As One Tree Hill heads into a new season, major changes are set to unfold since the teen drama will now focus on the lives of Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty), and the rest of the gang after they graduate from college.  It's going to be a long wait before fans can finally watch season 5 on January 2, 2008.  Meanwhile, Hilarie Burton gives her sentiments on the upcoming season and the direction her character is heading.

While some remain doubtful of what the new season of One Tree Hill could offer, the 25-year-old actress remains confident of the flash forward retooling of the series.

“I think it's an awesome idea cause the thing, for me, over the course of our show [is that] all the bad guys have kind of been explained …you understand why they're bad guys and they're all good guys now …so to come back four years later we can all go back to being bad guys and then flash back to what made us bad guys.  So it's really great that we get to do a practically a brand new show with characters that everybody cares about,” Burton told TV Guide.

Burton also reveals that a significant part of the show is the integration of flashbacks since the storylines are now dramatically set four years into the future.

“I think the big part of our flash forward is that we could reference stuff that's happened and go back…I think it's gonna be a really cool element of the show that we have four years to play with and do whatever we want,” she said.

Burton, who plays Payton Sawyer, a cheerleader with an affinity for art and music, hints that her character will be taking on a career in the music field.

“When we leave Payton, she's obviously in love with music.  She wants to get in the music industry. So I think that's where we're gonna see her…working at a record label or running her own record label.  I think she's gonna have something to do with that community which is great for me with my MTV back ground,” she said.

Though it is still unknown if season 5 will be the last for One Tree Hill, Burton looks forward to more years with the teen drama.

“I'm in it for the long haul if you guys want us to comeback.  I'll be back every year.  I don't wanna wrap anything up I just wanna keep going.  We still have a lot of stories to tell and lots of things to explore especially with the opportunity to start with a clean slate,” she said.

“Our fans our great and what I really like about them is that they come up with their own explanations for everything.  They're really analytical and really smart so they know what we're going towards in and they've figure it out.” she added.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide
(Image courtesy of The CW)