Original air date: October 11, 2000
Oooh boy, I can already tell that this season is going to be a struggle to get through. The earlier seasons were a nostalgic blast, a time capsule of my youth and are fun to visit that way. Season 3 is like a whole new show but one that I'm extremely attached to for fulfilling my greatest wish upon first watching the show and (rightly) seeing the chemistry between Joey and Pacey but on top of that, it's cathartic to one of the biggest regrets of my life so for that, Season 3 remains treasured in my heart.
Side note: I actually got a complaint on my old Blinvy blog from someone angry that I was writing about a show I hated and told me if I hated it so much, I shouldn't blog about it. I laughed at that comment because if you want to know the truth? I fucking love this show. I love every ridiculous, dramatic, heavy dialogue bit of this show. I just don't take it super seriously. But, I love this show when it's being its overdramatic, cheesy best which is why this season just falls flat for me. It's like they spent their big drama load and now they don't quite know what to do with it and are just trying to clean up the awkward mess it left behind.
I am very quickly realizing why there is so little of this season I remember because nothing is really leaving a super lasting impression on me. No one is getting room to breathe right now and the only significant thing that is happening is that Pacey's older sister Gretchen is home and her and Dawson are probably going to have a thing. I don't care. Dawson's happiness has never been my concern or desire to see on this show because he's the worst and even though I barely know Gretchen, she's too good for him. Ok, 22 episodes to go until the amusing college years. Let's get through this and bring that number down to 21.
We open the episode on Pacephine which is a very promising opening. Pacey admits that he has to see the guidance counseller after class and is not very happy about this. Joey teases him a bit in response, clearly not as worried as he is. Pacey then switches the topic of conversation to PDA and whether or not they should engage in it at school. Joey is so-so on the idea which upsets Pacey because he'd like to kiss her. They banter about having to break up but instead, they make out. Dawson interrupts the awesomeness with his lameness and I think we're supposed to feel bad for him but I don't.
After the credits we join Joey and Andie chatting together which is super awesome considering she was equally upset about Pacephine and just goes to show what a much better person Andie is than Dawson. I know the bar isn't very high but like, if she can forgive this and move on so easily, it really showcases what a petulant spoiled brat Dawson is. Anyway, Joey is complaining about needing a job and Andie suggests Capeside Yacht Club as a job option since they are looking for a server. Joey is not psyched about the idea even after Andie sells it as cute rich guys and way better tips. Joey thinks they wouldn't even hire her because of her family name. Andie suggests she name drop but says the McPhee name is mud in richie land so she suggests using the Ross family as a name drop. Joey figures, jokingly, that she could strip instead.
Meanwhile, Dawson is walking into a store with an armful of CDs when he's stopped by Gretchen. She's looking for apartments because living with Doug sucks. She's going to live with Pacey instead who is also in need of housing. I'm not sure why this is, if she's moving out he can stay with Doug but then again, it seems that both of them hate Doug more than each other so I guess this works out. Dawson wishes her luck and tries to go inside. Gretchen says that it breaks her heart that he and Pacey are no longer friends and asks if there's anyway they can fix things. Dawson is icy so she backs off (whiny spoiled brat) and instead mocks his music tastes. Apparently younger Dawson liked Vanilla Ice. Hmmm, another mediocre artist that had nothing to offer and no personality? That fits for Dawson's tastes. Gretchen groaningly boasts that her tastes were so awesome when she was ten that she predicted Kurt Cobain would change the face of music.
Dawson says that he could name every cinematographer Steven Spielberg ever worked with when he was ten which is decidedly less cool of a feat. They both sound like pretentious a-holes so this will probably be a match made in heaven. (I actually do like Gretchen a bit but still). She finds that he's also getting rid of a Grateful Dead album which she thinks is crazy since she loves them and says that he has worse taste in music than his parents.
Finally, we get to Jen who is anxiously waiting at her computer for Henry to IM her. She tells Jack that she's worried that Henry is pulling away from her. Jack thinks she's being overly crazy and goes on the computer (A blueberry macbook, the nostalgia!) and his face gets super serious when he gets an email message. Jen asks what's up and Jack brushes it off as nothing.
Joey is interviewing with a super bitchy rich lady who questions what an "Ice House" is. Joey explains it's the restaurant she worked at before it burned down which SBRL views as low class. Fires never happen to the rich, you see. Joey says her father insisted she mingle with the lesser people to ground her and give her experience so SBRL asks what her father does.
I laughed when Joey said he worked in pharmaceuticals. She's got a sassy wit about her that I like in these seasons. SBRL questions why she doesn't see Potter on their super rich people roster and Joey insists they're not the joining type but that she sailed to the keys over the summer. SBRL asks if she was a deckhand or a stowaway, implying that she's not buying Joey's lies at all. Joey nopes out of there but name drops the Ross name, as per Andie's suggestion. SBRL immediately flips her attitude and suddenly offers her a job when before she'd said the position was filled.
Pacey goes to see the guidance counseller is actually Mitch which doesn't bode well for him all things considered. Mitch claims that he's filling in for the previous guy who only had bad things to say about Pacey. Then he informs Pacey that he's failing 3 of his classes (Science, Math, and English) and that Pacey should have been in summer school instead of sailing the open seas. He says that Pacey has to work his ass off this year or he won't graduate with the rest of his friends. This whole plotline is super upsetting because he'd grown so much over the last few years to the point where he was getting good grades, thanks to Andie. It breaks my heart that they're making him flunk like this.
Gretchen checks out a house with Pacey but he's not having it. She thinks she sees potential in it and asks why he's being so negative. Pacey then explains that he's having school issues and he's probably going to not graduate. Gretchen tells him to grind down and do it because if he works hard he can get through it. She then asks him if he's told Joey and he tells her that's a hard no. She's smart and he's dumb and he doesn't want her to find out how even more dumb he actually is. Gretchen tells him that he's not an idiot and that Joey loves him for who he is. She urges him to tell Joey which is super sound advice, I knew I liked Gretchen.
Joey is serving tables when a rich guy calls her over to comlain that she hasn't given him his ice tea and club sandwich. She apologizes profusely and grabs him his drink. He then launches into a diatribe about how she's probably been impregnated by her loser boyfriend and how it's not his problem and that her attitude will cost her a tip. She's not impressed but he's just joking with her apparently. He really sucks at being funny though. He explains that his dad used to say stuff like that to the help which he thought was crazy because they'd probably just go in the back and spit in his food. Joey acts innocent and asks if he'll excuse him while she goes to check on his food. The guy is amused by this and says that she would probably spit in his food and is impressed with her candor. He asks her how much he hates these people already but Joey isn't buying the act. She asks him to sign his bill but ooops, it's Owen Ross.
Mitch comes into Dawson's room and is impressed to find him listening to the Grateful Dead. Dawson isn't impressed because the music doesn't make him want to drop acid or be all hippie-like and Dawson really doesn't understand music, huh? I really don't think you have to be a super high hippie to like the Dead. They've got some good songs. Mitch explains that they were a band best experienced live and I can totally get that. Dawson asks if he and Gail ever wonder if they're just cooler than he is. Mitch sasses that it's a burden but that they have to bear it.
Mitch tells Dawson about Pacey's troubles which kind of makes him the world's shittiest counseller. Like, that is private stuff that you are disclosing to someone who hates him and could use that information against him. Not cool, Mitch. In some fairness, Mitch is trying to encourage Dawson to help Pacey but it's still a dick move. Dawson doesn't want to do anything about this and Mitch guilts him by telling him that he's always viewed Dawson as someone his friends could go to when they needed help. Dawson whines about how Pacey pursued a girl he's always been in love with *cough*bullshit*cough* (we remember season 1 Dawson, even if you don't) and how much that hurts him so Mitch tells him that he could find someone that will help Pacey.
Cut to Andie complaining about the email Jack got which was apparently from Serial Killer Henry saying that he wants to dump Jen. On top of that, he doesn't want to do the break up, he wants Jack to. Of all the evil things Henry could've done to break up with Jen, this is the worst. Well, ok he at least didn't murder her and feed her to his pigs.
Still, that stings. Asking her best friend to dump her for him is low. Andie agrees with me and asks what Jack told him. Jack stupidly said that he'd talk to Jen. Andie immediately tells him what a terrible idea that is because the relationship stuff is between Jen and Henry and should stay that way. Andie also says that she'd hope a guy she was dating would have the balls to dump her if he wanted to end things, not send someone else in to do the dirty work.
Joey and Pacey are sharing a romantic dinner by True Love but Pacey is in a sour mood. Joey thinks this is because they're not out sailing and Pacey says he could have them packed up and gone by morning. Joey passes because it's their senior year and she's excited for that. Pacey is less excited about Dawson's dirty looks in the hall. Clueing in to his bad mood, Joey asks what happened with the counseller. Pacey avoids answering and asks if they could just eat their meal in silence. Joey lasts two seconds before asking him if he wanted to hear about her new job. She tells him that she's Capeside Yacht Club's newest serving wench and Pacey flatly says congrats. Joey is upset that he's not joining in on her banter. Pacey is pissy though since he can't get a job because of the school thing but instead of using his words he makes a snide comment about how he didn't know she was so interested in getting a job. Joey is like "duh, I need one if I want to go to school" and that she doesn't want to end up a townie. This really sets Pacey off and he calls her a snob.
He asks her what's wrong with being a townie and she tries to back-track but he gets super defensive, asking what if he became a townie? She doesn't think he's that type of person and he gets even more defensive because he clearly thinks he's doomed to be stuck here his entire life. He thinks it would make him less desirable to her. She asks him what's going on but he still refuses to use his words and she calls him out for picking a fight with her to make himself feel better. They eat in awkward silence and I hate this. I thought I told them not to have them fight again for a while? Why can't anyone ever listen to me and my good suggestions?
Next day at school, Pacey is noticably absent from class and Dawson looks like he might actually care just a little bit. Like a fraction of a bit. He cares but grudgingly.
Joey is catering to Owen who is sad that's she's being so cheery with him because he liked her biting sarcasm. I think I remember where this is going but the first time I saw this? I was dreading that they were setting him up as the guy that would break up her and Pacey and I hated this. Spoilers, he doesn't but he sticks around and is annoying. He tells her about all the rich people that he hates, then points out SBRL and says she's the worst of all of them. Joey is suitably weirded out by rich guy's hatred of his own kind.
Jen finds Jack who wanted to see her and ugh, I hate where this is going too. She asks him what's up and he asks her to sit and talk with her. He asks her about Henry and she says that she thinks he was right and she should give him space. Jack then says that maybe she should think about the possibility of things not working out and Jen starts to get pissed. He tries to change the subject and back away from doing the stupid thing that Andie warned him about but Jen asks him point blank if he talked to Henry. He admits he did so she asks if he's breaking up with her but then gets very angry and walks off saying that they're both lying to her. Fair.
At Joey's house, Dawson shows up to return some CDs to her that he borrowed three years ago. To give him some credit, he apologizes for his lack of etiquette in returning them sooner. He almost backs out but then tells her that she should talk to Pacey. He tells her that he skipped school and that he thinks she should know. Joey gets upset that he'd tell her this because she thinks she'd know before Dawson. Unless, your dad is a really shitty guidance counseller who gives you the inside scoop but I digress with my Leery hatred. He tells her that he gets why Pacey wouldn't tell her because he'd be ashamed of disappointing her too. Then he quickly leaves.
Joey goes to confront Pacey who is in a much better mood but she's not in the mood. She yells at him for not telling her about what was going on and all he hears is that she heard the news from Dawson and how much he probably enjoyed telling Joey. She yells at him for caring about that when she feels humiliated that she had to hear what was going with him from Dawson. He thinks she sees him as a loser but she says she didn't spend the summer with a loser. She thought she was spending the summer with a partner, building a strong relationship but says that she must have been wrong.
Gretchen pushes Pacey to get up and apologize to Joey the next day but Pacey is too busy feeling sorry for himself. Gretchen doesn't want him to blow things with Joey because he's scared. Pacey tries to play the pity party about his shitty family and Gretchen agrees that they're terrible but disagrees that they're his problem. His big problem is Dawson and feeling inferior to him. Gretchen points out that Joey picked him so he has nothing to worry about from Dawson.
SBRL calls Joey over to ask her why Owen Ross signed some invoices when he and his family are in Paris. She thought they were good friends of hers and she should know this. Joey explains that Owen did sign the invoices, she saw him and he was super rude. SBRL is not buying it and is ready to fire her when Owen comes in to defend Joey but shock! He's not Owen, he's SBRL's son! Dun, dun, DUNNNN! He claims that Owen was there and Joey was very good to him.
Joey is like WTF, dude? What was that? And he smugly says that she should be grateful because he saved her job. He introduces himself as Drew Valentine and Joey is confused because he said the nastiest things about SBRL. He says that what he said was totally true and Joey can't disagree. He knew that she used the Ross's name to get the job and thought it would be fun to mess with her.
Jen is talking with Dawson about how upset she is over Henry and Jack. Dawson is actually a fairly decent friend here, I'm shocked. He tells her that love is supposed to hurt if she's doing it right but that if she opens up and heals, she'll be able to let love in again. She teases him about being heartfelt but he is adamant that he's speaking the truth. Love comes and goes but friendship is sacred. I dislike this mantra because guess what? Friends come and go and fade away over time just as easily and that is ok too. Sometimes relationships that were important during one time are no longer needed at another. But again, I digress. Jen makes a joke about wanting to drown him in a creek which is a bit yikes considering she lost her friend to drowning in the creek in Season 2 but whatever.
Jack approaches them so Dawson let's them talk it out alone. Jen apologizes to him but before my confusion can turn to anger, Jack is also confused and said that was supposed to be his line. Jen jokes that she's sorry, he's sorry, someone is always sorry. She thinks all relationships are a revolving door of sorry's until the really big messy sorry. Jack asks if she's ok and she says she will be but that she while she's sorry for killing the messenger, she really didn't need to hear the message from him. She just needed his support. He gives her a big hug and they make up.
Pacey finds Joey but she's still super pissed. He tells her that Gretchen urged him to talk to her about his problems to which Joey quips that someone in the Witter family can boast a couple of braincells. He then goes into a monologue about how much she's wrecked him in the best possible way because he thinks that even though she's picked him, it's inevitable that she'll realize that he's a big loser disappointment and that she'd rather be with Dawson. Joey doesn't get what Dawson has to do with him screwing up at school and he explains that Dawson wouldn't have ever screwed up like he did. She agrees but counters that Dawson also would never inspire her to run away with him for the summer. She says that they're creating their own history that has nothing to do with Dawson and Pacey says that it's a nice way of looking at it.
She says that they ran away over the summer and it was magical and wonderful but now shit is going to get real and that it should be that way. Pacey agrees and finally uses his words to tell her that he screwed up and might flunk out of high school and asks for her help. She tells him that that's all he needed to say and that whatever it takes, they'll fix it. They make up and good because I needed this bit of happiness after being subjected to two episodes of the writers trying to trash Pacey's character by making him be a dick to Joey.
And that's Falling Down. Kind of super boring, right? Not to mention we had to watch Pacephine fight again just two episodes into their relationship. You can write other drama for couples without making them fight, guys! I beg of you, no more. It's boring and annoying. The only good thing that happened this episode was finally getting rid of Serial Killer Henry but that was also a bogus little plot that had my favourite friends fighting. Also, also, this is super nitpicky but I'm not a fan of buzzcut Pacey. It's too much and I don't care about Dawson's struggles to be around Pacephine, so really this just felt like a waste. I am glad that we both started and ended the episode on Pacephine though, that at least makes up for a bit and they were cute together both of those times so small victories, right?
Next episode is Two Gentlemen of Capeside and 21 more episodes left until the college years.
Oooh boy, I can already tell that this season is going to be a struggle to get through. The earlier seasons were a nostalgic blast, a time capsule of my youth and are fun to visit that way. Season 3 is like a whole new show but one that I'm extremely attached to for fulfilling my greatest wish upon first watching the show and (rightly) seeing the chemistry between Joey and Pacey but on top of that, it's cathartic to one of the biggest regrets of my life so for that, Season 3 remains treasured in my heart.
Side note: I actually got a complaint on my old Blinvy blog from someone angry that I was writing about a show I hated and told me if I hated it so much, I shouldn't blog about it. I laughed at that comment because if you want to know the truth? I fucking love this show. I love every ridiculous, dramatic, heavy dialogue bit of this show. I just don't take it super seriously. But, I love this show when it's being its overdramatic, cheesy best which is why this season just falls flat for me. It's like they spent their big drama load and now they don't quite know what to do with it and are just trying to clean up the awkward mess it left behind.
I am very quickly realizing why there is so little of this season I remember because nothing is really leaving a super lasting impression on me. No one is getting room to breathe right now and the only significant thing that is happening is that Pacey's older sister Gretchen is home and her and Dawson are probably going to have a thing. I don't care. Dawson's happiness has never been my concern or desire to see on this show because he's the worst and even though I barely know Gretchen, she's too good for him. Ok, 22 episodes to go until the amusing college years. Let's get through this and bring that number down to 21.
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| Savour this because we're in for a rough one |
We open the episode on Pacephine which is a very promising opening. Pacey admits that he has to see the guidance counseller after class and is not very happy about this. Joey teases him a bit in response, clearly not as worried as he is. Pacey then switches the topic of conversation to PDA and whether or not they should engage in it at school. Joey is so-so on the idea which upsets Pacey because he'd like to kiss her. They banter about having to break up but instead, they make out. Dawson interrupts the awesomeness with his lameness and I think we're supposed to feel bad for him but I don't.
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| I drink his tears |
After the credits we join Joey and Andie chatting together which is super awesome considering she was equally upset about Pacephine and just goes to show what a much better person Andie is than Dawson. I know the bar isn't very high but like, if she can forgive this and move on so easily, it really showcases what a petulant spoiled brat Dawson is. Anyway, Joey is complaining about needing a job and Andie suggests Capeside Yacht Club as a job option since they are looking for a server. Joey is not psyched about the idea even after Andie sells it as cute rich guys and way better tips. Joey thinks they wouldn't even hire her because of her family name. Andie suggests she name drop but says the McPhee name is mud in richie land so she suggests using the Ross family as a name drop. Joey figures, jokingly, that she could strip instead.
Meanwhile, Dawson is walking into a store with an armful of CDs when he's stopped by Gretchen. She's looking for apartments because living with Doug sucks. She's going to live with Pacey instead who is also in need of housing. I'm not sure why this is, if she's moving out he can stay with Doug but then again, it seems that both of them hate Doug more than each other so I guess this works out. Dawson wishes her luck and tries to go inside. Gretchen says that it breaks her heart that he and Pacey are no longer friends and asks if there's anyway they can fix things. Dawson is icy so she backs off (whiny spoiled brat) and instead mocks his music tastes. Apparently younger Dawson liked Vanilla Ice. Hmmm, another mediocre artist that had nothing to offer and no personality? That fits for Dawson's tastes. Gretchen groaningly boasts that her tastes were so awesome when she was ten that she predicted Kurt Cobain would change the face of music.
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| We believe you. |
Dawson says that he could name every cinematographer Steven Spielberg ever worked with when he was ten which is decidedly less cool of a feat. They both sound like pretentious a-holes so this will probably be a match made in heaven. (I actually do like Gretchen a bit but still). She finds that he's also getting rid of a Grateful Dead album which she thinks is crazy since she loves them and says that he has worse taste in music than his parents.
Finally, we get to Jen who is anxiously waiting at her computer for Henry to IM her. She tells Jack that she's worried that Henry is pulling away from her. Jack thinks she's being overly crazy and goes on the computer (A blueberry macbook, the nostalgia!) and his face gets super serious when he gets an email message. Jen asks what's up and Jack brushes it off as nothing.
Joey is interviewing with a super bitchy rich lady who questions what an "Ice House" is. Joey explains it's the restaurant she worked at before it burned down which SBRL views as low class. Fires never happen to the rich, you see. Joey says her father insisted she mingle with the lesser people to ground her and give her experience so SBRL asks what her father does.
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| Very pressing questions |
I laughed when Joey said he worked in pharmaceuticals. She's got a sassy wit about her that I like in these seasons. SBRL questions why she doesn't see Potter on their super rich people roster and Joey insists they're not the joining type but that she sailed to the keys over the summer. SBRL asks if she was a deckhand or a stowaway, implying that she's not buying Joey's lies at all. Joey nopes out of there but name drops the Ross name, as per Andie's suggestion. SBRL immediately flips her attitude and suddenly offers her a job when before she'd said the position was filled.
Pacey goes to see the guidance counseller is actually Mitch which doesn't bode well for him all things considered. Mitch claims that he's filling in for the previous guy who only had bad things to say about Pacey. Then he informs Pacey that he's failing 3 of his classes (Science, Math, and English) and that Pacey should have been in summer school instead of sailing the open seas. He says that Pacey has to work his ass off this year or he won't graduate with the rest of his friends. This whole plotline is super upsetting because he'd grown so much over the last few years to the point where he was getting good grades, thanks to Andie. It breaks my heart that they're making him flunk like this.
Gretchen checks out a house with Pacey but he's not having it. She thinks she sees potential in it and asks why he's being so negative. Pacey then explains that he's having school issues and he's probably going to not graduate. Gretchen tells him to grind down and do it because if he works hard he can get through it. She then asks him if he's told Joey and he tells her that's a hard no. She's smart and he's dumb and he doesn't want her to find out how even more dumb he actually is. Gretchen tells him that he's not an idiot and that Joey loves him for who he is. She urges him to tell Joey which is super sound advice, I knew I liked Gretchen.
Joey is serving tables when a rich guy calls her over to comlain that she hasn't given him his ice tea and club sandwich. She apologizes profusely and grabs him his drink. He then launches into a diatribe about how she's probably been impregnated by her loser boyfriend and how it's not his problem and that her attitude will cost her a tip. She's not impressed but he's just joking with her apparently. He really sucks at being funny though. He explains that his dad used to say stuff like that to the help which he thought was crazy because they'd probably just go in the back and spit in his food. Joey acts innocent and asks if he'll excuse him while she goes to check on his food. The guy is amused by this and says that she would probably spit in his food and is impressed with her candor. He asks her how much he hates these people already but Joey isn't buying the act. She asks him to sign his bill but ooops, it's Owen Ross.
Mitch comes into Dawson's room and is impressed to find him listening to the Grateful Dead. Dawson isn't impressed because the music doesn't make him want to drop acid or be all hippie-like and Dawson really doesn't understand music, huh? I really don't think you have to be a super high hippie to like the Dead. They've got some good songs. Mitch explains that they were a band best experienced live and I can totally get that. Dawson asks if he and Gail ever wonder if they're just cooler than he is. Mitch sasses that it's a burden but that they have to bear it.
Mitch tells Dawson about Pacey's troubles which kind of makes him the world's shittiest counseller. Like, that is private stuff that you are disclosing to someone who hates him and could use that information against him. Not cool, Mitch. In some fairness, Mitch is trying to encourage Dawson to help Pacey but it's still a dick move. Dawson doesn't want to do anything about this and Mitch guilts him by telling him that he's always viewed Dawson as someone his friends could go to when they needed help. Dawson whines about how Pacey pursued a girl he's always been in love with *cough*bullshit*cough* (we remember season 1 Dawson, even if you don't) and how much that hurts him so Mitch tells him that he could find someone that will help Pacey.
Cut to Andie complaining about the email Jack got which was apparently from Serial Killer Henry saying that he wants to dump Jen. On top of that, he doesn't want to do the break up, he wants Jack to. Of all the evil things Henry could've done to break up with Jen, this is the worst. Well, ok he at least didn't murder her and feed her to his pigs.
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| The real Dawson's Creek spinoff was Hannibal season 2. True story |
Still, that stings. Asking her best friend to dump her for him is low. Andie agrees with me and asks what Jack told him. Jack stupidly said that he'd talk to Jen. Andie immediately tells him what a terrible idea that is because the relationship stuff is between Jen and Henry and should stay that way. Andie also says that she'd hope a guy she was dating would have the balls to dump her if he wanted to end things, not send someone else in to do the dirty work.
Joey and Pacey are sharing a romantic dinner by True Love but Pacey is in a sour mood. Joey thinks this is because they're not out sailing and Pacey says he could have them packed up and gone by morning. Joey passes because it's their senior year and she's excited for that. Pacey is less excited about Dawson's dirty looks in the hall. Clueing in to his bad mood, Joey asks what happened with the counseller. Pacey avoids answering and asks if they could just eat their meal in silence. Joey lasts two seconds before asking him if he wanted to hear about her new job. She tells him that she's Capeside Yacht Club's newest serving wench and Pacey flatly says congrats. Joey is upset that he's not joining in on her banter. Pacey is pissy though since he can't get a job because of the school thing but instead of using his words he makes a snide comment about how he didn't know she was so interested in getting a job. Joey is like "duh, I need one if I want to go to school" and that she doesn't want to end up a townie. This really sets Pacey off and he calls her a snob.
He asks her what's wrong with being a townie and she tries to back-track but he gets super defensive, asking what if he became a townie? She doesn't think he's that type of person and he gets even more defensive because he clearly thinks he's doomed to be stuck here his entire life. He thinks it would make him less desirable to her. She asks him what's going on but he still refuses to use his words and she calls him out for picking a fight with her to make himself feel better. They eat in awkward silence and I hate this. I thought I told them not to have them fight again for a while? Why can't anyone ever listen to me and my good suggestions?
Next day at school, Pacey is noticably absent from class and Dawson looks like he might actually care just a little bit. Like a fraction of a bit. He cares but grudgingly.
Joey is catering to Owen who is sad that's she's being so cheery with him because he liked her biting sarcasm. I think I remember where this is going but the first time I saw this? I was dreading that they were setting him up as the guy that would break up her and Pacey and I hated this. Spoilers, he doesn't but he sticks around and is annoying. He tells her about all the rich people that he hates, then points out SBRL and says she's the worst of all of them. Joey is suitably weirded out by rich guy's hatred of his own kind.
Jen finds Jack who wanted to see her and ugh, I hate where this is going too. She asks him what's up and he asks her to sit and talk with her. He asks her about Henry and she says that she thinks he was right and she should give him space. Jack then says that maybe she should think about the possibility of things not working out and Jen starts to get pissed. He tries to change the subject and back away from doing the stupid thing that Andie warned him about but Jen asks him point blank if he talked to Henry. He admits he did so she asks if he's breaking up with her but then gets very angry and walks off saying that they're both lying to her. Fair.
At Joey's house, Dawson shows up to return some CDs to her that he borrowed three years ago. To give him some credit, he apologizes for his lack of etiquette in returning them sooner. He almost backs out but then tells her that she should talk to Pacey. He tells her that he skipped school and that he thinks she should know. Joey gets upset that he'd tell her this because she thinks she'd know before Dawson. Unless, your dad is a really shitty guidance counseller who gives you the inside scoop but I digress with my Leery hatred. He tells her that he gets why Pacey wouldn't tell her because he'd be ashamed of disappointing her too. Then he quickly leaves.
Joey goes to confront Pacey who is in a much better mood but she's not in the mood. She yells at him for not telling her about what was going on and all he hears is that she heard the news from Dawson and how much he probably enjoyed telling Joey. She yells at him for caring about that when she feels humiliated that she had to hear what was going with him from Dawson. He thinks she sees him as a loser but she says she didn't spend the summer with a loser. She thought she was spending the summer with a partner, building a strong relationship but says that she must have been wrong.
Gretchen pushes Pacey to get up and apologize to Joey the next day but Pacey is too busy feeling sorry for himself. Gretchen doesn't want him to blow things with Joey because he's scared. Pacey tries to play the pity party about his shitty family and Gretchen agrees that they're terrible but disagrees that they're his problem. His big problem is Dawson and feeling inferior to him. Gretchen points out that Joey picked him so he has nothing to worry about from Dawson.
SBRL calls Joey over to ask her why Owen Ross signed some invoices when he and his family are in Paris. She thought they were good friends of hers and she should know this. Joey explains that Owen did sign the invoices, she saw him and he was super rude. SBRL is not buying it and is ready to fire her when Owen comes in to defend Joey but shock! He's not Owen, he's SBRL's son! Dun, dun, DUNNNN! He claims that Owen was there and Joey was very good to him.
Joey is like WTF, dude? What was that? And he smugly says that she should be grateful because he saved her job. He introduces himself as Drew Valentine and Joey is confused because he said the nastiest things about SBRL. He says that what he said was totally true and Joey can't disagree. He knew that she used the Ross's name to get the job and thought it would be fun to mess with her.
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| Joey is not amused |
Jen is talking with Dawson about how upset she is over Henry and Jack. Dawson is actually a fairly decent friend here, I'm shocked. He tells her that love is supposed to hurt if she's doing it right but that if she opens up and heals, she'll be able to let love in again. She teases him about being heartfelt but he is adamant that he's speaking the truth. Love comes and goes but friendship is sacred. I dislike this mantra because guess what? Friends come and go and fade away over time just as easily and that is ok too. Sometimes relationships that were important during one time are no longer needed at another. But again, I digress. Jen makes a joke about wanting to drown him in a creek which is a bit yikes considering she lost her friend to drowning in the creek in Season 2 but whatever.
Jack approaches them so Dawson let's them talk it out alone. Jen apologizes to him but before my confusion can turn to anger, Jack is also confused and said that was supposed to be his line. Jen jokes that she's sorry, he's sorry, someone is always sorry. She thinks all relationships are a revolving door of sorry's until the really big messy sorry. Jack asks if she's ok and she says she will be but that she while she's sorry for killing the messenger, she really didn't need to hear the message from him. She just needed his support. He gives her a big hug and they make up.
Pacey finds Joey but she's still super pissed. He tells her that Gretchen urged him to talk to her about his problems to which Joey quips that someone in the Witter family can boast a couple of braincells. He then goes into a monologue about how much she's wrecked him in the best possible way because he thinks that even though she's picked him, it's inevitable that she'll realize that he's a big loser disappointment and that she'd rather be with Dawson. Joey doesn't get what Dawson has to do with him screwing up at school and he explains that Dawson wouldn't have ever screwed up like he did. She agrees but counters that Dawson also would never inspire her to run away with him for the summer. She says that they're creating their own history that has nothing to do with Dawson and Pacey says that it's a nice way of looking at it.
She says that they ran away over the summer and it was magical and wonderful but now shit is going to get real and that it should be that way. Pacey agrees and finally uses his words to tell her that he screwed up and might flunk out of high school and asks for her help. She tells him that that's all he needed to say and that whatever it takes, they'll fix it. They make up and good because I needed this bit of happiness after being subjected to two episodes of the writers trying to trash Pacey's character by making him be a dick to Joey.
And that's Falling Down. Kind of super boring, right? Not to mention we had to watch Pacephine fight again just two episodes into their relationship. You can write other drama for couples without making them fight, guys! I beg of you, no more. It's boring and annoying. The only good thing that happened this episode was finally getting rid of Serial Killer Henry but that was also a bogus little plot that had my favourite friends fighting. Also, also, this is super nitpicky but I'm not a fan of buzzcut Pacey. It's too much and I don't care about Dawson's struggles to be around Pacephine, so really this just felt like a waste. I am glad that we both started and ended the episode on Pacephine though, that at least makes up for a bit and they were cute together both of those times so small victories, right?
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| Let's just hold onto this moment |
Next episode is Two Gentlemen of Capeside and 21 more episodes left until the college years.
I forgot that Mitch broke confidence three seconds into his new bullshit job and I swear I blacked out in rage reading that paragraph. No wonder Dawson's the worst. Look who raised him.
ReplyDeleteALSO I FORGOT WHAT A COWARD HENRY THE SERIAL KILLER WAS THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME
Deletealso also my stupid heart remembers this final scene so vividly, with that "Superman" song that was super popular at the time playing underneath, and I was having alllll the feelings.
DeleteBeing the worst is clearly an inherited trait. It's in the Leery genes.
DeleteHenry is absolutely a coward but I have this strange feeling that they couldn't get Michael Pitt back and so they trashed him to write him off. They were probably planning to get rid of him anyway, I just mean that they made it more unfavorable because they didn't have him to send him off.
The ending scene has all the feels.
Oh yeah you're probably right about not being able to get Michael Pitt away from his busy serial killer playing schedule.
DeleteBut my god does Jen deserve better.