NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
There are grumblings that a One Tree Hill sequel is in the works. While original fans such as myself were excited, that quickly changed once I found out the rumored storyline. and who is in and out.
According to Deadline, the One Tree Hill sequel will be centered around Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer. Right there is issue No. 1 for me. For starters. Peyton didn’t even make it to the One Tree Hill series finale. While she was indeed a popular character, it’s safe to say that her absence was not as missed as much as Lucas’s.
Issue No. 2 is that most of the main cast has yet to decide what they’re going to do or have stated they have not been asked to return. The sequel will center on Brooke and Peyton raising teenagers and is set to take place 20 years after the original One Tree Hill went off the air.
As great as One Tree Hill was and as diverse as the cast was, there is no sequel without Nathan and Lucas. They were the centerpieces of the show and to not have them in a reboot, well, how is that going to work?
Bethany Joy Lenz has gone on record stating that she would love to return but what about her marriage to Nathan? That was just as vital as any other relationship on the show. Hell, it was their relationship that set the foundation of the original.
If she does return, how can it be without her husband? She was also the best friend of Lucas so we can only imagine the hoops the writers will have to jump through just to make any storylines make sense.
What we know about Tree Hill, is that no one leaves, right? They always find their way back. Now, what concerns me the most regarding this sequel is that this could turn into a trash fest. If both main characters are now single, are the OG fans in store for a show filled with Lucas, Nathan, and Julian bashing? No one has time for that.
According to their Podacast, both women have stated they were the true love story of the original show. No, you were not. We all know this. Rumors are flying that Sophia Bush may not want Chad Michael Murray back on the set due to their history but I want to believe that is a lie. Murray and Bush still managed to share the screen well after their divorce.
The reason this sequel will not work for most is that it will become more female-centered than the original. While not a bad thing, what made the show so appealing in the first place was the balance of the cast. Peyton left Tree Hill with Lucas and now she’s back with no word on her husband. The same for Brooke and her marriage to Julian. All the talk of the sequel has been centered around the female characters with little mention of the males.
As a fan of One tree hill, I’m all onboard for a sequel. But the only way this can work for me is if we can get most of the originals back. Yes, Brooke and Sawyer were central in the shows success, but they weren’t alone in carrying the load. We tuned in to see the growth of Nathan and Lucas as they fough each other early on and then their father Dan towards the end. We watched them become husbands and fathers but most importasntly, we watched them become brothers. That was the essence of the show.
If this One Tree Hill sequel gets done the way it’s being portyred to the media, it wont last past a season.
