Dawson's Creek - 418 - Eastern Standard Time

 Original air date: April 18, 2001

Ok, guys I have to put a content warning at the top of this recap because stuff is about to get really heavy for poor Jen. So, if you have issues with child abuse, neglect, child sex abuse and the like maybe give this one a skip or just prepare yourself for the discussion. Sorry in advance. Also, is it just me or has this season been unbearably bleak and depressing. Nowhere near as sunny and optimistic as the previous season, in spite of all their drama. Let's take a deep breath and dive right in.

This episode starts with Dawson which honestly should have been its own content warning, sorry about that. He and Gretchen are playing the game of Life but he's distracted and he actually admits to his inquiring girlfriend that he was thinking about his ex. That is ballsy. Somehow (because this show is written primarily by men?) Gretchen doesn't seem to mind that he constantly thinks about Joey and just engages him in this convo where he tells her that she and Jen got on a train to New York because it's Senior Ditch Day tomorrow and they have no school. Gretchen then waxes nostalgic about her SDD where she and her friends got in a car, drove to the Virginia State line, looked around and then drove back. I've got to say, that does not sound like a fun time to me but then I've always hated car rides. Screw the journey, give me the destination. Dawson takes this as his cue to do something spontaneous and drags her out of the house for an epic road trip. Spoiler warning, it is not epic. 

Next we go to Jen at her therapists office. She's also distracted and when her therapist asks her what she's thinking about she asks him if he knows the song Sweet Jane. The therapist, a man in his 40s at least (maybe 30s, I don't know) asks if it's the one by the Cowboy Junkies and the teen girl corrects him that it's actually by Lou Reed. It's such a surreal moment because we all know she's thinking of the Cowboy Junkies version because everyone was at that time. Anyway, it's a nice bit of character detail that actually remains throughout the rest of the show and it's cool. Jen is a music snob and I love it. Jen admits that she loves the song and used to know it by heart and we transition to her and Joey at a train station with awful generic happy pop music and this is the first time it's become glaringly obvious to me that they've stripped the original soundtrack from this show (other than just the theme song) because I know for a fact that this episode used that song, otherwise why reference it? It was Jen's song in Jen's episode. It's so important and this really pisses me off when rights get involved and songs are stripped from episodes despite it ruining the atmosphere the show was going for. This was not a fun girls trip to Jen, it's tragic and Sweet Jane reflects that. Ugh. Sorry, rant over.

Joey has informed Jen of her very carefully planned itinerary for the trip while Jen is meeting with the college admissions officer. She even lectures Jen about how fast paced New York is. Sweetie, look who you're talking to. Jen gives some snarky comments but is generally amused by Joey's enthusiasm.

Joey and Jen discussing New York plans at the train station
This will be a post of only Jen and Joey pics because they're awesome.

Pacey is studying alone at school because, if you'll remember, he's in danger of not even graduating this year. No Ditch Day for him. Drew comes up to him and all I can think is, aren't we done with him? Why aren't we done with him yet? Drew tries to entice Pacey into skipping the afternoon anyway but Pacey shuts him down. Of course, Drew has to leave on a douchey note by mocking him about what Joey is doing at this moment. They drowned the wrong side character in that creek, I tell you.

Jen and Joey are at a coffee shop when they run into an old friend of Jen's named Typo for some reason. He seems super nice and very excited to see her. They chat for a bit when Joey mentions her meeting with the college. Typo is ecstatic to possibly have Jen back in the city but Joey isn't thrilled that Jen would be living so far away. I am here for the Joey/Jen friendship, you guys. I love this. Jen mentions that sometimes you can never go home again. Very cryptic.

Back at the high school some teacher asks Pacey how his college prospects are looking and Pacey says that they are narrowing by the minute. The teacher tells him to relax because this quiz is the first quiz of his life. I can't possibly tell you how little you are helping here. Capeside teachers are the worst.

Dawson and Gretchen are stuck at the side of a road with a flat tire that they can't fix because apparently Dawson gave his spare to a kid trying to get home? Really trying hard to make Dawson not seem like the world's biggest douche after last season, huh? Gretchen wants to hitchhike but Dawson is against that idea because of The Hitcher but like, also any time there's hitchhiking in movies it goes bad so I'm kind of siding with him, what is wrong with me? He suggests they walk even though the next town is six miles. Yuck. There's a brief cutaway to Pacey at the highschool, trying to keep working on a test that is due to be handed in. He doesn't look happy about how he thinks he did.

Joey has started to doubt Jen's story considering her crypticness earlier and asks her for the name of the admissions guy she was meeting again. Jen gives her a name and Joey busts her that she keeps using different names and asks if she even has a meeting. Jen's face tells her no and she asks her what they are actually doing in New York. Jen confesses that she needs to meet with her dad because of therapy reasons and that Joey should just go have fun and they'll meet up at the Mercer Hotel at 8 so they can go home together. Joey is happy that Jen paid attention to her schedule but feels like she's not actually going to see Jen again if they part ways. Jen says that she will and Joey agrees because she sticks with Jen, eager to fulfill her role as her keeper. Why are they such cute friends? Why did this show hate writing these two together as friends? More of this, please!

Dawson and Gretchen have made it into a small town that creeps Gretchen out. Dawson is fine even though, as a movie nerd, Dawson should be the one nervous about small towns. Then again, this isn't a town run by children, so I'm sure they'll be fine. The guy at the garage is an old coot named Irv who is willing to sell them a tire but can't give them a ride back to their car because his truck is not working. Dawson offers to help him fix it for a tire and a ride and Gretchen goes to get them some food.

Jen and Joey are at her dad's office and are about to go in when Joey stops her. She tells her that this feels like a really huge moment, considering it's from her therapy sessions that she came to this conclusion but warns Jen that she only gets one shot at a moment like this. Joey tells her that she should take a moment to decide what she wants the moment to be. 

Pacey overhears some students talking about how easy the quiz was and how they didn't even study which only serves to make him feel more like shit for struggling through it. He spots Drew across the cafeteria and nods at him, motioning to the exit. This is a bad idea, Pacey. Abort. Abort! 

We're back with Jen and Joey in an office bathroom. Jen looks like she's about to cry so Joey asks her what happened to her. Jen relays this story about how much she used to hate visiting Capeside because she was terrified of Grams. One time she and her mother were supposed to go, she was 12 (remember this) and she complained because her dad had to stay behind to work and she didn't want to go. Her mother turned to her and told her if she didn't want to go she should just go back home. Jen was so excited because she loved her father so much but before she can finish her but statement, a woman comes into the bathroom so she and Joey leave.

Joey and Jen in an office bathroom
Joey does not find out what Jen's childhood trauma is but we will...

There's a brief scene where Gretchen is ordering food and the diner lady is unpleasant and they also seem out of any kind of food she wants. She orders some type of beef sandwich and Pepsi because they didn't have Coke. I feel that pain.

Joey and Jen get into her father's office and he greets her surprisingly warmly despite the many times it was noted that they left on not good terms. Jen introduces her father to Joey and he asks them what they're doing here. Joey tells him that Jen was accepted to the University of New York and Mr. Lindley or Theo as he asks to be called brags to his secretary before demanding she cancel the rest of his day and make a reservation for 3 at some fancy restaurant. Jen is uncomfortable and tells him he doesn't have to but he insists because he's proud she got into college, no matter where. Again, strangely happy and supportive. Wait for it.

Pacey and Drew have made their way to a seedy bar where Drew seems to be known as Gilbert (he wishes he could pull off that name). He hands Pacey a decidedly horrible fake ID and explains that this place barely checks, they just want to see you have a card. Drew then needles Pacey about this bar being right near the community college which is probably his only prospect and that's just rude. Why is he the worst and why is Pacey subjecting himself to this?

Side tangent: what is the States snotty deal with looking down on colleges? Maybe I don't understand their system but here college is just a more hands on way of learning and I much preferred it to boring University lectures. I was actually doing the things and preparing myself to work in the field I wanted to work in. I don't get why it's a bad thing to go to a college in the States, is what I'm saying.

Pacey confides in Drew that he couldn't help but feel incredibly alone while at school and Drew is like, no one is there, it's ditch day. This is not what Pacey is referring to but he realizes that Drew is not the person to have this kind of deep conversation with. Drew claims he is just trying to show Pacey that the community college scene is filled with good people and they toast.

Dawson, Gretchen, and old guy Irv, are driving and chatting when Gretchen finally asks how much this will all cost them. Irv tells her $60 for the tire and $20 for the ride. They are aghast at the cost and honestly, I don't think that's a crazy price for a new tire? Am I crazy? That seems cheap. The ride charge is just cheeky considering Dawson helped the guy fix his truck. Douche move on Irv's part. They don't have any money so he kicks them out of his truck and drives away. Irv is kind of a dick.

Mr. Lindley is throwing his weight around the restaurant like he owns it and they clearly know who he is. Jen tries to talk but chickens out so Joey interjects to tell him that Jen got into 5 out of the 6 colleges she applied to. He's impressed and then says he only got into one but brags that it was Princeton. He asks Joey where she's going and she tells him Boston. He's disappointed and starts singing New York's praises. Joey is wowed by his description of the city but she's still gonna go to Boston so this show can have the glorious college years.

Gretchen is withholding the beef sandwich she got from Dawson until he can figure out a way to get them out of this situation. He can't think of anything but is starving and honestly, now I'm on Gretchen's side. Taunt him with that sandwich, girl. He thinks they could get his parents to wire them money but Gretchen is like "wire transfer? In that hell hole of a town? At this time of night?" and so they seem to be screwed and I guess Dawson will starve.

Pacey and Drew are now playing poker and apparently winning when the bartender comes up to them and starts asking questions of Pacey who is apparently Dave in his driver's license and from Rhode Island. Pacey fails to be able to say which route he took to get from there to hear and the bartender has obviously figured them out. Pacey, being drunk gets in the guy's face for calling him a liar and then him and Drew burst into fits of laughter. I doubt the bartender finds them amusing though.

Mr. Lindley has been called away from dinner to do a business and hands Jen and Joey a wad of cash. He tells Joey that Jen knows the city inside and out and is the best tour guide which is only going to become the most fucked up compliment when we find out what happened. Jen and Joey then head out to a rooftop and look at the city skyline. Joey finally asks Jen what happened after her mom left her at the train station instead of bringing her to Capeside. Jen claims she just walked around the city by herself (at 12 years old). Joey then asks her where she slept and Jen says she spent the first night in an office parking lot, the second in the VIP room of a club she got into and the third night in some guy's dorm room that she met in a bar. Again, I'm going to stress that she was 12. Joey then asks why she didn't go home to be with her father and Jen says she did but then says she has to go. Joey is clearly worried about Jen and stresses to her to be at the train station at 11 because they need her back home and she's scared she's not going to see Jen again. I love this scene, it's so sad and urgent and tragic. It's only going to get worse.

Joey and Jen on a rooftop in New York
You actually do get the sense that they may be saying goodbye forever

Gretchen and Dawson are lying on a beach next to a fire he built and she is very impressed. She finally asks what's up with him and this trip and he actually tells her about how he feels like he and Joey should have slept with each other for their first time but somehow transitions to how he needs to let go and that he loves Gretchen and doesn't know what they're waiting for. She's somehow into this but honestly, he talks about Joey so much I don't know why she's interested.

Jen has appeared at her father's house, he's asleep in an armchair but wakes up. She starts telling him how she took a cab here with the intention of telling him that she wasn't going to Capeside and that he would smile and they would go for a walk and suddenly, you realize she's not talking about right now but back when she was 12. She tells him how she came in and didn't hear anything so she thought he wasn't there, he hasn't clued in yet so he tells her he was asleep but is awake now. She ignores this and keeps going with her story about how she suddenly heard a whimper and how she recognized the voice, that it was Annie. This girl lived in the apartment below them and was probably the same age as Jen is now which means, her father was having sex with a 17 year old girl (maybe 18 but either way gross). She saw them from down the hallway and she ran back downstairs and out into fifth avenue and she asks him if this is when things started to get bad for her. Mr. Lindley claims she is imagining in great detail an event that never happened but you can see the panic in his face. She asks him who he is and he claims to just be her father. Jen accuses him of knowing, of seeing her in the doorway and then shaming her for how she acted out because of finding her father in bed with their teenage neighbour, someone I'm guessing babysat Jen as she stated she was her favourite person. Mr. Lindley tries to say something but Jen cuts him off because she doesn't need a confession from him or an apology nor does she have to forgive him. She just needs to forgive herself for everything that happened to her that were beyond her control at the time. This, is a lot. I just want Jen to find some happiness.

Doug has come to collect Drew and Pacey but can't seem to help making Pacey feel worse about the situation because he's just not that great of a brother. Pacey loses his cool and yells at Doug that this is it for him, it's all he gets and pushes him away. 

Gretchen and Dawson are making out on the beach but Gretchen comes to her senses and puts the breaks on. She tells him that when they do make love it will be because they want to but not to prove something, ie Dawson being over Joey. Good for her. Now dump him! Just kidding, but not really because we all know it's coming.

Next we move through a montage that was supposed to be set to Sweet Jane but instead we get some generic thing that sounds awful and does not work. We see Drew and Pacey looking miserable in the back of a squad car, Joey looking around hopefully and nervously at the train station, Jen in a cab crying, Dawson asleep on a beach while Gretchen is sat up and crying, Pacey getting home to see his workbooks still open and he looks sadly at himself in the mirror. Then back to Joey at the station as last call for boarding is called and looking increasingly more anxious until she finally spots Jen in the crowd and happily waves her over. They hug and it's the most satisfying and beautiful thing:

Jen and Joey hugging at the train station
Why did they keep us from their friendship for so long?

Jen is now back at her therapist's office where she says she's glad she went back because she got what she needed and is now done. Frost tells her that they've only just opened the door and have so much more to explore but Jen isn't interested and tells him goodbye. So, that's worrying that she found this out and wants to drop therapy altogether. Boy, this season just keeps getting more and more depressing. 

I know that the content warning might have been extreme as nothing is shown but I felt I needed to give it because the implications of Jen's story are absolutely troubling. At 12 years old, she caught her father having sex, not with her mother, not just with another woman, but a teenager who she looked up to. She then spent the weekend wandering around a city by herself (why did her parents not check in with each other about where she was? Neither of them checked in?) where she was let into big fancy clubs at 12 years old and then brought back to a guy's dorm room. Was that her first time? I don't know, I think we can infer it is which is heartbreaking and sad but honestly? I think this plotline might get worse? I feel like it gets worse and I just want to give Jen the biggest hug. Though, I have to say Michelle Williams is nailing her deliveries for this story. She's so freaking good.

Anyway, next time we look at Late and honestly, I can't believe how many episodes we have left to go when it seems like everything is already wrapping up. I guess we have the Leery baby to come, prom, graduation but there's like 5 more episodes to go and I don't get what we're going to do with them. I guess we'll just have to find out.

Comments