Episode Report Card Sars: D+ | 2 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Boyfriend
By Sars | Season 1 | Episode 8 | Aired on 03.09.1998
Joey and Fabio canoodle amongst the dune grasses. Pacey comes up behind Fabio and pulls him away from Joey, saying grimly, "All right, Joe. Say goodbye to the nice serial rapist man," and Joey yanks her hand away from him as Fabio growls, "You again, A-hole? She doesn’t wanna leave!" Joey burbles, "Please, Pacey," and closes her eyes while Fabio kisses her neck, and Pacey pulls Fabio away from Joey again, and Fabio tries to punch Pacey but misses, and Pacey punches Fabio in the face and knocks him to the ground and then waves his hand around and winces, and Dawson comes running up and wants to know what happened, and just then Joey swoons drunkenly onto the sand. Dawson crouches over her, and she croons, "Dawson -- thank you, you’re my hero," and Pacey cradles his hand and glares at her, and for some reason the editor decides we should go to commercial at that moment, so we do.
Pacey bustles up to the back door of the Bastard Barn; Dawson follows, holding Joey up, and Pacey gives Joey guff, and Joey woozily tells him to shut up. Dawson warns Pacey not to make noise, because if Bodie sees Joey like this, "she’s dead." Pacey goes ahead, after asking Dawson if he "can handle Lushie" by himself, and Dawson tells him not to wake the baby whatever he does, and then he hoists Joey into the house. Meanwhile, Pacey creeps into the nursery, non-humorously stepping on a squeaky baby toy on his way in, and the baby predictably starts crying, and Pacey quickly turns off the baby monitor and jiggles the squalling infant’s tummy with his hand, telling him to "play like your drunk Aunt Joey and go on back to sleep." Out in the living room, Dawson lowers Joey to the couch, and once he gets her settled, he says to her passed-out form, "Joey -- I know it’s been a tough week for you; you always try to handle everything by yourself. Is that why you got drunk tonight, Joe? Needed a little break from your life?" A dreaming Joey mutters "tartar sauce table five" a couple of times and stirs uncomfortably. In the other room, Pacey stuffs a bottle, then a pacifier into a fussing Alexander’s mouth and whispers, "There’s gotta be something to quiet this kid down," and just as a light bulb switches on above Pacey’s head, Dawson covers Joey with a blanket and says, "It’s probably the wrong time to tell you this, but -- well, maybe it’s the perfect time. I realize how incredibly confusing things are between us right now; I can’t even begin to explain our relationship." Joey mouth-breathes noisily; Dawson continues, "You probably can’t either, but, um, I just want you to know that, um," and he smoothes her hair over her ear and says, "If you ever need me, I’ll always be here for you. All you ever have to do is ask." Joey comes to briefly, strokes Dawson’s face, and pulls him towards her and kisses him. She slumps back on the pillows as Dawson looks alarmed. Back in the nursery, Pacey tells Alexander the plot of The English Patient to get him to sleep, which works (oh, fine -- heh), and Dawson hisses to Pacey that they can go, and Pacey clicks the baby monitor back on and says, "Sleep tight, little man," and they leave.