Dawson's Creek - 620 - Catch-22

 Original air date: April 23, 2003

This episode is not as infuriating as last episode but it's still not great. There's a lot to unpack here and I do note that they've added a bit in here to give more sympathy to Dawson. They seem very driven to make Pacey into a loser and Dawson this innocent pawn but that's just not the way it is, no matter how the writers want it to be so and want us desperately to like Dawson. I'm sorry, I don't. Your main character sucks and Joshua Jackson is the superior actor here with Pacey being the best character. Let's walk through this together.

We open the episode with Pacey at a restaurant. He seems to be nervous and waiting for someone. Surprise it's Sadia Shaw and they are on a date. They banter a bit about how the waitress was hitting on him and how he was previously engaged which is why he didn't ask her out sooner. Yeah, he was previously pursuing he's real love interest but then got shot down unceremoniously by her. Sadia is the rebound, I guess. They are happy to be getting to know each other better and we cut to credits.

Joey is in her dorm studying with Eddie. They argue about the meaning behind Catch-22. Eddie thinks it's hopeful while Joey is concerned that Heston thinks it's more bleak. I hate to say it but I agree with Eddie. There is no right and wrong with English assignments, Joey just needs to present a strong argument for her idea otherwise she's just regurgitating what someone else told her to think about a book. That's not really smart. Audrey bursts into the room to complain that the school is going to kick her out because of her stint in rehab. Joey reads the letter and says that if she takes summer courses, she can stay. Audrey is not for summer classes and leaves once again to go negotiate a better option for herself. Eddie is confused why Joey is friends with Audrey but I'm here wondering why Joey is wasting her time dating you. Joey realizes that as soon as she's done exams, she's going to be kicked out of her dorm for the summer and thus, so will he. My god. Has Eddie been living with her in her dorm? This whole time and Audrey just has to deal with this? I'd be so livid and also I think that's against dorm rules. Joey could get kicked out. Eddie thinks they'll live in his car but Joey thinks they're going to stay at her sister's for the summer and work in Capeside. Yikes. Already the cracks are showing in this doomed and dumb relationship. Eddie says he does not want to live with her father breathing down his neck all summer and wants to do something bigger. Joey wants to know what his plan is but he refuses to tell her until after she finishes her exam. 

We all saw last episode, don't pretend this is a cute couple now

At the help center, David is fielding a call when Jack walks in. David does not look happy but Jack seems pretty sheepish. I'm hopeful he's come to his senses but we're not really going to know much about him because he's been absent so much this season that I don't really know what his character is about anymore. Jack doesn't help things by asking if the mad thing hasn't worn off yet. Why do people do that? They get upset that someone is still angry with them when they've done nothing to rectify whatever made the other person angry. Like, yeah they're still angry, you dick. Time doesn't magically erase the hurt you caused. Jack asks if they can meet up to talk. David says he'll think about it so Jack suggests they meet when he's done work at Hell's Kitchen. David tentatively agrees to tomorrow night and Jack is all excited which makes me hopeful.

Pacey enters the conference room at his work where a bunch of guys are waiting. He gives a big spiel much like Rich gave to him at the beginning of this season which means Pacey is the new Rich, I guess. He gloats about sleeping with a beautiful woman and how only got her because he raked in the cash. Let me tell you something, the only reason Pacey gets girls is because he's unbelievably charismatic. Like, the money didn't do shit here. Pacey has always gotten hot girls to fall for him, that's his thing. I wish this show wouldn't push these ideas out that women only care about money. Pacey tells them to show up Monday morning at 9am sharp if they want to rake in the dough and the ladies like him and leaves the room to gloat to Rich. Rich is impressed and they talk about how the Stepatech stock is still climbing but waiting for the FDA approval to go through. Rich then asks Pacey if he sealed the deal with Sadia and Pacey confirms so they have a bro celebration about the fact that he scored. Why are guys like this? It's so weird and gross. A little pathetic too, if you ask me.

Pacey is asleep in bed with Sadia in his arms, it's clear they've just done the deed. Pacey turns on the tv because he really wants to see if the deal for Stepatech has gone through. Sadia wants to know why he's so career obsessed when he's so young and he mentions the whole thing with Joey without mentioning her name and how it taught him to focus on his career mainly. That's a really depressing insight. Joey absolutely crushed him. Sadia mentions that she has a boyfriend out of the blue and Pacey seems to be unbothered by this fact and then they get to going at it again so he shuts off the tv. 

Joey is now sitting in her classroom as Eddie offers her more coffee. In an effort to not miss this test, Joey arrived to the exam room 2 hours early to study in there and not be late. It's a good idea and I feel like this is trying to endear us to Eddie since he's trying hard to make up for last time but I know what happens and I hate him anyway. Heston walks in and calls them Bonnie and Clyde. Eddie wants to thank Heston for helping him with the California writing school thing but Joey is against this. She thinks Heston will be rude and ungrateful. Eddie says he won't punch him and Joey has the audacity to say that Eddie is the bigger person. In the immortal words of Rudy Ray Moore, "Bitch, are you for real?" Eddie punched Heston in the face and he still agreed to help Eddie into that school. If anyone has demonstrated that they are the bigger person, it's Heston. I don't even like Heston but come on. Eddie goes over to Heston and offers the lamest thank you known to man and then has the nerve to get mad at Heston for not having the proper tone in his response. Honestly, I'm on Heston's side here because Eddie's thank you was terrible. I laughed when Eddie said that he would bail on the concept of a thank you and Heston said that was his specialty. You suck, Eddie. Joey intervenes and gets the guys to begrudgingly say whatever and leave the rest alone. Joey then tells Eddie goodbye and he finally leaves. 

Pacey is in his office when he gets a call from Dawson who is painting his room. This is the bit I was telling you about where they are trying to give more sympathy to Dawson because now, instead of having a good feeling and being totally naïve, Dawson is nervous. Now Pacey is the one who is all, yeah but I've got this. No reason to be nervous, I'll take care of everything. This way, Pacey is the villain because Dawson wanted to back out but Pacey insisted he stay in but here's the thing. This whole thing is still incredibly stupid. Was Dawson really expecting to get a turn around on his investment in like, being generous, a month? Dawson wants to cash out after 1 month of investing. What was he hoping to make here? I don't understand this logic. Pacey urges him to stay in because he's invested all of the money into Stepatech which is going to get an approval and therefore...skyrocket the stock. Look, I'm not smart with stocks either but I do know one very important thing, NEVER put all of your eggs in one basket. Actually two things and the second one is never invest more than you can afford to lose. So this is really both of them being giant dumb-dumbs but I guess it's realistic to their ages. I once worked with a kid who swore up and down to me that he was going to retire before 25 because he was going to invest in the stock market. His secret to success? Buy low, sell high. I laughed in his face because no. You have to be the luckiest son of a bitch who already has mountains of cash at their disposal for something like that to work. This plot line reminded me of him so I buy this stupidity. Again, I am also a stock dumb-dumb but I know enough to know that everything happening here is stupid. Dawson is skeptical and thinks he could use credit cards for now because that's what Kevin Smith did with Clerks but he got insanely lucky too so maybe don't put more than you can afford on cards either, please. Dawson says he trusts Pacey so you know they really want you to be on his side here. Please be on Dawson's side, the writers cry, look we've made Pacey an asshole stock guy who is pressuring him into keeping his money in when he wants to back out. Don't pay attention to how dumb all of this is in the grand scheme of things, we just want you to hate Pacey and like Dawson because he's the main character. PLEASE??

Come on guys, please like me?
You see, Pacey is pressuring me to do this now so it's not just me being stupid!

Joey is talking about Heston's test and I have to say, it sounds like the most boring class ever. For real, I don't recall ever taking a literature class that just wants me to memorize little factoids about the stories rather than actually discuss its themes or larger contexts. What good is it going to do to remember what day of the week it was when something happened in the story. This is like the nerd guy's dream of what literature discussion is. "Mm, yeah themes whatever. I bet you don't know what day Mr. Darcy asked Elizabeth Bennet to be his wife." "But can you tell me Delores' married name?? Can you?" And I'm not kidding that last one was one of the questions Joey was supposed to answer. Literally the most boring thing you could ask about Lolita. What does memorizing her married last name tell you about anything that the story is about?? I'm going off on a weird tangent right now for something so banal but I can't help it. Joey is paying so much money to go to this fancy ass school and instead of actually discussing literature, she's just made to memorize factoids. Just stupid. Heston sucks. Anyway, Eddie has her surprise for finishing her exams and it's a backpack. Joey is as unimpressed as I would be but he tells her to look inside. She finds a brochure for Europe on $5 a day. She is still confused but I think the point is pretty clear that he wants to take her to Europe. She gets super excited since this has been something she wanted to do for forever and says yes. This is probably the best grand gesture he's done for her and he's still going to fuck it up. Just wait.

Jack is chatting with someone in the bar when David walks in. He looks dejected but I will say that this interaction looks totally harmless because it seems they're in the same class. Jack even mentions that he ran into him and were just talking and David is just like, 'I saw' and looks upset. I get that he's hurt and Jack's behaviour towards him has been less than ideal but this one instance feels a bit unfair. Then again, I think it's more the straw that broke the camel's back. It becomes a little more clear when David says that he's breaking up with Jack because it seems like he's only trying to make it work because it seems like the right thing to do rather than actually caring. I think that's what upset him when he walked in, that Jack didn't seem nervous or troubled but very much at ease and like he was going through the motions of this whole thing. Jack is upset but David says he's the only one who's heart is going to get broken in this because he doesn't think Jack is serious about them. He says that isn't what he wants and tells Jack to keep in touch. Brutal but actually pretty reasonable for once from a break up on this show. It actually kind of mirrors Jack's break up with the Semisonic guy, he just doesn't care enough to try. I wish we got more insight as to why. Whether it be why he doesn't want to try and/or why he feels like he has to. 

Jack is me as I try to finish watching this season

Joey and Eddie are in her dorm room planning for their trip through Europe. They are trying to decide where to visit and Joey is apparently all in on writer's graves which doesn't feel that genuine for her character but I guess she's now all in on literature. She confesses to Eddie that she also loves art which is nice to see that come back from season 2 and 3 when that was so integral to her character. Eddie asks if she wants to see everything and Joey says she does but within reason and wants to get practical about things. Eddie gets grumpy about how she wants to be practical about running away with him. Joey has good reason to be concerned, this is not her first rodeo and don't think it doesn't escape me that she was able to freely run away with Pacey but is hesitating here. My shipper brain is still at least somewhat active, even if the writers clearly don't want that. Joey wants to plan for what they'll do for money while Eddie is just like, meh it's all good we'll figure it out. This is played as Eddie being adventurous and spontaneous but I see it as being really immature. Joey is trying to have a serious discussion about finances because she's always been aware of money and saving and this guy is just brushing aside her very valid concerns. Joey wants to work a bit first and then go but Eddie doesn't want to do that. He has the gall to say that she doesn't really want to do this and when she says she does he shoots back that she only wants to on her terms when he literally just told her that he says they have to go tomorrow. So, he's really mad that she's not doing this all on his terms. They bicker about how running away is good versus running away is fun but you always have to come back and deal with the real world and Eddie calls her a scared little girl. Joey tells him he should find somewhere else to sleep tonight and he leaves. I'd feel bad but like, this is the guy you chose Joey and I could have told you things wouldn't work out. I'm getting ahead of myself but you'll see.

Pacey goes to work and finds the place very quiet and mournful. He finds Rich to ask what's happened and he tells him that the FDA did not approve of Stepatech's flu medication so the stock tanked. Wouldn't a bunch of people have had to sell for it to tank? I really don't understand stocks, it seems like just a rich man's gambling scheme. Rich says that he's seen worse and lost more. He proves exactly how soulless he is when he tells Pacey to field calls and act concerned but remember that the clients got themselves into this mess. Salespeople are the worst. They literally just push and push and push and then go "oh well, you bought it. It wasn't me who told you to." but like, yeah you did. This is why people hate you. Pacey realizes what this means and looks sick. 

Joey is in Heston's office when he comes in. He makes some snarky remarks about how she hasn't chosen a major yet and Joey tells him that she is majoring in English. He then asks her about when she first walked in to his office and how it was her birthday. She gets annoyed and wants to leave but he shows her the test she wrote. She got an A minus. He says she more than lived up to her potential and says that he almost gave her an A but found her essay on Catch-22 really bleak. Ok, so she did need to write an essay, good. The questions still sounded dumb though. Anyway, Joey is shocked that he found her essay bleak because she thought that's what he wanted to hear. Heston says that it's a story of hope and asks her to read a passage from the book that he's marked. She reads it and realizes the meaning, of course it's about running away because that's her dilemma right now. The main character, Yossarian, says that he's not running away from his responsibilities, he's running to them and how there is nothing negative about running to save his life. Something clicks in for Joey. Heston waxes poetic about how hopeful that moment is and Joey stands to leave which offends him. She says she has some place to be but that they can continue this discussion next semester. He asks her if she thinks he's going to let her in his class again (yeah, he kind of has to because she's paying to take whatever classes she damn well chooses to) but Joey shoots back that she wouldn't sign up for one of his classes again. She actually wants him to be her advisor. I don't know why, this guy sucks and he's not profound at all. Just an asshole. She does say that if she never sees him again for the rest of her life, she's ok with that too and she leaves.

Pacey is venting to Sadia who is surprised he has a soul because she assumed he was just one of Rich's pet sharks. Nice, Sadia. Pacey is gutted that he pissed away his friend's entire life's savings and wants to fix it. Sadia basically brushes his concerns aside and asks if he will answer some questions for her, on the record. Meaning, she just wants a story and not to hear about his worries. She can't tonight though because she has plans with her now fiancé. Pacey is even further demoralized because he realizes she was basically using him and didn't care about him at all. He says it was nice while it lasted and she leaves him alone, with his guilt and misery. 

Jack is lying on a couch at the help center while Jen is fielding a call. She watches him, with a concerned look and when she gets off the phone, she confronts him. She asks if last night didn't go the way he wanted it to and he confirms. David's words clearly stung him and he asks her if she thinks he was just dating David to prove something to himself. She asks him if he needed to prove that to himself and Jack says he doesn't want to be alone in a bar at 35 still looking for the right person. Jen says that he's only 20 and should go easy on himself. Jen doesn't think everyone meets their soulmate as a teenager or at 25 or even 35 but that you should never lose hope or stop looking. Jack thinks that she and CJ are going to stick because David said she gives him hope. Jen says she likes him a lot and says she'd share him with Jack if she could. 

I miss these two. They got so shortchanged this season

Pacey is looking completely dejected as he finishes up yet another angry phone call from a client. His assistant tells him he has one left, Dawson Leary and asks if he wants her to call him. Pacey can't answer and instead, he gets up and goes to Rich's office. He asks Rich for a loan and he's not pleased. Pacey explains that he had a friend come in who wanted to double his money and he put it all into Stepatech. Rich points out how dumb that is which is a thing he might have told his employees in training but then again, this is life skill 101. Pacey says that he cannot screw his friend over but Rich says it's already done. Pacey begs him for a loan to pay back Dawson his initial investment. Rich asks what happened to his money and Pacey says he also put it all into Stepatech and is worth like $300 right now. Oh, honey, no. Yikes. Rich says that he's so successful that he forgot how young and stupid Pacey is. Pacey doesn't want the speech right now but Rich insists and says that he's going to tell Pacey what he should have told his friend, no. Pacey begs him some more, says he's just asking this one favour, one time but Rich holds strong in his no. Pacey says he's an unfeeling prick which is true but not what you should say to a boss if you want to keep your job. Naturally, Rich fires him and tells him he's a failure and a loser and Pacey punches him. Not a smart move, I'll admit, but oh so very satisfying. We've basically been waiting all season for Pacey to punch this guy in the face. He deserved it more than Heston did, in my opinion. However, I don't think Rich was wrong to not give a loan to Pacey. Yeah, he's an asshole but loaning money out to people you know, even family, can be extremely messy and there's not always a guarantee you'll get it back. It's the one case in his shitty behaviour where he kind of has a point. It's Pacey's problem, unfortunately. He's going to have to scrape together money himself if he wants to pay Dawson back. Rich doesn't owe him a handout just because he embarrassed himself to ask for it. That's life and it's cruel.

Joey comes back to her dorm to find Audrey reading the Europe on $5 a Day brochure. She chides her for not enrolling in summer classes yet but Audrey is adamant that classes are boring. Joey urges her to get going if she wants to stay and she finally agrees. Joey asks her to pass her the book because she has reading to do. Audrey asks if she's going and Joey confirms. They celebrate and Joey goes to read but finds a note on her nightstand. Surprise! It's Eddie doing what he does best. She didn't immediately behave exactly the way he wanted her to about the trip so he's deemed her not worthy of his time. He tells her how he wants to live a life not full of indecision and regret and says she's not one of those people, he throws in a not yet but honestly screw this guy. He bailed again, without talking to her and this is the guy she wanted to give a second chance to. Ya gambled and lost, Jo. Sorry. I feel like I'm being really mean but let me just recap events. She has a great night with Pacey where they rekindle old feelings, then she decides that she's not that into him because Eddie came back. She immediately goes to him only for them to then have trust issues because duh and then they decide to go to Europe but because Joey is nervous about money Eddie bails. Every time she didn't act exactly the way he wanted, he got mad at her and that is the relationship she chose over Pacey. Yikes.

The scene fades to Pacey, standing outside of Dawson's house. He has to tell him, and you can see the guilt on his face as he tries to psych himself up to tell Dawson he lost all his money. We don't get to see this yet because the episode fades out. 

Poor Pacey.

I'm not mad about this episode, it's kind of like a yeah, of course that was going to happen type thing. I am preparing myself to be mad at the next episode though because some bullshit is about to go down. I'm also sad we don't get more Jen and Jack but this season is not great at balancing the characters' storylines so it's not surprising either. We are so close to the end of this season already, it's crazy that everything is so in shambles right now. There are two more episodes left, and then the two part finale. I can't believe I'm finally here. It's been years for me reliving this show, it's going to be weird to have it all come to an end but you know, all good things...