Return of the Future Episode Recap

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The Ravens lose their second game in a row, so Whitey teaches them a tough lesson. Peyton and Ellie look for support for their album and hope to attract Nada Surf to the project. Meanwhile, both Dan and Haley upset Nathan, while Brooke plans a romantic thank-you for Lucas.

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Whitey believes that sharing his caring. And the Scott boys have not been sharing the basketball, which has lead to the Ravens' second loss in a row. This is good news for Haley, who can't wait to console Nathan.Dan is afraid that history will repeat itself. He thinks Nathan will get Haley pregnant and end up bouncing a baby on his knee instead of a basketball. Nathan defends his wife, saying that she would never do that to him, but Dan puts doubt in his head.Just as Lucas and Brooke leave the game, who should arrive but Keith! Brooke gives the guys some time alone to catch up.Every day during the summer, Brooke wrote Lucas a love letter. Lucas has been reading one a day and kind of teasing her about it. But really, he's touched.He's back in Tree Hill and he's over Jewel. She wasn't who he thought she was and…she wasn't Karen. After he visits Lucas Keith returns to Karen's Café and the first thing she tells him after they hug is that Dan still thinks that he tried to kill him. Keith tells her that he is going to explain the whole thing to him and more importantly, he thought about her every day while he was away.Nathan and Haley hang and do the domestic thing. Somehow, Haley has troubles grating cheese, and when Nathan goes to find a band-aid he discovers that there's no birth control in her medicine cabinet. He confronts Haley about it and she admits that she's on it now but she was not the night they were together. He storms out saying something about the fact that Dan was right.Peyton is happy to come home from the game and have someone to actually come home to. Ellie has no good news about the bands they have asked to appear on their charity album. No one wants to be the first to commit. But the good news is that Nada Surf is doing a show close by and they could hit them up in person. The two decide to go see the show. The new partners sneak into the backstage area during the concert and Peyton talks the manager into getting the band on the benefit album. Looks like they have their first!Brooke's designs have been selected as finalists in the Road Vogue contest in New York City! Her designs will be modeled for all the major labors. But Brooke is confused; she never entered her designs in the competition in the first place. This has Lucas written all over it.But no matter how much that pleases her, she's annoyed with the quoting of the letters. It's not nice to be teased after all. She wants those letters back.It's 5:00 AM after the big loss and Whitey takes the team to another gym that doesn't have his name on it. It's a rat-infested dump that they'll be playing all their games in until they start winning. Oh yeah, and they need to clean up the mess before they even start practice. While the team attempts to clean the dump of a gym, Nathan practices his free throw. When Lucas confronts him on this, Nathan admits that with his grades he's the one who needs the basketball scholarship or he'll be cleaning gyms for a living. Lucas tells him he is wrong, but Nathan has pretty bad self image issues at the moment. Once again, Whitey catches his co-captains fighting and yells. Nathan storms out.Haley tells Brooke about the issue that came between she and Nathan and explains that she's not pregnant. Unfortunately, Nathan is still mad. She thinks that he's afraid that she tried to trap him into something. But Brooke points out that if she didn't stop him when she knew she was not protected, perhaps there's some part of her, on some level, that wants to have a baby.Keith returns to his old job of taking care of Karen as soon as he returns to town. He fixes her car and she reassures him that Andy is out of the picture and he is back in… if he wants. And it seems that he wants.What's up with Dan:
Keith pays a visit to Dan, who, needless to say, is not so happy about the family reunion. Keith tells his brother about the rumors he has been hearing and he reassures him that if he wanted him dead, he would be. Dan tells him about the tape he has in his possession where Keith is purchasing a bottle of Scotch, the bottle of Scotch that drugged him and made him pass out before the fire. Keith tells him to keep searching, you can't find something that isn't there -- oh, and if he ever touches Lucas again, he'll wish that Keith did kill him.When Dan comes to check up on Nathan he realizes that the boy changed the locks on him. Nathan tells his father that he knows all about the lies he's been telling, and Dan tells his son his side of the story. Needless to say, it's lame. He also plants more poison in Nathan's head about Haley, telling him that we all become our mothers and that he shouldn't take anything for granted.When Nathan arrives at Haley's apartment, he scolds her for trying to have a baby to stay together. But she points out that it takes two and she is insulted that he would even suggest that. She shows him her pills and tells him that his future as a basketball player is totally secure, but his future as a husband is not so much. He apologizes later and she tells him that if he doesn't want to be like Dan, he just shouldn't be.Meanwhile, Brooke and Lucas' romantic evening is ruined by the brawling on the other side of the apartment. But as it turns out, Lucas wasn't the person who sent her designs to NYC. They decide to occupy their time by reading Brooke's summertime love letters, even though it's so uncomfortable for Brooke.Later that night, as Peyton and Ellie are driving back from the concert, Ellie tells her about the day she gave birth to her and admits that she has had chemo but not surgery and she's just kind of letting fate take its course. Peyton wants to be sure she'll be there when the album comes out. Ellie assures her that she will.The next day Lucas comes to see Nathan. He relates to his brother about the pregnancy scare. The team needs him back -- they need to know how it feels to win, and for that, they need him. And when Nathan does come back to the team, he stands up to his father who tries to take him away to play for another team.On the other side of town, Keith and Karen have a heart-to-heart. He admits that he did buy the scotch after he found out that Karen was leaving for New Zealand to be with Andy. Keith was broken-hearted and decided to kill Dan. But Deb stopped him. It wasn't his war. It was hers. He passed out, and Deb did the deed. Then they both decided to leave town.Back in the present, Karen and Keith finally share their first real kiss. It's going well until suddenly the police show up at the house. Keith is arrested for the attempted murder of Dan Scott!