As Lucas and his fiancée enjoy planning their dream wedding, Brooke and Peyton reconnect, and Brooke, reeling from a threat to her store, reaches out to an unexpected ally. Nathan works with Quentin on his basketball skills, but Haley fears for Nathan's well-being. And Jamie catches Skills and Deb kissing.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Blatant Lies: Brooke tells Peyton that her bruises are from falling down the stairs and not from an assault in her store.
- Call-Back: Whilst talking about relationships with Skills, Nathan recalls how he & Lucas hated each other when he started dating Haley.
- Description Cut: As Lucas tells Peyton about how he used to jump on his bed as a child, and Karen would tell him "Lucas Eugene Scott, if you break that boxspring you’ll be sleeping on the floor"; the scene then cuts back to Tree Hill, where Jamie is shown jumping on his bed, and Haley walks past telling her son the exact same thing.
- Downer Ending: The final shot of the episode is Lucas answering a phone call at the dead of night; when Peyton asks who it was, Lucas answers by telling her that Q was killed earlier that evening.
- Failed a Spot Check: Dan mocks Carrie because her entire plan for abducting Jamie hinges on framing Dan, when his heart condition means that he’s only a suspect until his heart gives out - at that point, the police are going to start looking for her when they still can’t find Jamie.
- Insistent Terminology: Despite Q arguing otherwise, Nathan insists that it’s not a comeback.
- Internal Reveal:
- Jamie sees Skills and Deb kissing.
- Deb walks into the trashed Clothes Over Bro’s store, and Brooke tells her everything.
- Jamie finds out that Nathan and Lucas weren’t always as close as they are now.
- Haley, Brooke, Jamie, Nathan and Skills find out that Lucas and Peyton are engaged.
- Carrie finds out that Dan needs a heart transplant.
- Literal-Minded: After Nathan calls Jamie “Big Ears” for listening in on his conversation, Jamie can be seen measuring the size of his ears against his hands.
- Mile-High Club: Discussed by Lucas and Peyton after he returns from the bathroom on their flight home.
- Not Me This Time: When Haley sees how low Nathan’s prescription pain medication for his back has gotten, she immediately assumes that recovered addict Deb is taking pills from the bottle. Deb is quick to assert that she’s not taking the pills, and Nathan admits that they’re low because he’s been taking the pills whenever his back has been sore, per the doctors instructions.
- Oh, Crap!: Q spotting the unconscious body hidden in the back room of the gas station.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: When provided with the knowledge that Deb is having sex, both Nathan and Haley responded in disgust.
- Princess for a Day: The trope is referenced by name as Lucas and Peyton discuss plans for their wedding.
- Retirony: In their final conversation, Haley asks Q what his plans are after graduation besides basketball; he proceeds to talk about wanting to start a family of his own.
- The Reveal: The reason Q took such a shine to Jamie is that he has a younger brother the same age as him.
- Shout-Out: Haley refers to Jamie as "Beastie Boy" when he asks about making Q a cape to match his.
- Titled After the Song: The title of the episode is taken from "One Million Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning" by The Flaming Lips.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If Nathan hadn't called an early end to practice, and if Skills hadn’t put off speaking to Q, then he would have left the gym at a later time and potentially not arrived at the gas station until after his killer had already left.
- Wham Episode: Quentin Fields is murdered.
