“One Tree Hill”: The Slippery Slope NEVER ENDS 11

Posted by: haro1d

No time for massive introductions, folks, so away we go w/last night’s OTH synopsis:

Sam’s friend “Jack Daniels” stays overnight in her bed. Brooke catches him going out the window in the morning (and Sam has complete bedhead). Brooke tries to yell at her, but she’s flummoxed when she catches herself saying, “When I was 15” … because, of course, Brooke at 15 was probably much worse. Sam maintains that Jack just needed a place to crash, and that they’re just friends. (When we see them talking later, it seems Sam is telling the truth.)

Lucas meets with Julian to discuss the movie, on which he has agreed to follow through. (The subject of Peyton comes up, and we see that Peyton is in the hospital.) Julian sends Lucas to meet with a producer for Lucas to approve, but taunts him with the possibility that Peyton might fall in love with Julian while he’s away. Spilling out some sugar on the table and writing “J + P” in it to further the insult, Julian smirks at Lucas and sends him on his way. As Lucas gets up, he blows the sugar all over Julian.

Sam gets up from talking with Jack and goes over to talk to Julian. They don’t seem to like each other much, but they suggest to each other that they can help one another. (Which means, of course, that they’re up to no good.) Sam wants Julian to read some of her “stuff.” Julian wants the Brooke Davis hookup. They tentatively agree to help each other, and as Julian walks out, he pats Jack on the shoulder and tells him, “She’s out of your league, brother,” like the nice guy Sam just told him he probably was.

Nathan is on his way to a combine to try out for a pre-NBA league, and Jamie is helping him look for his shoes by standing on his shoulders. They have a swell discussion about the talent show and doing the best you can, and Nathan hugs and kisses his nuclear family before going off to play swell basketball. Swell.

Millie talks to Brooke about the Mouth/Gigi situation, and her jealousy. Brooke levels with her and tries to get Millie not to take it all so seriously. Cut to Gigi splayed out on the WWIY news desk, asking Mouth, “Do you ever think about having sex on the news desk?” She has a going-away party in the studio that night. (Why do I get the feeling that Mouth is the only one invited?)

Peyton tells Mia that she has to go into the studio to record, that her label friend, John, is waiting for the next record. Mia has a “couple of ideas,” but obviously hasn’t been working seriously on anything. Peyton hands Mia a disc with a bunch of prewritten songs for her to record — but Mia writes her own songs, so this is going to be a big snit. (And of course, all of this is going to be part of Peyton covering up her emotional panic about her budding health crisis.)

Nathan almost frosted out at the combine, but coach guy vouches for him, tells him to suit up and gives him what might be his last shot.

Julian approaches Brooke about doing the wardrobe for his movie, citing synergy between his movie and her forthcoming line. He gets a call from Sam, and tells her he’s not going to blow it. Of course, Brooke flips out that Sam has his phone number. “She has an interest in the film industry,” he says. “She is 15, you pervert!” Brooke responds. (Isn’t this great?)

Nathan gets slightly hazed by other players for having his own shoe line but still having to try out for B-league play. He keeps his head down and stays focused on his tryout … and he does well, as a result.

Sam and Brooke have a bit of a discussion. Sam pegs it when she asks Brooke, “Is that where Clothes Over Bros came from? Because you were tired of being the dirty girl?” But Brooke finally levels with Sam about being attacked at the store, and lets her know that she’s dealing with a number of other issues, and that she’s more wound up than she normally would be. Sam tells Brooke that she likes talking to her, and they have “a moment.” (Insert “Awww” here.)

Lucas meets with the producer (who happens to be played by WB/Dawson’s Creek stalwart James Van Der Beek!) … who does lines of blow right on Lucas’ book right after he shouts quotes from Lucas’ book right at him. But he also tells Lucas not to worry — that HE’LL fix the script. He proposes, “What if Haley … DIES?” talks a lot about “Titanic” and makes a fool of himself screaming about being “King of the world,” but Lucas isn’t buying it. “Haley can’t just die,” Lucas says. (We’ll see in a future episode whether or not that’s true, of course.) Next, producer buddy boy suggests Lucas and Haley marrying.

Jamie doesn’t want to go to the talent show and play his song. “I look like a tool,” he says. (He still has the best lines in this series, doesn’t he?)

Nathan takes a ribbing at the combine for being only 6’2″, and following Quentin’s advice, says he wants to try out as point guard — knowing he’s too short to play otherwise. And of course, Nathan stomps at the tryouts … just as Q knew he would.

Meanwhile, at Gigi’s farewell bash, Mouth gives her the T-shirt she slept in after she puked all over herself. She teases him yet again, but he looks pretty unfazed. (His loyalty to Millie remains intact, you see?) … Until Millie finds the picture of half-naked Gigi in his cellphone that she sent that night, calls Mouth an idiot, and cuts out. She heads to Tric, where she puts down at least one martini, and while commiserating with Owen, he says he’s going to have his first drink in eight years. She follows up by telling him she’s going to have her first sex in 22 years. (Say it ain’t so, Millie!)

Brooke tells Julian that she’s not interested in working on his movie, and also that she doesn’t trust Julian — not with Peyton, not with Sam, not at all.

Mia and Peyton have a drag-out fight about Mia’s refusal to consider playing other people’s work, and Peyton ends up threatening to drop her from the label. “Life’s too short,” she says. And Mia walks out … as the camera drifts to Peyton’s laptop screen, filled with a webpage about ovarian and uterine cancer.

At the Town Hall talent show, everyone shows up for Jamie’s big gig. Instead of playing his song and getting out, he intersperses comedy into his routine, like a little Liberace, and gets the crowd going. He wraps up quickly and gets out, as he accepts a standing ovation.

Sam and Jack talk about Brooke, and how Sam is starting to like her, now. Jack reminds Sam that after she was caught shoplifting, she told him that someone should put that “rich @#$%” in her place … which he took literally, apparently. (Sam realizes that Jack was the guy who assaulted Brooke at her store.) Sam does the right thing, goes home and — in tears — tells Brooke that the attack was her fault, and returns her original designs to her. (Which should have implications on Brooke’s relationship with her own mother, in theory — but this is OTH, where loose threads dangle all over the place.) As Brooke appears stunned, Sam takes off out the door.

Brooke seeks help from Owen to find Sam, but quickly realizes from his casual reaction to her panic that he’s not terribly concerned, except about her interest in him. Julian, who’s rhapsodizing at the bar about the virtues of bourbon, also declines to help her. Brooke realizes that she’s on her own, and storms out. She runs into Julian again at the cafe, and he tells her he’s not the guy who’s going to be looking for Sam … but after Julian leaves and Brooke asks the gal at the counter if she’s seen Sam, the gal tells Brooke that Julian had just asked the same thing.

And at the end of the night, Sam gets into a car with Jack, and Jack’s brother, “X.” (What’s with the single-letter names on OTH?) … X is the man who shot Quentin.

As ever, the plot thins on OTH.