Episode Report Card Sars: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Failing Down
By Sars | Season 4 | Episode 2 | Aired on 10.10.2000
Witterschloss. On the porch, Pacey tinkers with a fishing rod. Gretchen comes out, followed by Joey; Gretchen tells her, "There he is. Try not to bruise him," and goes back inside. Pacey starts to make schmoopy noises in Joey's direction, but she bites his head off about the failing thing, specifically that she had to hear about it from Dawson. Pacey mutters that "apparently Leery Senior has a very big mouth" and snipes that he bets Leery Junior "loved being on the receiving end of that," but Joey snaps at him to "stick to the point," which prompts Pacey to remark that now Dawson can "swoop in on his soulmate with a big fat 'I told you so.'" On the one hand, yes, Dawson would totally do that, but on the other hand, Pacey needs to ease up on the insecurity throttle. Joey agrees, demanding, "Are you delusional?" and insisting that Dawson "has zero to do with this." "Yeah, sure," Pacey says, paying way too much attention to the fishing rod. Joey flaps her arms Dawson-style and relates how insulted she feels that she comes up last on his list "of people to contact in case of emergency," but Pacey tells her it's not a big deal, he's "handling it." Joey, near tears, wants to know how cutting school "translate[s] into 'handling it.'" Pacey blows this off too, so Joey makes for the door, mumbling, "Why does this even surprise me?"
Pacey, thinking she's making another townie-related dig, asks what the hell that's supposed to mean. "Exactly what I said." Pacey turns away from her, but she walks back towards him and tells him that he deals with everything by running away and takes the easy way out "every time." I don't know that history backs that up, to wit his relationship with Andie, but anyway, Pacey says in a tone of great weariness that that makes him "such a loser," like, we get it, you consider yourself a black sheep, now get over it. Joey argues that he's not a loser, and she didn't spend her summer with a loser; she spent her summer building the foundation for a great relationship. "I thought we were a great team," she says, "but it turns out I guess I couldn't have been more wrong." She turns to go, her split ends twitching angrily. As she opens the door, she turns to glare at him, but Pacey has turned back to the fishing rod, shaking his head slightly.
Okay, pretty soon Pizza Hut will start marketing the sauceless, crustless pizza with nothing but cheese. Not that I have a problem with that. But you can't really call it a pizza anymore.
Gretchen raises the blinds in the living room of the Witterschloss and tells Pacey to get up, shower, "button up [his] best bowling shirt," and go apologize to Joey. Pacey tells Gretchen to leave him alone, but Gretchen sits down on the table next to the couch and says that Joey's "a keeper," and she won't let Pacey blow it because he's scared. "What are you talkin' about?" Pacey sputters. "I'm not scared." "Like a little girl," Gretchen says, saying that if he's not careful, he'll sabotage the relationship before it has a chance to go anywhere. No, no, Gretchen -- the writers do that. The writers. Pacey snorts that she's watching "a little too much Oprah," but Gretchen says she's serious. Pacey doesn't know how she expects him to feel, since he's had to listen to Doug and the Sheriff tell him he's stupid his whole life. Gretchen says he's right, "they're jerks, both of them, you know, but -- get over it already." Oh my god, WORD, Gretchen. I have gotten so very, very tired of listening to Pacey whinge about how everyone expects him to fail so he should just fail because who cares blah blah blah that I can't even tell you. Anyway, Gretchen puts her hands on her hips, thrusts out her uniboob, and says that the family isn't Pacey's problem: "Your problem is Dawson." Girlfriend, Dawson is everyone's problem. Pacey stares at her blankly. "Don't tell me you don't hear him -- you know, whispering in your ear, telling you you're not good enough." Pacey contemplates this; Gretchen adds, "He's just a ghost, Pace. She picked you. And now you have to deal with it." Pacey looks at her, then looks away. You know, Gretchen works my nerves a little, but after that speech, she can stay.
Capeside Yacht Club. Joey approaches Non-Liz Non-Claiborne: "You wanted to see me?" NLNC went over yesterday's receipts and found a couple signed by Owen Ross. "Right," Joey says brightly. "I thought you said you were a good friend of the family," NLNC sneers. "I am," Joey lies. NLNC wonders, if Joey's "such a good friend," why she didn't know that the Ross family is in Paris until the new year. Joey searches for another covering lie, settling instead on the neutral "that doesn't make any sense." NLNC smiles coldly and says no, it doesn't. Joey swears that she served Owen Ross, "he was very rude," but NLNC just rolls her eyes, smoothes an eyebrow, and says she doesn't think "this is going to work out." "Actually, Mom, the Ross kid was here," says Crush Doppelganger from the doorway. Joey stares at him uncomprehendingly, then back at NLNC, who says, "Drue, honey, I'm in the middle of something here." Crush says he can see that, but maybe she didn't hear what he said; he saw Owen Ross with his "own two eyes," he saw Joey waiting on him, and NLNC should commend Joey "for the way she handled him, because that guy, he can be real high-maintenance." Joey stares balefully at Crush. NLNC purses her lips all curses-foiled-again.