OTH, my guiltiest TV pleasure

Since my buddy J has revealed his love for Battlestar Galactica, I guess I'll jump in next to talk briefly about MY guiltiest pleasure, the CW Network's One Tree Hill.  My college roommate watched OTH as her guilty pleasure during dinner breaks stolen in front of our (broadcast only, it should be noted) TV.  This season of OTH has taken us to a flash-forward of 5 years as our favorite characters return to Tree Hill, older and, arguably, wiser.  When this season premiered several months ago, I was really dreading the "adult" version of this show - I mean, we all remember how downhill 90210 went post-school years.  However, I've been pleasantly surprised, and last night's season finale left me speechless and wanting more in a way that GG just didn't. 

 

Melodrama runs aplenty in Tree Hill, and that's what makes the show so addictive and watchable.  The show has maintained its focus around a core group of friends (naturally, very attractive) and such life events as: teen marriage and pregnancy, absentee parents, family death, addiction, cheating, school violence, and much more.  Beyond all of those struggles, the friends maintain their close ties and despite serious fighting, they always return to one another (and to Tree Hill).  There is something embarrassingly uplifting and soapy about this show, and I can't look away.  Last night's season finale left me sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering if deadbeat dad who shot his brother, went to jail, and wants to reconcile with his sons, Dan Scott, is dead, and just who exactly Lucas Scott has invited to elope to Vegas - one of his two ex-high school girlfriends or the fiancée who left him at the altar. 

 

Say what you will about this show, but it is a perennial favorite.  I am lucky enough to have a core group of high school friends that, major dramas aside, remind me a lot of the OTH gang.  We have endured our time apart, our fights, our family dramas, and our personal struggles.  Many of us call the same city home (I happen to live on the opposite coast from this little klatch).  In talking to one such friend last night, we contemplated what we might be like as real adults, and whether or not things will stay the same.  I think there is something lovely and comforting about knowing that some of the same people will carry you through your life, no matter how old you are.