OTH: "Until it's real, it's not real"

Following is a rundown of what happened on last night's One Tree Hill.

- Brooke is looking for someone to be the new face of Clothes Over Bros. She decides on an actress, Alex, who seems to be a perfect role model in public but once in private she is a train wreck. Alex is vulgar, rude, whiny, and Brooke immediately hates her. While Brooke and Millie plot ways to get out of paying her $500,000 to be the face of the line, Alex overhears them and pulls herself into actress mode. Alex gives what we think is a heartfelt speech about how one of Brooke's dresses changed her life after rehab, but we later see that the speech she gave was actually lines from a movie she had recently made. This just further proves that she is a sleazeball.
- Quinn continues to refuse to explain to Hailey what really happened in her relationship with her husband. Hailey is convinced that she has to try to "fix" her sister, but Quinn refuses to let Hailey in. Quinn just keeps saying things like we grew apart and we weren't happy. The truth has to come out at some point. (I bet she killed him! lol)
- Hailey has to deal with the label being shut down. When confronted by the woman sent to close the label, Hailey stands up for smaller record labels because they take the time to nurture artists, but it doesn't work. They still want the label gone. So Hailey threatens to not finish her record if they close the label. But when a loophole is pointed out, Hailey gets Mia involved. Mia, who is the label's biggest selling artist, says she won't record another record unless it is with Red Bedroom Records. So in the end the label is kept open, but a deadline is put on Hailey's record; She only has six months to finish it.
- Julian is moving in with Brooke. While unpacking, Julian answers the door to find his father standing there. The father said he flew to Tree Hill to try to stop Julian for making the biggest mistake of his life. Julian's father thinks it is wrong for him to put a relationship before his career. When Brooke asks about the reason for the visit, Julian says his father also asked if the plan was for the two to get married, and Julian dismisses the idea. This makes Brooke sad because she is secretly hoping Julian will propose soon. Julian later opens up to Brooke about his relationship with his dad. Apparently there were only a select few days in Julian's whole life when he felt appreciated by his father. So Brooke invites the father back and stands up to him. She even tells him to fix the problems with Julian, which he attempts to do, but I'm not sure their relationship will now magically be better. But before he leaves, Julian's father does tell him to live his life and be happy.
- Dan is again present in this episode and we see that he is wearing a wedding ring. I couldn't wait to see who his wife was (I had a feeling it would be a familiar face), but when they finally revealed her identity, I was shocked. Dan is married to Rachel and it seems, especially from his side, that they are in love. We see in this episode that Dan may actually really be attempting to make good with his life. At one point he sits down with a homeless man, giving him advice and his book to read. From the pieces of Dan and Rachel's relationship we have seen so far, it is easy to see that Dan seems to care about people, while Rachel cares about Dan's career. She seems to be "in love," but more so as a way to control Dan's career - she tells him what to wear, what to say, how to act. I'm looking forward to seeing more about them and watching their relationship evolve.
- Nathan denies having an affair and Clay tells him to let him handle it. What Clay and Nathan do not understand is why is she targeting him? There are tons of other famous, rich people she could go after. So Clay meets with her at a restaurant and things could have gone well, but before they say anything important Nathan barges in and causes a bit of a scene. Clay meets with her again later and she says she has pictures that are proof. She also tells him the exact day the hook-up happened, after one of Nathan's big games at a party Clay threw. Clay confronts Nathan and they remember that they were both pretty wasted at the party. As for the proof, it is an ultrasound - she is pregnant and is claiming the baby is Nathan's. So, in a move that I think only further proves what a great guy Nathan is, Nate goes home and tells Hailey.

As avid One Tree Hill fans, the shocks around every corner - first with Dan and Rachel and then with the affair pregnancy - are an element of the show we are used to. I love watching OTH and never really knowing what to expect. I think last night's episode was a return to what makes the show great and I hope it continues in the coming episodes.