OTH: " You have it all right here"

So how do you replace two characters who have been on a television show for six seasons? Introduce new characters and hope the audience falls in love with them. On last night's season seven premiere of One Tree Hill this is what they did, but was it successful? Do you like the new characters? Will they be able to replace Peyton and Lucas? Also, was anyone else bugged by how there was no real explanation given as to why Peyton and Lucas, as well as baby Sawyer, are missing? I'm sure it will be explained eventually, but with the 14 month jump it would have been easy to slip in a bit of information. Anyway, here is a rundown of what happened during the episode.

- The episode takes place on Jamie's seventh birthday. This was a great reason to get everyone together. They throw an elaborate party complete with a guest appearance and football game by Jerry Rice who showed up after Nathan's agent Clay called him to sign Jamie's jersey. Something else that this episode made me realize is that Jamie is such a cool kid because his parents treat him with respect. I love scenes with Jamie in them. He makes the show. Also important to note is that one of the presents they show Jamie opening is Lucas' basketball, which was a gift from Keith for Lucas' seventh birthday. In the note in the card Lucas said he misses Jamie, but there were no real hints as to where they are.
- The voiceover this week was done by ... Dan. I knew someone had to take over for Lucas, but Dan wouldn't have been my first choice. Maybe the task will now rotate, or maybe it will continue to be Dan each week. Regardless, Dan is still alive though he only had days to live last we heard. Then at the end of the episode we see Dan again, after not being in the rest of the show, and we find out that he has some sort of television show on which he talks about forgiveness. The show is titled Redemption and in his role as motivational speaker, he talks about how you can learn from your past and move forward in your life.
- In a shot of Millie at work at the Clothes Over Bros headquarters in New York, we see that Millie is the new Brooke - demanding, bossy, yet wonderful at her job. Back in Tree Hill, Mouth kindly asks Skills to move out of their apartment. Skills is offended, but Mouth is only doing it because he wants to move his relationship with Millie forward. In a funny scene, Mouth tries to force Skills out by spending time in the apartment naked. But Skills fired back and played the same trick.
- Hailey's sister Quinn is in town for a short stay that I am thinking may turn into a more permanent move. When she first gets there it seems all carefree and "I'm just here for a visit." But by the end of the episode we find out that she has left her husband because he had changed into a different person.
- Nathan is still playing basketball, but his NBA contract has not yet been renewed. For a little extra revenue Nate is doing commercials and other sponsoring. We also meet Clay (played by the extremely hot Robert Buckley). Clay is very involved in Nathan, Hailey and Jamie's life, which I can't yet tell is a good thing or bad thing. He seems to have some mystery surrounding him. At the end of the episode he leaves himself a message to remember to send flowers and says he doesn't believe in love. Something fishy is going on with him.
- Hailey is recording a new album. Later in the episode we find out that when Peyton left she left the record studio and label to Hailey. So when the company that owns them sends someone to "help" Hailey assumes they were coming so she could focus on her record instead of the day-to-day of running the studio. But instead, the woman tells Hailey she is in Tree Hill to shut down the label.
- Brooke and Julian are still together and very much in love. But they both have careers, are busy and sometimes have to spend time apart. Julian points out that without Peyton there is nothing in Tree Hill that is keeping her living there. But Brooke does not want to move; Tree Hill is her home, she says. While spending a romantic night on the beach, Julian tells Brooke he has signed on to produce a movie that would keep him away from her for eight months. He is essentially asking her to put their life together on hold and this is while Brooke was in the process of asking him to marry her - she had written Marry Me in the sand. At one point in the episode Brooke is obviously angry that she cannot get in touch with Julian, who is in New Zealand, but then he shows up unexpectedly to surprise Brooke. We also then find out that when the movie he was working on went off schedule and was going to need two more months of his time, he walked away because he needed more to be with Brooke.
- At Jamie's party some girl walked up to Nathan and asked to have her picture taken with him. She then asked him if he remembered her. It seemed pretty random until the end of the episode. Clay calls Nathan to meet him in the middle of the night and Clay says the girl is claiming she had an affair with Nathan and is threatening to go public.

Wow! Apparently a lot happened. And may I just add that I really hope this affair is not real and is just blackmail. Nathan is one of the good ones; He would never do that to Hailey and Jamie, or at least I hope not. As for the new cast members, do you like them? I think it is interesting that they both have such deep pasts. Also, let's come up with possible missing Lucas/Peyton scenarios. It will probably be boring, like they are living with Karen wherever she is, or maybe it is more interesting like Peyton has a psycho stalker who they are hiding from lol.