"A Rush of Blood to the Head," while not perfect, and certainly not at the pace seemingly necessary with only five episodes remaining in the series, was filled with a number of epic moments that pushed One Tree Hill forward on a number of levels.

Clay's revelation, Chase's decision and everything that happened with Haley were some of the most entertaining and emotional moments of the season so far. These characters took some big steps - either backward or forward - and they really have me looking forward to the home stretch.

Let's begin with Mr. Evans, who I have been extremely critical of as a character in these reviews over the past two seasons. His monumental revelation coincided perfectly with the monumental fact that I really enjoyed his story this week. What? I enjoyed Clay?

Yup. For the first time since Robert Buckley joined the cast, the writers were able to write a story for him that got the audience involved emotionally. Maybe it was because Logan was so darn cute, or maybe it was because it was a deep-seeded trouble that began before we even met the character, but I felt for him when he found out that Logan was his kid.

Even though some TV Fanatics mentioned that they saw this coming, and I noted a couple weeks ago that I was "wondering if some of our readers [were] right about Logan actually being Clay's kid," it still felt like a huge moment. I felt so happy when Clay got over that hurdle, and then immediately felt so bad when he couldn't accept the responsibility.

I'm sure that he will man up and be the best dad in the world to Logan, but for the time being, he is acting terribly. However that works out, it's a blessing that they were able to make Clay's story interesting for once, even if it did take a million boring sessions with the shrink to get there.

Chase's decision to beat the snot out of Chuck's dad was just as astonishing as Clay realizing Logan was his son. I mean, a tire iron, really? While I am glad that the douche got what was coming to him, I'm angry at Chase for making such a poor decision.

If it was in the heat of the moment that would have been one thing, but the dude actually sat down and thought about the consequences before heading over to Chuck's house. He figured out what punishment he would receive, went over there, heard fighting and beat the tar out of the guy with a tire iron. Dumb. Now Chase is going away and Chuck's dad is probably still going to be around... unless Chase messed him up real good.

The best moment for Chase was the encounter before, when he told Mr. Scolnik what was up. He was an absolute stud when he threatened the abusive father. Well, he was kind of a stud when beating him down, but not in the same way. I don't condone violence... except on TV.

Then there was Haley, who wanted that phone to ring so badly. We all knew this was coming. She was going to have to identify a body under a sheet, but we all knew it wasn't Nathan. Again, just because we knew what was coming, it doesn't mean that things didn't get emotional.

Bethany Joy Galeotti killed it once again as Haley remembered her moment with Nathan. That whole thing was so well done, as the audio was silent except for Galeotti's voice over, and then Haley broke out into tears when she realized it wasn't Nathan. It was powerful stuff. 

Haley began to lose, as she should! She was completely right when she claimed nobody is making this a priority, and it's not just the cops! It's Deb, it's Brooke, it's basically everybody other than Haley and Dan. Nathan's been missing for how long, and his mom just shows up now? Get out of here Deb. You're too late.

Thankfully, by the end of "A Rush of Blood to the Head," the two that care the most about finding Nathan Scott joined forces. Haley going to Dan's trailer and simply saying, "tell me what you know" made me extremely excited for the upcoming episodes.

Do you know what didn't get me excited, though? Like at all? Brooke's current arc. This stuff with her attacker not only feels too familiar, but it also feels forced. That's not a combination that is easy to come by, and it's ruining the final season for Brooke.  

While we are speaking negatively, I could have done without the whole Skills/Miss Lauren/David triangle plot. Do we really care about that? That time couldn't have given to more Lucas material? Oh, and David has been dating Miss Lauren, but has not been seen in Tree Hill until just now? That doesn't make much sense, right?

I am skipping on the relationship rankings until these couples give me something to talk about again. Everyone is really off doing their own thing for the most part, so for now we just have to start looking forward to the final five episodes of One Tree Hill.

What did you all think of "A Rush of Blood to the Head?" Was it an improvement on last week's Lucas-heavy installment? Did you see Clay's revelation coming? What did you think of Chase's decision to take out Chuck's dad? Check out all the best quips in our One Tree Hill quotes section, and then sound off in the comments!  

Dan Forcella is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.