Dawson’s Creek S02 E20 – Feels for days and days and days

Previously: Abby’s funeral meant epic feels.
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Reunited

Democracy Diva: Shrine O’Spielberg. The whole gang is there, hanging out together, and it makes me really happy. Until Dawson says the same thing, and then I get upset that me and Dawson had a mind-meld. (K: Legit.) Anyway, Pacey calls them a clique and they’re all, DUDE, NO. Jen helpfully informs the audience that she’s now living at the Leerys’ house, since Grams kicked her out. Pacey insists that they’re one step away from the Peach Pit. Then everyone attacks Pacey with pillows until SO MANY FEATHERS start flying all over the room.

 

Like, that is way too many feathers for any of these pillows to still appear intact, which they do. My headcanon says the ghost of Abby Morgan is hiding in the ceiling, dumping feathers on all these idiots.

Kirsti: Headcanon accepted. Also, I really hope Dawson gets stuck with the clean up on this one. 

Diva: I DON’T WANNA WAIT.

Capeside High. Andie dyed her hair brown and is pissed that Pacey doesn’t immediately love it. Jack tries to help Pacey out, being all NO HE TOTES LOVES IT I SWEAR. Pacey invites Andie out on a date, but she’s all, I have to go shave my hands study and take care of my mom. She angrily blows him off, then freaks out over bringing the wrong book to class and storms off. Jack says she’s just extra-sensitive because of her hair. Pacey’s like, ugh, love is hard.

Andie frantically searches for her book in her locker. A dark-haired Mystery Man stares at her and she smiles at him and it’s all vaguely creepy. Elsewhere at school, Dawson and Joey discuss their big Friday night plans. She’s complaining that all they do is stay home and watch movies, and she wants to break out of their rut for their one month anniversary. (LOL. One month. Kids are adorable.) Dawson notes that they’re boring people (no arguments here) and incapable of spontaneity. Wait, didn’t we suffer through an entire episode last season based around the idea that Dawson is the king of spontaneity? And that’s why Scott Foley made all those murdery-murderer phone calls to Jen? Ugh, whatever, show, I hate you. (K: Except for the Pacey parts.) (D: DUH.) Anyway, Dawson confesses that he made a reservation at a fancy restaurant for them, and it was going to be a surprise, until she got all “persnickety.” Then they say that word like a thousand more times.

Sunset on the creek and it’s pretty. Jen sits on the Leery porch and has a life chat with Gail. Gail urges her to call Grams, but Jen says they’d have nothing to say to each other.

Gail is all, GIRL YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE TO TELL ME! Jen apologizes for making her think of Mitch, and Gail offers a night of delicious food and fun times and pretending their problems don’t exist. They hug, and I hereby award some Sandy Cohen eyebrows of non-negligent parenting to Gail, for fully adopting Jen into her family in her time of need. I love this relationship.

K: I do too because Gail finally has a daughter! Although it must be hella awkward for her being all “Oh, hey next door neighbour! Don’t mind me, just caring for your teenaged granddaughter who you KICKED OUT OF THE HOUSE BECAUSE OF JESUS.”

Diva: “BECAUSE OF JESUS” is my new favorite defense in the universe. Instead of “because contrivance” or “because reasons,” when random shit happens, I’m just going to be all, “BECAUSE OF JESUS.”

Mitch is on a date with Hollywood Sabbatical, the teacher who hated Dawson’s movie. They kiss, and Mitch awkwardly reminds her that he hasn’t dated since he was a teenager and therefore is a bit out of practice. They’re heading into dinner at a fancy restaurant, which of course is the same restaurant Dawson and Joey are headed to, because small towns are only allowed to have one nice restaurant. Cut to Joey insisting to Dawson that the restaurant is too expensive. He insists they need to make a huge fucking deal about their MASSIVELY IMPRESSIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT of not breaking up in the last four weeks. Dawson and Joey arrive at the restaurant, but there are some issues with the reservation. Because two Leery men requested a table for two. (K: And the restaurant for some reason wasn’t all “But we already have a booking for Leery… Are you the same Leery? Or a different one?”) (D: Fictional restaurants are bad at reservations, but great at farcical set-ups!) Mitch spots Dawson, and it’s predictably awkward.

Andie in her therapist’s office. The doctor talks about grief and anxiety and Abby’s death triggering some of Andie’s unresolved issues with Tim’s death. Andie insists that she just saw Abby that one time, and actually maybe she didn’t even see her at all. Yeah, no, definitely not at all. I must say, Andie pretending to be fine is probably the most heart-breaking Andie. (But not really, because, you know, the future.) (K: Two very accurate points.) The therapist wants to discuss medication, but Andie is reluctant. The doctor points out that things are different now – she might not be healing right, and the sooner they treat it, the better. The director made a rare brilliant choice to cut to a wide shot of Andie, where she looks so tiny and alone on that big couch, and it gives me all the feels.

Andie gets back in her car, and the Mystery Man she saw earlier in the hallway is waiting there for her. He compliments her hair, and asks if she told the doctor about him. She says no, but soon they’ll find out and they’ll have to lose each other, but Mystery Man promises her that won’t happen. Andie cries and talks about how scared she is; suddenly, she starts screaming and sobbing and pounding on the steering wheel. Mystery Man holds her in his arms.

Fancy Restaurant of Awkwardness. Dawson, Joey, Mitch, and Hollywood Sabbatical are all squished together at a table for two. Joey looks incredibly beautiful, and Hollywood Sabbatical looks wildly uncomfortable.

K: To be honest, I think anyone would under those circumstances, but especially when you tore absolute shreds off your new boyfriend’s kid’s crappy movie like two weeks ago. 

Diva: She offers to set Dawson up with some contacts in LA and get him a job in Hollywood, but Dawson won’t even hear that bullshit. He says,  “Isn’t that the city that you said would, and I quote, eat me for breakfast?” She apologizes, but Dawson is still not having it. He rants at her for hating his shitty movie, but now playing nice because she wants to date his father. She digs her hole deeper, saying that some people just aren’t cut out for creative jobs. Joey excuses herself and Dawson follows her. She’s pissed he’s making their night all about his bullshit with Hollywood Sabbatical instead of their anniversary. Dawson kisses Joey and promises to rise above it. Except, not gonna happen, because Gail and Jen walk in at that moment.

Andie’s house. She and Pacey are watching a movie when she leaves to get some water. She goes to the kitchen and sees Mystery Man. She tells him he can’t be there when she’s with Pacey or he’ll find out. Up in Andie’s room, Pacey flips through her photo album and brings it downstairs. He overhears Andie ranting about how she can’t chose between Mystery Man and Pacey. She calls Mystery Man “Brown.” Pacey walks in and looks PISSED.

Fancy Restaurant of Awkwardness. Joey approaches Jen and explains the awkward double-date situation, and Jen gets idea face. At the table, Dawson asks Mitch if he’s okay with Gail being there. He reminds his father that Gail might leave town, and if any part of Mitch wants to make shit work, he needs to stop Gail from taking the Philly job. Because obviously this decision is solely up to the men in Gail’s life, and not Gail herself. Cut to Gail and Hollywood Sabbatical in the bathroom together. Gail straight-up says she was considering just ignoring Hollywood Sabbatical, and maybe she should just leave. Hollywood Sabbatical basically like, yeah, that’d be great, so of course Gail decides to stay.

K: Obviously. Good Lord, Hollywood Sabbatical. Learn to shut your mouth around the Leerys, yeah?

Diva: Andie’s kitchen. Pacey wants to know who she was on the phone with, but she denies being on the phone and denies cheating on him. Pacey says she’s been so up and down lately and he really needs to know if this is a mental health situation. Andie is furious that he went there, and tells Pacey to dump her if he can’t handle dating a crazy person. He insists he’s just trying to help, and asks about the photo album, which he’d never seen before. Why did she look through those pictures, and change her hair to look like it did in those pictures, where she’s happy with her brothers? She scoffs at him thinking this is all about her hair, but he begs her to promise that she didn’t change her hair because of these photos. Andie just demands the book back, grabs it from Pacey, and accidentally smashes it into a lamp. They’re silent for a few moments, and Andie says she’s going to bed. Pacey looks at the photos, and we see that Mystery Man is Andie’s deceased brother Tim. (True story: I had to edit this whole post because I didn’t realize this was a big reveal and I had totes been calling him Tim the whole time.)

K: LOL WHOOPS. I can remember watching this episode for the first time and being all “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT????” when that reveal happened. Although to be fair, Teenage!Kirsti wasn’t as good at TV as Present Day Kirsti. 

Diva: I know I’ve seen this episode before, but I don’t actually remember it, so I just kind of assumed we all knew it was Tim. Oopsies.

Fancy Restaurant of Awkardness. Gail gets wine on the house for being an awesome reporter, or something. Jen thinks that Gail is still a romantic beneath her divorce-related bitterness. She asks if Mitch and Gail have a song, and needles around for other romantic details. Nearby, someone sends wine over to Mitch’s table. He glances at Gail, and smiles. Hollywood Sabbatical babbles on about how modern films lack story, and that when Dawson is a Hollywood big-shot he shouldn’t just do it for the money. Joey steps up and calls out Hollywood Sabbatical on being a total bullshitter, thinking Dawson is talentless one minute and a star the next. AND Joey calls Hollywood Sabbatical persnickety, which is kind of awesome.

K: I kind of wish this conversation hadn’t been about Dawson (because UGH), but it was pretty fabulous nonetheless. 

Diva: Agreed.

McPhee house. Jack gets home, sees the broken lamp, and wants to know what’s wrong. Pacey tells him that something is very, very wrong, and Jack has heard her talking to herself too. Pacey asks if Jack knows who Brown is – that’s what Andie was calling Mystery Man. Andie’s standing on the stairs, listening, and says it was her nickname for Tim. Before she was old enough to pronounce his name, she called him by her favorite color. She insists that she’s not crazy, and that Tim is really there. She cries, and Pacey tells her they know. But Andie runs into the bathroom and locks herself in.

Fancy Restaurant of Awkwardness. Joey asks Hollywood Sabbatical to tell them the  worst thing about Dawson’s movie. Dawson’s all, uh, can we not?, and so is Mitch, but Joey digs and says they have to confront the issue of Hollywood Sabbatical thinking Dawson is the actual worst, like she’s a Snark Lady or something.

K: Bitch, please. Not even on your best day could you aspire to our level of awesomeness. 

Diva: SO FUCKING TRUE. Anyway, Hollywood Sabbatical says you have to have the right potential and the right dream and whatever the hell else. I hate Dawson, but I might hate Hollywood Sabbatical even more, for shitting all over a sixteen-year-old’s dream. Even if his movie is terrible, which I have no doubt that it is, it’s only his second film, and he has time to improve. And Hollywood Sabbatical doesn’t know that Dawson is a faux-Nice Guy slut-shaming douchebag like 87% of the time, so she doesn’t get to be as mean to him as we are! (K: LOL. Truth.) Any-tangent, Dawson is basically like, um, who the fuck even are you to talk to me about potential? You’re teaching high school now. Hollywood Sabbatical’s all, if that’s true, why do you even give a fuck what I think about your film? Mitch pipes in that Dawson has a dream (but like a way lamer one that Martin Luther King Jr. had) and a teacher should encourage students’ dreams. Joey calls Hollywood Sabbatical bitter, and she takes that as her cue to leave the table. Dawson asks to speak to Joey privately, and they leave Mitch alone. The waiter asks if everything is all right, and Mitch just passes him the empty wine bottle.

Dawson asks why Joey is tearing into Hollywood Sabbatical when she already asked Dawson to stop doing the same thing. Jen comes over to tell them that Operation Reunited has begun. Mazel tov, Jen!

Dawson doesn’t understand what’s happening, but hilariously, the maitre d’ is in on it.

K: Oh, contrivance. You’re the best. 

Diva: Gail is drinking alone at her table, and Mitch sits down to join her. Their song is playing, and he asks her to dance. Dawson is confused, but the girls are proud of their matchmaking abilities, and I just really want this scene to turn into this:

Mitch and Gail dance, and he thanks her for the wine she sent over. She has no clue what he’s talking about, until she sees the three matchmakers staring very obviously at them. She plays along and pretends she sent the wine because she’s that comfortable and cool about Mitch dating someone else. Mitch asks about Philly, and Gail is basically like, MYOB, bitch. He rightfully points out that since they have a child together, and this move will mean Mitch moving back into their house and single-parenting Dawson, maybe he kind of needs to know what up. Also, has Gail still not actually had That Conversation about what will happen when she leaves town yet? Or is she still counting on her sixteen-year-old to be like, hey, dad, can you come live with me please?

K: As much as the Leerys are the most responsible parents in this town, they’re still pretty irresponsible parents so she probably IS counting on Dawson to do that. 

Diva: Anyway, they talk about how Dawson will miss her and yada yada yada but they’re just using their son as a metaphor for their relationship. Which is a little bit weird. The song ends, and Mitch goes back to sit with Hollywood Sabbatical (wait, she’s still here? Honey, take a hint and go home) and Gail returns to her own table.

Andie’s bathroom. She’s still locked in there, screaming at Tim for not being real, and telling Tim that she’s crazy. Through the door, Pacey tells her that he doesn’t think she’s crazy. He knows she can see Tim there, but Pacey can’t see him, so Andie needs to tell Pacey what Tim is saying. Andie agrees. When she tells Pacey that Tim told her to choose between them, Pacey agrees, and begs Andie to choose him. Let’s turn this over to gif form so I can have a good cry break:

K: FEELS FOR DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS.

Diva: After the not-break, which I spend quietly sobbing, Andie’s asleep and the boys talk about what to do. Reluctantly, Jack suggests they call Mr. McPhee, but Pacey is not sure. Maybe Andie will just get better with time. But Jack explains that time makes things like this worse – he learned that when their mother got sick. Here, have some more feels-gifs as Jack talks about Mrs. McPhee:

Pacey listens quietly to this story, then tells Jack to call his father.

K: I don’t understand how Pacey is generally considered the town screw-up when clearly he’s the only one in Capeside capable of doing what needs to be done in any given situation… Also, I have millions of sibling feels. 

Diva: +1 to all of that.

Gail and Jen walk home. Gail thanks Jen for her Parent-Trap-esque shenanigans, and for helping Gail realize she could never let Mitch go. Gail knows Mitch felt the same thing tonight – until she looks up and sees Mitch holding hands with Hollywood Sabbatical and being generally lovey-dovey with her. Gail runs off, and Jen runs after her.

K: Ouch. Poor Gail.

Diva: Dawson and Joey on a rowboat. They kiss, and Dawson starts to take her sweater off, so she’s basically like, wait, did you think we were actually going to have sex tonight? Kids, DO NOT LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY IN A ROWBOAT. I don’t speak from personal experience, but it sounds like a really bad idea. (K: A+ advice) Unless you’re a Disney princess. Ariel or Pocahontas could totally get away with that shit. Any-tangent, Dawson says the night is young, but Joey adds that they are too. He just wants to know whether she has seriously considered having sex with him, and she has. They make out, and row away, as Dawson asks more questions about whether she has REALLY REALLY considered it, or just like, really considered it.  For a second I thought the episode was ending here, and I got FURIOUS that we weren’t closing the episode with Andie and Pacey, when I care about a million times more about that plotline than this one. But the TV gods saved me from that anger.

Andie’s in her bed, asleep. She wakes up to Pacey at her bedside. She apologizes and asks what’s going to happen to her now. Once again, it’s gif time, because I cannot explain my Andie-Pacey feels better than their actual faces can convey them:

#FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS.

K: For days and days and days. 

Next time on Dawson’s Creek: Pre-finale shenanigans are afoot and everything is changing in the aptly-titled S02 E21 – Ch… Ch… Ch… Changes.