First and last seasons

I am rewatching and trying to get into the last seasons (am at season 7 now) and its just soooo slow. For me it's that the first seasons were character driven. They were organic, even if they f*cked things up, at least it was in character. The later seasons seem like they wrote the storylines first and THEN tried to fit in the characters. I struggle to relate to them all. Now they just tell us how the characters feel, instead of just showing. Qlinn just feels forced, in my opinion. Like, WHY do you like each other? Just cause a psychic tells you 'there's a man who needs you'? I would forget someone who not just is unsure about it but also constantly tells me to go away.

The easiest I find are nathan and skills because they remind me of their older selves. The first moment that felt like the old seasons was when Dan interviewed Renee, because it was just about a character study and not trying to flash what lives they are living and THEN telling us 'but they have problems'. Also, I love haley, but her hair is something else :D