Throwback Thursday – One Tree Hill – Pilot

Keep in mind, keep in mind, it was the 23rd of September, 2003 and One Tree Hill aired on what was, on the time, the WB for the primary time. That is nearly twenty years in the past! To have fun the newly launched podcast Drama Queens hosted by OTH stars Sophia Bush, Bethany Pleasure Lenz and Hilarie Burton Morgan and chronicling their time on the sequence, let’s have a look again on the present’s pilot and the way it had all the mandatory substances to make a profitable present.

Set the fictional city of Tree Hill, North Carolina, One Tree Hill was a teen drama in all that it entails. It featured 20 year-olds taking part in youngsters, moody teen characters, household feuds, and all that great things. It’s initially the story of Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray), an everyday child who has been dwelling within the shadows of his household historical past. Certainly, Lucas is the son of Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) and half-brother to highschool jock Nathan Scott (James Lafferty). However right here is the factor, these three are usually not a household. Dan deserted Lucas’s mom Karen (Moira Kelly) when she was pregnant, and by no means thought of Lucas his son. Then he went off to have one other child, Nathan, and determined to groom him to his personal picture. Consequently, Lucas has at all times been an afterthought, the black sheep nobody needs to have interaction with. Till this story begins.

At its core, One Tree Hill was a narrative of affection and household informed by the lens of basketball. It is on the basketball court docket that the drama unfolds, it is on the court docket that the story begins. The pilot opens on two video games, one at Tree Hill Excessive and one by the riverfront. We see two Scotts displaying off their expertise on the court docket, and we meet our hero and his nemesis. When Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer) convinces the Ravens’ coach that his nephew Lucas could be an incredible addition to the group, all hell breaks unfastened. Lucas is catapulted right into a world that belonged to his no good father and Nathan, and he’s not welcomed there. However the factor is that Lucas is gifted, and he’s entitled to purse his goals simply as a lot as Nathan is, it doesn’t matter what Dan Scott or anyone else thinks. After ensuring becoming a member of the group is not going to trigger to a lot bother to his mom, Lucas then decides to take up Coach Durham (Barry Corbin) on his supply.

However wait, it isn’t all that easy! Keep in mind, this a teen drama so there’s much more to it. As an example, there’s Peyton (Hilarie Burton) who nearly runs Lucas over and offers him a cause to note her. Even if she is Nathan’s girlfriend, Lucas is intrigued by Peyton, and looking back a whole lot of what occurs on this pilot foreshadows later seasons of the present, when Lucas will make it clear that Peyton is the one for him. Take the final scene of the pilot, when Lucas turns to Peyton after profitable the sport in opposition to Nathan: that is similar to the well-known “It is you, Peyton” scene in season four when the Ravens win the State Championship. Actually, that Season 4 scene used pictures from the pilot to hammer in that time. 

But when Lucas and Peyton are supposed to be from the pilot on, some character arcs are solely hinted at on this first episode, and that is what makes the viewer need come again for extra. Nathan is a major instance of that, as most of his scenes on this pilot make him come throughout as an absolute jerk. But, there’s something else about Nathan that’s simple to select up on: all the pieces he does, he does for his father, and as his father instructions. So behind his nasty angle, there’s a child who does not get to be himself, and who resides anyone else’s life. It’s clear from his interactions along with his father on this episode that there’s extra to Nathan than meets the attention, and that this character is sure to expertise large change.

The construction of this pilot is stable. We’ve a transparent dangerous man, a multi-layered battle, and characters who’re all launched in a approach that makes the viewers wish to know extra. What’s up with this Dan Scott man, why does he solely confer with Lucas as “this child”? What is the deal between Karen and Keith? What’s Peyton’s drawback? How come Haley (Bethany Pleasure Lenz) is the one one who comes throughout as very nice? Who taught Lucas to be a e book nerd? And so forth.

Keep in mind that One Tree Hill got here out after the likes of Dawson’s Creek and The OC, and that it needed to rival with the large recognition of those reveals. With this pilot, it confirmed that it was going for a small-town angle, for a narrative about household, friendship, love and betrayal. It was anchoring itself in a world product of basketball and music, and it promised, from the very starting, that we weren’t in for a easy trip. The drama was on.