One Tree Hill is one of the most popular teen drama series of all time. The show aired on the WB before it was consolidated into The CW and then it went on for 9 seasons in total. It was one of the first series to implement a major time jump in teen dramas and certainly helped popularize the decision on television as the show continued longer post-time jump than it had when the characters were teenagers.
With well over one hundred episodes under its belt, One Tree Hill had some phenomenal episodes and some that weren’t so great. Here are the ten worst episodes of One Tree Hill according to IMDb.
Season 7, Episode 9 - Now You Lift Your Eyes to the Sun
This is a rough episode all around. Every character is dealing with something extremely difficult. Fans were frustrated because yet again, Brooke isn’t pregnant despite trying. Even worse, Julian decides to go to Alex because she’s tempted to try cocaine again instead of going to Brooke’s side. Elsewhere, Rachel and Dan return to town.
No one liked the idea of the Rachel and Dan pairing and seeing them together was never a good sign for any of the show’s characters. Millie also continues her downward spiral in this episode. Not to mention that season seven was the first season without Peyton and Lucas as main characters which was still a bitter pill for many to swallow.
Season 7, Episode 4 - Believe Me, I’m Lying
Ugh, this episode caused further problems for the fan-favorite couple, Nathan and Haley. After everything they’ve been through if fans were hoping they’d get a break in season seven, they were sorely disappointed to see Renee pop up. She claimed to have slept with Nathan in the past and that Nathan was the father of her unborn child.
In this episode, the scandal officially goes public after the Scotts turn down her blackmail offerings. Thankfully, Haley agrees to stand by her husband but no one wanted this storyline to continue. Plus we also got an update on another pointless storyline between Quinn and her soon-to-be-ex David.
Season 7, Episode 3 - Hold My Hand As I’m Lowered
If you thought Renee going public with the scandal was terrible, this episode was even worse. Why? Because Haley begins to doubt Nathan for a minute. She started to wonder if the scandal could have potential merits. You’d think Haley had already learned her lesson after the entire Nanny Carrie debacle but seeing her moment of doubt hurts.
Then, Nate and Clay get into a fight because they can’t agree on the best way to handle the scandal. To make matters worse, Alex begins to take an interest in Julian. We’ll see how that flirtation develops dangerously over the season.
Season 6, Episode 21 - A Kiss to Build a Dream On
This episode wasn’t all that bad. Not much happens in it, and we’re treated to a pretty horrible Peyton wig during some Lucas and Peyton flashbacks, but beyond that, it’s a great episode for fans of the #Leyton pairing.
We get to see Lucas remember some of their early days together in the summer after season four of the show, a chunk of time we missed out on due to the time jump. The memories are pretty cute, but for people who loved the idea of Lucas and Brooke someday getting together, this episode was probably like a knife in the gut confirming it was never going to happen.
Season 4, Episode 2 - Things I Forgot at Birth
This early season four episode is ranked as one of the worst for character plots more so than the actual writing. People weren’t happy about a number of storylines in the fourth season. Mainly, Lucas and Brooke’s fans were really upset about the couple breaking up.
People who love the Brooke and Peyton friendship were even more upset that the two former best friends had once again let a guy come between them. Then there’s the fact Peyton introduces the Derek plotline in this episode. We didn’t know what was coming our way just yet but this is the beginning of that brief foray into horror. Worst of all though, poor Brooke has to spend her birthday alone.
Season 9, Episode 2 - In the Room Where You Sleep
This was a complicated episode because we knew that James Lafferty wouldn’t be a series regular for season nine of One Tree Hill so the show had to set up a reason for him to leave for a while.
Unfortunately, Nathan’s departure meant Dan would be part of Haley and Jamie’s life for the foreseeable future and by this point, most of us were over Dan and confused as to why he had stuck around for so long in the first place. Beyond that, Clay begins his weird going crazy storyline and refuses to try therapy or medication, because that works out so well!
Season 7, Episode 5 - Your Cheatin’ Heart
Haley gets arrested! That’s reason enough alone to make this episode rank so low on the list of all One Tree Hill episodes. Even though it was kind of awesome to see her slap Renee, it sucks to see Haley get the brunt of this ever-lasting scandal.
Funnily enough, this is the second time Haley has punched someone while they were pregnant or she was pregnant, remember her slapping Rachel back in season four? No one can deny she’s kind of hardcore. Aside from Haley, people also weren’t happy about Alex trying to seduce Julian while Julian and Brooke are together.
Season 7, Episode 2 - What Are You Willing to Lose
As you might have guessed from the thread of episodes in this post, people had a lot of issues with season seven, particularly with Dan’s storyline, the Nathan sex scandal, and Alex trying to come between Brooke and Julian. To be fair, the series needed to pump up in the drama in the absence of two of its leads, Peyton and Lucas.
This is the episode where the scandal fully gets underway but the real reason this episode ranks so low may be due to Dan unveiling his new bride which turns out to be Rachel Gatina. That was a super shocking moment for fans of the show and many thought Rachel deserved a better story arc.
Season 7, Episode 1 - 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)
This episode probably ranks the lowest on the list because it was the season premiere of season seven and therefore the first official episode of the entire series without Lucas or Peyton being present. It was hard for One Tree Hill to find its ground again after losing two central characters.
Although people love Haley, Brooke, and Nathan, it’s still difficult to readjust to losing two characters that had been on the show since the beginning, especially since Lucas was essentially the main character initially before the series became more of an ensemble. Otherwise, this episode isn’t so bad, but it also introduces the Renee scandal which, as you can tell, was unpopular.
Season 6, Episode 11 - We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)
This episode along with an episode of Smallville helped start a tradition of the CW series having a noir episode. However, One Tree Hill didn’t exactly succeed when they attempted it. Unfortunately, fans didn’t like this episode, which is why it ranks as the worst episode of the series.
Not everyone feels that way, it should be noted the episode still ranks at 7.2 which is pretty high, it just means it was less-liked than all the others. The noir style wound up being more cheesy than anything and didn’t add all that much to the overall story. Plus, at the end of this episode, we find out that something is wrong with Peyton and the baby.
