^ I disagree since Jeyton were more together in season 2 when the ratings were the best (overall) for the series.

When Brucas were together, they had good ratings and bad ratings.
When Leyton were together, they had good ratings and bad ratings.
Jeyton were really never promoted as a pairing compared to the other 2 to really get any blame.

One of the best rated episodes of season 4 was 4x10, and I still remember the TRAILER, like it was yesterday, it was promoted as Lucas dying, and seeing how his life could've been. That intrigued me. Not who Lucas was going to be with.
Back than social media wasn't as big as it was now, so the main source of information was huge speculation, the trailers and probably spoilers from the spoiler board.


Season 1-2 were by far the strongest seasons in ratings and story telling... and it was because of the WHOLE show, not because of one character or one person.
I feel Naley were the biggest pairing during the first season actually. Season 2, it was a lot of pairings but the characters had some good arcs as well.