"We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" is the eleventh episode of Season 6 of One Tree Hill and originally aired November 17th, 2008. The episode was written by cast member Chad Michael Murray and directed by Joe Davola.
Falling asleep as he waits for Peyton to return home, Lucas dreams of a Film Noir influenced world - Karen's Cafe is a glamorous nightclub with Lucas as its proprietor, who quickly falls for the beautiful Peyton Sawyer after she walks into his club.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- All Just a Dream: The bulk of the episode focuses on a dream Lucas has after falling asleep whilst watching Casablanca.
- Ambiguous Situation: Despite Lucas, Nathan and Dan all sharing the Scott name, it is unclear if their relationships to one another remain the same as in the real world.
- Book Ends: The episode is bookended with Lucas and Peyton talking on the phone as she checks in with him whilst working late at the label.
- Call-Back: Lucas' dream reimagines or recontextualises various elements of the show's previous six years.
- Dan alludes to a previous relationship with Lucas'’ mother Karen, and her time running Karen's Cafe:
- The first time Lucas and Peyton speak occurs when her car breaks down and Lucas agrees to fix it, as originally seen in the Pilot.
- Peyton reveals that her mother died while she was growing up, as revealed in "All That You Can't Leave Behind" from Season One.
- A previous relationship between Brooke and Lucas is hinted at by Lucas, the two characters dating during the first and third seasons of the show.
- Peyton discusses her and her mother meeting a sailor who took her out on a fishing boat, which would be an allusion to her adopted father, Larry.
- Nathan Scott and Haley James have a whirlwind romance, and are ultimately revealed to have gotten married in a condensed version of their arc from Season One; additionally, the manner in which the marriage is revealed to the viewer is done in a similar fashion to the initial reveal in that it is only revealed on the morning after, as seen in "The Games That Play Us" in Season One.
- Keith's much-discussed death is revealed to be at the hands of Dan, which is the same manner in which Keith died in the real world, as seen in "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" in Season Three.
- Lucas tells Antwon that "Some day Brooke Davis is going to change the world", the same thing he said to her after their graduation as seen in "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" in Season Four.
- Nathan and Haley discuss their future with a child whom they decide to call James, or Jamie.
- Julian alludes to a possible relationship between himself and Peyton, in a nod to the reveal in "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe" earlier this season.
- Continuity Snarl: Lucas answers a phone call from Peyton by affectionately calling her "Pretty girl" - the nickname he gave Brooke during their relationships in high school.
- Downer Ending: Lucas' dream ends with Peyton accidentally being shot and killed.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Lucas' dream ends with Peyton dying of a gunshot wound to her abdomen; a few moments later, as the real Peyton goes to leave Red Bedroom Records, she collapses to the floor in pain - holding the area where she was shot in the dream.
- Emerging from the Shadows: Brooke does so, after watching Lucas and Peyton kiss.
- Femme Fatale: Brooke fulfils the role in Lucas' dream.
- Film Noir: Lucas' dream reimagines Tree Hill and its residents with many of the stylings of the genre.
- Glamorous Wartime Singer: Haley is reimagined as one in Lucas' dream.
- Historical AU: This episode takes the contemporary cast and transplants them into the 1940s.
- Intrepid Reporter: Marvin McFadden, a gossip columnist who claims to be working on a story that will shake up the whole town.
- The Mafia: Dan is reimagined as such, with Julian as his henchman.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Dan's crimes, specifically Keith's murder, wind up exposed because he takes offence to Officer Morello not looking the other way when he threatened Lucas. This is witnessed by Marvin, who is then attacked in a similar manner, only for Peyton to walk up and confront Dan about his crimes; when Dan tries to intimidate Peyton into obedience, she instead goes to Lucas and tells him everything.
- Shout-Out: Lucas is shown watching Casablanca at the start of the episode.
- Titled After the Song: The title of the episode is taken from the song the song "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" by The Ink Spots.
- Wham Shot: Peyton collapsing in pain at Red Bedroom Records and holding her stomach.
