One Tree Hill was my first ever television show I watched on the CW. It quickly became my favorite. It had all the teen drama aspects of a hit show: illegitimate family members, romance drama, cheerleaders, nerds and jocks.

What I didn’t expect was how deep into the show the storyline of family was going to be woven. Yes it was a teen drama, but that’s not to say they didn’t discuss real life topics well. They created these relationships with two very different characters and created this circle of people we were all wanting to watch everyday.

And don’t forget the title song!

The first half of the show dealt with the characters in high school. Some were trying to find themselves, some had it figured out, some were bombarded with life altering events. We had romance happen between characters on the complete opposite ends of the personality spectrum. And then don’t forget the back drop of family drama and basketball!

Let’s just settle this early on: my favorite character was always Brooke Davis. That being said Hayley came to being a close second.

They dealt with some very serious issues in the series. Especially the school shooting. That was one of the episodes that was extremely well done – well until Keith intervened. It showed the characters we were starting to adore in the face of fear, and post traumatic effects afterwards.

The later seasons dealt with the cast being all grown up and adulting. It was fascinating to see. They were still figuring things out, they were still making mistakes. They had garnered some distance between the initial group of friends and it eventually all came together. Of course them achieving all their lives dreams seemed a tad unrealistic to me – that could be my cynical mind at work.

I loved how they showed the family lives that they eventually created. Usually drama series end at a wedding or something to that effect. But again we got to see more real life events play out. Infertility issues, fostering, adoption, addiction, eating disorders, etc. It was comforting to know that no we don’t have to have everything figured out by a certain age.

Brooke Davis will forever be my favorite female fictional character. She is the underrated role model that so many younger girls deserve to have. She is one of the hardest working females on the show, not only that but can never catch a break. She is dealt such a shitty hand and she takes everything in stride. Well not completely drama free – it would not be Brooke without a little pizazz. She’s not only beautiful but also doesn’t let boys define her, hella talented, and obsessed with herself. This was the character I was most happy for when she got her fairytale ending. It was not easy getting there, but she made it happen for herself.

One Tree Hill is such a great show, one of my favourites. It was so well made – written to be more specific. All the characters brought something to the entire story. It had drama, real life issues and hints of comedy that lightened everything up. I know we have a different kind of television streaming available today, but I wish we had more shows like this again.

In a world of Peyton’s I aspire to be a Brooke Davis.