Episode Report Card Jessica: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Clean And Sober
By Jessica | Season 6 | Episode 14 | Aired on 02.04.2003
Party time! Jen and TGED hang around the fridge. Jen sputters that it's been a good party, "with no punching." TGED wonders if she wants a beer. "No. I'm going clean and sober tonight. Taking one for the [Blandy] team," she tells him. TGED reminds her that Blandy doesn't care if other people drink. Jen shrugs that it's "easier" this way. TGED snorts at this, but says nothing. Pacey leans in to get some things from the fridge. Jen asks how he is. Pacey shrugs that everything is fine. "I noticed the lack of fisticuffs. Thank you," she says. Pacey tells her that it's been very easy to be nice to Blandy. "We kissed, we made up, I offered him a drink, everything's fine," he says. Jen yelps that Blandy refused the drink, though, right? Pacey furrows his brow. "Why would he do that?" he asks. Jen yips that Blandy is a recovering alcoholic! "What's with all the underage alcoholics around here?" Pacey wonders, then promises that he's on the case. "Have you seen Joey?" he asks.
Speaking of Joey, she's off talking to Blandy in the hallway. She's moved from "delightfully buzzed" to "deeply in her cups." She leans drunkenly against a door jam and points at Blandy, who looks amused. "I really think it's great how you turned Jen around," she slurs. "Because, believe me, before? She was a troubled young lady." Hee. Katie Holmes seems, for the first time in two years, to actually be enjoying herself. Blandy makes the I Swear That I Am Taking You Very Seriously, Drunk Girl face, with which, I must admit, I am very familiar. "She killed a girl once." Joey leans in and says, very, very seriously. "What?" Blandy asks, shocked. "Abby Morgan. Killed her with champagne!" Joey announces drunkenly. Blandy looks around for someone to rescue him. "Want some?" Joey asks, waving her own bottle of champagne. "No. No," Blandy tells her. "Do yoooooou waaaaaaant soooooome?" Joey purrs, making a very silly face. "Mmmmmmmm," she breathes, waggling her eyebrows. Blandy looks mildly panicked, but mostly amused, as Pacey swoops in to rescue him. "Let's leave the nice man alone," he asks Joey, then turns to Blandy and off-handedly apologizes for offering him a drink.
Pacey leads Joey into another corner of the apartment, sits her on the bed, and hands her a glass of water. "He seems like a nice guy," Joey reflects. "I hope those kids work it out." Pacey nods companionably, and just sits there next to her. "Pacey," Joey begins sadly. Oh, dear. We've moving into The Maudlin And Deeply Depressed stage of drunkenness, which, at least in my life, is often accompanied by phases of I Will Never Work Again, Everyone Is Successful Except For Me, and I'll Never Be In Love Again, So Why Don't I Just Die Right Now?. "Everybody's working it out. Jen and [Blandy]. That British girl and that gross guy. I'm just no good at this. I push people away," she wails. Pacey assures her that this isn't true. "Oh no? Then why do they go out to sea or move across country or follow their dreams, just because I told them to?" she sniffles. Pacey just makes a sympathetic face. "There's always something better out there than me," she says tearfully. Pacey puts a hand on Joey's shoulder and tells her that he thinks she's looking at this the wrong way. "Maybe you're just such an amazing woman that you make these guys want to be better men," he tells her. Joey's too drunk to tell him that he ripped that off from As Good As It Gets, and just sniffles. And I'm too pleased by the fact that this episode is watchable to get into a lather about Joey and her Irritating It. "Well. We're not together," she reminds him. "True enough," he says calmly, but a bit sadly. "Yeah." Joey bursts into a smile. "Well, don't you look so glum!" she chirps. "We're talking about my sucky life. Yours," she says with a cheerful grin, "is a success!" And then she sticks her fingers in his cheeks to make him smile, but he does it of his own accord, anyway. Joey stops and puts her hand over her mouth. "Oh, I forgot! You're still not over me," she says. "Really?" Pacey asks. Joey reminds him of The Christmas Dinner From Hell. "That was one of Audrey's enlightening comments. You're still not over me. That must SUCK," she tells him. Pacey hides a smile. "Oh, it does," he tells her. "You have no idea of the hardships I go through, trying to maintain a friendship with a dream girl such as yourself. You have no idea." Joey nods sympathetically. "It gets lonely," she says. "It does. I cry myself to sleep at night. But Jack and I cuddle. It eases the pain. He's very loving," Pacey tells her. Joey laughs. "Oh, Pace," she giggles. "You know what? I am a good catch," she announces after a moment. And with that, she stands very carefully and stumbles away. Pacey wistfully watches her go.