Previously, on Dawson's Creek: Dawson told Gale and the Flash about his plan to drop out of USC. Then the Flash got in his car with a lethal ice cream cone and bought the farm.
A cloudy morning in Capeside. Two strangers scamper across the street to the IHOF, stopping short when they see the sign on the door, which reads "Closed: Death in the Family." The strangers exchange disappointed looks; it's hard to say if they feel bad for the Leerys, or if they're just upset because they really, really wanted some clam chowder. Mmmm, chowder. Hey, just because the Flash is dead, am I supposed to stop living?
A woman begins wailing on the soundtrack, as we cut over to The Leery House Of Bereavement, skimming through room after empty room. Dawson stands in the kitchen, washing dishes and looking numb. As he scrubs a glass, Lily begins to cry. Dawson pauses in the frantic cleaning to listen for a moment; soon, she stops crying. He goes back to scouring, but then his sister begins to wail in earnest. Dawson huffs, tired, and runs up the back stairs. The camera pans over framed photographs of the Leerys in happier, non-grief-stricken times. Times before dairy stole the Flash from the bosom of his family and friends.
Credits, complete with A Very Special Piano-Only Theme Song. Apparently, the Flash is dead and he took Paula Cole with him.
Dawson visits The Capeside Funeral Home For Guys Who Value The Safety Of Dairy Products Over And Above The Charms Of Safe Driving. He and the funeral home director trot down some stairs, en route to the casket display room. It's like I'm suddenly recapping Six Feet Under or something. Except with commercials. And no real hope of either nudity or cussing. Anyway, the funeral director -- let's just call him Larry -- asks after Gale. Dawson tells him that, naturally, she's not doing particularly well. "And you? How are you?" Larry asks. "People ask me that a lot," Dawson responds. "It's a weird question. Every time I start to give too long of an answer -- which I'm starting to do right now -- those same people get very uncomfortable. Not you, though. I guess you're an old pro at this." Larry nods sympathetically. I'm sure the Sympathetic Nod is a reflex for funeral directors. Larry is probably wondering if he turned off the iron. "I guess you could say that," Larry says. "I'm fine," Dawson says wearily, and glances perfunctorily at the caskets on display. "That one," he says, gesturing toward the closest one. "Very nice choice, very tasteful," Larry assures him. "Thank you," Dawson replies.
Pacey reads a book on board the True Love II. I can't really see the title, but I think it's Fending Off Irritating Co-Workers For Dummies, or perhaps Soulmates: Break Them Up Once and For All. Joey strides up the dock, and calls his name. She looks troubled, and keeps rubbing her right arm. "What's with the furrowed brow?" Pacey asks, getting up to greet her. Joey sadly informs him that she has some bad news. Pacey groans. "Why don't you look like you're kidding?" he asks. Joey ignores him, and says that Deputy Doug's been trying to get in touch with him for the last three days. Pacey smiles ruefully and admits that he's been dodging Doug's calls. "What's going on?" he asks. "It's Mitch. Um. He's dead," Joey says. Way to break it to him gently, Joey. Pacey just looks blank. "What? Wuh -- how?" he asks. "It was a car accident," Joey says. Pacey, shaken, asks if "everybody else is…?" Joey shakes her head. "They're all fine. It's just Mitch. He was alone," she tells him. Pacey continues to look gobsmacked, as Joey tells him that it all went down a couple of nights ago. "How's Dawson doing?" Pacey asks, rubbing his brow. "Well, he's not so good. His father's dead," Joey points out, quite irritably. Pacey looks down and admits that was a pretty stupid question. "No, don't worry about it," Joey tells him. "Believe me, I've said about eight hundred stupid things to him over the last couple of days." The two of them stare at each other for a moment, before Joey asks Pacey if he's ready to come with her. Pacey blinks and wonders if he really should. "What are you talking about?" Joey asks. Pacey looks thoughtful, and points out that maybe Dawson wouldn't want to see him. Joey, frustrated, points out that if Pacey's father died tomorrow, and he looked up at the funeral and saw that Dawson was there…. "Just give me five minutes," Pacey says, and heads below deck to get his things together.
Potter Bed and Breakfast. Bessie and Grams are in the kitchen, making muffins. Enjoy that one shot of Bessie, because that's all we get. At the kitchen table, Jack and his flippy mullet wrap casseroles and plates of cookies in Saran Wrap, because when someone dies, the rest of us cook. It's genetically programmed into humans, I think. When I was fourteen, and my grandmother died, I made cookies. When I was twenty-two and my great-grandmother, to whom I was very close, died, I made almost an entire Thanksgiving dinner. Jen ambles over to the kitchen table and sits down and stares glumly at Jack. She needs his help, she says. She's nervous about seeing Dawson because she doesn't know what to say to him about, you know, the whole Dad Dying In A Tragic Ice-Cream-Related Disaster thing. Jack snarks that Dawson doesn't expect her to give a speech. Jen complains that she was wide awake all night, tossing and turning and trying to figure out what to say and how to act. Jack sighs, and tells her that people never know exactly what to say, that people said all kinds of crazy things to him when his brother Tim died. "The thing is, no matter what you say or what you do, Dawson is alone in this," he says. Jen sits at the table and looks sad. "You just have to figure out your own way of being there for him," Jack tells her. "Okay," Jen says quietly.
Dawson's House Of Pain. The Bereaved One carries Lily into her room and puts her down for her nap. He stands over her crib and watches her sleep. She really is a darling baby.
In the master bedroom, Gale sleeps in her clothes, passed out to a pile of crumpled tissues. Dawson reaches over, removes the tissues, and covers his mother with a blanket.
Tired out from being The Man Of The Family, Dawson retreats to his room, where he sits on the bed, lets out a giant sigh, rubs his eyes, and flops back. There's a knock on the door. It's the Flash, come back from the grave! "Having a good birthday?" he asks. "Yeah, definitely," Dawson answers in this little kid's voice. "How does it feel to be twelve years old?" the Flash asks. Oh, it's a flashback! Or, um, a "Flash"-back. "Pretty good," Dawson coos. "I think I'm ready for a girlfriend." Heh. The twelve-year-old Dawson and the eighteen-year-old Dawson aren't very different. Deluded, I mean. The Flash chuckles and sits down to his son and tells him to "give it a couple of years." "Okay," Dawson chirps. The Flash asks if Dawson enjoyed his gifts, and Dawson responds that he liked them all, "especially the 1941 video." The Flash points out that said video was a difficult item to procure. He doesn't mention that that's because 1941 is renowned as a giant and expensive bomb and no one wants to watch it. The Flash tells Dawson that he thinks he has one more gift. "No, I opened them all," Dawson says. "Are you sure?" the Flash asks. "Pretty sure," Dawson responds. "I don't know," the Flash says. "I think you better take a look…in the closet." Heh. Oh, come on, like you didn't laugh at that. I know the man's dead, but a juvenile "in the closet" joke never stops being funny.
So Dawson scampers over and finds, in his closet, a fancy-schmancy video camera type thing, complete with editing ability and all kinds of bells and whistles. Dawson is thrilled, and hugs his father enthusiastically. He reflects that the camera must have been awfully expensive, but he swears he'll use it. "Just enjoy it," the Flash says. "Let the things you love be your escape." Father and son smile at each other as anvils fall from the sky, crushing viewers across the country. Dawson keeps smiling, as Joey enters the room and he comes out of his reverie. "You're smiling," Joey tells him. "I was?" Dawson asks. They hug, then back away and do a whole lot of staring -- at the floor, each other, the walls. Finally, Joey sits down on the bed and asks if there's anything she can do to help. Dawson tells her that, actually, there is. He needs her to watch Lily while Gale sleeps and he runs down to the funeral home. Joey agrees, and watches him take a suit off the hook on the back of his door. "Is that what you're wearing?" she asks. "It's nice." Dawson stiffly explains that the suit is for the Flash. "He's going to be buried in it." Joey makes an anguished "I am so stupid" face and apologizes. Dawson lies and tells her she couldn't have known. Although, come on. Did Joey think he was going to leave a change of clothes at the funeral home for himself? I know, I know, she was just trying to make conversation and she wasn't thinking. "I won't be long," Dawson says, and leaves. Joey stares after him, concerned.
Cut to the Flash's funeral (the Flasheral?), out in Ye Olde Capeside Burial Grounds. The Sad Music Of Dead Secondary Characters That No One Really Cared About Until They Kicked The Bucket keens in the background. Dawson sits and looks stoic. Joey, to him, makes sad faces. Beside her, Pacey sits stiffly, his face blotchy and tear-stained. On the other side of Dawson, Grams holds Lily while Gale sobs. Joey tries to take Dawson's hand, and he lets her hold it for a short moment before he reaches into his pocket to get his mother a handkerchief. Joey bites her lips. "Remember me," a woman sings on the soundtrack, as the crowd leaves the cemetery and cars begin to pull up at the Leery household. Wow, this show is so much easier to recap when no one talks.
The Leery House For Widows And Orphans. Jack, Jen, and Pacey stand around the living room, drinking coffee and talking to each other. Dawson sits on the stairs, holding his sister. Grams approaches him, and offers to take Lily for a bit. Dawson refuses, explaining that as long as he's holding the baby, people don't come up to him and "offer their platitudes." Grams smiles knowingly and plunks down on the steps to him. She asks about Gale. "She's upstairs. She won't come down," Dawson explains. Grams nods, sadly. "So, what's yours?" Dawson asks her. "My what?" she wonders. "Your platitude," Dawson explains. Grams looks thoughtful for a moment, then tells him that she's fresh out of platitudes. Dawson is surprised. "I thought for sure you'd whip out 'the Lord works in mysterious ways,'" he says. "The Lord and I, we aren't on speaking terms this week," Grams tells him sadly, and hugs him, baby and all.
Outside in the front yard, Joey's doing that thing where she stares at the landscape all moonily while the camera twirls around. It sort of makes me sick. Physically sick, I mean. Finally, she turns and heads back to the house, stopping and staring at the section of wall where the ladder to Dawson's room used to rest. Cue Flashback, Part The Second: The Flash rests that hallowed ladder against the house and turns to Joey, telling her that he doesn't want her climbing up the trellis anymore. "It's dangerous. You could get hurt," he tells her. "If that happened, I don't think my son would ever forgive me." Joey twists up her mouth. "Yeah, right," she responds, sarcastically. The Flash smiles and assures her that, eventually, Dawson will "pull his head out of the sand. He'll figure it out. Maybe not as soon as you'd like, though. Boys are stupid like that." Joey smiles wryly, as the Flash kisses her on the forehead and goes. Joey makes a sad face, and looks up at the now ladder-less window. She blinks back her tears and heads for the house.
Leery Kitchen Of The Bereaved. Dawson's staring blankly at the inside of the fridge. "Whatcha doing?" Jen asks, behind him. "Trying to decide between a glass of orange juice and a bottle of wine. What do you think?" Dawson responds. "Well, wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker," she says. Dawson smiles at the inside of the icebox. "What about narcotics?" he asks. "Oh, even better," Jen says. Dawson tells her that "times like these" make him wish he was "more of a drug person, but starting up seems like such a hassle." Jen nods. "Yeah," she agrees. "Plus, you really can't score any good dope in Capeside." Dawson nods. "Good point. Orange juice it is," he says, and takes the carton out of the fridge. Jen watches him pour, and tells him that she's not exactly sure what she's supposed to say to him. She feels terrible, helpless, and she can't imagine what he's going through. She's out of her league, she says. "So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you a hug, and I'm not going to let go for a really long time. I'm going to tell you that I love you, which is actually a pretty good deal, because it means that I'll do anything on the off chance that it'll make you a little less sad," she tells him. Dawson tells her that "sounds good to him," and they embrace. Call me crazy, but I don't think giving Dawson a blank check like that is a very good idea. What if he asks Jen to let him snort coke off her bare ass or something?
Upstairs, Joey checks on Gale, who's sitting in a window seat and looking glum. She can't believe the Flash is really gone, Gale says. She keeps expecting to hear his car in the driveway or his key in the lock. "How's the party?" she asks. Joey sits to her and cracks, softly, that "the paté is all the rage." Gale looks at her, her eyes rimmed in red. She really looks like crap; props to the make-up people. "And how's our boy?" she asks. Joey says that Dawson is being really, really strong. Gales admits that that's what's got her worried. Joey looks at the carpet and agrees. "He's stubborn, Joey, he's just like his father," Gale says. The two of them stare at the wall, and Joey makes some noise about the Flash not being really gone, because Dawson is such a reflection of him, blah blah children equal immortality blah. She then tells Gale that she and the Flash had something special, something her own parents never had, "even during the good times." That Gale and the Flash had something special, I mean, not Joey and the Flash. Because that would have been gross. Although not totally out of the realm of possibility for this show. Can you imagine Dawson's aggrieved response to that situation? It's like how on Passions, Theresa accidentally married her fiancé's father. Well, he's not actually his father, but the fiancé used to think that this guy was his father, so it's really just as bad. "I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know what was going through his mind when he died, but I know your husband loved you very much," Joey says, sadly. Gale sighs. Wow, this episode is just one downer right after the other. Who knew that one innocent scoop of vanilla could lead to so much pain?
Pacey leaves the house, startling Dawson, who's been hiding out on the porch. Dawson thanks him, wanly, for coming. "Of course," Pacey says. "Although I can't say this is exactly the way I wanted to see you for the first time." Dawson agrees, and asks how Pacey's summer was. "My summer was really good. Really, really, good, actually. It totally cleared my head," Pacey says, tactfully leaving out the whole part where he got to sail around the tropics with a hot, rich babe, like a kept man. He asks about USC. "I'm thinking about dropping out, actually," Dawson says. Pacey is shocked, and asks why. "Long story," Dawson says. They both look awkward for a moment, and Pacey tells Dawson he's sorry. "I wish I had something better to say to you than that, but that's what it boils down to. I'm really, really sorry," he says. Dawson nods, and they reminisce about the Flash, laughing about the time he caught them smoking and gave them holy hell. Finally, Dawson says that he ought to head inside and "make himself useful." The boys shake hands. "It was good to see you, Pace," Dawson says, wearily. Pacey agrees, and pulls Dawson into his arms for a good, long hug. Dawson sighs, and leaves, and Pacey looks sad and thoughtful.
As he enters the house, Dawson is approached by a woman who identifies herself as "Susan," a college friend of his mother's. "Tell me, are you dealing with your grief?" she asks. Oh, man. Dawson tells her that he's dealing. She wonders how, exactly, he's dealing. "Not to be rude, but I don't know what you're talking about," Dawson says. Not to be rude, but why isn't she minding her own business? "Where are you channeling all the feelings you're having about your father's passing?" Susan asks. "You know, not to be rude, again, but I really don't have the time or the luxury," Dawson begins. Susan interrupts him to tell him that he "must take the time," like, hello, the Flash just died, and she barely even knows Dawson. Mid-New-Agey lecture, the answering machine comes on and the Flash's voice pours out, telling the world to leave a message. Dawson frantically tries to turn the device off, but ends up yanking it right out of the wall as everyone stares at him, including his mother and Joey. Jack, to him, moves to pat Dawson sympathetically, but Dawson pushes him away. "I'm fine, I'm fine," Dawson mutters, to himself as much as anyone, and leaves the room. I never thought I'd say this, but here goes: Poor Dawson. Hey, if you're frantically trying to make your lead character sympathetic, killing off his parents isn't such a bad idea. Life-threatening diseases and an unquenchable love for puppies also work.
Dawson has, as per usual, taken to the dock, where he stares out at the water. Joey approaches and just stands to him, silently. "Not one of my finer moments, huh?" Dawson mutters. Joey tilts her head and tells him that right after her Poor Dead Mother died, she found a grocery list said Poor Dead Mother had made, covered with hearts and little doodles, and she just lost it. She cried for hours. And so she understands Dawson's reaction, she says. If she'd heard her mother on an answering machine, Joey says, she would have "run away screaming." Dawson tells her, shortly, that he can't do that; Gale is a wreck, and someone has to keep things together. Joey informs Dawson that he's a wreck, too. "I'll make you a deal. You take care of your mom, I'll take care of you," she offers -- a tad perkily, considering the situation. Dawson just looks at her. He reflects that he had no idea how hard it is to lose a parent. It's like he's been transported to "some alternate universe" and he's "walking around outside [his] body all day long." Joey nods, and promises that it will get better. "That's good," Dawson responds. "Any advice on how I should deal with the fact that my father's death is almost entirely my fault?" Joey looks flabbergasted, and asks Dawson what, exactly, he means. Dawson sputters that if he hadn't come back and "laid all this" on the Flash, then "none of this would have happened." Joey points out that the Flash died in a car accident, and there's nothing Dawson could have done to stop that. Other than, say, buying out the Quik-E Mart's entire supply of ice cream before he left town. "That's not entirely true, Jo," Dawson begins. First, he says, if he hadn't dropped by the house that morning, his mother wouldn't have made him breakfast and they wouldn't have run out of milk and his father wouldn't have had to run out for more in the middle of the night. Joey tells Dawson that he's talking crazy talk, but he's still yapping, telling her that, "for all [he] knows," the Flash was driving around all pissed, having an argument with Dawson in his head, causing him to take his eyes off the road. Little does he know that the Flash was actually just using an ice cream cone as a microphone, to tragic effect. "Don't do this to yourself," Joey says weakly. "Do you know what he said to me the last time I saw him?" Dawson asks her. "He said I was making a huge mistake and that he was disappointed in me." Joey points out that the Flash also told Dawson that he loved him very much. Dawson nods, and says that he'll never doubt that the Flash loved him. "But do you have any idea how much it sucks to know that my father was disappointed in me the day he died? And he was right. I was acting crazy, like a spoiled brat. And if I'd listened to him, he would have been driving me to the airport, instead of to his death," he says, tossing Joey an anguished look, and stomps off toward the house.
Elsewhere in The Yard Of The Grieving. Gale's leaning against a tree, wondering how long she should wait before she calls up that news anchor she was sleeping with in Season One. Oh, come on! You know that, eventually, there's going to be some Dawson-deals-with-his-mother-dating-a-guy-that's-not-the-Flash episode. And it's going to be so tiresome. Grams comes up to her and gently asks how she's holding up. "I'm hanging in there," Gale says. Grams looks out at the creek, and tells Gale that she spent her entire marriage praying that she would die before her husband did, because she didn't think she would be able to go on without him. But look: she's done it. Although her husband's death was hard, she tells Gale, there eventually came a day that was easier than the one before it. "And until then?" Gale asks. "Well, that's what prescription medication is for," Grams quips. Gale laughs in spite of herself. "It's a strange thing we do," Grams says, "falling in love. You share your life with another person, give them your heart to the extent that losing them could potentially destroy you. Crazy thing to do." Gale looks off at the creek. "It's insane," she agrees. "So why on earth do we do it?" Grams asks. Gale shrugs. "What else is there?" she asks. They embrace, and Grams talks into Gale's overly frosted hair, wishing she still lived door. "So do I," Gale says. Grams offers to stay for a bit, watch Lily for them. Gale thanks her, but says that she and Dawson "have to meet this one, head-on." So to speak. "I understand," Grams says. "But don't you hesitate to pick up the phone, young lady. We merry widows have to stick together." Gale smiles, and they walk arm in arm toward the house.
More sad singing on the soundtrack as people pile into their cars and leave the wake. Inside the house, Dawson lies around in his room. Joey pops her head in the door and tells him that people are starting to leave, but she can stay as long as he needs her. Dawson tells her, gruffly, to go back to school. He wants to be alone. Joey looks hurt, and tells him to call her if he needs her. Dawson grunts. "Bye," Joey offers, and leaves, looking hurt. I know Joey wants to be supportive and all, but people grieve in different ways. If Dawson wants to be alone so he can berate himself for driving his father to his frosty, creamy death, then let him. You know, at least for a couple of weeks.
Potter B&B. Pacey and Joey amble out onto the porch and sit in silence. Pacey offers that he's never seen the B&B so crowded. "Nothing like a funeral to drum up business," Joey says sadly. Pacey looks at her for a moment, then tells her that when he dies, he wants to go in a way that makes people laugh. Like reaching for a scoop of errant vanilla? "No matter how sudden or tragic the circumstances, you just have to laugh," he explains. "Like getting run over by a car full of clowns. That's funny, right?" he asks. Actually, that would merely serve to reinforce my theory that clowns are evil. Joey, however, smiles. "You smiled," Pacey narrates. "Mission accomplished." Joey looks at her hands. "He blames himself, you know," she says. Pacey makes a big "why?" face, and Joey explains the whole drop-out-of-USC-move-to-Boston plan, and the way Dawson thinks his blow-up with the Flash caused the Flash to drive really, really badly. Pacey wonders why on earth Dawson wanted to drop out of film school. Joey just looks at him. "Ohhh. I get it," Pacey says. "It's okay, you can tell me, Jo. I'm not going to get upset." Joey tells Pacey that she's didn't ask Dawson to do anything. She doesn't mention that she didn't tell him not to do anything, either. Pacey assures her that if anyone understands the "various shades of gray, here" it's him. And, he says, he thinks it's "about time" Dawson and Joey "got their chance." Vomit. "Because the way I see it," he continues, "you never did, and this world can use as many Romeo and Juliets as it can get." I'd just like to point out that Pacey doesn't exactly sound like he's 100 percent behind this entire idea, and, really, who wants to turn out to be Romeo or Juliet? They both died. Is this Pacey's subtle way of telling Joey that he wishes she and Dawson would just kill themselves, already? Joey, in fact, points out that Romeo and Juliet met rather unfortunate ends. Pacey smiles at her.
Gale's Flashback Of Great Sadness. The Flash is putting Dawson's crib together. How much do I wish we could have seen some nifty early-'80s hair and wardrobe on the Flash? I betcha he was a loafers-without-socks kind of guy. Sadly, I assume the powers that be spent that wardrobe cashola on Bessie's mini-cameo. Anyway. "What do you think he's going to be?" the Flash asks. "If he's anything like you, a pain in the ass," Gale retorts. The Flash chortles, and says some stuff about not wanting Dawson to be a big sports star, because "team sports teach conformity." Okay, Mr. Football Coach. Also, if Dawson was going to be some brilliant athlete, I think it would have happened already, so you can stop worrying. In fact, the Flash hopes his son grows up to be "a freak." Gale raises her brows. "Freaks never peak in high school," the Flash says. "They never grow up to sell real estate, drink heavily on weekends and beat their kids." Gale thinks about this, and agrees cheerfully to "hope for a freak." I think they got their wish. "Mom, you okay?" Dawson asks, behind her. And Gale comes into the now. She sighs and says that, for the moment, anyway, she is okay. They watch Lily play in her crib. That kid is so cute. "You know what the worst part is?" Gale asks. "She'll never even know he existed." Dawson tightens his mouth, and assures his mother that Lily is "going to hear about her daddy every chance [he] get[s]." Gale starts to cry. "You are going to get your life back, I promise," she tells him. Dawson looks off into the distance, and tells her that he's not going anywhere any time soon. "My place is here with you and Lily," he says. Gale stares at him, and tells him that he can "fall apart any time [he] wants," that there's nothing to be ashamed of. Dawson tells her that he isn't ashamed, he's just numb. He doesn't feel a thing. "Which, to tell you the truth, is really not so bad," he says. Gale agrees that numbness is great, "until it all comes crumbling down." Dawson smirks. "Well, until then," he says.
Leery Yard Of Terrible Anguish. Pacey pulls the car onto the lawn and casts a long glance at the flowers behind him. Flashback part…four? Whatever. This time, the Flash is teaching Pacey to drive, telling him to switch the car into reverse. "Ooh, careful, watch the flowers! My wife will have me killed. And…park. There you go, Pacey, you did it. You know how to drive. Not terribly well, mind you, but good enough to pass that test." Pacey, I must say, is the only person acting like this is a moment he's remembering, rather than something he's experiencing firsthand. It's actually quite touching. He thanks the Flash softly. The Flash says it's "his pleasure," and gives Pacey a little pep talk about cutting his own dad some slack. Because it's hard to be the sheriff! He then tells Pacey that if he ever wants to practice driving, to "knock on [the Flash's] door." Pacey agrees…and the Flash fades away. Pacey sits in the car for a second, thinking, then gets out and heads into the house.
Dawson's awakened by the doorbell. It's Pacey, as we know. "Hey, man, how you doing today?" Pacey asks. "He's still dead. It still sucks," Dawson says. Pacey strong-arms him into going for a ride.
The Bend In The Road Where Everything Important On This Show Ever Happens. Also Known As The Place In Capeside Where God Laughs And Throws Things At Dawson. Also Known As The Place Where The Flash Bit It And Pacey Kissed Joey, Although Not At The Same Time. "What the hell are we doing here?" Dawson asks, stony-faced, as he and Pacey pile out of the WitterWagon. Pacey walks around the perimeter of the road, and gives Dawson the scuttlebutt he wrangled out of Dougie: that, on the night the Flash went to the big tanning bed in the sky, "a man named Gary Peters" was also on the road. This Gary Peters person, Pacey tells us, had worked a double shift that night, and "it must have been a real bitch, because as Gary Peters came around that bend, he was asleep at the wheel." Dawson, again, wonders why Pacey is doing this to him. "Because I want you to know that it was a man named Gary Peters who killed your father," Pacey tells him. "A guy who should have known better than to get in a car. A guy who, for the rest of his life, will carry around the guilt of taking Mitch Leery away from his wife and two kids. And I want you to know that that guy is not you. It's not you, Dawson. Do not blame yourself for this. You want to grieve? Go ahead, be my guest. But do not for one single second think that this is your fault. Because it is not. Your. Fault." Dawson flares his nostrils dramatically. "You got your father for eighteen years and that's a hell of a lot more than some people get," Pacey continues. "And your father did one a hell of a job, Dawson. He made you into a man. And he made you into a man that people care about, and admire and respect, and most importantly, love. So, why am I doing this? I'm doing this because once upon a time, you and I were best friends. And that means, whenever you need me, I'm here. Any time, anywhere, any place. Forever. You understand that?" Pacey asks. The Music Of Women And Girls (And Some Men) Falling In Love With Pacey Again For The First Time swells in the background. "Also, this is where I kissed Joey for the first time. I had sex with her, did you know that? She lost her virginity to me. Me! Not you!" Pacey finishes. In my world. Actually, Dawson just suggests, irritably, that they get going, and climbs in the car. Pacey stands by the road and sighs.
Back at Worthington, Joey is telling Audrey all about the Flash. Audrey asks after Dawson's emotional well-being. "I wouldn't know," Joey sniffs. "He didn't want anything to do with me. I thought I could help him, I thought I could be this incredible resource, you know, because I've been there, but he didn't want anything from me. He didn't even just want to sit there in silence. He just wanted me out of his sight," she says, flopping on the bed and sobbing. Audrey comes over and pats her. Cue Sad Music Of Joey Being Unable To Understand That People Grieve Differently, And That It's Not Personal.
Leery House Of A Thousand Tears. Gale and Dawson sit in front of dinner plates, but neither of them is eating. She gets up and opens the fridge, taking out a carton of milk. An empty carton. She starts to ask Dawson to run out to get some more milk, but stops and stares at the back of the carton, thinking about how milk killed her man. She stuffs the carton violently into the trash and starts to wail. Really wail. Anguished, gulping sobs. Dawson just stands there and pats her. Gale manages to control herself enough to wave him off. As Dawson leaves, she breaks down again, and cries and cries and cries, her tears falling neatly into the sink.
Store Of The Killer Cone, where the Crusty Proprietor tells Dawson that he's sorry for his loss. Dawson grunts. CP continues, telling Dawson that he and Mitch talked about him -- Dawson -- the night the Flash met his maker. "He said you were a royal pain in the ass," CP says. Wow, that's comforting. "That's me," Dawson says stiffly. "He was proud of you, though," CP says. Because, um, the Flash's face lit up when he mentioned Dawson, and he said Dawson was brave and romantic, and a whole bunch of other stuff the viewing audience will never believe, no matter how hard the writers push it. "He was proud to know you," CP finishes. Dawson thanks him, and takes his change, and goes outside and sits in the car and has his own little crying scene, the effectiveness of which is diminished by the fact that it's not nearly as good as Mary Margaret Humes's five minutes ago, and because, as everyone knows, James Van Der Beek couldn't cry believably if he took a rusty nail and ran it through his right eardrum. James Taylor starts to sing as the Beek makes a series of pained faces and bangs his head on the steering wheel.
Back at Worthington, James Taylor continues to sing as Joey lets Audrey drag her out of the dorm. Elsewhere in Boston, Grams looks through her photo album, a bittersweet smile on her face. In Capeside, Gale feeds Lily her bottle, cooing at her daughter's sweet little face. In Boston, Audrey and Joey meet Jen and Jack at Liberty Hell, where they join Pacey for a nice meal. As they eat, Joey looks sadly at the empty place setting at their table. In Capeside, Dawson is still in his car, sobbing, snot running down his face. And, apparently, James Taylor has seen fire, and he's seen rain. Finally, Dawson wipes his face and sighs and starts the car. On the way home, he drops the giant block of cheese on which he was nibbling, and leans down to pick it up. When he finally retrieves it and returns to the upright position, he finds himself, tragically, unable to prevent his car from driving right into the creek. Okay, actually he just drives off safely into the night. A girl can dream.
Final Flashback of the Flash; the Leerys are posing for a group photo on the lawn. "Because what we need is another picture," Dawson snickers, not meanly. "Don't be so fresh," Gale tells him, cheerfully. "Yeah, lose the 'tude, dude," the Flash chirps. "Smile!" Everyone does, and the camera clicks. Post-photo, the family scatters, Dawson to the movies, Gale inside to feed Lily. The Flash stands in his yard, though, and takes a good look at his house, and his grass, and his son's creek. He looks satisfied, nodding and grinning, and finally trots, happy, into the house. Aw, man! Good old Flash. I'm going to miss him.