One Tree Hill 7X15: Don't You Forget About Me

This is such a great episode Dana, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it too. I figured you might, hehe, and yes...it was done as a special tribute to honor John Hughes and his classic movies, mostly from the 80's and few 90's stuff sprinkled in there too. Cheap Trick playing the benefit at Tree Hill High was such a perfect way to round everything out, and setting the whole premise of the episode around the 80's flashback dance was brilliant. The setting, the costumes, and the recreating of the scenes made this episode such a delightful joy to watch, and it's one that I'm sure you will enjoy for years to come as well. Great pick with the Naley thumbnail too, hehe, like there was ever a doubt with this one, lol. The Sixteen Candles with Naley is by far my favorite parts of the entire episode, but I actually enjoyed everybody's stuff in this one. Haley and Quinn were funny, Nathan and Clay stranded, and the whole bit with the pigs, and Clay finally opening up to Nathan about Sara, Jamie home alone and tricking Junk and Fergie, Mouth and Kylee, and even Brooke, Julian, Alex, and Alexander were all delightful. And yes...something about poor Haley all excited for her birthday....and nobody seeming to remember except for Nathan who can't get to her...is compelling indeed, and you just can't help but be captivated throughout waiting anxiously to see who if anybody will remember, and especially if Nathan will get to her in time before the evening is over, so I completely get why you were emotional when he finally does, hehe. Naley will do that to you...they have that kind of power, lol. So, when Nathan pulls up at the dance in the red car and greets Haley with the line of "it's yours (in reference to the car) and Happy Birthday Hales" as she goes running into his arms, I think all us fans squealed with delight at that moment. Naley so rocked the Jake and Sam roles with that car scene, and of course the table scene with the cake at the end. Nathan looked so hot standing there by the car....and James played it perfectly, and Haley was totally Sam aka Molly Ringwald all night. The JL's slay me in those scenes. Out of all the A/U scenes with Naley that we've gotten over the years...and no, this one wasn't an alternate universe but seeing them play scenes from a different decade still totally rocked. I could watch them play classic 80's stuff all day long, lol. And I'd take the Naley version of Sixteen Candles any day, hehe. I also really loved all the Nathan and Clay scenes because it led to a moment that was long overdue for the friends, and I'm glad that it was here that Clay finally opened up to Nathan about Sara and told him, instead of back when his contract was all up in the air. That wouldn't have been the right time, but this one felt very authentic as Clay was trying to explain to Nathan that he does understand how much he misses and loves his wife and that he knows that being away from Haley and his family so much is hard for him. Plus, it was nice to get the perspective from Clay on why he's always been so protective over Nathan and his family, and I'm glad that Nathan finally knows now too. It adds such a nice and heartfelt layer to their relationship as agent/client, but really good friends. And those scenes were also fun to watch because there was so much of James and Rob in those moments as opposed to just Nathan and Clay, hehe, so it's why they come across as so authentic and genuine. It wasn't a stretch for them to play those scenes because it was actually a perfect representation of their personalities and how they both would have handled those moments had it been real life. James is the serious, stoic, quiet and guarded type until he feels comfortable and loosens up, and Rob is the outgoing funny man on the scene always looking to quickly goad someone, and so to see Nathan's annoyance in the beginning and just wanting Clay to shut up, lol, was totally on point. They both played it all so well, and to see the turning point when Nathan bought the car and came back for Clay to take them both home was just delightful. Loved that scene as well for them. And Jamie tricking Junk and Fergie by telling them that they weren't needed anymore, that they were going in a different direction was so damn funny, lol, and the guys totally bought it until Haley texted them and asked how the night was going, and they realized they had been duped and made a dash to get over to the house, hehe. And by that time Jamie had already had all the fun he could muster being home alone and needed their help cleaning up and pulling off the surprise for Haley at the end. It was all so perfectly done.... I can't express enough how much I enjoyed this episode, and seeing Julian at the end looking over his notes at the top of the page and seeing the words "how would Hughes do it?" was just the perfect way to cap off the tribute. Like I said.... definitely an episode to watch again and again :)

Melissa