Three Emotional Moments, One Tree Hill “A Rush of Blood to the Head” 

1. Chase figures out Chuck’s dad is abusing him.

The Set-Up: Wow. Chase came to Chuck’s rescue in a big and bad way didn’t he? He had suspected Chuck’s deadbeat dad was up to no good once he returned to Tree Hill. Chuck showed up with a suspicious bruise, and of course, he knew that he didn’t get it from falling off his bike. Chase struggled with what to do and whether to confront Chuck’s dad. He actually did go to the house to talk the boy’s mom. She wasn’t having it and things got even worse when the dad came to the door. Needless to say, the man yelled at Chase to get the hell away from his house and to stop seeing his son. The Emotional Moment: “A Rush of Blood to the Head” is such an apropos title because that’s exactly what happened when Chase returned to Chuck’s house to say goodbye. He heard screaming and yelling and Chuck being hit. Chase immediately went to the trunk of his car, got some sort of tire iron, rushed up to the house, and proceeded to beat the ever living s–t out of Chuck’s dad. I don’t even know if Chase knew exactly how out of control he was. He just went to town. Of course, the police picked him up and arrested him. What was that look on Chuck’s face? Hopefully, we’ll find out in the next episode. Chase won’t be going back to the Air Force, that’s for sure. But the look on his face as he was carted off was scary. He was still in the moment. It’s not going to be something he’ll be able to shake for a long time. And what condition did he leave Chuck’s dad in? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

2.  Clay remembers something big about his past.

The Set-Up: Forgive me for not completely knowing every detail because even though I watched OTH for years, I haven’t seen most of the Clay business. I know his wife, Sara, died. She collapsed and died from an aneurysm in their house one day which is so incredibly sudden. And because it was so sudden, it was even that much more brutal. After all, Sara was only 25 years old. Through the years, Clay has had to work through his commitment issues until he found a life of love with Quinn. This season, he’s been plagued with these fugue-like incidences where all of a sudden he’ll show up somewhere in the middle of the night (like the park) with no recollection of how it happened. It was so bad, he recently checked himself into the hospital and is seeking help from a doctor that knows his past. The good doctor has diligently been working with a reluctant Clay to uncover whatever it is that he’s blocking. Because this is all keeping him from leading a happy (and fugue-less) existence. Well, Clay finally had a breakthrough and he immediately wished he hadn’t.
The Emotional Moment: The doctor kept asking Clay all the right questions and Clay was close to remembering. But he couldn’t handle it. He got up and stormed out and came to the room of the kid he’s been bonding with at the hospital. As he looked at Logan, his memories came rushing back. He and Sara had a son. And that kid in the hospital? Logan? That was his son. He quickly ventured back to the doctor where he confronted him about not telling him about his son. The therapist countered that he did tell him…over and over again…but he forgot every time. The death of his wife devastated him so much — his PTSD was so bad — he continually blocked out having a son. I can’t even believe something like that is possible. The mind is such a freakin’ mystery. And more recently, the doctor felt Clay wasn’t ready to know. Clay agreed and left the building. Now he has to figure out how to tell Quinn. And hopefully, he’ll step up and do the right thing where his son is his concerned.

3.  Haley finds out if her husband is dead.

The Set-Up: We all know what Nathan and Haley have been through over the years. They got through it all and became the most solid couple in Tree Hill. They have an exemplary marriage and two cute kids. Their content life has been threatened with Nathan’s kidnapping. The kids are off with Lucas and Peyton and Haley has had to deal with cops who aren’t exactly taking this kidnapping seriously. Of course, she has no idea that the cop she’s been talking to is one of the criminals that nabbed Nathan. In “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” Haley gets a call asking her to come in and identify a body the cops found in the river.
The Emotional Moment: Devastation doesn’t clearly define Haley’s immediate reaction. She practically collapses after getting that phone call. Quinn had to hold her up. They drove to the morgue. And she slowly entered to find a body laying on the table with a sheet covering it. Someone lifted the sheet and as she started sobbing, there was a possibility it was Nathan. She ended up shaking her head letting the cops — and us — know that that wasn’t her husband. I’m not going to lie. I was all confident the body wasn’t Nathan and then as soon as she walked through the doors to see the body laying there, I started having doubts. I would have been as devastated as Haley if that had indeed happened. Thankfully, Nathan’s still alive with those idiots who have him shackled. I’m sorry, they are one-dimensional cartoons that Dan Scott could destroy with one hand tied behind his back. But, poor Haley, she broke down after seeing the body. She broke down at the police station again when she showed up to figure out what the hell they were doing to find her husband. At least she finally showed up at Dan’s trailer, or wherever he’s living. Much like Deb (so glad she returned to the show in this episode), I know Dan will find Nathan. Haley soon will know too.

One Tree Hill airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on the CW.