Warning: Don’t read this post until you’ve watched the ‘One Tree Hill’ series finale. It contains so many beautiful spoilers.
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.”

Dan finally earns his son’s love & gets a surprise visitor from ‘Tree Hill’ past! This was the most emotional episode of the season.
Jamie’s (Jackson Brundage) words “He’ll be alright, he’s Grandpa Dan,” echoed throughout the hospital on the March 21 episode of One Tree Hill, as everyone came together after Dan (Paul Johansson) took a a bullet for Nathan (James Lafferty).

Fans of Nathan Scott found out they can all rest easy — for now!
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.

Nathan’s new foe makes Nanny Carrie look like Mother Teresa! We’re kind of worried.
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.

Sex, corpses, and endless emotional montages — Tree Hill hasn’t changed one bit!
One Tree Hill returned for its ninth and final season Jan. 11, and it was all sunshine and rainbows from start to finish — well, as long as you don’t count the arson, vandalism, arrests, assaults and dead bodies. I almost forgot about those.

Plus, Sophia Bush weighs in on Brooke’s dad’s highly-anticipated arrival! What kind of drama do you think he’ll bring to Tree Hill?
There are a few more familiar faces returning for One Tree Hill’s ninth, and final, season — plus a few new ones! Warner Bros. has confirmed that, not only will Barbara Alyn Woods reprise her role as Nathan’s (James Lafferty) pill-popping cougar mom Deb for one episode, but Richard Burgi will also recur as Brooke’s (Sophia Bush) oft-discussed-but-never-seen father!

An otherwise so-so season finale was totally saved by the last 10 minutes full of crazy twists!

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen the May 17 season finale of One Tree Hill, STOP READING! I had the pleasure of live-tweeting the madness for HollywoodLife.com, and I’d still appreciate someone helping me pick my jaw up off the floor. There’s no way this show isn’t going to get picked up for at least half a season in the fall — there’s WAY too much story left to tell. Click to find out what happened last night & VOTE!