Posted by: haro1d

Ooh! It’s Peyton! Woohoo!

Yes, it’s the OTH season premiere and Lucas and Peyton went to Vegas and spent the rest of the episode not getting married. Maybe they’ll propose to each other for the rest of the season. Brooke and her mom continue havin’ it out as only mom and Brooke can. Skills and Nathan’s mom are still makin’ the beast with two backs behind everyone’s backs. Mouth and Millicent are goin’ to Omaha. Dan Scott got hit and was nearly killed by … Nanny Carrie! (My wife, immediately afterward: “They’re gonna get together — evil Dan Scott and Nanny Carrie!” Hey, if Skills and Deb can find each other …) Lucas and Peyton got a room in Vegas with a mirror over the bed. (Those sickos!) Brooke’s day got even better with a shoplifting betty ripping off her store, but she got some support from Millicent, who called Brooke’s mother an “evil @#$%.” Nathan catches his mom topless in the pool, narrowly missing Skills, who’s hiding underwater. Lucas and Peyton’s would-be Elvis wedding was too trashy to contemplate, so they balked and, as previously said, they’re just proposing to each other nonstop. Dan Scott is being drugged and held hostage by Nanny Carrie in her house, which is cleverly made to look like a hospital room. After Millicent decides to stay with Brooke to help her in her fight with Victoria, Brooke fires her to send her to Omaha with Mouth. Then, just when things couldn’t get any more dramatic — and right after challenging her mother over the phone — Brooke gets knocked down and pummeled by a masked bandit of some sort.

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill, The CW by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

Boy, what an unsatisfying ending to a pretty unsatisfying season. Things started out like they were going to be neato or something, with Jackson Brundage (Li’l James) plunking out the old OTH themesong with Gavin DeGraw. Then we got into the episode, and here’s what went down:

Lucas woke up from his big booze binge with a mohawk, which Haley insisted on shaving off. Brooke had to return Angie eight days early and wept when she did. Dan Scott paid another visit to Reverend Carter, the fellow who was ahead of him in line for a heart transplant. (No murder, though he obviously thought about it.) Dan talked to the unconscious Reverend, and basically just asked him to die, saying he wanted time for redemption. Later on, redemption came along in the form of a car that mowed down Dan Scott in the street. Naturally, just then, his heart-transplant beeper went off. Li’l James overcame his fear of the pool, and at the same time, Nathan overcame his fear of failure on the basketball court. Mouth went from bum at the TV station to king when the teleprompter went out on the new guy and Mouth came to the rescue, leaking spontaneous, accurate commentary into new guy’s earpiece. Mouth took a standing ovation from the crew. And then quit. And then there was Lucas … Lucas finished the season talking to all three women in his life. He and Brooke professed to love each other — but it looked pretty platonic. Lindsey told him she lied about dating someone else after visiting him to tell him his new book was ready for publication, and goodbye. Lucas went to the b-ball court to find it painted by Peyton with all sorts of love messages for him. He went over and told her he doesn’t hate her. And at the close of the season, he’s called somebody to join him in Vegas for an impulse wedding. And we don’t know who it is. Tune in next season, if there is one …
[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

OTH’s penultimate episode this season was a lulu. Here’s what went down before it all came up:

Dan Scott is second on the list for a new heart. Little Angie got hers fixed. Deb exposed herself online to a stranger … or maybe someone not so strange. Meanwhile, James found the card for Dan that his mommy threw in the trash and wandered off down the road before being happened upon by Haley. The breaks keep on coming for Mia: She’s doing a Starburst Something-or-Other Concert Tour. (And Rocking the Vote, man.) On a break from recording Haley’s album, Haley and Peyton dropped a water balloon on Dan, who apparently is thinking of killing again. Mouth got his big chance to cover the Ravens’ big game — and they were up at the half until a call from Lindsey brought out the worst in Lucas and he nearly blew the second half. In the end, the Ravens won the game, but Lucas lost Lindsey to another. Oh, and he also assaulted a player from the opposing team. (Mouth has the story, film at 10 — or he would if he hadn’t destroyed the tape in a moment of an absolute lapse of journalistic integrity.) In the end, Lucas turned up the “jerk” dial full blast and told Peyton, to her face, that he hated her.

But enough of all that. The biggest hilarity and the one thing OTH folks will be talking and writing about? Skills and Nathan’s mom! Hallelujah!
[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

Royal Tenenbaum once said, “I’m dying, Etheline. I’m sick as a dog. I’ll be dead in six weeks.”

Or something like that. This week OTH delved deeply into the “Dan is dying” issue. But before we get into that, an update on what else went down in Tree Hill:

Peyton tried to convince Lindsey that Lucas only has eyes for her (Lindsey, that is). Lindsey subsequently tried to convince Peyton to read Lucas’ new manuscript, giving it to her without Lucas’ consent and in the process violating virtually every sacrosanct moral/ethical law for publishers, not to mention stupidly letting an asset potentially leak, diminishing its value in the market. Quentin wised up, apologized and decided to play ball after li’l James gave Skills the idea to shoot nothing but three-pointers, with Quentin as point guard. Mouth got his shot at several on-air sports spots at the TV station. He duly flubbed the first, but when Millicent showed up at his work and they immediately admitted her to the studio without any sort of security restrictions whatsoever, a few encouraging words set his mind at ease and he was able follow through properly on the second go-round. Brooke went with Lucas to bring baby Angie for a preoperative checkup and consultation regarding the potentially life-threatening (but necessary) surgery Angie is scheduled to undergo. Afterward, Brooke brought baby to her latest presentation, where Angie was a smash and magically helped Brooke to sell her idea for — surprise! — a new line of baby clothes.

And, well, yes, Dan Scott is dying. Thankfully, at least at first, almost everyone’s immediate reaction was literal disbelief. After all of the stunts he’s pulled, you would have hoped that the Scott family would have been wise to Dan’s machinations at least four seasons ago. Lucas checked into things with Dan’s physician and found that his six-month-to-live prognosis is accurate — to which Lucas’ response is, “Good riddance.” Haley is torn about letting little James get to know his grandfather before he loses what could be his only opportunity ever to do so. Nathan is more of the “No way” way of thinking.
[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

And the knot gets pulled just a little tighter. But that’s about it.

The quick recap: Li’l James had a birthday. Brooke (and Peyton, by extension) found out that being a mom isn’t all cutesy bootsies — there are diaper wipers, crying and projectile vomiting, too. Peyton’s recording studio was in the works, Skills was harboring guilt for letting the wicked nanny take off with Jamie at Lucas’ would-be wedding and Millicent let her new roommates know that she could be one of the guys. Jamie’s birthday had a triple dose of creepiness: Deb hired a clown. Dan Scott showed up. Then Deb apparently did the deed with the clown. Lucas continued pining away for Lindsey, but Lindsey wasn’t having it. Handing over her key to Lucas’ place, she made her exit.

And Dan Scott has six months to live. Or so he says.

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

Well, another One Tree Hill episode down … and the drama continues to unfold.

In case you missed it, here’s the OTH rundown for this week: Haley threw caution to the wind and submitted a demo to Peyton’s label. They’re making an album together — and by mixing business with friendship have jeopardized their relationship without knowing it. Nathan is trying to get back on the basketball court, but Quentin — fresh from the doctor’s office after Lucas forced him to go back for a second hand exam — was so unpleasant on the court with him, Nathan just didn’t want to play. Mouth invited Millicent to move in and she freaked out, and told him that she’s a virgin. (She’s moved in anyway.) Dan Scott is struggling with fitting back into society, and we finally had the reappearance of Deb, Nathan’s mom (returning as Haley’s and Nathan’s new nanny.) And in an adoption story that smacks of science fiction, Brooke went from last week’s interview to having a baby in her hands by the end of tonight’s episode.

But it really doesn’t matter what happened tonight. Some loose ends progressed to being tied up, other story lines frayed to form new conflicts. And that’s just how a show like this goes — it’s like a big cable-knit sweater that you keep on knitting, and knitting, and knitting, and knitting …

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

You thought I missed it, didn’t you? What about you? Did you miss One Tree Hill because of the day change?

I didn’t, but John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” What do I mean by that? Not a thing, really. OTH is fond of starting new episodes with a literary citation, so I thought I’d pull one out as well, even if it’s from a deceased Beatle instead of Walt Whitman.

Let’s be honest, though — by now, you’ve either seen Monday’s episode or you’ve read someone else’s synopsis. If you read this blog, chances are it’s not because you’re dying to catch the recap. You’re either with me or against me in lampooning one of the most entertainingly poor shows on TV. Instead of talking about what happened on the show this week, I’d like to take issue with its form.

Monday’s episode didn’t start, like many do, with the aforementioned literary swipe, but we pretty quickly got into an editing pattern as the show jumped from one character’s drama to the other with a simple verbal segue. A little of that is fine, but when you edit the entire show that way, it starts to look pretty contrived. And when you edit OTH that way, it’s cheesier than Wisconsin pizza.

I will give credit to the show’s creators. They do try things here and there that other shows wouldn’t — like inserting the show’s creator in the show, as we saw with the return of Max (Mark Schwahn) on Monday. But if those other shows don’t, it’s usually for a reason. (Schwahn happens to look like a slightly older version of any number of the cast, instead of looking like Dom Deluise or Francis Ford Coppola, so he probably can get away with it.)

More often than not, though, OTH adheres to its formula. Voice-over narration — often Lucas, but sometimes Nathan or another character; ping-ponging between the various dramas taking place, always ending up in an ostensibly thoughtful “montage” at the end that bookmarks the fates of the various players until next week’s episode. It’s a formula that works for the show, obviously, but wow, if there’s anything that accentuates the high-school-drama quality, that ending montage is it.

It’s easy to think that OTH, like all of its characters, needs to get over itself. But if it ever did, it more than likely would cease to exist. And then, as Richard Nixon once said — and I’m paraphrasing, here — we wouldn’t have it to kick around, anymore.

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

Well, that was interesting.

In one of the most comical episodes of OTH in the series’ entire run:

1) Lucas’ mom returned — with Andy, the multi-gazillionaire (Knew he would show up again.) and Lucas’ little sister.

2) It was the big day. Lucas’ and Lindsey’s wedding. A lot of fretting went on beforehand, a lot of talking to Peyton, hoping she wouldn’t flip out. (And naturally, they showed the version of the wedding WITH Peyton flipping out, then showed that it was only going on in Peyton’s mind.) And after all of that hubbub — and after Lucas said “I do” — Lindsey called it off and ditched Lucas at the altar. (Come on, like you didn’t know that was going to happen.) After reading Lucas’ new novel about the scientist waiting for the “comet” to come back into his life, Lindsey discovered that Peyton’s car is a vintage Comet. (Ooooh — tricky, eh?)

3) Nanny Carrie showed up at the wedding and hid out in the choir loft, where she waited for just the right moment to kidnap little James, then took off with him. She checked into a hotel room and tried to dye James’ hair, but then …

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

Well, the gang was nearly all there last night, and while there was a bit of typical Tree Hill drama, for the most part, it was a “filler” episode. At its center were the bachelor/bachelorette parties for Lucas and Lindsey, sneakily planned to be at the same time and location so that Nathan and Haley would have to see and talk to each other. (Sounds like a great plan for a party, no?) In business news, Peyton, via her recording label, disbursed her first dividends to investor Brooke — in cash. Rachel, currently attempting to detoxify on her own while crashing at Brooke’s house (you see where this is going, don’t you?) tried to seduce Mouth, who had the good-boy sense to stay true to Millie. When it didn’t work out for Rachel, and once Brooke’s mother tore into her at Brooke’s house, Rachel took off — with Brooke’s stash of cash, apparently. Brooke fired her mother from her position with Clothes Over Bros — and possibly as a mom. Everyone in Tree Hill attempted to comfort li’l James (who evidently recovered from last week’s near drowning just fine) as his parents failed to resolve their issues, Skills even giving Haley what for. Lucas handed the manuscript of his new book to Haley for an initial read-through. When she finished reading it, Haley immediately called Lucas and told him that he can’t marry Lindsey.

And Dan Scott is out on parole.

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »

Posted by: haro1d

The comedy just keeps on comin’. Last night’s OTH episode did not disappoint. To recap:

Nanny Carrie continued her home-wrecker crusade, jumpin’ in the shower with Nathan just in time for the scene to be discovered by Haley. Peyton’s old boss showed up to steal Mia away, but with some clever theatrics, they managed to trick him into offering her promotion and distribution, publishing rights and maybe the moon, if I heard correctly. Quentin has a hairline fracture from punching out K-Fed and is likely to be benched for the season … if he lets the coaches know about his injury. Brooke and bartender boy Owen tripped to New York, where they found Rachel (hey, she’s back!) sprawled out on the floor of one of Brooke’s crash pads, on her way to a permanent exit via a heroin overdose. Owen resuscitated her and managed to pummel her dealer to the ground when he showed up. Then he admitted to being an alcoholic. And Brooke, instead of taking Rachel to rehab, is taking her home, inviting misery into her life by the bale. Dan Scott is up for parole — and may get it, since Nathan screwed up by going to visit him in prison, without telling Lucas about it, even after Lucas’ Daniel Webster-worthy speech about Dan’s shortcomings as a father and ruthlessness as a human being. Topping it all off, Nathan and Haley got so involved in the nanny business that they didn’t notice little Jimmy nearly drowning in the pool until he was a face-down floater — and Haley told Nathan that she wants a divorce.

I told you it was a good one.

[Read more →]

Tags: Drama, One Tree Hill by haro1d
No Comments »