‘One Tree Hill’ Ending Explained — Where Do We Leave Off With the Characters?

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• In
  Hill of a tree
  In the end, Nathan and Haley get their happy ending with a sweet callback moment that fans will love.
• Brooke successfully launches the Baker Man store and gets a well-deserved happy ending.
• Mouth uses Dan's money for a scholarship, which culminates in a touching story.

In the nine years Hill of a tree it was in the air we laughed, cried and fell in love more times than we can count. We immersed ourselves in the small town of Tree Hill and the characters that populate it captured our hearts. So when the ninth and final season came around, and it was time to say goodbye to both the show and these beloved characters, it was naturally not an easy thing to do. But where many shows falter over their series finale, Hill of a tree it came out as a love letter to his devoted fanssoftening the blow of goodbye.

Do Nathan and Haley get their happy ending?

After spending most of the season kidnapped, Nathan (James Lafferty) is finally home safe with his wife and children. For all the “Naley” lovers out there, they really do have their happy ending. But more than that, they have some really great moments throughout the episode. Most notable is a sweet callback to Season 1, in which Nathan gave Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) a bracelet from a crackerjack box and told her “Don't say I never gave you anything.” This moment gets a very sweet update when Nathan makes Haley her favorite meal of macaroni and cheese and offers her a box of crackerjack for dessert. When he opens it, the prize inside is a diamond bracelet, and when Nathan puts it on her wrist, she says, “Don't say you never gave me anything, because you gave me an amazing life.” Um, do you pass out a lot?

His son Jamie is practicing to be as good (or maybe even better) than his father at basketball, which prompts Nathan to pull him aside and talk to him that his father, Dan (Paul Johansson), never had He tells Jamie that even though he is expected to be great at sports, he has no responsibility to anyone, not even his father. He tells him to find what makes him happy and be a good man while doing it, but what he decides to do is up to him. After hell Nathan spent with Dan, it's satisfying to see that he's the kind of man that Dan never was for Jamie. It's almost like an opportunity to heal his inner child and give Jamie the kind of love and support that he and all children deserve.

Haley also later shows Jamie the hole in the wall on the roof of the cafe in which she and Lucas would write their hopes and predictions for the future. She passes the box to Jamie and tells him to only write hopes and predictions that make him happy. His first prediction is that one day he will break his father's scoring record. And as we find out towards the end of the episode, he did. A line spoken by Karen is then echoed (Moira Kelly) as she and Jamie stand on the roof and look out over the city: “There's only one Tree Hill, Jamie Scott. And it's your house.”

What about Brooke's fashion businesses?

Throughout the ninth season, Brooke (Sophia Bush) is working on his new store, Baker Man, which would be aimed at babies, as one of his previous lines (Baby Brooke) was aimed at girls. With the help of his father, he successfully sets up the company and eventually the Baker Man website is officially launched. In the mini time jump at the end of the episode, we see that Baker Man has now opened a shop right across from Karen's cafe. He tells Haley that “It's going to be our little corner of the world, you and me.” Haley then asks if she remembers what she was doing when Tric opened and she tells him that she was raising money for herself because her parents lost all their money. Now he has two businesses and his parents are finally starting to act like parents. It's the kind of ending that Brooke has long deserved. Sure, he may have had money and a seemingly good life because of it, but he was also shallow at times and relied on others to get his way. She is now a badass businesswoman with a healthy relationship with her parentssomething we never thought would happen.

To really come full circle, Julian (Austin Nichols) blindfolds Brooke and leads her to a house, but not just any house, her old house with the iconic red door. He tells her it's her new home, explaining that she said the house deserved better and she deserved a family, and now she's going to have the best. Like Nathan's conversation with Jamie, this seems to heal Brooke's inner child after coming from such a cold and broken home.

Mouth uses Dan's money for a scholarship

In a surprising turn of events, Boca (Lee Norris) receives a $500,000 check from the recently deceased Dan Scott. The attached note simply says “What you do matters.” Use the money to fund a scholarship at Keith's (Craig Sheffer) and Jimmy (Colin Ficks) names. The scholarship is for university students who want to pursue sports-related studies. He says that while he doesn't want people to forget the tragedy, he hopes that one day this scholarship can overshadow it and teach people that what you do and how you do it matters. He and the skills (Antwon Tanner) then release Jimmy's catchphrase before logging out. At the end of the episode, during the time jump, we find out that Mouth and Millicent (Lisa Goldstein Kirsch) have married and that she is pregnant with his child.

Clay and Quinn officially adopt Logan

After spending the season trying to remember his son and finally being able to, Clay (Robert Buckley) proposes to officially adopt Logan (Pierce Gagnon). As if that wasn't enough to melt your heart, she also calls Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) “mother” for the first time. While they wait to sign the adoption papers, Quinn suggests they get married and ditch their big wedding plans. She just wants to be his wife before they adopt their child, closing their chapter in the sweetest possible way, with Logan and Bevin throwing confetti at them in celebration.

How does “One Tree Hill” end for the other characters?

As for everyone else? Season 6 of the series saw the departure of Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton). And even though none of them are returning to the finale, there are constant mentions of them since their departure that let us know they're still happy, healthy and traveling the world, and that's all we could ask for.

As thanks for helping to rescue him, Nathan gives Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton) a guitar. But not just any guitar, the same one he sold years ago to pay for Haley's record. He later performs at Tric's tenth anniversary, where he sets out to impress a record executive named Frankie Parks (Anna Colwell). She turns him down saying she's looking for rock bands, not country. So when he performs a rock version of the same song he performed for her, she regains her initial refusal. He declines her offer to sign him and is instead approached by Haley, who tells him she's looking for new artists under his label and wants this new artist to be him.

Meanwhile, Chase (Stephen Colletti) is the new owner of Tric and is still looking for love. And, as mentioned above, Bevin (Bevin Prince) makes a guest appearance at the courthouse where Clay and Quinn come forward to adopt Logan and eventually marry. And at the end of the show's time jump, it seems as if she and Skills have reunited and reunited.

Speaking of that time jump, the episode began with a flashback sequence as the last of our original characters looked back at their younger selves. Present-day Nathan watches as his younger self shoots hoops on the river rink. Brooke is seen walking the halls of Tree Hill High School where Julian is filming his movie. Haley looks back making her last year predictions of how she wishes she and Nathan would get back together. Then she and Nathan are lying in bed together. It's especially sweet after the trauma they've been through this season.

This is not the end of the flashbacks. How The final minutes of the episode show the entire group gathered at a Ravens game, we see a young Nathan at the free throw line, seemingly smiling at his current self, with a young Haley watching from the stands. There's also a young Brooke cheering and winking at the camera/her current self. It's revealed to be Jamie's (Jackson Brundage) high school basketball game that everyone has gathered for. We get one last look at all the characters, even Bevin returning. It's the perfect closing scene as everything has come full circle for our Tree Hill gang and everything they've been through over the past 9 seasons has been worth it.

But the best moment of the whole finale comes during Tric's 10th birthday celebration. Haley and Chris' performances are wonderful, but the last musical guest is perhaps the most fitting. Gavin Degraw stops to perform a setlist, featuring some of his most popular hits (and those featured throughout the show). But the end of Hill of a tree It wouldn't be complete without a rendition of their iconic theme song “I Don't Wanna Be.” As Degraw reaches the final chorus, he pauses to let the crowd take over and the camera pans over all of our main characters, singing the words loud and proud. If you somehow managed to get through the episode with dry eyes, that will probably change after this scene. Hill of a tree it may have ended over 10 years ago now, but its charm and legacy live on. It had its flaws and ups and downs just like any other show, but it always stayed true to itself and in the end gave fans the perfect closure to say goodbye to Tree Hill and its residents.

All episodes of Hill of a tree are available to play on Max in the US

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