"Lifetime Piling Up" is the twentieth episode of Season 2 of One Tree Hill and originally aired May 10th, 2005. The episode was written by Mark B. Perry and directed by Les Butler.
Comatose after his accident at the race track, Nathan dreams of a world where Dan chose to return to Tree Hill and raise Lucas with Karen, instead of marrying Deb - Lucas is the arrogant star of the Tree Hill Ravens, Nathan is the outsider playing at the River Court, and both boys are vying for a place at the prestigious High Flyers basketball camp. Meanwhile, in the real world, Nathan’s loved ones keep vigil at his bedside.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- All Just a Dream: The vast majority of the episode is spent in Nathan’s coma dream, and it makes no effort to hide this.
- Alternate History: Nathan’s dream features a Tree Hill where Dan returned home to marry Karen and raise Lucas, instead of staying with Deb and returning home after college. As such, a variety of changes are made to the Tree Hill viewers are familiar with:
- Lucas is the star player of the Tree Hill Ravens, and dating Peyton; Nathan is the outsider playing at the River Court and best friends with Haley.
- Nathan’s surname is Lee, his mother’s maiden name; in the real world, Karen still gave Lucas the Scott name.
- Karen’s Cafe, Tric and Dan Scott Motors don’t exist. They’re replaced by Keith Scott Motors, and a bar named Deb’s Den respectively.
- Dan is far from the respected business man and former Tree Hill Raven of the real world, as noted under Butt-Monkey. It’s unclear how much is down to logically changing the character after he leaves college, and how much is Nathan’s subconscious embodying his resentment towards Dan.
- Butt-Monkey: Dan in Nathan’s dream. Lucas doesn’t respect him at all; he’s married to Karen, but she’s cheating on him with Keith; instead of running Dan Scott Motors, he works under Keith at his dealership; and finally, he’s the Ravens assistant coach, but it’s quite clear that Whitey doesn’t respect him.
- Call-Back: Several moments and scenes from earlier episodes of the series are revisited and reimagined with Nathan and Lucas’ roles reversed.
- From the Pilot:
- Nathan is nearly hit by Peyton’s car while returning home from the River Court. However, whilst Peyton was driving the car in the original scene, Lucas is the driver and Peyton is in the passenger seat.
- Nathan and Lucas face off in a basketball game at the River Court, with the underdog winning.
- Nathan is the last to arrive at the River Court, arriving in Peyton’s Comet.
- Before making the winning basket, Nathan says "This is for my mom", the same thing said by Lucas during the initial game.
- From "Are You True?":
- Nathan giving Haley the crackerjack bracelet is recreated. Notably, this is one of the few reimagined scenes not to flip Lucas and Nathan’s involvement.
- Tim suggests Lucas seduce Haley and then break her heart to get to Nathan, but Lucas writes it off as a stupid idea; in reality, Nathan went along with that plan.
- Lucas and the team abducting Nathan and throw him in a swamp.
- Haley makes a reference to her tattoo of Nathan's jersey number, 23, which was first seen in "To Wish Impossible Things."
- Peyton’s break up with Nathan from "Crash Into You" is recreated with Lucas in Nathan’s place.
- Keith refers to Dan as 'boozy', a nickname Dan gave him in "All That You Can’t Leave Behind."
- Whitey cancelling practice is recreated from "You Gotta Go There to Come Back" but with the amended justification of the Ravens’ behaviour needing to be kept in check.
- From the Pilot:
- Glory Days: Implied with Dan, who still wears his letterman jacket whilst on the Tree Hill High campus despite graduating 17 years earlier.
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: It's shown that in Nathan's dream, Karen and Keith are engaging in an affair behind Dan's back.
- Jerk with the Heart of a Jerk: Lucas, true to Nathan’s characterisation at the start of the series. About the only redeeming part of Lucas’ character in the dream is that - unlike Nathan in reality - we don’t see him cheat on Peyton.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Keith has no knowledge of Nathan’s accident, as his voicemail is already full and he continues to refuse to answer phone calls from Tree Hill.
- Musical Nod: Several songs from the Pilot are reused as the episode reimagines those scenes.
- Mythology Gag: Dream Lucas jokes about a threesome with Brooke and Peyton, alluding to the Love Triangle of Season 1 and Lucas becoming more interested in Brooke during Season 2.
- Out of Focus: Brooke doesn’t have a large presence in Nathan’s dream.
- Pet the Dog: After she realises that Lucas had abducted Nathan and dumped him in a swamp so he would miss the one on one game at the River Court, Peyton drives out there to give Nathan a ride to the River Court.
- Role Swap Plot: After Nathan’s accident at the race track, he dreams of a world where Dan married Karen and raised Lucas.
- Ship Sinking: Once he wakes up, Nathan gets to speak to Haley on the phone, where he tells her not to leave the tour.
- The Bet: Recreating the events of the Pilot, Lucas challenges Nathan to a one-on-one game at the River Court albeit with the amended stakes of the winner getting the spot at High Flyers.
- Titled After the Song: The title of the episode is taken from the song "Lifetime Piling Up" by Talking Heads.
- Underdogs Never Lose: Nathan defeats Lucas, true to the Role Swap Plot.
- Wish Fulfilment:
- Haley is tone deaf in Nathan’s dream, embodying his resentment towards her abandoning their marriage to pursue her dream of being a singer.
- Dan is treated with a general lack of respect by pretty much everyone in Nathan’s dream - how much is Nathan’s actual dislike for his father and how much is due to the different circumstances surrounding the character is unclear.
