"First Day on a Brand New Planet" is the third episode of Season 3 of One Tree Hill and originally aired October 19th, 2005. The episode was written by Terrence Coli and directed by Billy Dickson.
It’s the first day of senior year, and Dan wastes no time in trying to undermine Whitey. Lucas ends up in the firing line when he learns a troubling secret about Peyton’s biological mother, whilst Brooke continues to play hard-to-get. Meanwhile, Nathan makes a decision regarding his relationship with Haley.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Berserk Button: Dan shoving Peyton to the ground and making a snide comment about her mother prompts Lucas to punch him in the jaw.
- Choke Holds: Dan winds up strangling Lucas in the gym, under the impression that Lucas started the dealership fire.
- Failed Future Forecast: Lucas and Haley are revealed to have made predictions are the start of each school year. Lucas’ are implied to be Peyton-centric or relate to Karen and Keith getting together; Haley’s are less specific, but are instead things like "This year I will kiss a boy" or dating a musician.
- The Gadfly:
- Haley and Lucas tease each other over their previous predictions that were made for past school years.
- Peyton is quite happy giving Lucas crap over his missed shot that ended the Ravens’ previous season.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Dan bragging to Nathan about his plan to get Whitey fired results in Nathan rallying the team in support of Whitey, and outright telling Karen about what Dan is planning.
- Hope Spot: Zig-zagged when Nathan tells Haley that he agrees with about not wanting to annul their marriage, but only because that means that their marriage would treated as if it didn’t happen and he doesn’t want to act like that so he’d rather get a divorce; as Nathan notes, however, North Carolina law requires them to have been separated for a year before they can be granted a divorce, which Haley notes gives them a year to fix their relationship.
- Lysistrata Gambit: With Brooke trying to use sex and making out to entice Lucas into a non-exclusive relationship, he responds by withholding those activities until she decides to date him exclusively.
- My Greatest Failure/Once Done, Never Forgotten: When they walk into the gym together, Lucas admits that he’s back there every night, implying he replays the missed shot that ended the Ravens’ season in his head; Peyton is quite happy to give him crap by outright saying what he was doing.
- Never My Fault: Dan blames Whitey for the Ravens crashing out of the first round of the playoffs, even though Dan coached that game in Whitey’s place.
- No-Sell: Dan’s response to Lucas punching him is to laugh the punch off and strangle his son.
- Not Good with Rejection: In the midst of trying to record his podcast about the Ravens, Mouth keeps going off tangents about Erica breaking up with him.
- Not Me This Time: Peyton initially thinks Lucas was working with her father and Ellie to get her to give Ellie another chance; Larry admits that Lucas wasn’t involved when he catches up with his daughter.
- The Reveal:
- Ellie has cancer, and this is what prompted her to track Peyton down.
- Lucas didn’t start the dealership fire, he pulled Dan out.
- Secret-Keeper: Peyton tells Dan the truth about Lucas’ involvement in the the dealership fire as Dan strangles Lucas under the belief he started the fire.
- Ship Tease: Haley teases Lucas over one of his old predictions, namely one that related to his crush on Peyton. Then, when he writes his new prediction for senior year, we are shown he’s written “Try again with…”, but we aren’t allowed to see the name he’s written, leaving the door open for it to be both Peyton and Brooke. Besides, during their scene in the gym, Peyton teases Lucas about him wanting to make out with her in a sort of flirty way.
- Shipper on Deck: Lucas has made at least one prediction that Karen and Keith would get together.
- Shout-Out: When Peyton tells Lucas that she’s already been told that he wasn’t involved with Larry and Ellie’s ambush in her room, she references the Kennedy Assassination by saying she knows Lucas wasn’t on the Grassy Knoll.
- Spanner in the Works: Karen ultimately gives a speech supporting Whitey continuing to coach the Ravens that convinces the school board to keep him as coach.
- Take a Third Option: Peyton starts podcasting as a way to talk through her issues, rather than bottle it up or see a therapist.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted - after Peyton snaps at Larry, Ellie and Lucas after finding her father showing Ellie her artwork, Larry talks to Peyton and admits that maybe their best option is for her to see someone that she would be able to talk to when she can’t talk to him.
- Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the song "First Day on a Brand New Planet" by Jesse James.
- Undying Loyalty: The entire Ravens team and a good portion of the student body turns up to the PTA meeting in support of Whitey.
- Ungrateful Bastard: When Lucas tells Dan that he should have left him to burn, Dan’s response is tell Lucas that a stronger man would have.
- Wham Line: Whitey reveals to Mouth that no matter what happens, he’s retiring at the end of the season.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Peyton freaks out when she finds Larry and Ellie going through her art, and - because he’d literally just been trying to talk Peyton into giving Ellie another chance - Lucas gets caught up in Peyton’s anger.
