It’s been 14-months since Lucas and Peyton (departed cast members Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton) left Tree Hill. In that time Nathan (James Lafferty) become a star for the Charlotte Bobcats, his wife Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) has been hard at work recording her second album, Brooke (Sophia Bush) has been pondering starting a menswear line, Mouth’s (Lee Norris) star as a sportscaster continues to rise while Dan (Paul Johansson) has been resurrected by new wife (and former Tree Hill High bad girl) Rachel (Danneel Harris) as a television self-help phenomenon.

CRITIQUE

I’m one of the biggest “One Tree Hill” apologists around, but even I was having a difficult time coming up with reasons why this show is such a wonderful guilty pleasure when I started watching the first few episodes of season seven. With Murray and Burton gone, series creator Mark Schwahn and his staff found themselves forced to introduce a whole handful of new characters while also trying to come up with storylines for the remaining veterans worthy of being told.

To say they strike out miserably, at least for a while, would be a massive understatement. The introductions of new regulars like Haley’s big sister Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) and actress turned Clothes Over Bro’s model Alex Dupre (Jana Kramer) is clunky at best, embarrassing at worst. But that’s nothing compared to the unbelievably laughable plotline concerning Nathan potentially fathering a child while out on the NBA road or his agent Clayton Evans (Robert Buckley) having ghostly conversations with his dead wife Sara (Amanda Schull). I haven’t even gotten to Millicent (Lisa Goldstein) transforming from a smart, driven and capable executive into a drug-addled model or Dan’s somewhat laughable hit television show, neither of those even close to believable considering all we’ve seen from both characters throughout previous seasons.

And yet, as things go on Schwahn and company start to find their groove and regain their footing. Right around episode six “Deep Ocean Vast Sea” I found that I was just as engrossed as ever inside the world of Tree Hill, and even though I knew things were more melodramatically silly than ever there was just something about these characters that kept me watching all the same.

It helps immensely that the newcomers actually become characters worth watching and caring about. I actually started to find Alex’s quirks enchanting (the recovering alcoholic hungrily sucks the limes while others do her tequila shots for her), Quinn’s emotional issues (she’s coming to grips with the fact that her marriage has died – and it’s mostly her fault) have resonance and weight, Clay isn’t just a Jerry Maguire clone and is actually worth caring about and record label executive (sent to keep an eye on Haley and make sure she finishes her album) Miranda Stone (India de Beaufort) is a relatively complex character deserving of more screen time than Schwahn and company sadly give her. The problems everyone are facing are refreshingly adult and (mostly) believable, and even though they’re handled just as glossily as ever they’re also ones the fans should (just as mostly) be able to relate to.

So, there’s a twist involving a deadly doppelganger towards the end of the season that’s just outright stupid (almost as ludicrous as the Nanny Carrie storyline), and everything concerning Dan and Rachel feels almost forced into the narrative more because the two were still under contract than because their presence adds anything valuable. Additionally, as much as like Bush Brooke is quickly becoming the most petulantly tiresome character in the whole series, the way she treats filmmaker boyfriend Julian (Austin Nichols) downright ghastly.

Yet a lot more here works than it doesn’t. Galeotti and VanSanten have some amazing scenes together, especially during a three-episode arc concerning their mother Lydia’s (Bess Armstrong). Quinn maybe new to show but it didn’t take long for me to completely buy she was Haley’s sister, the two somehow finding away to forge a lifetime of relationship nuance into roughly 924-minutes of network television.

In the end “One Tree Hill” remains what it has always been, a soapy, overly melodramatic T.V. series with great music and a glossy presentation that sometimes manages to get things so very right the flaws seem to disappear away into nothingness. Probably past its prime, and arguably should have ended with the departure of Lucas and Peyton, I’m still curious to see where this set of characters heads to next. Granted, considering the enormity of the cliffhanger that concludes season seven, there’s a strong chance some of these characters might not be returning for the eighth, and supposedly final, one. I guess like everyone else I just have to wait and see.

THE VIDEO

“One Tree Hill” is presented in its original 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. I can’t say Warner has gone all out with this transfer, and a part of me wishes they’d finally make this show available on Blu-ray, but for what it is this DVD presentation gets the job done. That’s pretty much all I can say about that.

THE AUDIO

“One Tree Hill” is presented in English (Dolby Digital 5.1) audio with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES

It’s the usual rag take group of extras including an unfunny Gag Reel and a large collection of Deleted Scenes.

There are also the featurettes Return to Camp One Tree Hill: The Experiences of Newcomers Robert Buckley, India de Beaufort, Jana Kramer and Shantel VanSanten (the only one of three worth watching), Spring Break with One Tree Hill and OTH – The Director’s Debut: Following First-Time Helmer Sophia Bush (which, sadly, should have been more interesting than it actually is).

Also included are two audio commentaries on episodes seven, “I and Love and You,” and on episode 22, “Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said the Last Time I Saw You.” Both are fine, but if you’ve heard one “One Tree Hill” group audio commentary you’ve pretty much heard them all, so I’m not going to jump up for joy and exclaim either is the best thing since sliced bread.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To maybe paraphrase myself a little bit, after seven seasons (and maybe in spite of my own best instincts) I’m still stuck on “One Tree Hill” and still happy to have this latest season in my home library.