The TV show One Tree Hill was the sort of program that took us on the definition of an emotional rollercoaster from the very first episode all the way through until the final season. Sometimes it made us laugh and sometimes it made us cry, but along the way, it always managed to keep us on the edge our seat.
Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the many moments that left us with a tear in our eye. Some are certainly more ‘out there’ than others, but they all had us feeling something deep down inside. Yes, we’re serious.
Lucas Misses The Shot
Towards the end of season one, it felt like everything was going wrong for Lucas Scott, and it all culminated in a vital playoff game in which the Tree Hill Ravens were staring defeat in the face with a matter of seconds remaining.
As opposed to shooting himself Nathan Scott elected to pass the ball to Lucas, and from there, he was unable to hit the game winner and the Ravens’ season came to an abrupt end.
He made up for it a few seasons later, but at the time, it was a heartbreaking moment.
Haley Leaves With Chris
Haley James certainly rushed into her relationship with Nathan Scott, and there’s no way of getting around that. She wasn’t really given the chance to explore herself outside of the connection she had with Nathan – until Chris Keller came along, that is.
While he may have been incredibly cringeworthy, he helped Haley to really uncover her singing ability. Unfortunately, due to many different circumstances, she decided to leave on a tour bus with Keller, which left many thinking that things between her and Nathan were dead and buried for good.
Dan Dies
Courtesy of things we’ll get onto later on in this list, in addition to several other indiscretions, Dan Scott was the primary villain in One Tree Hill. However, when he eventually died in the final season, it actually turned out to be a thoroughly upsetting moment for everyone involved.
From Nathan saying goodbye to Keith’s ghost appearing from the shadows, it was a fitting way to bring the legacy of Dan Scott to a sad end. In the grand scheme of things he probably deserved to go, but that isn’t really the point.
“You Said I Could Be Great”
“You said I was great. You said I could be great. You said it to the world and you said it to me and I wish you never had because you did not mean ANY of it!”.
Those are the words of Peyton Sawyer in the midst of a tremendous argument between herself and Lucas.
Nobody really knew one way or the other whether or not they’d be able to get back together or if Lucas even wanted to do so, but at that point, you could just tell that the passion and love they shared for one another was still very much there.
Nathan Admits Point Shaving
Nathan decided to shave points in two basketball games in order to pay off some debt that he and Haley had been struggling with. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do in the world, but he felt like he had no choice.
Upon finally deciding to admit to what he’d done it was clear to see Nathan knew his scholarship offer from Duke was probably going to be taken away. Despite that, he held a press conference to announce what he’d done, because he simply knew that he couldn’t live with such a decision.
He made it to the NBA in the end, though, so it’s all good.
The Final Scene
The last few seasons of the show were not good, in our opinion, but in the very last scene, none of that mattered.
In reality, it should’ve just been the actual originals involved in the crowd part of the scene, but that part didn’t matter all too much. What did matter, though, was seeing that Jamie Scott had been able to fulfill his prophecy by becoming the new star forward of the Tree Hill Ravens.
It was a great way to end this magnificent story, and it broke our hearts to see it all come to an end.
Lucas Breaks Down
There are actually two moments that feature in this entry.
The first is in the 17th episode of Season six when Lucas and Peyton discover that, if and when she gives birth, there’s a chance she could die. Lucas is unscrewing a miniature basketball hoop and when he stops to take a minute, he admits that he simply can’t live without her.
He then goes on to cry by her bedside in the hospital, at which point he didn’t know whether she’d live or die.
From the perspective of Chad Michael Murray, it’s the best acting he’s ever done.
Quentin’s Funeral
Quentin’s arrogant persona soon transformed into a character that pretty much everyone loved. He was funny, he was friends with Jamie, and he was helping Nathan to get back to a point of relevancy within the world of basketball.
His death felt incredibly cheap and a little bit odd at the time, but at his funeral, there was a truly wonderful scene in which Jamie and Brooke held hands whilst standing over his grave.
It was poignant, and it was also a way to help Brooke take one step closer towards healing her own wounds.
Brooke Breaks Up With Lucas
Again, there are two moments we want to highlight: the first being when Brooke screams and shouts at Lucas after discovering that he and Peyton kissed again, this time during the school shooting.
Then, when she actually breaks up with him, she calmly yet rationally informs him of why they can no longer be together.
Lucas just doesn’t know what to say, and in that moment, he’s quite literally speechless. It really did come across as the definitive end to the relationship between these two, which is a shame for all of those Brucas fans out there.
Keith Dies
Keith Scott was shot and killed by his own brother, just moments after Jimmy committed suicide.
It was the most heartbreaking scene in the show by a country mile and nothing even comes close. To this day we wish that we could’ve seen him and Karen grow old together, which is what it felt like the show had always been building towards.
When people look back at One Tree Hill, this really was the most important episode in the entire run of the show – especially when you consider what’s happened ever since then in the real world in terms of gun violence.
