One Tree Hill 2X20: Lifetime Piling Up
Added 2024-02-26 20:29:26 +0000 UTCI honestly have no idea if I love this episode or hate it.
That said, I think it totally works, especially at this point in the story.
I'm super confused about Dan, though. What the hell is going on there? Why is he trying to be a normal human being?
Comments
I just meant limitations based on consideration of the other person, (you're just not free to do wtv u want) which means your opportunities could be limited because it's not just yourself you have to think about anymore. Also, due to their unique circumstances there is just a lot more to consider. Is it really in the best interest of her marriage to go solo and extend her tour indefinitely, living separately and barely seeing her husband? Just something she has to consider when presented with opportunity. ln general, I do believe it's perfectly reasonable for people to be married and pursue their dreams. With Nathan and Haley though, their ages and the fact that both of their dreams require serious commitments that could affect their marriage are factors that come into play.
Heather
2024-03-02 06:44:00 +0000 UTCOoh. That's a good point about Dan and Deb getting married and having kids so young. I didn't really think about how that in particular, factored into Nathan's perspective on his relationship with Haley. I also appreciate your comments about Deb as well. I guess I didn't really think too much about her. But you're 100% right, I think. I really didn't think about how alone Deb really is in this situation. I'm not sure if marriage, per se, limits your opportunities. Children certainly do, though. I think it's perfectly reasonable for Nathan and Haley to be married and continue to pursue both of their dreams. However, this is from the perspective of having 25 years of so on the characters. I'm not sure I would have thought this way at 16. That makes sense too. I'm only looking at this from seeing less than 2 seasons of the series. I have no idea what will be revealed as we go along. So all my thoughts could be completely wrong. Lol.
Dana Licciardello
2024-03-01 14:36:17 +0000 UTCYES! I needed Nathan and Haley in this episode so much. It's killing me that they are not together right now. I totally didn't catch that Haley being tone-deaf means she doesn't leave. OMG. How did I miss that? I thought it was just a weird 'quick' of this universe. That makes me like the premise that much more.
Dana Licciardello
2024-03-01 14:32:25 +0000 UTCThe Naley content in this episode was a nice reprieve from their current angst. 😩 I love the classroom scene. 💞
Heather
2024-02-27 06:59:41 +0000 UTCI loved this episode! I think you were right in that perspective was the point. Underneath the "what if" aspect of it, it really gave Nathan perspective and made him look at what their choices really mean. I thought we saw this with his conversations with Deb and with Haley at the end of the episode, in the real world. Cooper mentioned in the last episode the reason he was there was perspective and I think they carried it over to the dream. Nathan gained perspective on how the choices Dan, Deb and Karen made as kids (getting married so young and having kids of their own) really affected them and changed their lives. Even in this, Dan is still bitter, resentful, living in the past, (because circumstances prevented him from following his dreams) and taking it out on everyone around him. Dan is this way no matter which woman or son he chose. Knowing who Lucas is now, and seeing who he was when raised by Dan, confirms Dan ruins lives. As for Karen and Deb, like present Deb, this Karen is not happy with Dan and like present Deb, she was looking for happiness outside of the marriage. She threw herself into her work and was having an affair with Keith. As for this Deb, like present Karen, she was shown to have made sacrifices for the choices she made when she was young, dedicating her life to her son and putting her dreams on hold. Lucas is able to see this everyday with his mother, but I don't think Nathan has thought about it. The sacrifices and lost dreams are easier to see in this Deb as opposed to present messy Deb. I think it was important to show Deb this way- Deb following a similar path as Karen because Dan stayed out of her life. Nathan had Haley to help him break free from Dan. Deb had no one. I liked that through his dream, Nathan was able to figure this out. I loved Nathan and Deb's conversation when he woke up. Nathan holds grudges and holds onto his anger. He's been angry at his mother for a long time, with good reason, but at the end of the day she was young and had to put up with Dan. She's also human and makes mistakes. Him understanding, letting go of his anger and forgiving her will only make him better in the long run. Glad she's going to get help and work on her relationship with him. He needs her support and she needs his. The "what if" subtext with Haley here is what if he and Haley married someday, way down the road, when they were adults, after they both realized what their dreams were and went for them, as opposed to today, when they are kids having no clue about life. They are choosing the course of their lives so soon. There are just so many different directions your life can take at this age when it's just yourself you have to consider. You need time to explore it all and figure it out. Marriage and kids can really limit your possibilities and does not afford you that time. Sacrifices might have to be made. 16/17 is just really young to face this reality. From this perspective Nathan realized he didn't want him and Haley to be Dan/Karen or Dan/Deb or Haley to become Deb. Up until this point (well also his conversation with Cooper) he hadn't really thought about how chosing to give up his dreams would affect him or her and them as a couple later and that getting married so young, while they had their whole lives ahead of them was the maybe the wrong choice. Going after their dreams is the opposite choice, at least for Nathan, so maybe that's the right one, which is why I think he is so adamant about Haley not coming home. I think it goes back to their conversation in the classroom about their dreams in his dream. Ofc he loves her, but maybe they are better off doing their own thing. Basically, I do think he was meant to learn from his dream. My takeaway is that Dan sucks, (but I already knew that) and that Nathan doesn't want to become either version of Dan and he doesn't want Haley to either become either version of Deb. I do have thoughts on why can't they have both, their dreams and their marriage, but it's not as simple as it seems right now.
Heather
2024-02-27 06:08:26 +0000 UTCI so adored your reaction to this episode, hehe!!! You not sure whether or not you loved or hated it had me in stitches, lol!!! I bet that as time goes on and you get further along in the series you might look back at this episode with a great fondness. This episode has always been one of my very favorites of S2 because I so appreciate what they were trying to tell with the role reversal here. They so brilliantly highlighted the fact that whoever ended up with Dan would have had the same miserable life whether it was Deb or Karen...and Nathan or Lucas were collateral damage and certainly weren't better off being raised by him. Good catch with noticing that the outside world wasn't any different, just Dan's inner circle are the ones whose life was altered. Secondly....and my favorite aspect of this entire episode is the fact that Naley are destined to be together in any universe, whether it's an AU world here where they are childhood best friends who are going to grow up and fall in love, or it's a reminder of their love that we know from the show, but either way their connection and chemistry is front and center once again, and if you've been starving for it this season, then this episode was a real treat!!! Naley rock any world, and that classroom scene is them personified!!! I think it had you smiling from ear to ear as well, lol!!! And it was certainly fitting that Nathan would have been dreaming about a life where Dan chose Karen instead and left him and his mom alone, in a world where Haley was tone deaf so she wouldn't be able to leave him for a rock tour. He just crashed a race car because he's in so much pain and suffering immensely from what he feels is Haley leaving him for music, and so in his epiphany at the end, he realized that both him and Haley need to pursue their individual dreams, otherwise they are going to regret it and each other, and God forbid he ends up like Dan. I think Nathan's most scared about that right at this moment, and that's why he was so quick to apologize to Deb and show compassion and understanding to her plight as well. Like I said....one of my very favorite episodes of this season, as it has a lot of important themes and reminders for the characters that you'll continue to see play out. So keep on enjoying this season...you are so close to the finish line and being able to start S3!!!!
Melissa
2024-02-27 03:25:50 +0000 UTC
