We Need to Know (re: One Tree Hill): When did Tree Hill Become the Scariest Place to Live? 

On the CW’s One Tree Hill, there’s something we need to know: When did Tree Hill become the scariest place to live? How in the world did that town get so crime ridden? Violence is nothing new to this burg. After all, one brother did murder another brother here. Characters have been stalked, shot, beat up, kidnapped, and everything else under the sun. But, this season, probably because since it’s the last one, it’s all going down at once. Even the title of the episode has the word “bomb” in it. In “Every Breath is a Bomb,” the various characters are dealing with either the fallout of a violent act; are perpetrating a violent act; or are about to be the victim of a violent act. It’s all very exhausting as well as kind of difficult to watch unfold. The Fallout of a Violent Act: Chase beats up a deadbeat dad that’s abusing his son (Chuck).

Two things are going on here. A father hurt his child and then Chase hurt the father. Thankfully, most of this either happened off screen or was shown from afar. But, in “Every Breath is a Bomb,” the kid is clearly traumatised because he is forced to cover for his dad which gets Chase in a world of trouble. He is arrested because he went to town on Chuck’s dad. So much so, there’s blood on his face and all over his shirt. He put the guy in the hospital and until Chuck and his mom are able to step up and tell the truth — that Chase was defending the kid whose dad was abusing him — his future looks bleak. He has to face the powers that be in the Air Force for behavior unbecoming of an airman. The most likely outcome is a dishonorable discharge. Things aren’t looking good until Chuck and his mom do the right thing and show up to Chase’s hearing to reveal exactly what happened. Unfortunately, the Air Force lets him go anyway. The positive side is it isn’t dishonorable, it is simply a general discharge. It sucks for Chase whose dream is to fly, but there are other ways he can go about doing that. At least this way, he can stick around Tree Hill and be a big brother to Chuck.

There’s also one other redeeming side of all this. At first, Chuck and his mom had been reluctant to speak out against the awful dad. That is, until Chris Keller showed up at their house where he talked to Chuck about being more like Chase and less like Chris Keller. It was probably the least selfish thing he has ever done. This one act almost makes him likable. Well, maybe tolerable. It’s cool getting to see him do something non-douchey for a change. He’s done that a couple of times this season. It’s nice to see a tiny bit of depth coming from him.

Perpetrating a Violent Act: Dan and Haley team up to do whatever it takes to find Nathan

First, let’s just say, anything Dan and Haley want to do in order to find Nathan is A-Ok. Dan’s certainly not beyond doing anything ultra violent. He’ll beat up the world in order to save his son. Haley’s desperate to find her husband. It is now clear she’ll do anything it takes to make that happen. She’ll team up with Dan. She’ll wear Deb’s slutty clothes to get in with the drug dealer who has information on Nathan’s whereabouts. She’ll lead him on and then guide him to the wolves also known as Dan Scott. The sleazy drug dealer — and his nasty disposition — are not going to be any match for Dan, who forces Haley to leave Julian’s soundstage so he can do what needs to be done. His method of torture — besides beating the crap out of the guy — involves some sort of hot poker. The last thing we hear from these two is the drug dealer screaming his lungs out. Hopefully, we’ll find out soon whether Dan’s torture session is successful. There are only four episodes left. One major complaint: Please show Nathan. It’s been a while. What’s going on with him?

About to be the victim of a violent act: Xavier torments Brooke

Brooke and Julian have every right to be highly afraid of Xavier, who is clearly stalking Brooke. In “Every Breath is a Bomb,” he takes a job at her competitor’s restaurant, who is so one-note and unnecessarily awful, it’s not even funny. Of course, the cops aren’t taking any threat from this guy seriously. They feel his actions thus far don’t add up to anything dangerous. (Side Note: The Tree Hill cops are looking ridiculously incompetent, corrupt and uncaring in the wake of Xavier’s release as well as Nathan’s kidnapping.) Anyway, he definitely has this threatening vibe going on, and he definitely has it out for Brooke. By the end of the episode, he has broken into Brooke and Julian’s house. He’s holding one of the twins and is scarily singing the part of the nursery rhyme that goes: “and down will come baby, cradle and all.” Hopefully, he doesn’t really kidnap one or both of the twins. That’s going too far. Tree Hill is cloaked in so much darkness this season; resorting to kidnapping a child or two is just way over the top. This better not happen.

Don’t want to end this on too violent of a note, although it’s hard not to these days when discussing One Tree Hill. Did you guys catch the previews for the next episode? Love that Chris Keller gets dragged into the rescue Nathan posse. Awesome.

The final season of One Tree Hill airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on the CW.