This week’s long awaited episode was penned by none other than Chad Michael Murray and while I was intrigued with some of the storylines and character changes, in one word this episode was…well, corny.

Lucas has a dream that he owns Karen’s cafe in 1941 and Dan’s owns his competitor business. Dan is of course evil and takes care of Peyton as he was involved with her mother a long time ago. Peyton is a sheltered inexperienced girl striving from freedom who has her eye on Lucas.

Brooke and Lucas do have a past in the dream and seem to get along nonetheless. Brooke is broke and owes Dan money. Nathan is a bartender at the club while Haley is a singer. Always the “rock” of the show, the couple have a cute romantic storyline that ends with Nate going off to war and leaving behind his crying new bride.

Skillz is a piano player and Mouth is a drunk gossip journalist. Julian works for Dan. The rest is kind of a blur.

The whole storyline was a little strange, but interesting. The dialogue was a little corny and was really only tolerable with Nathan and Haley, because let’s face it, they are the only ones who can pull off the romance thing. The wardrobe and hair were quite horrific, for the girls at least. The dry frizzy curls and overdone makeup were a little much, even for the 40’s.

The directing was actually done really well as the whole episode was shot like an old movie with big closeups. A few of the things Chad did right in the writing were the little throwbacks to reality (Nathan and Haley with the crackerjacks, Peyton’s “people always leave”, etc).

But, the one thing that had me actually yelling at the television was when Lucas called Peyton, “pretty girl” in the beginning of the episode. Normally, it would be no big deal except for the fact that every Tree Hill fan knows that is a Brooke and Lucas (Brucas) thing that dates back to Season 1. I suspect that was a little jab at either Sophia or her fans, and I am shocked that it was approved in the script. Loyal fans are already up in arms over it. While it may seem petty, it is a staple saying of the show and that couple ( just as “always and forever” belongs to Naley and “I’ll be seein’ ya” belongs to Leyton).

Oh Chad, we appreciate the effort and are thankful for the change of pace, but please stick to acting. That scene were Peyton spins around on the bridge was just awful. And the accents? Cringeworthy.

I’m excited for next week as we see what was wrong with Peyton’s stomach (pregnancy maybe?!?) and we get back to the old Tree Hill right before the holiday hiatus.

Sharon Tharp is a freelance writer who has contributed to a variety of publications including HotIndieNews.com and the Web sites of both Marie Claire and CosmoGIRL! magazines.