Dawson's Creek - 207 - The All Nighter

Original air date: November 18, 1998

Ok, so last episode was the big break up between Dawson and Joey. Things have now changed completely. Case in point, this episode opens up in Dawson's room but minus Joey. Instead, Dawson's mom has joined him for movie night.

They are watching Shakespeare, to show how deep and troubled Dawson is, I'm sure. He's going on about how Shakespeare conquered all the stories first, someone has only taken high school English, I see. There were writers who conquered romance and tragedy long before Shakespeare came around, Dawson. He also goes on to say that Shakespeare's parting lesson, "the genre of genres that he arrived at after years of toil and sacrifice" was tragedy. Um, except that the last play he is credited with writing was a comedy called The Two Noble Kinsmen written in 1613. Then again, it's also labelled as a "tragi-comedy" so maybe Dawson is half right.

But he's also half wrong

Whether he's right or not, he still sounds pretty pretentious, equating his high school break up with Joey with real works of tragedy. He does show concern for his mother though as he states that she's been crying a lot. She says that he concerns her too because he has not been wallowing. Dawson doesn't see a point as it won't get the person back but Gail points out that you don't wallow to get someone back, you wallow to give yourself time to heal. Good point.

You were a bit too supportive. Try picking at
Dawson's insecurities and manipulate him a
little more, then it will be like Joey never left!

The next day, the teacher is spouting off Shakespeare in class as he tells the students about the upcoming midterm worth 50% of their grade. He seems really pretentious which might explain why the kids of Capeside are also so pretentious.

During the teacher's speech, a mysterious boy we've never been introduced to before, throws a note at Jen. It tells her not to forget to smile, so I guess he's trying to be charming.

Hey look, it's Max the alien from Roswell and
Buffy's friend, Ford! They are one and the same!

Class ends and Joey runs to catch up with Dawson, who is obviously trying to avoid her. Joey tells him that they have to talk to each other some time and I disagree. They don't have to do anything. I find it hilarious that Joey breaks up with him and asks for space but doesn't give Dawson the same courtesy. You know, he maybe wants some space too to get over the whole break up but noooo. Joey must have everything all the time, she should be able to break up with Dawson and still have him be her lap dog. Case in point, when she asks him what he wants to say to her, he replies with "go away" and Joey says "besides that" in an irritated tone. Um, Joey? You asked him what he wanted to say and that is what he wanted to say to you, deal with it. Of course she says that she didn't think that asking for space and breaking up with him meant avoiding each other all together and then whines that it isn't fair. Once again, Dawson has my back.

Joey does not like hearing this. Everyone should
bow down to her will, at all times.

I'm just going to say one thing that surprised me on this rewatch, I like that Dawson is growing a bit of a backbone this season. It's quite nice and I relish when he actually calls Joey out on her bullshit. Someone in the show had to do it and it's nice to see our main character finally be something other than a clueless twit.

In the cafeteria, Andie is talking about a purity test in a magazine which makes Pacey uncomfortable, presumably because of the whole squicky Tamahra situation. Andie thinks he doesn't want to do the test because he doesn't want to give away how "pure" he is and Pacey agrees that he's "Mr. Embarrassingly Pure"

Those words are going to bite you in the ass,
Mr. Witter

Andie then convinces Pacey to go to their teacher's cram session after class so that they can be prepared for their English mid-term.

Max Ford walks up to Jen during gym class and tries to flirt with her. She keeps her guard up and although she smiles when he makes a joke, she brushes him off.

Dawson walks up to Jen and asks her if she's going to attend the study session for the English mid-term but Jen says she's not really in the applying herself zone these days. Dawson says that she should come so Jen says she'll think about it since Max Ford is hitting on other girls anyway.

Sure, he's all fun and games until he offers you
up as a meal to a bunch of vampires.
Just ask Chanterelle

All of our characters are now prepared to go to the study session but the catch is that their teacher has now cancelled it because he has a cold. The test, however, is still on for the next day. Max Ford takes the opportunity to once again try his moves on Jen and offers his place up for a study session. She scoffs at the idea but he tells her she can invite her friends, and then he turns around and invites Pacey and Andie for her. They haven't really been friends with her for a while, Abby has but for some reason, she is absent this episode. Much to my disappointment.

Anyway, Pacey and Andie accept which makes Jen accept too. Andie then runs off to invite Joey along and Pacey runs off to invite Dawson.

Get ready for a night of unbridled awkwardness!

They arrive at Max Ford's house, which is more like a mansion and Andie immediately tries to take control of the situation so that everybody stays focused on studying. This doesn't last long as everyone breaks pretty much right after Andie explains their study plans.

You tried, Andie

Max Ford tries to impress Jen with his wine selection and tries to convince Jen that he just wants to get to know her and that he thinks they are a lot alike. Jen agrees to not base her opinion of him on his reputation and most of the audience groans because she seems to be falling for his "misunderstood" schtick.

Really, Jen? It's so obvious that he's playing you.

The group finally gets into studying as Andie plays gameshow host trying to get the correct answers out of people for points. She tries to get them to remember the most famous of the romantic poets which Joey answers correctly with Keats*. Andie then asks for his most famous quote which Dawson answers correctly as "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." Joey confirms his correctness and says she forgot to which Dawson snarks "It would seem so."

Dawson's claws are out

Since things are getting heavy, Max Ford suggests everyone take another break and go to his hot tub. Andie complains that they already took a two hour break but then Max Ford finds her magazine with the purity test which piques everyone's interest. They all decide to stop studying and take the test.

Andie takes charge once again and hands everyone a piece of paper and pencils to mark down their answers for each question. Everyone takes turns reading the questions out. We then go into a montage of them reading off various questions in an effort to sound raunchy but the important one to the plot is the last one which is read by Joey. "Have you ever been in love? If so, how many times? Give yourself a point of purity for each time."

Uh-oh, looks like Joey has something to hide...

Andie starts to mark their tests and Joey remains true to herself by running away from whatever is bothering her. Dawson takes note of her look and follows her into the kitchen. Joey then yells at him about giving her space and we once again have the writers just writing drama for the sake of a dramatic scene while forgetting what's happened so far. Now, all of the sudden, Joey is on about space again and Dawson not giving her any when at the beginning of the episode, she was whining to Dawson about avoiding her and giving her too much space. It's little errors like this, or laziness if you will, that makes your characters seem really self-centered. Joey now comes across to me as someone who just wants everything to be the way she wants it. She wants Dawson to give her space but she wants him to still be around for her when she wants him around. Nice job, writers, your main love interest is a self-entitled bitch.

I only want space when it's convenient for me!

Anyway, she runs away again leaving Dawson in the kitchen with Max Ford's younger sister. She looks about twelve and I really freaking hate it when shows about teens introduce young kids who obviously have crushes on the "teens" because the kids are cast at the right age while the teens look like adults, especially around the actual kids so it just comes off as creepy. I hate this whole subplot.

Just...no

Andie has finished calculating the results of the tests and the results are as follows:

Max Ford - 66% (least pure)
Jen - 69%
Dawson - 85%
Joey - 85%
Andie - 92%

She does not have Pacey's test result because he never handed it in. You think she would have noticed that before reading the results aloud but dramatic tension and all that. Andie tries to get him to give her his test but he refuses and Max Ford asks him if it's because of question 16. Andie is confused so she looks up the question again, much to Pacey's disappointment.

Question 16: Have you ever had sex with someone twice your age?

Of course, since Pacey won't answer, Max Ford rubs it in by congratulating Pacey on "laying the pipe with Ms. Jacobs" and Andie puts two and two together and figures out he means the teacher that left town. She then gets upset because Pacey said he was embarrassingly pure and leaves the room.

Poor Andie

Dawson is looking for Pacey and Andie and bumps into Max Ford who lets Dawson in on his little plan of bedding Jen. I don't know why guys are so forthright and skeevy to Dawson about their intentions with Jen. I mean Billy the kid did the same thing, and it just really makes them seem like old timey cartoon villains.

That's right, I'm going to tie her to the train tracks!
Mwahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!

Max then brags that when the light on the guest house is off, that means that he and Jen are inside "lowering their purity levels" and Dawson will be outside and alone.

Jen tries to engage Joey in conversation but Joey has her usual wall up where she is concerned. Jen tries to give Joey sympathy over her break up with Dawson, even though she knows Joey might not believe her and Joey snaps that she doesn't believe her. Jen finally loses it on Joey and I just love it:

Jen: You know, I used to think that it was our mutual feelings for Dawson that kept us apart. I never really considered the fact that maybe you were just a bitch.

Yay, Jen! You tell that bitch.

Joey realizes that she is just a great big bitch and apologizes for being harsh with Jen. They somewhat bond over the fact that they both just want to experience something without talking about it to death but don't hold your breath. I'm sure they'll hate each other again next episode. Or at least, Joey will hate Jen again.

Pacey catches up with Andie and tries to make amends with her but she isn't having it. He lied to her and she wanted him to be honest with her. Now, I understand this. I've been in a situation where a partner lied to me about their past experiences and I wasn't mad that they had past experiences, I was mad that they lied about it and lead me to believe that we were experiencing things together for the first time. So, I'm in Andie's court until she starts talking like this:

Andie: It's not a joke, okay? I'm serious, and despite your braggart tendencies, Pacey, it's not exactly an admirable event.

Pacey: That's not fair, Andie. You're judging me, and you don't even know the circumstances. Besides, I slept with her, not you.

Andie: Why would you do it, Pacey?

I'm sorry, you lost me. I get that she's disappointed that Pacey slept with an older woman, maybe even intimidated now but it almost sounds as if she's blaming him. I mean "it's not admirable" "why would you do it?" Um, he did it because sex and teenaged boys are stupid. The real question, that no one, fucking no one, seems to be asking in this show is "why would she do it?" You know, why did Miss Jacobs take advantage of a 15 year old student? And no "because sex" does not work in her instance. As an adult, it was her responsibility to be the fucking adult and not fuck her student. Why does this show insist on making this Pacey's mistake and not Miss Jacobs'? It's really fucking creepy and there is no way they would let that fly with an older male teacher taking advantage of a younger female student.

I'm as horrified as Woody by this double standard

 Jen is heading for the hot tub when Dawson stops her to warn her about Max Ford's nefarious plan to sleep with her. Jen is aware that Max Ford wants to sleep with her and seems ok with it and then asks Dawson how he knows that she doesn't have a plan of her own.

Dawson then runs into Dina, Max Ford's little sister who seems very interested in his love life. She then reveals that she has the answers to their tests and that she has Joey's answers and hints that he'd be interested in her results. She then says that there is a fee for the tests and puckers her lips.

Can I just ask, what is the obsession teen shows seem to have with horny kids trying to force the teen characters to kiss them? It's not funny, it's disturbing and weird, especially in a show like this where the actors don't look remotely teenaged?

But Dawson refuses to kiss her, thank God, and she gives up the secret anyway. While Dawson has only been in love once, Joey has been in love...twice! Dun, dun, DUN! Dawson is most disturbed by this news and I'm left thinking "oh god if this resolution is something really fucking lame like she fell in love with Dawson twice then I'm going to puke."

It's going to be you twice, isn't it?

Jen is enjoying the hot tub with Max Ford who makes his intentions clear. She asks him "what if I don't want to mess around?" and he assures her that they won't and that he's not a bad guy, he just wants to have fun. That seems to be the all clear for Jen because it's not like he would be lying about not wanting sex in order to have sex with you or anything.

Oh, honey...

Dawson finds Pacey and asks him if Andie is ok. Pacey says she's fine but she wants to be alone and Dawson asks him why he didn't just write "no" for that question. Pacey says it's because he didn't want to lie to her and I'm going to have to call bullshit on that because he already lied to her when she asked him about his purity level and he claimed to be extremely pure. Pacey then encourages Dawson to say what he feels more.

Cue Dawson going to find Joey. He confronts Joey about her test and before she can go on the diary tirade again, tells her that Max Ford's sister told him her answer. She won't tell him who the second guy was and now I'm becoming more convinced that I was right about it.

Quick, run away before you have to answer him!

Max Ford's creepy sister appears and starts mocking him about his fight and Dawson spazzes out on her about first kisses having repercussions and leading to broken friendships and broken hearts and then he tells her not to rush it. You know, apart from his sad sack whining about Joey, he has a point. Kids really shouldn't be so encouraged to rush into relationships and dating. But Dina runs away crying and Joey has appeared behind him looking disappointed in him.

God, Dawson. You should have just kissed her.

Dawson then sees that the light has gone out over the guest house.

He's a sad panda

Joey goes to console Dina and basically says the same thing Dawson says about growing up sucking but she says it in a nicer tone, so I guess it's ok. She does say that sometimes relationships do work out and seem magical and that she'll be ok.

Next morning, everyone wakes up and Andie starts freaking out about not getting any studying done and it's already 6am.

Meanwhile, Max Ford thanks Jen for their fun and then rushes to get out of the room, despite Jen asking him to wait for her. He clearly doesn't want them to be seen as a couple and she clearly just got used.




She's a sad panda



The gang band together and Pacey organizes a 3 hour cram session. The show then does a montage of them answering various literature questions. After they are done, Andie congratulates Pacey on taking charge and apologizes for flipping out. She says it's because she's freaked that she's so inexperienced next to him and he reassures her that she will have experience. Kind of a big assumption there, Pacey.

I'll allow it

Dawson finds Joey and tells her how he had been wishing that they had never kissed so that maybe they would still be friends but that he has come to appreciate what their kiss brought into his life and even though he is hurting now, he does not regret being with her. In turn, Joey confesses who the second guy was. Are you ready for this shocking revelation? Can you handle the suspense? It was Dawson both times.

Joey: Dawson, the 2 times I feel in love, on the test, they were both you. I mean, the first time I fell was for my friend, the Dawson I grew up with, the boy across the creek, and the second time was after we kissed. I mean, you became this whole new person to me and....I fell in love all over again.

Uggghhhhh!!!

I'm sorry, that is just the cheesiest thing ever and having a crush on someone does not equal "love". Dawson agrees to give her the space she needs without hostility but I can't help but see it as caving into her demands to have him as her stand by while she explores other options.

The gang head to school only to find that the test has been cancelled. They all resign themselves to going to their other classes and being tired for nothing but Pacey has another idea:

Nap time! Or...possibly they've all been shot.

I usually really like the character episodes where they are confined in a location and forced to deal with their problems but this one just felt off to me. I guess it mended Dawson and Joey's friendship or at least started the course towards that and it made Pacey finally confess to having sex with his teacher to Andie but it just didn't entertain me the way that Detention did last season. Max Ford, or Chris in this show, just was not that interesting an insitgator to me. He just looked bored and skeevy half the time, he wasn't as fun as Abby was.

Also, I really don't like the way that this show has been handling Pacey's relationship with Miss Jacobs. They flip between insisting that what they had was together was love, to insisting that Pacey is the bad one in that scenario. While they may have loved each other, it was a bad relationship but not because Pacey was in the wrong. Miss Jacobs is the one at fault for letting that relationship go as far as it did, for encouraging it and for making Pacey feel like he was the one who screwed up. She never apologized for doing that to him, for saying "look Pacey, I should have never put that pressure on you not to tell anyone or to engage in this relationship." and when Pacey tried to tell her that he wanted it too, she should have told him "It was still wrong, you may not understand this now but I did take advantage of you and I am sorry for that." Then she should have left town and never come back. My point is, Pacey wanting sex with an older woman wasn't wrong, a lot of teens get crushes on older women or men because they are trying to figure out their ideal mate or preferences. It's the adult who is in the wrong for taking advantage of that naivete and inexperience. It is up to them to be responsible and stop things. An adult who sleeps with a teen or child will always be scum to me. Sorry, writers, you aren't going to convince me otherwise.

So anyway, we'll see if Dawson and Joey remain friends in the next episode, The Reluctant Hero.

Dawson's Creek - 206 - The Dance

Original air date: November 11, 1998

So, I've found out that season 1 actually has alternate titles which explains why there are repeat episode titles this season. Here is what the season one episode titles were:

101 Pilot = Emotions in Motion
102 Dance = Dirty Dancing
103 Kiss = A Prelude to a Kiss
104 Discovery = Carnal Knowledge
105 Hurricane = Blown Away
106 Baby = Look Who's Talking
107 Detention = The Breakfast Club
108 Boyfriend = Escape from New York
109 Road Trip = In the Company of Men
110 Double Date = Modern Romance
111 The Scare (the same)
112 Beauty Contest = Pretty Woman
113 Decisions = Breaking Away

So, why were the episode titles changed? Well, from what I can tell, most of these are movie titles which is actually really clever. The movie title, fits the theme of Dawson's interest in movies as well as the subject of the episode, in most cases, without being as freaking obvious as say, Hurricane. It makes me a bit sad that they were changed. I can't find anything online that suggests why the titles were changed but maybe you have to get licences to use even just the title of a movie and it proved too expensive to obtain for DVD release?

Anyway, moving on. This episode returns us partially to the norm of opening in Dawson's room. Except that Pacey and Andie are with Joey and Dawson and Andie is dancing crazy!

Look at her go!
(Thanks to Lucas again for this wonderful gif)

She is dancing to Footloose because they are watching the movie. As we all know from last season's Dance, these characters prefer to watch movies about dances than actually go to a dance. My kind of people. I didn't like school dances, they were awkward and boring for the most part.

Andie is disappointed that no one wants to go to the dance and so she begins trying to convince them. They say they'd rather watch something in a movie than experience it for themselves so Andie asks them if they feel the same way about sex. This gets their attention.

They decide to go to the dance

The next day, Joey is getting a ride to school from her sister and asks her for advice about the whole Jack kissing her thing. Bessie laughs at her which is fun and then asks Joey if she's told Dawson. Joey starts complaining that she is confused about distinguishing between "Dawson the friend and Dawson the boyfriend" regarding what she can and can't tell him. I can save the drama world so much trouble, I tell you. There is no need for a distinction. It is possible for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be your friend whom you can tell most anything to. Bessie telling Joey not to tell Dawson, feels wrong to me. If it truly didn't mean anything to Joey then she really shouldn't feel bad about telling Dawson. Just my two cents on the matter but I guess, we wouldn't have much drama to enjoy on this show if everyone was honest with each other all the time, would we? Joey takes Bessie's advice on pretending it didn't happen.

This will totally not backfire on me!

Abby and Jen are debating whether or not Kristy Livingstone's breasts are real and...wait? Didn't they hate each other? Abby got pissed that Jen had a date with Vincent, Jen slapped Abby for calling her a slut and then kicked her out of the house, Abby spied on Jen's date and tried to sleep with Dawson to hurt her. What am I missing? There was no make up scene last episode. Why the hell are these two friends again?

I don't get it

Abby wants to steal Kristy Livingstone's boyfriend and Jen chastises her and calls her pathetic for wanting to go to the dance to hit on someone else's boyfriend. Because she's totally against hitting on other people's boyfriends, guys.

Totally against it

Abby's goal should not be hard to achieve because we next see Kristy fighting with her boyfriend. Dawson scoffs at this and makes Joey promise that they will never air their relationship troubles in public.



Because they've never done that before

Never

He then asks her how Andie convinced them all to go to the homecoming dance. Joey reminds him that it's because she suggested that the night might end in "tawdry smut-action" Dawson says that's the first time that they've talked about sex since they've started dating.

Because they totally haven't talked about sex
since they started dating

Nope. NEVER

Ok, so that's three contradictions that this show has managed to write in the span of 5 fucking minutes. Four, if you count the fact that Abby and Jen are mysteriously friends again despite being in a fight last episode. Writers, you need to mark this shit down somewhere because it looks stupid when your characters act like they haven't done something when they clearly have before. Give your viewers some credit, we can remember shit that happens in the show. You can't pick and choose what sticks in an episode and what doesn't. Once you've shown us something, that is part of your show's cannon and when you try to pretend otherwise, it ends up just confusing or irritating your audience.

Seriously

Back on topic, Joey thinks they haven't talked about it because they didn't want to confuse the transition from friends to lovers. Dawson thinks that there is a way to un-confuse the transition and tells Joey to put on her dancing shoes. Because dancing equals foreplay, get it?

Abby and Jen walk by and Abby tells Dawson to wipe his drool when he says hi to Jen. Joey immediately says that she doesn't like the two of them being so chummy because Abby is a bad influence on Jen. Well, at least Abby was actually nice to her in the beginning, unlike some people. Joey says that she feels bad for Jen and suggests that they invite her to go with them to the dance. Dawson points out that since she'd be a fifth wheel, that would make her feel worse and I agree. Joey tells him it's his call and I don't think it's what the writers are going for but I immediately see this as some sort of weird test for Dawson like she just wants to see if Dawson still wants Jen or something.

I clearly have no faith in this character or her
relationship with Dawson

Pacey asks Andie what she'd prefer being picked up at her house or meeting them somewhere. That is genuinely nice, this is how you show concern for your partner, by respecting their boundaries. Andie tells him she'd prefer being picked up. Pacey also asks how her mother is doing and says that if Andie ever needs any help, all she has to do is ask him.

Best. Boyfriend. EVER

Andie looks moved but changes the subject to the dance. Pacey clarifies that although he is going, he doesn't dance. This upsets Andie a bit and they banter about it but they still agree to meet for 7. Dawson then meets up with them and Andie asks if she can invite her brother, Jack, to go with them to the dance. Dawson thinks it's a great idea because then, he can invite Jen since they are both single. Pacey thinks this is a bad idea but Dawson and Andie agree to do it anyway.

They always ignore the most sensible character

When Dawson gets home from school, he finds his parents waiting to talk to him. They inform him that they are going to start a trial separation. Dawson is not pleased with this and acts...well, like a sulky teenager so I guess it works. It bugs me that he wants to suggest that they try counselling because we all know they tried that last season which resulted in the scuba gear fiasco but Dawson was too busy with his own drama to pay attention to his parents then. At least he's now trying to be involved, I guess and they are trying to have him be affected by his parents' problems, so I'll give a pass for Dawson on this scene, even though he irked me, because it is a pretty realistic reaction for a teen to have regarding his parents' separation.

You should be like Joey and me and ignore your
problems. It works so well for us, you'll see

Andie and Jack are waiting for Pacey to pick them up. Jack complains that he would have preferred being picked up at the house and then asks Andie if she strapped their mother in for the night. Andie snaps at him that she'd like one night off to have fun and be a normal teenager. She then suggests that he should relax and have fun too because he could meet the woman of his dreams. Jack quietly says he already has and we know he's talking about Joey because everyone instantly falls in love with her even though she's a bitch to them. Instantly!

The woman of my dreams belittles me and yells
at me every chance she gets. She's awesome

Mitch finishes packing up his car and reassures Gail that this is only a trial. She nods her agreement but the moment he takes off, she starts crying her eyes out because she does not want her marriage to be over. I half feel bad for her and half ask what the hell she expected to happen when she started cheating on him. That he'd be OK with it and that they could immediately go back to normal? I know, I know, I kind of flip flop on these two. One episode makes me see Gail's side and another makes me see Mitch's, which is fairly realistic. No one is ever wrong 100% of the time and no one is ever right 100% of the time. As much as I know that Gail fucked up her marriage, I still feel bad for her when Mitch leaves.

Good job, Mary Margaret Humes

To the writer's credit again, they actually make Dawson show some concern for his mother rather than cutting to him at the dance. He actually offers to stay home if she'd like him too but Gail wants to be alone and urges Dawson to go, all without looking at him because she doesn't want to show him that she's crying. It's another great scene.

The gang all meet up for the big dance. Joey is awkward when Jack shows up, Jen looks awkward that everyone else is there which leads me to wonder how exactly Dawson worded things when he asked her to go to the dance. I got the impression that Jen had the impression that she was just going with Dawson. The show doesn't really expand on this though, so it's best to forget it. She is awkwardly introduced to Jack.

This is going to be a thing with her

Inside the dance, Abby spots Jen and goes over to her. Jen says hi to Abby and then Abby says that she loves Jen's dress and that she has one...in a smaller size. Uh...burn? Didn't Jen wear one of Abby's dresses before? Weren't they friends at the beginning? Are they enemies again? I get the feeling that the writers aren't too sure about where they want to go with this friendship yet. I think they are supposed to be enemies now but then why did it seem like they were hanging out again at the beginning of the episode? I mean, yes Abby got annoyed with Jen for not wanting to go to the dance but they were still hanging out and described by Joey to Dawson as "chummy" before this scene.

Is it seriously too much to ask for consistency
within a single episode?

Anyway, Andie pulls Jack over to dance with Jen. Jen continues with her slightly annoying refusal to just say Jack by calling him "brother Jack" and when he corrects her by saying "it's just plain Jack." She responds by calling him "just plain Jack." I'm finding it as annoying as Jack seems to be finding it.

Dawson is telling Joey about how his parents are separating and how he wishes that they would go back to their coffee table sex antics.

Careful what you wish for, Dawson

But don't worry about Dawson, he sees a bright side in his mother cheating on his father and them going through a trial separation...the coffee table is now free.



ba-dum-dum-tsh!

Yeah, it's good that your parents are separating so that you can now make out/have sex on the coffee table your parents used to. Dawson's a little gross. He spots Jack and Jen dancing and makes a comment to Joey about how they seem to like each other. She gets extremely defensive about it and says it's the stupidest thing she's ever heard of. She goes on to say what a sweet, nice guy Jack is and how Jen is a barracuda.

And the claws are out again

Dawson asks her why she's getting so worked up about Jack and Jen getting along and Joey claims she isn't getting worked up but that she just has an opinion. That opinion is that Joey must have all the guys. All the guys must like her and not Jen, it is law.

I have one too and it's that Joey has irrational
rage issues against other women

Andie tries to convince Pacey to dance with her and he still refuses so Andie says she will dance with someone else. Pacey watches Kristy Livingstone dance with her boyfriend. No, Pacey, please don't act like a moron again!

Andie then goes over to Jen and Jack and tells them it's time to switch partners, presumably because she'd like to dance. Jen excuses herself for air so Andie dances with Dawson and Jack dances with Joey.

Jack takes the opportunity to apologise to Joey for kissing her and instead of accepting it and moving on, she bites his head off about making her feel guilty every time she looks at Dawson now. Except, she shouldn't feel guilty if the kiss didn't mean anything. Joey gets upset and does what she does best.

Running away solves everything!

Jack follows her and tries again to apologise and she again bites his head off. He then calls her out on her anger and that he doesn't think she's mad at him for kissing her but that she's mad at herself for kissing him back. Unfortunately, Dawson has overheard this. Joey responds in her usual way.

Running away solves everything!!

I don't think I have ever seen a character avoid problems as much as Joey. It kind of irritates me mainly because a lot of girls in high school tried to emulate this behaviour and it would always annoy the pants off of me because they so clearly just wanted to see if you would chase after them to try and make them feel better. It was exhausting and it's no wonder that those types of people were the first ones I "lost contact with."

So the night isn't going so great for anyone so far but on the plus side, Abby achieved her goals.

Good for Abby

Jen tries to excuse herself for the night and Andie gets indignant because she wanted to get to know Jen until Jack comes up to them saying that he wants to leave also. Her matchmaker hat still on, Andie tells Jack to walk Jen home. Jack is trying to make a quick exit but it's too late, the Dawsonator has located him.

Dawson asks him what happened and Jack tries to tell him to talk to Joey about it but Dawson insists he answer him. Jack tries to pass off that it was a weird night and that the moon was full but Dawson isn't buying it. Jack then says this:

Jack: Yeah, I did. I'm not going to apologise for it, man, cause truth is, I'd do it again so let's just not make this into a high school rumble alright? 'Cause neither of us are the type.

Then Dawson punches Jack in the face. It is awesome.

Hadouken!

Pacey is coming out of the men's room when he spots Kristy standing alone in the hallway. Pacey goes to talk to her and she reveals that she is sad that her boyfriend hits on anything in a short skirt and that she lacks the self-esteem to stop him. Pacey gives her a pep talk by talking about how great he thinks she is...except that it's based mainly on looks. I'm not saying that she couldn't be an incredible girl, I'm just saying that Pacey doesn't know much about her besides the fact that she's hot. She asks him to dance and he agrees and this was my reaction:

Gail is sitting alone at the house, eating ice cream because that's what us bitches do when we are upset, right? Anyway, Mitch is also feeling lonely and calls her to talk. This seems like a good sign for them, that they already miss each other but of course, they can't get back together so soon.

Andie sees Jack and Jen off before Dawson can come back for a rematch. She then turns around and spots Pacey and Kristy dancing...even though Pacey said he didn't dance at all. The look on her face breaks my heart, you guys.

She is crushed

Pacey sees her and immediately stops his dance with Kristy. I don't know how the writers are going to reconcile this. That was a pretty shitty thing for Pacey to do. How can he justify refusing to dance with the girl he's on a date with and then dancing with another girl? I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Dawson is leaving the dance too when Joey runs up to him and asks him where he's going. He says he's going home and Joey cries about how she wants to talk. I rolled my eyes at that and was about to say something when, shockingly, Dawson says it for me:

EXACTLY!

Joey then tries to tell him that it wasn't what he was thinking. She says that Jack kissed her and Dawson finishes her thought by saying she just didn't stop it. Then she tries to give a lame apology before turning it around and saying he is blowing things into "cinematic proportions" I was going to yell at her for this but once again, Dawson has my back.

You go, Dawson! Finish her!

So basically, they argue in public, like they've supposedly never done before and promised they wouldn't do. Joey starts saying that Dawson is the bad guy even though she's the one who kissed another guy and then starts saying that for once, it's about her. For once? When has it ever not been about Joey?

It's all about me! Me me me me ME!

Jen and Jack arrive at her house and Jen thanks him for a good evening. She then gets a kind of sad look on her face as she says that he must really like Joey if he took a punch like that for her. Jack says that he knows it's a lost cause but he wants to take a chance anyway. Jen thanks him for giving her a good time and being really good at pretending he didn't want to be with someone else while he was with her. I just kind of go, "awwwww!" at that because she looks really beaten. That's two guys now that want Joey over her and I immediately feel for her. I've been in a situation where every guy seemed to be attracted to this one girl and it made me feel pretty damn inadequate. It also makes you wonder:



Right?

Anyway, Jen thanks Jack for a good time and tells him to keep fighting for his lost causes.

Meanwhile, Pacey finally catches up with Andie who immediately calls him out on his not dancing bullshit. Pacey tries to ignore the question by saying that he's been looking everywhere for her but Andie isn't buying it. She ignores him right back and asks him again.

You go, Andie!

Pacey tries to joke that you couldn't call what he was doing dancing, implying that he sucks at it but Andie interjects that she would call it foreplay. Zing! He then tries to say he got swept up in the moment but that makes it worse and then he tries to pass it off as just a fantasy and asks her if she wouldn't want to act out a fantasy.

You were bad and you should feel bad, Pacey

What does Pacey say to this? He asks her why she likes him. I'm not impressed. You just hurt this girl's feelings and you have the gall to ask her to build up your self-esteem?

She does tell him why she likes him and it's really sweet but she finishes with "and that's more than you deserve right now." Right on! Pacey, of course, feels even shittier and apologises more sincerely to her and then says that the moment that was supposed to make his night worthwhile wasn't with Kristy, he wants the moment to be with her. He then asks her to dance.

Damnit! Why do you have to be so cute?

OK...I guess you're forgiven but seriously,
stop ditching Andie for inferior women.
It hurts my heart

Dawson enters his room to find Joey already there and crying. Wow, did she gain the ability to aparate or is Dawson really slow? Either way, Joey actually gives a sincere apology this time. Dawson asks her what's been up with her because ever since they got together, she's been pulling away. Joey says that Dawson is what she's going to want which is pretty damn insulting when you think about it. She spent all of last season dumping on Jen because she was dating Dawson when Joey wanted to, dumping on Dawson for dating Jen and for being an idiot for not seeing how great they could be and then she pulls this crap? So, Dawson was her dream and now she feels like she doesn't have her own identity or her own goals...

Good thing you turned down that trip
to France in favour of Dawson then

So yes, this character, who chose to give up her own path to be with Dawson has now decided that she can't be with Dawson because she needs to find herself first. I told you she would resent Dawson for not going on that trip! She chose the safe, easy path and now feels like she gave up too much and doesn't want to be with Dawson anymore.



I told you so, I told you so, I-I-I told you so!

In a desperate bid to keep her, Dawson tells Joey that he loves her. She turns around and says that she loves him too but then leaves anyway. Dawson is heartbroken and doesn't understand how they can be over when they just said they loved each other...ehhhhhhh you kind of were just saying it to keep her from leaving so it didn't mean that much. Joey just tells him that she has to go and then does what she does best:

Quick! Run away again!

Dawson is left alone and kicks over the ladder that Joey always uses to get to his place. Their relationship is over and so is the episode.

See, this is why I never thought that Joey and Dawson would work out. I'm pretty damn convinced that Joey has major issues and that the only reason she wanted to be with Dawson was because he was safe. She's not happy with him, hell they got into fights or misunderstandings in five out of the six episodes of their short relationship. Dawson, was even pretty supportive of her getting new hobbies or life's passions and finding herself. Why couldn't she find herself with him at her side? Answer, she can she just realised that Dawson is not who she wants to be with romantically.



See what I mean? He's actually trying to be there
for her and help her find her "thing"

On top of that, Joey wants to travel the world and probably go to a good school while Dawson wants to go to California and try and make it as a Hollywood director. They are already on different paths, they just refuse to accept it and as characters who are teen aged, I get that but it doesn't mean that I ever thought, even as a teenager myself, that they could end up together. Not unless one of them was willing to give up their dreams.

That's just my two cents on their relationship, I guess we'll see where everything goes in the next episode, The All Nighter.