One Tree Hill

I don't wanna be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately...

One Tree Hill is a Teen Drama about two half-brothers, Lucas and Nathan Scott, living in the fictional town of Tree Hill, NC. Lucas was abandoned at birth by their father Dan Scott, and lives as a loner with his mom and his father's elder brother Keith serving as his father figure. Both brothers have a love of basketball, but when Lucas moves from playing in the park to playing for the varsity team, they must deal with the fact that they have to see each other. Aside from having to deal with his issues with Nathan on the court, Lucas must also deal with the fact that Peyton Sawyer, his long-time crush, is dating Nathan (Something not lost on Nathan) & being dropped into a new circle of friends alongside his best friend Haley James.

The first four seasons of the show focus on the main characters' lives through their high school years. To avoid dealing with the downfall that Teen Dramas experience when their characters go to college, in its fifth season, the series subsequently jumps four years into the future after they have all graduated. In the seventh season, following the departure of Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, the show was jumped ahead another fourteen months in order to make their absence seem more credible and less sudden.

The show aired from 2003 to 2012, ending after 9 seasons & 187 episodes.

Tropes used in One Tree Hill include:
  • Aborted Arc: Erin, the singer Haley meets through the Crisis Hotline & signs to Red Bedroom Records in Season 8, is swiftly Put on a Bus after a few episodes, with Alex taking her spot as the season's new musical talent.
  • Abusive Parents: Dan Scott - Throughout the entire first season, it's made very clear that Dan is more concerned about his legacy as basketball player than Nathan's well being, with him practically bullying Nathan to play basketball "his" way. In episode 1x21, "The Leaving Song," Dan takes over as coach of the Ravens due to Whitey needing surgery, and the viewer sees how bad Nathan had it growing up. Dan's father, Royal Scott, is stated to have been just as bad as Dan was, treating Dan the same way he was treating Nathan.
  • Action Girl: Haley, Brooke & Peyton all have their moments.
  • Adult Fear:
    • Two Words - Nanny Carrie.
    • Jamie falls in the swimming pool & nearly drowns.
    • The death of Quentin Fields.
      • Later in the season, his 5 year old brother leaves the backyard without adult supervision.
    • Julian accidentally leaves his infant son locked in the car.
  • All Guys Want Cheerleaders
  • All Just a Dream:
    • Episode 2x20, "Lifetime Piling Up" - After his crash at the racetrack, Nathan dreams about how things would have turned out if Dan had married Karen instead of Deb.
    • Episode 4x10, "Songs to Love and Die By" - Keith visit Lucas following his heart attack, and shows him how life would be if he was a lesser person. It's unclear if it really was a dream or a Dead Person Conversation, as Lucas sees his friends & family worrying about him and Haley following the hit & run, and Keith shows Lucas the scene of the school shooting, prompting him to investigate what really happened in the hallway.
    • Episode 6x11, "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)" - Lucas places his friends & family into Film Noir '40s Tree Hill.
    • Episode 8x01, "Asleep At Heaven's Gate" - Clay & Quinn dream that Katie shooting them was just a dream, whilst bleeding out on the floor of Clay's beach house after being shot.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: In Season 5, Peyton is in love with Lucas, who is in love with Lindsey. After she leaves him at the altar, Lucas becomes this for Lindsey.
  • All Women Are Lustful: "Gigi Silveri, ladies & gentlemen."
  • Alliterative Name:
    • Marvin "Mouth" McFadden.
    • Haley's father, James "Jimmy" James.
  • Altar the Speed: In the beginning of Season 6, Lucas and Peyton were planning to Elope First, Plan Later before they realized they wanted a traditional wedding. They decide to wait and set a date for the wedding. However, when they learn later that Peyton's pregnancy could lead to her and/or their baby dying before or during the delivery, Peyton begs Lucas to move up their wedding so they can get married before her potential death. Lucas refuses initially, but later gives in: not because she might die, but because he just wants her to be his wife a little sooner.
  • And Starring:
    • Seasons 1-4

Barry Corbin as Whitey
With Craig Sheffer
And Moira Kelly

    • Seasons 7 & 9

And Paul Johansson

  • Anything That Moves: Nathan prior to meeting Haley. It's actually quite gross once you realize that he's slept with Peyton, Haley, Brooke in the sex tape, and lost his virginity to Haley's older sister...
  • Artifact Title: In France, the series was titled Les Frères Scott, which directly translates to The Brothers Scott in English. This trope qualified after Lucas was written out of the series at the end of Season 6, meaning there was only one Scott brother left on the show.
  • Ascended Extra:
    • Bevin went from being a nameless cheerleader there to make up the numbers in Season 1, to being a recurring character in Seasons 3 & 4 with a love interest in Skills, and eventually being brought Back for the Finale.
    • Mouth was initially introduced as one of Lucas's friends from the River Court, and to serve as anouncer for the Ravens games. With the Ravens not playing in Season 2 (Having lost their first playoff game at the end of Season 1), Mouth was given some character development beyond "The sports anouncer kid" & was Promoted to Opening Titles in Season 3.
    • Skills, like Mouth, was initially introduced as one of Lucas's friends from the River Court, but unlike Mouth, rarely appeared without the other River Court guys. In Season 3, he received the character development that Mouth did in Season 2, and was Promoted to Opening Titles the following season.
  • The Atoner: Dan Scott, complete with motivational-speaker TV show and book! Whilst Dan's whole show is based on a lie, he does genuninely try to atone for his actions by being a good grandfather & trying to help his sons, even if Nathan & Lucas want nothing to do with him.
  • Auto Erotica: Attempted when Brooke ambushes Lucas in the backseat of his car, naked. Peyton implies it's happened before with all the Ravens guys. Later on, Brooke attempts this with Owen as well... and does not react nearly so kindly when Owen attempts it on her.
  • Babies Ever After:
    • Nathan & Haley have Jamie in season 4, and Lydia in season 8.
    • Lucas and Peyton have daughter Sawyer in the Season 6 finale.
    • Brooke and Julian have twin boys, Jude and Davis in the season 8 finale.
    • In the series finale, Quinn adopts Clay's son Logan as her own; and Millie & Mouth are expecting following the final Time Skip.
  • Back for the Dead
    • Jimmy Edwards and Keith Scott in Season 3.
    • Lydia James in Season 7.
    • Dan Scott in Season 9.
  • Back for the Finale: Bevin Mirskey, having not appeared since Season 5 after being Put On the Bus in Season 4, returns in the Grand Finale working in the Courthouse when Clay & Quinn go to sign the adoption papers for Logan. She also serves as the witness when they decide to get just go ahead & get married instead of having a big Wedding Day. She also appears after the final Time Skip, the show implying that she's reunited with Skills.
  • Be a Whore to Get Your Man: Subverted in 3x04, "An Attempt to Tip the Scales". Haley's marriage to Nathan is crumbling badly and Haley wants to fix it, whereas Nathan has given up. A costume party is going on at Tric and Brooke decides Haley should be the classic "get your man to come back to you" costume-- Sandy from Grease. When Brooke sees Nathan at the party, she hints to him, "Haley looks hot..." Nathan, disappointed, replies, "Haley always looks hot."
  • The Beard: Lucas acted as this for Anna in Season 2. Whether or not she was a lesbian or bisexual is debated.
  • Becoming the Mask: Nathan, who falls in love with Haley in Season 1.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Nanny Carrie
  • Big Brother Mentor: Chase becomes one to Chuck during Season 8.
  • Biting the Hand Humor: "Great, so I guess you'll be getting some snot from The CW."
  • Black Best Friend: Skills, to both Lucas and Mouth.
  • Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Happens to Peyton, when she collapses due to her placenta previa after her wedding to Lucas and must be rushed to the hospital for a C-section. Haley's also isn't in the greatest condition after the limo incident in Season 3 (and the Season 4 premiere).
  • Book Ends:
    • The final scene in Season 8 recreates the first scene of the series, with Jamie replacing Lucas as he dribbles a basketball across the bridge. The scene was written with the intention of being the final scene in the series, but received a surprise renewal for a final Season 9.
    • The first & last musical artist to perform in the series is Gavin DeGraw, both times the song played being "I Don't Wanna Be".
    • In the pilot, Haley & Karen give Lucas a copy of Julius Caesar, whilst eating in Karen's Cafe after hours. Haley is seen reading the book in the series finale, whilst the characters are hanging out in Karen's Cafe after hours.
  • Bottle Episode:
    • Episode 5x09, "For Tonight You're Only Here to Know" - On the night of Lucas's first game as coach of the Ravens, the girls (Peyton, Brooke, Haley, Lindsey and Mia) get locked inside the school library.
    • Episode 6x17, "You And Me And The Bottle Makes Three," is a subversion - The episode is split into 5 segments, with each segment being focused on a couple (Lucas & Peyton; Nathan & Haley; Brooke & Julian; Mouth & Millie; and Dan & Deb) in a specific location. The individual segments are book ended with a prologue & epilogue.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Toyed with in the finale. Several characters' lines are clearly directed to the audience, despite making sense in context.
  • Breather Episode: Episode 3x18 qualifies, since 3x13 and 3x15 through 17 all have Downer Endings to the max. In 3x18, "When It Isn't Like It Should Be", you've got a cabin getaway, Brooke pleasuring herself, Pete Wentz, and Nathan re-proposing to Haley (and her saying yes). D'awwwww.
  • Cain and Abel: Mark Schwahn has actually pitched the show as "Cain and Abel on a basketball court".
    • The main arc of the first half of Season 1 revolves around the relationship between Lucas & Nathan. As the series starts, they don't know each other, due to being half-brothers raised in different households - Lucas is the son of the high school sweetheart abandonned after graduation, Nathan is the son of the college girlfriend who married the former hero of the high school basketball team. They don't have much interaction until Lucas is recruited to play alongside Nathan for the Tree Hill Ravens, with tensions rising due to Nathan viewing Lucas as trying to steal his life. As the season goes on, they eventually become friends, before finally acknowledging one another as brothers.
    • Much like Lucas & Nathan, Dan & Keith Scott are also on bad terms as the series opens. However, unlike Lucas & Nathan, their relationship just gets worse as time goes on, culminating in Dan killing Keith in cold blood.
  • California Doubling: Averted, the show was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina.
  • Casanova: Nathan, pre-Haley. His Distaff Counterpart is Brooke.

Nathan: You want me to write a list of every single girl I've ever...
Haley: No, no, I guess not every single girl. You can cross Peyton, Brooke, and my sister off of that list.
Nathan: You really think that's a good idea?
Haley: Yes! And here. I'll make it easy for you. Take the phone book and just cross off the name of every girl you haven't been with.

  • The Cast Showoff: Bethany Joy Lenz/Gaelotti (Haley James Scott), Tyler Hilton (Chris Keller) and Kate Voegle (Mia Catalano) all got chances to show off their singing in the show, with their characters all being musicians.
  • Celebrity Paradox: The aforementioned Coach Carter example qualifies. Also, there's references to Dawson's Creek early in Season 1 (Haley saying "Joey-loves-Dawson" and later joking about her and Lucas staring in a porn movie called Dawson's Freaks), and James Van Der Beek pops up as the director for Lucas' movie in Season 6. On top of that, Chad Michael Murray & Hilarie Burton both made appearances on Dawson's Creek, with Burton playing herself when she was still a VJ for MTV.
  • Channel Hop: By virtue of the WB & UPN merging into The CW.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • The time capsule the students make during Season 2, which won't be opened for 50 years. You just know it's going to be opened before then. It doesn't even last a year, and drives Jimmy Edwards to bring a gun to Tree Hill High.
    • The IM name 'WATCHMEWATCHU' that messages Peyton in the Season 2 finale. It's revealed in Season 4 to belong to Psycho!Derek.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
    • Jimmy Edwards is one of the guys Lucas hangs out with at the River Court, and creates RavenHoops.com with Mouth, but vanishes with no explanation, even being missing Season 2's "Lifetime Piling Up" which retold the events of the pilot with Lucas & Nathan's roles flipped. Deconstructed in Season 3's "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" when Jimmy takes a gun to school, utterly devastated by all of his friends abandoning him over the past year.
    • Tim Smith is Nathan's best friend at the start of the series, and the only named Raven who isn't a major character, growing in prominence after Jake was Put on a Bus & becoming the show's resident Butt Monkey, before vanishing halfway through Season 3. It's later revealed during Season 4 that Tim transferred to a school for slow students. He returned in Season 5, commenting that he misses high school since no-one's kept in touch with him.
  • Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: Owen Morello, Brooke's Season 5 love interest, returned midway through Season 6, before suffering a relapse (He was a recovered alcoholic) & sleeping with Millie in the very same episode which started the Brooke/Julian ship. He was Put on a Bus the following episode.
  • Cliff Hanger: Every season finale except the ones for Season 4, which marked the end of the high school years; Season 6, which was more of an ending due to Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton's departure; Season 8, which was written as a Grand Finale in case the show wasn't renewed; and Season 9, which was the final season.
    • Season 1: Haley reveals to Lucas that she and Nathan got married; Dan has a heart attack.
    • Season 2: Haley arrives on Nathan's doorstep while their marriage is in trouble due to her touring with Chris Keller. A strange woman tells Peyton she is her mother, despite Peyton's mother being dead (it's revealed she's Peyton's birth mom and that Peyton was adopted). Dan's dealership is set on fire by an unknown person with him inside.
    • Season 3: The limo for Nathan and Haley's vow renewal is driven off a bridge by Rachel Gatina, with her and Nathan's uncle Cooper inside. Nathan dives in to save them and Haley screams for help. Either Brooke, Peyton, or Haley could be pregnant (later revealed to be Haley).
    • Season 5: Lucas calls either Brooke, Peyton, or Lindsey and proposes. It is revealed to be Peyton in the Season 6 premiere.
    • Season 7: Out of all the happy endings present, the very last couple we see could have a tragic end: Katie, the stalker who's been pretending to be Clay's dead wife, shoots Quinn. When Clay runs out, hearing the gunshot, she shoots Clay as well, and leaves the both of them lying on the floor.
  • Clothes Make the Legend: Or rather, the Tree Hill Ravens retiring your number does.
    • #33 - Dan Scott during Season 3; after he made a sizable donation to the school in exchange for it.
    • #01 - Coach Brian "Whitey" Durham between Seasons 4 & 5; In honor of the many years spent as Coach of the Ravens & coaching the first Ravens side to win the State Championship.
    • #23 - Nathan Scott between Seasons 4 & 5; All-Time Leading Scorer, co-captain of the first Ravens team to win the State Championship.
    • #44 - Quentin Fields in Season 6; In Memoriam
    • #12 - Jamie Scott during the final Time Skip; All-Time Leading Scorer, breaking Nathan's record
  • Code Silver: The fan and critical favorite, widely regarded as the best episode of the show, "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" (3x16) has Jimmy Edwards come to school with a gun and take hostages in the tutoring center. The tragedy is mostly averted: the only one actually shot is Peyton, who is hit in the leg and survives (barely). However, Jimmy Edwards kills himself and Dan uses the gun to kill his brother Keith, believing Keith is the one who tried to kill him at the end of Season 2.
  • Comic Book Time: Seasons 1 through 4 cover the group's junior & senior years, with Haley being pregnant for the majority of the fourth season, as is Karen with Keith's child, which would put Season 3 in the timeframe of only a few months; the first Time Skip occurs between seasons 4 & 5, aging the characters by four years; seasons 5 & 6 cover roughly two years, with time progressing normally until another Time Skip between seasons 6 & 7 which moves time forward by 14 months; season 8 features another Time Skip during the final episode of the season of roughly a year; season 9 features another Time Skip of 5 years during the series finale. From the pilot to the Grand Finale, the show covers roughly 16 years during the 9 years it was on the air. On top of all this, Season 4 shows Keith's headstone, which states that his death was in 2006, whereas Season 6 shows Nathan watching the 2008 Slamball championship game live, which would place the events of Season 4 in 2003 due to Jamie being 5; however Season 9 shows Jimmy's tombstone, which states that he died in 2006 & just throws any attempt at figuring out a timeline down the toilet.
  • Comically Missing the Point: When Brooke, Haley, Peyton, Rachel & Bevin are in a car together whilst fighting with one another, they decide to role play as the person their grievance is with. After Brooke makes an insensitive remark about Peyton's adopted & birth mothers both dying, Bevin chimes in with "I'm Rachel and I have red hair!".
  • Commuting on a Bus: Skills as of Season 7.
  • Convenient Coma: Both Karen and Peyton gave birth while unconscious via C-section due to medical conditions: Karen had pre-eclampsia and Peyton placenta previa.
  • Continuity Nod: In the season eight episode "Luck Be a Lady" Brooke's soon-to-be mother-in-law says that if Brooke's wedding is outdoors she'll have to hang salami to keep the bees away and that's why she should have it in a church. Two episodes later Brooke has a nightmare about her and Julian having a redneck (and outdoorsy) wedding. In one blink and you'll miss it shot you can see salami hanging in the trailer park.
  • Creator Cameo: Max, the record store owner Peyton meets twice in Seasons 4 & 5, is played by Mark Schwahn, the show runner & creator.
  • The Danza: Among the bit players, it's happened a couple times. Skills Taylor, whose actual name is Antwon, is played by Antwon Tanner. Bevin Mirskey, his one-time girlfriend, is played by Bevin Prince.
  • Darker and Edgier: Season 9, with the primary plot of Nathan being kidnapped by Eastern European assassins, and being held ransom... To the people who ordered the hit, so they can get more money before they kill Nathan.
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: In 3x18, this was used hilariously when Rachel catches Brooke in the act. Brooke asks if she could've knocked, to which Rachel replies, "Well, I didn't know you'd be Brooke-ing yourself!" After that, it was adopted into the show's vernacular (a late Season 3 episode, in a joke re-enactment of Haley and Nathan's courtship scripted by Brooke, had "Haley" say the line "And I Haley myself on occasion!").
    • Used again in season eight when Clay tells Nathan that what with his girlfriend being out of town and him not being able to move his arm after getting shot his sex life isn't going so well. Nathan's response? "Why do you think I learned to dribble with both hands?"
    • Also used in season four during an argument between Nathan and Haley after the Brooke/Nathan sex tape. Haley is throwing out all of the VHS tapes in the house for fear of finding another sex tape and preceeds to tell Nathan that "the thought of you Brooke-ing yourself to yourself and Brooke really makes me sick."
  • Dawson Casting: The show itself was an example of this (the only one close to high school age was James Lafferty, who was 18 when production started) during the first four seasons. Part of the reason for the four-year jump was so the actors could play characters close to their ages. However, the practice was amusingly lampshaded during Season 6, when Lucas' book about their high school years was becoming a movie. Everyone joked about who they wanted cast in their role, and when Lucas replied they were supposed to be high school students, the response was usually "But have you seen how old the actors playing high school students are these days?"
    • Zig-zagged with Stephen Colletti (Chase Adams) - Like the rest of the cast, he was an example of this when Chase was introduced in Season 4, being 20 years whilst Chase was a high school senior. After the 4 year Time Skip, he was an inversion, as he was now 2 years younger than the character.
    • Applies to Jackson Brundage (Jamie Scott) much in the same way as the original cast - Jackson was several years older than Jamie when he was first cast, but subsequent time skips at the end of both Seasons 6 & 8 brought Jamie to the same age as his actor.
  • Dead Person Conversation:
    • Keith had one with Lucas in Season 4's "Songs to Love and Die By"
    • Nathan has them with Quentin Fields throughout Season 6
    • Two Season 7 episodes have shown Clay imagining and talking to his deceased wife Sara.
    • Episode 11 of season 9 has one between Dan & Keith, after Dan's death making it a literal example of a Dead Person Conversation.
  • Defictionalization: The second soundtrack album, Friends with Benefit, was the subject of a storyline on the show where Peyton and her birth mom made a benefit album to help breast cancer patients. Both of Kate Voegele's albums were promoted on the show through Voegele's character Mia, and her songs are featured heavily in Seasons 5 and 6. Clothes Over Bro's merchandise can also be purchased here.
  • Department of Redundancy Department:

Brooke: You went in, shoved your magazine spread in his face, and hit on him.
Rachel: I wouldn't do that to you.
Brooke: Really? Let's go over the list of things you have done to me. You tried to seduce Lucas when he was my boyfriend, take my spot as cheer captain, and two weeks ago, you told the entire school that I was pregnant! I was just beginning to think you were a real person, but you're just a slutty lying liar who lies.

  • Directed by Cast Member:
    • Paul Johansson (Dan Scott) - Episodes 2x17, 3x07, 3x18, 4x06, 4x15, 5x02, 5x08, 5x15, 6x04, 6x19, 7x10, 7x14, 8x15 & 9x03.
    • Moira Kelly (Karen Roe) - Episodes 3x19 & 4x12.
    • Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott) - Episode 6x14.
      • Murray also wrote Episode 6x11, "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)".
    • Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley James Scott) - Episodes 6x16, 7x17 & 8x09.
    • James Lafferty (Nathan Scott) - Episodes 6x20, 7x07, 8x05 & 9x06.
    • Sophia Bush (Brooke Davis) - Episodes 7x09, 8x06 & 9x12.
    • Austin Nichols (Julian Baker) - Episodes 8x18 & 9x07.
  • Double Standard: Noted In-Universe by Skills, after Millie makes a point of Mouth's recent weight gain live on-air, that if their roles were reversed, Mouth would be out of a job.
  • Drink Order: A running gag in Seasons 6 and 7 is Chase's questionable abilities as a bartender at Tric. He bonds with Mia when she, at 18, knows how to make a Long Island Iced Tea and he does not. In Season 7, he attempts to invent a drink called the "Brain Hemorrhage," which becomes a "Brain Blaster" when he is informed a drink already exists under that name, and which is absolutely terrible. As of episode 7x09, he has become bar manager and solved his problem by hiring Grubbs, who knows exactly what you will order by looking at you. He was thwarted in 7x12 when he got Miranda's drink order wrong and then couldn't figure out which whiskey she would prefer.
  • Due to the Dead:
    • After Keith Scott is killed, the Ravens have his initials stitched onto their uniforms above their hearts, and change their colors from white to black.
    • After the death of Quentin Fields in early season 6, the Ravens retired his jersey before their next game, and played the rest of the season as a 4 man team in his memory. They also have "Q 44" stitched onto their jerseys above their shirts.

Referee: Coach, I can’t let you play with four, unless the rest of your team is hurt.
Lucas Scott: All of my players are hurting, that’s why we’re playing with four.

  • Dyeing for Your Art: God knows how many hairstyle/color changes there have been between seasons. Just try to keep track of Haley's hair color changes and styles (dark brown, light brown, blond-ish, long, short...). Brooke goes from no bangs in Season 1 and 2 to bangs in Season 3; Peyton's curls and shade of blond varied between seasons. The boys had their fair share of changes, too.
  • Embarrassing Tattoo: Both used and subverted.
    • Subversion: The first time we see a character with a tattoo, it's Haley, who in a late Season 1 episode is revealed to have Nathan's jersey number (23) tattooed on her lower back. Lucas is not amused, as he feels it's Nathan's way of saying she's his property, until Haley reveals it was her idea and she's proud of it. Her sister Taylor has a distinctive scorpion tattoo on her lower back, and she initially snickers believing that Haley's own tattoo is a way of emulating her. Later on in the series, Lucas refers to the tattoo as her "slutty little tramp stamp".
    • Lucas gets a tattoo of a Chinese character on his arm whilst on a date with Brooke. When Peyton and Lucas are fighting in Season 6, Peyton reveals she hates the tattoo.

Peyton: First of all, it does not mean what you think it means; I looked it up! Second of all, Brooke has a very similar tattoo... near her lady business!

  • Empty Chair Memorial: For Quentin Fields in Haley's classroom. The Ravens also keep a spot open for him in their starting 5 after his death, and keep his locker empty.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: As terrible a person as he may be, Dan Scott is horrified after finding out that second wife Rachel paid the family of a boy on life support to unplug the machines keeping him alive so that Dan could have his heart.
  • Everyone Can See It: In Season 5, numerous characters (Including Lindsey, who leaves Lucas at the altar when she realises it) comment that everyone can see that Lucas is still in love with Peyton, even if he can't. After Lucas realises it & proposes to her, Skills & Brooke both comment that everyone's been waiting on them getting married since high school, even after their break-up.
  • Executive Meddling: Fictional accounts of executive meddling are rampant during production of the Unkindness of Ravens movie in season 6, and at the beginning of Season 7, when Red Bedroom Records is almost shut down (due to the absence of Peyton and the fact that Mia is their only successful artist).
  • First Girl Wins:
    • Peyton & Lucas.
    • Nathan & Haley are a Gender Flip example.
    • Mouth & Millie are another Gender Flip example. Hilariously, they're also a example of Last Girl Wins being played straight.
  • Five Stages of Grief: 3x17, "Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?", is framed in an unusual way by showing title cards of each of the five stages as breaks in the episode. They correspond to the grieving of the cast over the deaths of Jimmy and Keith in the previous episode.
  • Fleeting Demographic Rule: When Brooke confesses to Haley in Season 7 that she thinks she might be pregnant, she adds that she's never been this late for her period before. Remember saying the same thing to Lucas in high school, sweetie?l
  • Foreshadowing:
    • In episode 3x09, the Angel of Death (The manifestation of Peyton's subconscious) lists several of Peyton's worries, including "Should Lucas be with me instead of Brooke?", which isn't mentioned again until 3x16 & 3x21.
    • In episode 3x18, Pete Wentz tells Peyton that he kinda already knows Peyton thanks to her podcasts & artwork. Psycho!Derek comes to believe that he & Peyton are soul mates because of this.
    • In episode 4x03, after Peyton makes a sarcastic comment about burying her prom date, and Derek comments that it'd be weird if they had that in common. Episode 4x18 reveals that Derek did, in fact, bury his prom date.
  • Forgotten Trope: After Keith and Lucas get into a car accident, a cop informs Karen that Keith had on .09 blood alcohol level and would be in trouble if it were .1. As of 2007, being legally drunk is .08 in the US. This episode was produced in 2003, before the limit was changed.
  • Friends with Benefits: Brooke and Felix, Brooke and Lucas in the beginning of season 3.
  • Full-Name Basis: "It's a Tree Hill thing."
  • Game-Breaking Injury:
    • Dan suffered a knee injury in college, and it ended his basketball career before it really began. Of course, it's revealed halfway through Season 1 that the injury wasn't asn bad as Dan had said for the past 17 years, and that he could have continued playing... If he'd actually bothered rehabbing his knee.
    • Nathan is thrown through a plate glass window during the 4 year Time Skip after Season 4, and was paralysed from the waist down. He eventually recovers after months of rehab, and eventually makes it to the NBA. However, the injury comes back to haunt him in Season 8, and he's forced to retire.
  • Generation Xerox:
    • After the initial Time Skip, Lucas has effectively become Keith. Whilst Nathan has led the same life as Dan, he's what Dan would have become if he'd still chased his dream, dropped his Jerk Jock tendencies in high school & had never tried to live vicariously through his son.
    • As Jamie grows up, he displays more & more traits seen in Nathan & Lucas. As a teenager, he follows in the footsteps of his father, uncle & grandfather and plays for the Ravens, even breaking Nathan's record as the all-time leading scorer.
  • The Ghost:
    • Brooke's parents, Ted & Victoria, until Seasons 5 & 9 respectively.
    • Haley's older siblings; 3 brothers & 3 sisters. The brothers are never named or seen; Haley's sisters (Vivian, Taylor & Quinn) are named in Season 2, in the same episode Taylor first appears, whilst Quinn becomes a regular character in Season 7.
  • Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Invoked by Brooke & Peyton in an attempt to motivate Nathan - For every step he takes out of his wheelchair, they will kiss.
  • Girliness Upgrade: Brooke, Haley & Peyton's wardrobe in Season 5, used to show the increase in their age & their maturity following the four year Time Skip.
  • Good Bad Girl: Brooke. She makes a big deal out of being able to "sleep around like a guy."
  • Good Girls Avoid Abortion: A couple examples. Karen refused to have an abortion while pregnant with Lucas, as did Haley whilst pregnant with Jamie, though both were about 17 at the time. In Season 6, it's not so much an issue of timing as it is of medical necessity: Peyton, pregnant with her and Lucas' child, learns she has placenta previa, which could lead to her hemorrhaging and dying during the pregnancy or delivery. Lucas tries for the better part of an episode to guilt her into an abortion, but Peyton refuses even before their baby conveniently kicks for the first time. Later, Lucas agrees with her that they will keep the baby.
    • It's also subverted with Shelley, when she is introduced in Season 4. Brooke is covering for a pregnant Haley by saying she's the one who's pregnant, and Shelley, a "Clean Teen", tries to tell her not to have an abortion should she be considering one. She reveals that she used to be very promiscuous and got pregnant from a summer fling, aborted the baby, and has since regretted it. The experience led to her reforming her image and starting the "Clean Teens" with the slogan "Virgins for Life".
  • Hand or Object Underwear: Lucas is forced to leave the locker room once the guys on the team steal all his clothes as hazing. He has to use basketballs to cover his, well, uh... other balls.
  • Hands-Off Parenting: Brooke went through this in the first four seasons. Her parents were implied to be unhappily married and had never really wanted her, so they gave her their credit cards and pretty much never saw her. Her mother, Victoria, finally shows up in Season 5 and onwards, and although she is an extremely crappy mother at first, she and Brooke gradually make up in Season 6. As of Season 7, she and Brooke are close. Sophia Bush said on a Season 5 DVD extra that she was excited when Daphne Zuniga joined the cast as Victoria, because she "finally had a grown-up to work with now!" (Brooke was the only one of the five whose parents hadn't been shown at least once.)
  • Happily Adopted: In Season 3, it is revealed that Peyton is adopted. At first, she's upset her dad never told her, but he insists it was for the best. She later learns that both her parents were deep into sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll at the time they had her. She grows close to her birth mom, who eventually dies, just as her adoptive mom did. When she meets her birth dad, she's excited to learn he's a famous guitarist, only to discover he's an alcoholic, and she thanks him for giving her up and then calls her adoptive dad to thank him.
  • Happily Married: Nathan and Haley have been married since Season 1, as juniors in high school, and have been identified as a "supercouple." Though there have been complications in their marriage, they've managed to last through the ensuing six seasons. Their Teen Pregnancy also gave them a son, Jamie, born on their graduation day.
  • Headbutt of Love: When Lucas finds Peyton in the library during the school shooting, bleeding from the leg and unable to walk, he does this to reassure her.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Chris Keller & Chase.
  • Hide Your Pregnancy: Moira Kelly in Season 1, Barbara Alyn Woods at the end of Season 4.
  • High School Dance: The semiformal episode in Season 2, and the two prom episodes in Season 4.
  • High School Sweethearts: Nathan and Haley count, and they even got married and had their son whilst still in high school. Lucas and Peyton sort of count--they were together in high school only to break up in college, but got married and had a baby later on.
  • Hollywood Heart Attack: Dan has one at the end of Season 1, but he is found by Deb and survives. It's later revealed that this is due to a genetic heart condition. This leads to a recurring plot point in the next couple seasons. In Season 2, Nathan learns he's in the clear, but Lucas refuses to take the test, but is later forced to by Karen. He's positive for the condition, but bluffs his way out of it by showing her Keith's negative results. This condition, HCM, later turns out to be quite the problem: Lucas suffers a heart attack in episode 4x09, "Some You Give Away", after seeing the then-pregnant Haley get hit by a car. He gets better, though.
  • Hollywood Nerd:
    • Haley. "Tutor Girl" later goes on to become valedictorian, and an English teacher after the four-year jump.
    • Mouth. Though he kind of averts part of the stereotype due to the fact that he loves sports, unlike the typical Hollywood Nerd.
    • Millie
  • Hollywood Pudgy: In Season 7, when Millie becomes a model, she is referred to as "plus-sized"--when she's average-sized (which, for a model, would be considered plus-sized). Its also worth noting the person who says this about her appears to be the exact same size making the statement even more ridiculous.
  • Honorary Aunt & Uncle: Skills & Brooke are this to Jamie, Sawyer & Lydia Scott. Peyton is also this to Jamie, before she marries Lucas in Season 6 & becomes his actual aunt. Season 7 adds Clay as another Honorary Uncle, but he quickly goes down the same route as Peyton by starting a relationship with Haley's sister, Quinn. Conversely, Nathan & Haley are this to Davis & Jude Baker.
  • Hopeless Suitor:
    • Mouth to Brooke in Season 2, though to be fair, Brooke didn't try & lead him on.
    • Mouth (Again) to Rachel in Seasons 3 & 4. Unlike Brooke, Rachel intentionally led Mouth on & everytime he figured this out, it only lasted for an episode or two before he was convinced Rachel had changed & fell for it again. He eventually realised Rachel was never interested in him after she convinced him skip town a few weeks before graduation, stringing him along for a week under the belief they were starting a relationship, until she began flirting with some random guy in a bar & used the same lines that she was feeding Mouth.
  • How We Got Here: Season 9 opens shots of a burning building, Dan Scott and Chris Keller seemingly plotting a murder, Chase in the back of a police car, Julian being assaulted in an alley, and Haley identifying a body in the morgue; edited in such a way that these seem to be directly connected. As the season goes on, each event is gradually seen in the actual context of the plot.
  • Hypocrite: Brooke's treatment of Peyton in season 4, following Peyton confessing that she had feelings for Lucas, considering that Brooke made a sex tape with Nathan on one of his many single night break-ups with Peyton.
  • I Call It Vera: Chris Keller's guitar, Haley James.

Nathan Scott: You named your guitar after my wife?
Chris Keller: No, No... I, uh, named it after the pornstar.

  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: each episode title is the name of a song, such as "Life In A Glass House" or... well, "One Tree Hill".
  • I Just Want to Be You: Played to eerie effect with "Nanny Carrie," who desperately wants to live Haley's life. She is a Stalker with a Crush towards Nathan and thinks his and Haley's son is adorable (and a potential replacement for her own dead son), so she is psychotically jealous of Haley and attempts to get her out of the picture so that she can replace her as Nathan's wife and Jamie's mom. When that doesn't work, she resorts to kidnapping Jamie, contenting herself with being Jamie's "new mommy" even if it means they have to spend the rest of their lives on the run. Grandpapa Wolf Dan puts an end to it and rescues Jamie in what was probably his biggest Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Played for Laughs with the actress who was going to play Brooke in Lucas's movie, who follows Brooke around and needles her with annoying and intrusive questions. You see, she's a method actress, and wants to learn and imitate every aspect of Brooke's personality to prepare for her role in the movie. Brooke is not amused.
  • I Never...: Happens in an early Season 1 episode. Everything the players can come up with... Brooke has.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Peyton has this with Luke in Season 5, and says it almost to the letter.

Peyton: Be happy, Luke. I want that with all my heart.

  • Imaginary Friend: Jamie has Orville. Well, to be specific, Orville is Chester's imaginary friend; Jamie just takes him places. Remember that Chester is Jamie's pet rabbit.
  • Intergenerational Friendship:
    • Whitey with Keith & Karen.
    • Sam with Jamie & Victoria.
    • Jamie with Jullian, Skills, Quentin & Brooke
  • Irony as She Is Cast: Lucas Scott is one of the best basketball players in the Ravens line-up... But Chad Michael Murray cannot play basketball. In the DVD Commentary for the first season finale, the cast all get a good laugh about how the one time Chad was supposed to miss, he couldn't stop putting it in the hoop; and the Season 5 Gag Reel features a montage of Chad's misses, hilariously matched up with 6-year old Jackson Brundage repeatedly making free-throws.
  • It's a Wonderful Plot: Episode 4x10, "Songs to Love and Die By" - Lucas questions if there was any point in him being such a kind-hearted person, considering everything that's happened to the people he loves, with Haley being hit by a car & his subsequent heart attack (Thanks to it being the latest horrible thing to happen to Peyton) being the tipping point, with Keith as his guide.
  • Jerk Jock:
    • Nathan was this before he fell in love with Haley, at which point he gradually changed.
    • Dan was this in high school, but never really grew out of it.
    • Quentin Fields was this at the start of Season 5. He was forced to grow out of it by Haley, Nathan, Lucas & Skills.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Dan. Freaking. Scott.
    • Rachel receives absolutely punishment for releasing the contents of time capsule, considering it leads to the deaths of two people.
    • Xavier "X" Daniels - Despite killing Quentin Fields & a gas station attendant, with evidence tying him to the murders being found, he was only convicted for kidnapping Sam & assaulting Brooke.
  • Killed Off for Real:
    • Keith Scott, Jimmy Edwards, and Peyton's birth-mother Ellie in Season 3.
    • Jimmy James in the Time Skip between Seasons 4 & 5.
    • Quentin Fields in Season 6.
    • Lydia James in Season 7.
    • Dan Scott in Season 9.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Nathan and Haley
  • Lampshade Hanging:
    • One Tree Hill pioneered a particularly tragic (but very effective from a writing standpoint) way to invoke the trope: Jimmy Edwards had been a minor character in Season One, a member of Lucas's initial unpopular clique of friends at the River Court. After Lucas starts hanging out with Peyton and Brooke and after he and Nathan become close, Nathan and Brooke integrate most of Lucas's formerly-unpopular friends into their clique...with the seemingly forgettable exception of Jimmy Edwards, who was never seen or mentioned again for a long time. After a few seasons, Jimmy is brought back into the spotlight, and it's lampshaded (in an extremely depressing way) just how much he's been traumatized by the fact that his old friends all became popular and moved on without him, and this becomes the impetus for his bringing a gun to school.
    • Episode 4x17 features the gang crashing a prom at a small town in Texas. There then is a montage of the main cast talking to the regular high school students and realizing just how dramatic and unrealistic their lives are in comparison to normal kids.

Lucas: So nobody has a fatal heart condition? And a father who was purposely set on fire?
Kids shake their heads

    • Weddings in Tree Hill tend to be quite dramatic, so when Brooke gets married in season seven Skills spends the entire episode making sure that the groom is who he says he is, no one gets kidnapped or steals a limo and drives it off a bridge. To name a few.
  • Last Girl Wins:
  • Late to the Punchline: Karen has a particularly memorable one in Season 3 when she realizes her advice to Lucas--"the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else"--is decidedly not as philosophical as she believed it to be.
  • Law of Inverse Fertility: When the timing is inconvenient for you to have a child, you will get pregnant (Karen, Deb, Jake and Nikki, Haley). When you're engaged, your fiancee will get pregnant unexpectedly (Peyton). When you're Brooke, the richest and most successful of all the Tree Hill gang (and the one who desperately wants to have a baby), you're just screwed.
    • As of episode 7x10, it has been revealed Brooke can't have children. The Law at its finest, folks.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • In 2x16, "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking," Brooke makes the comment that "Love triangles are so last season" - Considering the second season is notably lacking any love triangles, she's kinda right.
    • In 6x08, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," Nathan & Brooke's rebuttals to Lucas's "You do realise the book is set in High School" rebuttal to their dream castings in the movie version of "An Unkindness of Ravens"

Nathan: Come on man, you've seen how old these actors are playing high school." [[[Beat]]]

Brooke Great, so I suppose you'll be getting some snot from The CW? [[[Beat]]] At least they're hot..."

  • Lethal Bartender: Chase, to the point that he struggles to make a drinkable Long Island Iced Tea.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Lucas & Haley. When trapped in the library with Peyton, Brooke, Lindsey (Lucas's ex-girlfriends & fiancé) & Mia in episode 5x09, Mia jokingly asks if Haley's ever slept with Lucas since Jamie looks more like his uncle than Nathan, which Lindsey & Brooke both agree with; Haley's reaction is a squicked "Gross, he's like my brother."
  • Lost Wedding Ring: Subverted in 3x18, "When It Isn't Like It Should Be": there's a reason for it going missing, as Nathan is trying to get a hold of Haley's wedding ring so he can "re-propose" to her at Rachel's cabin. Haley thinks it's gone down the drain and goes through a pointless search, until Nathan eventually gets the ring with the help of Lucas and Brooke.
  • Love Dodecahedron: oh, so very much! Lucas loves Peyton, who used to date his half-brother Nathan, who had a fling with Brooke, who used to love Lucas, who is Platonic Life Partners with Haley, who married Nathan, whose agent Clay is dating her sister Quinn. Brooke also had a thing with Felix, who's Anna's brother, who dated Lucas, who almost married Lindsay. Brooke also dated Chase, who started dating Mia in Season 6. And Brooke also had a thing with Owen, who slept with Millie, who's dating Mouth, who had a crush on Brooke and Rachel and dated Gigi. And then there's Jake, who loved, and had a relationship with Peyton, who dated and lived with Julian while living in L.A., who is now in love and in a relationship with Brooke, but their relationship is complicated by Brooke's former model Alexis, Alex for short, and now complicated again by another Alex, a male Australian designer. And it gets more complicated...
  • Love Triangle: the whole show lives on this.
  • Mama Bear: Considering that this trope includes protectiveness towards children, husbands, friends and the like; Haley has firmly established herself as one. See: Nanny Carrie, Chuck's mom, Dan Scott, Rachel Gatina, Renee, Deb Scott, Taylor James, just season 9 where she helps in the kidnapping of a drug dealer in order to get her kidnapped by the mafia husband back. Most, if not all, of Haley's Action Girl moments stem from the fact that she is a prototypical Mama Bear
    • Messing with Sam, Brooke's foster daughter is a bad idea. Ask Xavier.
    • Karen and Deb both have their moments as well
  • May-December Romance: Quite popular. Deb had one with Skills before telling him he deserved someone younger. Rachel has had two: her fling (at seventeen!) with Nathan's Uncle Cooper, and as of Season 7, the squickiness has increased tenfold as it is revealed she is married to none other than Dan Scott.
  • Meaningful Echo:
    • The Pilot ends with Nathan & Lucas playing one-on-one, with the final episode of Season 4 ending the same way, albeit with them now as friends.
    • The series' closing lines are the same as episode 5x13.
  • Meaningful Funeral: There's been a couple over the years.
    • Season 3: In episode 3x13, "The Wind That Blew My Heart Away", we see Peyton scattering the ashes of her birth mom Ellie in a field where Ellie once saw a concert, and she tearfully says "Say hi to my mom," referring to her adoptive mom, who died years earlier. Girl has no luck. A few episodes later, in 3x17 ("Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?"), we get Keith's funeral, and later Jimmy Edwards'. Since everyone thinks Jimmy killed Keith, Lucas finds it difficult to go, but later goes with the river court guys to support Jimmy's mother, who is alone at his grave.
    • Season 6: Episode 6x03, "Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.", revolves around the funeral of Quentin Fields, who is killed in a gas station robbery. Nathan and Haley have to explain to Jamie, who was close to Q, that he's died, and Jamie leaves a cape that he and Haley had made for Q on Q's grave.
    • Season 7: We learn that in the past, Clay had a wife who died, something he barely told anyone. We see him sitting alone at her casket before she is buried, taking off his wedding ring and placing it on her ring finger before crying.
  • Mile-High Club: Referred to by name when Chase makes out with Mia in his "plane" in Season 7--she asks if he has a minute to join the Mile High Club; he responds he's gotten up to a couple of minutes and you can guess what'll happen from there. They're actually on a fight simulator, as it happens. It's also mentioned in 6x02, when Peyton and Lucas are flying home from Vegas and Lucas returns from the bathroom and says to Peyton he thought she would meet him. She says something about joining the mile high club and he jokingly responds "maybe I just did."
  • The Missus and the Ex:
    • In the first season, Karen and Deb form a friendship even if Deb's the wife of the guy who got Karen pregnant, abandoned her, and then got Deb pregnant three months later. They later go into business together, Deb helps Karen run against Dan for mayor of Tree Hill, Karen is the one who drives Deb to rehab for her pill addiction, and Deb is the one who's with Karen when she flatlines prior to delivering Lily at the end of Season 4.
    • Peyton & Haley develop their friendship after Peyton breaks up with Nathan, who soon after begins dating (And eventually marries) Haley.
    • In Season 4, Peyton & Brooke subvert this - they are this trope for Lucas, but were friends beforehand, but fell out when Peyton realised she had feelings for Lucas whilst he was dating Brooke, and eventually reconcile after Peyton & Lucas start dating.
    • In Season 5, Lindsey (Lucas's fiance following the 4 year Time Skip) befriends Brooke, but is hated by Peyton, until they find common ground with having lost parents to cancer.
  • Mood Whiplash
    • Episode 4x09, "Some Give You Away" - The Ravens win the State Championship, Nathan & Haley find out they're having a boy, Lucas & Peyton finally get together, and then loan shark Daunte tries to run Nathan down but hits Haley when she pushes him out of the way, Lucas has a heart attack due to his HCM, and Nathan beats Daunte to death only for Dan to tàke the fall. Although it was later revealed that the car crash killed Daunte, not Nathan.
    • The ending of episode 5x12, "Hundred" - Nathan & Haley's friends and family are at their house, distraught that Jamie was kidnapped at Lucas's wedding, only for everyone to be relieved when Jamie walks in through the door... And then Jamie says "Grandpa Dan saved me" & Dan walks in, and the mood completely changes.
    • The ending of episode 6x23, "Forever & Almost Always" - a very heartwarming & funny episode, with Lucas & Peyton finally getting married... Right until the final scene, with Lucas finding his pregnant wife collapsed on the floor & bleeding thanks to the placenta previa that was making Peyton's pregnancy life threatening for both her & the baby. Cue credits as Lucas screams for Peyton to stay with him.
    • The last moments of the Season 7 finale, "Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You...". Julian and Brooke are engaged, Haley's pregnant again and happy after all of her depression... and then Quinn and Clay are shot by Katie, the crazy stalker. Roll credits.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Dan Scott's reaction after Deb tells him it was her, not Keith, who had tried to kill him in a fire; the revelation coming 7 episodes after Dan had killed Keith in retaliation.
  • My Own Private I Do: In the premiere of Season 2, it's revealed that Nathan and Haley's sudden marriage was of the Elope First, Plan Later variety. The only people that were present were Haley's parents, as Nathan needed their permission to marry her (he was emancipated; she wasn't, as they were only sixteen). Brooke throws them a wedding reception to make up for not being at the wedding, and "bachelor" and "bachelorette" parties ensue later in the season. At the end of Season 3, they have a vow renewal so everyone can be present-- except for Haley's parents, who joke that they went to her first wedding and "it was kind of boring."
  • Never My Fault: Episode 3x06, "Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades" - Brooke (Who has the No. 2 pick) picks Chris Keller in the 'Fantasy Boy Draft', then gets upset when Rachel picks Lucas & promptly blames Bevin, who traded her No. 3 pick for Rachel's No. 5 pick, despite having the opportunity to draft Lucas herself. Lampshaded the following episode by Lucas, when Brooke tries to claim it wasn't her fault.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: Trailers for 3x16 ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept") hype the Tonight Someone Dies aspect of the episode. They just misdirect the viewer to think it's one of the students (Specifically, Peyton) who dies, with absolutely no hint that it's Keith who dies
  • No Indoor Voice: Amusingly subverted. Brooke takes her foster child, a baby who only slept after much trouble, to Jamie's birthday party, where noisy kids abound.

Kid: DO YOU HAVE ANY CHICKEN FINGERS?!
Brooke: Do you have an inside voice?!
Peyton: Brooke, we're outside!

  • "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Lucas telling Nathan how a donor was found for Dan, but subsequent events led to the donor heart being eaten by a dog results in this being invoked.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Bevin, the resident Dumb Blonde, heavily implies in one episode to be doing this.
  • Obvious Pregnancy: Both Haley and Peyton went from being flat to having very noticeable bumps during their pregnancies, in very short amounts of time. The exact passage of time has never quite been confirmed. Karen, on the other hand, didn't look pregnant at all.
  • Odd Couple: Mark Schwahn has stated that initial reactions among the fanbase to Nathan/Haley was extremely negative, although the writers had planned it since the beginning. They are pretty much opposites: Nathan was a stud while Haley was a virgin, Nathan was athletic while Haley couldn't even master a basic basketball shot, etc. Also, Brooke's party-loving, school-flunking ways were an odd mix with Lucas' introspective, intelligent ways.
  • Old Shame: In-Universe, Nathan's Jerk Jock & Casanova tendencies, and Brooke's reputation as the Ravens' welcome mat are this.
  • One Head Taller: Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley) is five foot three while James Lafferty (Nathan) is six foot two. With about a foot between them, the abundance of forehead kissing in the Naley coupling seems self-explanatory.
    • Despite being the same age, Chuck is nearly twice as tall as Jamie.
  • Once a Season: After the sucess the show had with Mia Catalano/Kate Voegle in Seasons 5 & 6, the show tried to replicate that formula with Grubbs/Mike Grubbs of Wakey!Wakey! in Season 7, and Erin Macree/Laura Izibor in Season 8.
  • Opening Monologue: It was a pretty common device to have Lucas (or, rarely, one of the other characters) deliver an opening and closing monologue for each episode. It would usually be some kind of quote from classic literature that would relate in some way to the theme of the episode. The end of the episode would usually have another quote over a particular song that brings together the different plot threads. An example of the monologues opening and closing the Season 3 finale, "The Show Must Go On":
    • Opening:

Lucas: At this moment there are six billion, five hundred and two million, eight hundred and sixty seven thousand, one hundred and twenty people in the world, give or take a few and sometimes all you need is one. For better or for worse.

    • Closing:

Lucas: William Shakespeare wrote: "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out, even to the edge of doom."

  • The Other Darrin: Peyton's dad Larry switches actors between Season 2 and Season 3. Guess Peyton doesn't notice he looks a little different when he comes back from sea...
  • Pac-Man Fever: Averted, when video games are shown being used, it's generally acurate. Strangely, however, the show also managed to subvert this with the iPhone (Of all things) in Season 5, with characters answering & rejecting phone calls when the screen shows that no-one is calling, and incorrectly for the hardware. Come Season 6, the characters are shown using the phone correctly, so this would appear to be down to Season 5 being made just as the iPhone was first released.
  • Papa Wolf: Dan may be a Jerkass and he's pretty far from being father-of-the-year material, but make no mistake, if you hurt his sons & grandchildren, you WILL regret it.
  • Pair the Spares:
    • Season 9 reveals that Lauren (Skills's ex-girlfriend) & David (Quinn's ex-husband) have begun a relationship & are expecting a baby together.
    • Depending on how one interprets the final scene, this can be seen as happening with Skills & Bevin.
  • Parental Abandonment: Dan Scott abandoned Karen and their son, Lucas.
  • Parental Substitute: Keith, as Lucas' uncle, helped to raise him in Dan's place. Of course, after he's killed off, Karen's boyfriend Andy acts as the father to her and Keith's daughter Lily.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Just say [straight forward & less Pretty Fly for a White Guy version of Tim just said], Tim."
  • Pillow Pregnancy: Brooke does this earlier in Season 4, when Haley has asked her to make maternity clothes for her when Brooke is the only one who knows Haley is pregnant. Rachel, however, catches her in the act and spreads the rumor that Brooke is pregnant, which goes on for a few episodes until Brooke finally asks Haley to admit it. Peyton also does this in Season 6, when she realizes she'll be showing quite a bit on the day she and Lucas had initially planned for their wedding (before knowing she was pregnant).
  • Platonic Life Partners: Lucas and Haley.
  • Playing Gertrude: The James Sisters - Bethany Joy Lenz/Gaelotti plays Haley, the youngest James child, but is older than Lindsey McKeon (Taylor James) by a year, and Shantel VanSanten (Quinn James) by 5 years.
  • Pool Episode: 3x02, "From The Edge of The Deep Green Sea", consists of a beach party put together by Brooke. There's also a memorable pool fight in 7x14, "Family Affair", when a catfight between the James sisters slowly devolves into one.
  • Posthumous Character: Whitey's wife Camilla, Peyton's mother Anna, Clay's wife Sara.
  • Poster Gallery Bedroom:
    • The decor in Peyton's room changes many times over the first four seasons; she's constantly painting and repainting the walls, putting up new drawings, etc.
    • During Season 5, the map of America built from licence plates cut into shapes of the states on Lucas's wall is gradually filled out over the season.
  • Post Script Season:
    • Whilst it has all the hallmarks of a Post Script Season, this wasn't the case with Season 5 - Season 4 wraps up most of the loose ends from the first 3 seasons, and ends with the main characters graduating from high school whilst Dan Scott begins his prison sentance for murdering his brother Keith, and Season 5 saw a massive retool thanks to the 4 year Time Skip; Mark Schwahn states on the Season 5 DVD that when they were planning Season 5, it was decided to go with the Time Skip because they'd already done most of the typical college storylines whilst the characters were in high school, and it allowed more freedom with the plot since they could pick up with the characters returning to Tree Hill after college & they would be able to jump right into Jamie starting school rather than having him age naturally.
    • Season 9. Season 8 wraps up all of the character arcs, and even features a Book End to the very first shot of the series as it's closing shot, however The CW renewed the series for a final Season 9, which featured James Lafferty absent for half of the season, after Nathan was kidnapped in episode 9x03 and provided closure to the few loose ends left from Season 8, namely Quinn & Clay get married and ultimately, Dan Scott's redemption.
  • Product Placement: In Season 3, One Tree Hill really wants you to know that Sunkist is a refreshing drink and that Fall Out Boy is (or now, was) an awesome band (the members of Fall Out Boy, particularly Pete Wentz, show up in person to help drill this message in). Meanwhile, ads for Sunkist were seemingly all over the high school, and in Real Life the show was doing some kind of joint promotion for some contest during the commercial breaks with Sunkist. Yeah, it's safe to say that the premiere that year might as well have opened with the line: "And now, Season 3 of OTH, brought to you by Sunkist and Fall Out Boy."
  • Promotion to Opening Titles:
    • Barbara Alyn Woods (Deb Scott) in Season 2.
    • Lee Norris (Marvin "Mouth" McFadden) in Season 3.
    • Daneel Harris (Rachel Gatina) & Antwon Tanner (Antwon "Skills" Taylor) in Season 4.
    • Lisa Goldstein (Millicent "Millie" Huxtable) in Season 6 & Austin Nichols (Julian Baker) in Season 7, went from being recurring characters in Seasons 5 & 6 to series regulars the following season, however with the technicality that Seasons 6 & 7 didn't actually have opening.
    • Stephen Colletti (Chase Adams) midway through Season 8.
      • Technically, Jackson Brundage (Jamie Scott), Lisa Goldstein, Austin Nichols, Shantel VanSanten (Quinn James), Robert Buckley (Clay Evans), and Jana Kramer (Alex Dupre) in Season 8, on the technicality that Seasons 5 to 7 didn't have opening titles.
  • Puppy Love: Jamie & Madison.
  • Put on a Bus:
    • Jake at the end of Season 1.
    • Andy at the end of Season 2.
    • Rachel, Bevin, Karen, Lily & Whitey at the end of Season 4.
    • Deb during Season 6.
    • Lucas, Peyton & Sawyer at the end of Season 6.
    • Rachel (Again) & Dan during Season 7
    • Mia at the end of Season 8.
    • Alex at the start of Season 9.
  • Putting the Band Back Together: Done in the first episode of Season 5, with Peyton in Los Angeles & Brooke in New York whilst everyone else is back in Tree Hill. Mark Schwahn states in an extra on the Season 5 DVD that it was done within the first episode to avoid people asking why Peyton & Brooke still aren't back in Tree Hill after several episodes.
  • Ready for Lovemaking: Brooke, naked in the backseat of Lucas' car in the second episode. Peyton goes so far as to describe her leopard-print bra as a welcome mat for the THH Ravens. Brooke's custom is repeatedly lampshaded in ensuing seasons.

Brooke: Naked in the backseat is so last year, it's two years ago!

  • Real Life Writes the Plot:
    • Skills begins Commuting on a Bus during Season 7 due to Antwon Tanner's real life legal issues.
    • Lucas & Peyton were originally going to be brought back for Brooke & Julian's wedding in episode 8x13, however Chad Michael Murray & Hilarie Burton's schedules prevented the characters returning. Burton's schedule was also cited as the reason why Peyton wasn't brought back with Lucas in Season 9.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • Karen's going to Italy in Season 1 was written so Moira Kelly could go on maternity leave.
    • Lucas's tattoo in Season 1 was necessitated by Chad Michael Murray getting his initials tattooed there durinng the production of the season.
    • Haley leaves to pursue her music in Season 2, and is subsequently Demoted to Extra for a large chunk of the season, because Bethany Joy Lenz was on the One Tree Hill tour at the time.
    • Deb doesn't show up until "What Do You Go Home To?" in Season 5 due to Barbara Alyn Woods being on maternity leave.
  • Really Gets Around: Hi, Brooke! As stated above, she was the embodiment of this trope early on. Peyton once remarked that she did it for a purpose, to show she could "sleep around like a guy," and Brooke herself stated "screw the double standard." Currently, among the men in Tree Hill, Brooke slept with Lucas, Nathan, Julian, Chase, Owen, most of the Ravens guys... It goes on. As an adult, and later in her high school years, Brooke hates being reminded of her tenure as the town bicycle.

Mia: Did you know Chase lost his virginity to Brooke?!
Haley: Yes... and by the look on your face, I'm guessing you didn't. Well, welcome to Tree Hill; try to find a boy who didn't lose his virginity to Brooke Davis.

  • Real Song Theme Tune: Gavin Degraw's I Don't Wanna Be.
    • In Seasons 5 to 7 & 9, this was replaced with No Theme Tune - merely the words "One Tree Hill" on a black background as a title card. Previously, this opening was used only when the episode would run over the allotted time, or when the episode dealt with sensitive issues (see "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept", the school shooting episode, and "I Love You, But I've Chosen Darkness", which deals with Derek's obsession with Peyton).
    • Rearrange the Song: Season 8 used a different cover of I Don't Wanna Be in every episode, with the the opening titles using some original shots from the earlier seasons for each of the old regulars (Nathan, Brooke, Haley, Mouth and Jamie) and some great new shots because it was believed to be the show's final season.
  • Record Producer: Peyton and Haley.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Dan Scott. His unforgivable deed was killing Keith; he made reparations with his time in prison, his efforts to be a good grandfather, and his rescuing of Jamie and, ultimately, Nathan. He is shot in the back with a bullet meant for Nathan and is led into Heaven by Keith, who forgives him.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Clay is introduced in Season 7, having been friends with the Scott family for over a year & being referred to as Nathan's best friend. Justified by his becoming Nathan's agent during the 14 month Time Skip between Seasons 6 & 7.
  • Repetitive Name: Haley's father, James "Jimmy" James.
  • Retirony
    • Keith, who finally gets engaged to Karen a mere two episodes before getting shot by Dan.
    • Quentin doesn't even last a full episode before getting killed by Xavier, after talking with Haley about eventually starting a family of his own.
  • A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside An Enigma: Lucas once observes that despite Peyton's desire to express herself through her art, she doesn't want anyone to know it's her. Peyton responds to this, "I'm just a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a bitch," but Lucas sees something else: A troubled artist.
  • Ridiculously Successful Future Selves
    • Lucas is a published author, with his book about his time growing up in Tree Hill adapted into an ultimately cancelled movie, and he also coaches the Ravens.
    • Nathan is (Eventually) point guard for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, and after his retirement, an agent.
    • Haley is a teacher, a singer, songwriter, record producer, helps Peyton run Red Bedroom Records, runs the reopened Karen's Cafe with Brooke, volunteers at a crisis hotline, in addition to being a mother.
    • Peyton is a record producer & runs Red Bedroom Records.
    • Brooke runs her own clothing line, television station & magazine.
    • Mouth is a sports anchor, and later a host of daytime television show.
  • Romance on the Set: Chad Michael Murray (Lucas) and Sophia Bush (Brooke) were married in real life, but divorced (after which came one of the seasons where Brucas was in full swing; talk about awkward...). More recently, Bush was linked to James Lafferty (Nathan). After she split with Lafferty, she moved on to Austin Nichols (Julian). There's also the reason Murray and Bush broke up in the first place--Murray flirting with and, after the divorce, starting a relationship with a much younger extra who was one of the cheerleaders...
  • Romantic False Lead: Lindsay, Lucas' fiancee from Season 5. Mark Schwahn states on the Season 5 DVD that the intention behind Lindsey was (whilst still working towards Lucas & Peyton getting back together) to introduce a new love interest for Lucas, who wasn't blatantly there just to serve as an obvious false lead & could very easily be the right girl for Lucas in a different way to Peyton.
  • Runaway Bride: Twice. The Scott men just have no luck.
    • Season 2: Keith is left by Jules at the altar, seeing as Dan was paying her to do it and all...
    • Season 5: Lindsay abandons Lucas at the altar when she realizes that Lucas' book isn't actually about a comet at all... because Peyton's car is the Comet, and Lucas unconsciously wrote the book with her in mind. Ouch.
  • Running Gag: A number over the course of nine seasons, but one memorable one is Skills' habit of walking in on people having sex in Season 4 - after the fourth occasion in four episodes, he lampshades it: "Damn, I gotta stop doing this."
  • Second Episode Introduction: Brooke doesn't appear in the pilot.
  • Self-Parody: The gang sees how real high school students look and act when they crash a prom in "It Gets Worse At Night".
  • Shallow Love Interest: Anna, Felix and Owen. A lot of fans saw Chase as this when he first showed as Brooke's new love interest.
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • Whilst Peyton is in love Lucas whilst he's still pining for Lindsey after she leaves him at the altar, Skills tells Peyton that he's rooting for her. Judging by their reactions after they realise that Lucas & Peyton have finally gotten back together, it would appear that Haley, Nathan & Brooke all qualify too.
    • During their relationship, Jamie apparently ships Skills and Deb.
  • Shoot the Dog: The final fate of Nanny Carrie, courtesy of Dan Scott.
  • Six-Student Clique: At least in the high school years, it would look something like this:
    • The Main Character: Lucas
    • The Muscle: Nathan
    • The Smart One: Haley
    • The Wild One: Brooke
    • The Pretty One: Peyton
    • The Quirk: Mouth (at least around Season 2, when he started becoming major)
  • Sleep Cute: Brooke and Lucas have one of these in Season 5, when Lucas has to help Brooke put the baby she's fostering to sleep. The Brucas shippers squee'd over the implied familial overtones for the couple.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Mouth, in Seasons 2 through 4, thinks he's a lot cooler than he actually is - Such as his being offended when Shelley labels him a Geek in Season 4's "Pictures Of You" when asked to label him either a Geek, Jock, Prom Queen, Loner or "Friendly".
  • Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Jamie & Lily were born in final episodes of Season 4, but turn 5 years old the following season. Justified by the 4 year Time Skip between Seasons 4 & 5, with Mark Schwahn stating on the Season 5 DVD that this was one of the advantages of the Time Skip.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: Lily, the daughter of Karen and Keith.
  • Something Only They Would Say: Happens in 3x16, otherwise known as the school shooting episode ("With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept"). As Jimmy Edwards has taken a group of students hostage in the tutoring center, Nathan tries to find Haley. He slips his driver's license under the door and Haley goes to let him in, but when the others tell her to be sure, she whispers "Always" to the door. When Nathan comes back with "and forever," the end of their shipping phrase, she lets him in.
  • Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs: In Season 3, Lucas learns that he can no longer play basketball due to his HCM. He tries valiantly, with and without his medication, but eventually stops after having a heart attack after the States game (to be fair, he'd just seen Haley be hit by a car whilst pregnant). After he gives up basketball, he starts coaching instead.
  • Spell My Name with an "S":
    • Brooke's clothing line "Clothes Over Bro's." is spelt (As noted by Haley) with a grammatically incorrect apostrophe.
    • Lucas's fiance in Season 5 is called Lindsey, not Lindsay, but is frequently spelt as the later by the fandom.
  • Spontaneous Choreography: The Tree Hill girls dance to "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in the season 4 finale.
  • Stage Mom: Haley has a really minor version of this when she wants Jamie to sing and play piano during a school talent show. He ends up doing a little bit of her act and a little bit of his (cutesy stand-up comedy).
  • Stalker with a Crush: Several.
    • Psycho!Derek to Peyton in Season 4.
    • Nanny Carrie to Nathan in Season 5.
    • Katie Ryan to Clay in Season 7.
  • Take Up My Sword: A variation - After Lucas returns to the Ravens after Keith's death, Whitey gives Lucas Keith's old number, saying he knows Keith'd be proud to see Lucas wear that number.
  • Talking to the Dead: Whitey to the grave of his late wife, Camilla.
  • Tangled Family Tree: The Scott family. One notable mention is Lucas's half-sister Lily also being his cousin as her parents are his mother and his father's brother.
  • Technology Marches On: Seasons 3 & 4 are set during 2006, as indicated by Keith & Jimmy's tombstones listing his death as taking place in 2006. Season 5 follows a Time Skip of 4 years, which would place the season in 2010, around the time smartphones started to become common place. Whilst the show had the foresight to have Peyton & Brooke using iPhones, by 2010 it's a visibly outdated model & some characters (Notably Lucas, by this point a publisher writer) still shown using the cellphones from the previous season. Season 9 depicts Jamie using a PSP, yet further time skips place the season around 2016 - The console's succesor was released in 2012.
  • Teen Pregnancy: This show's chock full of 'em! Lucas and Nathan are both products of this trope, as Dan got Karen pregnant with Lucas right after they graduated high school, left her and went to college, and then got his girlfriend there pregnant with Nathan. Way to go, Dan. In the second generation, Jake Jagielski is a teen father, and Haley gives birth to her and Nathan's son on their graduation day. The trope was subverted by Lucas and Brooke when Brooke thought she was pregnant in Season 1-- it was a scare, but she lied and told Lucas she really was pregnant for the better part of the episode in order to get back at him for cheating on her with Peyton.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Haley gives one to Principal Rimkus as she leaves Tree Hill High for the final time.

"Congratulations Principle Rimkus, you made a good teacher not want to teach, and good students not want to learn. You be proud of that."

  • Theme Naming:
    • Haley, Peyton & Brooke all name their first born child with their maiden name. Jamie is just a coincidence, however, as he was named after his maternal grandfather, James "Jimmy" James.
    • In addition to being named with their mother's maiden name, Jamie & Sawyer Scott share their middle name with their godparent of the same gender (Lucas & Brooke, respectively).
    • Jamie & Lydia Scott share their first names with their maternal grandparents.
    • Jude's name comes from The Beatles song, "Hey Jude", a song which Paul Mc Cartney wrote for John Lennon's son, Julian. Jude's father & paternal grandfather are named Julian & Paul respectively.
  • Theme Tune Cameo:
    • Episode 1x05, "All That You Can't Leave Behind" features "I Don't Wanna Be" playing during the first half of the Father/Son Basketball game.
    • In Episode 1x10, "You Gotta Go There To Comeback," Gavin DeGraw performs "I Don't Wanna Be" at Karen's Cafe.
    • In the Season 5 finale, Gavin DeGraw performs "I Don't Wanna Be" on piano with Jamie.
    • One of the final scenes is the cast attending a Gavin DeGraw concert, and singing along to "I Don't Wanna Be"
  • They Do:
    • Nathan and Haley: 2x01, "The Desperate Kingdom of Love", shows their wedding. 3x22, "The Show Must Go On", is their vow renewal.
    • Lucas and Peyton: 6x23, "Forever and Almost Always".
    • Brooke and Julian: 8x13, "The Other Half of Me".
    • Clay & Quinn: 9x13, "One Tree Hill". Mouth & Millie get married at some point during the final Time Skip.
  • Third Person Person: Chris Keller, which is made fun of by pretty much everyone.
  • This Is Reality: Invoked when Brooke tells Skills that Peyton won't interrupt the vows at Lucas & Lindsey's wedding, and Lucas won't say the wrong name at the altar.
  • Those Two Guys: Junk and Fergie... they're just... there. Save for a random episode where they babysit Jamie, and their frequent appearances on Mouth and Skills' couch playing video games, what real contribution did they have to the show?
    • Lampshaded in the episode with the casting Lucas's movie; Fergie turns up, hoping to see the actors in line to be cast as him. When he asks Lucas where those actors are, he's told that he's not going to be included in the film, as he was Demoted to Extra in the scripting process due to how little he was involved in Lucas's life compared to the others.
  • Time Skip: One Tree Hill pioneered the technique by skipping the characters' college years and only showing them in flashbacks.
    • The skip is introduced in the titular "4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days", the Season 5 premiere.
    • The Season 7 opener, "4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Traveling Abroad)" also begins 14 months into the future from the Season 6 finale, "Remember Me as a Time of Day", in order to more firmly establish the absence of Lucas, Peyton, and Sawyer.
    • The Season 8 finale "This is My House, This is My Home" skips forward 13 months, bypassing Brooke's pregnancy & the first few months of her & Julian's twins, Jude & Davis
    • The series finale has another time skip, to show Millie pregnant, Skills and Bevin reunited and the kids several years older, with Jamie following in Nathan's footsteps & playing for the Ravens.
  • Title Drop: "There's only one Tree Hill, Lucas/Jamie Scott, and it's your home."
    • And "Did you there's a One Tree Hill there" (The character talking is from New Zealand which contains the titular city)
  • Tonight Someone Dies: This promo for 3x16.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass:
    • Lucas in Season 1.
    • Millie in Season 7, after gaining success as a model.
  • Took a Level In Kindness: Nathan in Season 1.
  • Trailers Always Spoil:
    • The "On the Next..." preview that aired after 7x08 had Brooke's voiceover stating that she thought she could be pregnant. Later, the CW released the clip where she confesses this to Haley before a concert Haley will be playing that night at the town's nightclub. Then the CW releases a promo photo of Brooke drinking at Haley's concert, clearly revealing she wasn't pregnant.
    • The trailers for the Season 5 finale showed the season ending cliffhanger (Lucas phoning Brooke, Peyton or Lindsey & proposing) in the preview.
      • On top of that, the box art for the Season 6 DVD box set spoils the cliffhanger, whilst also trying to build suspense for The Reveal... When there are two pictures clearly visible on the back that reveal who it was (Peyton) - the two pictures are of her and Lucas embracing in their kitchen and the background of the DVD box is Lucas kissing her from the finale.
      • Additionally, The CW allegedly ruined the cliffhanger by editing a promo for Season 6 in a way that made it obvious who Lucas calls, which is why Mark Schwahn, the showrunner, handles making the promotional materials now.
    • The return of Jake Jagielski at the end of episode 2x10 is a big surprise... Unless you're watching on DVD, where his return is spoilt by the DVD menu, which features a very prominent picture of him at the end of the photo montage on the main menu... Except returning to the menu, even from watching an episode, cuts off the fade-in which covers the image up, making it the very first thing seen when you return to the main menu. And the real kicker? The episode with his return is on disc 3, but the image appears on discs 1 & 2.
  • Triage Tyrant: "I didn't like cheerleaders when I was in school." "But she's pregnant and in pain!" "Guess who's waiting a little longer?"
  • True Companions: Lucas is this with Haley and the River Court gang (Skills, Jimmy, Junk, Fergie & Mouth) before the series starts. By the time of graduation Skills, Lucas, Haley & Mouth have become this with Brooke, Nathan & Peyton. Following the Time Skip between Seasons 4 & 5, the majority of the group become this to Jamie, who views Skills, Brooke & Peyton as his aunts & uncle. By the end of Season 8, this has extended further to include Clay, Quinn, Jullian & Millicent.
  • Unperson: In-Universe, this applies to Dan Scott after confessing to Keith's murder, with the Ravens removing his retired jersey from the gym wall, so as to not remind people of his crime.
  • Unrequited Love Switcheroo: At the beginning of season one Lucas is pining for Peyton's affections, the rest of the time it's pretty much the other way around.
  • Unusual Euphemism: After Brooke is caught having A Date with Rosie Palms, "Brooke-ing yourself" became a euphemism both in the show and among the fans.
  • Very Special Episode: Jimmy Edwards shoots up Tree Hill High.
  • Wall-Bang Her: Nathan and Haley in a particularly memorable Season 6 scene. In a bathroom stall at Lucas and Peyton's wedding reception, no less.
  • Wedding Day: Hooboy.
    • Season 2: Flashbacks to Nathan and Haley's elopement, and then Keith's wedding day (later ruined when Jules abandons him).
    • Season 3: Nathan and Haley renew their vows in front of all their friends.
    • Season 5: Lucas and Lindsay. She leaves him at the altar.
    • Season 6: Lucas and Peyton.
    • Season 8: Brooke and Julian.
  • Wham! Episode: Episode 3x16, "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" - Jimmy Edwards takes a gun to to Tree Hill High; accidentally shooting (And nearly killing) Peyton, and taking his own life, with Dan also using the gun to kill Keith & frame Jimmy. The effects of this are still felt in the final season.
  • Wham! Line:
    • Episode 3x22, "The Show Must Go On" - "Mom, are you pregnant?" "Yes... But that's not my purse."
    • Episode 5x12, "Hundred" - "Grandpa Dan saved me."
  • What Could Have Been: An in-universe example. After finding out Karen was pregnant with Lucas, Dan was going to drop out of college & return to Tree Hill to support Karen & his unborn child, but found out Deb was pregnant with Nathan before he could.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Dan's donor heart gets eaten by a dog. Dog, backwards, is God.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • It's never revealed if Jake gets custody of Jenny.
    • Lucas & Skills just kinda stop coaching the Ravens midway through Season 6, with no explanation.
    • Principal Turner is replaced by Principal Rimkus during Season 6.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Haley to Lucas, after he (Albeit drunk at the time, & still depressed after Lindsey left him at the altar) tells Peyton that he hates her & wishes she'd never come back to Tree Hill.
  • Who Are You?: Haley & Nathan have known Chase since their senior year. Jamie, on the other hand, simply can't remember who he is & repeatedly asks this.
  • Who Would Want to Watch Us?: Lucas wrote his novel Unkindness of Ravens about his life growing up in Tree Hill, which had a movie adaptation scrapped in Season 6. In season 9, Julian gets the idea of adapting the book to create a television show about Tree Hill, essentially making One Tree Hill.
  • Whole-Episode Flashback: Season 5 was very flashback heavy due to the four-and-a-half year Time Skip. This left some things not fully explained until a flashback came in--for example, Nathan being in a wheelchair, the reason for which was revealed towards the end of the season's first episode. However, 5x05, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", showed a night three years in the past that explained things we hadn't yet seen: Lucas proposed to Peyton in LA, which she turned down, leading to the bad blood between them; Nathan let his temper get the best of him on the court, which foreshadows his accident years later; and Brooke tells Lucas how much she wants a baby, though we don't learn what was said in their conversation until 5x12, "Hundred".
  • Whole-Plot Reference: Episode 8x12, "The Drinks We Drank Last Night," is The Hangover with the Tree Hill girls.
  • You Remind Me of X:
    • In Season 4, when Haley is pregnant with Jamie & it looks like Nathan might follow in Dan's footsteps by abandoning his pregnant girlfriend/wife for basketball, Karen tells Haley "Welcome to my past".
    • In Season 7, Julian & Chase points out (fairly justifiably) that Alex is just like Brooke was as a teenager. Brooke does not take this kindly.
  • Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Over the course of 9 seasons, Haley is Haley is a high school student, waitress, singer, tutor, teacher, songwriter, record producer, helps Peyton run Red Bedroom Records, volunteers at a crisis hotline, and runs the reopened Karen's Cafe with Brooke.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: Happens to Peyton in 6x16, "Screenwriter's Blues". A movie is being made out of Lucas' autobiography, and Peyton walks in to bring Lucas lunch as the auditions for her character are going on. A woman who is making sure the auditioning actresses stay in line believes Peyton is method acting when she insists she's the real Peyton Sawyer. When Peyton finally gets in to see Lucas, she jokingly recites lines from the script (drawn from their early relationship), and the director states that she's "too old, but she'd make a great Deb." Peyton is offended until Lucas tells the director she's the real Peyton.
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