"Like You Like an Arsonist" is the first episode of Season 3 of One Tree Hill and originally aired October 5th, 2005. The episode was written by Mark Schwahn and directed by Greg Prange.
As the end of summer approaches, Lucas and Peyton are closer than ever as Karen, Haley and Brooke return to Tree Hill. Brooke gives Lucas a decision following his confession at the start of summer, whilst Peyton looks for answers. Meanwhile, Nathan contemplated what’s next for his relationship with Haley, and Dan’s fate after after the fire at Dan Scott Motors is revealed.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Peyton bursts into laughter when Lucas admits that he told Brooke that he wanted to be with her as she was about to head for the airport and go to Los Angeles for the summer.
- Call-Back:
- When Lucas walks into Peyton’s room as she’s in the midst of painting on the wall, she protests that he doesn’t know her - an obvious nod to their first conversation.
- Peyton makes fun of Lucas shaving his head when he briefly moved to Charleston.
- Downtime Downgrade: Andy and Karen have broken up, largely because Andy wants a family and Karen doesn’t want anymore children.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Peyton has changed her hairstyle from long curls to a short, straightened Bob. She explains that it’s because long blonde hair was Ellie’s thing, and she doesn’t want to look like her.
- Flashback: There are several throughout the episode, largely focused on Peyton finding out that she really was adopted at birth.
- Foreshadowing: During the first flashback to the night of the Season 2 finale, as Peyton tells Lucas about Ellie claiming to be her mother, Lucas is noticeably distracted when a police siren is heard in the distance and when Peyton asks him about it, he tells that he "did something that [he] can’t take back" earlier in the night. In the present day at the end of the episode, Lucas is shown holding the note Dan received before the fire, revealing that Lucas was at the dealership around the time the fire started.
- Free-Range Children: Brooke moves into Nathan and Haley’s old apartment, with her parents on the other side of the country in Los Angeles.
- It's All About Me: Upon seeing Lucas waiting at the airport as she arrives, Brooke immediately assumes he’s there to ambush her and starts chastising him for doing so… only to realise he’s actually waiting on Karen.
- Pet the Dog: Zig-zagged - Brooke lets Haley move into the apartment with her, but is pretty open about only doing so because she wants Haley’s rent money so she can buy a new wardrobe.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Lucas and Peyton have developed into this over the summer, having had no-one else to hang out with.
- Poster-Gallery Bedroom: When Lucas first walks into Peyton’s bedroom, she’s in the middle of painting something on the wall and his comment implies that it’s the first time she’s done so all summer.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Lee Norris is added to the main cast.
- Ship Tease: At the beginning of the episode, while melancholically looking to a picture of their relationship during the first season, Lucas tells Peyton “It’s always gonna be there, isn’t it? You and me”, at which she agrees. Then, after the 3-months time skip, Lucas goes to Peyton to tell her Brooke is back and, as she asks what he is going to do, they both thoughtfully look at that same picture again and he doesn’t answer her question.
- Shout-Out: When Lucas arrives in her bedroom after picking up Karen from the airport, Peyton refers to him by the name of the title character from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and alludes to the scene where Tom convinces a group of kids to pay him so they can paint a picket fence for him.
- Time Skip: The events of the summer are largely skipped over, with the bulk of the episode taking place at the end of summer vacation.
- Titled After the Song: The title of the episode is taken from the song "Like You Like An Arsonist" by Paris, Texas.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It is left unclear as to Haley’s whereabouts during the summer - she returned to Tree Hill in the Season 2 finale, but doesn’t meet anyone other than Nathan and Deb until the end of the summer.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Peyton makes it clear that she’s holding a grudge over Haley’s leaving and coming back; though it’s heavily implied that it’s motivated by the situation with her biological mother turning up again.
