If you think the craziest moment inOne Tree Hillwas when a rogue nanny dressed up as a nurse and tried to spoon-feed cockroaches to an ex-con, you are sorely mistaken. In Season 6 ofOne Tree Hill, at least according to his sons, it was about time that everyone’s favorite bad dad, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), finally got a heart. In Episode 18, Dan is informed that a heart has become available for his much-needed transplant, but in what is undeniablyOne Tree Hill’s most bizarre moment, a string of bad luck ends witha stoned dog gobbling up the heart and running away. In thevast landscape of teen dramas,One Tree Hillset itself apart by showing that it was able to laugh at itself and that no matter what you thought was possible, anything can happen in Tree Hill. So… how did this even happen?
One Tree Hill
Half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott trade between kinship and rivalry both on the basketball court and in the hearts of their friends in the small, but not so quiet town of Tree Hill, North Carolina.
Why Did a Dog Eat Dan’s Heart on ‘One Tree Hill’?
How did we end up with a dog eating Dan’s heart, you might ask? After years of struggling with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), Dan learns that he’s going to need a heart transplant. The Season 5 finale ofOne Tree Hillfinds him literally preparing to smother a pastor ahead of him on the transplant list because if there’s one thing Dan Scottdoesn’tdo, it’s learn his lesson. The pastor later dies of other causes and Dan realizes that he’ll be next on the list.
In an epic moment of premature celebration, Dan walks right into the road and is immediately mowed down byabsurd character Crazy Nanny Carrie (Torrey DeVitto)just seconds before his transplant pager goes off. He is promptly taken hostage and mildly tortured, but eventually escapes with the help of his daughter-in-law (Bethany Joy Lenz) and his ex-wife (Barbara Alyn Woods), who takes Carrie down with a wine bottle to the face (oh, how I love you,One Tree Hill).
Flash forward a few months and Dan’s transplant pager goes offagain, and now he seems to think it’s a sign from the universe that he’s being absolved of his sins. Having served years in prison for the murder of his brother, Dan is trying to be a reformed man and a good grandpa and now thinks that he’s truly on track for redemption. Sitting in the hospital waiting room like a kid on Christmas and oblivious to what’s about to happen,Dan is approached by a charming golden retrieverwho’s inexplicably been allowed to stay in the ER after indulging in his owner’s weed stash. Dan pets this dog like it’s not about to become his most hated nemesis, and in one big flip-off from the universe, the nurse holding Dan’s heart trips over the dog’s leash and drops the heart — and the dog gets the munchies and takes off with the runaway organ.
‘One Tree Hill’s Creative Team Wanted to Punish Dan to the Limit
Behind the scenes, the history of this scene was not quite as dramatic as it was on the show. In a tell-all oral history withThe Ringer, the creative forces behindOne Tree Hilldiscussed how they came up with the idea that a cannabis-induced canine would eat Dan Scott’s heart. Series creatorMark Schwahndidn’t want Dan’s redemption to come too easily, and the writers were spit-balling all sorts of things as they tried to figure out what else they could do to this guy. One of the writers started talking about his bulldog, and how he would eat anything and everything that touched the floor. This quickly devolved into a joke session that ended withthe writers landing on one massive question: could they really have a dogeat Dan’s heart?
The answer turned out to be shocking but resounding “yes” from Schwahn, and the team got to work to figure out how they were going to make it happen. Cue a real pig’s heart, a dog named Catfish, and a surprising amount of choreography, and the ball was rolling on Dan’s big day. Catfish was later fired for his inability to take direction, but was replaced with a Floridian golden retriever who turned out to bean accomplished thespian and a one-take-wonder.
The scene plays out like the best fever dream you’ve ever had, and Dan’s son Lucas (Chad Michael Murray), who’s at the hospital with his pregnant fiancée, Peyton (Hilarie Burton Morgan), is there to see the whole thing. The most hysterical part of the scene is that while Murray’s look at Dan was apparently supposed to say, “I can’t believe this is happening,” it instead translates to“I can’t believe you let a dog eat your heart, you big loser.”
While it remains the weirdest moment on a show chock-full of weird moments, this scene alsomanages to feel grounded within theOne Tree HilluniversebecausePaul Johansson plays every moment with such honest desperationthat it still feels authentic. Are we laughing as the dog runs away with Dan’s heart and nobody even attempts to intervene? Absolutely. Are we still laughing when we see the hope leave Dan’s eyes as he grapples with his imminent death? Not so much. However, all’s well that ends well, and Dan later goes on to get a black market heart and a shady transplant. He doesn’t die until years later, after he is shot by a Russian hitman sent to kidnap and murder his son Nathan (James Lafferty) following a basketball deal gone awry (seriously, look it up).
Despite all the craziness that went down onOne Tree Hill, the scene where a dog eats Dan Scott’s intended transplant heart is the one that people remember. James Laffertyeven told The Ringerthat it’s probably the scene he gets asked about the most, and he wasn’t even in it. Even when put up against crazy stalkers, bouts of amnesia, andPete Wentz, this scene stands asOne Tree Hill’s most bonkers moment, and we can only hope that the talented dog who ate Dan’s heart went on to have a successful acting career. (Hopefully without having to devour any more pig organs.)
One Tree Hillis available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
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