One Tree Hill: Last Good-Bye

ONE TREE HILL: 9.13 “One Tree Hill”

I said it was the end of an era. But you know, after the credits rolled last night (and I wiped my ridiculously wet face down with a towel), I realized that very few shows make it nine seasons. Very few shows last that long. You know, at least those that aren’t procedurals.

What else? Well, this is really the only show that was really two. I saw someone on Twitter afterward claim that, though they haven’t seen the series, the last 15 minutes was too cheesy for them, and does anyone revere high school this much? Well, OTH was distinctive. Why did it revere high school so much? Well, because it was a high school show…until it wasn’t. I can’t really name a show that went from a high school drama to a post-grad drama, without the awkward attempt at college in between. It truly made OTH unique, and that’s why you were forced to pay attention to that high school nostalgia. Because you needed to link the end of the series with the front.

Ultimately, One Tree Hill did a great job at closing the series. I realize this even more as I just caught the last five minutes of the Friends finale. One Tree Hill didn’t make some drastic change. No one moved away. No one died. No one really did anything. Instead, they just…moved on with their lives. They remembered. And then they grew up. And wasn’t that what OTH was about in the first place?

I have to say kudos to the OTH throwbacks throughout: the copy of Julius Caesar from the beginning of the series, the reference to Felix, the secret box that was Lucas and Haley’s — heck, even the water balloons. If last year we thought we were passing the torch to Jamie in the faux-finale, this year it was ever so much more present. It wasn’t just Jamie taking on the life of a Tree Hill resident, but we had Davis and Jude, Lydia, and even the ever-adorable Logan. In fact, the only complaint I have with the episode was the casting of the pubescent Logan who lost every adorable feature that adorable little creature had to offer.

And man alive, when he called Quinn “Mom,” my heart melted. As did my tearducts.

Ok, let’s go family by family, because even I’m getting lost in my thoughts!

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Thursday Open Thread: Musical Memories

Twice this week, I’ve heard “Glory Days” on the radio. Instantly, it was like I was rewatching Michael J. Fox’s last episode of Spin City. I could see him moving around DC in those final moments (jump about five minutes into the video below to see what I mean). Then I start thinking about Mary J. Blige’s “I Try,” when the team was saying good-bye to him in the bar, tears in tow.

With One Tree Hill‘s finale last night (still processing that loss), I truly realized how important music was to episodes. And no, it wasn’t just because Gavin DeGraw sang the ever-famous theme song at Tric (though that was awesome). Even before, the way that every episode was named after a song, and at the end of each, we saw what artists were featured, you realized that music was at the heart of One Tree Hill. Even the creator said that he felt like he was creating his own mix tape though OTH.

I know I’ve asked this before, but it feels like a good time to ask it again, now that TV Madness is over, and I’m forcing a return to the open thread:

What songs remind you of TV shows — or TV episodes?

Anything come to mind?