Of All of the Teen Reveals, It is At all times Been One Tree Hill for Me

As an adolescent rising up in Europe, each exhibits supplied a window into American popular culture and what I believed was a typical highschool expertise. Set in Orange County, CA, The O.C. delivered on excessive drama. There have been pool events and Chanel baggage. Drug overdoses and weekend jaunts to Tijanua, Mexico. Chrismukkah vacation playing cards! When Marissa died, I cried for the primary time watching TV; now I tear up on the smallest issues. Is that this what life was like in California? And once I may transfer there?

One Tree Hill, which was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina painted a special image: Small-town attraction on the East Coast. (Sidebar: The placement can be house to a bunch of different well-known exhibits, together with Dawson’s Creek, The Summer time I Turned Fairly, and kind of each Nicholas Sparks film ever made.) The early days of the Scott brothers had been crammed with basketball video games (the one sport featured in my faculty was soccer), hookups at the back of automobiles (I wasn’t even allowed within the driver’s seat till I turned 18), pom-pomps, and cheerleading outfits (I nonetheless want I took gymnastics lessons).

Their high-school wardrobes—velour tracksuits, denims, layered band tees—had been arguably extra accessible, although if I sought to emulate anybody’s type it would be Peyton’s since I all the time had a moody streak. An honorable point out goes to the music within the present, which launched me to a bunch of indie rock bands like Jimmy Eat World, Jack’s Model, and Fall Out Boy, all of which ended up forming the soundtrack of my teenage years.

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For Katie Holmes, It’s At all times Been Concerning the Work

She’s bought stellar private type, an admirable potential to mum or dad thoughtfully and privately, and a seemingly everlasting spot on the paparazzi’s must-capture record. However behind all of it, Katie Holmes is—and all the time has been—a passionate and profitable actor and director.

A lot occurred all through One Tree Hill‘s nine-season run (together with a significant time leap between season 4 and 5 that skips over their school days). Some main moments I nonetheless keep in mind: Haley and Nathan getting married on the finish of season 1. Peyton Sawyer serving to run TRIC, the nightclub that Lucas’ mother Karen Roe (Moira Kelly) opened in season 2. Brooke Davis turning her love for vogue right into a million-dollar enterprise with Garments Over Bros. I may go on itemizing all the numerous character developments and plot twists however you get the image.

Trying again on the present now, I discover that almost all characters and storylines appear to have aged effectively—protecting in thoughts, after all, that showrunner Mark Schwahn was accused by feminine forged members of sexual harassment and assault in 2017. The collection nonetheless has a timelessness to it for me, addressing troublesome realities within the lived lives of American teenagers that really feel related to today. Certain, there have been a number of love triangles and plenty of theatrical hospital scenes, however there have been additionally extra poignant moments and conversations surrounding sexuality, teen being pregnant, and gun violence.

The podcast Drama Queens—which IRL besties Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Bethany Pleasure Lenz co-host—revisits every episode of the present from behind the scenes. The trio launched Drama Queens in 2021 and are at present recapping season 5, in case you need to catch up.

Revisiting the present and my very own reminiscences hooked up to it is not by solely rose-tinted lenses. I used to be your common moody, insecure teenager, and going again in time brings up quite a lot of these feelings. However maybe as a result of One Tree Hill celebrates 20 in the identical yr that I flip 30 that reflecting on the present now feels extra serendipitous—a reminder of what was but in addition what’s to come back.

Talia Abbas is the senior commerce editor at Glamour. Observe her on Instagram @_taliaabbas.