The success of Drama Queens, the One Tree Hill rewatch podcast, has definitely played a major part in keeping the soapy teen series in the cultural conversation, but a large part of why the series endures is because of the strength of its main characters, including the beloved Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush).
Brooke goes on an incredible journey across the series' nine seasons, from clueless mean girl cheerleader to businesswoman, wife, mother, and so much more. Whether in her high school years or adulthood, Brooke's iconic quotes always do a great job of summarizing her journey.
"It's So Easy For Me To Get Naked One Way..."
Season 3, Episode 11
More than any other female character in the series, Brooke is known for being promiscuous in her high school years. She's the girl that every guy wants and every girl wants to be, because every guy wants her. She has myriad love interests and many racy scenes across the series' high school seasons.
But no matter how physically intimate she gets with the boys she hooks up with, Brooke always finds herself struggling with her emotions: "I don't know why it's so easy for me to get naked one way and not the other." She is self-aware, and realizes that she struggles with emotional intimacy.
"The Footnote In Someone Else's Love Story."
Season 6, Episode 17
Like most soapy teen-focused drama series, One Tree Hill has some messy love triangles and complicated teen romances. Time and again, Brooke is the character who finds herself on the losing end of these triangles, especially with Lucas continually choosing Peyton over her from the very beginning.
In season 6, Brooke finds herself struggling with her feelings of self-worth when Lucas's book is being adapted into a film by Julian, the man she is developing feelings for who has a romantic history with Peyton, too. "It sucks always being the footnote in someone else's love story," she bitterly tells him, signaling the years of pent-up frustration she feels even though she has long moved on from Lucas.
"Girls Just Want Somebody To Want Them Back."
Season 1, Episode 18
Even though Brooke outwardly presents as a very confident and easygoing person whenever she is at school or partying with friends, the series gradually reveals that Brooke is a much more vulnerable young woman than viewers may have expected.
Over time, it becomes clear that much of Brooke's emotional baggage stems from her fraught relationship with her absentee parents. But in the early seasons, Brooke latches onto any form of connection she can find. "Remember when I told you what girls want?" she asks of the lovably nerdy Mouth in season 1. "Girls just want somebody to want them back. At least I do."
"There Is A Lot More To Me Than Just Sex."
Season 6, Episode 16
As Brooke grows into a confident, self-sufficient, incredibly successful businesswoman in the series' later seasons, she works hard to put the reputation she gained as a teenager behind her. This proves increasingly difficult once Lucas's very revealing novel about life in Tree Hill is adapted into a film.
From the very beginning, Brooke is defiant when she sees how her character is being represented in early casting calls for the film, angrily telling Julian, "I am not that girl anymore. There is a lot more to me than just sex." She may have once been a party girl who people didn't take seriously once, but Brooke is also a human being, and this hurt her.
"It's How You Overcome Those Labels..."
Season 4, Episode 13
Teen dramas have many familiar tropes, especially since it is so easy to categorize characters into familiar cliques, like nerds, jocks, cheerleaders, artists, and more. Even as One Tree Hill falls prey to these labels, Brooke is a character who tries her hardest to reject these simplified categorizations.
"People are gonna label you," she acknowledges in season 4, as she nears the end of her senior year at Tree Hill High. "It's how you overcome those labels, that's what matters." And Brooke does work hard to reject the rich party girl persona she is often associated with, making a name for herself as student body president and small business owner, too.
"I Am Who I Am. No Excuses."
Season 2, Episode 13
There are unpopular opinions about Brooke Davis, but nobody can say she's a shrinking violet. As popular as she may be during her high school years, Brooke is also keenly aware of the fact that there are many people who don't take her seriously, especially when she runs for student body president in season 2.
"I am who I am. No excuses," she confidently asserts, before admitting, "But I'd like other people to know that there's a lot more to me than just some party girl." It might take some time for it to happen, but Brooke more than proves just that.
"That's What I'm Afraid Of. Not Being Enough."
Season 4, Episode 13
Sometimes the most confident people in the room are the ones who are dealing with the deepest insecurities that they never let anyone see. Brooke Davis is a textbook example of this, something that the series explores many times as she tries to figure out where she belongs and what her future will look like.
In one of One Tree Hill's best episodes "Pictures of You," Brooke engages in a frank conversation with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Chase: "That's what I'm afraid of. Not being enough. Not good enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough." Almost every action Brooke takes in her high school years is driven by this base insecurity, whether she is willing to admit it or not.
"I Stopped Letting Boys Define Me."
Season 4, Episode 20
Even before she leaves Tree Hill at the end of season 4, Brooke changes quite a lot from the girl she was when the series began. In seasons 3 and 4 in particular, Brooke completely changes her worldview and her priorities, placing less importance on being in a relationship and instead doing what makes her feel happy with herself.
As she approaches graduation at the end of season 4, Brooke succinctly summarizes her growth as a character: "I stopped letting boys define me and I started believing in myself and in my potential." Given how self-conscious Brooke has been in seasons prior, this is an incredible testament to her strength.
"Brooke Davis Is Gonna Change The World Someday."
Season 4, Episode 21
The post-college years time jump after season 4 features an incredible amount of unrealistic storytelling, from Nathan's failed NBA career to Lucas's wildly successful novel to Brooke's fashion empire that grew seemingly overnight. But it's Brooke's storyline as the head of B. Davis that makes good on one of the prior season's most important moments.
"Brooke Davis is gonna change the world someday," Lucas writes in his novel manuscript, something that a tearful Brooke reads following their graduation party. Even though Lucas and Brooke had their many failings as a couple, it is meaningful indeed that he can see the real capacity for good that she has — something that he is right about, given the success of her body-positive fashion.
"I Am One In A Million."
Season 5, Episode 13
Across seasons 5 through 8, Brooke goes on an intense journey relating to her desire to be a mother, trying everything from conception to fostering to adoption. In season 5, she faces one of her stiffest challenges as she expresses her desire to adopt as a single mother.
Yet Brooke Davis has never been one to back down from a challenge. "I am one in a million," she proudly asserts to the woman conducting her adoption profile interview. Brooke's status as the series' most beloved character certainly attests to that.