Mark Schwahn told me he wanted to make the series finale feel like “a quintessential One Tree Hill episode,” and that’s exactly what he delivered April 4: introspective voiceovers, unforgettable performances, and a look into the future that wrapped up nine years of story into an hour-long love letter to the fans of “the little show that could.”

So, without further adieu, here are the 24 moments that reduced me to a ridiculous Andy Puddle during the final hour of One Tree Hill:

1. The opening shot of Tree Hill with the show title looming in the sky.

2. The characters, as grown ups, looking back at their 17-year-old selves.

3. Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) going through the old box of predictions.

4. Brooke (Sophia Bush) running her fingers along the records in “Peyton’s bedroom”

5. Haley singing at Tric for the last time — and beautifully, I might add.

6. Clay (Robert Buckley) asking Logan if he could be his dad again: “You’re already my dad, Dad!”

7. Nathan (James Lafferty) giving Jamie (Jackson Brundage) advice on the river court: “Play sports for you, and not for anybody else.”

8. Logan calling Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) ”mom.”

9. Nathan giving Haley the bracelet in the Cracker Jack box.

10. Quinn telling Clay she wants to marry him: “I just want to be your wife… before we adopt our son.”

11. The very existence of Bevin. Love that bitch and miss her every day.

12. Mouth (Lee Norris) talking about the Dan Scott foundation: “What you do matters, and how you do it matters.”

13. Nathan and Haley kissing in the rain. They should always be in the rain.

14. Julian (Austin Nichols) walking Brooke through her old house: “Welcome home, Brooke Davis.”

15. Clay and Quinn tucking Logan into bed: “Goodnight, son. We love you!”

16. Jamie putting his own prediction in the box on the rooftop: “It’s a magical place, son. There’s only one Tree Hill, Jamie Scott, and it’s your home.”

17. Brooke crying by her high school locker with the NOFX sticker: “I wake up sometimes and I miss it.”

18. Gavin DeGraw performing “I Don’t Wanna Be” at Tric.

19. Haley reading Julius Caesar at Karen’s Café.

20. Millie (Lisa Goldstein) wearing a wedding ring — hello, time jump! — and being pregnant with Baby Mouth!

21. An excellent use of U2‘s “One Tree Hill.”

22. Nathan looking at 17-year-old Jamie’s “all-time lead scorer” jersey in the gym at Tree Hill High School.

23. The beautiful moment when you realize Skills (Antwon Tanner) and Bevin are dating, or at least banging.

24. The freeze frame of Jamie (from behind) in his Raven’s jersey.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Remember when Mark Schwahn talked about the One Tree Hill fans who started watching the show in high school? How they’re now out of college? Well, I’m one of those fans. When the pilot first aired in Sept. 2003 — when Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) first towed Peyton’s (Hilarie Burton) car and changed the course of so many people’s lives — I was a junior in high school. Now here I am, nine years later, and I’m writing about the series professionally. I’ve never found myself connecting with characters like I have with the residents of Tree Hill, and I may never again. For me, for the actors, for all of you, this is the end of an era. And it’s been an incredible one.

Good night, Tree Hill.

What did YOU think of the final trip to Tree Hill? Which moments had you reaching for the tissues, and which characters will you miss the most? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below — one last time.

— Andy Swift

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As One Tree Hill‘s series finale inches closer and closer — it’s literally seven days away now — the residents of Tree Hill burned their failures and burdens at the town’s Burning Boat Festival.

Clay (Robert Buckley) got the “aww”s rolling by giving Logan (Pierce Gagnon) the perfect room, complete with airplanes, comic books and even a view of the ocean for his first sleepover. But Logan hadn’t quite conquered his fear of the body of water filled with sharks, jellyfish and sea monsters. (I think he was really scared of the ocean because his dad had basically been drowned by Dan Scott twice in the same ocean). Clay hoped out to experience a milestone with his son by getting him into the water for the first time, but it was Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) who had the breakthrough with Logan.

After a long day’s work, Clay, Quinn and Logan retired to their tent — yes, a tent in the middle of the living room — where Clay finally proposed! He didn’t have a ring just yet, but don’t worry: Logan was there to save the day with his power ring! Be still, my beating heart.

Meanwhile, Mouth (Lee Norris) continued to make a complete turn around — seriously, he’s skinny and has abs now — Millie (Lisa Goldstein) looked for a new co-anchor so her boyfriend could focus on his true love: sports. After one total failure, Skills (Antwon Tanner) stepped up to the plate and hit a home run! Meanwhile, Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) broke the exciting news to Chase (Stephen Colletti) that Karen was willing to sell him the bar, the only place he ever truly called home.

Julian (Austin Nichols) was busy preparing for a meeting to get his television series approved, and after reading Brooke’s (Sophia Bush) diary for inspiration, his script was accepted! Brooke still struggled with her past, and it even came back to haunt her when she walked in on her mother with “doing someone in the middle of the day” hair — and that “someone” turned out to be Brooke’s dad! After having a few words with Julian, Ted (Richard Burgi) and Victoria (Daphne Zuniga) decided to join their daughter as co-owners of Baker Man. Needless to say, Brooke didn’t even recognize these people as her parents. And this is a good thing.

This episode was beautifully directed by Sophia Bush, who provided us with a little bit of comedy to ease our pain for the next week.

The end is near. Are you prepared?

– Jaymie Bailey

Xavier Daniels (Devin McGee) was still lurking around town on this week’s One Tree Hill, and even persuaded Tara (Chelsea Kane) to give him a job at Tree Hill Cafe — right across the street from Karen’s Cafe. My guess is that it didn’t take much convincing, because I have no doubt Tara only gave him the job get under Brooke’s skin. Julian (Austin Nichols) and Brooke (Sophia Bush) decided to stalk Xavier to catch him in a criminal act, and when they saw him “break into a house,” they called the police. Well, he actually lived at the house and had to use the window because he forgot a key. Brooke and Julian merely added fuel to Xavier’s fire.

Willing to do pretty much anything to find Nathan (James Lafferty), sweet Haley (Bethany Joy Galelotti) turned into hardcore Haley in order to trick the drug dealer — who may have information on Nathan’s whereabouts. After she lured him outside, Dan (Paul Johansson) attacked the guy and did a little kidnapping of his own. After Haley had her turn at beating the crap out of him, Dan took matters into his own hands. Something tells me this drug dealer won’t be alive much longer if he doesn’t tell Dan what he needs to know.

Meanwhile, Clay (Robert Buckley) broke the news to Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) that Logan (Pierce Gagnon) is his son, and she agreed to go to therapy with him. Clay was upset that he’d forgotten about his son for six years and boldly asked for guidance from the therapist. He started to bond with Logan and eventually told him that he was his father — only to have Logan leave the room. Let’s hope these two patch things up soon because they are just adorable together.

Picking up where last week’s encounter left off, Chase (Stephen Colletti) was arrested and Chuck (Michael May) lied to the police, telling them his father never beat him. But after chatting with Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton), Chuck showed up in court and told the truth in order to help his friend. Even after the truth was revealed, Chase was generally discharged from the Air Force, but his and Chuck’s relationship is sure to be much stronger now.

On a positive note, Mouth (Lee Norris) FINALLY agreed to take matters about his weight into his own hands. He and Skills (Antwon Tanner) took a visit to the grave of a former Tree Hill resident, Jimmy Edwards (Colin Fickes) and I think it was just the motivation Mouth needed. He even ripped off all of the takeout menus on his fridge and rounded up all of the unhealthy foods and shoved them into the trash. Mouth is on the road to recovery!

Now here’s the scary part: Xavier finally caught Brooke alone and warned — well, more like threatened — her to leave him alone so he could get on with his life. And finally, to prove he’s the exact same Xavier as before, he made his way into Brooke and Julian’s home and we saw him holding one of their twins!

Cree-py.

Previews for next episode show Dan, Julian and Chris Keller attempting to rescue Nathan. I hope he’s still alive — but if nothing else, at least watching Chris Keller panic should be funny!

— Jaymie Bailey

Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) was called down to the morgue to identify a body believed to be Nathan (James Lafferty) on the Feb. 29 episode of One Tree Hill – but those tears we saw in the previews turned out to be tears of joy, because Nathan was NOT in the body bag! In her desperate state, Haley even did the unthinkable and turned to Dan Scott (Paul Johannson) for help solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearance. It’s safe to say that hell has frozen over.

Meanwhile, Clay’s (Robert Buckley) therapist still wanted him to talk about Sarah’s death, but he couldn’t bring himself to get through the entire story. And instead of trying to leave things behind and get better, Clay spent his time flying airplanes with Logan (Pierce Gagnon) — the cutest little kid ever. Well, after a series of intense flashbacks, we came to find out that Logan is his son! Actually, Clay (somewhat) knew about Logan all along, but chose to block it out of his mind. What a revelation! Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) even told Clay that “nothing you say is going to change us.” Sure about that, Quinn?

Back in Tree Hill, Brooke (Sophia Bush) encountered her demon from the past, Xavier Daniels (Devin McGee), outside of Karen’s Cafe where he showed up and asked for a job! He kept popping up — inside the cafe, outside the cafe. Next thing you know, he’ll be on the roof of the cafe. Julian (Austin Nichols) physically removed Xavier from his seat as he was enjoying some cherry pie and Brooke demanded that he leave several times. Xavier seems a bit scared to mess with the Baker family because of Julian’s threats, but I don’t think that’s going to stop him completely.

Skills (Antwon Tanner) also encountered someone from his past: Lauren (Allison Munn) — and she’s pregnant! Unsure if he was the father, he confronted Lauren and things in Tree Hill get a little more interesting. It turns out Lauren’s “baby daddy” is actually David, Quinn’s ex-husband who showed up to support Haley during her time of need!

Finally, Chase (Stephen Coletti) prepared to leave for the Air Force, but was delayed since he took it upon himself to beat the crap out of Chuck’s (Michael May) father for attempting to abuse him again. Now we know why Chase was taking a ride in a cop car during the flash-forward in the premiere episode!

Viewers can now uncross their fingers and take a death breath of relief. Nathan’s body was not in the bag, so there’s still hope for the Scott family. But are other Tree Hill residents in danger?

— Jaymie Bailey

As the final season of One Tree Hill marches on, we’re slowly getting explanations for the shocking flash-forward sequence seen on the premiere — and on the Feb. 29 episode, we’ll finally figure out whose corpse Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) has to identify at the morgue! So who does the mystery body belong to? To figure that out, we’ll have to play my favorite game ever: Tree Hill Corpse Roulette! (Actually, that’s my second favorite game. My first is Dream Phone.)

Nathan: Considering he’s currently in the custody of murderous basketball terrorists, Nathan is the obvious suspect. We know James Lafferty only appears in a handful of episodes this season, but that he’s definitely confirmed for the finale, so perhaps we’ll be seeing angel Nathan. And let’s not forget that Barbara Alyn Woods is also returning for an episode. (She might want to bring a little black dress along for the trip!)

Dan: Considering he’s going all “hero” and trying to save his son, it’s totally possible Dan (Paul Johansson) will get killed in the process. Just think about it: Wouldn’t it be so poetic — and so One Tree Hill – for Dan to receive the ultimate redemption in death? And of course he’d be buried right next to Keith.

Lucas: We know his plane took off… but did it ever land?

Clay: He’s been sleep walking this season. Could he also be sleep dying?

Mouth: He’s gotten super-fat this season. Mayhaps he’s going to eat himself into an early grave?

Skills: I know this is random — especially since we’ve barely seen him this season — but wouldn’t Skills’ (Antwon Tanner) funeral be another good excuse for Deb to return?

Jamie: Doubt it. That corpse would be super tiny, and it’s not.

Chase or Chris Keller: Doubt it. Haley wouldn’t look so sad.

OK, my speculation is “becoming” nonsensical, so I’ll leave the rest up to you. Who do YOU think is going to bite the big one next week? Celebrate democracy by voting in my poll below:

— Andy Swift

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He’s baaaaack! On the Feb. 22 episode of One Tree Hill, Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) — the one man who can compete with Nathan (James Lafferty) in the looks category — finally returned to Tree Hill. The fact that he’s back in town almost made every other event that occurred in “Last Known Surroundings” irrelevant. Still, this highly anticipated episode did not disappoint.

As Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) requested, Lucas returned to take Jamie (Jackson Brundage) and Lydia with him so she could focus on Nathan and protect her children in case anything bad happened. Lucas reassured Haley several times that her husband WILL COME HOME (please, please, pleeeease let this be true!) Jamie forgot to bring along the video of his dad and called Julian (Austin Nichols) so he could send it to him. Julian sent the video to Jamie and even made a copy for Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), and after intently looking at the same 30-second video for hours, Dan noticed a symbol in the background. (We don’t know what it means, but we do know it isn’t good!)

I couldn’t understand anything the crazy European terrorist said during the entire episode, but the most important thing was that Nathan broke free! I thought it was suspicious that the cop who turned Haley away from the beginning of Nathan’s disappearance showed up to help — and I was right! The cop has been involved in the kidnapping from the beginning. He kept whining about how the police department wouldn’t make him a detective (do you want some cheese?) and how his association with Nathan’s kidnapping paid more money. (I did NOT see this twist coming, but I did find it odd that the cop just showed up out of nowhere when no one had any idea where Nathan was.)

Clay (Robert Buckley) continued talking with his therapist, only to discover that he’s a boringly normal individual. He did, however, reveal that he felt responsible for Nathan’s disappearance. Clay was supposed to be the one to go to Europe, not Nathan.

Back in Tree Hill, Chase (Stephen Colletti) woke up to two strippers AND Chris Keller (Tyler Hilton) in his apartment. To top it all off, he was called back to the Air Force for active duty. He broke the news to his right-hand man, Chuck (Michael May), and basically crushed his heart. Chase noticed that Chuck had been lying about spending time with his father, and Chase took the opportunity to hang out with him before he had to leave. Chuck revealed a huge bruise on his abdomen, claiming he fell off his bike. This storyline has child absue written all over it.

Xavier Daniels (Devin McGee) requested that Brooke (Sophia Bush) meet with him before his trial where he hoped to be set free. He apologized to Brooke for attacking her, but he never admitted to murdering her friend, Quentin Fields. Unable to truly forgive Xavier, Brooke testified against him and told the court how he has not changed and that he will continue to be a threat if released. She felt good about her decision until she realized there’s still a possibility Mr. Daniels could still be set free. (Annnnnd go figure, he was. That was the most appealing testimony I’ve ever heard, and the criminal was still set free. Does this mean trouble for the Baker family?!?)

The previews for next episode showed Haley Scott crying over a body bag. Obviously, this did not set well with me. I refuse to even let myself think that Nathan’s body is in that bag because THAT JUST CAN’T HAPPEN!

Can it?!

— Jaymie Bailey

On the Feb. 15 episode of One Tree Hill, viewers finally found out where Nathan (James Lafferty) is — sort of. It turns out he’s been kidnapped! Also, people in Europe take basketball way too seriously. Apparently, Nathan tried to sign a player who was the “property” of someone else. (It’s just a sport. Winning isn’t everything, remember?!) Unfortunately, his family and friends back in Tree Hill are still left in the dark.

Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) tried her best to keep composure, Dan (Paul Johannson) made a list of his enemies, Quinn (Shantel VanSanten) scared the mess out of Haley by telling her that posters were being put up and people were searching the woods, and Jamie (Jackson Brundage) shocked us all by calling Dan a liar. Oh, and Lydia took her first steps.

Meanwhile, Tree Hill was informed that Brooke (Sophia Bush) vandalized Tara’s (Chelsea Kane) café and all hell broke loose. Millie (Lisa Goldstein) had the brilliant idea to bring some entertainment to Karen’s Cafe to boost revenue, sure enough Chris Keller’s (Tyler Hilton) voice really did bring all the ladies to the yard — or in this case, the cafe.

Tara busted in during the middle of a song and demanded to know why he’d help Brooke take away her business. (Well, duh, Tara, it’s because Brooke accidentally spilled the beans that you were also sleeping with Chase). Chase (Stephen Colletti) and Chris Keller had somewhat of a “fight” and decided to resolve their issues — at the STRIP CLUB! Chase paid, of course.

Over in mental rehab, Clay (Robert Buckley) was busy talking about superheroes with Logan and forgetting who Quinn was. (Seriously, Clay? You two were shot and almost died together, how can you not recognize her?!)

Meanwhile, Julian (Austin Nichols) and Dan tag-teamed to find a potential suspect who may have a reason to be involved with Nathan’s disappearance — but the man wasn’t even able to walk, much less arrange a kidnapping. And although Mouth (Lee Norris) hasn’t lost any weight by eating side salads, he did serve up some crucial information that could help Dan trace Nathan’s whereabouts.

This episode was kind of slow, and I was really only aware of one thing during all of the chaos: THERE WERE WAY TOO MANY GUNS POINTED AT NATHAN! He is too beautiful, and the Europeans with the lame jokes just need to put their guns away.

— Jaymie Bailey

Tutor Girl. Baby Mama. Kelly Clarkson. Yes, Haley James Scott has gone by many different names during her nine seasons on One Tree Hill — and I’ve loved every one of them. During a recent visit to the show’s North Carolina set, HollywoodLife.com chatted with Bethany Joy Galeotti about all things Haley, and it got me thinking about just how far she’s come.

“I’m happy with Haley, what she’s been through and where she’s come,” Bethany says of heading into the show’s final season. “What more could [the fans] ask for than to see everybody kind of come back to where they started, back to why everyone fell in love with the show in the first place?”

I couldn’t agree more.

OK, let’s talk about Haley: Do you prefer her as a big-city rocker, or a small-town mom? What do you hope to see from her in this final season, and how would you like her character to finish the series? Drop a comment below with your thoughts on Miz James Scott.

– Andy Swift

Follow Andy on Twitter for more One Tree Hill nostalgia