A Tree Hill Too Far?

To say I was looking forward to the seventh series would be a lie. I had many questions when I heard that it was coming back for another season but the main one was, where do they go from here.
I wasn’t thinking the best as, in my mind, this would be the moment that one of my top five shows would be bumped off the list.

The main reason for this is I think the season six ender should have been the series ender. Everything seemed to come together in that episode, barring the limbo that Dan Scott was left in. It felt right to me to end it on that note plus sometimes if you continue something for too long then they tend to lose what good about them.

Had a moment of deja vu with Millie's first scene, as it was reminiscent of Brooke's scene in season five when Millie was her assistant, this time Millie is the one with an assistant. At first it made me chuckle but then I asked how far has it moved now.

I know that there was another time jump between the series so where was everyone going to be now. I’m not going into the whole episode but I’m touching upon one thing. Something was missing and that was two of the five main characters over the past six seasons, Lucas and Peyton.

Let's start with no mention of Lucas or Peyton in the previously section. Was it because they wanted a clean slate, money (not sure if they would have to pay the actors if they showed them) or something else?

First mention of Peyton was that she was gone (which we knew) but there was no elaboration. Next mention was Lucas and a birthday note for Jamie, still no explanation. Third mention was regarding Peyton and her famous 'people always leave' line. Mention four was in a conversation between Jamie and Nathan regarding Lucas and basketball. Mention five was a snide comment regarding Peyton choosing motherhood over her record label. Now I do have to give them their dues for not completely wiping the slate of these characters but there could have been something else.
The same question I came with before the start is the same one I left with. Where did Lucas, Peyton and Sawyer go?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the couple (Leyton or Pucas however people want to call them) but they were part of what made me like the show. Their dynamics with the characters I actually like. Lucas and Nathan’s rivalry turned into sibling understanding, Haley and Lucas’s friendship that showed that there are male and female friendships that are purely platonic and the longstanding friendship between Brooke and Peyton, which went through their share of ups and downs.

Now we are left with the Haley, Nathan and Brooke dynamic. There is a Haley and Brooke dynamic that works but we’ve never really been treated to a Brooke and Nathan friendship (there was a brief moment they shared before Q’s funeral and I’m not counting when they hooked up in high school). With the new characters coming in, I feel like I have to get to know the established characters over again because the new characters will be bringing a different side of them. The main example is the introduction of Haley’s sister Quinn, which is a completely different dynamic to what Haley, has with the other sister we’ve seen, Taylor.

With that, the newbies have their own story to tell which in time shall be revealed but I leave with this thought, how on earth did Dan Scott get on television?