Slayerette89

*yet another big one*

This is the last season I saw out of high school ones and my favorite. It’s probably the combination of the fact it’s a Peyton/Leyton/Paley heavy season and the fact it’s less over the top than other seasons. But even in this season there are so many things I dislike.

The worst thing is that this could have easily been a lighthearted and endearing little show. Of course, the premise is cliché. You know the Lucas/Nathan and, by extension, school gym crowd/Rivercourt crowd conflict will be resolved in a harmonious union, with characters evolving as individuals along the way. But that (stereo)typical story really didn’t have to be as cheesy, soapy, plastic, cutesy and humorless (well, they do try to be funny, it just doesn’t work for me 90% of the time) as it ended up being.

My number one pet peeve about this season in particular is probably Peyton + Jenny/Jake/Nikki. I don’t want Peyton nurturing babies, being in a sparkless relationship with Jake or fighting with Nikki. It’s not as bad as it gets in s2 (in that season, I literally can’t even revisit the majority of Peyton’s scenes because this whole sl makes me gag), but it’s bad enough.

I also hate that Peyton was never allowed to be upset that her supposed best friend hooked up with a dude she suspected she liked and that the dude who relentlessly fed her creepy/cheesy lines started rebounding with her best friend 2 seconds after she rejected him. I don’t care about retcon Brathan sextapes or Lucas hooking up with a random stranger, this is what Peyton should have been upset about.

Also, Nikki. Her characterization is some wild misogynistic fear/fantasy. I was rooting for her regardless and loving her lack of cheese and patriarchal family values.

I don’t know when Brooke’s worse, when she’s supposed to be merely the fun element/comic relief or when she’s supposed to show her deeper side.

The thing with both Brooke and Nathan is that while they are character types I don’t find particularly interesting to begin with, I can grow to like or at least respect them when their development is actually compelling or at least decently done.

I don’t hate Nathan at all, I’m just indifferent to him.

I hate Brooke mostly because of how she treated Peyton, how the narrative framed it and how intertwined their stories were (she and her cutesy, bubbly ways, as well as her unacknowledged selfishness, ruin a lot of Haley’s and Lucas’s scenes for me too). If not for that, I guess I could have just fast-forwarded through her scenes in peace.

I have mixed feelings for Lucas. I love that he’s so pretentious and introverted. I loathe how he treats women he’s romantically involved with and even moreso that the narrative always lets him off hook for that.

I like Haley, her quick wit and self-righteous ways. Wish they kept more eccentric elements in her style (you know how bland [aesthetically and otherwise] a show is when even a mere flowery poncho looks refreshing).

I love Peyton in all her artsy, angsty glory. But, much though I love her, I think she (as well as all other characters) would have benefited if the show was more self-aware and better written, but oh well. Also wish the overtly hostile side of her was around longer.

Leyton, Paley and Laley are all great in this season.

Karen/Deb friendship is also awesome and I think they’re the best written female friendship on the show.

“ Did u hear that? We're media.” “Not just media, banned media!” is one of my favorite exchanges on the show. Why couldn’t the dialogue always be like that? Simple, but actually funny and cute?

Fave ep is 1.06. Mostly courtesy of Paley, now that I think of it. Lucas/Nathan parts are alright though and the core 5 coming together for the first time is momentous for the show and all that.

Also love 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.07, 1.11 and 1.12 for Petyon and LP. Also parts of 1.20 for LP + Haley.

1.01 and 1.05 are nice too, but in 1.05 someone really should have pointed out to Peyton that running red lights and potentially killing someone else is not the best way to deal with her mom’s death. Be self-destructive in a way that doesn’t endanger others. I love her and enjoy watching her in this ep (most of her scenes are awesome actually), but come on. I don’t mind character flaws, I mind the narrative not acknowledging them.

Hate 1.08, 1.09 and 1.10. Too much Brooke, Breyton and Brucas. And the beginning of Peyton + Jake&Jenny.

Hate parts of 1.20 too. The Peyton/Nikki fight parts that is.

Hate 1.22. Now this is just classic oth. All the elements of trashy storytelling are there - overreliance on suspense, misdirects, twists and shock value to tell a super boring story.

ETA:
I forgot to mention, Peyton's curls should have their own appreciation thread. Love her hair, especially this season.