One Tree Hill

Last time on One Tree Hill, the entire gang took a one way trip down drama avenue after gathering at Tric to see Mia perform.  Nanny Carrie continued her pursuit of Nathan, and while he hasn't succumbed yet he also hasn't been protesting too much.  Mouth finally broke up with his boss and was promptly fired.  Haley witnessed a kiss between Lucas and Peyton, and the event was so traumatizing for Lucas that he immediately ran home and proposed to Lindsey.  Oh, and Quentin stopped by to punch K-Fed in the face, much to the delight of millions of viewers.

Tonight's episode finds Peyton trying to be a home wrecker again while Haley struggles with her knowledge of the forbidden kiss.  I also predict that nanny Carrie will act totally skanky, but that's just a guess.

The episode kicks off right after the kiss between Peyton and Lucas.  Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) goes home afterwards, and when Lindsey reveals that she found the engagement ring in his sock drawer she threatens to leave for New York.  Lindsey thinks the ring is for her and that Lucas never had the guts to give it to her.  That's when Lucas makes up the lame-ass excuse that he was waiting to see if he could write a second book before proposing.  Lindsey assures him that she doesn't care about his crappy book, and Lucas pops the question.  Oh Lucas, you're so stupid.  You know you don't love her.

Haley apologizes to Nathan for snapping at him about the K-Fed incident last week.  She then tells him about the Lucas and Peyton make out session.  Haley thinks they're both being pretty stupid, which makes her the wisest person on the show.  She wants to tell Lindsey what happened, but Nathan advises against it.

Brooke is still trying to woo bartender Owen at Tric, but she's not all that charming when she's smashed. Peyton (Hilarie Burton) calls her in a heap of tears, and Owen offers to drive Brooke to see her so she doesn't end up with a DUI.  Meanwhile, Mouth is calling Millicent in an attempt to make up for his shenanigans last week.  He can't get a hold of her and is forced to leave embarrassing messages on her voice mail.

Peyton is torturing herself by reading An Unkindness of Ravens.  Oh, the humanity!  Brooke shows up and lets Peyton cry on her shoulder over the proposal debacle.  In what's bound to be the best scene of the evening, Brooke advises her to throw Lucas' book in a fire.  Of course we know she still has about 10 more copies somewhere, so maybe she needs to start a huge bonfire and wipe An Unkindness of Ravens from the planet.  Perhaps burning every copy in existence will stop those annoying voiceovers that Lucas insists on indulging in.

Haley drops off adorable little Jamie at Brooke's shop so she can babysit him.  Lindsey runs in and announces her proposal, nearly causing Haley to keel over from shock.  Somehow she manages to act happy for her.  A little bit later, Lucas tells Nathan and Skills the big news.

Mouth goes back to work to clean out his stuff and finds out that his evil boss got canned for sleeping with an employee.  While his career has hit the skids, it looks like Quentin might have the same problem.  His hand is hurt from smashing into K-Fed's annoying face last week, and now he might not be able to play basketball.  Really, it's a small price to pay for the hilarity of seeing K-Fed get decked in the jaw.

Peyton shows up at Lucas' office and begs him not to marry Lindsey.  It's all very pathetic and awkward, and it also doesn't work very well.  Lucas just glowers and insists that he's in love with Lindsey, even though everyone knows he's totally not.  Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) walks in at that exact moment, witnessing the weirdness yet again. She's developing quite the knack for that.  After Peyton leaves, Haley tells him that he better be sure Lindsey is the one.

Owen shows up at Brooke's shop to buy a dress for a tall, sexy girl he has his eye on.  Someone who is not Brooke (Sophia Bush), or so he says.  They swap some insulting banter, and Brooke tells him to go shop for his "fugly giantess" elsewhere.  That line legitimately cracked me up.

Remember that girl Molly who was living in Peyton's old bedroom?  Well, she's kind of stalking Peyton now. She shows up out of nowhere and tells her how she often reads those etchings in Peyton's old closet door and wishes she had Peyton's life.  I think it's supposed to be touching, but instead it's just creepy.  Single White Female anyone?

Mouth goes in to talk to the big boss of the news station, and he quickly learns that his evil shrew boss was sleeping with another one of the employees.  The boss tells Mouth that he needs him to cover a story, and Mouth gladly accepts.  I'm happy the guy is finally catching a break.

In the music studio, Haley reveals to Peyton that she knows about the kiss.  Haley tries to explain that Peyton said no to his proposal and Lindsey said yes, so Peyton has no right to complain.  I totally agree.  Haley is the only voice of reason in this whole situation.  Of course Lucas is an idiot for proposing in the first place, but that's a whole other issue.

Brooke is ranting to Jamie about her troubles with Owen, and Jamie is being the most adorable kid in the world.  Let's give him his own spin-off.  Mouth (Lee Norris) shows up at the shop to chat with Millicent.  She tells him that she knows all about the affair he had with his boss, and though he explains it's over she can't get past it. Those two kids will work it out eventually.  I know it.

Nanny Carrie really hasn't had much to do in this episode, especially compared to her topless romps the past couple weeks.  She apologizes to Nathan (James Lafferty) for being all drunk and slutty around him the night before, and like a chump he buys into her story.  She also lies to Haley over the phone, telling her that the boys were out somewhere while she was actually cooking dinner for them.  Come on Carrie, you can do something more scandalous than that!  Take off all your clothes and climb into Nathan's shower or something.  Nobody likes a subtle seductress.

Mouth goes to see Millicent again, explaining to her that he's not the morally corrupt guy he's been appearing to be lately.  She agrees to give him one more chance, so Mouth takes her to the news room and tells her about his love of sports. They bond over his passion for sports and her love of ballet, which is fairly cute.  Less cute is Lucas continuing to brood over his proposal issues.  He admits to Skills that he's nervous about the whole marriage thing, but Skills assures him everything will be fine.

Jamie accidentally calls nanny Carrie "Mom" while showing off one of his paintings to her.  He apologizes, but she says it's okay.  Actually, she says, "Sometimes I pretend you're my kid," which is completely creepy.  Later, after putting something away in Jamie's room, she finally drops all signs of subtlety and plants a kiss on Nathan.  Before he can react, Jamie calls for her and she runs off.

This is where I'd like to point out how absolutely stupid both Nathan and Lucas are acting lately.  Stupid! Nathan just stands there in a daze while Carrie sluts it up all over him, acting as though he has no clue what the heck is going on.  Meanwhile, Lucas is a complete dolt who proposes to one woman for no good reason, therefore causing the woman he actually loves to mope around and cry all the time.  These guys don't deserve women, but they do deserve a good smack.

Speaking of stupid, Peyton goes to see Lucas at the basketball court.  She tells him that she wants to be his friend, and she's willing to bury her feelings for him and let go if she has to.  She runs off, and Lucas looks at her with the same blank stare that's on his face 24/7.

As the episode wraps up, Peyton sends Molly a letter to tell her to follow her own path in life.  Brooke shows up in the back of Owen's car completely naked, which finally makes him want to get it on with her.  However, since Brooke is a total tease she just slips on her dress, kisses him, and walks off.  Not cool.  Haley comes home after a long day of work, but Nathan doesn't tell her about what happened with Carrie.  It's going to be very, very ugly when that little secret gets out, and trust me, it's only a matter of time.

Next week, the girls of Tree Hill get stuck in the library together and are forced to hash out their problems. Bring on the catfights!

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- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of the CW)