Portrayed by: Sophia Bush
Show: One Tree Hill
Writer’s Note: When we write about this show here at Lady Geeks, we want to make it abundantly clear that our support goes to the actors and the characters. We do not condone vile, malicious behavior or credit the writers, Mark Schwahn especially.
Brooke Davis is one of the most complex characters to write about because she’s so integral to so many of us growing up that it feels personal. We grew up with her. We watched Sophia Bush evolve through her as an actress, and even though One Tree Hill is far from perfect as a series, Brooke’s characterization almost always made sense. She felt—still feels—like home.
In more ways than one, Brooke Davis is the type of character whose struggles still, to this day, feel universal. Many people know what it’s like to have their heartbroken—to consistently feel like they’re the last ones finding happiness. Many people also know what it’s like to have their dreams halted by someone or something working externally against them. They’re familiar with betrayals, and they understand pain on an intimate level. But what stands out with Brooke Davis is her interminable kindness—the capacity to forgive, time and again, even when people don’t deserve it, and that’s in large part due to how massive her heart is.
I hate to give Lucas Scott the credit, but he says it best in his fictional book, An Unkindness of Ravens. “She was fiercely independent. Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years, she had grown more than anyone I had ever known.”
Brooke Davis Reminds People They’re Enough
There are nine seasons of One Tree Hill and 187 episodes featuring Brooke Davis, which makes her a monumental character to analyze. Because of the growth she experiences, taking us along on the ride, it’s nearly impossible to encapsulate everything in writing. Yet, the most essential lesson Brooke leaves viewers with is the message that we’re enough. We are pretty enough. We are smart enough. We are talented enough. Season 4, Episode 13, “Pictures of You,” is one that stands out even today because we all know what it’s like when imposter syndrome latches on to us. We all know how haunting and earth-shattering those pesky thoughts can be if we give them the room to stay.
When we first meet Brooke, she’s the stereotypical cheerleader, popular, and maybe even a little obsessed with dating. (Can you imagine what this show would’ve been like if it hadn’t been written by problematic men?) However, shortly, and primarily thanks to Sophia Bush’s performances, Brooke starts to hint at who she really is, and that’s a woman who wants love because she knows very little of it at home. As her complexities and desires come to life, we understand why Brooke lashes out and does certain things for attention. They aren’t intentional, but selfishness and desperation marry in an intricate dance that requires tremendous breakthroughs.
She isn’t always the kindest person in the first two seasons, but later in life, Brooke is the one who becomes the perpetual caretaker. She becomes the person everyone turns to, the one who holds people when they cry and the one who makes them feel safe. She goes from someone with selfish tendencies to someone who’s then so selfless that she hides the abuse she’s going through solely so she doesn’t burden her friends.
With this, she reminds viewers through a pivotal moment in the show’s eighth season that people deserve to be taken care of in the same way they care for others. And that’s what Brooke unfailingly does from Season 3 and beyond. As Carrie Fisher once said, she takes her broken heart and turns it into art. Brooke shows up at Peyton’s door even while they’re fighting when she notices she isn’t at prom. She carries Haley through much of her heartache by taking care of Jamie when necessary, and she puts every single person she loves first.
In more than one instant, Brooke puts her life on the line for others because once she loves, she loves so deeply that there’s no turning back for her. She’ll love even when the person in front of her doesn’t deserve that respect and adoration. Further, as she lives her life with her heart on her sleeve, she reminds people of how worthy they are even through their flaws.
Her Loyalty Is Unmatched
One of the things Sophia Bush does best as Brooke Davis is how she carries the loneliness of a little girl waiting at the steps of her red-doored house. No person in Brooke’s past deserved the unwavering loyalty she showed them, her parents especially. But she did so anyway, waiting, hoping, and believing that one day, she would be worthy of their love when they were the ones who needed to grow to become worthy of her. It’s a good thing she gets this in the end because it reassures her that her loyalty isn’t for nothing. It reminds her that she’s the one worth fighting for—the one worth seeing.
With this, Brooke is the glue that keeps everyone in Tree Hill together. There’s a period throughout the show’s run where it seems like Lucas Scott is the heart of everything, but I’d argue time and again that it’s Brooke Davis instead. She’s the one who fights with all her might. She’s the one who bends and breaks and gives away pieces of herself even while she’s crumbling on the inside.
This loyalty is also profoundly fascinating because it’s not just in people but in feelings and ideas, too. Brooke often reminds the audience of how she believes in love. She reminds us to believe in the possibilities—to try and try, even when our hearts are repeatedly broken.
Additionally, while many things on One Tree Hill veer toward unrealistic paths, Brooke’s journey always feels deeply relatable because she exemplifies what it feels like to feel stuck. She watches everyone she knows find love and start families when it’s the one thing she wants, too. Amid all of this, she doesn’t harden her heart, but no, Brooke Davis doubles down and becomes the best godmother, the best confidant, and the best person to every individual whose path she crosses.
Every season of Brooke is my favorite Brooke, but I think about Season 9 Brooke the most, and it’s because she’s the happiest. She finally has everything she deserves—a beautiful romance with Julian Baker, her two boys, and the career she worked wildly hard for. She’s the one who’s stayed with me all these years because it’s proof that sometimes, a character’s journey can be entirely rewarding. A character’s journey can feel earned despite how often the narrative pushes them through one wringer after another. In many ways, she’s a perfect mix between Taylor Swift’s “You’re On Your Own, Kid” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” because Brooke Davis is a fighter.
She allows herself to be vulnerable; she isn’t afraid to cry when it’s necessary, but she’s a fighter. She’s a woman who gets back up after the world pushes her down, and she’s a woman who perseveres because she refuses to let people undermine her. There’s a lot of nuance in her characterization that is especially rare in teen dramas, which is precisely why she continues to stand out year after year. I have yet to meet a single person who says Brooke isn’t their favorite from the entire series, and it’s entirely because her journey feels real. She’s allowed to be messy, petty, cruel, and so profoundly loving at the same time that it’s overwhelmingly beautiful to watch. She’s allowed to feel big feelings and simultaneously, she can shut some of those off, too.
In the nine years we get to know her, she shows us what it’s like to be a complex human being. No single person is truly one thing. The best characters grow and evolve with the cards dealt to them, and Brooke Davis does so in a way that feels comforting. She grows in a way that reminds viewers that it’s okay to be imperfect because those imperfections are what make people enough.
Again, it’s hard to put into words how vital she is as a character when solely listing her accomplishments would take up pages and pages of text. We can’t even take into account all the ways she stood up for her friends when they couldn’t do it themselves because that’s happened too frequently. We can’t even talk about how many times she’s shown up for people because she’s been a constant source of light for different people at different times.
This is why it’s taken me so long to write about Brooke Davis because she’s one of the most challenging characters to do justice, especially for those of us who grew up with her. So many of her struggles are scenarios we know too well. So much of her pain is too easy and familiar to understand. But it’s her love that carries on. It’s thinking of this idea that if you’d want any fictional character in the world to be friends with—to bet on that they’d stay in your life forever even while people leave (see what I did there), it’d be Brooke Davis. She’d stay, and she’d remind you that you’re enough. She’d remind you that it’s worth it. She’s worth it. So are we.
Julian Baker also says it best: “a character who doesn’t love Brooke Davis. I wouldn’t even know how to write that.” I don’t think a person like that exists. There’s no way.
First Featured Image Credit: ©The CW