"I Shall Believe" is the fourteenth episode of One Tree Hill and aired February 17th, 2004. The episode was written by Jennifer Cecil and directed by Greg Prange.
As Karen returns to Tree Hill, she’s met with the news of Lucas and Keith’s car accident. Peyton struggles with the guilt of her affair with Lucas, whilst the oblivious Brooke dotes on her comatose boyfriend. Meanwhile Nathan tries to repair his relationship with Haley, guilt ridden that her last interaction with Lucas was the two of them fighting.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: Lucas has awoken from his coma, Nathan has fixed things with Haley, who finally visits Lucas with Nathan’s encouragement, their fight instantly forgotten. However, Brooke is still in the dark about Lucas and Peyton’s feelings for one another, and Karen’s trust in Keith is shattered because of the knowledge Keith had been drinking before he got behind the wheel.
- Converse with the Unconscious: Karen, Peyton and Nathan are all seen doing so with the comatose Lucas.
- Cue the Flying Pigs: Karen and Deb’s reactions when they discuss Dan acknowledging Lucas as his son by giving the hospital consent to operate in Karen’s absence.
- Downer Beginning: The episode starts with Lucas flatlining in surgery and word spreading about his accident.
- Everyone Has Standards: Tim is one of the people seen writing well wishes on the River Court for Lucas following his accident. Lampshaded by Jake.
- Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Dan makes it clear to Deb’s attorney that he has no intention of signing the divorce papers.
- I Did What I Had to Do: When Karen visits Dan after Lucas wakes up, Dan fully expects Karen to tear into him for giving consent for Lucas to be operated on in her absence, and immediately jumps to this defence the moment he sees Karen.
- I Will Wait for You: Peyton says this to the comatose Lucas, almost verbatim.Peyton: Umm, I just came by to tell you that I"m probably not going to be around much with Brooke being here. It's just kind of weird, but I'm with you, Lucas. You know that, and I'll wait forever if I have to."
- Interrupted Declaration of Love: Peyton is about to tell Brooke that she’s been having an affair with Lucas before Haley phones her with the news of Lucas’ car accident.
- It's All My Fault:
- Karen tells Deb that she feels like it’s her fault Lucas is in the hospital as the universe is punishing her for going to Italy.
- Keith blames himself for everything that happened.
- Love Confession: Peyton admits to Haley that she’s in love with Lucas.
- Mistaken for Related: Hospital staff keep mistaking Keith for Karen’s husband.
- Not Me This Time: When Karen arrives at the hospital, she’s told that she’s lucky Lucas' father got him into surgery. When she corrects the doctor that it was his uncle, he reiterates what he said, and Keith tells her about Dan’s involvement in getting them to the hospital.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: After learning that Haley and Lucas were fighting before his accident, Karen muses to Peyton that she doesn’t expect it last once Lucas wakes up as best friends can forgive anything; unaware that Peyton and Lucas have been having an affair behind Brooke’s back.
- Pet the Dog:
- Whilst it’s not fair to describe her as harsh beforehand, Karen’s demeanour towards Peyton immediately softens when the teen mentions that the last time she visited a hospital, it was when her mom died after a car accident.
- When Dan starts trying to defend providing consent for Lucas’ surgery in Karen’s absence, she simply hugs him and thanks him for doing so, aware that Lucas’ injuries were severe enough that they couldn’t wait for her to arrive from the airport.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Brooke is correct when she realises that Peyton is making excuses to avoid the hospital, she’s just wrong when she assumes it’s because of the circumstances reminding Peyton of her mothers death.
- Shipper on Deck: Peyton makes it clear that she thinks Haley is the best thing to happen to Nathan, their relationship included.
- Shout-Out: As Karen reads the comatose Lucas basketball scores, she refers to LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony by name.
- Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the song "I Shall Believe" by Sheryl Crow.
- Verbal Backspace: Brooke jokes about entering a sugar coma, before realising it’s in very poor taste considering Lucas is in a coma.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Karen is rightfully furious when she finds out Keith had been drinking prior to driving with Lucas as a passenger.
