Episode Report Card Wing Chun: D | 2 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT High Risk Behavior
By Wing Chun | Season 2 | Episode 10 | Aired on 01.12.1999
Cut back to Jack and Joey, the latter of whom is asking, "Was it scary?" Jack says, "Yeah." Joey nods with some relief, as if he's confirming her own fears. She says, "Don't feel bad. I mean, I haven't done it at all, and it terrifies me from afar, so..." Jack says, "You know, it's not just that it was scary. I mean, that was part of it, but I don't know, it's hard to, it's hard to describe. You know, I'm not really that good at expressing myself, you know, so I guess you've found my social flaw." ["Not to mention his numerous other social flaws..." -- Sars] In my view, the inability to describe sex in intimate and accurate detail is not a flaw in a social context, but whatever. Joey puts down her pencil and draws her knee up to her chest. "Could you try?" she asks.
Cut back to Dawson and Jen, the latter of whom is saying, "I know that you've got this notion that if you don't let your characters act on their desires, then you're making a stronger, riskier choice, but that's not real life." "But it's so obvious!" Dawson protests. "I mean, the story is much stronger if the characters resist their lust." "But it's not real," Jen insists. "True love is always fuelled by lust, and people who care that much about each other will sooner or later end up having sex." A look of pig ignorance settles on Dawson's face as Jen concludes, "Even people who don't care that much. And besides, this is 1998; sex is always a risky choice. I just don't happen to believe that it's an obvious one." 1998? Okay, I guess. Jen, couldja help us out and tell us what month it is, too? But she doesn't, and says this instead, as Dawson increasingly looks like he's in the midst of intense inner turmoil: "I think that intent and motive is [sic] what makes sex so interesting, Dawson. I mean, why do two people have sex, okay? So they're in love. That's obvious. Who cares. But they're in lust? Slightly more interesting. They're hurting over someone, they're in pain, trying to forget someone, they're in denial, they're looking for a distraction -- all of a sudden sex has just become very interesting, and not the obvious choice at all." Dawson chews on this as Jen delivers the kicker: "Maybe you should think about a rewrite, Dawson. You've still got time." I have to give Jen her props for this scene, in which she seemed, to me, genuinely convincing.
Cut back to the trailer, where Jack is saying, "Really? You wanna know?" Joey says yeah. Okay, in the interest of saving my stomach lining, Joey suggests that Jack describe the experience -- not the "gory details" but the feeling of it -- in artistic terms, and he starts going on about Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and Degas dancers and a lot of other similar blather. This conveniently allows him to sketch out the experience without mentioning a partner at all, of either sex. Then the phone rings and Joey reaches for it and then there's a flurry of movement at which both Jack and Joey look shocked, which Sars and I have decided was that Jack perceived that he was sporting wood, and tried to cover it with the towel but was too slow and Joey saw it. Um. Ew. Also in that scene, Jack, the supposed art expert, pronounced Edvard Munch's last name as if he were Richard Belzer's character on Homicide. Note to Kerr Smith: It's pronounced "moonck."