speaking of Rachel. I actually like that she got more screen time in season four and that she was even added to the opening. I like that she and Brooke became friends, but it kind of seems they were by default. I mean all the other girls were paired with guys, one of them being Peyton have STOLE Lucas from Brooke. I'm still ticked about that one, but Rachel was the only one left standing so she and Brooke became frenemies. Rachel does do some nice things for Brooke, though. I mean she stole that key to the tutoring center to help Brooke cheat in her calculus class and graduate high school. I still think that Rachel's got something for Mouth though, but she's too superficial to ever admit it. Now she's gone and Mouth's all alone again. Poor guy.
Deb's still struggling with the booze and pills. This is a typical plot for soaps, but it does play well with these characters. Deb and Dan's squabbles occasionally remind me of J.R. and Sue Ellen's fights over at Southfork. Deb goes back and forth from rehab, and she's even tricked into signing back in once by Karen. I thought Karen was slick with that move. She definitely cares about Deb, and she doesn't want her to hurt herself because of her addictions.
Wait, does Karen really care about Deb? Karen's budding romance with Dan, the guy her dumped her close to twenty years ago, throughout season four could definitely cloud one's judgment. There have been several times that Karen and even Dan admit that their love for one another was not entirely gone. There's one scene where Lucas asks Karen how she got over Dan all those years ago, and she replies, "I'll let you know when I do." It's something along those lines, but it certainly foreshadows that Karen still has a soft spot for Dan, even though he's Tree Hill's biggest jerk.
Of course, Dan's still dealing with the fact that he killed Keith under false pretenses. Deb tells him that it was she that tried to kill him in the dealership fire, but it's too late for fixes now, because Keith's already cold in the ground. Dan's understandably mad at himself, and he commits himself to finally being there for Lucas, and for being there for Karen and Keith's baby. At first, Karen's a little shaky about little Dan into her life, but gradually does after he does things that naturally woo her and conflict her about her feelings towards him. I know there's one time where she tells him that she will never feel the same about him as she did in high school, but her actions would certainly tell you otherwise. Their little fling or whatever it is hits the skids when Lucas finds out that Dan shot Keith. Of course, no one wants to believe Lucas, but he's got a witness: the girl Abby Brown saw Dan shoot Keith, and she eventually tells Lucas the truth. The only one that believes Lucas is Deb, but Dan eventually turns himself into the police for the murder of Keith.
Lucas and Peyton still have their romance going, too. But it's thrown some definite curve balls in season four. Peyton's half-brother, Derek, comes to town and she starts spending a lot of time with him. Lucas is suspicious of Derek, though, thinking that his intentions towards Peyton are more sexual than brotherly. Lucas turns out to be right. Derek isn't who he says he is and he turns out to be a stalker. Now he attacks Lucas and Peyton's real brother Derek (more about him later), and he's eventually put in prison, or so they think. Turns out "Derek" had it rigged where Peyton thought he was in prison and he comes back and ties she and Brooke up in Peyton's basement on the night of their senior prom. Juicy stuff. They get him arrested though and that psycho is put in jail. This was a good story and I definitely did not see it coming. I thought that "Derek" was actually going to be Peyton's brother, but I just thought he was going to have issues with not being obsessed with her. Never saw him going totally bananas though.
Speaking of Peyton's real brother Derek. He pops up out of nowhere the night psycho Derek attacks her and Lucas. He's a black guy, well, because his mother is black. He and Peyton share the same father, who apparently wasn't a father to Derek either. He's in the marines, and he's a nice guy. He teaches Peyton how to defend herself, but after a few episodes, he's gone. I doubt we'll see anymore of him. That's unfortunate though because I could easily see him falling for Brooke somewhere down the line. Maybe not.
The season four finale is kind of predictable. As I said before, Haley gives birth her and Nathan's son, Jamie, and Karen goes into her and Keith's daughter. Like we didn't see that one coming. It was good though. The gang gets together one more time at a party Rachel throws, and they all say their "goodbyes" at the river court. It's sentimental and I almost cry.
Fast forward four and a half years.
Season five gives us the show's first time jump. It's understandable too. I guess they didn't want to give us two more seasons of these characters fooling around in college or trying to make it in the big cities, so I excuse their decision.
I've read about the show jumping ahead, and I honestly thought that I'd be alright with it, but I'm having some issues currently adjusting to it.
Nathan's wheelchair bound after being kicked out the window of the bar and injuring his spine, and Haley's teaching at Tree Hill High School. They have an adorable little boy, but Nathan's bitter and Haley worries he's turning into Dan. She hires a nanny named Carrie, but Peyton and Brooke things she's a fool because the nanny is hot. We'll see on that one. Nathan's coming around though because he doesn't want to be like his dad. Good for him.
Brooke's struck gold with her Clothes Over Bro's fashion line, but her mother, Victoria, is giving her a headache about keeping up appearances. Brooke decides to go home to Tree Hill and open a store there.
Peyton has been struggling a little in Los Angeles. She's only the assistant to the assistant at a record label, and her boss is a jerk. Her undermines her, and she eventually decides to come home so she can start her own record label in a building she's renting from Karen beside Tric.
Mouth's wanting a job as a sports anchorman, but his boss lady is a butt. In the last episode they start making out and all seems well. I'm guessing he will be the start anchorman now. Maybe not. I hope they poor guy doesn't get hurt again.
Lucas and Skills are working as high school basketball coaches at Tree Hill High. It's been sometime since the team has won any games, and it's Lucas and Skills' job to turnaround the school's winning streak.
Season five is looking kind of drab to me so far. Sure, I like that the characters have aged, but the gap is missing. I'm thinking the first four years of this show might be the Golden Years so far, but I'm not writing it off yet. I'm sure there's good stuff laying ahead of me.