Episode Report Card Sars: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Please Please Mr. Postman
By Sars | Season 6 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.08.2002
The next morning, Jack pads through the apartment; Emma is drinking another giant seaweedaccino and providing exposition about Pacey doing the dishes when he got up at the crack of dawn. Emma: Unfunny joke about previous boyfriend. Jack says he's not going to class, and starts to explain about bombing with Freeman, but thinks better of it; when Emma presses him, he admits that they had "this really weird moment yesterday" where it seemed like Jack "was into him." Emma's like, well, did it just seem that way, or does Jack "really fancy him"? Jack admits that he fancies Freeman, but he doesn't want Freeman to know that. "Well, maybe he was flattered," Emma cheerleads. "Uh, maybe he was…married?" Jack mock-grumps. "Well, he should be flattered," Emma says. Jack inexplicably wants to try some of Emma's seaweedaccino, which is apparently just an excuse for Kerr Smith to do a spit-take, chase Emma around the apartment, tickle her, and prove that he's oh so very straight. Or something. I don't know.
Boiler Room. Pacey is in the office early. He's got his hair combed back like Bobby's. Bobby enters, there's a brief moment of alpha-male challenge gazing, they wish each other good morning, Bobby smirks, Pacey smirks, whatever.
Joey runs to class, late again. Get an alarm clock, Potter. At the door, she hesitates, then forces herself to go in. Flip-Flops gives her guff about class interfering with her "all-important email schedule," and asks if she "whip[ped] out another diatribe last night." Heh: "Whipped out." Joey is determined to take it on the chin, and jokes that she did, actually. Nodding towards the handout the rest of the class is holding, she asks, "Did you guys not get it?" Flip-Flops isn't going to let her play, though, sniffing that the handout is actually the assigned follow-up reading; he hands her a copy and smarms that he figures her "mini-drama" prevented her from checking the syllabus. Joey sets her jaw and reminds him that yesterday, they spent most of the class "eviscerating [her] personal life," and the rest of the session consisted of "a rant composed of [his] dated theories." Flip-Flops turns around to face her with a look approaching respect as she continues that she's sorry she's late, but "the first half of class is usually when you reveal how bitter you are, how moronic we are, and how literature is dead. Were you thinking of moving on to something slightly more stimulating today?" Oh, please. I mean, I don't think Flip-Flops's attack on her email is right or anything, and I imagine the writers meant us to cheer Joey for standing up to Flip-Flops, but it's kind of like the "Pacey spits on Mr. Peterson" incident -- it's unrealistic, too pat, way out of proportion to the teacher's misdeeds, and hella manipulative.
Then of course we get a bunch of shots of random student extras exchanging "check out the balls on It Girl" looks, just in case we didn't know to root for Joey, like, whatever, he'll become her mentor, nobody cares, move on already. Flip-Flops continues to semi-beam at Joey before blithering about how he thought he'd teach today, but he doesn't know if he has much to offer, "what with the tenure and the published articles and all." Joey half-smiles as he introduces James Joyce's the girl on the beach by saying that he's "too hackneyed to illuminate the subject, but maybe someone else can shed some light." Then Flip-Flops calls on another student. Across the room, Joey catches Oliver's eye. He wiggles his brows at her by way of congratulations, and she smirks back.