Dawson's Creek - 617 - Sex and Violence

 Original air date: April 2, 2003

Oh boy do I ever have mixed feelings about this episode. You all know I live and breathe Pacephine but while there are some cute moments in this, the actual contents of this episode really irk me. Lets be real, anything good in this episode is based solely on the chemistry between Katie and Josh because the writing isn't there for them but damn to they try to make it work. Let's jump right in, shall we?

We open the episode with our favourite couple returning from a fancy date. Pacey has taken her to an expensive restaurant and while she's impressed, she's still a bit guarded. She asks about his work and Pacey tells her he got a promotion but he doesn't know to what. He just knows he now gets an office and a secretary. Joey teases him about this and he plays back. They eventually make plans for another date and he leans in for a kiss but she's for some reason, not ready yet. Lord knows why. They say good night and Joey makes sure to say she had a lovely time with him.

We come back after the credits to Jen bringing CJ coffee in bed. He wants to make some morning loving while Grams is busy downstairs but Jen isn't in the mood. He pouts and says they haven't done it in a week but Jen doesn't think that's true. CJ pulls out a box of unused condoms and says that the last time they did it was a week ago today, when Grams went to bingo. Jen says she doesn't have the same sex drive as him and points out that she lives in mortal fear of her grandma walking in on them. For real, the key point of their last time was that Grams was not home. She is home now, so why would Jen be in the mood? Jen says that there's other ways to be intimate and CJ is totally on board for that. He lifts up the covers and look down at himself expectantly. Jen crawls in next to him and snuggles. He's clearly disappointed because he wanted a blowy. I don't know, CJ, maybe earn a fucking blowy. Man, when he was first introduced this season, I had such high hopes for him but he sucks. I still love you, Jensen. 

You will snuggle Jen, and you will be grateful CJ

Joey walks into Pacey's workplace and, once again these guys act like they've never before seen a woman. They're staring and drooling and it's weird and off-putting. What I'm learning from Dawson's Creek is that working in the stock exchange is basically the same as a college frat house. Joey brought Pacey an office-warming gift and he invites her into said office. He doesn't know why he needs a secretary but he finds her intimidating. We meet her and she is very abrupt but also, she informs him that Rich fired her so she's leaving at the end of the day. Pacey goes into his office where Rich is and Rich immediately objectifies Joey. Pacey asks why he fired his secretary and Rich says he didn't like her attitude or the "cut of her jib". Joey points out that firing someone based on looks is discrimination and Rich immediately asks if she's HR because he knows he's in big trouble. He relaxes when Pacey says she isn't but man, I want Rich to have some consequences. People like him should never hold power over other people. Rich asks why she isn't in school and she says they're on break so Rich suggests she fill in for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure Spring Break is one week but whatever. Pacey thinks she wouldn't be interested but when Joey finds out it pays $600 a week, she's all in. She straightens his tie as they talk because they can never keep their hands off each other. Pacey asks if she'd be ok with the boss/secretary dynamic in the workplace but Joey quips that she's the boss. Pacey looks uncomfortable and Joey thinks this will be fun.

I want to love the shenanigans that this scene
promises but the payoff is yikes

Dawson is meeting with Heather, the producer woman, to pitch his revamped self-insert, faux biopic about the girl who dumped him in high school after like two weeks of dating. I'm sorry, I just hate this idea and Dawson so much. She seems to like it but the studio she works at is very, very gross. They basically only do exploitation and this whole storyline leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. She tells him that he has to play up the sex but Dawson thinks what makes his story unique is that it's an epic love story without sex. Oh my god, your love story with Joey was not epic. It sucked. Literally. They were together at the beginning of season 2, she dumped him a few episodes in for Jack or to find herself. Then, they got back together at the end of season 2 only for her to dump him again because he turned in her father. He turned her down for sex at the beginning of season 3 only to turn into the villain that tried to keep her and Pacey apart. Then he swooped in after her break up with Pacey only for him to dump her when his dad died and blamed her for it. Then they finally have sex and she dumps him because she couldn't handle that he was seeing someone else and acted like that was a betrayal for her. Oh man, recapping their "epic" love story makes it sound even worse. Heather says that her boss will not care unless it has sex so he needs to find a way to throw in a stripper or an affair with a teacher or something and Dawson says he thinks he can handle that. Please no, on the Eve thing. Also, I wish this show acknowledged how fucked up the teacher affair is. Just once. No one cares about Mrs. Jacobs, everyone was happier when that story died. 

CJ and Jen are working at the helpline and although they are seated together, they are very obviously ignoring each other. The phone rings and Jen jumps to answer it. From her side of the conversation, we can infer that the caller is worried about her boyfriend's lack of interest in sex and Jen's advice is to welcome the break because her boyfriend always wants sex and it's exhausting. Jen...used to be so good at advice but here, she is kind of dumping her issues on the person who needs help with theirs. That's not how it should be done. CJ gets up and walks out, clearly annoyed that Jen is talking about their issues to a client.

Pacey shows up at work and is immediately congratulated on hiring Joey as his new secretary. Pacey then finds a group of men surrounding her at her desk. They are fawning all over her like they've never seen a woman in their lives. the stock bro vibes are off the charts. After a brief time lapse, we see Pacey fiddling with a toy in his office. Joey comes in and tells him it's the office warming present she got him. Pacey asks her about the coffee because she forgot to make some. She sasses that he used to be a chef and could make it himself and this is where the episode takes a turn to the super uncomfortable. Like, it is part of Joey's job but at the same time, this feels so very old fashioned and gross that he expects it of her? Rich comes in and Pacey sends Joey off with a folder to give to someone. Rich is very obviously ogling her and says he should just hire her for real, instead of temporary. Pacey says she has a job, school, and is unavailable. He also thinks it's a bit of a debacle since his coworkers are just salivating over her which Rich seems to think is totally normal and not a cause for HR to be involved. Like, this is not normal workplace behaviour and this show is trying to brush it off like it is and I can't tell if it's to show that Rich sucks as if we needed more evidence, or if the showrunner, Kapinos is really this out of touch. I feel like it's a bit of both. Rich tells Pacey that a reporter is coming later that day and she's apparently asked to speak to Pacey specifically. Pacey is intrigued and Joey looks a bit annoyed as she's come back and overheard this part. Smart people like me, immediately know that the lady from the party is about to pop back on the scene. 

Jen finds CJ after coming back from the coffee shop and is annoyed to find he didn't get her anything. He's being really snotty and she calls him on it by making a joke about the "C" in his name standing for crabby. Do we ever get to find out what CJ stands for? It's bugging me. Anyway, he admits that he was annoyed that she used their bedroom issues to help a client. Jen points out that if a girl had called in about her boyfriend pressuring her into sex, he would have told her not to stand for it. He then turns into the ultimate NiceGuytm that would make even Dawson blush. He complains that the creeps and scumbags got the benefit of her sex drive while he, a nice and decent guy, gets nothing. Yuck. Ew. Gross. Jen calls him out for saying she's a slut and he claims that's not what he meant but we all know it was. She storms off, leaving him still pissed as well but honestly? He should just take a hike. I really, really misremembered his character. I thought he was one of the few decent boyfriends she had but nope. Jen gets nothing. 

Dawson is getting ready for about the grossest Hollywood meeting, maybe not ever but boy is this grim to sit through in the wake of #MeToo. I'm pretty sure it's meant to be over the top and gross and an indictment of the industry that Dawson will have to rise above but I hate it. The big exec guy is the principal from The Breakfast Club so my mind just keeps repeating "You mess with the bull, you get the horns" every time he talks. I'm fine with that because what he's saying is really gross and sexist stuff about wanting to see boobs and ass in the film. He congratulates Dawson, not for finishing the movie or getting a good performance out of Natasha but for successfully getting her to show her boobs for the movie. He also praises him for sleeping with her and I really hope Dawson feels like utter shit for feeding into this disgusting machine. While I hope this episode is trying to shed light on how gross Hollywood can be, I can't help but remember how very much they made Natasha's promiscuity with directors and actors, her fault in other episodes. I also know in this very episode they have Heather as a woman proxy who is kind of annoyed at the male gaze but also plays into it because of course, women have to be made to seem like willing participants so the men writing this trash don't have to question their own moralities. Dawson starts pitching his movie and this guy gets increasingly gross about asking if there will be sex in this movie because "there's always room for a movie in which teenage girls take their clothes off." I hate this scene so very much. Like, I feel like I need to take a shower after watching it. If that's the intended effect, then I guess the writers succeeded but I hate this. Dawson points out that his main character, read him, thinks of himself as a good guy. You can think all you want but your actions say otherwise. Very interesting insight into his character because all NiceGuystm think they're nice and good but the instant they're not immediately rewarded for it, their true colours come right out. Dawson is pitching his boring story while losing this guy until he mentions strippers and the guy just starts writing his own thing and says they've got a deal. Dawson wants to ask a question but the guy basically tells him that he should just shut up and accept that he's got a deal. 

In other words, Dawson, don't mess with the bull

Back at the stock bro office, Pacey is talking on the phone to a client and looking for numbers which Joey dutifully brings him. Unfortunately, she should have brought it to his attention sooner and also, when she thought she put his client on hold, she hung up on him. Pacey says that she's smart and thought she'd be better at this, I get really irritated. It doesn't matter how smart a person is, any job takes some training. Women are not just inherently good at being secretaries. To make matters worse, the reporter shows up and it's the woman from the fancy party he was at. Rich introduces us to her as Sadia Shaw and Pacey is clearly smitten, much to Joey's annoyance. Pacey asks Joey to make them a pot of coffee and once again, Joey is not pleased. Pacey invites Sadia to sit down and talk.

Dawson walks into a music video shoot that Todd is working on. Todd cuts the shoot and immediately goes to hit on one of the women when he sees Dawson. He complains that Dawson always shows up whenever he's about to have sex with a "comely extra" which he says right in front of her. She corrects him that she's in the band but like, he insulted her on so many other levels there, most of all the fact that he speaks about her as if she isn't there as a human with feelings. Todd asks if Dawson can wait 5 minutes and the girl sasses about that being such a treat but like...this is played up as Todd being a loveable oaf and I just can't with that. It also makes me question what exactly the writers were doing with the earlier scene with Dawson. I'm not sure they get that the horribleness of that movie producer being that he exploits young girls to see their racks in his movies, I really think they just thought it was funny that he's so sex obsessed while Dawson "the good guy" is all innocent love and wants to tell an honest story. This episode is just so intensely uncomfortable to sit through.

Speaking of uncomfortable, Pacey is now being interviewed by Sadia, who is interested in his quick rise to the top, the compamy's investment in Stepatech, and whether Pacey had a hand in making the company profitable. I've got a bad feeling about this, Sarge. Joey interrupts the interview by first buzzing in about Jack being on the line and calling him Pacey's "roomie" and then bringing in coffee where she loads Pacey's cup with sugar while telling Sadia all about how he can't drink it without a ton of sugar. Her goal seems to be to embarrass the living shit out of Pacey which is not cool at all. Joey asks how Sadia takes hers and she asks for a splash of cream so Joey pours a whole bunch down Sadia's pant leg. Look, Joey is the queen of drenching deserving assholes with liquids but this is incredibly childish and not earned. Sadia did nothing wrong. I don't like this. Rich suggests they continue the interview in his office because it's bigger which is very obviously coded to mean his dick is bigger. Joey shrugs innocently and tells Pacey it was an accident which he and everyone in the audience do not believe for a second.

Dawson and Todd are talking and of course, Todd has to blow up Dawson's ego. Is this why he likes Todd? Todd can be the biggest asshole ever but he's a person who already believes Dawson is god's gift to filmmaking so Dawson likes him. Another reason why Dawson isn't that great a guy. He just goes along with the gross things people say, he doesn't call it out ever, especially if it can get him something. Todd says that if he doesn't want to take the studio's money to make a movie he doesn't believe in, he should scrape together his own money to make the movie he wants. I just want to say, I don't fully understand how the movie industry works but if he wants to make a pg movie about his love life, there are studios that would front the money for it if his pitch or script was good, right? Like he pitched to one studio that very obviously was not a fit for the style of movie he wants to make so it obviously wasn't going to work out. He acts like this one thing is his only chance when it's not. This would be like him pitching his teen soap drama to Troma studios is what I'm getting at. Of course they aren't going to be interested unless there's some horror, sex, and violence. That's their bag. 

Joey brings Pacey a file and he's quiet for a moment before finally bursting out with a demand to know what the hell that was earlier. I'm going to flip flop a lot here because right in this second, I'm kind of on Pacey's side. Joey acted terribly. Full stop. Joey deflects by pointing out how hot all the secretaries are, you'll have to take her word as we never see them, and that his old secretary was clearly fired for being too old which is gross. Joey wants some human kindness and before I can get mad at her, Pacey immediately betrays me and draws my ire by saying that he doesn't have to be kind to her or respect her because she's his secretary. That is some boomer ass bullshit. You absolutely should be kind to and respect your employees and coworkers and anyone who thinks they can trample on those beneath them does not deserve to be in their position of power over them. Joey says he's regressed and understands the nickname the others gave him, Witless. Pacey is not amused and accuses her of being jealous. He then asks her to take down his apology. He dictates to her as she glares daggers at him. When he finishes, she says she missed the last part because it was moronic and inane. They stare each other down and then immediately start making out passionately. I hated everything leading up to this but I'll take this nice bit of Pacephine make out session. It's really all we're getting. Ignore Rich walking in on them and making stupid comments about how he waited a week with his secretary. Just focus on Joey and Pacey goodness.

And remember the passion in this scene

For some reason, even though they're in a fight, CJ and Jen are eating dinner together with Grams. She notices things are frosty and asks what's up so Jen says that CJ thinks she's a slut. CJ says he didn't say that so Grams asks why Jen would think it. Jen says he said so and CJ basically confirms saying that she was all good having sex right up until they started dating. Now, if I were Grams I would have dipped right then and there because hell no do I want to be in the middle of sex related relationship drama. No thank you. Grams is much more tolerant and kind than I am and knows what their issue is. She says that Jen is trying to have a normal and healthy relationship for the first time in her life, while CJ is worried that Jen will always find the bad guys to be more appealing. That may be true but I will not stand for this NiceGuytm apologia. CJ's insecurities are in no way an excuse to shame Jen for past relationships. But Jen seems to think this explanation suffices and says that nice pecks and a six pack will only get you so far which CJ says doesn't make him feel better and mumbles that he has nice pecks. Jen then says that the best sex of her life has been with CJ which does make him feel better. Grams has to glare at CJ a bit before he realizes he needs to apologize too which is another strike against this fool. He apologizes for making her feel bad and for suggesting that she has questionable moralities and he adds that he will snuggle her whenever she wants. Grams quickly excuses herself while the love birds continue apologizing to each other. Jen is finally in the mood and they both rush off to have some sex. Jen deserves better. You're cute, Jensen, but CJ is just an ass character.

Dawson is sitting in the meeting again while the producer guy fawns over how great this teen stripper movie is going to be. He wants to call the movie Sunset Stripped which Dawson thinks is dumb but I think has a clever ring to it for the type of movie this guy wants to make. The producer wants a minimum of three nude scenes not including the scenes at the strip club because he wants this movie to be wall-to-wall boobs. Yikes. Men are so boring about their movies. They all congratulate themselves on this idea and look over their plans but Dawson suddenly pipes up. He says that he wanted to tell a different story completely and rejects their offer. The producer asks if he's sure and Dawson confirms so the guy just asks Heather to get him a list of directors because he wants his teen stripper movie made with or without Dawson's help. Dawson looks happy with his decision because now he gets to make his weird Joey fanfic film again.

Joey is cleaning up at Hell's Kitchen at the end of her shift when Pacey comes in. They talk about what happened earlier, Pacey is worried she'll never take him seriously now that she knows the guys call him Witless. Joey apologizes for her jealousy streak but Pacey kind of liked it. Pacey fires her and Joey asks if it's about the coffee thing but it's actually because he finds it too distracting to have her so close to him when he's trying to work. They kiss passionately and Joey decides that she shouldn't work for him anymore. Pacey says that if he fires her, she gets severance pay so she agrees to be fired and then they make plans to see each other when she's done. They get all cute and banter-y and you know that sexy times are a comin' and fast. Pacey leaves and just when you think the episode ends on a high note, this happens:

My actual reaction when Joey turns to see that man standing there

Yeah, that's gonna be it for us Pacephine shippers. We got the perfect Castaways episode, some light talk last episode and a full on tease this episode only for this asshat to show up and ruin it all. Did the writers think we wanted more Eddie? Because no the fuck we did not. This blows on so many levels not least of which this will mean that she cancels the sexy times with Pacey. I mean, we just sat through probably the most sexist episode of Dawson's Creek there is, an episode with an overly horny and exploitative producer and director, CJ acting like a NiceGuytm, and Pacey of all people saying that he shouldn't need to respect or be kind to his secretary, and the only saving grace was the chemistry between Pacey and Joey. The chemistry that promised us they would get back together only for Eddie to show back up like a nuclear bomb and annihilate all my expectations. I implore you to remember those passionate kisses from this episode because next episode is about the most unbelievable this show gets. I'll save my full ire and breakdown for next episode: Love Bites.