You might not think fashion and basketball have a lot in common, but on One Tree Hill, they're the same thing.  In both instances, whether you're on the court or on the runway, you should never mix business with pleasure.  Don't hire your friends, don't become friends with the people you hire, and never let your personal and professional lives cross over.

Sadly for almost everyone on One Tree Hill, they didn't get the memo.  In the latest episode, Clay got fired, Millie got hooked on cocaine and Dan got hooked on being awesome.

Problem #1: Don't Socialize with the Help
Brooke Davis made her fatal flaw several seasons ago when she befriended Millicent, her lowly assistant.  Nathan made a similar mistake when he fell victim to Jerry Maguire Syndrome and let his agent become his best friend, an obvious replacement for his brother Lucas.  As soon as Brooke and Nathan started being friends, their work relationships were dead.

Problem #2: Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
Nathan only wanted Clay to make sure he plays for the Bobcats.  Brooke wanted Millie to be a realistic model.  Instead, both employees tried to bite off more than they could chew.  Clay thought Nathan deserved better which, while admirable, still leaves Nathan without a job close to home.  Clay thought he was doing a good thing, but initiative isn't always a good thing.

Similarly, Millie let herself get carried away by the modeling world, snorting coke in order to get super skinny.  This is clearly more about her insecurities than Brooke, but you shouldn't let your personal life interfere with your professional one.  It's something Clay also suffers from, given the whole dead wife issue.

Problem #3: Never Date Friends and Family of Your Boss
Clay decided to start dating Nathan's sister-in-law Quinn while Millie hooked up with Brooke's friend Mouth.  The problem is that relationships don't always last forever, and since your relationship as an employee is not as strong as your boss' relationship with their friends and family, you lose.

The Exception: Dan Scott

They say there's always an exception to the rule, and in the case of "don't mix business with pleasure," that exception is Dan Scott.  His job is to help people become the best they can be, but in his personal life he enjoys tormenting people.  How can you combine these two passions?

By drowning Clay in the ocean as a way of baptizing the man who screwed your son out of a basketball contract, of course.  It was rather silly, but that's Dan Scott at his best, going insane in the ocean, railing about God and faith and destiny.  By violently baptizing Clay, Dan reaffirmed that he's still a bad-ass monster not to be messed with, but he's also using his evil skills for good, trying to transform lives.  He can't reunite with his son, so he'll do the next best thing and use Clay as a surrogate for himself.


One Tree Hill definitely showed us why we shouldn't mix business with pleasure, because it always ends in broken friendships, lost careers and lots of loud emo music playing over sad shots of people thinking.  Hopefully next time the characters will learn from this and go outside their profession for love and friendship.



-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)