A Complete Rewatch: One Tree Hill

The Games That Play Us is the twenty-second and last episode of the first series of One Tree Hill. The end of the first chapter! And it's been a hell of a ride. The Ravens battle it out on the court against Masonboro in their first playoff game. Keith and Lucas prepare their departure to Charleston. Peyton protects Jake's secret and rediscovers her friendship with Brooke, and Haley and Nathan's relationship takes a whole new turn after she discovered porn websites saved on his laptop.

BEHIND THE TITLE

This episode was entitled The Games That Play Us after a song by The Blackouts. There seemed to have been several bands with this name, and when you Google the song title, you are redirected towards this episode, so lyrics are out of the picture on this one. We can still say that The Blackouts have been a staple of the show's soundtrack this season, so it isn't surprising they have even got an episode title out of it. The title in itself seems pretty straightforward- you think you're playing a game, but the game might play you too.

GENERAL OPINION.

What a fantastic ending to an equally fantastic season. My absolute favourite part of it was how it was filmed. The flashbacks from everyone's lives and struggles interspersed with the footage from the playoff game, matching Mouth's almost poetic commentary were pure art. It's the small things like this that made me fall head over heels in love with One Tree Hill all those years ago. It's the uniqueness in the way the story's told. This episode is perfect.

SOUNDTRACK

- To You Alone by The Beta Band

- More Than Anyone by Gavin DeGraw

- The Way You Talk by Faraci

- Evening Star by All India Radio

- Breaking Away by Bosshouse

- Nobody's Perfect by Dioas

- Stay by Michelle Featherstone

- Where Are We Runnin' by Lenny Kravitz

- NYC Weather Report by Five For Fighting

- Run by Snow Patrol.

One more time, a soundtrack full of up and coming artists, staples of the show (Gavin DeGraw, Bosshouse, Michelle Featherstone) and super famous people such as Lenny Kravitz and Snow Patrol.

QUOTES

There are two voiceovers in this episode, one at the start, and one at the beginning. They are identical, save for the final line. The starting voiceover is this:

"Some people believe ravens guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck, but a group of ravens predicts trouble ahead, and a raven promises victory."

The second voiceover, at the end of the episode, after the defeat, the heart attack, the betrayal, and the departure, is this:

"Some people believe ravens guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck while more than one raven together predicts trouble ahead."

The last line is said while we see a shot of ravens, plural, flying in an otherwise blue sky, and is a perfect introduction for the future: there will be trouble ahead.

I always feel something tug at my poor little heartstrings whenever I hear Karen's broken voice and final speech to Lucas, before he heads to Charleston. There is something beautiful and heartbreaking in the way she says: "There is only one Tree Hill, and it's your home." Not only does it match the title of the show and redefine everything it has been and everything it will be, but the idea of home as a combination of the people who love you and the place that knows you best is stunning.

THE BEST BITS: HALEY AND LUCAS.

The part I have chosen for this segment is the scene in which Haley and Lucas cross the cemetery, and he tells her he is moving to Charleston with Keith. There is no shortage of words for how much I adore what she says to him afterwards, the vulnerability with which she asks him who will go thrift store hunting with her, buy bad music, and go places and claim dumb stuff from the lost and found.

Growing up, and still as an adult, actually, it was so important to watch their friendship, because One Tree Hill was one of the only TV shows that did not make the two best friends fall in love with each other. Remember how, in the pilot, Haley said something about Joey and Dawson from Dawson's Creek? This is the trope One Tree Hill never followed, the place they never took Haley and Lucas, and I couldn't be happier. Haley and Lucas are best friends, full stop. In any other teenage soap, the announcement of a departure could have led to an "I'm in love with you" moment, but One Tree Hill gave us the beautiful vulnerability of a lost kid who's distressed because her best friend will now live three hours away from her and won't be able to go thrift shopping with her. I love seeing them be vulnerable, and be kids, especially when we see them exposed to so many adult situations. I need them to go to the mall and be scared in a cemetery at night and be upset when they lose that one person who's always up to do dumb stuff.

THE LITTLE THINGS

Geography check: Masonboro is either a neighbourhood of Wilmington, North Carolina, or an island not too far off the coast.

- When Deb is signing her divorce papers, we discover her address. Her house is on Country Club Road, Tree Hill, North Carolina. While I have no doubt this is fake, this feels very fitting for a wealthy woman.

- When apologising to Haley, Nathan claims he has had the screenshots from Peyton's webcam saved in his laptop for a long time, and he justifies it by saying she hasn't been online in ages. While I don't believe he is lying in this scene, the continuity in the story is a little off as we have seen her use her webcam in the previous episode. As said in the last post, as well, she was wearing the same outfit in the pictures as she was in The Leaving Song.

- When the team chants before they go on the court, they say "When are we going to lose? Nevermore." It seems to be a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's poem...The Raven. In the poem, though, the raven is a reminder of sorrow that won't leave, so maybe the outcome of the game was there, in that nine-letter word. Maybe we were told the whole time.

- At one point in the episode, Dan calls Keith "Fredo," and I believe it is a reference to Fredo Corleone from the Godfather, who is known for being weaker and less intelligent than his brothers, which is how Dan sees Keith. In the film, he also seems to be told "You're nothing to me now. You're not a brother, you're not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do," which is very similar to Dan telling Keith "You are no longer my brother, do you understand that? You do not exist to me" after he discovers him and Deb together.

The only part in this episode that irks me and I never get to speak about is the final conversation between Haley and Lucas. For context, he visits her at Nathan's apartment in the morning because he promised he would say goodbye. Through seeing her in a towel and then, only wearing Nathan's hoodie, he understands they have had sex for the first time. His reaction is surprising, to say the least: he is upset and angry, and even confronts Haley about how she wanted to save her virginity for marriage. This begs the question: is Lucas simply uncomfortable in front of his best friend's sexuality? It's obvious they have a brother and sister relationship, they have grown up together, and there is no chemistry or attraction between the two of them. Maybe he is just uncomfortable in the same way one would be if they saw a parent naked. But he gets angry at her. He finds his best friend clearly wrapped up in her first love and happy, and he gets upset with her because "you said you'd wait until marriage." How is it any of his business? The underlying idea that he gets to have an opinion in Haley losing her virginity and choosing what she does with her body feels so, so wrong.

Two episodes ago, we watched Brooke and Peyton bury the hatchet and turn from enemies into careful friends who still tiptoe around each other. In The Games That Play Us, finally, we have them completely made up and have each other's back, a situation that had been lacking so far. By showing the scenes where Brooke drinks and interacts with Nicki as friends first, we are led to believe she is going to betray Peyton the way she did. We are led to believe their newfound friendship is nothing more than a façade. Learning we were played with was such a clever storytelling device. The best part of their storyline is that it does not feel like it has been wrapped up in a pretty little bow. It feels like they have grown together through almost losing each other as well as themselves, and they are ready to grow some more as friends and individuals. We have seen Peyton open up to the world this season, and we have seen Brooke learn to be vulnerable and in love. It was beautiful, gnarly, inspiring, and infuriating all at once- just like one's teenage years.

The whole town comes together one last time as the Ravens play their first playoff game against Masonboro. Dan is coaching the team and, unsurprisingly, he goes in strongly and warns them: "Lose, and be losers." While the message is far from poetic, it is there: there will be consequences if they were to lose.

After Lucas sustains an injury due to a fight provoked by a Masonboro player, Dan refuses to take advice from the medic and forces Lucas to play through lying and guilt-tripping him. ("Your teammates are counting on you.") Instead of doing the right thing and sending his son to the hospital for an X-Ray, he pushes him back into the court. Against Dan's advice, Nathan passes the ball to Lucas in the last few seconds, and he misses the winning three-pointer, undoubtedly because of his injury, causing the Ravens' only loss of the season.

Back in the locker rooms, Dan gets agitated and angry because Nathan didn't run the play as he was instructed, which leads to a father versus son (that must have been hella uncomfortable for everyone else in the room). The best part of it, though, is that Nathan stands up for Lucas because at least, he tried, he stayed, and he played, which is more than Dan can say for himself, as he is remembered for throwing a tantrum because he didn't like one of Whitey's decisions, back in high school.

While Lucas and Nathan's relationship has evolved from discomfort and misguided hatred into a true brotherly bond, Dan's perfect, in control life has descended into hell. His sons can team up against him, he is getting a divorce, and he catches his ex-wife having a moment with his brother in front of the fireplace. To conclude his fall from a shaky grace, he sustains a heart attack in his kitchen while signing his papers. This season was truly the start of the ending of Dan's leadership and tyranny over Tree Hill, concluded in this epic turn of events.

The last revelation The Games That Play Us gives us is that Nathan and Haley got married overnight. It always comes as a surprise, even though I have seen these episodes millions of times, but I think we should see it coming. When Haley gets into Nathan's car after the game, all dolled up and with an overnight bag, she is upset and he tells her they "don't have to do it tonight." Haley replies that she wants to, "more than ever," and while I know they are both sixteen and their hormones are having a rager, it's probably unrealistic they want to have sex that much. Have they only tied the knot so Haley could have her first time while respecting her values? Were they really that obsessed with having sex that they got married for it? They're sixteen, why do they insist on playing grown-ups, any chance they get? I don't know, maybe just get some chilli fries, go to the mall, and buy some summer clothes, and save being adults with responsibilities for another decade.

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

How's that heart attack going to go for Dan? And what about Whitey's results? What does the letter on Peyton's door say? (And where did Lucas find tape to stick it there?)