"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is the fifth episode of Season 5 of One Tree Hill and originally aired January 29th, 2008. The episode was written by Terrence Coli and directed by Liz Freidlander.
A trip down memory to three years in the past. A year after their State Championship win, Lucas and Nathan find themselves competing for championship glory in college, whilst Peyton struggles to break into the music industry in California. Missing Peyton, Lucas flies out to see her and changes their lives forever.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Lucas drops by to visit Peyton at the end of the episode, Brooke asks if he still loves Peyton. Lucas responds by simply saying he has to get back to Lindsey.
- Baby's First Words: Jamie’s is shown to be “Ball.”
- Call-Back: Peyton sends Lucas an mp3 to play when his team wins - the song that plays is "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzalez, the same song that played when the Ravens won the State Championship.
- Call-Forward: Lucas is the person who gave Lindsey the lucky bamboo plant that she gifted to Brooke and Peyton two episodes ago.
- Commuting on a Bus: Barry Corbin returns as Whitey Durham for the first time since the penultimate episode of the previous season, appearing in the flashback as it depicts Lucas and Nathan’s Division 2 championship game.
- Dramatic Irony: As he proposes, Lucas once again tells Peyton that she’s the one he wants next to him when his dreams come true; when he finds out that his dream of becoming a published writer is about to come true, Peyton isn’t there because Lucas just broke up with her.
- Everyone Can See It: After Lucas responds to her Armor-Piercing Question by saying he needs to get back to Lindsey, Brooke realises that he's still in love with Peyton.
- Kick the Dog: After Peyton turns down his proposal, Lucas ends their relationship by packing up and just leaving her alone in the hotel room as she sleeps.
- The Reveal: Lucas and Peyton broke up after Lucas flew to Los Angeles to propose. Peyton asked him to wait for another year, and Lucas took that as a flat “No”.
- Ship Sinking: After getting drunk in New York, Lucas tries to kiss Brooke; she immediately shuts it down, rather than revisit that relationship. Additionally, it’s made very clear that Lucas only does this because he’s drunk and depressed over his break-up with Peyton, rather than out of any real feelings towards Brooke.
- Ship Tease: After remembering the night they broke up, Lucas goes to see Peyton but only finds Brooke. After he asks if she remembers that night in New York, Lucas tells Brooke not to bother telling Peyton he stopped by, and Brooke asks if he’s still in love with Peyton. Lucas just says that he has to get back to Lindsey.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Towards the end of her meeting with Lucas, Lindsey asks if Lucas and Peyton worked out as she was rooting for the couple.
- Brooke herself, after some hints already left that she has become this for Lucas and Peyton, turns out to actually be rooting for their reunion. When Lucas doesn't respond to her Armor-Piercing Question about if he's still in love with Peyton, she is thrilled about the idea of them getting back together, to the point she openly says that things are becoming interesting.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Jamie is played by a different "actor" as he’s only an infant during the flashbacks.
- Titled After the Song: The title of the episode is taken from the song "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" by Elvis Presley.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Brooke towards Lucas, after learning that he broke up with Peyton after she rejected his proposal, with Brooke thinking that Lucas flew across the country to ambush Peyton with a spur of the moment proposal; she only abandons this line of thinking when Lucas shows her the ring.
- Whole Episode Flashback: To the night Lucas and Peyton broke up.
- You Are in Command Now: Whitey steps aside to allow Lucas to coach the final play in the championship game, before officially retiring and naming Lucas the official coach of the team.
