Episode Report Card Jessica: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Capeside Revisited
By Jessica | Season 5 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.23.2001
Charlie and Jen are lolling around his dorm room, trying to entertain themselves without surrendering to the temptations of the flesh. Jen asks Charlie who his favorite President is. "I don't know. Lincoln? I am from Illinois," Charlie says. Wow, people have a favorite president, like they have a favorite color? I had no idea. Charlie, bored by Jen's game of Twenty Questions, and worried that she's going to ask about his favorite Supreme Court justice next, asks if they can get back to playing gin. "No," Jen says, "not until we find something we have in common." Charlie flings his leg over the arm of his chair and reminds her that they already have something in common: sex. But Jen doesn't think sex is really a sufficient basis for a successful relationship. Charlie begs to differ. "What possible reason could there be for two intelligent, responsible people who just happen to have an overwhelming physical attraction to each other, to deny that attraction?" he asks, coming across the room to where Jen is sitting on the bed. "Why are you leaving your side of the room?" she asks. "Because," he says, and kisses her. Jen pulls away, insisting that they really, really, really need to find something they have in common. Something. Anything. At some point. Charlie agrees, and kisses her some more. She tells him that they need to leave the room eventually. He agrees, again, and gets back to the kissing. Shortly thereafter, he turns away from her and sighs in frustration. They're out of condoms. Jen, horrified, demands that he go get one. Borrow one. Find one. Buy one. Dude, they could just have unprotected sex. Oh, save your outrage, I'm kidding! Kidding! Charlie cocks a brow and grabs her wrist. "Why borrow when you can steal?" he asks, and pulls her off the bed. Jen asks him what the hell is going on. "We're taking this relationship out of the bedroom," Charlie tells her. Nothing's more romantic than stealing condoms for your lady.
The Cutest Scene Of This Entire Season. Joey, wearing The Low-Cut Pants Of Doom, ambles toward Pacey's new boat (I'm calling it the True Love Two: Electric Boat-a-loo). On board, Pacey's fiddling with some nautical paraphernalia, sporting a red shirt and a vaguely better haircut. The Piano Music Of On-Screen Chemistry twinkles in the background as Pacey takes a swig from his root beer. Joey, unnoticed, watches him look up at the sky. "Can't see them very well, can you?" she asks. He looks over at her and smiles, startled. "At night, in the city," she continues. "What, the stars?" Pacey asks. "No, you can't see them very well, but what the hell? I've seen them all before, right?" Joey smiles up at him. "Me, too," she says. Pacey comes over and helps her onto the boat. They stare at each other, and Pacey mumbles something about "Lindley" selling him out. Joey tells him that she saw him herself, at the restaurant, but, when confronted, Jen "unraveled like a cheap suit." Pacey hypothesizes that Jen's shame over betraying him explains her absence of late, but Joey explains that Jen has "met a boy." The look at each other, all cute and awkward. "Good for her," Pacey says. More staring. "So I guess, um, [Jen] told you about these Sunday dinners we've been having," Joey offers. Pacey shifts. "Um, yeah. I seem to remember something to that effect." Joey tells him that the dinners are nice, "because it's easy to get lost in the big city." Pacey agrees. "You don't have the stars to guide you," he points out. Joey tells him he ought to come to one of the dinners, sometime, and Pacey drops his voice and tells her that he'll "try and do that." Joey fiddles with her sleeves and hems and haws and finally tells him that she would hate if he skipped the dinners because of "anything to do with [her]." Pacey looks at her quizzically. "Or this thing we shared, called 'a romance,'" Joey offers, half-smiling. "You know. It ended really badly? And there was bitterness? And tears? And recriminations?" Pacey smiles at her. "Yeah, I think I remember that," he says. "We dated once, right?" Joey screws up her face in mock consternation. "Yeah, we did, didn't we? But, you know, I've practically forgotten, now that I've slept with half the football team." Pacey grins, and helps her over toward the wheel of the boat. "Just half?" he asks. "I think that shows incredible restraint on your part." Joey tells him that she had to save the other half for her roommate. Pacey sits down, after sticking his butt in the camera for a nice, long shot, and asks about Audrey. They get to talking, comfortably, complete with banter about small spaces and snoring. Joey, sitting by the wheel, tells him that she read something for class recently about how, soon, humans may be able to regrow brain cells. "I think what it means is some point in the not so distant future, it may be possible to forget all the bad stuff and just remember the good," she offers, shyly. Pacey tells her he thinks that's already possible. They smile at each other, and Joey tells him that she wants to know all about the boat. "This is one mother of a boat," she says, grinning at him. Aww. Joey and Pacey 4EVA! Wow, I have no idea where that came from. It's just refreshing to see actors who appear to be having some small measure of fun with each other, instead of looking like they're about two seconds away from throwing themselves in front of a truck wearing a "Teen Suicide" t-shirt.
CapeSnide. Dawson packs a bag in his room, tossing sweaters angrily into his bag. Finally, he zips it up, looks around one last time, huffs, and stalks out and down the stairs. In the living room, Gale holds Lily and makes some fussy Concerned Mother noises. Dawson bids his sister farewell, and turns to face the Flash. He gives the Flash the ticket to Los Angeles, and tells him to shove it. Actually, he says that he hopes the Flash can get a refund. "Dad, I know you think I'm making a mistake," he starts. "But if I am, it's a mistake I have to make for myself. And I know when you think about this, you're going to realize that I'm only trying to be the kind of person you taught me to be." The Violins Of Dawson's Doomed Familial Structure begin as the Flash tells Dawson that he's making a huge mistake, and the Flash is disappointed in him. Then he grabs Dawson's neck, and stares into Dawson's eyes. "Never, ever, for a single second, forget that I love you. That I will always be here for you," he says. They embrace. The Flash walks outside. Dawson looks over at his mother. "He'll be fine," Gale lies, and tells her son to call his father. Dawson nods, and walks out of the house, where a taxi is waiting for him. The Flash stands on the lawn, enjoying one of his last moments on this green earth, and watches Dawson drive off to ruin his young life.