Episode Report Card 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Cinderella Story
By Wing Chun | Season 3 | Episode 17 | Aired on 02.29.2000
Morgan, Joey, and A.J. walk out of the award ceremony. A.J. proudly marvels that one of his profs gave him a bottle of champagne, and Morgan agrees that it's "definitely [his] night." It must be noted that Joey -- in her strappy chiffon sundress -- is walking along with her borrowed coat wide open. Morgan says that A.J.'s lucky Joey broke the heel of her shoe, since A.J. can't dance. They come to the end of the walk in front of the building and stand around awkwardly until Morgan suggests that they all go to the arboretum. A.J. makes no response, so Joey very assertively announces, "I want to go back to your room." A.J. smiles like he can't believe his dumb luck, and Morgan bravely says that she'll have the arboretum all to herself. She starts to go, but Joey stops her, takes off the borrowed coat, and hands it to her. Leaving her shoulders, back, neck, and arms totally exposed. In Boston. IN MARCH. Morgan takes the coat and books. A.J. takes Joey's hand, and even though he's wearing a blazer beneath, totally doesn't take off his coat and give it to her, which, combined with his being too self-involved to pick her up at the train station, is grounds for dismissal.
We next see the not-so-happy couple in the hall of A.J.'s dorm. I can understand Joey's walking around outside wearing one shoe and carrying the other, broken one, but once she got inside, wouldn't she take the other one off too? Why do I care? Whatever! Oh, and A.J. is still wearing all his coats, a scarf, fleece-lined boots, a balaclava, and has a duvet wrapped around his shoulders like a pashmina. And Joey's in a bikini. Okay, I'm exaggerating slightly. But ONLY SLIGHTLY. She looks all awkward and uncomfortable and he asks her what's wrong. She says, "You tell me," and asks him if he's feeling guilty right now. He says he isn't, but that he just doesn't like the idea of Morgan being out alone at night. Joey says, "Go join her. I want to go back to your room alone." A.J. doesn't understand, and Joey tells him that this is the most important night of his life, and that he should share it with Morgan, because Morgan is his muse. A.J. sputters that Morgan is just a friend, but Joey says that she's more than that -- that she encourages him to write, is selfless, blah blah blah projectioncakes (because she's totally seeing her own relationship with Dawson here). All the backing-and-forthing is pretty tedious, and it boils down to this: Joey believes that Morgan is in love with A.J., that she is his "love unspoken," like in his stupid story, and that Joey can't stand in the way of his exploring the love she believes exists between Morgan and A.J. Basically, she's dumping him for what she believes is his own good. A.J. claims his heart is broken, but he still goes to find Morgan. Smell ya later, A.J.