The Three Would-Be "One Tree Hill" Series Finales & One Actual Finale
It’s rare for a TV show to come up with the perfect ending once. Yet, somehow, “One Tree Hill” managed to pull it off multiple times.
Though the series didn’t actually end until season 9, there were three season finales before then that could’ve — and perhaps should’ve — sufficed as grand finales.
Take a look back at each and then vote for your favorite below!
Season 4
Episode 4.21, “All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone”
This season finale had multiple monumental moments: the characters graduate from high school (a continuation from the prior installment), Haley gives birth to Jamie, Karen gives birth to Lily, and Dan turns himself in for Keith’s murder. Then, following a celebratory house party unexpectedly thrown by Rachel, everyone ends up at the River Court, where Nathan and Lucas have a (friendly) face-off that mirrors the show’s pilot.
Season 6
Episode 6.24, “Remember Me as a Time of Day”
This season finale also features a birth, with Peyton and Lucas welcoming their daughter before literally riding off into the sunset. Meanwhile, Brooke confesses her love for Julian and Nathan finally makes it to the NBA. The closing scenes feature a voiceover from the characters reminding us to “believe that dreams come true every day — because they do.”
Season 8
Episode 8.22, “This is My House, This is My Home”
Oh, look — another season finale with a birth! Actually, thanks to this episode spanning many months in roughly 42 minutes, we watch Brooke’s pregnancy develop over time, culminating in the arrival of twins Davis and Jude. She and Haley also manage to reopen Karen’s Cafe. The characters again share the closing voiceover, and the final scene of Jamie dribbling on the bridge calls back to Lucas in the pilot.
Season 9
Episode 9.13, “One Tree Hill”
In the show’s actual series finale, the characters celebrate the 10th anniversary of TRIC, singing along to Gavin DeGraw as he performs the show’s theme song. A time-jump in the final moments features everyone gathered at a now-teenage Jamie’s Ravens basketball game. With flashbacks to Nathan, Haley, and Brooke in the show’s early years, the characters deliver a voiceover previously memorably heard in a season 5 episode.
Notably, all four of these episodes were written and directed by the show’s since-disgraced creator, Mark Schwahn. Though the season 4 and season 6 installments very clearly could serve as series finales, they were produced when the show had already been renewed for the next season. For season 8, however, the episode was, in fact, made to serve as a potential series finale as its fate was up in the air. The show wasn’t renewed for its ninth and final season until the day the season 8 finale aired.
Of these three-would be series finales and one actual finale, my preferred ending is the season 6 edition. While I would’ve been completely satisfied if the season 4 finale was the series finale, I really love seasons 5 and 6 of “One Tree Hill” and am happy it continued on to have those. The season 6 finale, with everything that happens in it and with it being the final episode featuring Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton (not to mention Barry Corbin), is just the perfect ending to me. While I of course continued watching the show through to its actual ending in season 9, what occurred in seasons 7, 8, and 9 — and the season 8 and season 9 finales — just pale in comparison to everything that came before it for me.
I’m curious, though, which finale you all prefer. Vote below!
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I love the season 4 finale so much!
The season 6 finale would have been the perfect series finale. Would have ended the show on a creative high note.