Original air date: February 5, 2003
Guys, I am so excited because this is the last episode before my glorious treat of Castaways and it's also a pretty fun episode, compared what we've been enduring. Also, it started my wonderful hopeful shipper heart into hoping for Pacephine to set sail once more so let's jump right in.
We open the episode in an electronics store where Jack and Pacey are ogling someone or something they keep referring to as "her". Jack worries if he'll be able to afford her but Pacey wants her and all of her little toys too. It's sounding a bit gross and weird but then Joey turns up to tell them they're being gross and weird and we pan out to see that they're actually talking about a giant TV. Joey says that it's the most blatant display of capitalism she's ever seen which is honestly based as they say. Jack runs to get a sales person, leaving Pacey and Joey alone. She tells him she's impressed with him and you can just see him snap out of his tv coma and get this excited and happy look on his face. I love it. My shipper heart is already fluttering and we're not even at the best part. Pacey says he hopes he hasn't gone too far but Joey thinks he's still him, just more confident. Pacey wants her to come to his party that he's throwing because it isn't a party without her. She confirms that she'll be there because she needs cheering up after Eddie decided to leave and make something of himself. Joey, trust me, you are way better off without him. Pacey thinks the night out will be good for her and then ogles his tv some more. Joey decides to bail to look at iPods.
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| Get you a guy that looks at you the way Pacey looks at Joey |
The big screen tv is getting delivered and even Jen is there to watch the unveiling. Both Jack and Pacey love the tv and even David is enamored while Jen is confused. This all feels very goofy for this show and I know they've done goofy before but this feels especially out of place and old style humour, you know? Very Home Improvement, men love tools and sports and tv while women roll their eyes at how silly the menfolk are. I don't know, I'm just not into this plot. Jen asks why Pacey is throwing this party but we don't get a clear answer so I think the writers just wanted an excuse for them to party which is fine. Jen then quickly drops that she's bringing CJ. If you'll recall, CJ is the douche that strung Jen along, slept with Audrey, then got really possessive over her which also made Pacey get possessive and punch him. It was a thing. It also happened at a No Doubt concert. Jen would like him to not punch CJ's face and Pacey says he won't. Jen dips to go get CJ, and ice for the party. Emma walks in with some sloppy looking dude and is immediately upset about the tv as well. Pacey says that they can discuss arrangement of the huge tv later. In the girls' defense about this TV thing, big screen TVs were behemoths back then and ate up a ton of room space so I get why she'd be upset at losing a bunch of space to this TV in her apartment. Jack finally notices sloppy guy and asks who he is. Emma says that he is her fiancé, cue the pause for laughter because this is feeling very sitcom staged right now.
Dawson is at a rehab center and goes to the receptionists desk to ask a question. Audrey bursts out ready for him and is happy he didn't think the message she left him was a joke. Dawson says she sounded a bit desperate. Audrey says she'd deserve it if he flaked on her but then she starts fake sneezing and asks if he brought her Nyquil. Dawson knows that it wouldn't be smart to bring cough syrup to a recovering alcoholic so he has nothing. She begs for a magazine and rambles on about how she's even read the bible and Dawson asks if she's ok. Audrey admits that she's smoking more than she used to which is silly since she knows that cigarette's are just as bad for her and then she sees Dawson is distracted and asks how he's doing. He tells her that he's been sleeping at Todd's guesthouse and that Wicked Dead is headed straight for DVD, which means Todd won't be asked to direct anything for a while and Dawson probably won't get any more shots. They wallow for a bit before Dawson notices a woman by a vending machine. He tells Audrey it's Toni Stark, some big Hollywood producer who used to work for Spielberg but then set out on her own. It is extremely distracting that her name is Toni Stark but at the time, I guess they figured that not many people knew who Iron Man is, let alone his alter ego Tony Stark, and now he's practically a house hold name. Anyway, Audrey wants him to focus on her but is appreciative that he's been the only one cool enough to visit her there. That's kind of sad but the rest are in school and across country so it's not like it would be easy to go see her. Audrey decides she wants to stalk the film producer with Dawson and I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
CJ and Jen arrive at the party with ice and it's only now that he thinks to ask who's party this is. She admits it's Pacey's party and he understandably wants to bail but Jen won't let him. She says these are her best friends and if he wants to do this with her, it's important to her that he make an effort and that is so good that she's calling him on this. It is extremely important that a potential SO is good to your people. Inside the apartment, Emma does an awkward hello there but all CJ notices is the TV because he's a guy and guys love big TVs, remember? This joke is kind of embarrassing but I am here for these guys all hanging out at a party together.
Joey is impressed with the party and Pacey asks her what she thinks about Bertha. Joey is as weirded out as me that he named his TV. Pacey offers her a drink and is surprised when she asks for an alcoholic one. Pacey knows things haven't been good for her lately but says that she'll get through it like she usually does and Joey complains that she's always reliable and safe. I do find it funny that she mentions getting up early and taking her exams because, if you'll recall, she did not get up early or take her exam last we saw her. Joey wonders what would happen if she just didn't do all that other stuff and Pacey offers her the freedom to have some free fun tonight, since he's there to look out for her and I'm just loving these moments between them. Joey agrees and takes her drink. Drunk Joey is about to be in the house.
After a commercial break spacer, Joey is indeed drunk and chatting with David on the couch. She's talking about Jack and wondering if he's ever going to go back to art. She thought he was good and says that it's what they bonded over. She also says that Jack was shy and dorky and she wasn't even sure he liked her until they were working on a sketch for class and she saw him get excited. I don't want to poopoo this fun moment of Drunk Joeyness but she's about to spew some lies and this is one of them. Jack kissed her in Full Moon Rising, causing her and Dawson to break up in The Dance when he finds out. She and Jack are dating by the time he spills a milkshake on her drawing in High Risk Behaviour and offers to pose nude for her. He asks her out in Reluctant Hero. I know my SHIT, Dawson's Creek writers and you can't fool me by having a drunk Joey rewrite your show. To be fair though, she is drunk and probably just wanted to talk about the boner and couldn't remember the details?
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| Her face though! She's a happy drunk |
Back at rehab, Audrey and Dawson sneak up to where Toni is and she urges Dawson to "do it" even though he doesn't know what it is because they never made a plan. She pushes him forward and he strikes up a conversation with Toni. She is very clearly hitting on Dawson but he just wants to crow about the business and she's not having it. She tells him off for teasing her with his naughty bits and walks off. Audrey cackles in the background because Dawson is such a loser. I can super relate to Audrey right now.
At the party, Jen is looking through the fridge. David asks her if she wants a drink but Jen says she's going sober, like CJ. David thinks that's lying but Jen says that it's probably good for her too. Pacey comes in and Jen asks how he's handling CJ. Pacey says everything is no big deal because he's a good guy so they made up and he offered him a drink. Jen asks if he refused but Pacey says he didn't and asks why he would. Jen tells Pacey that CJ is a recovering alcoholic. Pacey offers to do damage control and he asks where Joey is.
Joey is talking to CJ and scaring the pants off him with her weirdness about him being a good influence on Jen who was a troubled young lady. CJ is looking uncomfortable but just kind of brushing Joey off until she mentions that Jen has killed before. This threw me for a complete loop because like who? CJ's ears perk up to and Joey elaborates saying that she killed Abby Morgan with champagne. Uhh, that's fucked up. Is that what Joey really thinks? I know people say that you say weird things when you're drunk but there had to be a part of her that actually thinks that for it to slip out. I don't know man, that's a really shitty thing for her to say. I mean, that's not what happened at all, it was an accident and Jen tried her best to save Abby. I don't know if I'm finding drunk Joey as fun as I should be. She asks CJ if he wants champagne and keeps insisting when he refuses but Pacey finds her and pulls her away, thankfully. He also apologizes for earlier which confuses CJ further.
In a bedroom, Pacey sits Joey down on the bed to get her away from the crowd for a bit. Joey asks what CJ is for but neither of them know, much to my disappointment. Do we ever find out? I hope so. I hope it's something super dorky like Cornelius Junior. Joey thinks they'll figure it out and then realizes that everyone is figuring it out but her and she pushes people away. Pacey says she doesn't but then she asks why people go out to sea (Pacey), move across the country (Dawson), or follow their dreams (probably Eddie but he sucks) just because she tells them to and then she worries that there's always something better out there than her. Pacey tells her that she's so awesome that she makes guys want to be better men to which Joey responds that she and him aren't together. Pacey laughs it off but my shipper heart is a fluttering again. She tells him not to look so glum because he's successful and it's her life that's shitty. Then she remembers that he's not over her and Pacey gets an oh shit look until Joey says that it's what Audrey said at Christmas, wasn't that silly? They laugh over it and Joey says that she is a good catch and walks out the door as Pacey watches.
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| HE STILL WANTS HER!!! |
There's a montage of party scenes where everyone is having a great time together. Joey is drinking more but also, having a blast with Pacey. Yes...yes...good. Other people are there having fun too but Joey and Pacey, guys. They're being cute together, this is what I came for. We finally settle with Jack and Emma on the couch with Gus, the gross fiancé. Apparently, Emma has dropped out of school. Emma thinks the band is taking off and she'll totally be fine but also, her visa ran out when she dropped out so that's why she's marrying Gus. Yep, you super thought this through. Good job, Emma. She goes to get a drink and the Gus guy continues to be gross and weird. He says he's getting free room and board and is also not expected to remain monogamous. Jack is not happy and when Emma gets back, he tries to bail but she holds him down so he can't leave her alone with Gus.
At the rehab center, Dawson and Audrey are still tailing Toni Stark. Dawson isn't sure why but guesses it's because Audrey's bored. She tells him she believes in him but yeah, it's pretty much because she's bored and wants him to humour her. They follow Toni into a room only to realize too late that it's a group session. They're asked to sit down and Dawson tries to bail but Audrey leans in and pretends they're a couple too.
After another party montage, Jack tells Pacey about the prospect of having Gus as a fourth roommate. Jack says it's the only reason he's doing the marriage thing, that and being able to grope Emma when he wants. They are frustrated that Emma didn't say anything and now she's stuck with a creep. Pacey kind of feels sorry for him but like, he's getting most of the benefit out of this arrangement and seems good with it. I'd feel more sorry for Emma who thinks she has to put up with this guy just to stay in the US which god knows why she'd want to do that. That place is a mess.
Jen finds CJ and confronts him about accepting the drink. He says he took it because he didn't want to be impolite or get into it and Jen is pissed that he threw away his sobriety to be polite. He's ticked that she told Pacey about it because now he's reacting to him like he's dying. Jen says that alcoholism is a disease and CJ acknowledges that and says he's been holding this drink for hours wondering whether he should take a sip when Jen should be more worried about Joey because she's telling him she's killed before. Again, the more pressing thing I'd focus on is that Joey said I killed someone but Jen's concern is that CJ actually hasn't drunk anything. They get into a bit of a tiff where CJ questions if Jen wants to back out already while Jen tries to backtrack her accusation.
Audrey has decided to go with a Southern accent and makes up a wild story about how they married really young and have tons of kids and may be Southern? She also mentions how Dawson is great to her and even forgave her for beating him because he knew it was the drink talking. Dawson plays along by saying she did worse but then things get real when he mentions that she drove a car through their house and damn near killed them all. Audrey is a bit shocked but still plays along saying that she did a lot of things she probably wouldn't have done if she weren't drinking and the counsellor urges her to share what. Audrey admits to saying mean things just to see the looks on people's faces and how she pushed everyone away who were just trying to help her. She says that Dawson was always really good to her because he believes the best in people. She says he deserved better than the destruction of his property and Dawson breaks character to whisper that they can fix it and she whispers back that she could have really hurt him. He says that maybe she needed to hit rock bottom to get herself help and Audrey admits that she didn't actually hit it until a few weeks later, oops. Dawson takes it in stride though and they make up which is very nice but Toni finally calls them out for being lying liars. Dawson tries to ask if he can send her his reels but the counsellor kicks them out. Audrey thinks it went well.
Joey has gathered everyone at the party around for a game of spin the bottle. No one wants to play but Joey because she's drunk. Jen agrees but refuses to kiss Gus. Joey says they have to play by the rules but asks for no tongue as soon as Gus spins and the bottle lands on her. Jen points out that rules are rules and that Joey shouldn't mess with her because she's killed before. Joey knows and then whispers to CJ "told you," which I admit is funny. Gus then licks her on the side of her face, which is gross but everyone's looks of disgust are funny. We get a montage of kisses going from Joey to Jack, Jack to Emma, Emma to Jen, and finally Jen to CJ. They kiss but it gets so passionate that everyone gets uncomfortable and they leave to go do couple stuff. Pacey takes a turn and it lands on Joey who gets all jokey about a kiss and he leans in about to but Gus has toppled the TV and it breaks. Pacey freaks out, Emma gets between them and palms his forehead calling him an idiot and says she'll take care of it. All she does is kick him out and tell him the wedding is off though so I guess Pacey is still out a TV. Pacey and Jack cry over Bertha's death while Joey asks everyone if they want to play sardines and then passes out.
At rehab, Dawson asks if Audrey really has to do dish duty but she's not bothered by it because it gets her out of boring stuff. They joke about the session but Audrey admits that it really did help her and she felt like there was a healing moment there. She's happy he came because it's the most fun she's had in a while. Audrey is nervous about getting out because she didn't leave things on the best of terms but Dawson is confident she can go back to how she was, minus the bad parts. Audrey doesn't think she can though but isn't upset about that, signifying she wants to go back better. They hug and this is really sweet. I like the way Dawson and Audrey play off each other. As much as I loved Jen and Dawson last season, I think I would have been ok with them pairing Audrey off with Dawson than with Pacey but I think people might have lost it harder back then. Who knows? Kind of think it would be cool for Dawson and Audrey to have a tighter friendship going forward.
David confronts Jack jokingly about having dated Joey but also, rightly for ditching him all night. Jack apologizes but says that the Emma situation has thrown him for a loop. David agrees that she's in a bit of trouble but says that it's for her to sort out. Not Jack's problem unless he wants to marry her. He's joking but Jack looks like he's seriously considering that.
CJ and Jen are in Pacey's room having just had sex on a pile of coats. Not cool, guys. Jen wants to lie down for a moment longer and they apologize to each other about earlier. Jen wants them to give this a real try where they're both honest with each other. She doesn't want to date the idea of him and doesn't want him to only know the false idea of her. CJ said she's not very good at faking him out anyway and says that they should go. Jen doesn't want to go because she's under Joey's coat and Joey has lots of coats. She's hugging this coat to her naked body. There is some very clear subtext here that the show will never actually acknowledge but it's there.
Jack and Emma are cleaning up after the party and he asks her about her troubles and if it wouldn't just be easier to go home. Emma reveals that it's her mother's wish for her to fail at music in the US and so she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of winning. Jack then suggests she marry him but while Emma is grateful and seems to consider it, she just can't put that on a friend. She says she will face the mess she got herself in.
The final scene makes my shipper heart not just flutter but soar into the stratosphere. Pacey carries Joey into his room. Joey thinks it was fun and that she's a lovely drunk and Pacey agrees. Pretty sure both Jack and Jen, more so Jen, would disagree but maybe not. It might just be me. I don't care about earlier though because I am in this moment and this moment is perfect. Pacey takes Joey's boots off and places her legs onto the bed. Joey is oblivious to the fact that she's spilled people's dirty secrets but Pacey tells her it's ok and that she's a lovely and wise drunk. She kind of passes out and he confesses to her that she was right earlier, he's not over her. How could he be? Joey sits up and says that they never got to do something, she kisses him on the mouth and drops back down and tells him it's his turn. She passes out again so Pacey leans down and kisses her forehead and we fade out. Oh my god! The episode is cute but you have no idea how long I've been waiting for a moment like that. I was also super positive that they were going to dance around and pretend like it never happened because she was drunk but next episode, NEXT EPISODE is Castaways!!! An entire episode centered around just Pacey and Joey being stuck together and more romance ensues! I am beside myself with excitement to have finally come to this moment in season 6, literally the only thing worthwhile in this season. That's really most of what I took from this episode, as a lead in to my favourite thing. So, until then.
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| You're welcome |
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