Previously on One Tree Hill: Whitey has to miss the Ravens' first playoff game due to eye surgery. Dan smells the first sign of weakness, and bribes the poor buggers over on the Athletic Council into letting him coach the team. Nikki takes Baby Jenny in the mall and tells Jake she's suing for custody. Jake promptly leaves on Peyton's dad's boat. Haley freaks out over Nathan's web porn. The Chad cuts his hair, shaves, and decides he needs a change; he wants to move to Charleston with Keith.
Oh, it's the last time Gavin DeGraw's going to be anything other than what he's been trying to be lately. All he has to do is think of his peace of mind. Wondering what's he's got to do, what he's supposed to do, or who he's trying to be lately.
The Chad narrates: "Some people believe ravens guide travellers to their destinations." A lone "raven" flies in the sky. Lord knows I can't actually identify it as such; I'm no birder. It looks like a raven, but it could just as easily be a crow. "Others believe that the sight of the solitary raven is good luck, while a group of ravens predicts trouble ahead." And the birds come crashing down from the sky under the weight of their symbolism. Fade into the first playoff game. The Ravens Cheerleaders are there, clapping and shouting: "Let's go Ravens." Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Basketball fans are packed to the rafters in the gym. "And a raven met before battle promises victory." Mouth talks into a microphone that's somehow attached to his web cam, and that's the feasible part, because who knew that the Tree Hill High gym ripped for WI-FI, honestly? How's it a "live" web cast if there's no camera and no internet connection? Anyway. Mouth says, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tree Hill Ravens Basketball, brought to you by web cast at Ravenshoops.com. I'm Mouth McFadden and the playoffs are finally here! So throw out the perfect record, if the Ravens lose tonight, the season is over." Is it wrong of me to assume that because the season's ending tonight, that Mouth's comment refers to more than basketball? Both Mouth and the fellow sitting behind him wear "Ravenshoops.com" t-shirts. It's too bad it's not the kid from the pilot; whatever happened to that kid?
Dan attempts to give the team his version of a "pep" talk: "Tonight's obstacle is Masonboro. Win, and you're one step closer to a state championship, an undefeated season, and greatness. Lose, and be losers." Wow, he's so inspiring! Maybe he should parlay this inspirational moment into a series of books and tapes called Dan's Hoop Dreams: The Way to Win on the Court. Step one in Dan's coaching manual: Badger and intimidate your team so much, they're more scared of you than they are of the other team. Step two: Never, and I mean, never, pander to that "how you play the game" bullshit, 'cause it's for pansies. We all know it's just about the win. Step three: Pack the team with your own highly talented offspring, then treat them so poorly they don't want to call you "Dad," but "Devil." Anyway. After calling the team "losers" if they lose, Dan floats away on a cloud of righteous indignation. Luke looks at Nathan; he twirls a b-ball in his hands and half-passes it on the floor of the dressing room toward his brother.
Flashback to the River Court, where Nathan tosses a ball to Luke. He takes a shot, and misses. Nathan catches the ball and chastises him: "You know, all this working out doesn't mean anything if you can't hit the shot." The Chad steps forward and says, "What's wrong with you?" Nathan: "I'm just saying. It's a waste of my time to get you ready for this game if you can't score when we need it." Luke looks at his brother with a mixture of sibling rivalry and determination: "Give me the ball." It flies through the air, hits a raven or two on its way over to Luke, and lands like a baby in his hands. Luke throws up a perfect shot. They switch places and Luke says, "Now, will you tell me what's really wrong?" Luke tosses the ball back to Nathan, who fiddles with it for a bit before telling The Chad that he's "dealing with Haley." Luke says, "She's still not talking to you, huh?" Nathan launches the ball and it glides through the net: "No."
Cut to Haley surfing through images on her productively placed Cingular telephone. Somehow, Dan appears behind her: "Don't think I haven't noticed your part in all this. You know, Haley, if you're going to manipulate him, you should aim a little higher. Remember, payback is hell." Poor Haley. How stressful, seeing your boyfriend's estranged father hanging out at the school because he's now the basketball coach. Doesn't he have a business to run? And what's up with threatening the girlfriend? She's a sweet, smart sixteen-year-old girl. How manipulative is she, really? Someone needs to take the Sun Tzu manual away from Dan. Not everyone is an enemy. He turns back just before he walks away to get in one final jab: "Oh, by the way, nice tattoo. Real classy." I'll bet Haley's thinking, "Damn you, low-riders, for always giving away my secrets!"
Mouth narrates: "Just moments away from the beginning of this playoff game. Winners advance, and the losers, well, their season is over." Dan walks proudly into the gym as Mouth continues, "Dan Scott is standing in for Coach Whitey Durham, who's out with an illness." Dan glances up and sees Deb sit down in the stands beside Karen. To him, that's an unholy alliance, I would imagine; I guess it's one of the reasons he's so hard on Haley. Oh, hell, why am I trying to psychoanalyze the most sadistic man on television? Deb and Dan exchange a look that caws like a whole murder of ravens: there is definitely trouble ahead for those two. Karen stares at the court; she doesn't even notice. The boys warm up. Mouth states, "Not sure who signed off on that one, but let's hope Coach Durham gets well soon." Say it proud, my Irish brother, you couldn't be more right.
Cut to the evening, where Deb contemplates her divorce papers. She sees her name beside the flag indicating where she should sign. She picks up the papers, pen in hand, and cries as Dan comes in, mocking her: "Really, Deb, tears, on the eve of our divorce." She tells him she was actually sitting there having second thoughts. Wait for the "but": "Until I considered what a hideous monster you've been for most of our married lives." With that pre-emptive strike, she signs with a flourish and holds out the papers to him. Dan walks deeper into the room and says, "Well, since we're frolicking down memory lane, let's take a stroll back to the campus the night you told me you were pregnant." He sits down on a stool facing Deb and continues, "You know, I came to you that night to tell you that'd I'd made a decision, that I was leaving school at the end of the semester --" She cuts in, "Because of your fictional knee injury." He clarifies hurtfully, "No, Deb, that's just what I told you." Oh, man! He's not going to do it, is he? "I was leaving because there was a girl I left behind, a girl who was carrying my child, and a girl that I loved very much." Oh, he totally is; he's going to pull some revisionist history crap out of his back pocket just to hurt his wife. Deb looks coldly at him and whisper-cries, "Karen." Dan sort of half-nods and says, "But when I told you I was leaving, you told me you were pregnant." Deb half-moans, "I didn't know you were leaving for Karen." Dan insists, "No, all you knew is that I'd do right by you and Nathan, which is something I've tried to do every day since then, and if that makes me a monster, then so be it." Shall we call a spade a spade? See if Dr. Frankenstein wants to chime in? Those kids from Weird Science?
Suddenly, we're back at the game, and Deb looks off into "flashback" space. The boys continue to warm up. Luke jogs behind Nathan and asks him if he's all right. Nathan says, "Have you seen Haley?" Luke shakes his head no. Nate grabs the ball and does a jump shot, just to keep his mind off it all.
Flash-ah-ah. Peyton drops Haley off at home. It's raining. I mean, two teenagers are about to confess their undying love for one another, so at least the weather's apt for what's about to happen. I wonder if the ravens have drowned. Anyway. Haley runs up to her porch and yells, "Nathan! You're soaked, what are you doing?" He stands up and replies, "I went for a run to clear my head. I guess this is where I ended up." And her parents wouldn't let him wait inside? He continues, "Look, Haley, the picture of Peyton didn't mean anything, okay?" Haley answers, "It did to me." Pause. "Clearly you still have feelings for her." He argues, "I saved that picture back when we were dating; the other ones too. You can go back and look. Her web cam hasn't even been in her closet for months." Okay, so it was Peyton that dropped her off, and that means they were hanging out, which also means that Haley is mature enough to realize she's mad at Nathan, not at her friend. So, if she's smart enough to understand that level of emotion, why isn't she smart enough to realize the rest? And the rain falls down. Those poor, wet ravens. Haley: "Why didn't you tell me that last week?" Nathan: "Because I should have deleted those images a long time ago. I felt bad because I didn't do it." Pause. "Besides, Haley. I don't want Peyton. I want you." She looks at him and says, "Is that it?" Nathan replies, "You know, my pride says, 'Yeah that's it, just walk away, and let Haley deal with the fact that she's clearly threatened by a sexual relationship.' But my heart says, 'Just forget about your pride, you idiot, you love this girl, and even if you're going to catch pneumonia, your ass is gong to stand out here in the rain until you convince her to forgive you.'" Pause. "So come on, Hails, meet me halfway here?" Haley wipes away some of the rain from her face and looks up at him: "Why should I?" Nathan says contritely, "Because I'm sorry. Because I love you. Because you're looking really hot standing out here in the rain and I'm thinking I have to kiss you." She bites her bottom lip and half-smiles: "Well, if you have to." And that's that; with that whole porn mess sorted out, they get to make out like porn stars in the rain all wet and sexy and stuff. See, it's okay to sort of act like a porn star, it's just not okay to look at porn. But sappy romance is to girls what porn is to boys, so whatever, yawn. How melodramatic. Oh, I know you're all going to yell at me because you lurv Haley and Nathan; I think they make a good couple too, but it's a bit over the top, don't you think?
And we're back in the present as Haley arrives in the gym just in time for the game to start. She sits down beside Keith. Dan barks, "This is YOUR night! This is YOUR gym. Take no prisoners!" He puts his right hand in: "Hands IN!" The boys put their hands in, and Luke says, "Let's win this one for Whitey." The team grunts in approval, but Dan brings them all down: "Hey! Forget the old man. You win this for yourselves." Dim shouts some illegible chant that contains the words "win," "evermore," or "nevermore" or something. Blah ritual blah. Luke's about to take his place on the court when Dan barks, "Hey! There's no name on your jersey." What he's just noticing this now? Didn't Luke cannibalize that "Scott" months ago at the bonfire? Luke smiles cockily at him and replies, "Yeah there is --" He points to the Ravens over his chest. "It's right there." Dunno if Dan's proud of him or not, because he half-smiles at Luke in a strange way. Plus, what does he care if Luke's jersey doesn't say "Scott," it's not like he even wants to be the guy's dad. I guess it's just because he wants the Scott name to have glory tonight? Man, he's hard to read; you think Dan's about to crack, display some human emotion, and then he never comes through, he's just the same cold-hearted, miserable bastard he's been all season.
And speaking of emotion, we flash back to Luke coming into Whitey's office to talk to his father. He knocks on the door and steps timidly into the room: "Listen, um, I talked to my mom, and I guess I'm sorry for resenting you for not wanting to be in my life." Pause. "I didn't know you wanted custody." Luke takes a deep breath: "I also never said thank you for rescuing me from the accident." And Dan doesn't bite; he doesn't even inch one bit closer to his son: "You should be on the floor right now for practice. Go run sprints." Luke doesn't say anything, but obediently walks out the door, and again, Dan looks at him strangely, maybe with a mixture of pride and regret, or maybe with a cold, hard stare of someone who closed his heart off to his kid years ago. I can't honestly tell.
Back in the game again, the boys form up for the tip-off. A Masonboro Mean Dude says, "Better watch that sore shoulder." Luke cuts back, "You'd better watch the scoreboard." Ohh! He wins that genius showdown. Not. Yawn. The ball goes up, and the Ravens win the "tip" as Mouth narrates, "Nathan Scott brings it up front to the delight of his hometown crowd. I'll tell you there's a lot of love in the air tonight!" Cut to Peyton smiling over at Brooke as they do their cheerleading thing.
And we're flashing back; this time we're in the same skanky bar where the kids always end up. Brooke sits there nursing her girlie drink as Psycho Nikki comes over and sits down. Brooke says, "That seat's reserved for my friend Peyton." Nikki's black eyeliner swerves so far down her face that it looks like her eyes are dripping. And lopsided, but whatever, she's a freak: "Your friend, huh?" Brooke half-smiles as she says coyly, "As far as she knows." Brooke smiles directly at Nikki, who says, "Where's Jake, Brooke?" Brooke replies, "Buy me a drink and maybe I'll tell you." The music bomp-bomps in the background. I half expect some naked boys making out behind her, it sounds so much like Queer as Folk. Nikki and Brooke size each other up across the table, with each girl trying to out-bitch the other.
Cut back quickly to the last shot before the commercials: Brooke winking at Peyton, and the two of them grinning. Are they back, or aren't they? What does a murder of Ravens Cheerleaders symbolize?
Oh, look. A Cingular ad. Yawn.
The girls yell, "Defense!" Mouth tells us that Masonboro are giving the Ravens a run for their money in the second quarter. The Mean Mason gets past Lucas and dunks. He shouts, "All night baby!" Dan shouts, "Shut up, you little punk." Mouth narrates, "Could be the time away, or Dan Scott's influence, but they have dug themselves a hole and it's going to be a long battle back." The crowd cheers. Luke runs off to the other end of the court. I really like it when they actually play basketball; it grounds the show in a context that it seems to miss when it's not the central focus. Anyway. Karen looks over at Keith, who looks at her for a minute, and then studies his toes. We fade to white.
We're back at Keith's -- maybe that night Luke announced he was leaving, maybe another night, but it's definitely within that time period. Keith holds a picture of a much younger Karen holding Lucas, while he sits beside both of them. Keith's smile feels warm and natural, like he's extremely happy. He holds the photograph and asks Karen painfully, "Did you ever love me, Karen?" Karen's reply is equally as pained: "I do love you, Keith." Keith says, "Not like that --" Karen lets out a deep, emotional breath and turns away, teary. She says, "I don't know how to answer that." She dances around the issue as she steps around the room, walking off how uncomfortable she feels talking about personal emotions. Keith stands still, staring right at her: "You don't know how to, or you don't want to?" Her eyes fill up with tears as she says breathily, "Keith! I don't want you to leave like this." He shakes his head and examines his feet again. Perhaps he's deciding to finally untuck his pants from his boots. Keith: "It's a little late for that. But at least, let's tell the truth, okay. I'm not leaving for a job or for some fresh perspective, or because I always wanted to get out this town." He takes a deeply dramatic pause. "I'm leaving because I can't look at you anymore without my heart breaking." Oh man, my heart just broke there for him. He asks her pointedly, "How many serious relationships have you had since Dan? I'll tell you: none." Moira's permanently applied that breathy "emotional voice" as she asks him, "Why are you doing this?" Keith answers, "Karen, it was a dark day when you said no to my proposal. But I can live with that." He glances down at his shoes again, notices perhaps they need a polish. Oh right, we're being serious, and they're actually doing a good job in this scene so I should probably stay on track. "I don't need you to love me." Pause. "But you've got to open up your heart to somebody. You've got to let somebody discover how staggering you are. Just don't be alone. That I can't live with." Oh, Keith? How much do you hurt, buddy? How much?
Game on! Karen swallows hard as she looks away from Keith. Mouth narrates, "The Ravens have the ball. Tim Smith passes to Nathan Scott. Nathan takes it in for the dunk!" Peyton waves her poms wickedly in the air and shouts, "Go Nathan!" Brooke does the same. The two share another look.
Now, we're in Peyton's room. She's wearing a small blue tank top, and Brooke sits on her bed. Brooke says, "You know you can trust me." Ah, but we don't know! We don't know that at all! Peyton steps forward with her hands on her hips and says, "Brooke, it's really important to me that Nikki never finds out where Jake took Jenny." Strange, is this the Brooke that lied to Lucas for a full day before telling him the truth about being pregnant? Or is this the Brooke that was all concerned about Peyton when she almost got date-raped? Which one is she today? I can't tell -- that girl has more personalities then Maya Rudolph does on Saturday Night Live. Brooke looks at Peyton and says calmly, "I know it's important to you, Peyton. That's why you can trust me with this." Quick cut back to the bar that night; Brooke nurses a drink. The camera focuses solidly on Brooke's face as we hear Nikki say, "So she still hasn't told you." Brooke replies, "No, but she will. She thinks we're tight again." Nikki's lopsided hair hangs down long beside her lopsided face: "Not that I care, but you must really hate Peyton to betray her trust like this." Brooke fiddles with her glass and then looks right at Psycho Nikki: "Yeah, well, she's got it coming. If Jake and Jenny meant anything to her she'll know what it feels like to have her heart crushed, won't she?" Nikki says coldly, "Fine by me." They both look evil as they take sips of their drinks. What is she doing? What's going on? How many subplots must we be confronted with in one episode?
The crowd roars as Peyton and Brooke look at one another over their poms. Luke's got the ball. Mouth narrates, "Luke Scott alley-oops to Nathan!" Nathan slams the ball through the net. "The birds have taken flight! They look a lot sharper now but something tells me Masonboro isn't going away!" The boys race back to the other end of the court. The crowd, including Keith, is on its feet; the only one who seems to remain sitting is Karen, which can only mean one thing.
That's right, we're back in time again, and Karen's crying when Luke asks if she's okay. She shakes her head and says, "I am having a problem letting you go. You're just a kid, Luke. Part of me says that you are too young for this, I am too young for this." Are these two married? They have strange conversations for a mother/son pair. Case in point: "You know this isn't about wanting to leave you, right? Because it's not." Karen turns toward Luke and raises her voice: "Then what is it? Explain to me again why you want to leave?" Luke stands in the door, and leans on the frame with his arms crossed. He's so lanky! The Chad's actually kind of hot now that he's cut his hair and shaved. Oh, but wait, now that he's "acting," that glimmer of hotness has now escaped the room: "Remember when I first joined the team, and the Boosters treated you poorly." He shoves his hands deep into his pockets and continues, "You wanted them to see who you'd become, and they could only see who you used to be, or at least who you they thought you were." Pause. "I need a chance to start over and I don't want Keith to be alone either, at least for a little while."
Now we're in Keith's apartment, back in the middle of that heated conversation he and Karen were having. She says quietly, "I told him he could join you in Charleston." Keith says, "I want you to know, I'll protect him with my life this time." Karen cries, "I know you will. Otherwise I wouldn't allow it." Keith and those damn feet. He looks at them more than The Chad shoves his hands into his pockets. Karen continues, "You once asked me if I could ever trust you again, and you need to know if this was anybody else, I wouldn't let him go." Keith half-smiles and says, "That means a lot to me." Karen's eyes well up again and she says quietly, "I guess I should go then." She walks to the door, turns back around, and gives Keith an overwhelmingly tearful goodbye; she also tells him she's sorry. Karen leaves, and Keith looks at the picture again. He says under his breath, "Me too."
Haley and Nathan are back at his apartment. They're soaking wet. Nathan gives Haley a towel. She giggles and says, "That was a nice walk." He sits down on the bed, laughs, and says, "Uh, yeah!" Nathan's wet shirt is now off, and Haley can't help but be totally enthralled. She looks at him like she might just eat him whole. He looks back at her and says, "What?" Haley bites her bottom lip and then pulls off her shirt. She's got a strange half-camisole, half bra thing on; it's not so flattering, but Nathan's mouth drops anyway. She throws her shirt away as he says, "Haley?" She dives on him and tells him it's "okay." They start kissing, with Haley on top of Nathan and his arm tight around her. It's very sweet, and sensual at the same time. I honestly can't believe I just wrote that down. I feel like a dirty old lady. Please pause for the commercials as I compose myself.
So, The Chad's in a movie with Hilary Duff. The Chad and The Duff. Looks like a Cinderella story, all right. Happily ever after, although they both look like they're forty and shouldn't really be in high school any more. Yawn.
We're back in the game. Mouth tells us that the Ravens lead a close game by two as we come up on half-time. Tim passes to Luke, who puts up a perfect three-pointer. It's half-time. The scoreboard sits with Ravens at thirty-four and Masonboro at twenty-nine. Nathan fist-punches Luke (in a good way); Dan punches the air and says, "Yes!" And the boys are generally happy about their score at half-time. On the way to the other end of the court, the Mean Mason bashes his entire body weight right into Luke's bad shoulder. He hits him so hard that Luke doubles up in pain and drops to his knees. Nathan immediately defends his brother by shoving the Mean Mason and starting a brawl between the two teams. Dan walks toward the fight and sees Luke doubled over in pain on the floor. We see Peyton stop mid-cheer as she sees what's going on. Fade to black.
The Christmas-inspired lights of the bar come up again as we see a similar brawl, otherwise known as the dance floor. We see Peyton and Brooke sitting together, both nursing drinks. Brooke says, "So Jake went to Savannah?" Peyton fiddles with her straw and says, "Yeah, he's got family there." She tells Brooke that she didn't know if anything would have ever happened with her and Jake (over my dead body!) but she's really going to miss Jenny. She continues, "And I worry about him." Brooke says, "I'm glad you told me, Peyton. You know I'm here for you."
Nathan must have just said the exact same thing to Haley, because she replies, "I know you are." They're lying on his bed, talking. She says quietly, "What if we're not good together. What if it drives us apart?" He looks up at her and says, "Haley, I want to be with you, and if you don't want to be with me, I guess I understand, but this isn't going to change anything." She says tenderly, "So tonight then, after the game?" Nathan smiles. Aw, so sweet. Yawn.
We're in the dressing room as Dan barks at the team. He's yelling so loudly that I'm afraid he might burst a blood vessel in his head: "Already making plans for after the game, boys? Because this is a joke! We're up by five points! We should be up by fifty points!" He walks down in between the benches where the boys are sitting. "While you've got your heads up your asses, why don't you take a whiff of how you've been playing." He points at Tim and yells at him about his turnovers. He points at Nathan and yells at him to focus. Then he stomps over to the table where the doc's looking at Luke's arm. The doctor says, "Coach, I think we should get him x-rayed. He's done for the night." Nathan looks up at his father, and listens to the conversation. Dan says, "Whoa, whoa, are you sure?" The doc says, "I can't be sure without the x-ray, but if he were my kid, I wouldn't risk it, and considering the rehab --" There's irony in the doc's sentence, but Dan pretty much ignores him and storms over to Luke, asking him how he's doing. The Chad says quietly, "It feels a little weird. What'd the doc say?" He doesn't look at Dan. His father replies, "He said you'd be fine, but if you want to sit out, I can't make you play. But your teammates are counting on you." And there, my chickens, that would have been Luke's entire life growing up with Dan in an eggshell. Luke grits his teeth, never looks at his father, and says, "I'll be fine." Dan half-smiles, simply because that's the answer he's looking for -- the manipulative jerk. He says to the doctor, "The kid says that he wants to play, but I'll tell you what, as soon as the game's over, we'll get him an x-ray, okay." Both Dan and the doctor leave as Luke rolls his arm around in its socket, feeling out the extent of his injury. Nathan comes up to him and asks, "Good, man?" Luke nods. Nathan smiles, "Good. 'Cause all this means nothing if you can't knock down that shot."
Nathan and Luke, walking to visit Whitey. They're talking about Dan's basketball career. Nathan asks, "Do you know about my dad's state championship game?" The Chad's hands are shoved into his pockets: "Um, yeah, Whitey benched Dan." Nathan says, "Not exactly, that's Whitey's story. See, they were leading and Whitey wanted to go into a stall. My dad didn't want to, so at the end of the game, with everything on the line, he sat down. He refused to go back in the game." Now there's a team player for you -- and this man thinks he's a good coach? Luke says incredulously, "Really?" Nathan says, "See, the way my dad sees it is that he lost the game but won the argument." Luke shakes his head: "I couldn't do that to my teammates." Nathan echoes his sentiment: "Yeah, me either." Pause. He jokes, "Although if we lose this game, I'm going back to hating you." Luke laughs, but in a strange, sort of uncomfortable way. Whitey yells from his porch, "Well! It's the Scott boys --" They stroll up his driveway carrying a basketball. Woda jokes, "Together. My eyes must really be screwed up." Nathan says, "Hey Coach. We wanted to catch you before you went to the hospital." Whitey says, "Glad you did. How's practice going with Danny?" Nathan cracks, "It's the same as with you, it sucks." Whitey laughs. Nate hands him the ball and tells him that all the players signed it, as sort of a get well card. Whitey takes it and swirls it around, looking at all the signatures. He says, "I've been around this game my whole life, and there's never been a day that I've been as gifted as either one of you. You remember that and don't let Danny take that from you." He takes a deep breath: "You boys play with your whole hearts; you take your shots -- no regrets." Woda holds out his fist and first Nathan butts it, and then Luke. No regrets.
The second half of the game heats up as the Raven really start gaining momentum. Luke passes to Nathan, and he scores. The crowd is on its feet as both Luke and Nathan are working the court. The only problem? Masonboro's leading by five. The clock runs down. Mouth's mouth keeps chattering. And we see Haley for a minute; she whispers, "Oh man, I'm scared!"
Now it's Haley's turn to remember a night a few days ago when she was really scared. She's bending over, whisper-shouting, "Lucas!" She takes a couple steps and whisper-shouts, "Luke! I'm scared." They're in a graveyard. Um, why? That's all I want to know. Whatever, it's a bogus setting, but that's not remotely surprising for this show; they've busted out the clichés on more than one occasion this episode, and I'm sure it's not going to stop here. Maybe it's their homage to Thriller. Haley whisper-shouts, "Luke! This is so not cool. Come out here right now. Lucas Scott!" He jumps out from behind some sort of crypt and yells, "Boogity-blah!" Honestly. That's what he says. She pummels him in the stomach, and he bends over and says, "Dammit! Haley! You're going to kill me. You know you can even die like that." She whisper-shouts, "Well, you deserve it, dumbass, I told you I didn't want to take this shortcut." Maybe it's their homage to Buffy and/or Angel. Luke wants to know why she's whispering, because "these people, they're dead." She walks up close to him and says, "I know but if you keep yelling the stupid zombies are going to hear us." They continue to walk, but Luke wants her to stop so he can tell her something. She walks back to him and jokes, "What is her name and what did you do that you regret?" Luke smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets: "I'm going to Charleston with Keith." All right, for how long? "For good. I'm moving there." Haley's face falls: "What are you talking about?" Luke answers, "Keith got a job in Charleston, and I'm going to live with him there after the season's over." She starts to walk away, but he calls out, "Haley! I need to go. Come on, don't do that." She yells, "Don't do what? You cannot bring me out into the middle of a creepy cemetery and tell me that you are leaving Tree Hill for good, that is not fair." He says, "Come on, Haley, it's not that far, I'll still see you." She cries, "Not like now. Who's going to go thrift store hunting with me? Who's going to buy bad music or go to the campus lost and found and claim weird stuff? Who's going to do that stuff with me?" He says quietly, "Nathan." Pause. "And me too sometimes." He tells her that he's thought a lot of about this lately, and he thinks he'll be a better person if he goes now. But he's going to miss her; she's his best friend, and she always will be. They embrace. Haley cries. He asks if she's okay, but she tells him that she's scared again. Luke rubs her back, but you know it's not going to change anything. He's going to Charleston under the false pretence that running away actually makes you a better person, when in fact all it does is make the people around you either miss you or remember the good stuff -- because without Luke in their faces, they won't remember the bad.
Back in the heat of the game. The Ravens are down two points, and there's just a few seconds left on the clock. Mouth narrates, "The Ravens need a stop." Nathan yells out to his brother, "Got anything left in that shoulder?" Luke glances at his shoulder patches and says, "Little bit." Nate says, "Okay then, let's take this thing." Masonboro tosses the ball back into play. After much complicated manoeuvring that includes some double-teaming and a grab for the free ball, the Ravens have possession. Nate calls for a quick time-out. Dan screams at them to bring it in. He shouts, "Look at me, look at me! Who's scared? Because if you're scared out there I don't want you in this game. You can sit your ass down on that bench." He barks out the play, which consists of Nathan getting the ball and the rest of the team clearing the way for him to score. He wants Nate to wait for the last five seconds of the game before he "shoves it down their throats." Dim points out that they'll be on Nathan like flies on flypaper. Dan doesn't care; he turns to Nate and barks, "Great players make great plays." Dan shouts, "Bring it in!" Dim takes his cue to do the ever-present before-play chant: "Win it on three! One! Two! Three!" The team tosses their hands in and all shout in unison, "Win it!" Bam! Just like that we're back in the game. Masonboro makes their own play and comes back onto the court. Luke says to his brother, "Hey, it means nothing if you can't knock down the shot." And we're off. Peyton shouts. Mouth narrates. Luke throws the ball in. Dim passes it to Nate, but he can't get free. The clock runs down to four seconds, to three -- he makes a split-second decision and tosses the ball to Lucas. Luke jumps for the three-pointer as the clock ticks down to zero, but the ball bounces off the rim, and Masonboro wins. Luke drops to his knees and throws his arms above his head in defeat. The crowd sits down. Dan seethes. But Nathan, of all people, walks past his brother and rubs him on his shoulder, which proves that Luke'll be harder on himself than the rest of the team combined. As Mouth reminded us only seconds earlier, that's the end of basketball for the Ravens this season. That's the trouble with the game, boys, someone always has to lose, and at some point, it had to be you.
Dan greets the team in the dressing room with condescending hand-claps. He berates them: "Nice work, ladies, undefeated regular season, conference champs, and it's all for nothing." He stares at Nathan: "Look at me, Nathan, because I want to see your face when you explain to me why you didn't run the play that I told you." He walks the lane between the benches: "Take off that jersey, you don't deserve to wear it, none of you do!" Nathan takes off his jersey. Dan leans in and shouts, "You have an answer for me yet? Because I can wait for it, I've no other place I have to be. And you don't either because you want to know what? Your season is OVER!" Dan continues his tirade: "Why did you disobey me and pass to Lucas when you knew --" Nathan interrupts, "When I knew what, Dad? That Lucas shouldn't have been in that game because of his injury, because we both knew that, didn't we." Luke says quietly, "But I should have hit the shot. It's my fault." Dan says, "You're damn right it's your fault. You let your teammates down. Teammates you shouldn't have had in the first place, by the way." Ouch. And that's cutting it a bit too close. This has turned dirty, and ugly. Nathan defends his brother, for the second time tonight: "At least he took a shot, unlike you." Dan snarks, "What did you say to me?" Nathan stands up: "You heard what I said, at least he took a shot, that's more than you did." Dan faces his son head-on: "I wouldn't go there if I were you." Nathan shouts, "Why not? Lucas was there all game. He played in pain, with an injury you knew about, but he wasn't a coward like you were." Dan snaps, "Tim! Go get security. Tell them my son's been beaten to death." Now, that's nice, threatening your kid with bodily harm just because they're standing up to you when you're actually a big bully and totally in the wrong. ["Pretty funny line, though." -- Sars] Nathan says quietly, but forcefully, "We played hard and we lost. We have nothing to be ashamed of --" And he's totally right there, plus if they won the state championship this year, what on earth would we have to look forward to year? Nathan rips the "Scott" off his jersey and continues, "Except maybe our coach." Steam runs out of Dan's ears as Nathan walks out of the room; he butts hands with Luke as he exits, and says, "No regrets." Luke butts his hand back. Nate pats his shoulder as he leaves. He gets the award for most character growth this season. You know, with this defeat, Luke looks even more like a pussy for leaving town. Now, it looks like he's ashamed. Silly boy.
Keith comes into Whitey's office after the game to talk to Dan. He says, "It's a tough loss." Dan snarks, "Well, if it isn't the Fredo of the family. How's the unemployment line, Boozy?" Hum. Considering Dan's the one nursing a hard one, I think people in glass houses shouldn't throw shots, especially after taking a winning team and coaching them into the gutter. Oh, right, Dan only knows how to survive by feeding on other people's weaknesses. Keith says, "I just came by to tell you that I'm leaving." Dan plays with the mug: "Really?" Yeah. "So what'd you do with the ring? I mean, if you're finally leaving town after all these years it means that you proposed to Karen and she said no." Wow. He's cold. Dan continues, "What'd you do with the money?" Keith smiles: "I'm driving it, '89 Land Cruiser." Dan tells him that he could have got him a better deal. Um, okay? Whatever. Keith doesn't fall for the bait: "Well then, I'll consider that your goodbye." Keith turns to leave, but Dan calls him back, only as his brother turns around, he changes his mind, and tells him to "never mind." On that note, Keith walks away from that destructive relationship, at least for the summer.
Haley meets Lucas outside after the game. She asks if he's okay. He tells her that he's leaving tomorrow. She starts to cry. He tells her that it's okay, and not to cry. Haley says, "No, it isn't. I really wanted to spend your last night with you, but Nathan's waiting --" She doesn't interject the totally stupid fact that they're about to run off and get hitched, because that would spoil the surprise. Luke tells her to go and be with Nathan, that he's got to get his shoulder checked anyway. He'll come and find her tomorrow. She hugs him: "I'm really going to miss you, Luke." He says the same, and she leaves to run into Nathan's arms.
Haley gets into Nathan's car. But where did he get the car? And whose car is it? Considering that he sold his, and isn't presently living with a parent who could possibly loan him a car, but whatever. She gets in and says, "Sorry about the game." He says, "Yeah." She starts to cry. He says, "Hails!" Pause. "We don't have to do this tonight." She says, "No, no, I want to, more than ever, no regrets." And with that Nathan starts the Mystery Car, and the two of them drive off like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. But I have to insist that if someone gets to plunge a dagger into Haley's heart, it's me -- because her character gets the award for the most ridiculous change over the course of this first season.
Deb sits by the fire and watches it burn. She's tossing certificates and other marital paraphernalia into the flames. Keith comes in, tosses his jacket on the chair, and says, "I told you I'd help you burn Dan's stuff." Keith continues, "Normally I sit with Whitey after every home game, win or lose." I don't quite understand the connection; Whitey/Deb -- there's a subtle difference there, don't you think? Oh, and Deb's breasts are quite comfortable there, both in the scene and by the fire. They're toasty! They sort of look like Whitey's bald head, or not. He nods to the hearth and asks if she doesn't mind. She smiles and says, "Not at all. You leaving tomorrow?" Keith bends down and says, "Yeah." Pause. "With Lucas." Deb smiles: "You know, the first time I left Dan, I thought I could just get out, and start a new life." She tosses something on the fire: "But you can't, you just put a new face on the same loneliness. What happened to us, Keith? How did we become so broken?" He rests his chin on his hands and replies, "We fell in love, and then at some point the people that we loved forgot to love us back." And echoes start up in the back of both of their minds: "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with!" Oh yeah, bam-chicka-bam! Whack! Was that a raven hitting the roof?
The emergency room doctor examines Luke's chart: "I'm sorry you lost the game, but even if you had won, your season's over. No basketball." She closes her clipboard and leaves Karen standing there looking all parental. She tries to use his injury as an excuse as to why he shouldn't go to Charleston. Luke tells her that "it's time" and that he's going. Then he leaves her there so he can go see Whitey. She looks mournfully after him. Oh, boo-hoo, Karen, you just abandoned your son a few months ago to spend six weeks in Italy. You can live without him for a couple of months, because you know they'll both be back after the summer.
Luke arrives in Woda's room. He looks like an old man lying there on the white sheets and wearing a hospital gown. He's looking at a picture of his wife -- or rather, he's trying to look at a picture of his wife, because his eyes are bad, remember. Luke says cheerfully, "Hey Coach!" Whitey drops the photo and says, "Don't tell me, you lost at the buzzer; they doubled Nathan, and you missed a wide-open loader." Luke looks confused for a minute, but then Whitey tells him that he watched the web cast on Mouth's site. Luke smiles. Woda says, "It was a good loss. Let it go." Pause. "Doc says this eye thing's a little more complicated than they thought it was." Luke wants to know if he's going to be okay. Woda says that they'll see. Luke continues on his path of goodbyes: "Coach, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. You believed in me and for that I'll always owe you." Whitey says, "You want to do me a favour? Take care of Keith. He's a good man." Luke says, "So are you, Coach." Whitey holds out his hand to shake on it, but Luke, that old softy, leans in and gives him a Woda-licious hug. Aw.
So, Dan's looking for a little home-cooked comfort, but when he gets home to see Deb, he finds her and Keith wrapped in a cosy post-coital blanket on the floor. Does no one lock the damn door in Tree Hill? He stares at the scene in disbelief and then walks out without saying anything. Keith says, "Dammit!" under his breath and looks down in the direction of, you guessed it, his feet, only they're covered by a blanket, so he can't examine whether or not he needs to clip his toenails.
Are we flashing back, or is this after the game? Because we're in real time now, so I guess Brooke and Nikki are playing pool at the bar. Brooke says coyly, "Question? Who is sexy, talented and knows where Jake is? Oh, I know it's me." Psycho Nikki wants to know, and know now. Brooke offers to play her for it. Nikki doesn't want to play any games, so Brooke saunters over, writes something on a napkin, and passes it to Nikki, who reads it quickly. Brooke burns the napkin for some strange reason; I guess she wants to get rid of the evidence. Nikki says, "Betrayal of Peyton complete. How does it feel?" Brooke bitches, "Feels like you should be gone already, you've got the information you need." Psycho Nikki gives these parting words as "advice": "You know, Brooke, you should really try to be a better person, nobody likes a bitch." Brooke snits a reply and picks up the pool cue. Peyton comes up and says, "Was that Nikki you were talking to?" Brooke turns back and says coldly, "Yeah, I told her where Jake was." But she can't hold it in any longer: "And she bought it just like we planned. It's going to be a long trip to Seattle." Heh. They smile at each other, and Brooke says, "I told you, Peyton, I'm here for you." Peyton says she knows that, and then embraces her friend. Are they back -- I mean, completely back? Because I'm sick to death of the injured Brooke/Peyton crawling back storyline and would be happy never, ever to revisit it again. And if the end result remains Nikki on a cross-country manhunt for Jake that ends up with her never finding him, well, all the better. We've seen enough of her crazy-ass lopsided face carting way too much black eyeliner. Good riddance to her silly stalking ways and ridiculous pretence of being a good mother.
Keith races to the beach house and arrives just as Dan does. Now, that's something, considering he would have had to get up, get dressed, and race out of the house, jump into his car, and then drive all the way across town. Keith stops Dan before he goes inside, telling him that "it" wasn't what it looked like. Dan shouts, "No? 'Cause it looked like you were having sex with my wife. Unless of course you both tripped and fell, your clothes fell off, and somehow you ended up on top of her." Heh. For once Dan's sarcasm seems to be working for him. Keith looks contritely down at his shoes, which I'm hoping he remembered to put on in the midst of his hurried attempt to get out of there: "What I mean is this hasn't been going on, it just happened." Dan shouts, "You listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch, those are the last words you're ever going to speak to me. You are no longer my brother!" And it seems like the two sibling rivalries have completely reversed themselves; at the beginning of this year, Dan and Keith were at least civil to one another and Nate was out to get Luke. Now, it seems that Dan and Keith are pretty much permanently on the outs. Dan continues, "You understand that? You do not exist to me!" And with that fit of rage, Dan turns away from hitting his brother and smashes his car window instead. Now, does insurance cover something like that?
Okay, so on his way to get married, Nathan finds the time to leave Haley in the car and stop by the River Court to say goodbye to Lucas? He finds his brother staring off into space, thinking about why he's leaving or how much of a coward he's actually being. But wait, he doesn't think that at all, does he? Anyway. Nathan says, "I told you that if you missed that shot, it would all be for nothing. But I was wrong." Nathan looks around for a second, and then continues, "Figured I'd find you out here; word is you're leaving town." Luke says quietly, "Yeah, just waiting for the guys to say goodbye." Nathan asks him if he's leaving because of the game. Luke shakes his head: "Naw, Keith needs to be with someone right now, and I need a change. I figured since the season's over, it's time. Besides, I know I'm leaving Haley in good hands." Like she's a pet that needs taking care of by some strapping young man. Yawn. Nathan begins to bond, and I'm feeling like these two should just get out the crazy glue right now: "I gotta tell you, man, I never thought that when we played that one-on-one game that I'd be back here feeling like this." Like what? "That I'll miss you." Luke smiles as Nathan continues, "You gotta do what you feel, but I actually wish you weren't going to leave, 'cause you're one hell of a basketball player, and because you're my brother." Aw. I'll admit, I got a bit weepy at this line. It's taken them along time to get here and it's really one of the best things about the show: the two of them overcoming Dan's aggression to figure out what their relationship means to both of them. Okay, I'll stop editorializing, but I just can't help it. Nathan tells him to take care of himself. Luke says, "You take care of Haley." Nathan holds up his hand to slap Luke's, and they embrace in that boyish, masculine way. And then Luke says, "I'm going to miss you too, little brother." And I need to take this break to go get some tissues. Aw, it's not all bad, now, is it?
Early the morning, Luke packs up the rest of his stuff. Karen comes into his room for another completely inappropriate mother/son discussion. Is she carrying laundry? She asks if he's "all set." He puts a t-shirt into his bag and says, "Almost." They sit down together on his bed after Karen asks him to come and talk to her. She says, "I know you're searching for something, and I hope with all my heart that you find the answers to your questions, but the answers you're looking for are closer then you think, they're in your heart and in the hearts of those that love you." Oh blah parental speech, blah great things, blah great places, blah home sweet home, blah this place, always with you. Karen chokes up: "There is only one Tree Hill, and it's your home." Her voice breaks on the last word so it sounds like "ho-ome." She put her arms around his shoulders and says, "I love you, my boy." The Chad emotes, "I love you too." They hug. The guitar of last regrets strums as we move into the final music montage for the season.
Keith closes the door on his bachelor apartment, on his old life. He leaves a picture of him and Dan hanging crookedly on the wall. Oh. The. Symbolism. Did a raven just crash into the wall?
Brooke and Peyton lie in bed after a wicked-ass celebratory sleepover. Brooke says, "It looks like a beautiful morning. Let's do something great today." Peyton smiles at her. Aw, it's good to be back in the fold.
Luke must have known they'd be there, because he's left an envelope for them tucked into Peyton's door, telling them he's sorry, telling them he had to go, telling them everything.
Dan takes off his wedding ring and spins it on the table as he contemplates his divorce papers. His cell phone rings. Cingular ponies up some more dough. Dan opens it, and the text message says, "From: Deb. Please call me…" Dan shuts the phone down, just like he shuts his marriage down by signing the papers right afterwards. But wait! In the middle of signing his life away, he clutches his chest and keels over mid-heart-attack. All of his past regrets flashing before his eyes -- oh hell, who am I kidding, it's Dan. He's probably got a raven stuck in his chest or something equally ridiculous. He tips over, unable to get a hold of his phone.
The doctor comes into Whitey's room and tells him that he's got the results of his tests. Whitey looks concerned.
Nikki drives off in a vain search for her daughter.
Karen sits by herself in Luke's room.
Deb and her breasts come racing into the beach house just in time. She rushes over to Dan, puts her hand on his, and says, "Dan! Can you hear me?" He whisper-grunts, "You'd better hope I die." What an evil, spiteful man. On his deathbed, he's making the one person who could save his life feel like this -- how's that for evil? If he does die, then Deb will feel guilty for the rest of her life. How awful is that?
Luke knocks quietly on Nate's apartment door. A shirtless Nathan answers the door, and Luke half-uncomfortably asks for Haley, telling his brother he promised to say goodbye before he left. Nathan opens the door and tells Luke to come on in. How did Haley end up there? Don't her parents care that she's sleeping at a boy's house? Luke goes inside and sees Haley walk past the doorway wearing nothing but a sheet. He hears her say, "Nathan, where's your sweatshirt?" He says, "Oh, it's in the bathroom." Luke looks away, and a tension comes over his face. Haley comes into the room, all smiles and giggles: "Hey!" She sort of half-bites her finger as she greets him. Luke says, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to say goodbye." She tries to get him to stay, but Luke's all stuttering and stuff, feeling strange and uncomfortable at the thought of Nathan and Haley consummating their relationship. Heh. He says, "You know, it's, ah, um, cool, but I thought you weren't ready. I thought you were going to wait until you got married. I just figured --" Haley interrupts him and says, "Well, we did. We did wait." Nathan comes up behind her and puts his arm around her, and she sort of falls into him. Luke looks confused: "What do you mean, Hails?" Haley puts her hand back to her mouth and says, "We got married last night." She shows him the ring, and when you see Nate's hand, you see his too. Oh, brother -- now there's an ill-fated union if I've ever seen one, and how is it legal? Yeah, all I have to say is, wuh? MARRIED? Are you serious? First of all, let's not go through all the legal ramifications of two sixteen-year-olds getting married, because I'm not sure it's even within the bounds of the law. But if one silly little piece of paper makes it okay for Haley to have sex, then she's really not ready. It's honestly the most immature thing either one of them has done this whole season. Am I watching 7th Heaven?
The bags are packed on top of Keith's car as they drive along the highway. The two of them look off into the distance as Luke delivers his final voice-over: "Some people believe that ravens guide travellers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck, while more than one raven together predicts trouble ahead."
The end. And all the ravens fall from the sky in a desperate attempt to avoid being shot out of the sky by symbolism. So, are you going to talk about it all summer? Let's recap the recap: an almost dead Dan, a seriously sick Whitey, a lonely Karen and Deb, a desperate psycho tracking down her ex-lover and baby, oh, and a couple of teenage newlyweds. So much for OTH slowing down any season. See you all in September, my duckies!