If Sophia Bush could make like her fashion-obsessed “One Tree Hill” character, Brooke, she’d tailor one Season 9 storyline for a better fit.
The teen drama aired from 2003 to 2012 and focused on Nathan (James Lafferty) and Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray). The half-siblings dislike each other, but attend the same high school and are forced to make amends when they join the same basketball team. At the beginning of the series, Brooke is a cheerleader and is in the middle of a divisive love triangle with Lucas and Peyton (Hilarie Burton). She later starts a fashion line called Clothes Over Bros and eventually finds her match in Julian (Austin Nichols).
It’s been more than a decade since the final season of “One Tree Hill” aired, and Bush has said she is pleased with Brooke’s happy ending — she just wasn’t that fond of the writers bringing back a series villain before she could finally find her peace. “I would have liked not to have had another run-in with Xavier,” Bush said during the final episode of the “Drama Queens Podcast”, a rewatch series she hosts with her co-stars Bethany Joy Lenz, Robert Buckley, and Burton.
In Season 9, Xavier is released from prison on parole and decides to haunt Brooke and her family. Although Brooke had previously confronted Xavier in Season 6 to protect her foster child, Sam (Ashley Rickards), she had already moved on with her life and started a family with Julian at this point in the show. Bringing Xavier back reopens the character’s old wounds.
Aside from Xavier’s return, Sophia Bush is pleased with Brooke’s send-off
Aside from Xavier’s inclusion in Season 9, Sophia Bush was pleased with the series’ ending. “Our show deserved an episode where we wrapped it up in a bow and made it beautiful,” she shared on the podcast. In the finale, Brooke and Haley leave their mark as co-owners of the newly refurbished Karen’s Cafe, and they choose to raise their children in Tree Hill.
Before “Drama Queens” wrapped in November of 2025, Bush was reported to be working with Hilarie Burton and Danneel Ackles on developing a “One Tree Hill” sequel series with Netflix. When asked about it in March 2026, though, Bush provided an update to Entertainment Tonight that implied the project had stalled.
“I would say that we’re all very aware of what’s happening to media right now and who media is being bought by, and I don’t know that any of us are the current media conglomerates’ best friends or favorite people. But I’m okay with that. I’m patient, if nothing else,” she said.
Meanwhile, Bush is keeping herself busy, next set to star alongside Lindsay Lohan in Hulu’s “Count My Lies.” The book-to-screen adaptation has yet to announce a release date, but we do know that Bush will play Allison, a recurring character is a successful Tribeca architect and mother.
