Episode Report Card Sars: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Full Moon Rising
By Sars | Season 2 | Episode 5 | Aired on 11.03.1998
Cut to the Leery kitchen, where The Flash says, "It's not what you think, Dawson," as Dawson paces around the table at which The Flash and Gale sit. Dawson does the Bad Blocking 101 frustration arm-flap and says, "What I'm thinking are [sic] that you two have completely lost your minds. When -- when were you planning on telling me, when you had the revolving door installed?" That's gonna sting. Oh, and go Dawson. Dawson wants to know what they were thinking. Gale seems to think she has the high ground and says smugly, "You hear that, Mitch? Our son wants to know why we're having an open marriage. So would I. Talk to your father," and she purses her lips. Um, Gale, if you didn't want to go along with the open marriage thing, why did you? Whatever. The Flash tries to wiggle out of it with, "Look, it's complicated, all right?" but Dawson's bulldog pout demands a further explanation, so The Flash says, "Your mother and I were attempting to heal some areas in our marriage." Dawson jumps in with the summary judgment, "And you thought an open marriage was the answer," before throwing himself petulantly into a chair. The Flash: "Okay, I admit, it was a mistake." Dawson: "It doesn't take a degree in psychobabble to figure that one out, Dad." Gale: "My thoughts exactly."
The Flash jumps up and literally points the finger at Gale, shouting, "Now exactly where do you get off being angry? You did this, Gale, I didn't," as Dawson looks horrified, and The Flash goes on, "We wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't put us here," and as Dawson puts his head in his hands, Gale pushes back from the table too and says, "I give up, Mitch -- I can't apologize anymore. I've got a colleague in the other room," and as Gale and her giant bangs start to leave, Dawson tells her she has to stay and "fix this," and Gale says, "No, I have to get back to work if I'm gonna continue to support your father and his pipe dreams," and The Flash barks, "You have never supported me -- ever," and Gale's face squinches up so she looks Charo, and as Dawson looks back and forth from Gale to The Flash like a dog at a tennis match, Gale says in resentful disbelief, "I have been supporting you for years," and The Flash mutters, "There's more than one way to support someone, Gale. You stand behind them and you encourage them and you believe in them -- you don't turn your back on them and jump into somebody else's bed," and as Gale starts crying, Dawson shouts, "Dad!" and Gale whimpers, "I'm sorry, Dawson" and turns to leave as Dawson calls out, "Mom!" and as she goes out of the room he does the enraged arm-flap honed in Bad Blocking 102 and yells, "Gah [sic] -- Dad! You can't just let it go, can you? Look, she made a mistake, all right -- I know that, you know that, she knows that, she's been trying to get you to forgive her and you just won't let her off the hook!" and The Flash turns around and glares at Dawson with his neck muscles twitching. Dawson continues to flail about as he says, "You've gotta -- you've gotta get beyond your own ego and just forgive her," and can I hear an "AMEN" from the people, and Dawson breathes heavily to denote emotional turbulence, and as The Flash slumps towards to the table and heavily sits down, Dawson says, "Make the decision, all right? Commit, and then go in there and -- fix this family." The Flash puts his hands to his forehead. Dawson sits down and tells him that he has to fix this, and The Flash says, "I don't know how to fix it, I don't know what to do, and I don't have any answers," keeping his head down so we can't see the lack of expression on his face when he pretends to start crying: "I thought I did. My dad -- your granddad had answers -- to every question. He taught me so much. He taught me how to shave, you know, he taught me how to drive a car, save money, build a house even, but you know he never told me what to do if my wife cheated on me," and as Dawson looks taken aback under his Muppet hair, The Flash whimpers, "I didn't know to ask -- I didn't know," and bites the back of his hand and hangs his head on the table and tries to cry and makes a lot of snurfling sounds as Dawson puts his hand on his father's shoulder and looks pained as he realizes that adults don't have all the answers blah blah blah disillusionment blah blah blah powerlessness blah blah blah weight of the world on his shoulders blah blah blah fishcakes.