Dawson's Creek - 608 - Spiderwebs

 Original air date: November 13, 2002

I am so excited for this episode because it just seems to come out of nowhere. I really want to know how and why this happened? What was the deal? Ok, I should probably fill you in but this is the No Doubt episode. Spoilers, we do get to hear No Doubt songs, I was really worried with how music has been on this show lately but it's there and still as baffling as ever. The most I can glean is that they had just released their album Rock Steady and wanted to promote it. They probably paid WB/CW quite a bit for the spot so here we are.

Sorry to inform you that Dawson has survived his axe murder and is now hanging out with Jen, Jack, and David at Hell's Kitchen. Dawson is surprised to learn that Pacey and Audrey broke up and that Audrey and Joey are fighting. Jen says he should call more often but Jack and David clarify that everyone is fairly chill just keeping their distance. Jen thinks that if she could get Pacey and Audrey in a room together, they'd work things out fine. Dawson looks a bit cagey and Jack guesses correctly that he's worried Joey will be here. Jack says she's not working and Jen insists that Dawson stay for a cheeseburger since they never get to see him anymore. Dawson can't though because he's running an errand and he hands Jen an envelope. It's filled with 10 tickets to the No Doubt concert. Dawson insists they take them since he can't use them and makes his exit. The rest of the gang are super stoked. 

Dawson goes to make a quick exit but is stopped when Joey comes in just as he's about to go through the door. They stare at each other awkwardly and exchange pleasantries. He asks about her and Audrey and Joey shrugs saying people fight. She asks how he's doing and he says he's ok and doesn't want to keep her. Joey says they're his friends too and Dawson knows but still has to go. Joey looks disappointed that he leaves and we go into the credits.

I gotta go pretend this show is still about me!

Enter exhibit #6240109846723 on why I hate the Eddie/Joey relationship: she has to beg him to take her to a concert that she wants to go to. In fairness, it's an hour away but still. He's asking why he should bother going with the girl he supposedly wants to date to a concert she really wants to go to and it's just like, why? Why is he like this? This is such killjoy behaviour. They banter about what he'll get out of it since all her friends are going to be there and she tells him he'll get a kiss. He says he already got two kisses from her and I just don't find this as endearing as the writers want me to think it is. At least we get Joey snark back to him that the evening could end with her just giving him gas money and asks if he's in or out. He's in. Wonderful.

At the movie set, Dawson is trying to convince Todd to wrap early so everyone can go home and get some rest. Todd isn't down with this because he wants to get two exterior night shots in. Dawson sweetens the deal by offering to split the pot (he bet the crewmembers that they would get off at a certain time) with Todd. Todd turns down the pot but caves in on letting them off and even gives him better tickets to the concert and back stage passes. Todd is just looking forward to a night of early sleep.

My earlier suspicions are confirmed when we find Audrey and Jen at a record store and Audrey picks out Rock Steady to purchase. That's some nice ad bucks there. Jen is trying to convince Audrey to go with them to the concert but she's skeptical. She's worried Joey will be there and that she'll bring "that guy" and I know she's just mad at Joey but I'm 100% on board for Audrey's snark and derision at them dating. Just wish it was because she saw the red flags and wanted to warn Joey and not just because she's mad at Joey for not noticing her problems sooner. Audrey wants to know if Joey has ever made a mistake in her life and Jen says that she made the same mistake as Audrey, dumping Pacey. Excuse you, Jen. While I love that you see how quality Pacey is, that is not how it happened. He got very cruel and mean to Joey and basically dumped her before she finalized it. It was a sort of mutual thing but driven by Pacey's self-destruction and vitriol towards her. Audrey even says she heard it the other way around so Jen says whatever the important thing is they're still friends and so are she and Audrey. Audrey seems touched that Jen sees her as a friend and agrees to go.

Subtle

Jen bumps into someone and apologizes only to realize it's CJ so she gets a bit more flustered. Audrey gets an oh shit face and it's at this point that I finally remember why CJ sucks so bad. I mean last episode too but it's about to get worse. Jen offers him a ticket and says that the whole gang is going so it wouldn't be a date. Jen then excitedly tells Audrey she'll pick her up at 7 and leaves. CJ then approaches Audrey who is doing her best to avoid him. He asks her why she didn't call and she said she thought it would be obvious. He tries to say they did nothing wrong and that Jen isn't even his girlfriend and Audrey points out that she isn't either. She wants to put it behind her because she feels awful. He asks if they're just supposed to forget it ever happened and Audrey says yes, she will and unless he wants her to kill him, he will too. Very, very clear boundary set there. She's not interested, CJ. Oh but wait.

At the concert, Joey goes to give her tickets to the ticket holder but oops, she left the tickets in her other jacket which is back at the dorm, an hour away. Eddie offers to go back for them but she points out that by the time they get to the car, drive home, get the tickets, and drive back, the concert will basically be over. Eddie sees how crushed Joey is and asks her to come with him.

Dawson and Natasha are making out like crazy in line with their tickets. No one is impressed with this. Dawson is asked for his tickets but oops, his are for tomorrow night and they're turned away. Natasha points out that they still have backstage passes and she pulls him off somewhere to work her skills. 

Jen and Pacey are getting refreshments and chatting. Jen is excited that he's here and not in a suit. Pacey is wondering about the guy and his friend and Jen tells him that the one guy's name is David. She says he should get used to David since he's going to stick. She then gets cagey about where their seats are and then breaks the news to him that Audrey is there. Jen, that's so uncool. You gave Audrey the heads up that he and Joey would be there but you didn't bother to tell Pacey that Audrey would be there until now? She's usually better than this. Jen is certain that he wants to talk to her though and he kind of sighs an agreement.

Pacey finds his way to the seat and confronts Audrey, telling her that he tried to call. Audrey wanted to wait until she hated him less to talk to him though. Seems reasonable. He asks if she wants to go somewhere a little quieter to talk for a bit and Audrey agrees. 

Outside, Eddie is at the backstage door talking to a security person about how he needs to talk to someone inside who works there. The guy asks if it's him and Eddie says no and then tries to ask again but still won't mention the name. He just keeps saying he needs to talk to someone. How did he think this would go? Just tell him a name. But, we have to be surprised about who he wants to talk to so we can't know just yet. Joey says they can just give up since it's all her fault but Eddie's not ready yet. He sees people coming and wants to ask them for help but Joey sees that it's Dawson and Natasha and quickly pulls Eddie into hiding.

Natasha tells Dawson to trust her and that her plan will work better if he pretends like he's her brother. She then unbuttons her shirt a bit to show off her cleavage and Dawson gets uncomfortable. Natasha is determined to spend her night off at the concert though and knocks on the backstage door. A man answers and automatically notices her breasts. Mission accomplished. Maybe.

Eddie is trying to figure out why they're hiding but Joey insists they stay hidden. He points out that Dawson is the friend that gave her the tickets, which she confirms, and then again asks why they're hiding. Joey has no explanation other than it was her gut instinct to do so. She doesn't want to budge but when Eddie sees that they've all disappeared inside and that the door hasn't yet shut, he grabs her and goes for it. 

They sneak in and see Dawson and Natasha with the security team. She's trying to tell them they're on a list, which they probably would be if Todd had backstage passes but they're not. Natasha points out that they could have messed up and put them on tomorrow's list but the guy says no dice and escorts them back outside. Joey and Eddie make it safely past before this happens though they're not subtle and I have to wonder if none of these guys have peripheral vision. No shade, I certainly don't. 

They looked right at the security guy though.
How are they not seeing this?

Jen and CJ are getting refreshments together and talking about Audrey. He's surprised she's involved with someone. Jen says they broke up which is why she's been so erratic lately. CJ says that she seemed pretty single to him and he's not being subtle about having slept with her but Jen doesn't get it because she didn't have the earlier context that we, the audience did. CJ does try to talk to Jen about their situation because he doesn't want to lead her on or make her think he's playing games with her. He tells her he's interested in someone else which further humiliates Jen because she realizes that all his bluster about not being ready or able to date just applied to her and not anyone else. CJ clarifies that he did mean all of that but that this other girl took him by surprise and things kind of escalated. Jen asks if they slept together and the look on his face confirms it so she says that, generally speaking, when a girl sleeps with a guy, it means they're interested. CJ doesn't think so because she apparently has a boyfriend so it's complicated. He says that Jen is obviously a good friend to Audrey, then corrects to everybody but Jen has finally figured it out. He slept with Audrey. CJ tries to dig his hole deeper but Jen's heard enough and walks away.

Pacey is buying Audrey a concert t-shirt to make up for being a dick. She thanks him but says it's not his job to make her happy, it's hers. Pacey still feels bad for not being there for her though and they both admit to missing each other. It seems like these two are going to get back together. They spot Jen and happily wave her over but Jen is not looking as happy to see Audrey. Jen tells Pacey to go ahead because she and Audrey are going to chat. Pacey ducks out quick to let them have girl time and Audrey asks Jen what's up. Jen says that she knows what happened between her and CJ. Audrey looks gutted and tries to apologize but Jen isn't interested. She just wanted her to know she knows. Audrey suddenly is the one that wants to talk now, realizing that she has been shit and may just be losing one of the best friends she could have. She tells Jen to yell at her or something because she deserves it but Jen doesn't want to yell at her. She doesn't have it in her to yell, she just thinks Audrey is sad. Man, Jen can not catch a break with her friends. Joey goes after Charlie after he broke Jen's heart and now Audrey has slept with CJ, the guy Jen really likes. Jen deserves better girl friends. 

No Doubt have finally started their concert and we get treated to Hella Good for a long time. We do get crowd shots of our gang enjoying themselves but it's a couple of minutes until we get back to the story. Joey and Eddie are wandering around something that looks like a furnace area of the building, so it's dark and creepy. Joey wants him to admit they're lost since they seems to be moving away from the music. Eddie insists they're not and accuses her of not trusting him. Joey points out that she doesn't really have much reason to trust him since he's always cagey about answering her questions and he accuses her of having trust issues. I hate him. He smugly says they're learning things about each other but Joey points out that he's learning about her and not the other way around which has been the entirety of this lame excuse for a relationship. He asks her to wait here but Joey isn't about to be abandoned in a dark, creepy boiler room to be murdered. He asks her to trust him and wait because he'll only be gone two seconds. She sneaks behind him to see him talking to a guy in a room, then backs up to where she was when she sees they're going to come her way. She asks Eddie to tell her what's going on and Eddie introduces her to his father. Joey gets a huge smile on her face but I'm not sure why. Like, he wouldn't tell her at all what his plan was, that his father worked here and that's why they were doing this. He just kept her in the dark. Why? Is it because he was definitely not going to tell her that his dad worked here if his plan failed? My guess is yes. 

Natasha and Dawson are waiting outside to see if anyone is scalping tickets. He's got a wad of cash since he won the pool and is going to use it to buy them. He won $600. They banter a bit and then start to make out. Then a cop comes by to ask them what the heck they're doing. Dawson tries to explain that they thought they had tickets and the cop assumes that they sold them, since he's holding a bunch of cash. Dawson tries to explain that they do but for a different night but the cop doesn't buy it because why else would Dawson have so much cash on him. Natasha then pipes in that the money is to pay for her because her acting like she's a prostitute was going to help the situation? The cop calls for a car and Dawson is horrified to think he's going to be arrested. The cop says he's taking them with him but if Natasha says another word they'll be arrested. Natasha is unbothered by it all and thinks it's cool that they get to ride in the cop car. Is this the instant that she becomes really annoying? Because this is annoying behaviour. 

No Doubt has started to play Underneath it All which I love but it also takes up a good chunk of time. We are essentially just watching No Doubt at this point up until they get to the bridge of the song which, unfortunately, is the score to CJ confronting Audrey. She's coming out of the bathroom too where he's been waiting for her which is just the most creepy thing. Don't do that. She tries to tell him to go away but is he going to listen to a woman setting clear boundaries? No. He insists they talk about the fact that they had sex because he likes her but I think she's made it abundantly clear that the feelings are not mutual. You'd think he'd get it what with Jen liking him and him not being into her that he should like, back off now but nope. He makes a dig about how she slept with him and that means that she's not happy with Pacey. I mean, she wasn't but it still doesn't mean she likes CJ. Audrey points out that he's way more messed up than the people he's trying to help and he agrees but says he still really likes her. Pacey comes out to look for Audrey and senses the tension in the air. Audrey says they barely know each other which hurts CJ's feelings so he has to make a snide comment and then says that Pacey should do a better job taking care of his girlfriend. Audrey tells CJ to shut up and back off but he's not going to stop. Audrey begs him to stop, if what he said about liking her was true but he continues, asking if she really thinks Pacey will make her happier than he obviously did. Pacey loses it and lashes out. They fight until security comes to escort them out, leaving a bewildered and sad Audrey alone. 

Pacey sure takes a beating these past couple of episodes, 
emotionally and physically

We get another overly long moment of just No Doubt performing Magic's in the Makeup. It feels very out of place and makes you wonder if you switched to Much Music (Canadian MTV) by accident but no, you're still watching Dawson's Creek, I assure you. We then cut to Joey and Eddie who are watching the concert from high above the stage. I guess, in the catwalks? Joey mentions his dad is nice and Eddie agrees but whines about how not encouraging his father was. Joey asks if that's why he never went to college but Eddie says he did but ended up dropping out. He thinks things have to happen in their own time or they're meaningless and he points out that right now isn't so meaningless. Joey agrees and they hold hands.

Pacey is outside the concert with Emma and he's still pacing furiously. He thinks CJ is pond scum and took advantage of Audrey. I can't fault Pacey for disliking CJ but, as Emma points out, Audrey isn't his girlfriend anymore, and it wouldn't excuse him punching someone if she were. She also says that Audrey is a big girl and she can pick who she sleeps with, even if she's perhaps not in the best place too. It's up to her to get herself well, not Pacey. She asks him why he can't just admit that she hurt him or that he feels guilty over how things ended and that maybe he still wants to save her. Pacey agrees that it's difficult for him.

Jen is caring for CJ by applying an ice pack to his swollen face. I don't understand why because he doesn't deserve such kindness. CJ thinks she's enjoying his pain but Jen isn't enjoying it and says they're both adults and can do what they want. She can't be mad even if her feelings got a bit hurt. He apologizes for that. Jen tells him that even if he thinks he's together, if his biggest desire is to hang out with Audrey then he probably won't be together for much longer. Ouch. Audrey is her friend and she was just trying to get her back together with another one of her friends. I don't like this burn but Jen then goes on to say that if she chose to help people, she'd be way the hell better at it than CJ. I firmly agree with that sentiment. How the hell did they come back from this and have them date? Why did they want to do this storyline? They were setting up a nice little romance for Jen and then they just blew it all up. It sucks.

David and Jack are chatting about their poor dating luck so far. David has offered to take Audrey home and is waiting for her to come out of the bathroom while Jack is taking Jen home as soon as he can. David makes a crack that when two gay guys go on a date and end the evening each taking a hot blonde girl home, they're probably doing something wrong. Jack laughs in helpless agreement. Here's hoping these two get a proper date next episode.

At the police station, Natasha jokes about making a run for it but Dawson is less than amused. He is annoyed she's not taking things seriously and I'm here thinking, you guys are both super lucky you're white because this could have gone a lot worse for you than being politely escorted to the police station, let off with a warning, and given a phone call. Natasha thinks the whole evening has been fun from start to finish. Dawson agrees though he thinks she might be crazy. I only mention this because when Natasha asks if he hasn't dated anyone insane before, Dawson answers that he has and not in a fun way. The show's first acknowledgement Eve existed since she vaporized from the show's existence. It amused me. They start to kiss when Todd comes out of the station looking pissed. He was their phone call to bail them out or pick them up or something. Todd is fine with them being together and is all for young love but he is also a man who loves sleep. Dawson and Natasha mock him a bit and he tells them to get to his car, now. Weirdest throuple dynamic ever. 

Lol, we just ruined our boss's night off with our uselessness

Eddie is walking Joey back to her dorm room and asks her about her dad. Joey is reluctant but finally admits that her dad is less than solid and cheated on her mom and dealt drugs. Eddie thinks he must have done something right and Joey asks if it's because she turned out so well. Of course, Eddie takes the time to mock her school saying that just because she goes to a nice school, doesn't mean she turned out well. I don't know, man. It could he's getting to something better and I'm reading this uncharitably because of my distaste for this character but it still sounds so condescending. Like, I'll tell you why you turned out right, I have a lot of work to do with you before you pass as acceptable in my eyes. I just hate him. Joey is falling for it though, which makes me sad. He even calls her "little girl" which was because she said that her dad told her to "dream big, little girl" but also sounds super condescending and season 1 Joey would not have taken that. This is season 6 Joey though, and she kisses him. They say goodnight and part ways. I don't see what Joey sees but I guess she's happy, for now. 

That was Spiderwebs, and oddly enough, this song did not appear in the episode. Unless they played that in an earlier scene, not from the concert and thus couldn't afford the rights. Sucks because I really like that song. I can't believe how much CJ got torched these past few episodes. Like, it seemed like he was being set up as this really encouraging, awesome love interest for Jen and then he's just like "I don't date", "excuse me while I ignore your crush on me and go after your friend" and then ending with "I'm going to sleep with your friend and then disrespect her boundaries." I know he sticks around but honestly, Jen deserves better than this. She deserves so much better than all her love interests, excluding season 5 Dawson. It sucks that the writers blew that couple up for two seconds of Dawson/Joey, because they were so good together and now we're stuck with CJ the asshole and Manic Pixie Natasha. I hope the cost of advertising in this episode was beneficial for No Doubt because that's about the only worthwhile thing that happened here and I'm grateful that they paid for this so the music didn't get scrubbed. We'll have to find out what drama will befall the gang next in the episode Everything Put Together, Falls Apart.