As Lucas takes a trip to Hollywood to meet his film director and Nathan gets a pro basketball tryout. Peyton struggles with Mia to focus on her follow-up album, and Millicent confronts Mouth about Gigi. Meanwhile, Julian approaches a dubious Brooke about designing clothes for his movie, and Haley takes a reluctant Jamie to his school talent show.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Arc Welding: Brooke’s attacker and Q’s killer are revealed to be the same person, rather than different people as previously assumed.
- Blatant Lies: Brooke initially lies to Sam and claims that she wasn’t slutty in high school, but eventually comes clean.
- Cassandra Truth: Upon seeing Nathan remove the unreleased NS23 sneaker from his gym bag, Nino - another player at the NBA Combine - asks whose shoe that is, and initially scoffs at Nathan's claim that it's his, justifiably believing that it's absurd that someone with a shoe deal is trying out at a Combine. He only realises who Nathan is afterwards.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends on a crying Peyton telling Lucas that she needs to tell him something, and Sam getting into a car with Jack and his brother - Q’s killer.
- The Determinator: Nathan turns up at the NBA Combine without a team inviting him, freely accepting that his back injury is going to be a hindrance but believing he has more heart than some of the other players.
- Internal Reveal: Sam finds out about Brooke’s attack.
- Pet the Dog: As Nathan is being told that he needs a team to invite him to the combine, Bobby - the Charleston Chiefs coach he previously met - calls Nathan over and lets him in.
- The Reveal: Brooke’s attacker and Q’s killer are the same person - Xavier Daniels.
- Sherlock Scan: Nathan’s internal monologue during his game at the combine veers into this at one point.Nathan: [Voiceover] He thinks I’ve lost a step because of my accident so he’s gonna play me tight. I haven’t. Now he’ll back off because he doesn’t wanna get beat off the dribble. Just a half step, that’s a mistake.
- Ship Sinking:
- Owen’s lackadaisical response to finding out that Sam took off after an argument with Brooke ultimately winds up ending their relationship.
- Millicent finds a photo of Gigi wearing Mouth’s shirt on his phone, and takes it as confirmation that he’s having an affair.
- Special Guest: James Van Der Beek as Reese, the director Lucas meets with.
- Stage Mom: Haley veers into this territory, forcing Jamie to wear a tuxedo and play piano for a talent show when he just wants to tell jokes.
- Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the song "You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)" originally sung by The Flaming Lips.
- Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup: Reese immediately starts trying get Lucas to change the plot of An Unkindness of Ravens for the movie, with changes pitched including killing Haley, and not having Lucas end up with Peyton,.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Sam is revealed to have accidentally caused Brooke’s attack, as Jack took Sam saying that Brooke "needed to be put in her place" literally and got his brother to attack her.
