Episode Report Card Sars: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Please Please Mr. Postman
By Sars | Season 6 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.08.2002
Back from the break, Pacey's on the phone to Topper, pitching him on a stock using lots of faux attitude. The Casio Keyboard Of Semi-Wacky Hijinks lets us know we should find it amusing. As Pacey lies and blusters and throws a lot of finance jargon around, The Guitar Of Hey That Kid's Got Moxie joins in with a few optimistic twangs. Pacey actually says the phrase "greed is good," thereby atomizing any tiny shred of patience I may have had left for this subplot. Long story short, Pacey succeeds in selling Topper on the stock, then strolls into the conference room to gloat to Bobby. Bobby sleazes something about a "nooner" before Pacey tells him that he just "closed Topper." Bobby's stunned; Pacey brags that he "sold him some b.s. line from an eighties movie" and Topper bought it, then rambles on about his mad stock-selling skillz for approximately a decade. Bobby regards him with a "who farted?" look until he finishes, then acts impressed and tells Pacey to go get them a couple of drinks from the fridge. But a mere thirty-four minutes into the episode, you know it's not that simple -- after Pacey skips on out of there, Bobby makes a "that asshole" face, followed by a sneaky face.
After the movie, Freeman strolls out of the theater and runs into Jack, Jen, and Audrey. It's awkward with a capital "for the love of God, JUST STOP TALKING" -- Jack is tongue-tied, Jen is unsubtle, and Audrey is babbling uncontrollably. Finally, Audrey rights the canoe by suggesting that they all go visit Joey at work. She invites the professor, too, which is pretty smooth of her, until she adds, "At least, if you're into the whole crossing-the-line kind of thing." Fed up, Jack snaps that that's a great idea -- why don't the girls go get the car and he'll meet them at the corner? Jen fumbles the pass: "You're gonna let me drive the Saab?" Jack laughs it off with a pointed, "Of course, Jennifer -- why wouldn't I? So why don't you two skedaddle and I'll see you in a second?" Freeman looks on, bemused, as the girls chirp "okay" and scuttle off. More monumental discomfiture as Freeman tries to discern why Jack is still hanging around him like a bad smell, but Jack decides to take the plunge and delivers a monologue on how much he loves Freeman's class, how he hasn't cared about school (or about anything else) in a while but the work Freeman puts into his lectures really means a lot, how Freeman's obviously not phoning it in, on and on and on -- it's a torrent of verbiage. Looking a little weirded out, Freeman attempts to interrupt, but Jack is on a roll, saying that he didn't know before what he wanted to major in, and he doesn't know whether it's how Freeman uses words or the subject matter or what, but "I walk away from class still thinkin' about it, and -- and, you know, and I just look forward to the next time, and I-I'm just wondering how I could become more…" Freeman is now gazing at Jack as though he's a particularly bizarre species of insect; at the end of the sentence, Jack catches that look and trails off red-facedly with, "…involved. You know." After a second, Freeman chuckles uncomfortably (or so my closed captioning says) and asks, "Are we talking about the class, Jack, or are we talking about me?" Busted, Jack stares at him before trying to play it off with a stammered series of "no"s and "that's not what I meant"s before ultimately giving up and crossing his arms tightly over his chest. When the hoped-for hole in the earth fails to materialize and swallow Jack, Freeman generously comes to his aid, saying he's glad Jack likes the class, and he's sure it'll show in Jack's work this semester. In response, Kerr Smith pulls a truly eloquent "thanks for pretending I didn't just blow up, dude" face. Freeman nicely asks if he's walking up to the corner, and off they go together, Jack with his hands jammed miserably in his pockets.