3.17: Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them

CW: This discussion on One Tree Hill S3E17, Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them, features themes of gun violence and grief. Please take care while listening.

In the aftermath of the school shooting, the students of Tree Hill High grapple with the stages of grief (Or do they? This episode’s structure is v. messy!). Brooke (Sophia Bush) is feeling insecure about Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton Morgan), while not having a clue about the Leyton kiss in the library. Meanwhile, Rachel (Danneel Ackles) confesses to Mouth (Lee Norris) that she was the one who opened the time capsule. And Lucas and Karen (Moira Kelly) grieve over Keith’s (Craig Sheffer) death and Lucas grapples with the decision to go to Jimmy’s (Colin Fickes) funeral. Not all is grim though because Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) decide to move back in together and Brooke moves in with Peyton! 

Our chat on this episode includes:

• The episode’s namesake, the Murder By Death album, Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them
• Connections to Brittany Ashley’s podcast Don’t Tell The Babysitter Mom’s Dead and the stages of grief, courtesy of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ On Death and Dying
• The weird framing of this episode around the stages of grief. Is this supposed to be about Keith’s death, Jimmy’s death, or both? And would this episode be better if it dealt with the statement of how everyone grieves in their own way and there is no invalid way to grieve?
• Peyton and Lucas’ conversation in the library. Is it a little mean? Why would you make a joke about a kiss when you have a history like Leyton’s!?
• Whether Naley is too sappy or too adorable
• Mouth’s weird portrayal of being considered as at the bottom of the totem pole…when he has SO MANY friends from various social circles. Plus, Lee Norris is not an unattractive guy.
• The downsides of toxic positivity
• A lot of talk about beds for some reason (Gen Z listeners, send us the proper emoji in response to our question we ask about flat sheets)
• How this episode aired 10 days (!) after the episode of Grey’s Anatomy, featuring The Fray’s How To Save A Life. What a pop culture moment!

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Check out our One Tree Hill season 3 Spotify playlist here: https://spoti.fi/3aRKgx2. 

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