Dawson's Creek - 621 - Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road

 Original air date: April 30, 2003

The end is nigh, folks. First, we have to deal with saying goodbye to college and Pacey telling Dawson what happened to all his money. Also Audrey has a sub plot with Jack Osborne and I really don't remember him appearing this much. Why did they curse us so much with this character? Damn you, reality tv! This episode is messy so let's get right to it.

We open right where we left off last week with Pacey standing outside of Dawson's house, debating whether to go in and tell him. Dawson then pops out because he noticed him standing outside and asks if he was ever going to come in. He invites Pacey inside to show him all his film equipment. Pacey agrees and sees that Dawson's room has regressed back to his season 1 era. Pacey calls him out for procrastinating but Dawson says that it's his film set to save money on locations. This way he can spend more money on equipment. I don't know that he should subject the public to his cry face in HD but whatever you want, Dawson. Dawson reveals that he's maxed out three different credit cards and bought all kinds of fancy equipment which makes Pacey a little sicker. Dawson says he's crediting him on the film as an associate producer and Pacey jokes about wanting to see who's cast as himself because he clearly doesn't want to tell Dawson now that he's laying it on thick about how they're friends again and how he helped him with his movie and then making him a producer type. We go into credits with our episode dilemma set up.

A cab pulls up to Jen's house and a lady who looks familiar gets out. It's Mimi Rogers and I'm wondering who she's playing. Surprise, she's Jen's mom who was originally played by a different actress. Fun fact about Mimi Rogers, she was once married to Tom Cruise...the man who went on to marry Katie Holmes. Both these women are way better off without him. 

Look at this perfectly timed opening credit

She mentions Jen's haircut right off the bat which is fair because it still looks pretty bad. Helen says it looks very French which I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment or not with how much this show seems to poke fun of the French. Jen invites her inside and Grams comes in to be shocked by her daughter's sudden appearance. She is not pleased and even refers to her own daughter as "that woman" which considering everything she put Jen through, which is legit fair. I would disown her too. She's pissed that Jen told her she has cancer because she didn't want Helen to know. Jen says she didn't tell her but urges Grams to because she doesn't want to go through it all alone. 

Audrey is playing the guitar in her dorm room and Jack Osborne is also there for some reason. He's being gross because that's the only joke they can come up with for guys who are friends with Audrey: sex pest. Audrey tells him to stop being gross and Jack says that Sharon Osborne thinks Audrey is up tight. Joey walks in and this is apparently the first time she's met Jack. Jack is a terrible actor, by the way, instead of blending into the world, he feels very much like he's an outside observer kind of laughing at what he's doing. I don't know how to explain it but he feels like an outsider in this world. Audrey explains that Jack is here to talk to the dean about whether or not Worthington is right for him which is what I thought he was doing way back at the beginning of this season. Why do they keep bringing him back? Were they planning on keeping him around if this show got picked up again? Because I'm pretty sure they already knew that this show was done by this point so I really don't get this. Joey is offended that he's deciding if the school is right for him because she worked her whole high school career to get into this school and Joey apparently doesn't understand the concept of rich celebrity kids. Jack calls them uptight wenches which is gross and Audrey asks him to leave so that she and Joey can bond. Audrey says it's their last time together in this room and gives Joey her pink pillow as a memento. Joey hates it but Audrey insists she keep it because it will remind her of Audrey, abrasive at first but comfy. Joey says that she's never had a good girlfriend before and I am extremely offended on both Jen and Andie's behalf. Also, Joey wasn't even that close with Audrey this season, they barely spent time together. She was too busy obsessing over Eddie. 

Jack and Jen are grocery shopping in a very large somewhat outdoory looking grocery store. Like I thought they were at a farmer's market for a second but nope. Something looks off about it though and I'm wondering if they just set up some grocery looking stands in a studio warehouse and decided that would pass. I could be wrong, maybe this is a famous Boston grocery store and I'm just too uncultured to notice. Who knows. Jack is surprised she wants to cook and also surprised that she invited her mom to come. Jen is being cagey about why she suddenly wanted to host her mother because she's not supposed to tell anyone about Grams' cancer. Jen insists Jack has to be at the dinner too but Jack thinks that's more of a CJ job. She's also invited CJ to come but wants as many people there as possible so Jack has to come too. It's revealed that CJ is going to New York for grad school tomorrow so this is also their last night together. 

It's the dark ceiling that's throwing me off, most stores have white ceilings
This looks like they're shopping in a void

Joey is home for the summer break, pulling up to the Potter B&B and looking around at everything in a "can't believe I'm back home" kind of way but happy about it. She finds an envelope addressed to her and opens it to find Dawson Leary's untitled script inside. She looks through it excitedly and smiles. 

Joey is outside of Dawson's house now and she notices the ladder is back up and stares at it wistfully. Dawson appears behind her like a serial killer and whispers 'go ahead' to her, startling her. If he pulled that on me, he'd have ended up with an elbow to the nose but Joey is all happy and climbs up. She stares at his room in disbelief and says his eye for detail is incredible. Dawson says that now that she's here, everything is just about right. 

Grams and her mother are making awkward conversations about hairstyles again so Jen says that she's going to go get cleaned up so they can have a deeper conversation and whispers at Grams that she means her. Helen compliments how well Jen is doing and that she seems younger than when she was running around New York acting adult in a toxic way. She says that she can never repay Grams for taking Jen in. Grams says that acts of love don't require repayment which is why she's the best parent on this show. To think she started out as the scary, strict, racist, grandma we weren't supposed to like. Best transformation on the show. Grams gets a little more vulnerable and asks if Helen would help her if anything was wrong. Helen says of course and worries that something is wrong with Jen but Grams says no and excuses herself to go check on the cooking. Jen is disappointed that Grams didn't tell her mom.

Audrey and Jack Osborne (I have to say his last name or this gets confusing) walk into a bar and that is not the start of a crass joke, it's just what they do. They find Pacey already drinking there. Audrey is worried that he's day drinking and confronts him about this. Pacey says he's drinking to avoid the suit because he let people believe in him in that suit and then failed them. Audrey says that avoiding his problems by drinking is stupid because the problems will still be there afterwards and probably worse because now he's hung over and added more to the pile of things to avoid. Pacey thanks her for not walking on egg shells around him but he knows he just got solid advice from someone who's been there. 

Audrey is looking great here.

We're back in Dawson's creepy shrine room with his weird doll head on display which apparently helps Joey to feel like she can talk to him again since it reminds her of how safe she felt to do so when they were kids. She says that it's been hard not to talk to him and that all her life she only ever wanted to be with him and somehow, he became her only one night stand. Dawson says he never wanted it to be like that, and yeah that one's kind of on Joey. Dawson says he's spent years trying to write a screenplay about her and she admits that she read his script in one go. He clarifies that he didn't want her to read it to feel obliged to say only nice things, he wants to be sure he got it right and she's the only one he trusts to tell him that. She says that he grew up and that she feels like he was right that she was the one fighting being grown up because she has a hard time talking about being close to someone and about sex. She says that losing him wasn't part of the plan and he says that maybe you have to lose someone completely to see how much they mean to you. She tells him that he got it right this time and they hold hands. Barf.

Helen is sitting across from Jack and CJ and she mistakes Jack for Jen's boyfriend. Jack clarifies that CJ is the boyfriend and Helen says that they're both so attractive she just couldn't tell which one was gay. This show makes a lot of jokes about how pretty Jensen is and how that must mean he's gay, it's a bit weird. Helen asks if CJ is going to New York and he again confirms that he's leaving tomorrow. Helen then says that she can set him up with some lovely young girls to show him around the town and it's like, Helen...are you trying to set your daughter's boyfriend up with other girls?? What the hell? Jen calls her out on this and says they're not breaking up which CJ seems a bit surprised about, not in a he thought they had broken up way but in a Jen never clarified if she wanted long distance kind of way. How could they not have talked about this before? Kind of a big deal when someone is moving away. There's some more banter when Uncle Bill barges in and starts screaming for Grams and he calls her a skirt. Someone on the show thought it was cute when old men were belligerent and sexist. It isn't. CJ tries to ask him what he's doing but is shot down and Uncle Bill spills the beans about Grams having cancer and that her shutting everyone out is killing her. Bill doesn't want to watch another woman he cares about give up and be alone, Grams points out that she isn't alone, and he points out that he does see them and that they all clearly give a damn. Jen asks Grams to thank Uncle Bill for doing her dirty work for him and only now does he realize that no one else knew about the cancer. Jack is offended that Jen didn't tell him but Grams says that it wasn't Jen's responsibility to tell him, it was hers. Jen says that she's been worried about what to do and says Grams can't and shouldn't do it on her own. Hellen asks what she can do and Jen proposes they move to New York and live with her since her home is close to one of the best hospitals. Hellen agrees, in spite of Grams' protests about imposing. I guess that settles the CJ problem too since they'll both be headed to New York now. 

It's later and Dawson and Joey have been talking all day. They're just about to call it a night when they find Pacey outside. He wants to talk to Dawson. Joey goes to leave but he tells her to stay too. Both Dawson and Joey are concerned and this is the part where it was really important for them to set up that Dawson wanted to withdraw his money because Pacey tells them he lost it and Dawson immediately brings that up. Things are getting heated and Joey is watching this go down awkwardly and probably having flashbacks to season 3 when these two argued over her. It seems like they're about to go down that road again so Joey tries to be the peacemaker and urges them to remain calm so they can talk about this. Dawson doesn't want to talk and Pacey says it's not even about the money for Dawson. Joey tries to say that what happened between them was a business thing and they should remember that. Dawson says it was business because they haven't been friends in a long time. Dawson, you were just saying how you'd moved forward but the slightest bad thing happens and it's all Pacey is a screw up and he's not my friend. I get it, money is a major stressor in most relationships and he's just lost his savings. That's valid but let's not pretend that Dawson is destitute now with nowhere to go. He's taken a hit and he's definitely going to be screwed over with credit card charges but he'll recover. I'm sorry if that sounds cold, I do feel bad for Dawson, I just don't like how this is being made out to be 100% Pacey's fault. Pacey was definitely a dumbass who was way too cocky about his stock market game. Basically, I'm saying that everyone was dumb in this situation and everyone has been screwed over. They really should listen to Joey and talk this out because we already know Pacey is going to work his ass off to pay Dawson back, he's said as much but Dawson isn't even giving him the chance to say that. He's just written him off in an instant. This goes back to my take way back when that Dawson was never a good friend to Pacey. I honestly don't know why Pacey kept trying. Dawson has the gall to say this about Pacey though and accuses him of making them competitors. Like, no he didn't Dawson. He didn't steal Joey away. Joey is her own person, not an object that can be stolen. Joey is also getting uncomfortable and tells them to stop so Pacey actually tries to offer an apology and Dawson rejects it. Because he's the worst.

After the fade to commercials, we come back to the pier in front of Dawson's house where Pacey is sitting. Joey sits next to him and asks if he's ok. Pacey figures she'd rather go inside with Dawson but Joey says she'd be there if she wanted to be there. He doesn't want her feeling sorry for him though. Joey points out that she just feels for him and asks why he can't see when people genuinely care about him. Pacey is still hurt from her rejection though so he can't see it and I agree with Joey here that just because she didn't want a romantic relationship with him, doesn't mean she doesn't care about him. Pacey tells her it isn't her fight and she agrees and tells him he has to figure out how to fix it because otherwise it will haunt him forever. I don't know if I agree with that sentiment. Dawson made his stance clear, I don't think Pacey has to do anything. He can choose to but it's interesting that it's never up to Dawson to fix things, isn't it? He did his fair share of damage to the relationship, including talking down to Pacey and saying he's a screw up who he needs to be a loser to feel better about himself. He'll never be asked to apologize for that though. For some reason, it's always Pacey that has to try and make amends. I don't like it. 

It is nice that they show her checking in on Pacey
rather than going to Dawson

We cut to Jack and Jen talking on the couch. Jack is upset he wasn't in the loop because he considers them family. They reminisce about how she came to live with them after Grams kicked her out and how she thinks of him as family too. Grams comes in and says she won't forgive them if they make her cry tonight. Jack says he's sorry for her situation but Grams doesn't want him to feel sorry for her, she wants him to believe in her. He promises to go see them as often as she can but Grams says that won't be necessary. Jack looks a bit hurt but Grams clarifies that she intends for him to come to New York with them. Jack is taken aback and doesn't want to mooch but she assures him he'll be earning his keep. They ask what's holding him here and he can't give an answer, especially since he always said they should have gone to New York. 

Audrey and Jack are in the bar still, chatting. He goes up to introduce her and is kind of nice about it while also making a crack about watching her from his window. Audrey gets up with her guitar and starts to perform. I'm really sorry but I don't recognize the song. Audrey sings it nicely though and it plays us out of the episode as we get a series of montages. First we get Jen and her mended family baking together happily, then we move onto the montage of sadness as Pacey finally gets up from the pier and walks to his car, seemingly giving up hope that Dawson will come out and talk. Dawson watches creepily from the window as he seethes over how dumb he was for investing his money in the stock market for a quick turnaround. We end on Joey, sitting alone in her house, crying because her two male friends won't stop putting her in the middle of their argument which they think is about her but it really isn't and we finally fade to credits.

Ok, so what do I mean when I say that Dawson and Pacey's argument is not really about Joey even though they and this show insists that it is. It's because I don't buy that they've ever been as good of friends as this show wants us to believe. I think that Pacey befriended Dawson because he wished he could have Dawson's life and felt safe in his house where he didn't in his own. He saw them as equals but I don't think Dawson ever viewed him like that. It's very clear that Dawson is insecure about Pacey and extremely jealous of him. Pacey is easy going and confident, with tons of charm whereas Dawson is an awkward NiceGuytm. Any time that Pacey didn't make Dawson feel better about himself, he lashed out. Pacey has an easier time talking and laughing with Jen? Dawson hurls a basketball at his face and breaks his nose. Pacey gets a steady girlfriend and good grades? Dawson gets drunk and flat out says that he wants Pacey's life to suck so he can feel better about himself. Dawson has always made Pacey his competitor and it did not start with Pacey falling for Joey. That was just the thing that gave Dawson a benevolent excuse to stop being friends with Pacey. It's gross and this show trying to tell us that Pacey is the problem is a joke. It's always been Dawson and it will always be Dawson because he's a toxic person. 

This is it folks, the penultimate episode of Dawson's Creek in this timeline. Things are looking bleak and we only have one episode left to wrap things up. Yes, I know that there is the two part finale movie but this current storyline has to be wrapped up in one episode and the only thing I remember about this next episode is that they are filming Dawson's stupid movie. Next up is Joey Potter and Capeside Redemption.