Recap / One Tree Hill S6E19 "Letting Go"

"Letting Go" is the nineteenth episode of Season 6 of One Tree Hill and originally aired March 30th, 2009. The episode was written by David Handelman and directed by cast member Paul Johansson.

Lucas and Nathan help Jamie come to terms with never getting to meet Keith, whilst Peyton prepares for the future. Haley sees the fruits of her time teaching as Jack and Sam take a stand, whilst Skills takes Mouth on a road trip to try and help him get over Millicent. Meanwhile Brooke receives a surprising offer from Julian.

Contains examples of the following tropes:

• Call-Back:
  • When Peyton tells Haley that sent a demo of "Feel This" to Sire, Haley declares that Peyton "THUD-ed" her.
    • Additionally, "Feel This" was previously seen being recorded in the previous season finale and was performed during the USO show.
  • When Sam tells Jack they need to teach Principal Rimkus a lesson, she immediately clarifies that she doesn’t mean "throw on a ski mask and beat the crap out of her."
  • Lucas and Nathan take Jamie to the garage that used to be Keith Scott Body Shop back in Season One.
  • When Brooke barges into Peyton's office and tells her about Julian's invitation to move to Los Angeles, she does so by referring to Julian as "your ex-boyfriend" - which leads to Peyton sarcastically asking if she means Jake.
  • Nathan teases Jamie about his crush on Miss Lauren from earlier in the season.
• Chekhov's Gun: Peyton is seen working on artwork chronicling her relationship with Lucas over the course of the episode. In the final moments of the episode, it's revealed that Peyton is putting together a time capsule for her unborn child, in the event Peyton doesn't survive her high risk pregnancy.
• Cool Teacher: In the brief time she worked at Tree Hill High, Haley has become so beloved by her students that an entire English up and left for her house so they could actually learn something.
• Costume Copycat: Whilst at the garage, Jamie winds up wearing a bandanna just like Keith commonly wore whilst working, and painted on facial hair that matches his late great uncle's.
• Cowboy Cop: The spirit of the trope is invoked by Peyton describing Haley as a "singing maverick teacher that punched out the principal and slept with a student."
  Haley: I never hit anyone. And that other thing was seven years ago. I was his tutor.
• Cue the Flying Pigs: Haley describes her English class walking out because they actually want to learn as such an occurrence.
• The Gadfly: Lucas, Nathan and Jamie all tease each other about their respective love interests as they spend time at the former-Keith Scott Motors.
• Honor Before Reason: Haley flatly turns Principal Rimkus down after she tries offering Haley her job back.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Lucas and Peyton discuss the fact that they're only ones aware of her high risk pregnancy. When he returns home at the end of the episode, they both admit that they didn’t tell Nathan or Brooke, and decide to leave it for another day.
• Pet the Dog: The new owner of what was once Keith Scott Body Shop gave Lucas a key so that he can let himself in whenever he wants to think about Keith.
• Posthumous Character: Keith Scott. Lucas and Nathan spend the day telling Jamie about him, to answer any questions he had after learning that Keith was killed by Dan.
• Puppy Love: Nathan and Lucas tease Jamie about his crush on Madison.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Jack and Sam give one to Principal Rimkus over her choice to fire Haley, pointing out that maybe an entire class wouldn't be failing if Rimkus hadn't fired their teacher.
  • Haley gives one to Rimkus herself, after she asks if Haley would ever consider taking her job back.
    Haley: I love teaching, but I would never sacrifice my beliefs to do it. You fired me right here, in front of all my kids, just because you could. So congratulations Principal Rimkus, you made a good teacher not wanna teach and good students not wanna learn. Be proud of that.
• Road Trip Plot: Mouth and Skills go on one, ostensibly to help both guys get over their recent break-ups.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jack, Sam and Haley's entire English class take off in the middle of the school day to head to Haley's home to get her to teach them because Rimkus is a terrible teacher.
• Shout-Out:
  • Jack likens Haley’s class walking out on Principal Rimkus to Dead Poets Society.
  • Chase quotes "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen whilst talking with Brooke about her love life.
    There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away.
  • Haley jokingly asks if Brooke's new line is inspired by Twilight.
• Titled After the Song: The episode is taken from the song "Letting Go" by Paul McCartney and Wings.