The Third Season

One Tree Hill is a teen melodrama about the interactions of a large group of people who are interconnected in their daily lives. At a young age Dan Scott (Paul Johansson) fathered two boys, Nathan (James Lafferty) and Lucas (Chad Michael Murray), with two different mothers, Deb (Barbara Alyn Woods) and Karen (Moira Kelly). The series looks at the oddly connected families, along with Dan's brother Keith (Craig Sheffer), and several love interests for the half brothers, Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush), Haley James (Bethany Joy Lenz), and Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton) and their friends. For more information about this series please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one and season two.

Season three presents the same kind of wishy-washy, soapy drama found in the first two seasons, although it is much thicker. The content tends to push the limit of reality and sometimes, common sense. Nonetheless, the stories are engaging as the various individuals from Tree Hill struggle with their personal dramas. The season three story arcs are racier and more devilish than ever with murderous plots, two-faced friends, sappy love stories and love triangles, death-defying gunplay, and local politics.

In the end of season two, Dan Scott Motors was put to the torch with Dan still inside. The arsonist intended to kill Dan, but a mysterious passerby saved him from a grisly death. Afterwards, Dan is plagued with fear about the incident and struggles to recover his memory of the evening to find out who tried to kill him. The problem is that everyone in Tree Hill had motive to take his life. The incident drives Dan to obtain more power and control and he lobbies to become the next mayor of Tree Hill, which Karen tries to prevent by running against him. All the while, Deb is forced into playing Dan's loving wife for the duration of the campaign. Paul Johansson continues to be fantastic in his role and provides his character with a devilish personality and a likeable charm.

Brooke returns to Tree Hill after spending the summer with her folks to find her relationship with Lucas on the rocks. Lucas wants to buckle down and have a committed, monogamous relationship. Brooke, however, wants to be "open" to other possibilities. Deep down, she is scared he will hurt her again. Their relationship stays are the fore throughout the season as she learns to trust him again. Brooke also finds she has a talent for designing clothes and launches her own line, Clothes Over Bros, which takes her to contest where the winner gets to launch their line in partnership with Donna Karen New York.

Lucas's drama for the season deals with his heart condition. He finds out one of the side effects for his medication is sluggish physical performance and he is forced to make a decision, life or basketball? He chooses basketball and hopes he and Nathan can lead the Tree Hill Ravens to become the next state champions. Lucas also faces trauma dealing with Karen and Keith.

Haley and Nathan's relationship continues to be an important storyline. In the beginning of season three, Haley returns from touring to patch things up with Nathan. But he is not sure how to handle it. Regardless of what she promises, says or does, the fact remains she left him for music. He is afraid to trust her. Out of love, he gets Chris Keller, who is more of an ass than ever, back into the picture to produce Haley's music. As the season progresses, the two rekindle their love and trust in each other.

Peyton goes through a variety of personal traumas. In season two, she thought a woman named Ellie was stalking her. It turned out Ellie was not a stalker, but her biological mother. Ellie just wanted to be closer to her daughter. Their relationship becomes a major storyline in the first half of the season. In the second half, Peyton finds herself in love with too many guys. She dates Pete from the musical group Fall Out Boy, rekindles the fire with Jake, and finds herself back in the Lucas-Brooke-Peyton love triangle.

Karen returns to Tree Hill (in the end of season two she chased after Andy in New Zealand) with the realization that Andy was the not the one. And after learning Dan is the only candidate for mayor, she decides to run against him. Other plotlines with Karen involve a passionate relationship Keith, which is a romantic and also traumatic at the same time. The story arc involving Karen and Keith is the most dramatic and sad plotline of the season. You will definitely want to tune in for this one.

With the departure of season two reoccurring characters Felix and Anna, a new face joins the Tree Hill cast. Rachel Gattina (Danneel Harris) is the hottest thing in town, with the right looks, the right moves, and plenty of money. She is a female version of Felix, someone with two faces. At times, she acts like a cold bitch, but deep down she has a heart and wants to be loved. How touching. She finds herself butting heads with Brooke. Rachel tries to usurp Brooke's position as cheer captain, get into Lucas's pants, and steal her good friend Mouth. She makes an interesting addition to the cast.

Overall, the season three stories push the envelope with content racier than ever. However, as the content gets racier, soapier, and more dramatic, the stories become a lot more unrealistic and the characters sometimes push too much. In some cases, the stories and characters become more ridiculous than entertaining and harder to enjoy. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching season three. It is just that the enjoyment was nowhere near about how I felt about season one or season two. The twists and turns no longer feel like well-written storylines, but second-rate attempts to spice things up. In the end, fans will want to check out this season, but be warned, it is not as good as the previous ones.

Episode Guide

1. Like You Like an Arsonist: How I spent my summer vacation. Haley gives up the concert tour and comes home. Nathan gives up on Haley and attends High Flyers camp. And Brooke agrees to be Lucas' girlfriend - with one small caveat.
2. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea: Hit the beach. Brooke throws a wild surf-and-sand party to celebrate the start of senior year. Meanwhile, Peyton's relationship with her biological mother grows more troubled.
3. First Day on a Brand New Planet: Looking forward: Dan tries to get Coach Durham fired before the basketball season begins. Looking back: Dan starts putting the pieces together concerning what happened the night of the fire.
4. An Attempt to Tip the Scales: Mayor Dan Scott? Dan finds a sudden dedication to public service, and Deb takes advantage of the situation. At Tric, a masquerade party featuring the band Fall Out Boy may reunite Haley and Nathan.
5. A Multitude of Causalities: Red is hot. A redhead named Rachel joins the cheerleaders. She has all the moves - and she puts them on Lucas. Call it basket-brawl: Fighting breaks out during the season kickoff gala.
6. Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades: Pick a guy, and he's yours. Brooke's Fantasy Boy Draft sparks trading and scheming for the "right" to date Nathan, Lucas, Skills...even Mouth. Dan must deal (unfairly, of course) with a surprise mayoral opponent.
7. Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends: First came the draft, now comes the date night, and the happiest pairing is (surprise!) Peyton and Mouth. Things aren't happy for Deb and Karen: They spend the evening stranded on a billboard.
8. The Worst Day Since Yesterday: Lucas worries that his meds are making him a drag on the team. Brooke worries that her tryst with Chris ruined her chances with Lucas. Karen worries that she'll lose the mayor's race...until mouth shows up with a surprise.
9. How a Resurrection Really Feels: Taking a chance: Dan and Karen face the Voters, Nathan and Chris hold 'em and fold 'em in a high-stakes poker game, and Brooke launches her clothing line, Clothes Over Bro's.
10. Brave New World: Lucas hits the road with Peyton, who's searching for Ellie. Nathan learns what really happened the night of the fire. And Brooke's clothing website debuts. In no time, she has 43 orders...and only four dresses.
11. Return of the Future: Keith returns, receiving a warm welcome from Lucas and Karen - and an attempted murder accusation from Dan. In fact, Dan keeps poisoning every well of happiness he finds, particularly Nathan and Haley's.
12. I've Got Dreams to Remember: When the Tree Hill High School guidance counselor asks everyone where they're going to college, the answers range from "Stanford" to "fashion school" to "what's the point?"

13. The Wind That blew My Heart Away: The electric power is out - the emotional power is on. A violent storm finds Nathan with Haley, Lucas with Brooke, Mouth with Rachel, Peyton with Ellie, Karen with Keith, and Dan with an evil plan.
14. All Tomorrow's Parties: Everyone has a great time at the Charlotte cheerleading tournament, meeting old friends and making new ones. Meanwhile, Brooke is 600 miserable miles away, partying with a Manhattan model with a heroin habit.
15. Just Watch the Fireworks: Remember the time capsule videos, how private they were, an dhow they wouldn't be opened for 50 years? Sorry, guys, make that on year. Who revealed them? And why? The suspicions, recriminations and hurt feelings begin.
16. With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept: The Fallout from the time capsule release takes a deadly turn: A student humiliated by the revelations comes to campus - with a gun. Lucas and Nathan risk their lives to save their friends.
17. Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them: Two deaths, many lives shattered. Students and parents grapple with the tragedy that has stunned Tree Hill. Inconsolable Karen blames Lucas. And Dan is haunted by specters of himself and Keith as children.
18. When It Isn't Like It Should Be: A Weekend in the country - a perfect place and a perfect time for healing. Rachel hosts her classmates at her parent's elegant woodland retreat. Back in Tree Hill, Karen turns her grief and fury on Dan.
19. I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me: Truth will out: Lucas finally reveals his heart condition, and Brooke discloses a big fat secret from Rachel's past. Also, Peyton plans to meet up with Pete from Fall Out Boy. Instead, unexpectedly, she sees...
20. Everyday Is a Sunday Evening: With Lucas off the team, the success or failure of the Ravens falls on Nathan's shoulders. Peyton's reunion with Jake is bittersweet. And Mouth and Brooke plot payback against Rachel.
21. Over the Hills and Far Away: Haley discovers that asking Brooke to design a simple, elegant wedding dress is like asking a Tasmanian Devil to chill. Peyton and Lucas return to Tree Hill wondering about their futures.
22. The Show Must Go On: Nathan and Haley's wedding is a time of great joy. And great sadness. Peyton and Brooke fall out, Dan learns the truth about the fire, and Rachel gets publicly drunk...and publicly bitter.

The DVD

Video:
The video in this release is matted widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The quality is good and offers a fairly sharp and clean picture. There is a grain and minor compression artifacts. There are also some hints of edge enhancement, but there is nothing that should interfere with your viewing experience.

Audio:
The audio in this release is given in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio track sounds very good. Dialogue comes off flat and music is rich and vibrant. There is also very little distinction between the left and right channels.

The release has subtitles in French and Spanish. There is also support for closed captioning.

Extras:
The first extra is deleted/additional scenes with cast/crew introductions for episodes "From the Edge to the Deep Green Sean", "First Day on a Brand New Planet", "An Attempt to Tip the Scales", "A Multitude of Causalities", "How a Resurrection Really Feels", "Brave New World", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "Just Watch the Fireworks", "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept", "Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them", "Everyday Is a Sunday Evening", and "The Show Must Go On".

Next the episode "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" has a featurette and commentary. The featurette entitled "Anatomy of an Episode" stars Mark Schwahn, Greg Prange, James Lafferty, Hilarie Burton, Antwon Tanner, Lee Norris, Danneel Harris, Colin Fickes, Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush, Moira Kelley, Bethany Joy Galeotti, Craig Sheffer, and Paul Johansson. It runs for approximately eleven minutes and contains cast/crew interviews and behind the scenes footage of the making of the episode.

The commentary stars Mark Schwahn, Joe Davola, Colin Fickes, Sophia Bush, Lee Norris, and Lindsay Wolfington. They spend a fair amount of time in the beginning talking about how powerful the episodes and the importance of the episode, and the impact they hope it makes on viewer's lives. Fickes also takes about how serious and hard it was to play his role.

The second commentary is for the season finale "The Show Must Go On" with Mark Schwahn, Joe Davola, Sophia Bush, Lee Norris, and Lindsay Wolfington. The content is about the making of the episode with Schwahn leading the discussion.

Lastly, there is a short two and a half minute gag reel. It contains a few funny goofs, but nothing really power.

Final Thoughts:
The third season of One Tree Hill continues to offer viewers dramatic storylines with racy, soapy content about the lives of the beautiful inhabitants of mythical Tree Hill. The content includes multi-faced characters you love to hate, a couple love triangles, and more unrealistic, eye-rolling drama than ever before. Fans of the show should enjoy watching the characters and their melodramatic situations unfold, but keep in mind the content is not nearly as entertaining or engaging as the first two seasons. The show is still fun, but there are several rough spots you might have to force yourself to get through.