Dawson's Creek - 104 - Discovery

Original air date: February 10, 1998

Since the episode called Dance, involved a school dance and the episode Kiss involved kisses, I'm going to assume that this episode called Discovery will involve a discovery of some kind? What could it be? Could people discover Ms. Jacobs is a disgusting ephebophile? That Mrs. Leary is a cheating ho? Will Dawson discover Joey likes him? Well let's dig right in and find out.

Hey, guess how the episode starts. Go on, I dare you. Just guess. Do you know where it starts? Yep Dawson's bedroom!

Is it weird how excited I get over the
sameness of the intros?

I am now officially rooting for every episode to start like this. I don't know why, I guess I just like the consistency. It amuses me. Though I seem to recall the episode openers being different in other seasons, this will be a fond memory of the show none the less.

Dawson and Joey are watching footage of his movie together, although Dawson is focusing more on one aspect of his film, Jen.

I bet Dawson is going to wear out the
pause button on these tapes.

I'm starting to wonder whether the whole movie hasn't just devolved into him just filming Jen doing anything and his room will turn into a horrific stalker paradise ala Lane's room from Better Off Dead:

Just like this...

Because Dawson is paying Jen a compliment, Joey's claws come out and she tears down his assertion that Jen is perfect. Joey basically calls her boring and then condescendingly describes Jen's future of having above average SAT which gets her into an arts college in New England but marries rich. Because Joey's shit doesn't stink and how very dare Jen be pretty. Joey is the prettiest girl on the show and don't you forget it! Also, spoiler alert, Joey gets a scholarship with her awesome grades and gets into a prestigious university in New England.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Joey Potter

Dawson remarks that she's put a lot of thought into this and she retorts that she didn't, it was just super obvious to her. Fuck you, Joey. Fuck you very, very much. Ugh, now, where was I? Oh yes, Dawson puts in one of his raw tapes to check it out while asking for anniversary gift ideas for his parents. I find this weird because isn't an anniversary only celebrated by the couple? I never bought my parents gifts for their wedding anniversary but then maybe I'm just a horrible daughter. They act like they have to get this huge super important gift to and I'm like, if you want to do something nice, give them a night away from you. Pay for their dinner, make them dinner, wash up afterwards. It's simple. I never got my parents an anniversary gift but I'm better at it than Dawson.

I'm better than a fictional character.

So they are watching the tape when they realize that Dawson accidentally shot a porno starring Ms. Jacobs. They've discovered she likes fucking outdoors but not that she likes her men underage.

Or maybe they discovered that she gets off on trees...

Theme song! "I don't wanna wait..."

Dawson and Joey waste no time telling Pacey and Jen all about the steamy video they have of Ms. Jacobs because who the hell wouldn't in a small town where nothing really happens. Pacey is understandably nervous, although I think the person who should be really nervous is Ms. Jacobs but she's trained her student well so he'll cover for her.

Guys, my first time wasn't that funny.

Jen and Dawson walk home together and talk about how Dawson knows nothing about sex and how that's a turn on for Jen or something. At least, that's how I saw the scene. They start to kiss but Jen can see that her Grams is watching and she isn't into that. She then says that the anticipation of the next kiss will lead to a big payoff later but then says screw it and kisses him anyway.

Full on open mouth, in front of her grandma. Nice.

Grams is upset with her but Jen says it was just a kiss. Grams points out that Jen got into a lot of trouble with just a kiss back home. Oho! We are discovering something about Jen's past. Jen gets upset that Grams keeps reminding her of the past and reiterates that what happened between her and Dawson was just a kiss.

Not buying it.

Dawson comes home to find his father whining to his mother about how she didn't notice something on his face. Dawson asks if it's the scar on his chin that he got ten years ago and Mitch remarks that his son knows his face better than his wife and then says she should come home early more often so she can see his face in the daylight. She would but she's too busy boning her co-anchor to care about your stupid scars.

She will, however, still use your body.
Stay classy, Mrs. Leary!

I'm starting to get a really uncomfortable feeling about this episode at this point but I'll expound on that later.

Dawson excuses himself from his parents' make out session and finds Pacey ransacking his room. He's looking for the tapes and Dawson tells him to calm down and he'll get it for him. He thinks his friend has gone totally nutso-insane over his innocent teacher crush but really his friend has gone totally nutso insane because the woman completely manipulated him.

Pacey, SMASH!

Realizing that he's coming across as a crazy weirdo, Pacey decides to come clean to Dawson about his relationship with Ms. Jacobs. As you can probably guess, it infuriates me further. I mean, Pacey flat out tells Dawson that he's the guy boning Ms. Jacobs on the tape and Dawson's reaction is:

Duuuuuuhhhhhhhh, that's bizarre.

And I get this weird feeling that he's only reacting to the fact that Pacey had sex with an older woman and not the absolute fucking wrongness of the situation. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they don't talk about the seriousness of it because most teen guys would probably give each other high fives, which is something that just makes me sad about the state of the world. The only thing Pacey is worried about is if he looked good on the tape and he actually asks Dawson that and I'm left looking like this:

Why? Why would you ask your
friend how you are at sex?

Moving on to a different scene, Dawson and Joey are shopping for a present for his parents' anniversary. Again, Dawson just give them a night off or something, it doesn't have to be this complicated. They will buy each other gifts. Since Dawson has now kissed Jen, it has now become Joey's obsession to pressure him into having sex with her. This girl is a bit messed in the head. Then they run into Dawson's mom and her lover.

Does everyone but me forget that they live in a
small town? People would notice this shit.

Dawson is an oblivious simpleton and Joey glares at Mrs. Leary because she knows her dirty little secret. Mrs. Leary acts all guilty and rushes out. Dawson mentions that he thought Bob was a tool before but likes him now that he's met him and Joey says he had it right the first time. I agree.

Jen is confronted by Grams as she heads out the door and admits that she is seeing Dawson. Grams does not approve but Jen assures her that Dawson is not like other guys. Grams relents but warns Jen to be careful and not to make mistakes that young girls often do. This upsets Jen and she calls Grams out for being judgemental.

Oh no she didn't!

Next, Pacey talks with Ms. Jacobs in public about the school curriculum. He waxes obnoxious about how he wants more "action" in the books, by action he means sex. When Ms. Jacobs points out that there is sex in almost every piece of literature they will read, he complains that it's not real sex.

Pacey, it's fictional.

What he really means is that the sex always leads to bad things in the books they are assigned and he asserts that that's not true and while I do agree with him there, he is using this as an analogy that the sex he and Ms. Jacobs are now having will work out and nothing bad will happen to them. To that I just say:

Yeah sure. Whatever you say, Pacey.
I'm sure the statutory rape will work out just fine.

He puts his hand on hers and she pulls her hand away from him because they are in a public fucking place and she knows that it's wrong for her to be involved with one of her students.

Plus, the people in the background have eyes, you know.

Jen compliments Dawson on his movie making skills and agrees to help him do dubbing because her scream is utter shit. Dawson booked time at his mom's work to do the sound work so it pays to have a mom with access to TV and sound equipment. Jen still sucks and they take a break and even though Dawson cleared this with his mom, even though they made arrangements to meet up, this happens:

Right out in the open for everyone to see and gossip about.

Dawson discovers that his mom is a cheating whore. His world is shattered and so he leaves the studio to recover. Jen, being a good girlfriend, offers to be a shoulder for Dawson to lean on should he need it but he's all "fuck that, Imma talk to Joey instead because you are just for sex." Literally, it's like:

I'm here, if you need to talk.

Fuck that.

Joey, listen to my problems so you can snark at me!

Real nice, Dawson. Way to put no faith in your girlfriend. Also, he finds out that Joey knew before he did and didn't tell him so he throws a bitch fit at her and tells her they are not friends anymore. Then he leaves.

Adding to Pacey's paranoia about Ms. Jacobs, he once again spots her across the street from his work. This time, she is enjoying what appears to be an intimate lunch with Mr. Gold.

He is sad.

Dawson sees his mom and she acts all innocent and asks why she didn't see him at the station. How she didn't put two and two together is beyond me and seriously? If she was expecting to see him there, why would she have been so open about kissing her co-anchor? There was every possibility that her son would see it, hell anyone could have seen it.

Dawson then decides to finally take Jen up on her offer and talks to her. He asks if he's boring Jen but she says he isn't and that she was happy he was talking to her. She said she felt hurt earlier when he didn't say anything and was sure he went running to Joey to pour his heart out. Dawson confirms it by saying that he won't make that mistake again. Nice, Dawson. He then makes her promise to be open and honest with him about everything and here is where my earlier discomfort has been fully realized.

Jen spills the beans about her past.

Jen opens up to him, at admittedly not the best time, about her past in New York. How she wasn't sent here to help her Grams out with her Grandfather but was in fact sent to Capeside to get away from the fast life of New York city and the drugs and sex. Dawson asks if her parents sent her here to get away from kids like that and Jen confesses that she "was kids like that". Dawson does not take this well.

He's mad at her and then it hit me. This episode paints all of the women to be lying bitches. Like, every single one of them. The guys are all innocent while the wicked women play with their hearts.

- Ms. Jacobs pulls away from Pacey and seemingly flirts with Mr. Gold right after they had sex. Bitch.

- Mrs. Leary is cheating on her husband of 20 years, who is still completely smitten with her. Bitch.

- Jen lied about being a virgin. I can't really fault her for this because Joey put her on the spot and she seemed to be trying to escape her past life but the episode paints her as a bad person. Bitch.

- Joey knew about Mrs. Leary's affair and didn't say anything to Dawson, so he is pissed at her for lying. Bitch.

You see? Not one of the guys did anything wrong this episode but all of the girls did. I don't know, it makes me uncomfortable but this show, right now at least, seems to like making the men out to be innocent heroes while vilifying its females. I had never noticed this before but it's just really smacking me in the face right now. I hope this isn't a trend throughout the series and is just in this one episode but we'll see.

Jen tries to talk to Dawson the next day to try and see if things are still good between them. Dawson blows her off like a douche.

Pacey confronts Ms. Jacobs about whether or not she likes him or Mr. Gold. She informs Pacey that Mr. Gold is gay which is so not cool. Especially since Mr. Gold obviously wants to keep that a secret but I guess it's more important that she save her relationship with her fifteen year old student than honour her friend's secret.

Worst teacher. Worst friend. Worst person.

Pacey is confused by this and asks her why she wouldn't hold his hand earlier. You know, in a public place where anyone could see? She points this out to her and he finally gets it. She then confesses to being confused about their relationship too. I can make it really easy for the both of you, YOU SHOULDN'T BE IN A RELATIONSHIP!

Jen confronts Dawson yet again about their conversation because she confessed a lot to him and he is acting like a prick to her now and she wants to try and work things out. Dawson gets mad at her because she wants him to say something but he doesn't know what to say. So Jen says it for him.

You could tell me why you've been avoiding me all day,
or what's behind that look in your eyes, whether it's
repulsion or jealousy or complete disapproval because
I know I've never seen it before. You could tell me that you
suddenly feel strange about us, that maybe we need a
little break because you don't seem to know me and maybe
you never really did. Or, and now I'll make it really
easy for you, you can just tell me if I've left anything out.

Dawson doesn't answer and Jen says she has her answer and storms off. So Dawson asks Pacey for advice on the matter. Pacey, bless his heart, says that it wouldn't bother him. He asks Dawson why it should bother him.

Because she's not a virgin! Because she's
had sex with other guys.

Dawson? FUCK. YOU! What a fucking awful and outdated way to view women. So what, Jen is "damaged goods" to you just because she dared to have sex with other men before she even really met you? Just, fuck off. I can't even. I think I rage blacked out after he uttered those lines.

Pacey doesn't help things by saying that Jen telling Dawson about her history was "an in" for him to bed her. Yeah, or she could have just been trying to be honest with Dawson about her past and give him a reason as to why she was so hesitant to move too fast in their relationship.

Pacey? Go join Dawson in the corner.

Now I suppose you'll say that two guys are wrong in this episode so it's not just the females. Except that the episode itself is not painting them as being in the wrong at all. So, my point still stands.

Dawson reveals that instead of confronting his mother about catching her, he is going to tell his father.

The dramatic beat leads to nothing as Mr. Leary goes on about how in love he is with Dawson's mother and then Mrs. Leary walks in saying she's almost ready for their anniversary date and Dawson pusses out.

You lose. Pussality!

Meanwhile, the unthinkable happens and Jen approaches Joey for some advice on Dawson and why he's being such a douche. Joey informs her that Dawson is a classic only child who pouts when he doesn't get his way which is pretty damn accurate. Joey says that all she can do is wait for him to come around. When Jen asks how long it will be until he does, Joey simply says. "Don't go by me, I'd probably be stupid enough to wait forever." And I feel sad for Joey with that line and finally sympathise with her a bit. Jen asks her if she'd mind some company.

Awwww, they're finally bonding.

Pacey decides to ask Tamara about her sexual past. She tells him that there  have only been a few that mattered, one in high school, one in college and three since then but nothing for a while. Pacey is upset until Ms. Jacobs says that the one in high school was referring to him.

Pacey is of course, happy.

I am mad that they are trying to pass this off as a serious relationship. Seriously? Gag me with a spoon.

Jen has a sad moment with her unconscious grandfather where she laments the fact that both Dawson and Grams think she's a slut. She hopes that one day a fifteen year old girl with a shady past won't matter and I just want to hug her.

Poor Jen. I really wish you could have a happy ending.

Joey confronts Dawson and they have a weird conversation about their friendship being "museum-bound" and then about how they must have been married in another life but that they brought other dates to their wedding but that they would want to save each other but that they're not sure what happens next and...I'm at a loss. I think they are competing to see who can be the most vague about their relationship and they are both winning.

No doubt about it...straight to the Smithsonian.

Sure, your relationship will be a museum artifact, Joey. What does that even mean? That they won't be friends? That their friendship is so strong, it will stand the test of time and be discovered in the future to be put on display as an example of awesome friendship? Could you vague it up for me a bit there?

I didn't enjoy this episode very much. I hated the way it portrayed women as the bad guys and I hated the fact that this episode is trying to tell me there is more to the Ms. Jacobs/Pacey relationship than just sex. You lie, writers, you lie.

So stay tuned to find out if Dawson and Joey's friendship falls apart and ends up in a museum or if it lasts forever...and ends up in a museum. I don't know, something to do with museums though.

Next episode is Hurricane. Guys? I think a hurricane might hit Capeside...just a guess. I mean, the episode titles are super subtle but it could happen.