Oh, brother. Previously on Dawson's Creek, the producers assumed that nobody who tuned in this week would ever have watched the show before, or watched any other show, or gone outdoors and engaged in human contact at any time since the invention of the cathode ray. So, here's what happened. The Big Bang formed the universe, including the Milky Way galaxy, in which our solar system resides. Earth, originally a molten ball, formed and cooled. Little teeny cells became fish, which became dinosaurs, which became the National Football League. Then all the dinosaurs died, and man came along and drew in a cave or two, and then he made fire, refined sugar, and color TV. Then Lucy had Little Ricky, Jack Ruby shot Oswald, Deborah Norville got fired, I had to tape over a copy of Bail Out starring David Hasselhoff because I ran out of blank tapes and didn't realize it until 7:58 on Wednesday, Dawson got into USC, Joey got into Worthington, Pacey sulked a bit, Jack wanted to go to the University of New York but Jen didn't like the idea, Tom Frost quizzed Jen on the last conversation she had with her father, Jen couldn't remember, the Chinese released US personnel after the spy-plane incident, and then the sweet Lord came to take me home.
Fade up on the Sanctum Dawsonorum, where Dawson "Cherry Cherry Quite Contrary" Leery and Gretchen "Centrum Silver" Witter play a board game -- The Game Of Life, or perhaps The Game Of No Life, which would suit the players better. Gretchen asks what he's thinking, and Dawson parries with "nothing" before admitting that he's thinking about Joey, and how she and Jen got on a train to New York earlier. Good Lord, Dawson. "Nothing" would have gotten the job done -- you couldn't just leave it at that? Gretchen's head snaps around when she hears the word "Joey," and she asks all casually whether they don't have school the day; Dawson dons the exposition sombrero and informs her that "it's ditch day." Gretchen tells a boring story about her senior ditch day which contains a feebly contrived sixties-film reference, possibly because Gretchen's senior ditch day took place in the sixties. The eighteen-sixties. Anyway, it seems that Gretchen and her friends drove all night to the Virginia border, got out, looked around, turned around and drove home. Wow, that's a great story. I hope she tells it again. Not. I totally don't. Anyway, Dawson pouts that he's never done anything "like that" in his life, "with anyone." Gretchen shrugs, "Why not?" "Because it's stupid -- and besides, have you seen the price of a gallon of gas lately?" Dawson snorts. No, he doesn't. He just arches The Eyebrow Of Impending Spontaneity at her. Oh, no.
Cut to Dawson dragging Gretchen by the hand down the stairs of Pregnancy Pavilion, Gretchen protesting, "What about Life? I was about to retire in style." Yeah, no kidding. You already get to see movies for five bucks, lady. Ohhhh, she's talking about the game! I get it. I do! Wait -- do I? Then Dawson clears it up for me by saying that "[they're] going to abandon Life for awhile." See what he did there? "Life"/"life"? That is deep, man. Dawson announces that they're going to get in the car and drive. Gretchen says she didn't mean her story as a suggestion; she just had a nostalgic moment. It doesn't matter, Dawson says; it's "exactly what" they need. He continues hauling her towards the door. Gretchen comments that it sounds like a Bruce Springsteen song, and while I start singing "Baby We Were Born To Run" under my breath -- replacing the word "run" with the word "hurl" -- Dawson begins babbling about "epic" and "romantic" and "crazy" and "perfect," and he stuffs Gretchen into her jacket, which I think she stole from the set of Buffy because Willow had on the exact same one in the last episode. Gretchen says they don't have to go right then, but Dawson says that "time is running out," and asks if she doesn't feel "the absolute urgency of this moment," and then he kisses her. And then he drags her out the door. Without telling his parents he's leaving. Or charging his cell phone. Whatever.
Different credits, no Meredith Monroe. Huh?
God, The Forsaken looks bad, bad, bad. I can't wait to see it.
Slow pan in close-up around Jen "Father And Child Reunion" Lindley, looking wistful, as Tom "My Husband" Frost comments in the background, "You're very quiet today." She says she's sorry. "Don't be -- tell me what's on your mind." Jen doesn't think it's important, but Tom Frost says, "We'll see." Jen thinks for a second, then asks Tom Frost if he knows the song "Sweet Jane." "Hmmm, 'Sweet Jane' -- Cowboy Junkies?" he asks, and as Demian and others have so astutely pointed out, it's hard to believe that Tom Frost wouldn't know that Lou Reed did the original version of the song, but Jen corrects Tom Frost somewhat absently and says that the song is stuck in her head, and she used to really love it and "learned it by heart."
Fade to Grand Central Station -- the real one, not a set -- where Jen and Joey "No Refund, No Exchange" Potter walk through the main hall and Joey babbles on about a schedule and blah, and they have to split up and then meet for a dinner of exposition sushi at eight and blah, and shouldn't they plan ahead so that Jen can find her way through "the maze that is Greenwich Village" and blah, and "this is a very, very fast-paced city" and blah blah blah. Slooooooow pan up to the high windows of Grand Central. Loooooong establishing shot of skyscrapers. Chrysler Building. Joey looking around in wonderment. Crucial elements of plot getting sacrificed on the altar of New York scenery.
Drue "Carey" Valentine wanders into a classroom to find "Setting The" Pacey Witter working at a desk. He asks what Pacey's doing there. Pacey snips that he heard Drue would be there, and he didn't want to miss a "morsel" of Drue's "flamboyant wit," whatever that's supposed to mean. Drue tells a tiresome, overly florid story about why he's there; long story short, he's a discipline case with too many tardies, which I think we could have figured out on our own. Pacey tries to shoo him away by saying that he's taking a quiz that's, you know, actually really a test, and then he has a lot of studying to do, but Drue interrupts to suggest that, after Pacey takes his quiz/test/whatever and their attendance "is duly noted," they blow off afternoon classes and "go get dangerous." Oh, please. Who wrote this dialogue, Prince? "Boy, that sounds real tempting, but no," Pacey snarks. Drue takes a rated-PG page from Risky Business and tells Pacey that sometimes he just has to "say 'what the hell' and live a little." Pacey rolls his eyes and says that, tomorrow, he's got another test that's "twice as big" as the one he's taking now, so, basically, Drue can get bent. Drue says, "It does make you wonder, though." No, it doesn't, Drue. Shut up. Alas, Pacey takes the bait, snapping, "Wonder what?" What Joey's doing while Pacey "rot[s] away in academic prison." On that note, Drue leaves. Pacey bites his lip.
ZZ Top-esque chords escort us into a mad montage of Manhattan clips, just to make sure we know that it's a crazy city that moves really really fast. Because we've never seen a movie before. Or a TV show. Or read a book. Or heard of New York City. Because we live in the Mariana Trench. Cut to Jen and Joey entering what looks like a café, and a guy with dreads says incredulously, "Jen Lindley?" and they hug; Jen's so glad he's there, and she introduces him to Joey as "Typo." He has a funky name, because he lives in Manhattan, and that confers funkiness upon him. See? Do you see? DO YOU? Jen hugs Typo again, and tells Joey that he's "one of the very best people in a city of twelve million." Um, writers? New York has eight and a half million residents, not twelve. Newborn babies know that. Anyway, as Joey looks overwhelmed by the big-city-ness of it all, Typo asks what brings them to town, and Jen explains that Joey's taking care of her: "She's my keeper." Typo says Jen "always needed one of those." Jen adds that Joey's never seen New York before, and Typo exclaims over the shame of that and doesn't know where Joey could possibly buy her clothes, which made me laugh. The three of them sit down, and Jen pumps Typo for the gossip, asking if anyone got married or pregnant or died, like, she's seventeen! It's not a fifth college reunion, for god's sake. Typo blathers that everyone's still there, that they don't see some people much anymore, that he still meets "Ben and Monica for lunch at Barney Greengrass on Wednesdays." Okay, that really sounds like college-reunion talk -- and it's ludicrous. High-school students do not "do lunch," in Manhattan or anywhere else, on a school day. It's New York, not a Jackie Collins novel, "writers." Jen says happily that that day is Wednesday, and she can't wait for Joey to see Barney Greengrass, which I don't think opened for business until after Jen had left the city, but whatever -- Joey nags her about her appointment with the admissions officer at UNY, and Jen tells Typo that she got in. Typo asks if it's possible that they'll "get [her] back" to New York, and Jen says with false cheer that she's "contemplating it," and asks what he thinks. "Dumb question," he snorts. Joey reminds her that it's far away from home, and then says that she can't believe there's any debate about whether Jen will go back, and those two statements don't really go together, but Jen ignores the weird phrasing and cracks the old "you can't go home again" chestnut instead. Joey gives her a smiling "okay, whatever you say" look. Jen looks around ruefully.
Capeside High. A teacher enters and hails Pacey as his "favorite and only senior." Aw, poor Pacey. The teacher expositions that he thinks all the college acceptance letters have gone out, and inconsiderately asks about Pacey's "options," which Pacey describes grimly as "narrowing by the minute." As the rest of the class begins filing in -- and I don't get that. Does Pacey take classes with the juniors now to make up work? Maybe they could have cut one of the umpteen montages in this episode and given us a bit of backstory here -- the teacher hands out "the first quiz of the rest of [Pacey's] life," and Pacey and I both give him a flat "that's really really not funny, at all" stare.
Roadside. The Dawsonmobile has caught a flat. Cue The Clarinet Of Non-Wacky Misadventures as we find out that Dawson doesn't have a spare tire. Gretchen bitches at him, but not unkindly, and then says that she's "excited" about it, because it's this kind of "unforeseen complication" that makes it "an adventure and not just an excursion," like, thanks for that, Hunter S. Trampson, but it's a flat tire, not a zig-zag-wanderer call to arms, so get back on the Dead bus and shut up. No such luck -- she grabs Dawson and lays one on him. "What was that for?" "Inspiration," she smarms. God, Gretchen -- shut up. Gretchen tells him to hide behind the car so that they can hitch a ride, because people won't pick up "a babe and her boyfriend," but Dawson ixnays the hitching idea with a reasonably funny Rutger Hauer reference. "Well, what then?" Gretchen asks. Dawson spots a sign that says "Willowby, ME 6 miles" on it and shrugs, "Walking distance." He talks Gretchen into it, and off they go on the ankle express.
School. The rest of the class passes their tests forward as Pacey scribbles madly, trying to finish. Finally, when the teacher comes to loom over him, he reluctantly turns in the quiz, and fiddles with his pencil glumly as the rest of the class gathers up their things and makes to leave.
St. Mark's Place in the East Village. Wow, nice location. It's not really close to NYU, but my brother lives nearby and he's an undergrad there, so I'll let it slide. Joey quizzes Jen on the admissions officer's name, which Jen has apparently mangled in about seven different ways over the course of the day; this goes on and on, and on, and on some more, and moments before the sun caves in on itself and collapses the rest of the entire solar system into its density field, we finally get to the point -- namely, that Joey thinks Jen doesn't have an appointment at UNY at all. Jen slides her eyes to one side by way of acknowledgement. Joey asks diffidently, "What are we doing here?" Jen looks like she might cry as she sighs, "I gotta see my dad." Michelle Williams's hair looks incredible, by the way. Jen explains that she's done some thinking lately about "why things are the way they are," and she won't know until she sees her father. Joey looks concerned as Jen encourages her to "take in the city" because she's only got one day and lots of things to see, and not to worry, "I'll be fine, most likely." She'll meet Joey at eight at the Mercer Hotel for dinner. Joey smiles and says that Jen paid attention to her anal-retentive schedule after all. Jen just smiles back and tells her to "be careful out there," but as she starts to walk past Joey, Joey frowns and calls out that she feels like she's not going to see Jen again. "You will," Jen says quietly, and heads off. Joey thinks it over, frowns again, and turns to yell, "Yeah, I will." She runs to catch up with Jen; she's coming with. "I'm your keeper," she says, taking Jen's arm. Aw. I wish these two had become friends sooner…and with more lead-up, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
If it's wrong to walk around imitating the Lipton commercial where the claymation Rocky Balboa is all, "Yo -- that's brisk, baby!" then I don't want to be right.
Loooong pan of small-town Maine quaintness -- just how short did the original cut of this episode run, anyway? Did they only have twenty-eight minutes of footage or something? -- as The Folksy Guitar Of Small-Town Folksy Quaint Small-Townitude plucks away on the soundtrack. Twilight Zone snark from Dawson. Whatever -- you live in Capeside. You constantly refer to the smallness of Capeside. It's not like Willowby is that much smaller than where you live. So shut up. Anyway, Dawson and Gretchen have a quaint encounter with Irv, the proprietor of Irv's Garage. Exactly how quaint, you might ask? Well, Irv -- an Andy Griffith manqué -- has named his ancient truck "Eleanor Roosevelt." Yo -- that's quaint, baby! Turns out Irv can't help them tow the Jeep in, because Eleanor Roosevelt is having carburetor trouble, and he can't drive them in another car either because…oh, who gives a crap. Here's the short version: Dawson offers to help fix Eleanor Roosevelt, and then Irv can give them a ride back to Dawson's Jeep. Gretchen makes an unfunny joke about loving a man who smells like motor oil -- and she should know, since Dawson ordinarily wears a good pint of it on his head -- and wanders off to get food.
Jen and Joey get off the elevator in a posh office building. A sign on the door reads "Warner Saks Lindley Venture Group." Jen barges determinedly towards said door, but Joey stops her, reminding her that "urgent realization and revelation" (fuh?) brought Jen to New York to see, and confront, her father. Joey has a feeling that it'll "be one of the seminal moments in [Jen's] entire life," and she's "been there…or at least close enough to know that it only happens once," so Jen should take a moment to "think about what that's gonna be." Jen nods thoughtfully.
Capeside cafeteria. Pacey's poignant situation is brought home to us by the frustratingly empty ketchup bottle at his table, where he sits sad and alone. The ketchup bottle makes one last flizzorrrrpptt sound to symbolize how empty Pacey feels -- do you get it? Because I can go over it again. No? You sure? Okay. Pacey glares over at Drue, who's chatting up a couple of blondes about the quiz at a nearby table. Drue looks over, smiling sleazily. Pacey makes an almost imperceptible "let's blow this joint" motion with his head, and Drue nods back at him.
Office bathroom, where Jen splashes water on her face and Joey sits on the sink, looking concerned again. Jen blots her face. Joey asks quietly, "Jen…what happened to you?" Jen, close to tears again, says that she used to hate Capeside as a kid; Grams terrified her, and whenever her mother decided to go visit, Jen "just completely didn't want to go." One time when Jen was twelve, on a Friday, her mother planned to bring her to Capeside, and her father "had all this work to do" so he didn't go, and Jen fought and complained all the way to the train station, but for some reason, Jen's mother let her off the hook and told her to go home and spend the weekend with her dad. Jen, leaning against a stall partition now, struggles not to cry as she goes on to say that it shocked her that she'd won the argument, that she'd gotten out of going to Capeside and could spend a whole weekend with her father; Joey listens, and when Jen gets to the part about spending a whole weekend with her dad, Joey smiles regretfully, probably thinking about her own father. Jen starts to say, "I really loved my dad, but --" and then someone else comes in to use the ladies', so the girls exchange a "we'll do this later" look and grab their bags to leave. Good acting by both actresses there.
Maine. Gretchen has a quaint small-town crustiness encounter with a quaint small-town diner waitress.
Mr. Lindley's office. A secretary comes in to announce Jen and Joey, snotting that "one of them is saying she's your daughter." Mr. L freezes in the headlights, then motions imperiously for the secretary to show the girls in; he takes a moment to arrange his face, and when Jen comes in, he swoops her into a huge hug. Over his shoulder, Jen looks annoyed, and she sort of semi-resists him and rolls her eyes and basically does an excellent imitation of a cat getting picked up by a total stranger. Mr. L calls Jen "angel" and says he's so glad to see her, and finally Jen wriggles away. Joey looks uncomfortable. Mr. L does Booming Dad Voice in Joey's direction, and Jen introduces them. Mr. L's first name is Theo. Oy. Mr. L asks what brings them to New York, and as Jen looks angrily away, Joey says that she'd never gone to New York before, and also that Jen got accepted at UNY. Mr. L stares at Jen, entranced, and then calls the secretary and tells her that Jen got accepted to UNY and to cancel the rest of his "day" and make them lunch reservations. Jen tries to interrupt, but he won't hear it, raving that a daughter getting into college, any college, is "a big event in a father's life -- huge, even." Jen smiles shyly as her father adds that it's "more important than some lame business meeting. We're gonna celebrate." "Lame"? Shut up, Mr. L. Jen looks like she might cry. So does Mr. L. Joey regards Mr. L with suspicion, then regards the floor with sudden and intense interest. Jen swallows hard.
Okay, kids? Quit setting yourselves on fire. Just…quit it.
Drue and Pacey enter a roadhouse-y kind of place, which has a nice mid-afternoon clientele happening considering that it's a weekday. As they stand in the doorway, Obi Witter Kenobi intones, "Mos Eisley. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." Tee hee! Drue hands Pacey a fake ID, and there's some non-amusing banter about the "balding Asian man in his forties" that Pacey is impersonating before the waitress comes over, eyes the "David Kebo of Rhode Island" driver's license, and agrees to bring them three rounds of tequila. More weird non-expositional exposition about running a tab and Drue's birthday present from his dad (money, I assume, but again, who cares) before Drue begins to deliver a lecture on why he brought Pacey to the Big Ace Saloon. Pacey suggests that it's because Drue doesn't want to drink alone; Drue cops to that, but says there's more, namely that the Big Ace is right door to Capeside Community College, an establishment which Drue suspects might figure heavily in Pacey's future. Pacey sighs, "Yes," and says that school felt lonely that day: "I mean, everybody's gone." Drue shrugs that it's ditch day, and Pacey slits his eyes at Drue and thinks better of unburdening himself, saying he doesn't think he wants to have "this conversation" -- i.e. how he'll get left behind year -- with anyone, much less with Drue. Drue shrugs again, saying he thought Pacey should see "this place," and "despite the stigma of failure," he'll have a place to go, blah blah blah Cheers-cakes. They toast to "the future" and down the first of their tequila shots.
Maine. Irv. Quaintness. Turns out Dawson and Gretchen don't have enough money to pay for the tire, and Dawson tries to trade Irv for working on the truck, but Irv won't have it and boots them out of the truck. But, you know, in a nice, quaint, small-town folksiness sort of way, which shoots for "humorous" but misses by about a week and a half. Dawson and Gretchen stand on the shoulder, at a loss.
The West Side Grill. Joey, Jen, and Mr. L sit down, and Mr. L gets all imperious with the waiter and tells him to tell the chef he's there, "he'll know what to make." Okay, we get it. You have connections. Whoop dee doo. He also orders a Glenlivet for himself and a Shirley Temple for Jen, which has about a dozen creepy overtones. "Dad?" "Yes, sweetheart?" Mr. L fixes Jen with a look. Joey looks over at Jen also. Jen promptly loses her nerve and says she "forgot." Awkward pause. Joey takes the opportunity to brag on Jen, telling Mr. L that although she's "too modest" to say so, Jen got into five out of the six schools she applied to. Mr. L, already acting tipsy, raves that that's "really excellent," and goes on to blather that he only got into one school, Princeton, and so did I, but I wouldn't call that a shout-out except for the fact that it's totally immaterial to the plot and never comes up again, so -- yay, shout-out. I, um, guess. Anyway, Joey adds that Jen has a lot of choices, and Mr. L says that she also has "impeccable judgment," which is completely at odds with the fact that he and Mrs. L sent Jen away to live with her grandmother, but whatever -- Mr. L asks Joey where she's headed year, and she says it looks like she's going to Boston. Mr. L makes another drunk face and whines, "What about New York?" He calls the city an education and an inspiration, and when Joey timids that it's "kind of big," Mr. L is all "that's damn right" and starts babbling about how he's lived there for thirty years and it still surprises him every day. "How?" "How what?" "How does it surprise you every day?" Joey asks, politely, but sort of challengingly too. Mr. L, caught off guard, has to think about it, and Joey shoots Jen a conspiratorial look; Jen looks back miserably as Mr. L begins to expound on the Big Apple. Describing the "driving pace" of Manhattan life, he compares it to "a living organism, breathing and changing, and over time your relationship to it becomes…like this incredible romance." Joey nods politely; Mr. L stares at her almost seductively and continues, "At first, it's intoxicating -- irresistible. And then slowly it becomes…comfortable and safe. You have this cellular connection to it, as if you've known each other forever, like your oldest happiness." Shot of Jen staring bleakly into the middle distance. Mr. L is on a roll: "And sometimes you're on the outs, and sometimes you're makin' up -- and every now and then you catch yourself in this transcendent moment, where you think to yourself, 'Oh my god, I'm madly in love with you, and I always will be.'" By the end, he's practically drooling on Joey. Still, he's right about the love/hate relationship most of us have with the city, even if he expresses it cheesily. Some days, I look around and can't believe I live here. Anyway, Mr. L nearly has an orgasm right there at the table before catching himself and explaining, "And I think that's why it surprises me." Joey, abashed, says, "Good answer," and smiles all embarrassed at Jen. Jen shoots her an "I hate my life" look and pouts.
Roadside. It's dark now. Gretchen won't give Dawson a sandwich until he comes up with a plan. I've got a plan -- cancel the show! No? Okay, well, how about AAA? No? Don't have it? Hmm. All right, then -- cell phone? No, of course not -- didn't bring it, not contrived enough. So Gretchen sits on the hood of the Jeep and needles Dawson. Dawson begs for his "beef sandwich." Um…ew? Gretchen refuses to surrender the beef. Ew again. Sorry. Dawson announces that they'll find a phone and call his parents and have them wire money. Gretchen doesn't think Dawson knows how wiring money actually works. Heh. Dawson says that he's "seen the commercials," and then sort of trails off. Hee hee! He growls in mock frustration and stomps away. Gretchen laughs at him. Why couldn't they just, I don't know, decide to camp out? Why did they have to have a flat tire at all? If Dawson can just take off in the middle of the night without informing his parents…oh, forget it. I don't care enough to argue.
The Big Ace Saloon. Drue and Pacey, thoroughly soused, have gathered several other ne'er-do-wells at their table. Pacey wins a hand of cards, and as he sweeps the money towards him, the bartender comes over and asks how they're doing. "Mighty big fun, Mack, mighty big fun!" Drue slurs, clapping Mack on the shoulder. Shout-out? Nah, probably not. Mack addresses Pacey as "Dave," the name on Pacey's fake ID, and Pacey's a little late in catching his snap. Semi-hostile back-and-forth designed to prove that Pacey doesn't know Rhode Island, where he's ostensibly from, during which Drue cringes drunkenly; after Mack busts on him, Pacey heaves himself to his feet and Westerns, "You calling me a liar?" Drue stares at him for a split second before laughing like a hyena, and Pacey cracks up too, and Mack glares at the both of them as they fall about laughing at themselves.
West Side Grill. Pan around Joey and Jen at the table, Joey sipping her drink and Jen seething; Mr. L's chair is empty. Mr. L blusters back in shortly thereafter, rambling on about how something's come up at the office and he has to get back. Jen is nearly panting, she's so upset, but Mr. L is oblivious, urging the girls to order anything they want because it's all paid for, and he counts off a bunch of bills and tells Jen to "show [Joey] some magic." Oh, that's classy. He leans down to kiss Jen goodbye, and she flinches away. Then he says goodbye to Joey and takes off, glibbing over his shoulder, "Jennifer, I love ya, you get more beautiful all the time," and glad-handing his way out of the restaurant. Jen glares after him, her eyes filling; Joey looks after him too, then turns back to Jen with a "hey…you okay?" face, but Jen averts her gaze and twists her lips to keep from crying. Michelle Williams's acting is kicking ass, by the way.
Jen and Joey emerge on a rooftop; Joey does her Country Mouse open-mouthed-marveling thing while Jen points out various neighborhoods and highlights of the skyline. The order in which she names them doesn't make sense, given that the rooftop seems like it's in Queens in the first place, but let's just ignore that. "God, I do love this town," Jen sighs. "So, this is New York City," Joey says, grinning in awe. Jen says that "this ain't the half of it -- and it is so much better up close," and Joey thanks Jen: "This blows my mind. You blow my mind." Jen nods to herself and thanks Joey for coming with her that day: "I needed you." After a moment, Joey nods in response, "I know." Unnecessarily extended shots of the two of them looking at the Manhattan skyline. Then there's a pan over what looks like the 59th Street Bridge to Jen, slumped against the retaining wall on the roof; Joey walks over to her, and I think it's implied that some time has passed, but it's not clear. Joey leans on the wall beside Jen and asks what happened after Jen's mom left her on the platform at Grand Central. Jen says "um," thinking of a lie, and opts to say she spent the weekend wandering the city on her own. Joey makes a "whaaat?" face and asks where Jen slept, and Jen says that on the first night, she slept in an office-building parking lot, which I doubt, since every parking lot I've ever seen in the city is either a paid business with guards who would shoo teenagers off, or a padlocked vacant lot littered with needles where even a twelve-year-old wouldn't be stupid enough to lie down. The night, Jen passed out in the VIP room of a club, and she laughs it off, but Joey looks extremely worried indeed. The last night -- the weekend had three nights? Hello, script editor? -- Jen spent in the dorm room of a guy she'd met in a bar. Joey asks in a sad but firm tone why Jen didn't go home "to be with [her] father," and after a pause, Jen grits out, "I did." She looks away from Joey, then down, then stands up straight, stammering that she has to go. Joey nods and says she knows, and Jen apologizes and asks if Joey will be okay by herself. Joey says she'll be fine -- will Jen? Yes, Jen says, "maybe for the first time." "I feel like…" Joey trails off. "What?" "I still feel like we're not gonna see you again." Not meeting Joey's eye, Jen murmurs, "We'll see," and makes to go inside, but Joey stops her to remind her that their train "leaves at eleven -- make it? I mean, we need you back there." Aw. Jen nods inscrutably and walks away. Joey frowns some more.
A "beach," which looks more like an alcoholic set designer's conception of the surface of the moon than like any beach I've ever seen, but I'll just roll with it. Dawson and Gretchen canoodle in front of a fire, and there's banter about Dawson making said fire and Boy Scouting and Gretchen's "impressed" and blah dee bloo. In the back of the shot, waves crash, so I guess it's actually a beach after all and not artfully arranged chunks of painted Styrofoam. Anyway, Gretchen deems Dawson's outdoorsy acumen "extremely sexy," a line that's bad enough, but then Dawson has to stomp it flat by goobering, "How sexy?" Gretchen gives him an almost-cross-eyed come-hither look. Dawson moves in for the kiss. Van Der Beek's left eyebrow is so thick and tangly that it seriously has mini-dreadlocks in it. Gross. If you refuse to tweeze, at least get a brow comb, James. That's really nasty. Speaking of nasty, they mack for a couple of seconds before Gretchen stops him, wanting to know "what's going on with" him. Dawson thinks that over for a second before saying that "today is a perfect example" of how their visions for their lives "conflict with reality's." "Reality's"? Shut up, Dawson. Gretchen adopts a confused mien as Dawson blabbers on about "distortions" and "delusions," and still thinking that "everything should be perfect," and that "Joey and [he] should have slept together for the first time," and after he chooses to say that out loud instead of quietly whispering it into a hole, or writing it on a piece of paper and burning the paper, or any of about a thousand ways of dealing with the situation that could have avoided hurting Gretchen's feelings, Gretchen absorbs the blow by blinking and looking ill, like, welcome to the club, honey. Dawson adds that he's realized he has to "let go," and Gretchen looks down, presumably thinking to herself that she's got his letting go RIGHT HERE, but as usual Dawson pays her no mind, continuing that "it's time" and that "there's so much ahead of him," like college and his parents' new baby -- and Gretchen. "So what are you saying?" Gretchen says. Oh, Gretchen, you poor thing. He's saying that he sees you as second best. Hear that, please, and run away. Dawson cheeses that he's in love with her, and he no longer remembers "what [we're] waiting for." Gretchen, hypnotized by the Rastafarian eyebrow mere inches from her own, murmurs, "Neither do I," and Dawson leans in to kiss her again. Fortunately, we cut away…
…to Jen's old apartment, where she stands in the foyer, brow resolutely furrowed, and looks around. She sees herself in the mirror and stares at her reflection for a moment, then squares her shoulders and moves away, padding through the hall of a well-appointed duplex towards a study with a fire blazing in the fireplace. In April. In New York. Whatever. Her face begins to crumple. Cut to a glass of cognac; pan up to Mr. L passed out in a chair beside the glass, and as Jen walks almost silently behind his chair, he stirs and half opens his eyes: "Jennifer?" "I took a cab here," Jen chokes out. "What?" Mr. L snaps, coming out of it. Jen says she had "these visions" of coming in and announcing that she "wasn't going to Capeside," and Mr. L blinks the crust from his eyes and interrupts to ask what she's talking about. "You'd smile, and we'd -- we'd go for a walk," Jen quavers, and Mr. L interrupts again to tell her that "it's really late," like, it's your daughter, not the Fuller Brush man, you jackass. Mr. L angrily sips from the cognac snifter; Jen says she came up the stairs and unlocked the door, but she didn't hear anything, so she thought maybe he wasn't there. Mr. L, not getting that she's talking about five years ago, grouses that he "was just resting," but he's awake now. Jen stammers over him that then she heard "a voice, a…whimper," and it sounded far away, and then she heard it again. Oh, no. Mr. L stares at her; he's going for uncomprehending, but it looks like he's started to figure out what Jen's on about. Jen "recognized" the whimper, and she knew "that it was Annie." Mr. L closes his eyes tightly all "busted" but recovers with a sharp, "Who?" Annie Sawyer, who lived downstairs, and who "was probably the age [Jen is] right now" at the time. Mr. L just stares at Jen; Jen stares at him, half furious and half pleading, and tells him, "She was my favorite person in the whole world." Mr. L again tries to play the who-in-the-what-now card with, "And…she was in our apartment?" "You were having sex with her," Jen half sobs. Oh, come on. That's it? That's the big secret? That's really, really feeble, writers. Not that I looked forward to an incest storyline by any means, but -- really. That's just weak.
Anyway, Mr. L can't decide whether to go with "you're right" or "you're crazy," so he makes a weird gesture with his head that sort of splits the difference as Jen adds, "But you were careless." He'd left the bedroom door open, and Jen could see in through the door from the hallway. Mr. L gets to his feet, telling Jen that she "need[s] some help" and asking if she's "talked to anyone? About this?" It sounds more like he's trying to discern whether Jen's ratted him out to anyone "important" than like he's asking whether she's in therapy, which figures, given his jackassery in the episode -- and the series -- thus far. Jen doesn't respond, numbly telling him that she backed down the hall and went downstairs and disappeared "in a big crowd" on Fifth Avenue. She heaves a sigh: "It was after that that things started to get really bad, didn't they?" Mr. L just stares at her in patent dismay before muttering angrily that Jen has "imagined in very great detail" something that never happened "a very long time ago." Jen shakes her head at him and weeps, "Dad, who are you?" Shawshank-esque piano music plays as Mr. L pauses; the question seems to hit him where he lives, because his mouth moves but no sound comes out. Finally, he manages, "I'm your father." Jen's face works as she struggles to say, "You knew…didn't you?" Mr. L blinks guiltily in answer. "Oh god, all this time -- my life got uglier and messier, and then you sent me away -- you made me feel ashamed -- you, you punished me for all these things that were beyond my control," Jen cries, then gets a grip on herself and says in a more level tone, "You saw me standing in the doorway. And you never said anything." Mr. L, staring down like he doesn't care anymore, says half-heartedly, "I wasn't -- I didn't…" Jen cuts him off, saying she doesn't want a confession or an apology, and she doesn't have to forgive him: "All I have to do…is forgive myself, for these things that I can't change." She heaves another sigh and says, more evenly, "Goodbye, Daddy," while Mr. L stares at her, now fearfully. He starts to say something, then thinks better of it. That scene proved nothing and came as something of an anticlimax, but Michelle Williams acted the pants off of it.
Fade to Pacey sulking in the back of a patrol car. Pan across Drue hurling theatrically and over to an annoyed Doug "Flutie" Witter pulling up in a squad car. The other patrolman informs Doug that they picked up Drue and Pacey "for drunk-and-disorderly -- you know the drill," and Doug rolls his eyes and gestures at Pacey. Drue barfs some more. Pacey heaves himself out of the car and walks slowly over to Doug, wearing a stern don't-even-start-with-me expression, and Drue trails nauseatedly along behind. Pacey, flatly: "So what're you gonna do, Doug, arrest me?" "I should," Doug says sadly. "More, I'm just curious." "About what?" Pacey grunts. Doug snaps, "You're not satisfied with being a moron and failure, you've gotta add 'drunk' to your list of credentials?" Okay, that's harsh, and not what Pacey needs right now, but in Doug's defense, I think he just doesn't know what to say to Pacey that would help, so he defaulted to dick-older-brother mode. Pacey isn't as sanguine, though, sputtering, "What?" before lunging at Doug and grabbing him by the shirtfront. Drue starts forward, but Doug holds up a hand and warns him away as Pacey yells, "This is it for me! This is my life right here! This is all I get!" "Pacey," Doug whispers, trying to collar him around the neck and hug him, but Pacey snarls, "Get offa me!" and glares at Doug before stomping off all tousled. Drue covers his mouth with his hand and looks between Pacey and Doug sadly; focus pull to Doug looking remorseful.
The beach. Dawson is on top of Gretchen. Ew. They make out rather chastely. Phew. There's a pause in the action (ew), and Gretchen whisper-sighs, "I want to make love to you [ew], so much [ew]." Dawson mauls her chin. Ew. "So much," she repeats. Ew. Dawson kisses her neck. Ew. "And I really believe that was why we came here," she says. "But it's not." Dawson takes a break from slobbering on her to stroke her hair and gazed befuddledly into her eyes. Gretchen steels herself and says, "As much as I want you [ew], and I love you [ew], we're not gonna do this." Oh, thank you, Jesus in heaven. "Why not?" Dawson buffoons. When they "go there," she tells him, "it's not gonna be because [he has] something to prove to [himself]. It's gonna be because we love each other [ew], and because we're prepared to show each other what that really means." Okay, despite the cheese factor, that's actually a good rule of thumb -- and I have to give Gretchen a tiny snap for, at the very least, holding up the show until she knows that Dawson won't close his eyes and think of Joey the whole time. Dawson tries to hide his disappointment.
We fade from there into the Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane" montage -- Pacey brooding in the back of the patrol car, and Drue shooting him a sympathetic look.
Joey nervously looking around for Jen beside the track at Grand Central.
Jen in the back seat of a cab in the rain, crying.
Dawson sleeping in a Sun King pose beside the fire, and Gretchen twitching as glycerin runs down her face.
Pacey coming home to his open schoolbooks, and staring sadly into the mirror above his desk.
The PA announcer calling the departure of the train "to Capeside, Massachusetts." Okay, first of all, Amtrak covers New England service, except to southern Connecticut, and Amtrak runs out of Penn Station. I can let that go -- Grand Central is more pleasing to the eye -- but they'd have to take a train up the coast and then probably change for local service on the Cape, and the PA certainly would never call it as the train for Capeside, because, as we've heard endless times before, it's a tiny town. Anyway, Joey continues to wait and look sad and think Jen isn't going to show, and we pan down over the departure board to see Jen, looking wrung out and weaving through the crowd. Joey spots her, and her face relaxes and she raises a hand and mouths, "Hey," and Jen slows for a moment and smiles, glad to see a friendly face. They hug, and then Joey takes Jen's hand and they head for the train. Aw. That's sweet.
Then we pan-fade back to Tom Frost's office and Jen saying, "So it was good. I needed to go back, and I did. And now I'm done. I got what I needed." Tom Frost snorts that she knows she's not done, "not even close"; she's just "opened this door," and the two of them need to go through it together. Or something like that. Jen shakes her head dismissively and tells him that she's "finished," and when he tries to argue again, she cuts him off: "Tom, I get it. I do, and I appreciate it, and I'm -- I'm really glad we could do this, but…I don't have anything else to say." Tom Frost looks sad, and there's a weird slo-mo shot of him raising a fist to his mouth. Pan out to Jen sitting on the couch. Cut to her picking up her bag. Cut to her hoisting her bag over her shoulder and turning to say goodbye -- all in slo-mo. She smiles and whispers, "See you around." Tom Frost, fist still at his mouth, extends his fingers by way of goodbye, and his hand shakes a little. Jen goes, and the episode ends on a shot of her closing the door behind her. Because -- oh, right. You get it.
week: Joey is late. Sars is already drunk.