One Tree Hill, Season 4 - Episode 1
This episode of One Tree Hill opens with a dramatic car crash on the way home from Nathan and Hayley's wedding, in which Nathan plays the hero by rescuing Cooper and Rachael from the water. In this scene Nathan holds the power; lives are in his hands, and so is Hayley's sanity (as she waits for him on the road, hoping that he will make it out ok). The crash occured because Rachael was afraid that Cooper did not want to be with her, so she told him she was pregnant. When she didn't receive the response she wanted to hear, Rachael grabbed the wheel from Cooper. The producer had Rachael play the 'pregnancy card' because the show is aimed at young adults, and other shows targeting the same genre often generalize that pregnant women get the desired man to stay with them.
While Hayley and Lucas are waiting in the hospital, Karen (Lucas' mom) expresses her concern that Lucas and Brook may be expecting a child at 17. Lucas directly approaches Brook about this, and she tells him not to worry, that the pregnancy test he found was not hers. Brook holds the power here; only she knows if she is pregnant or not, and she has the option of whether to tell Lucas the truth.
Once Rachael wakes up, she tells Hayley to thank Nathan for saving her. Hayley blames Rachael for the accident and tells her to never go near Nathan again. Meanwhile, the cops are waiting for Cooper to wake up and see what made him lose control. When he does awaken, he covers for Rachael, still under the impression that she is pregnant with his child. After, she reveals to him that she lied.
During this episode, Brook moves into Rachael's house. I feel like this is very unrealistic; not many teenagers have entire houses to themselves. She also breaks up with Lucas, once again displaying power in this episode. At the end of the show, Brook and Hayley go to the doctor's office and the audience finds out that one of them is pregnant.
The teen pregnancy issue is very popular in the media today, and so it is appropriate the a show directed towards young adults would involve this topic. Other topics prominent in this episode and series, such as teenage married couples and teenagers living on their own, are less common and may be the result of having an older producer making a teenage-oriented show.
3. Kristin Zaccari
I completely agree with both Professor Kelly and Sherene. This show is full of drama and suspense. Rachel is totally desperate. She use to be fat and now that she is skinny she only thinks about sex and guys. In the later episodes you can totally see this.
02/20/12, 01:03 am
2. Sherene Minhas
Stating that i have seen this show i agree with professor Kelly that they are pointing this whole suspence around the pregnancy issue. This show is all full of suspence and many interesting things hAppen. i do believe many things that happen are very unrealistic. G
02/16/12, 06:33 pm
1. Courtney Kelly
Sydney, I find it interesting that the show builds suspense around the pregnancy issue, which seems to be treating it like a plot-point more than a potential lesson. On a different note, Rachel does seem to be positioned as a desperate and unstable woman, which as you point out is all too common.
02/06/12, 01:57 am