Episode Report Card Sars: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT To live and die in Capeside
By Sars | Season 4 | Episode 18 | Aired on 04.17.2001
The Big Ace Saloon. Drue and Pacey, thoroughly soused, have gathered several other ne'er-do-wells at their table. Pacey wins a hand of cards, and as he sweeps the money towards him, the bartender comes over and asks how they're doing. "Mighty big fun, Mack, mighty big fun!" Drue slurs, clapping Mack on the shoulder. Shout-out? Nah, probably not. Mack addresses Pacey as "Dave," the name on Pacey's fake ID, and Pacey's a little late in catching his snap. Semi-hostile back-and-forth designed to prove that Pacey doesn't know Rhode Island, where he's ostensibly from, during which Drue cringes drunkenly; after Mack busts on him, Pacey heaves himself to his feet and Westerns, "You calling me a liar?" Drue stares at him for a split second before laughing like a hyena, and Pacey cracks up too, and Mack glares at the both of them as they fall about laughing at themselves.
West Side Grill. Pan around Joey and Jen at the table, Joey sipping her drink and Jen seething; Mr. L's chair is empty. Mr. L blusters back in shortly thereafter, rambling on about how something's come up at the office and he has to get back. Jen is nearly panting, she's so upset, but Mr. L is oblivious, urging the girls to order anything they want because it's all paid for, and he counts off a bunch of bills and tells Jen to "show [Joey] some magic." Oh, that's classy. He leans down to kiss Jen goodbye, and she flinches away. Then he says goodbye to Joey and takes off, glibbing over his shoulder, "Jennifer, I love ya, you get more beautiful all the time," and glad-handing his way out of the restaurant. Jen glares after him, her eyes filling; Joey looks after him too, then turns back to Jen with a "hey…you okay?" face, but Jen averts her gaze and twists her lips to keep from crying. Michelle Williams's acting is kicking ass, by the way.
Jen and Joey emerge on a rooftop; Joey does her Country Mouse open-mouthed-marveling thing while Jen points out various neighborhoods and highlights of the skyline. The order in which she names them doesn't make sense, given that the rooftop seems like it's in Queens in the first place, but let's just ignore that. "God, I do love this town," Jen sighs. "So, this is New York City," Joey says, grinning in awe. Jen says that "this ain't the half of it -- and it is so much better up close," and Joey thanks Jen: "This blows my mind. You blow my mind." Jen nods to herself and thanks Joey for coming with her that day: "I needed you." After a moment, Joey nods in response, "I know." Unnecessarily extended shots of the two of them looking at the Manhattan skyline. Then there's a pan over what looks like the 59th Street Bridge to Jen, slumped against the retaining wall on the roof; Joey walks over to her, and I think it's implied that some time has passed, but it's not clear. Joey leans on the wall beside Jen and asks what happened after Jen's mom left her on the platform at Grand Central. Jen says "um," thinking of a lie, and opts to say she spent the weekend wandering the city on her own. Joey makes a "whaaat?" face and asks where Jen slept, and Jen says that on the first night, she slept in an office-building parking lot, which I doubt, since every parking lot I've ever seen in the city is either a paid business with guards who would shoo teenagers off, or a padlocked vacant lot littered with needles where even a twelve-year-old wouldn't be stupid enough to lie down. The next night, Jen passed out in the VIP room of a club, and she laughs it off, but Joey looks extremely worried indeed. The last night -- the weekend had three nights? Hello, script editor? -- Jen spent in the dorm room of a guy she'd met in a bar. Joey asks in a sad but firm tone why Jen didn't go home "to be with [her] father," and after a pause, Jen grits out, "I did." She looks away from Joey, then down, then stands up straight, stammering that she has to go. Joey nods and says she knows, and Jen apologizes and asks if Joey will be okay by herself. Joey says she'll be fine -- will Jen? Yes, Jen says, "maybe for the first time." "I feel like…" Joey trails off. "What?" "I still feel like we're not gonna see you again." Not meeting Joey's eye, Jen murmurs, "We'll see," and makes to go inside, but Joey stops her to remind her that their train "leaves at eleven -- make it? I mean, we need you back there." Aw. Jen nods inscrutably and walks away. Joey frowns some more.