Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Great Leap Forward, July 12, 2008
I have been an avid viewer of "One Tree Hill" since the very first episode. I started watching the show as a replacement to the great "Dawson's Creek" (which ended several months prior to the release of Tree Hill), but I wasn't hooked for almost the entire first season. But then in the second season the writing got sharper (and franky more "out there,") the cast gelled together, and the rest is more or less television history. But to be perfectly honest this show should not have been the hit that it has become. But there is just something about watching these 6 teenagers live out the lives of adult, while the amazing dialogue that captures people and refuses to let go.
As a DVD reviewer once said: "High School Dramas are not made for high schoolers, they are made for the people that didn't have the high school experience they wanted." And "One Tree Hill" is the epoch of this discussion. And this is what makes the fifth season so special. After focusing on the groups High School years from seasons 1 thru 4, Season 5 fast-forwards the action 5 years, with all the kids living their own lives, much seperated (and grown up) from their 18-year-old alter-egos.
Whereas many believe the show would have out-right failed had season 5 progressed into the groups various freshman year of college experiences, it instead shines. The cast is allowed to play their own ages, and the viewers are able to see what happens when the real world comes into play. Every character has learned the harsh lessons that come with college and finally moving away from your parents/home town. The characters have finally learned how life can be without a security blanket. But alas I don't want to give away too much.
The start of season 5 finds Brooks as a very famous and wealthy fashion designer, Peyton as a struggeling record assistant, Lucas as a writer turned basketball coach, Haley starting her first year of Teaching English, and Nathan realing from a crippeling accident. But as fate (and the television producing gods) would have it, within three episodes the entire cast is back in Tree Hill for various reasons, and the series begins to progress from there.
The fifth season DVD include all 18 episodes from the strike-shortened season that aired from January until June 2008 (including the 100th Episode), with Unaired Scenes, Three Featurettes (one focusing on the 4 year jump, another on the 100th episode, and an other on the music), two episode commentaries (the season premier & 100th Episode), a gag reel, as well as a digital copy of each episode to watch on your computer/IPod. The episodes are spread across 5 discs and are presented in 1.78:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Season, April 10, 2008
A new viewer to Tree Hill; wasn't expecting much from a teen drama, but the show has a great heart, especially the episode 9 titled "For Tonight, You're only here to know", the performance by Michaela McManus and Hilarie Burton was exceptional. This is by far the best episode all season.
The fifth season is also better than the fourth. The actors actually get to play character that resemble their own age group though James Lafferty still looks like a teenager. The overall performances of the cast explains why the show has been renewed for a sixth season and hopefully many more.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not The Best of Tree Hill, But Still Pretty Darn Good, May 28, 2008
I only recently started watching One Tree Hill, I did a season a month beginning in September leading up to the fifth season premiere in January (which actually worked quite nicely for me and for the show since it was at one time one of the few shows airing new episodes during the writers strike). This was one of the few of my favorite shows that were coming back this season after many were cancelled last year (Gilmore Girls, The O.C, Veronica Mars, and many more) so I was thrilled to find out there would be a fifth and sixth season.
I actually really enjoyed this season. It was still probably my second to last favorite season (second season was my least favorite season) just because there was no more high school drama (which I enjoyed), only 18 episodes, and a lot of the characters only appeared a few times throughout the season (Karen, Rachel, Deb, Coach Durham, Chase, and Andy). Meeting the new characters in this season was great though, especially Jamie (Hayley and Nathan's four year old son). Some of the new characters this season are Lindsey Strauss (Lucas's editor and current love interest), Quinton (a member of the Tree Hill Ravens, coached by Skills, Lucas, and Nathan), Mia (a struggling music artist who is signed to Peyton's record label), "Nanny" Carrie (Jamie's nanny who takes an interest to Nathan that pushes Hayley over the edge), Owen (a bartender at Tric who takes an interest in Brooke), and Millicent (Brooke's assistant and Mouth's love interest) and a surprisingly good performance by Kevin Federline as a rude band member of Mia's band. As you can see, more than half of the cast this season were new members.
The season is set four years into the future and skips over the college years. Brooke is a very successful fashion designer living in New York and her line Clothes Over Bros is doing very well. Unfortunately, she is extremely unhappy. Her mother (Melrose Place's Daphne Zuniga) is her manager and does not seem to care about her daughter at all.
Lucas is a published author. His first book "An Unkindness of Ravens" is a current best seller and he has a new girlfriend. He remains in Tree Hill. He has a bad case of writers block though and seems to be missing something.
Peyton is living in LA and is also very unhappy interning at a record label. When she realizes she isn't happy she decides to move back to Tree Hill, along with Brooke.
Nathan and Hayley are still married and have a four year old son named Jamie (who was born at the end of the fourth season). They are going through a very tough time after an accident Nathan has that leaves his temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, wrecking his basketball dreams forever.
Mouth, Skills, Fergie, and Junk are still around. They are all living together. Mouth is a struggling sports reporter and begins a hidden relationship with his mean boss Alice. Skills is co-coaching the Tree Hill Ravens with Nathan and Lucas.
Dan is still in jail serving time for the murder of his brother Keith.
Since four years have passed, there are a lot of gaps. Some episodes are dedicated entirely to flashbacks which keep you informed on what happened in those years. You also get to find out what happened to the characters who aren't main characters who have gone their separate ways during this season. Guest appearances on this show include Karen, Andy, Lilly (Karen and Keith's daughter), Chase, Rachel, Coach Whitey Durham, Tim, Bevin, and Gavin DeGraw.
So to conclude this season was another great one. The hundredth episode of the series (Hundred) and the season finale (What Comes After The Blues) were my favorites with great cliffhangers. I will definitely buy this one to complete my collection of One Tree Hill on DVD and cannot wait for season 6. Fans won't be disappointed!
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