One Tree Hill

Last week on One Tree Hill, Peyton grappled with Lucas' proposal to Lindsey, but eventually put her feelings aside and vowed to become friends with her ex.  Brooke took it all off for bartender Owen, but denied him when he wanted to take things all the way.  Mouth's boss was fired for sleeping with every employee in sight, and he was finally offered a chance to cover a big story.  As for Nathan, he allowed nanny Carrie to plant a kiss on him and then neglected to tell his wife about it.  Apparently he doesn't know that secrets always come out on shows like this.

Tonight's episode finds the girls of Tree Hill trapped in the library together.  Let the cattiness begin!

The hour begins with a voiceover from Mouth, which is a nice change of pace.  His narration segues into the shoot for Mia's first music video, which is taking place on a set that looks just like the high school.  Peyton (Hilarie Burton) is taking care of directing duties.  In the actual school, Mouth is trying to find an angle for his first big story and isn't having much luck.  He goes to talk to Lucas and they reminisce over poor, crazy Jimmy,  the school shooter from a while back.

Just as Nathan (James Lafferty) is about to confess the truth about the kiss to Haley, Carrie bursts in and puts in her two weeks' notice.  She even manages to make the act of quitting a job seem really slutty, which is kind of amazing.  Will this really be the last we see of nanny Carrie?

Everyone is gathering at the high school gym for the first basketball game of the season.  Peyton, who is still ranting about hating Lindsey, takes Mia to the library to show her the spot where she got shot and almost bled to death.  Lucas gives a pep talk to the team before they hit the court.  It reminds me of Friday Night Lights, which is a show you should totally watch if you're not already.  It also has teenagers and sports, so it's kind of exactly like One Tree Hill.  Except, you know, different.

Lindsey, Brooke, and Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) go to the school library and run into Peyton and Mia.  The Peyton/Lindsey cattiness starts up immediately, but it gets awkward when they realize they can't storm out of the room in a huff.  Nope, they're locked in the library for the weekend.  Most of the phones aren't working, the doors are all locked, and Brooke can't get a hold of Mouth.  Peyton tells her to give Owen a call, but she thinks she'll look too desperate.

It's time for some bonding.  Mia wants to know why Brooke (Sophia Bush) lets her mom boss her around all the time, and she admits that her desire to have her mom in her life is overwhelming, even if she is a bit of a bitch.  Brooke goes to sulk in a corner and read her own magazine.  She admits to Peyton that she just wants her mom to show her some love.

The phones may not work, but the Internet does.  The girls decide to order pizza and have it delivered, that way the pizza man can let them out.  Even though the girls are freaking out and sniping at one another, Mia keeps a positive attitude.  She starts everyone on the path of complimenting one another, which probably won't last very long.  The only nice thing Peyton can say about Lindsey is that she has decent taste in men.  Lindsey, on the other hand, admits that she's intimidated by Peyton because she thinks Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) might still be in love with her.

Dopey pizza boy Tim (remember him?) arrives at the library while Mia checks out negative comments about her music on the Internet.  Lindsey and Peyton start bickering yet again, and since they're busy trying to claw one another's eyes out they don't see Tim come in.  The door shuts behind him, locking him in the library with them.  He immediately gets his perv on and flirts with every girl in sight.

A conversation about ghosts brings down the room by reminding everyone about Jimmy and Keith. Meanwhile, Mouth (Lee Norris) is in another part of the school, mourning the loss of Jimmy while he attempts to come up with a story idea.

Hey, Tim has a son named Nathan!  Weird.  However, that revelation isn't enough to stop Peyton and Lindsey from being catty toward one another.  When Mia breaks out her guitar they start insulting one another in musical form, which is pretty hilarious.  Peyton reveals that Lucas proposed to her with the same ring he gave to Lindsey, and then starts teasing her for being a spoiled daddy's girl.  That's when Lindsey goes on an epic monologue about how her dad died of cancer a couple of years ago, making Peyton feel terrible.  This then segues into a musical sing-along that's reminiscent of Magnolia and the fourth season finale of Nip/Tuck.  It's totally random and out of place, but whatever.

With the sing-along over, Peyton apologizes to Lindsey for the comments about her dad.  She explains that things are tough for her because Lindsey is such a good person, and she also fills her in on the romantic origins of her engagement ring.  Keith gave it to Karen before Lucas ever had it.  Lindsey tells Peyton that she's not going to apologize for her relationship with Lucas, and the two of them decide to kiss and make up.  Not literally of course, though that would be a fun twist.

Tim walks up to the library door and easily yanks the lock off of it.  He could have done that at any time, but he was enjoying the bonding session.  Back in the gym after the game, Lucas and Nathan confess their kissing indiscretions to one another.  Nathan swears that he's going to tell Haley the truth.

Mouth found an angle for his first story.  It's something about life and time and change and basketball.  I think it's funny that this episode was framed by a big important game, yet we never saw a moment of it.  We know that Tree Hill won, but the game wasn't the important part of this episode.  It was all of that other life stuff that really mattered.  Kind of deep, isn't it?


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