"What Is and What Should Never Be" is the twentieth episode One Tree Hill and originally aired April 27th, 2004. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and directed by Perry Lang.
Nathan and Haley decide to throw a party at his apartment, but Nathan's plans are derailed by needing to find a part-time job. Lucas and Peyton decide to attend the party together as friends, whilst Karen and Deb formalise their business partnership. Meanwhile a jilted Brooke decides to crash the party after she's refused an invite - and makes a new friend in Nikki, Jake's ex.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Broken Pedestal: After finding out that Lucas really had slept with the girl he met at the bar and that it was Nikki to boot, Peyton realises that Lucas has undergone a Face–Heel Turn over the course of the season, and goes on to call him out on it when he tries to apologise. Downplayed with Brooke, who has a similar reaction to Peyton but already had a low opinion of Lucas after their break-up and learning about his affair with Peyton.Peyton: Y'know, when you and I first met, and I was with Nathan and he was erm, a pretty bad guy, if you remember... I'm not doing that again. Who knew you two would switch places?
- Burger Fool: Nathan gets a job at smoothie/pretzel stand in the mall.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Brooke not being invited to Haley's party leads to her turning up with Nikki with the intent of causing trouble and screwing with Peyton.
- Nathan’s boss is harsh on him because he’s not in the popular crowd whilst Nathan is, and on top of that, he needs the job whilst he thinks rich kid Nathan is just doing it to spite his dad.
- Internal Reveal: Nikki publicly reveals that she was the girl that Lucas had previously hooked up with at the bar.
- Karma Houdini: When Tim arrives at the party, he's invited a bunch of extra people who wind up escalating things (With a little help from Brooke and Nikki) to the point that the police wind up being called. Tim escapes any punishment, whilst Nathan - who had literally just arrived before the police - winds up being arrested.
- Ship Sinking: Peyton effectively closes the door on her and Lucas after finding out that he'd slept with Nikki.
- Ship Tease:
- Peyton helping Lucas rehab his injured shoulder is effectively just a way for her to feel up his muscles.
- Lucas and Peyton attend Haley's party as friends, but they still wind up flirting with each other over the course of the night.
- Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the song "What Is And What Should Never Be" by Led Zeppelin.
- Wham Line: Nikki revealing that she previously had a one night stand with Lucas.Nikki: Isn't this sweet, Lucas Scott coming to the defence of his women, oh but wait! Shouldn't that include somebody else? [Beat] Don't worry, I can keep a secret too.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Peyton gives one to Lucas the morning after the party, pointing out that he has effectively switched places with Nathan over the course of the season.
- Wild Teen Party:
- Tim has been taking advantage of Nathan having an apartment by throwing parties there on a nightly basis.
- Nathan and Haley decide to throw one, to take control back from Tim. The bulk of the episode is built around the party's build-up, occurrence and aftermath.
