"Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them" is the seventeenth episode of Season 3 of One Tree Hill and originally aired March 29th, 2006. The episode was written by Mark Schwahn and directed by John Asher.
The residents of Tree Hill struggle to move forward after the school shooting and Keith’s death. Lucas and Peyton consider the implications of what happened in the library, while Nathan and Haley make a decision regarding their relationship. Brooke and Rachel join forces to heal the student body.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Berserk Button:
- The mere mention of Jimmy is enough to enrage Lucas, with everyone believing that Jimmy is the one who killed Keith.
- During the party at the school, Lucas grabs Russ (The student who bullied Jimmy to the point of firing a gun in the school) and slams against the wall after he makes a joke about there being a shooter in the school.
- Birds of a Feather: The reason why Peyton is the first person Lucas interacts with and acts like his normal self - she understands what he’s going through and that he’s reacting in the same way she would, to the point she’s literally the only one who is able to spare his pain and calm him down.
- Book Ends: The episode begins with Keith’s funeral and ends with Jimmy’s.
- Cassandra Truth: Brooke doesn’t believe Peyton when she tells her that Pete from Fall Out Boy came to see her and they made out in a limo. The viewer only knows he really was in Tree Hill because Larry tells Peyton about her visitor.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Deconstructed, as Karen finds out that Lucas was the one to pull Dan out of the dealership fire months earlier - She outright asks if he ever thinks about what losing him to do to her when he's off running into burning buildings & schools with gunmen inside.
- Commuting on a Bus: Larry Sawyer has returned to Tree Hill between episodes, due to Peyton’s involvement in the school shooting.
- Continuity Nod: Peyton spends the episode on crutches due to getting shot in the leg during the previous episode.
- Cool Car: Lucas inherits Keith’s Shelby Mustang. The episode itself glosses over this, but a deleted scene features Lucas and Nathan discussing the Tragic Keepsake nature of the matter, and Lucas is seen driving the car to Jimmy’s funeral towards the end of the episode.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Lucas is the only person who thinks the party in the school is wildly inappropriate considering what had happened there, but he’s willing to stick it out for Brooke. It’s only when Lucas hears someone joking about there being a shooter in the school that he finally reaches his breaking point.
- Everyone Can See It: Brooke openly admits to Peyton that Lucas is clearly in love with her, describing their situation as "The boy I love saved the girl I love… and that’s the girl he loves too."
- Free-Range Children: Brooke moves in with the Sawyers, after returning the apartment to Nathan and Haley.
- The Ghost: Pete from Fall Out Boy returns to Tree Hill to visit Peyton, but he never appears on screen.
- Heroic BSoD: Lucas spends the majority of the episode in one; it’s only when he finally gets to talk to Peyton that he starts to ease back to his normal self.
- Innocently Insensitive: Mouth’s attempts to grieve for Jimmy repeatedly wind up upsetting Lucas, due to the belief that Jimmy was the one who killed Keith.
- Internal Reveal: Karen finds out that Lucas was the one saved Dan from the dealership fire.
- It's All About Me: Brooke admits to Lucas that she’s jealous he saved Peyton as he’s never saved her like that and goes so far as to says she would have wanted to be in her shoes, namely, being shot in a leg and nearly dying because of the blood loss…
- It Doesn't Mean Anything: Lucas and Peyton decide to pretend what happened between them in the library during the shooting meant nothing.
- Karma Houdini: Dan gets away with murdering Keith, as no-one has any reason to suspect that Keith wasn’t killed by Jimmy.
- Kick the Dog: A grieving Karen blames Lucas for Keith’s death, saying that the only reason Keith went into the school was Lucas.
- Lonely Funeral: Jimmy’s mother is the only person to attend his funeral until Lucas and the rest of the guys from the River Court turn up.
- Manly Tears: Whitey breaks down crying as he tells Lucas how Keith helped him through Camilla’s passing.
- Ship Tease: Both Lucas and Peyton are still thinking about what happened between them in the library and, as they discuss it, it is shown that Lucas is able to find some peace from his pain only being around Peyton, who emphasizes how much she knows him as they are the same way. Besides, despite deciding not follow up on the matter of the kiss, both underline how much they mean to each other.
- That Didn't Happen: Lucas and Peyton take this attitude to their kiss during the shooting, with Lucas reaffirming his commitment to Brooke, and Peyton reassuring Brooke that Lucas only has eyes for her.
- The Reveal: Rachel admits to Mouth that she’s the one who release the time capsule.
- Titled After the Song: The episode's title is taken from the song "Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them", by Murder by Death, which was itself a reference to the tag line of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
- Tragic Keepsake:
- When Larry questions the number of albums Peyton has in her collection, thinking she’d bought all of them, Peyton notes that the ones in boxes are what she inherited from Ellie.
- A deleted scene features Lucas and Nathan discussing how Keith left his Shelby Mustang to Lucas; the matter is glossed over during the final episode, and Lucas is seen driving the rest of the River Court guys to Jimmy's funeral in the car.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rachel admits to Mouth that she released the time capsule, hoping to create some drama in the school.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- When Mouth mentions that Jimmy’s funeral is on Tuesday whilst attending Keith’s wake, Lucas coldly tells him not to mention Jimmy’s name in his mother’s house.
- When Lucas tries to leave Brooke’s party and points out how inappropriate it is to throw a party in the place someone died, Mouth calls Lucas out on constantly downplaying Jimmy’s death.
- Karen’s immediate reaction to seeing Lucas dressed for Jimmy’s funeral is to order him to get changed.
