Reviews @ PXDCO

Things get better this week in Tree Hill after last week's snoozefest. Dead Quentin is back for some more appearances but they actually make sense this episode. And, believe it or not there are quite a few shockers in this episode, and they may end in the deaths of some of the main stars.

Nathan is apparently going to be trying out for the pro's again. Haley and Jamie are measuring him at the riverside court just for shits and giggles I guess since we all know he's much too short to actually play in the NBA. He is only 6'2" … I'm not sure he's that good to make up for the height, Nathan even admits he's short for the NBA and that he hasn't grown since he was 17.

Brooke is making breakfast and goes to wake up Sam, but bad girl Sam is already awake and trying to shove a boy out the window. Brooke spots the two and they all freeze. We later find out that the boy's name is, John Jack Daniels. Word on the street is that he's getting beat at home or something and Sam is trying to be his savior by letting him stay there. Brooke suggests if that's truly the case then Jack Daniels can sleep on the couch.

Last week's bizarre episode ended with Peyton falling to the ground holding her stomach area. I figured it was nothing more than a metaphor to Luke's dream where she was shot in the stomach, but it turns out that she is actually having problems. So, this week she's at the doctor to find out what the deal is. After her appointment she goes back to the office where she meets with Mia. She has to give Mia a lecture about working because apparently Mia thinks now that she has one hit record she can be lazy and not continue writing songs. Peyton gives her a demo cd from the head label. The demo has a bunch of songs written by other songwriters. You mean, Mia would have to sing a song written by someone else? GASP! Peyton gets a call from Luke in the middle of her talk with Mia, so she tells Mia to just go listen to the demo. Mia leaves the office pissed off and throwing a tantrum.

As I was saying about Luke calling Peyton, he calls her after meeting with Julian to tell her that he's going to Los Angeles today. Julian wants him to meet with some producer guy. Julian is still being his asshole self but for the sake of the movie Luke is trying to rise above it. Luke ends up going to Los Angeles and meeting with the loser producer who turns out to be none other than Dawson's Creek washup, James Van Der Beek. Luke arrives at James' office to find the wannabe producer blaring music and snorting lines of cocaine off Luke's manuscript. I wish I was joking but I'm not. If you thought James in The Rules of Attraction was bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Later, he suggests to Luke that they change the story so that Haley dies, no wait, maybe Luke and Haley should get married. He thinks they can score big with these storylines, as if Keith's murder and Haley and Nathan's tumultuous marriage isn't enough.

Nathan goes to the pro-tryouts and this is where we find out that he just wishes he could get another tryout. He's not on the list and his sob story doesn't impress the door guy. Nathan gets a break though because the coach who wanted to hire him previously to coach a team is doing the tryouts and is willing to give Nathan another shot at playing.

Sam and her new friend, Jack Daniels (then again isn't he everyone's friend?) are hanging out at the local diner… which after all these seasons just suddenly became a hot spot. Sam leaves Jack Daniels for a moment to talk to Julian. I guess the two became acquaintances at the USO show a couple weeks back. Julian ends up giving Sam his number and hints that he's hoping for a hook up with Brooke, Sam seems to think she and Julian are going to get along. I guess in a keep your friends close and your enemies closer kind of way.

Milli goes to vent to Brooke because of what she saw Gigi doing umm two episodes ago when Gigi had Mouth walk her to her car and she gave him a touchy-feely hug. Brooke tells her that she has nothing to worry about, Gigi is harmless. I don't think I'd go as far as to say that she's "harmless."

Julian goes to Clothes over Bros Brooke's empty store to talk to her. He finds her dancing around the store. Awkward. He tells her that he'd love to have her be the designer for Luke's movie. She tries to refuse right away by saying that she's not a costume designer but in the end he more or less talks her into it, although she never admits that he talked her into it. He pulls a sneaky move when supposedly Sam calls his phone. Brooke wonders how she has his number and calls him a pervert but the damage is done.. clearly she now thinks that he's a good guy because Sam trusts him. Although I'm hoping Julian turns out to be a good guy I'm thinking that's not going to be the case. He has some master plan up his sleeve, I just know it.

Nathan impresses everyone, including some annoying moron who tries to insult Nathan for every little thing. When it's time for some actual game play Nathan shocks everyone by saying he's going to tryout for point guard, which is much better for him considering his height. I'm pretending I actually know something about basketball. I'm actually much more of a football person (DA BEARS!), in fact I haven't played basketball since I was 12 and rarely watch it on TV. But, anyway, I'm guessing based on reactions in the show that his height is better suited for the point guard position. Nathan decides to do this because before Quentin died he forced Nathan to start training in the point guard position knowing that Nathan could never reach the NBA in any other position since he's too short. Thanks to dead Quentin for once again providing some inspiration! Nathan ends up doing amazing in the point guard spot and again impresses everyone. Now, it's upto the judges which we will keep us waiting until the next episode… which by the way doesn't air until January 5th.

But, before we get to that we have a lot more to wrap up this episode, and as I mentioned we're in for some shockers.

Brooke gets home from her run-in with Julian. Before Brooke can ask about her new friendship with Julian, Sam starts peppering Brooke with questions about her having sex in high school. Brooke tries to ignore it at first but then blurts out to Sam that she was attacked at the store a while back and that's why she has been so moody lately. Sam, of course, feels bad right away. Sam tells Brooke that she likes talking to her, Brooke says she does too. And, then rainbows fill the sky. Ok, just kidding.

Mia goes back to Peyton's office and they get into a very heated argument. Mia says that she will not listen to the demo because she's better than that. Seriously? You had like one hit… you're at the same level as Kevin Federline at this point, give up the ego trip. Peyton tells her that she's ungrateful and that maybe she shouldn't be on her label anymore. Oh shit! Did she really just say that? Mia is the only thing her little label has going. Mia is hurt and mad so she leaves and Peyton sits there in a huff. We then see Peyton's computer screen which shows research for different types of cancer. Could Peyton really have cancer? Clearly this is why she's trying to push Mia away.

In order to give the show some comedy relief Jamie has a random talent show. He has to dress up in a tuxedo which he says he looks like a penguin in. I'm not so sure I'd disagree, though Haley says he looks cute so we'll go with that to be nice. His talent is supposed to be playing piano, but since he's not so great at that he throws in some jokes while playing the piano. The audience gets a kick out of his jokes and he ends up scoring a standing ovation. Don't you feel bad for the other kids that didn't get standing ovations? Those poor kids will be traumatized for life.

After Sam's uplifting convo with Brooke she meets up with Jack Daniels (her friend, not the drink) again. She tells him that she's really growing to like Brooke. Jack has a dirty little secret though that he has to get off his chest. He tells Sam that when she first met Brooke - when she stole from Clothes Over Bros - she hated Brooke so much and she said horrible things about her. So, Jack admits that he did something to "put Brooke in her place." Of course, Sam knows exactly what he means by that since Brooke just told her the story of being attacked. She ends up getting the stuff he stole from Brooke, well the designs at least. She goes back to Brooke's and is in tears. Brooke asks what's wrong, Sam can hardly get it out of her mouth she's so upset. She puts the design sketches on the counter for Brooke to see and instantly Brooke knows. Sam briefly fills her in that she said horrible things about her a long time ago and Jack Daniels, well, we know what that little bastard did. Sam doesn't stick around to finish talking to Brooke, instead as usual she runs for the door and this time Brooke doesn't stop her.

Brooke feels horrible for not stopping Sam later though and goes to Tric trying to track her down. Instead, she finds Julian at the bar being served by Owen. When Brooke mentions she's looking for Sam, Owen insults her telling her that she's not her teen to worry about anyway. Brooke gets pissed and tells him not to bother calling her ever again and she leaves. She goes to the hotspot diner, no sign of Sam there but she finds out that Julian was just in there also looking for Sam. I don't think he could careless about Sam, he's just trying to make himself look like a good guy to Brooke because she must be part of his master plan.

Mouth returns home from Jamie's talent show and he and Milli are about to order a pizza. She grabs his phone but rather than calling the pizza place she finds a half-naked pic of Gigi on Mouth's phone, which Gigi sent to him while he was at the talent show. I guess it's worth mentioning, though not really, that Gigi is leaving… at least for now. They threw her a quickie going away party and Mouth gave her the t-shirt that she slept in when she slept over at his and Milli's place a while back. I hope this is the last we see of Gigi but I'm sure it's not. If death didn't stop Quentin from coming back I am positive a little going away party won't keep Gigi away. Milli confronts Mouth about the picture and he tries to explain but there's no excuse for this. It looks like these two might be over. And, what Milli does next may just guarantee the end of their relationship. She goes to the bar and has drinks with Owen, who has been sober for something like eight years, and Milli confesses to Owen she's a virgin, though she says she won't be after tonight. If Milli sleeps with Owen I think she's going to cause a whole lotta drama not only between her and Mouth but between her and Brooke.

The episode ends with Peyton getting supposedly devastating news about her health. Could she actually have ovarian cancer? I'm wondering if it could have been a miscarriage possibly? And, then the other shocker of the episode is that Sam gets in a car with Jack Daniels and his brother, who turns out to be the guy who shot and killed Quentin! Now that Sam knows Jack Daniels assaulted Brooke will Jack and his brother kill Sam? We will be wondering about all of this until the next new episode which doesn't air until January 5th!

In the meantime, PLEASE post some comments and let's talk about this episode. I need to hear what you guys think about Peyton and Sam! Do you think they will pull a Dawson's Creek and kill Peyton off like Dawson's did Jen? Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that James Van Der Beek starred in this episode. And, do you think Jack and his brother will kill Sam? I'm wondering if they will try something but Julian will come in as the savior and everyone will love him for it. He'll be like the new Dan.