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.
“ And then he drags her out the door. Without telling his parents he's leaving. Or charging his cell phone. Whatever. ”
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 caf, 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.
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, butI 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.