Episode Report Card Sars: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Baby blues
By Sars | Season 4 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.24.2001
Sars: I'm not coming -- hello? Hello! Hel -- oh, crap.
Sorry about that. Anyway, Gale adds pensively that she loved Joey's mom "so much," and Bessie tells the story of Joey's birth, and how the labor went on for thirty-four hours, and when Jen asks what made Joey decide to grace them with her presence, Bessie explains that their mother called her by name: "'Josephine, Josephine, everyone's waiting to meet you.'" And out Joey came, with lots of brown hair and "saucer eyes" and "a pout we all know way too well." Joey, lost in thought, smiles miserably, then excuses herself and bolts. Bessie follows her.
House Of Tobey. Jack runs up onto the porch and knocks; Tobey tells him to go away, he's sick. Jack calls him on that, and Tobey keeps lying about having the flu, and Jack keeps smacking the door with his knuckles and telling Tobey to open up. At last, Tobey opens the door; he's got a black eye and a split lip, and he's on crutches. Jack takes in the sight of him and snorts, "Some flu." Tobey says pissily, "Yeah, don't freak -- look, it only hurts when I blink." Heh. When Jack asks what happened, Tobey lies while looking nervously over his shoulder that he got mugged, and then tries to excuse himself, but Jack asks if he reported the mugging. Tobey grumps that he only had twelve bucks and "it's not worth the trouble," and Jack tries to come-on-Tobey him, but Tobey flares up that he doesn't want to talk about it. Jack insists that "it'll take ten minutes" to go to the police station and file a report, but Tobey interrupts him to yell, "What am I gonna tell 'em -- that I frightened some people so they beat the crap out of me -- just go home, Jack," and as the realization of what actually went down dawns on Jack's face, Tobey slams the door in said face.
Estates porch. Bessie asks Joey what's going on with her. Joey dissembles, saying she just got "emotional," but Bessie snorts, "You're more than emotional, you're neurotic." Hee! That's goddamn right. Bessie goes on to say that Joey's obsessed with tracking Pacey down, she's moody, every time Gale looks at her she looks away, and if Bessie didn't know Joey "weren't having sex" -- she stops short when Joey, ever the inept liar, bites her lip and turns away. "Joey?" "Can you just leave me alone?" Joey says tearfully. Bessie asks accusingly if she's pregnant. Joey bad-lies, "What are you talking about?" and tries to stomp off, but Bessie won't have it: "I can't believe this -- what happened?" Joey says she's "not having this conversation with" Bessie, but Bessie won't have that either, telling Joey that she'd "better watch it, because if something is wrong," Joey will need her. "Why, so I can sit through another series of endless lectures?" Joey brats. Um, excuse me? Your sister lets you sleep over at Pacey's, she lets you come and go as you please, she tolerates your bullshit attitude, and we've seen maybe two lectures out of Bessie all season, both of which you had coming, so count your blessings and stow the attitude. Bessie comes back with, "So you can straighten out your life!" Joey sneers, "Oh, and have one more like yours." I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- Bessie has a loving boyfriend who cooks, a cute baby, and a successful business. There's nothing wrong with Bessie's life, except perhaps her unwillingness to slap her younger sister's face straight off her head for taking that tone with her. She could have parked your bony ass in foster care, Joey, and given the shit you always heap on her head, I don't for the life of me know why she didn't, so SHUT UP. God, what a little bitch. Bessie shares that sentiment, glaring at Joey and hissing, "You think you're better than me? Look at you -- you're just like Mom, you're just like me!" "No, I'm not," Joey sobs; no matter what, she knows her life "will be different" from Bessie's. Bessie seizes on that, saying that Joey's got that right, because Bessie has someone in her life who can actually take care of himself, not to mention a family: "Do you?" Ouch. Actually, I think Pacey's better equipped emotionally to handle a pregnancy -- or, for that matter, a hangnail -- than Joey, but regardless, the point is made, and Joey's face collapses. Just then, there's commotion outside, and Grams rushes in to say that Gale's in labor again. Joey closes her eyes all pained and takes off.
The hospital hallway. Gale huffs and puffs. Dawson and Gretchen make jokes. The Flash wheels Gale up to the doorway of a labor room, and when the OB asks how she feels, Gale grunts, "I want drugs." "So do I," smirks the Flash. Get in line, pal.