Lucas discovers who witnessed his uncle's killing a year ago. Meanwhile, Peyton's decision not to attend the prom leads to dire consequences. Nathan and Haley vow to just be romantic teenagers at prom. And Dan tries to win Karen's affections, as the witness to the murder he committed closes in.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Alone with the Psycho: Brooke arrives at Peyton’s home, trying to find out why she isn’t at prom, and unwittingly walks into Psycho Derek’s grasp.
- Arc Words: Dan telling Lucas "Open your eyes" prompts him to remember Keith saying the same thing when he was in coma, and triggers a flashback to the day of the shooting.
- Bait-and-Switch: Dan spends the episode being stalked by whoever knows he killed Keith; just enough clues start piling up to suggest that it’s Lucas or Whitey but it’s actually Abby Brown.
- Bound and Gagged: Peyton finds herself like this in her basement after Psycho Derek briefly drugs her. Brooke winds up joining her after arriving at the house looking for Peyton.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Abby Brown, the student that Jimmy Edwards released during the school shooting. It's revealed that she didn't leave the school, but instead hid inside another classroom and witnessed Dan killing Keith.
- Easily Forgiven: Peyton forgives Brooke for her recent behaviour towards her after she’s savex her from Psycho Derek, even though she’s made her a big "The Reason You Suck" Speech speech right in the previous episode and one in-universe day before.
- Fake Defector: Peyton convinces Psycho Derek that he’s won her over and convinces him to let her go so she can kill Brooke herself. After kissing him and slapping Brooke to convince him, she promptly stabs him with the knife he was going to use to kill Brooke.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Peyton and Brooke repair their friendship after Psycho Derek is finally arrested by the police.
- Genre Savvy: Once they’ve shoved Psycho Derek down a flight of stairs, Brooke warns Peyton to be careful since psychos always make one last desperate attempt at their targets when they appear to be defeated. Sure enough, Psycho Derek does exactly that.
- High-School Dance: Tree Hill holds their Senior Prom. True to form, someone spikes the punch.
- In-Universe Catharsis: Once Psycho Derek is knocked out at the bottom of the stairs, Peyton tells Brooke to wait 5 minutes before calling the police and proceeds to start kicking him in the gut.
- Just in Time: Brooke returns to the prom, just in time to be named Prom Queen.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Peyton puts her self-defence training to use once she manages to trick Psycho Derek into freeing her, and does so in her prom dress.
- Made of Iron: Psycho Derek, once again. This time he shrugs off being stabbed and Peyton’s self-defence training, but ultimately gets knocked out after the girls push him down a flight of stairs and Peyton kicks him in the head again.
- Noodle Incident: As Peyton and Psycho Derek fight at the top of the stairway, Brooke gets on her hands and knees behind Psycho Derek and calls out "Eighth grade cheer camp!" to cue Peyton to shove him backwards and trip over Brooke so he topples down the stairs. The viewer is never informed of what actually happened at cheer camp.
- Once More, with Clarity: As he stands in the hallway where Keith was shot, Lucas has a flashback to the day of the shooting and realises that someone was hidden in one of the classrooms and saw what happened.
- Papa Wolf: Nathan nearly knocks out the student who spiked the punch after the pregnant Haley drinks some and tells her husband that it’s been spiked.
- The Reveal:
- Psycho Derek taunts Peyton by impersonating a police officer telling her that her stalker is in custody, implying that he was the police officer she had spoken to on the phone about the matter.
- Lucas tells Glenda that he knew Peyton was being honest when she confessed her feelings during the shooting, he just didn’t want to admit it because he didn’t want to hurt Brooke.
- Nathan reveals to Haley that the prediction he wrote during their Fantasy Boy Draft date was that they would be back together by graduation.
- Abby Brown didn’t leave the school after Jimmy let her leave the Tutor Center, and instead hid in another classroom and saw Dan kill Keith.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: With his prom date Brooke missing, Mouth decides to leave prom (And Tree Hill) with Rachel.
- Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the song "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love" by Nat King Cole.
