One Tree Hill’s Robbie Jones Reveals the Real Reason Quentin Was Killed Off

We were supposed to have much more time with Quentin Fields.

Robbie Jones is the special guest on this week’s episode of Drama Queens — the One Tree Hill rewatch podcast co-hosted by series stars Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz — during which he reveals that his character’s sudden departure in the basketball drama’s sixth season (2008) was the result of a series regular deal gone wrong.

“This all unfolded because my series regular deal fell apart,” Jones explains. “I got an offer at the end of [Season 5] to be a series regular, and it was not a good offer.” Jones says that he and his manager discussed getting an agent to work out a better deal, as his career was building momentum at the time; he had just been cast opposite Forest Whitaker in the movie Hurricane Season.

Unfortunately, Jones’ manager allegedly “did his own thing” and “went rogue,” causing the deal to fall apart. “Needless to say, we split ways after this whole thing,” Jones says.

Despite Jones’ deal falling apart, the producers wanted to do right by Quentin. Jones recalls the phone call he received from an unnamed executive producer (presumably showrunner Mark Schwahn), explaining his “crazy” idea to kill off Quentin. Jones remembers being told, “Understand that it’s not because of you. We love you. We wanted you. But I have an idea for how this could affect the whole show.”

“That was that,” Jones says. “We had a nice, long conversation about how he was going to kill off my character.” After hearing the pitch, Jones remembers thinking it was “kind of brilliant.” He was also told that the show was “going to keep bringing [Quentin] back a little bit,” even after his death. As promised, Jones returned multiple times thereafter, appearing in three more episodes throughout Season 6.

Quentin was introduced in Season 5, following the time jump that turned One Tree Hill‘s troupe of teens into full-blown adults, initially making trouble both for Haley (Lenz) in the classroom and Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) on the basketball court. As his arc progressed, Quentin chilled out, gradually becoming a beloved member of the show’s makeshift family, especially for Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley’s young son Jamie (Jackson Brundage).

Do you wish we’d gotten to see what One Tree Hill could have been with Quentin in the mix beyond Season 6? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.