20 Storylines From Teen Drama One Tree Hill That Would Never Fly Today
One Tree Hill was a hugely popular show and still receives acclaim despite the fact that it had some pretty crazy storylines over the years. Teen dramas will always be over the top because it's exactly what draws teens in.
That said, fans of One Tree Hill were often taken on a rollercoaster of emotions from season to season. We followed the lives of Peyton, Brooke, Haley, Nathan and Lucas during the nine seasons the show was on the air with much enthusiasm.
Looking back, there are episodes of the show that particularly stand out because we know they would no longer be believable today. They're the ones that you couldn't help but shake your head at.
Check out these 20 storylines from teen drama One Tree Hill that would never fly today.
20 Peyton's Fake Brother
One thing that drives us nuts in movies and TV shows is when people will come out of the woodwork and claim to be a long-lost son or brother and no one even questions it.
In this day and age, with the accessibility of paternity tests, you would think that someone would say, “Prove it.” Just once!
In this OTH episode, a stranger claims to be Peyton's brother. Of course, we find out later that he's actually just a stalker who's obsessed with her. Seriously, just get a paternity test!
19 Nikki Comes Back For Full Custody
There was a lot of baby drama in the early seasons of the show and one particular far-fetched story was when Nikki came back into town to get custody of her child. Full custody was given to the teenage father originally because Nikki was considered to be unfit.
Anyone who has even remotely been involved in a situation like this would know that it's just not that easy. You can't just waltz into town and say you've changed and then get custody of your child back. It usually takes years of proving yourself before you're allowed to do that. Instead, the only consequence in the show is that the father leaves town just to avoid her.
18 Pregnant Haley Has To Deal With Nathan's Bad Decision
We are all aware of what loan sharks will do if they don't get their money but it's usually in an effort to get paid quicker.
In the fourth season, Nathan was supposed to throw a game so that Dante could cash in, but Nathan decides against it, causing Dante to enter a fit of rage. Dante then decides to take revenge on Nathan by trying to run him over, but Haley, being the courageous and selfless person that she is, pushes Nathan out of the way, pregnant and all, and get hits instead. Sure, loan sharks will go to extremes, but how would that get him his money any faster? It just seems really excessive.
17 Peyton And Brooke's Friendship
These two had an on-again/off-again friendship throughout the series and it usually went off when it came to Lucas.
Both girls were in love with the same guy. Sure, that happens. But what was so unrealistic about their storyline and friendship was that they spent years fighting over Lucas and even though they eventually got over it when they came to terms with the fact that it was supposed to be Peyton and Lucas all along, Brooke was still Peyton's maid of honor at her wedding to Lucas. It just seems like a lot to ask for, to be honest.
Furthermore, not only did they fight over Lucas, but his brother Nathan as well. Considering they're supposed to be the best of friends since they were kids, they seem to fight a lot over boys.
16 When Peyton Dated Pete Wentz
Sorry, but if we're supposed to believe that a huge rock star is going to go to Wilmington, North Carolina and fall in love with a high school girl, then we might as well believe anything.
When Wentz appeared on One Tree Hill, he played himself and quickly developed a relationship with Peyton. Wentz was then willing to change his tour schedule to hang out with her. While it's a nice daydream, we just don't fully buy it.
15 Peyton's Live-Camera Art Moments
We know that Peyton was an artist and someone who really didn't care what anyone thought about her. She was a rebel without a cause who did what she wanted.
Pre-vlogging, we never fully understood why she would want to sit in front of a camera and showcase her life for the whole world to see. Especially considering her webcam got her in trouble twice - once when Brooke saw Lucas in Peyton's room, and the next time when her fake brother stalked her through her camera. While the show does somewhat shed light on how dangerous is could be to be completely open and public online, they should have focused more on how dangerous it could for a teenager to display their private life on the Internet for all to see. Someone should have warned her of the potential consequences, especially her dad.
14 The Crazy Nanny Carrie Episode
We're not sure why One Tree Hill decided to lean to0 far into the crazy pool. But the Nanny Carrie episode really went too far. Carrie came in as another stalker who was obsessed with Nathan. Her goal was to get rid of Haley, take Nathan for herself, and adopt Jamie.
That's pretty heavy for a teen drama. Nanny Carrie kidnaps Jamie from the mall and puts up a good fight until she meets her evil match: Dan Scott.
13 The Dog Eats Dan's Heart
Dan Scott needed a heart transplant because it was two sizes too small, or was that the Grinch?
Nothing was more gratifying than when we saw karma come back to haunt Dan Scott. There he is waiting in the hospital for his transplant to be delivered only to watch the man holding the container trip and drop the precious heart on the floor.
As if that wasn't bad enough, a Golden Retriever scoops it up and eats it. The look on Lucas' face was priceless. As hilarious as that episode was, we just can't believe that someone would even let a dog in a hospital.
12 Nathan Was Written Off The Show
James Lafferty, who plays Nathan on the show, only signed up for half of season nine, which is why he went missing, Buzzfeed reports.
In order to explain his absence, the writers resorted to more drama. Nathan was captured and almost tortured, and it took multiple episodes to get him back. OTT, much?
It seems that whenever there was an opportunity for massive drama, the OTH writers jumped at the chance to use it.
11 Haley Becomes A Rock Star in A Week
Apparently, all you have to do is decide to become a rock star and it'll happen for you.
In the One Tree Hill world, Michelle Branch could hear a rough demo of an unknown singer and just instantly want her to come on tour and open for her.
It was not even close to plausible then, so it certainly would not have gone over well now. Haley basically became a huge star in a week and was driving around in limousines!
10 The Day Brooke's Dad Loses His Job
It can be stressful for a father to lose his job, especially if he is the breadwinner and sole supporter of his family.
One Tree Hill, however, took things to another level. When Brooke's dad lost his job, he thought it was a good idea to sell everything that they owned, including Brooke's mattress. We would assume that he would wait a while before making a move like that. Especially since he ended up finding a new job the very next week. How perfect!
9 When One Tree Hill Brought In The Supernatural Too Many Times
It was enough to have stalkers, psychos and criminals on the show, but when producers started to bring in the supernatural, it really took things too far.
The first time the writers did this was in season four with Keith's ghost who visited Lucas and Dan. Fans may have accepted that, but they had just about enough when it happened again, this time with Clay and Quinn. After they get attacked, there's a whole episode dedicated to Ghost Clay and Ghost Quinn who go back and forth between the real world and their imagination. We just don't want to see ghosts wandering around. It's too "extra."
8 All The Characters Ended Up Being Insanely Successful So Young
It's just unrealistic to say that everyone you go to high school with is going to be a huge success in life, especially when you come from a small town. Also, out of the main characters, only three of them actually went to college, and even then, it was a state college. It's already hard enough for Ivy League graduates to reach such success right out of school. In OTH, however, there was loads of unrealistic success stories, including a bestselling author, an NBA player, a millionaire entrepreneur, and the owner of a record label. Oh, and did we mention they achieved all this before they were 25?
7 Nathan Can't Deal With Pain, Ever
The number of ridiculous things that have happened to Nathan over the years were in large part his own doing. But Nathan doesn't seem to have any ability to deal with pain. If he gets dealt a hard blow, he loses it. When Haley leaves him, he crashes a race car.
Remember when he suffered injuries after that car accident and had his stomach stitched up? Instead of recovering, he was determined to play basketball, which popped open his stitches. Why was he so obsessed with hurting himself?
6 The Entire 1940s Episode
Actor Chad Michael Murray, who played Lucas Scott on the show, wrote a pretty bizarre 1940s episode for OTH. As reported by Star News Online, he explained that it was like an alternate OTH 1940s universe. It sounds cool in theory, but it became a bit weird.
As Bustle reports, in the episode, Dan (who's a mob boss) owns signer Haley after saving her from a traveling sideshow. He also owns his girlfriend Peyton, who flirts with Lucas, his competitor. We're not sure why Murray went in that direction, but overall, it was pretty creepy.
5 The One Where Keith Leaves The Show
Lots of people get treated badly in relationships, such as by being on the receiving end of infidelity, and they handle it in normal ways. But we all know that Dan Scott was never normal.
The fact that he used a school incident to get rid of his brother was a little too much for fans to grasp. The show really knew how to go overboard with the storylines. Ultimately, it was a brutal and harrowing scene that left fans heartbroken. It was jealousy to a whole other level.
4 Nathan And Haley Get Married While In High School
We are sure that anyone watching that storyline today would think it was pretty unrealistic.
Most people move beyond their high school sweethearts. But for Nathan and Haley, they were just so sure that they belonged together that they had to get married at 16 instead of waiting until they were adults.
Not only does this send a bad message to young viewers, but it also doesn't make any sense. Haley has big plans for her education and Nathan's goal was always to make it to the NBA, and yet, they got married without even discussing any of their future goals. What was the rush? No one was telling them to break up, so why not at least wait until you graduate from high school and figure out which college you're going to first?
3 Dan Scott Being That Evil
There is always one character in any TV show that tries to bring people down. Usually known as the antagonist, their job is to make the lives of the main characters more difficult.
There is no doubt about it, Dan Scott was written as evil and he did terrible things to everyone, including his own son.
His storyline, however, is far-fetched in that there were so many opportunities for him to get caught for his deeds, and he rarely did.
2 The Pointless Relationship Between Lindsey And Lucas
We didn't understand these two from the beginning.
Lindsey seemed to come out of nowhere and we weren't even sure why Lucas got together with her since he was still very much into Peyton.
Like with most TV shows, we kept our mouths shut and continued to watch as Lucas proposed and planned a wedding with a woman that fans disliked. The storyline takes us all the way to the altar where Lindsey realizes that Lucas' book, The Comet, was about Peyton.
1 Dan Getting Away With It
One thing that blew our minds about One Tree Hill was how lenient the law seemed to be about all of Dan Scott's misdeeds. When he betrayed his own brother, Dan only received five years in prison, which is very little, especially considering Dan completely confessed for his awful crime. However, the writers couldn't exactly put Dan Scott away for life because we needed his character back to cause more mayhem on the show. Most people get sentenced for roughly 25 years for such an act, but for some reason, Dan only got five.
