This episode on the whole was really enjoyable for me. Lots of injected humour to lighten the show up, whilst also being deeply heartfelt at the right moments. It drove the story and had the shocks without taking it over the top.
It was depressing to see
Haley so sad about things and I really understand the pain she feels about everything. In this episode she was dealing with that and just not ready to let Nathan back in yet. She needs time to get over what happened before she can even really hear him out yet, because she feels like she’s been betrayed multiple times by Nathan’s actions/inactions now. However in the end I think she’ll realise Nathan didn’t have ill intent and will let him back in. I just felt sad for Jamie, because all he wanted was for his family to be together and Haley couldn’t give him that yet.
Nathan I felt bad for in this episode. He seemed like he was searching for a way to make things better, but just didn’t quite understand how to. It’s clear that he misses his family and although I think he deserves the lions share of the blame for how things with Carrie happened I still couldn’t help feeling for him. I always see him as the unwitting victim of his own idiocy in these situations, in that he never has intentions to hurt Haley, but he’s just not equipped to deal with situations like the ****ty nanny. I also felt bad when Haley told him she never should have tried to change him, because I don’t think that that was entirely true or fair. Nathan has always appreciated how Haley helped him become a better person and anyone who’s seen s1 Nathan knows how much better he is now. He loves Haley for that and it sort of took that away from him.
I really enjoyed
Skills. It was great to see both sides of him, both humorous and deep. I feel like he’s such a great carer for Jamie and is almost becoming what uncle Keith was for Lucas. He’s the person who helps Jamie out, keeps his spirits up and never lets him down. I loved his talk with Haley, because although Haley is hurting, she did brush Jamie aside a lot in the episode and I think what Skills said about NH really hit home for her that someone has to look after Jamie’s best interests in all this too.
Lucas I finally felt was more involved. I loved his plan to help NH. He meddles which you could almost say he inherited from Dan, just with Lucas he actually uses it for good rather than evil. I found it interesting that he finally finished his book and the timing and maybe we see later in the episode why he’s worried about the last pages. I thought it was great that the person he felt most secure giving it too was Haley, even if the main point of that at the moment seems to have been to provide the cliffhanger.
Lucas/Lindsey were shown to be in love tonight, which was good as a Lucas fan and has sometimes been missing in their scenes for me. It’s nice to see him not just marrying someone, because of how he feels about Peyton, but because he loves her. I really get the sense that Lucas does love Lindsey and does want to marry her, but it’s not enough. He’ll love Lindsey, but Peyton is still in his heart above anyone else. That’s the reason he shouldn’t marry Lindsey, but at the same time it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her. The only thing I didn’t like was the slightly mundane way all their scenes felt. This is just a personal opinion, but I never see the chemistry. Lindsey always feels motherly or sisterly in their scenes with the lines she has and how that feels to me.
Lucas/Haley were good and I mentioned how I loved him trusting her to read his book. The phonecall at the end of the episode though I was unsure about. I felt like the intent of the writers was to show us that Haley is ringing Lucas to say he can’t marry Lindsey because the book is about Peyton. However I have this feeling it’ll take a different turn in the next episode. Like it’ll go “you can’t marry Lindsey..until” and then talk about something nice Lucas has to do for her. I just don’t know if I see Haley actually flat out telling Lucas he can’t marry someone, not after she’s been so firmly behind them this season. I guess it just depends what was in all those pages of manuscript she just read.
Lucas and Peyton’s scene was short and to me served a slight purpose. You could see they were both kind of laughing off what could have been an uncomfortable situation. It also sets up things for if anything does go wrong with LL. The way things were left after 508 would have made the beginning of anything awkward if LL were to end. Lucas may feel resentment that Peyton was still there driving a wedge, even if that would be unfair. Now with LP having had a friendly scene and Peyton being more accepting of LL it clears the air between them somewhat and could help the beginnings of something in future.
Peyton was great and so strong in the episode for me. She kept herself in check and managed to be nice to Lindsey, which was great. I loved her moments with Chase and thought it was nice to see her smile. It’s nice when Peyton can lighten the episode and shows that she is more than just there for angst. I also loved how supporting she was of Brooke and Rachel. Giving them the support they needed in the way Brooke was there to support her when she needed it. I love the way she paid Brooke back double too, showing how much she really appreciates her help and also totally disproving anything of what Victoria said of her being a parasite.
Chase and Peyton were enjoyable; the favours they did for each other were cute. It allowed them both to smile when they may have actually both been hurting a little. It was also nice to have Stephen back for an episode, even if I’m not sure I’d want him back long term. He did seem to relish being fun though, rather than more serious like Chase was last season.
Brooke was great again. She was so strong firing Victoria, which was so long overdue. I loved how she was a great friend to Rachel and determined to help her, something which may have succeeded if it wasn’t for her mom. Her scenes with Victoria and then getting support from Peyton were really sad but also satisfying. Like she needs to cry to get past those issues and then move on, because she’s strong enough to do that now.
Victoria was a really awful person with no heart and I’m pleased she got fired. She deserved it completely and I couldn’t believe her nerve to try and play on Brooke’s good heart at the end, saying that she shouldn’t be fired because she’s her mother. Well you cut your boss out of meetings and treat her like crap, so she removed the personal element of business and fired you, so get over it. I just hope Brooke can keep her own feelings in her business, because that’s what built it, not what her mother did.
The
Brooke/Owen and Chase stuff was funny. I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t put it together, but at the same time it did lighten the episode. Owen may have got opinionated again, but I loved how he explained that Brooke did a good thing for Rachel and he sees that. It’s also nice to see he thinks Brooke deserves better than how Victoria treats her, even if it may not have been his business to say anything. I really think that their relationship has been developing well and I hope to see it continue.
It was great to see Danneel again and I miss her on the show. I really felt for
Rachel when Victoria put her down. I felt like she was on her way to potentially beating this addiction. However junkies need professional help, because they often have complicated lives and people who don’t like them. They hit roadblocks and this is what happens. Hopefully she has taken the money and checked herself in rehab, determined to beat it, otherwise the next news we get of her might be that she’s literally lying in a gutter somewhere. The only thing that I personally didn’t like about her actions is that she was willing to use Mouth and think of it as a gift to him. I kind of hoped she’d at least got past that, but then it doesn’t seem like the city helped her character growth at all, if anything she went backwards.
It was great to have Paul back and
Dan is back to his awful best already. The scene just creeped me out completely. He seems quite dark already. It may be contrived that he’s out, because murder and five years? Yes it’s ridiculous. He’s been brought back because fans like him and his struggles with his sons. It’s part of the shows original concept. I like to see those struggles, so contrived as it may be, bring it on. I can’t wait to see what evil he has to cook up and then hate him for it
.
Overall I just really enjoyed the episode. It felt well put together. There were some tonal issues with how the characters dialogue played out, but I think that’s due to having a first time director and writer on the episode. However I think they did a good job considering that. The episode didn’t feel choppy at all and really helped to push the story forward without being overdramatic or overbearing. To me it was an overall improvement in the quality of the last few weeks.