Editor's Note: This review is a part of a larger article written by rhett on prime-time television soaps. To read further, you can find that feature by clicking the image.

When The OC exploded on the small screen in the summer of 2003, it left little room for any other aspiring teen programming. Its flashy, glamorous Orange County culture, chic cynicism and high concept twists all made it the pop culture show du jour, reaching audiences en masse like 90210 and Dawson’s Creek had in their respective primes. Meanwhile however, on those modest little Middletown America Dawson’s Creek sets, a new show was conceived. Shot in the picturesque Wilmington, North Carolina, One Tree Hill was a new show that relied on small town sweetness rather than The OC’s big city flash. It is no surprise that the sensationalism and sarcasm won out over serious character-driven drama in the ratings, but that hasn’t stopped One Tree Hill from carving out quite the niche for itself in its complex and intricate world of Tree Hill.

The show centers around rival half-brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) who are both bound together by television’s biggest asshole father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson). In the first season the two were competing over basketball and women, but buried the hatchet between each other to make way for different dramatic paths in season two. Nathan deals with the complications of eloping at sixteen, while Lucas deals with a wounded heart after having been excised from the season one love triangle of himself, Brooke (Sophia Bush) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton). The addition of a wealthy brother-sister team into the season two landscape throws a wrench into all the character relationships that were settling at the end of the first season. Will Nathan and Haley’s marriage last? Will Lucas rekindle romance with soul mate Brooke? Will Dan Scott finally get what’s coming to him? Season two stirs the pot, but the texture of all the characters keeps the main course from spilling over.

Both One Tree Hill and The OC employ a similar cast structure. They both follow two unlikely brothers (be they biological or adopted), two major families and a fairly even cast of teens and adults. It is how the two utilize these casts is what sets them apart, and each has their benefits. One Tree Hill focuses on small town complications and idle brooding to get to the heart of its characters, while The OC works to consistently throw its characters into high stakes conflicts. The OC appeals to those looking for quick thrills and a cynical detachment, but One Tree Hill is more mature in its approach. Starting each episode off with voice-over readings from Hemmingway to James Joyce, One Tree Hill asks its viewers to be introspective. There are no shootings, impromptu trips to Mexico or bet-it-all economic plights in the town of Tree Hill. Instead, One Tree Hill focuses on little dramas, like rivalries between fathers and sons, a game of basketball, a high school election. It taps into the realistic dramas of everyday reality and asks viewers to recall their own memories of youth in relating to the simple pleasures of the show.

Yeah, there are some sensationalist bits on the show, like when Dan’s wife turns to pill-popping or when the show deters into concert at the musical nightclub, Tric. Every show needs to rely on a little bit of the unreal to liven things up, but where The OC wallows in sensationalism, One Tree Hill keeps it on its outskirts. It gets into the minds of its characters, and their small potatoes romances and dilemmas are refreshing in a time where everything has to be so big and over the top. Dawson’s Creek was wonderful introspective counter-programming to 90210’s soapy sensationalism in 1998, and now in 2004 One Tree Hill has proven itself to be the quieter and more personal alternative to the overblown glee of The OC.

The difference between sensationalist splash and interior stash is evident even in the casting of One Tree Hill. While The OC relies on a cast of beautifuls, like Peter “I had a ménage a trios with Daryl Hannah and a hot French chick” Gallagher, Melinda “Best Zombie Tits Ever” Clarke and Kelly “I’m Canadian, respect.” Rowan, One Tree Hill builds its adult cast with a less attractive but more interesting body of characters. First off, it has Moira Kelly, who was instantly loveable in all of her almost-a-movie-star roles in forgettable early-90s movies. Two words: With Honors. On the male side, it’s got Craig Sheffer, whose sullen face always seemed to suggest subtext in all the other forgettable early-90s movies that Moira Kelly was not in. On the teen side, one of the nicest surprises is nerdy Lee Norris, who despite having played The Minkus on Boy Meets World seems the least teen-starry actor on any primetime soap. It isn’t a cast of Maxim covers, but it is one that embodies small town sincerity. The cast seems less like movie stars, and more like real people in that small little Wilmington city. Even Sheffer’s character seems an outgrowth of the similar ‘small town boy with a dysfunctional family’ he played so masterfully in A River Runs Through It. The cast may not sell posters, but they certainly sell believability.

The problem with The OC is that it played out its romantic arcs much too early in the show, having dreamer Seth hook up with the dreamed of Summer and Ryan snag Marissa all within the first ten episodes of the show. The first season was beautiful in all its high-paced discovery, but after those relationships settled, there really was no where else to go dramatically for the show. Thus, season two was spent entertaining high concepts and empty twists to keep audiences, rather than any attempts at mining character and possibility. One Tree Hill feels very much the opposite, with the first season only a springboard for all the relationships and personal developments that are to come.

Nathan and Haley’s marriage is dealt every possible blow throughout the second season, and throughout Lucas, Felix and Mouth all compete for the affection of Brooke. The end of the season isn’t as pay-offy as The OC. When the season finale ends, one gets a sense once again that things are just beginning. One Tree Hill may not have burned as brightly as The OC in season one, but the show looks to have a life long after The OC runs out of sensationalist twists to exploit. One Tree Hill has focused on character over thrills, and it may not always be as flashy, but the fire burns deep, looking to only get brighter for the third season. There will probably be eight car crashes in season three of The OC.

Presentation
Despite being shot in 1.85:1, Warner elected to present both The OC and One Tree Hill in full screen on their respective first season DVDs. Understanding that a serial show with a large cast of characters often sharing the screen at the same time lends better to the wider aspect ratio, they’ve made the right choice in presenting both series in widescreen for their second seasons. One Tree Hill looks great in anamorphic widescreen, its idyllic Tree Hill locales, with all its sun drenched landscapes, looks particularly vivid, as do the blued nightclub scenes. Shot on 16mm, the show undoubtedly contains the grain elemental to the film stock, but for 16 it looks good. It could be a little sharper, it could have a little less grain, but it could also be 4:3, so we should count our blessings.

Audio
One Tree Hill, again in the vein of Dawson’s Creek, is a show that relies on musical montage throughout, often using it in a trademark final montage that brings all the plot threads of that episode together. The entire show is presented in Dolby Stereo, and the music all sounds clear and at times forceful. Aside from music, this is dialogue driven all the way, so don’t expect an Independence Day workout on your subs. In an increasing rarity these days, all the music present during its initial airings has all been kept for this release. Columbia, please follow suit for Dawson’s Creek season six. Please.

Extras
Considering how many characters and story arcs that have to be fit into a single 44-minute episode, it is a reality of soap-based shows that one complete story arc usually gets cut to time constraints each episode. In a smart move by Warner, nearly every episode features a deleted scene reel, complete with introduction by series creator Mark Schwahn. Schwahn is a good speaker, and knows his characters, and his introductions to the forty-or-so minutes of deleted scenes further help flesh out the expansive world of One Tree Hill. This is a feature that more TV-on-DVD shows should run with, it works great.

Schwahn also partakes in some light and well-spoken commentaries, doing one solo and the other with soon-to-be-sex-slave-to-Uma-Thurman, cast member Bryan Greenberg. Alone or with some youthful jokery, Schwahn is able to sustain a commentary with enough warm-hearted comments about creating the show and how various scenes were approached whether it be on paper, on the set or in the editing room. Although not as self-deprecating and candid as Paul Stupin’s commentaries on Dawson’s Creek, they do provide a surprising amount of information about the zeitgeist of the show and its cast and crew. Asshole-father-of-the-world, Paul Johansson, stops acting and contributes a commentary to the seventeenth episode as well, which he also directed. He makes a convincing case for allowing actors to direct their shows, since they have a feel for the characters and the cast that a freelance director could never capture.

The rest of the extras are video based, and housed on the final disc of this six disc set. The best featurette is “Change is Good: Season Two’s New Characters”, which profiles the great supporting cast rigged for this season. Minkus gets to talk about how he liked singing “I Like Big Butts” on national TV, and there is also talk of the important task of adding a bisexual character to the show. “The Music of One Tree Hill” sounds like a fluffy promotional featurette, but is actually a sincere bit by the producers and some of the singers in the show to demonstrate how the music is more than mere marketing gimmick. Schwahn talks about how he is a failed musician, and through the music on the show he gets to exorcize those demons of musical rejection. One Tree Hill even had a concert tour, and some backstage footage is also provided. Lastly, a couple of puff pieces called “Diaries from the Set” are included, and are entirely forgettable. A promotional disc for the sitcom “What I Like About You” (with former 90210 alum Jennie Garth) is also included, which includes a selected episode from the show.

Parting Words
Overall, the extras on this set are handsomely presented, with enough variety and brevity to make it a worthwhile pursuit for those engaged with the show on DVD.

One Tree Hill is a show that continues to grow with its broad cast of characters. While the first season may have started with a few hitches, season two benefits from Mark Schwahn’s commitment to fleshing out the character relationships on the show. Rather than rely on empty twists, the show thrives on character triangles and dynamics, and the actors and stories are good enough that the show still has many more plot threads to mine before it gets tired. The DVD presentation is solid, with welcome widescreen transfers, acceptable stereo sound, and a great assortment of special features. Although One Tree Hill doesn’t get near the press that The OC does, its second season has proven that it should.