One Tree Hill: Stormy Weather
"Do you seriously expect me to work in these conditions?"
The folks on One Tree Hill are facing the storm of the century, and you can bet that things are going to go horribly wrong for our heroes. We're talking car crashes, busted levees, a stalking psycho, near drowning... if it can go wrong, it will, and some of our favorite characters are in serious danger.
Jamie, Nathan and Haley
Jamie's competing in his first spelling bee, and Haley is all aflutter. He blows the last word, "entrepreneur," which is suspicious because he helped his dad spell it in his last paper. Yes, he threw the competition so Madison could win. Our boy's in love!
That love makes Jamie abandon his parents to ride back into town with Miss Lauren, Chuck and Madison. On the upside, he doesn't have to sit through the tedium of waiting for Nathan to change a blown tire and Haley accidentally losing all the lug nuts. On the down side... well, we'll get to that after the jump.
Brooke, Julian, Jamie and friends
Brooke and Julian fight over the prospect of moving to LA, and Brooke goes overboard when she accuses Julian of encouraging her to give up her company so he can move them to California. Take a breath, Brooke.... She hears us, but decides to do her deep breathing in the car, durning the worst storm to hit Tree Hill in years. Doh!
It turns out to be a good thing that Brooke headed out into the storm, because she discovers Chuck wandering the road, dead and bleeding. Miss Lauren's car crashed on the bridge. She's unconscious, Chuck is in bad shape, Madison seems ok, and Jamie... Jamie is trapped by his seat belt and there's a live electrical wire snaking right near him.
Lucky for him (and us), Aunt Brooke keeps a cool head in a crisis. She installs Chuck and Madison in her car, frees Miss Lauren, and starts hacking away at Jamie's seat belt with nail scissors. Chuck is looking bad, so Lauren takes him to the hospital while Brooke stays with Jamie. Julian finds them, and all seems well.... until a car comes out of nowhere, bashes into the stricken car, and sends Brooke and Jamie into the river.
Fortunately, the river isn't that high... well, it isn't until the levee breaks. Seriously, what else can go wrong? How about Brooke getting pinned by the steering column, Julian dropping the crow bar, the river rising dramatically, and the persistent threat of dooooooooom? Brooke convinces Julian to save Jamie first (we admit it, we cried a bit), then Julian comes back for her. By this time, the water is over her head. Julian breaths for her a bit, but by the time he's gotten her out, she's not breathing. Holy crap, is Brooke really dead?
No, she's not... but they make us worry for a while. Julian does quite a bit of CPR before Brooke starts breathing on her own again. Nothing like a near-death experience to remind people of why they want to be alive, and in love.
Quinn and Katie
Speaking of alive.... Katie knows Quinn is alive, and she wants to put an end to that. So the psycho infiltrates the house during the storm, and a completely isolated Quinn has to fight for survival. Quinn actually does a decent job with the cat-and-mouse game -- she sets up a decoy for Katie to attack, she manages to stab Katie in the leg -- but things aren't going well for her. This is what happens when you go up against a psycho.
Unfortunately, Katie continues to get the drop on Quinn, and she's got some overblown rhetoric to compound the trauma: "I'm your storm. And I'll find you. Lie awake at night. Be afraid of the shadows. Be afraid to close your eyes because when you do, I'll be there." Oh, Katie, You were scarier when you weren't going for the poetic metaphors.
Quinn gets just as fed up as we do and makes a flying tackle that sends both Katie and Quinn over the balcony and into the pool. It looks like Katie is the only one to survive, but Quinn is just playing possum. She finds the gun Katie discarded, grabs a single bullet, and manages to shoot Katie. But she won't leave her to bleed out for 12 hours. No, only a total psycho would do that. (Quinn does take some time to break into hysterics before calling the police. We can't blame her.)
When the cops and ambulance come to take Katie away, Quinn has a message for her -- "I'm your storm." Oh, Quinn. Don't make us tackle you off a balcony. And seriously, you and Clay should find another house. One with close neighbors, ok?
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
This episode was all about the mounting drama, and it did seem a little much at times. Tree Hill has a levee? And it's suddenly breeched? Impressive timing!
We totally called it that Jamie would be Julian's best man.
Did anyone else watch the episode and immediately place an order for a life hammer?
So what did you think of the episode? Were you expecting Brooke to die? Did you worry that Jamie was done for? What will you do until January 25? Tell us in the comments!
Comments
This was a great episode! I can't wait until the next one, I truly was scared and thought brooke was to die. And the scary action between quinn and katie left me on the edge of my seat!
Posted by: sally | December 29, 2010 11:29 PM
what doesnt make sense to me is that its the same bridge as haley and nathens accident in season 3? wasnt that river or whatever it was a lot deeper? i mean, i know the level can change from lack of rain or overflooding, but that seemed to be ALOT more shallow.
oh well. i love the episode though, i agree on the whole "I'm your strom" part... really Mark? oh well. im also glad it all focused on more core characters, and non of the alex, mia, and chase drama. or mouth and millie for that matter. I really just care about julian, brooke, haley and nathen.
This 7 week wait really sucks.
Posted by: Eric M | December 12, 2010 8:21 AM
I personally loved the episode and I also cried when Julian was cryin over Brooke D: but I was dissapointed in the lack of a Naley rain kiss - I mean they're Naley, when it rains they kiss, that's their thing. I know it was intense drama but couldn't they do a little more than just make reference to it? I did like the lack of Mia/Alex/Chase drama but seriously that Quinn/Katie thing took a lot of time that could have been spent in other places (see argument for Naley rain kiss)
Posted by: BWyn | December 12, 2010 4:40 AM
I loved this episode. I was literally on the edge of my seat. From the previews I admit that I thought that Brooke was gonna be seriously injured then they will find something to do to help her have a baby while she was on the operating table.
But now I can't wait till Jan 25th. I'm gonna go through some serious OTH withdrawls.
Posted by: David | December 11, 2010 8:16 PM
The episode was thrilling. Once again, great writing by Mark and company.
Longtime OTH fans will know that the bridge/car in water scene is too reminiscent of the season 3 cliffhanger and season 4's first episode "The Same Deep Water As You." Rachel, Cooper and Nathan stuck in a vehicle under water - now it's Brooke, Jamie and Julian's turn.
It seems as though old storylines are being used with slightly new twists. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE this show and have been a fan since day one. I just miss the phenomenal NEW plots introduced in seasons past.
Posted by: A Twenty-Something Fan | December 9, 2010 8:43 PM
The only thing I learned from this was the seatbelts can be near lethal. (He really couldn't slip his head under that?)
And I definitely need to watch this ep again. It was fairly awesome.
Posted by: Kim | December 8, 2010 8:08 PM
i seriously thought that brooke was dead! julian crying over her was one of the saddest things this show has ever had.
Posted by: Brittany | December 8, 2010 7:12 PM