18 Things That Literally Made No Sense About 'One Tree Hill'
One Tree Hill is one of those teen dramas that stays in your heart for a long time after you've finished the final episode. You just can't help but get totally invested in the lives of half-brothers Nathan and Lucas Scott who grew up very differently: Nathan in the lap of luxury and Lucas with a sweet single mom named Karen. Add in Nathan's bookworm best friend Haley and BFFs Brooke and Peyton and you've got an amazing group of teenagers who soon become the very best of friends. It was so much fun to watch these characters grow up, fall in love, find themselves, and take care of each other. What was so special about this show is how much the characters love each other. If you wanted to live in Tree Hill, too, that was a pretty common side effect of watching the show.
Of course, this show is known for being a bit wild and crazy at times… and that's probably an understatement. Even though you absolutely love this show and are down for a re-watch any day of the week, even the biggest fans have to admit that there are a few things that are a bit confusing. Here are 18 things that literally made no sense about One Tree Hill.
18 Lucas And Peyton Break Up And He Dates His Editor Lindsey
Every TV show needs a good love story, and One Tree Hill is a pretty amazing show because there are a whole bunch of love stories. From Nathan and Haley to Brooke and Julian, there are countless couples who are totally #relationshipgoals and make you swoon with every scene that they're in. But, arguably, the fan favorite couple is Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer. There's just something about these two.
They're on and off for the high school years of the show (seasons one to four) and then break up when Peyton is pursuing her musical dreams in L.A. and Lucas is trying to become an author.
She doesn't want him to move out there to be with her and feel like she ruined his dream… but, come on, that's just not a realistic breakup. If a couple really loves each other, they'll find a way. Lucas then dates his book editor, Lindsey, and it was a super weird time for fans who wanted nothing more than for Lucas and Peyton to stay together. Sure, they did get back together and get married, but the fact that they even broke up in the first place really didn't make any sense.
17 Why Lucas And Peyton Move Away From Tree Hill
After Lucas and Peyton get married at the end of season six, they both moved away from Tree Hill. They have a daughter, Sawyer Brooke Scott, so fans were supposed to believe that they were starting a family and a life.
Sure, it's nice to see a happy ending for this couple, especially since they had been through so much and Peyton, in particular, had suffered so much as a teenager. She was the classic angsty teen who had a lot of feelings, but she also had a lot to deal with, from wondering about her real parents to a stalker who she thought was her brother. But it didn't make sense for these characters to move away, especially since their friends and family stayed in Tree Hill. It also didn't make sense since the show lasted for three more seasons, and fans never learned more about their lives, except for Lucas saying that their daughter was sick in the ninth season. Yes, it seems like the actors, Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, wanted to leave the show, so that was the reason behind this storyline, but there was no good reason given for them leaving Tree Hill. Why did they really leave? Wouldn't they have wanted to raise their daughter there since it was their home?
16 Peyton Dating A Famous Singer
Yes, Peyton has always been into music. She even created a record label called Red Bedroom Records. That being said, this storyline is something that literally made no sense. In the third season of the show, Peyton started dating a famous singer. But he wasn't a fictional character that was made up for the show. It was Pete Wentz from the band Fall Out Boy. He played himself and appeared in a few episodes of the show.
Okay, let's chat about this for a second: would a teenage girl in a small town like Tree Hill really and truly and honestly be able to meet and catch the eye of a famous singer, let alone someone from Fall Out Boy, who was really popular at the time?
No, it doesn't seem like this would be a thing that would actually happen. This storyline seems like a stretch and it didn't make much sense. Why didn't Peyton just date someone from her high school, aka Lucas, who she obviously has always been madly in love with? Even if it was a fictional celebrity, it still wouldn't make sense because she's just a regular person and he's living in a different world. Sure, it didn't work out, but still.
15 Dan Being So Evil
Every fan of One Tree Hill knows that Dan Scott is nothing if not a super evil person. He just seems to have absolutely no morals or positive beliefs whatsoever and everyone seems to hate him.
He's basically the villain of the show and is treated that way the entire time. When you first learn about his family, you realize that Karen got pregnant with Lucas when they were teenagers and he decided to date Deb instead, who he married and had Nathan with.
The biggest thing about Dan is that he had a horrible rivalry with his brother, Keith Scott, aka the sweetest man ever. Since Keith and Karen were so close, he was a father figure for Lucas. Here's where things get confusing and don't make much sense: Dan ends the life of Keith because he thinks he's losing his kid and he also thinks that Keith wants to end him as well. What?! It literally doesn't make sense that Dan would be evil enough to do that to his very own brother. Yes, it's a dramatic show, and yes, families fight, but wow. This storyline was very intense, to say the least, and it's not something that fans were likely to forget.
14 When A Dog Literally Ate The Heart Transplant Dan Was Going To Get
Even though Dan Scott is considered to be such an evil character, he still appears in the majority of the show and countless episodes. One storyline involving him is widely considered to be pretty nuts, and more than that, it literally doesn't make any sense.
In season six, Dan needs a heart transplant, and then something crazy happens: a dog literally eats the heart that he's going to get. Yes. It really happens.
An oral history published on The Ringer included a quote from the director of Cardio-Oncology Clinic at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Eugene Storozynsky, who said, "I mean, there would be absolutely no way that a cat or a dog or any other animal would ever be found inside a hospital."
Would this ever happen? The answer is most likely no. While not everything on a TV drama is going to be completely realistic, you do want most things to be, and this was just really confusing. It seems like there could have been another reason why he couldn't get the transplant like maybe he was low down on the list or something. Yup, this is definitely something that fans still talk about to this day.
13 Clay And Quinn's Ghost Storyline
Clay Evans and Quinn James are another super sweet and cute couple on One Tree Hill. He's Nathan's sports agent and she's Haley's sister, so it makes sense that since they know the same people and are living in the small town of Tree Hill, their paths would cross. And they fall madly and deeply in love which is so adorable. You can tell that they really care about each other and are meant to be together. Maybe you were even kind of jealous when you first watched their episodes and wished that you had found a love like that.
One storyline that involves them literally doesn't make sense since it's not something that could actually happen. In season eight, these two characters are shot and injured, and they become ghosts. They're in the hospital and basically watching themselves lying there. Since most people are pretty sure that ghosts don't actually exist, this definitely fits into the "literally makes no sense" category. This continues for a little bit and it doesn't get any less confusing.
The funny thing about this is that when you're a fan of this show, this stuff just happens, so it becomes normal to you. But when you look back, you realize, nope, that didn't really make any sense.
12 Haley And Nathan Not Waiting Until They Were Adults To Get Hitched
When you first see Haley James Scott and Nathan Scott, they're totally different people from two totally different worlds. She's Lucas Scott's best friend and an amazing student. He's super popular and used to getting whatever he wants since he's from such a wealthy family. They fall in love and end up getting married when they're both still in high school. Their wedding is in the third season finale.
It literally doesn't make sense for any couple to have a wedding when they're teenagers and haven't even graduated from high school.
There's no reason not to wait until you're both 18 years old and have at least walked across that stage and accepted your high school diploma.
What are you really gaining if you get married before that? Basically nothing. You don't have to be in such a rush to grow up and can definitely wait. This storyline just doesn't make sense and it's confusing, especially considering how studious and smart Haley is. It seems like she would want to wait and have a wedding at a time that is more practical and logical. Most people wait to get married until they're at least 25 and have finished college or university, and that's just a much more realistic timeline.
11 Skills Dating Nathan's Mom Deb
Nathan's mom, Deb, is a pretty cool, strong character. She knows that she's miserable in her marriage to Dan and she wants to get out and take care of herself. Not everyone can say that, whether they're a fictional character or someone's dealing with that type of situation IRL. It's definitely something to admire.
But one strange storyline involving Deb is when Deb starts an affair with Skills, one of Nathan and Lucas's friends and a staple when they played basketball at the River Court, and that just literally makes no sense. It's one of those plotlines that is hard to wrap your head around, no matter how much you love the show. Both Deb and Skills could date literally anyone in Tree Hill. Couldn't they each find someone their own age who would be more logical to date? And then they wouldn't have to hide or keep it a secret. It didn't work out, anyway, so their relationship never made much sense.
It really doesn't seem like Deb, who was getting out of a marriage and who had a son, would date someone that much younger than her. And it doesn't seem like she would literally date her son's good friend. That's just hard to believe. She would definitely be with someone more age appropriate.
10 Why Brooke Gets Attacked At Her Store
Brooke Davis is a super amazing character and it's awesome to see her go from a fashion-obsessed high schooler to a strong woman with her own store and clothing brand, Clothes Over Bros (and, of course, it's such a great name). What doesn't make any sense is the storyline when she gets attacked at her store.
This just seems way too harsh and cruel and it's hard to believe that something like this would actually happen.
First of all, wouldn't a store or business owner have more security to prevent something like this?
And second of all, while bad things do happen in life and sometimes a lot of them happen to the same person, isn't this just way too much bad luck for one person? Brooke basically grew up without a parental influence of any kind and struggled so much to love herself and find her confidence and follow her dreams. It just seems like she has suffered so much and gone through more than most people actually would.
This is just one of those storylines on a teen drama that makes you go, "Okay, this happened because it's, well, a teen drama, but it wouldn't happen IRL. No way."
9 Brooke's Mom Being So Mean All The Time
Brooke Davis has a super tough relationship with her mom, Victoria Davis. Victoria is basically an Ice Queen. She's super cold, she doesn't seem to have any feelings, and she doesn't seem to even want to be a mom. Whenever she and Brooke are talking, it seems like Victoria is trying her very best to be as cruel as possible. She appears mostly in the later seasons of the show and works with Brooke on her clothing brand and store, Clothes over Bros.
It doesn't make any sense that Brooke's mother would really be this mean all the time. Sure, not everyone is BFFs with their mom and not every mother/daughter relationship looks like Lorelai and Rory Gilmore (even though most people would probably want that). But most people have a somewhat okay relationship and they can at least stand each other. It's confusing that her mom would always act like the meanest mom ever and refuse to help Brooke or give her useful advice or just be a parent in any way, shape, or form. Brooke just always seems so sad, upset, and stressed out when she's around her mom, and it's tough to watch. Eventually, Victoria says she's a proud mom, but it takes way too long to get to that point.
8 Haley Having A Baby While Still In High School
Just like it literally doesn't make any sense for Haley to marry Nathan when they haven't even graduated from high school, it doesn't make sense for her to have a baby while she's still in high school. But that's exactly what happens and how their lives go.
In the fourth season, Haley gets pregnant with her and Nathan's first child, Jamie. It seems like she would have been more careful and would have made sure that this didn't happen (or at least did everything that she could to prevent it) and used protection.
Most fans would probably agree that it seemed like she wanted to go to college and a baby wouldn't be in her future plans, at least not at such a young age.
Yes, things worked out just fine for Haley and she and Nathan stayed married and had another child later on, but they went through a lot and had some serious hard times. It seems like things would have been easier if they had waited a few more years to start a family. It just seems like not the most practical or logical time to have a baby and not something that this type of character would do.
7 The Crazy Nanny Storyline
There are certain moments on a television show that stand out to fans, and for One Tree Hill, there are a few. There was Keith's death at the hands of his brother Dan, Haley getting married and pregnant in high school, Peyton having a stalker who she thought was her brother, a dog eating Dan's heart transplant, and this storyline: the crazy nanny one.
Fans remember "Nanny Carrie" aka a character who is Jamie Scott's nanny. In season five, Haley starts working as a teacher again, and she wants someone to look after her son. Carrie is basically crazy and wants nothing more than for Haley and Nathan to break up. She even makes Haley think that Nathan is cheating on her. After Haley isn't interested in having Carrie work for them anymore, Carrie spies on Jamie and even steals him… at the worst possible time: when Lucas and Lindsey are supposed to get married (which doesn't end up happening).
This just isn't realistic or something that would happen. No one's nanny would be quite that crazy and it seems like the family would know sooner rather than later or just not hire her. You can get a gut feeling from someone, right? And you know that you want nothing to do with them. It's just a bit much.
6 So Many Bad Things Happening To Peyton
Peyton is one of those teenage characters who is full of angst and emotions. She loves music and spends a lot of time feeling her feelings in her bedroom.
She also has a ton of things that happen to her and, basically, all of them are bad.
She was adopted, to start with, which makes her feel insecure and makes her wonder who her real, biological parents are and where they are and why they didn't want to keep her. That would mess anyone up for sure, but what's confusing and doesn't make sense about Peyton's storyline is that she just has so many bad things happen, one after the another. Besides dealing with her adoption issues, she goes to a party and a guy puts something in her drink, she gets her heart broken various times by Lucas and some other guys, and then she thinks that she's found her brother only to learn that he's not related to her at all and is, in fact, stalking her.
It just doesn't seem realistic to think that so many negatives, tough things could happen in one teenage girl's life, right? It's definitely nice to see her get her happily ever after when she and Lucas get married and have their baby girl.
5 Brooke Seems To Raise Herself
In the later seasons of One Tree Hill, Brooke spends a lot of time with her mom, Victoria, at least in a professional sense since they're running her clothing business together. But before that, you never really saw Victoria at all… and it seemed like Brooke was living in a mansion completely alone.
Part of Brooke's character arc is that she's grown up thinking that no one loves her and that she's very insecure underneath all her confidence and charm and good looks and fashion sense. That's why she's so incredibly boy crazy in high school and has this great need to be as popular and well-liked as possible. But it's not realistic that she would literally raise herself and her mom and dad would want nothing to do with her, which is how it seemed throughout her high school years. You barely even saw her house at all and she didn't seem to spend much time there.
While this is a staple of teen shows since parents can get in the way and not every mom and dad is going to be as cool and amazing as Sandy and Kirsten Cohen on The O.C., it still doesn't make much sense that Brooke would be so independent at such a young age.
4 Peyton Has Zero Parental Influence
Sometimes you watch a teen drama and can't believe how grown-up the characters are. They never seem to have any parents, or if they do, their moms and dads are always out of the house and the teens are basically left to their own devices. They can do anything that they want and go anywhere that they want and throw big, epic parties and they never, ever get in trouble with their parents. It's super confusing since that wasn't exactly your high school experience (or that of your friends, either). You were always wondering if you were going to get into trouble with your parents.
Peyton is one such TV character.
She literally has no parental influence and you barely see her adoptive dad. Her adopted mom and biological mom passed away, but still.
It's like she lives completely and totally alone, and that's something that literally makes no sense. Did you know anyone back when you were in high school who seemed to live alone and who never got any advice or input from their mom and dad? Even if someone was adopted, their adoptive parents still acted like, you know, parents. It's something that is really hard to understand, although, of course, it makes Peyton seem super mysterious and makes her storyline seem even darker.
3 Haley Being Offered A Spot On A Musician's Tour
In the second season of the show, Haley goes on tour with a musician who has been spending time in Tree Hill named Chris Keller. He has a total thing for her and they sing a song together. He offers her a spot on his tour and although she says no the first time, she says yes eventually.
This tour makes Haley and Nathan realize that they want to stay together because when she leaves for a tour, Nathan wants to get divorced and she's not having it. She goes back home and forgets all about her touring ambitions.
Would a teenager really and honestly be invited on tour with a famous musician? Would this ever happen? No, it doesn't seem like it would, and for that reason, this is one storyline on this show that literally makes no sense. How would a teenager even be allowed to go on tour? Wouldn't their parents think that it was a scary and bad idea and absolutely refuse to allow it? Teenagers on television always seem to act decades older than their actual age and it can be tough to believe that these things would actually happen or be possible. This is one of those things.
2 Peyton And Brooke Fighting Over Lucas
Most television dramas feature at least one love triangle, and it seems like a teen drama wouldn't be a teen drama without one. Love triangles are awesome (well, when done right, of course). They're juicy and interesting and sometimes you're not even sure who you really want to be together and that can be pretty fun to watch. It's hard to think of a plot that involves more tension and complications than a love triangle.
On One Tree Hill, best friends Peyton and Brooke are both super in love with Lucas and want to be his girlfriend. And it's not something that makes sense.
Yes, girls can be boy crazy in high school, and Brooke especially is really boy crazy during that time in her life. But if Peyton and Brooke are truly best friends, and it's obvious that they are, there's a girl code that girls like to follow. One of them would definitely realize that the other one was meant to be with the guy and be totally selfless and say that it was fine. And it's clear that while Brooke cares about Lucas, they're much better off as friends and his real love story is with Peyton.
1 Nathan Getting Kidnapped In Season 9
In the ninth and final season of One Tree Hill, Nathan gets kidnapped. Yes. This happens. It doesn't make sense and doesn't seem possible, but it still happens, and this storyline takes place across several episodes. It's not a super fast plotline at all.
It's right on track with the wild things that happen on this show, so it probably didn't surprise fans all that much, but when you stop and think about it, this is another thing that literally doesn't make any sense. Why would he get kidnapped? This isn't something that happens to people. It's super rare and most likely happens to people who are involved in something sketchy and so there's a reason. It's not like regular people just get kidnapped all the time.
It seems like literally anything else could have happened to Nathan in the final season and it would have been less confusing and more logical. Sure, it was something big and crazy and it was the last season so it was like one final kick at the dramatic storyline can, but still. It's safe to say that fans weren't super sure why this was going on and wished that there was more Nathan and Haley time.
References: Theringer.com, TVline.com