Episode Report Card Wing Chun: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Crime And Punishment
By Wing Chun | Season 3 | Episode 15 | Aired on 02.08.2000
The library door opens and Dawson leaps to his feet and walks over to Pacey, who says that Principatundé is a great human being, blah blah blah mercycakes. Principatundé didn't suspend Pacey; instead, he's assigned Pacey to the Capeside Mentoring Program. Oh yeah, I like this idea. Dawson chuckles at the incongruity, and at the fate of the poor child to whom Pacey is assigned. Then he asks whether Pacey intends to teach his mentee the importance of keeping a secret, "like, say, from Joey? For example." Pacey drawls, "Oh, thaaaaat," and asks what the odds are that Dawson will be as forgiving a person as Principatundé just was. Dawson says those odds aren't good, and he has a right to be snooty since he's never done anything wrong. Not.
Principatundé reads a letter, then sets it down and announces, "To say that I am profoundly shocked and disturbed by what you did would be an understatement." Cut to Andie, choking back tears and nodding in agreement that she sucks. She says she wishes she had told him sooner. Principatundé stands and tells her that he'll have to inform the ETS, which will then cancel her scores, destroying any chance she had at a National Merit Scholarship. Andie knows that too. Principatundé says that she'd mentioned other students who were aware of the pilfered test, but that she was the only one who used it; he asks if she's certain of that, and she says that she is. He asks what she expects him to do, and she says that she expects him to expel her, as he did Matt Caufield, since her offense was no less grave than Matt's, and that she's already cleared out her locker, since she knows that all actions have consequences. She concludes by saying that she's sorry for letting him down. Principatundé says that Andie and Matt Caufield have nothing in common, and that is most assuredly not true -- they both cheated on tests, for one thing. Anyway, Principatundé's take is that Matt ha no sense of right or wrong, and takes pleasure in hurting others; the only person Andie hurt was herself. The glycerin flows down Meredith Monroe's cheeks as Andie croaks, "But I did cheat!" Principatundé says that when she was on the disciplinary committee, one of the things he tried to teach her was proportionality -- how to make the punishment fit the crime, while looking at the character of the criminal. Matt Caufield, Principatundé explains, wouldn't benefit from leniency, but Andie will. Andie cries some more. Principatundé tells her to put her things back in her locker, and that he'll have to think about her punishment for a couple more days. She nods gratefully and thanks him.