The opening shot is of Dawson's TV in his room, where a movie is on that shows a full moon. Panning over to the bed, we see it is ... empty! But then the pan continues out the window to the roof, where Dawson and Joey are sitting together. It's the only place they can have some privacy, as hanging out in his room is still forbidden, according to Mitch and Gale's official decree. Dawson and Joey are talking about the full moon, which they have a difference of opinion on, Dawson, as expected, thinks it's all dreamy and romantic, but Joey isn't buying it. She has a theory that the moon controls the tides (well, that part isn't a theory, it's true) and that as humans are made up of 70 per cent water, that inadvertantly, the moon controls us, too. Joey thinks that weird things go on during a full moon, which Dawson dismisses teasingly as mere superstition.
Mitch and Tamara have a short scene together, where they are walking down the streets of Capeside, discussing the warehouse. Tamara reiterates yet again, that she is desparate to sell it and get the hell out of Capeside, even referring to the town as a bridge she wants to burn.
Jen, too, is walking downtown Capeside and runs into fisherman Vincent. (personal note: he doesn't look like a Vincent, you know? I don't know what his name should be, but he just doesn't suit Vincent ...) He's delighted to see her, but inquires where her evil other half is. Jen replies that she and Abby are going through a trial separation (foreshadowing to Dawson's parents, perhaps?). Vincent is thrilled about this and asks her what goes on in this town. He tells her she's the first breath of fresh he's seen in a while, then chides himself out loud because now she'll think he's flirting with her. Pleased but disappointed, she asks "you're not?" (flirting) to which he replies he is, and that he thought it would help a little. She crisply tells him "it did," then walks away.
Kudos to Jen here for playing it cool and not like a giggly, hyperactive teenybopper ... no wonder he's under the impression she's older than she is. I think here we see a little of the old, self-assured New York Jen peeking through. She's used to older guys, she can handle then, unlike Abby, who comes across like an excitable puppy dog. Anyway, Vincent is impressed by her subdued approach, intrigued even, and he follows her, confessing that he isn't good at stuff like this, and would just like to ask her out, because he's been at sea the past 18 days with a bunch of ill-mannered, drunken idiots. All he wants is a little coffee and some conversation devoid of swearing that defames his mother's virtue (I had to laugh at that ... if you don't get it right away, think about it ... it's rude enough that I can't repeat it in a G-Rated e-mail!!). He continues, convincing Jen it's her civic duty to show him the gentler side of Capeside (gentler as opposed to what? Capeside has a rough side? It's like Pleasantville, or a Norman Rockwell painting come to life!! I mean, the place has 2 cops, and one of them has moved to Hyperion Bay!! Okay, sorry ... sad little attempt at humour there ... I'm back now.) Jen agrees to the date, gives him her address and walks away smiling.
Andie, too, is strolling along downtown Capeside (what is this, Let's Go For A Walk day?), and strolls into Screen Play Video, where Pacey scrambles to turn off the last bit of a porno he is watching before she can hear/see it. Too late. She chides him about his choice of viewing material and asks if it's the mother of all pornos, "Debbie Does Dallas" (note: Not that I've ever seen it! This is just what I've been told by those who have ... a-hem!!), to which he replies, no the one he's watching is called "Jacuzzi Floozies." They discuss the cheesiness of porno titles ("Forrest Hump" "Three Men on a Little Lady", etc.) and Andie sums up the discussion by stating that all pornos should have the same title, "Women Pacey Will Never Do." Instead of making a cheap comeback, Pacey tells her that their verbal sparring is getting dangerous and that they should just do out on a date. She agrees ... but only if he asks nicely. He does (boy, he must really like her, cause he's really pressing all his buttons in this conversation and he doesn't flinch), and she agrees. Hurt, he tells her "Don't sound so enthused," and suggests they go to the movies, cause they won't have to talk and there's less chance of punches being thrown. Classic ... even on a date, they expect to fight! So, the only thing left to decide is where to meet. After discussing the movies and the icehouse, Pacey suggests he just pick her up at home. She says no, then on second thought, it's okay, and walks out smiling (but not in front of Pacey, of course).
Jen, still on her downtown Capeside stroll, goes into a beauty shop. Soon after, Abby (yet another Capeside resident exploring the downtown this afternoon) enters, all gushy and bubbly and in the mood to shoplift a few cosmetics (which she does). She spots Jen and tells her that they are kindred souls, rebels bound together by the need to break out of the small-town abyss they live in. She concludes that they should never let men come between them. Jen asks Abby if she means this last part, Abby says she does, and Jen, who naively believes her, and says good because she has some good news and just has to share it with someone or she's gonna burst ... she has a date with Vincent. Abby reacts as you might expect, shrieking, "HOW COULD YOU STEAL HIM?!" to which Jen replies that she couldn't have "stolen" him from Abby because he doesn't know she exists in the first place. Colour Abby green, and it isn't a flattering shade on her. She starts sniping at Jen, telling her to pick up condoms, because she's playing in the big leagues now, and that Vincent probably has illegitimate children scattered up and down the Eastern seaboard ... funny, wasn't that the same thing that attracted her to him last week? Jen calls her a couple names, but basically shrugs her off and leaves the store.
Enraged that she isn't getting the response she wants, Abby follows her down the street and pulls out the big guns: "I guess Vincent knows an easy lay when he sees one." That's it, Jen's reached her limit. She gives Abby the slap across the face that she rightly deserves and that viewers around the world have been waiting to see (between that and the slug Dawson gives Jack next week, I'm thinking about writing a fan fic combining Dawson's Creek with WWF Wrestling ... hmmm).
At Leery manor, Gale is making dinner, while Joey and Dawson are studying at the kitchen table. Gale's the ambassador to a reporter from New York, Gary Somers, and is playing host to him for the evening. Mitch enters and sneers that it sounds like a Thursday activity. "What are Thursdays?" Dawson wants to know, but he's ignored. "It's Saturday," Gale responds, "and it's work." Mitch snorts that the fact that it's one of her co-workers that she's with certainly doesn't provide him with any comfort.
Uncomfortable, Joey gets up and announces that she's got to go to work. Dawson agrees, and goes out into the hall with her, where he confesses his parents are scaring the hell out of him. Joey tells him it's just the full moon and to relax. She leaves. Mitch storms out of the kitchen, and Dawson asks again what Thursdays are and what's going on, to which Mitch curtly replies, "Not now, Dawson," and storms off.
Meanwhile, Jen is getting ready for her hot date. She actually looks very pretty as she's putting on her makeup. Grams enters and asks if Jen is sure she wouldn't rather go to Bible study with her, after all it's going to be the Book of John where he baptises the sinners, and Jen might just find it entertaining. (Oh decisions, decisions ... hmm ... hot date with a hot man, or reading the Bible with grams and her fellow Church Ladies ... oh, the agony of such a choice!!) Jen declines (what a shocker!), and Grams tells her okay, but that she'll be home early (just in time to interrupt things, no doubt).
Abby comes over to Jen's house, still reeling from the shock of the slap earlier on, she just cannot believe Jen would do that. Marvelling at her, Jen replies that Abby's called her a bitch, slut and loser over the past little while, and proceeds to kick her out, but not before Abby can deliver a final rejoinder: "Oh, is the dork from the docks coming?" "Yes he is," Jen replies, and steers Abby out the door.
Cut to Gale and Gary the reporter, who are talking shop in the living room. The doorbell rings, and guess who's come to dinner (well, not dinner, but I wanted to throw in a movie reference)? None other than Capeside's favourite English teacher, Tamara Jacobs, who has stopped by to drop off blueprints of the warehouse for Mitch. Gale acknowledges that she's met Tamara before ... at a PTA meeting. Ouch.
At the Icehouse, it's Saturday night and everyone's least-favourite future couple, Joey and Jack are bored. There's only one customer in the whole joint, a creepy old man who just sits drinking cup after cup of coffee, much to Joey's chagrin. Jack amuses himself by making origami animals (Wow, a man of many talents, I'm so impressed ... I have to tell you guys this because I thought it was so funny, on one of the DC mailing lists I subscribe to, someone wrote in that she watched this episode with her father, and when her father saw this scene and the dopey look on Jack's face and the little origami animals, her father said to her, "Is he retarded or something?" I mean absolutely no disrespect to people who are disabled here, but I just thought that was so abso-flipping-lutely hilarious!!).
Okay, back to the scene: Joey checks the tip jar and comes up with a measly $2.08. She's not impressed, and laments about their solitary customer again, which prompts Jack to mention that she doesn't like being a waitress, does she? (Newsflash, moron, not many people do, it's a thankless job). No, she doesn't she replies, and asks sarcastically if he finds waiting to be stimulating. He shrugs and replies that it is interesting to randomly submit yourself to the quirks and foibles of the strangers you encounter, indicating their customer. Then he asks Joey why she's so angry all the time (good, he FINALLY said something about it, that only took four episodes ...). She blames it on the full moon (that's her excuse for everything, and funnily enough, in a shameless self-plug here, I had her say the exact same line in my fan fic "Disclosure" as her excuse for wigging out on Dawson during detention ... hmm, between that and the whole "French Kiss" thing (my other fan fic), d'ya think Kevin Williamson and the writers are spying on me?!?) (I should be so lucky!). Anyway, Jack indicates that it isn't just during a full moon that Joey's like that, he means all the time. She walks away.
Freshly-scrubbed, Pacey shows up at Andie's house where her mother is pleased to see him and mentions that Andie talks about him all the time. She adds that Andie will be home soon, and that while he's waiting, Pacey should really meet Tim, Andie and Jack's older brother. She shouts up the stairs to "Tim" but there's no answer. Mrs. McPhee says he must have his headphones on while listening to the stereo. She explains that he's at Columbia but comes home sometimes on weekends. Fine, whatever, Pacey just doesn't really question it. Mrs. McPhee then invites Pacey to stay to dinner, as long as he sets the table for himself and Andie. She leaves to go into the kitchen, and Pacey picks up the silverware, muttering to himself about how this had just become the most bizarre first date ever.
Back at the Icehouse, Joey and Jack are watching the live lobsters in their tank, they're that bored. Suddenly, the tank lights flicker and go out, then come back on, but the pump to oxygenate the water has gone on the fritz. "I didn't touch it," Jack says, before Joey can even ask him if he did (I almost felt sorry for him here ... almost). Panicked, Joey tells him to grab a bucket and some ice, and to transfer the lobsters into that. He wonders why they can't just return them to their natural habitat in the ocean, and Joey shoots him a killer look, saying that if he does that, he can just jump right back in there with them (oh please, please, CAN he? And can he just NOT know how to swim, either?).
Just then, Andie enters, looking for Pacey. She's obviously confused about where they were meeting, because she went to the movie theatre, and he wasn't there, now she's come to the Icehouse and he isn't there, either so where could he ... oh no, no, she's suddenly got a thought and it isn't pretty ... what if he went to her house to pick her up? Frantic and almost hysterical (and you KNOW how hyper she is normally, just imagine how bent out of shape she got here), she freaks out at her brother (the first scene they've been in together all season, interestingly enough) and asks what she's going to do if Pacey actually went to their house? Joey interjects that it's a good thing, it shows that Pacey finally got some manners. (that's as close to a Joey / Pacey sparring match as we've gotten this season ... you think the writers / producers are trying to tone it down because Katie and Josh used to date but don't now, so they're going out of their way not to pair them together this year? Just a thought ...) Jack tells Andie not to worry, to which she replies "Are you crazy? What if he shows up and she's ... Oh my God!" and dashes off, frantically.
Vincent and Jen are having a cup of coffee at her place. Turns out, he isn't a professional fisherman, he's actually saving up to go to law school. Jen is surprised, to which he replies that appearances can be deceiving. She agrees, sadly, stating that appearances, unfortunately are everything. He replies that he doesn't think it's unfortunate from where he's sitting, as he gives her an appraising once-over. She grins and asks if he's flirting again. He says he is, but that he can stop, if she wants. She doesn't, saying "Where would the fun be in that?" and they scoot a little closer together ...
Poor Dawson is utterly confused, but this time, rightly so. He looks at his mother cozying up to Gary in the living room, and his father all chummy with Tamara in the family room and has no idea what the hell is going on. In the kitchen, all three Leerys meet, and Mitch asks Gale what she is doing. "Nothing," she replies. She asks the same question of him and gets the same answer. Nothing. No one is doing anything. Mitch jumps down her throat, and when Dawson interjects, he is told to go to his room -- now. Mitch insists that he and Tamara are just reviewing blueprints, to which Gale asks how he expects to afford this warehouse. Mitch says he has taken out a loan. Good, Gale replies, she's sick and tired of indulging his dreams, but makes a catty comment about a certain English teacher. Mitch hotly replies that not everything is about sex, at least, not to him.
Dawson's had enough. He goes up to his room, frustrated and confused and angry beyond belief ... and instead of finding peace and quiet, he finds one more thing to add to his frustration, confusion and anger ... Abby! "What the hell are you doing?" Dawson asks her in amazement. It seems that thanks to the repositioning of a certain ladder, Ms. Morgan has perched herself at Dawson's window and is spying on a certain blonde neighbour and her date.
The certain blonde neighbour herself and her date are bonding over a discussion of their most embarrassing sexual encounters (nice conversation for a first date, don't you think?). Vincent confesses that one night in New Orleans, he picked up this hot young thing, took her home ... and she turned out to be a he, a "100 per cent, knock-out beauty, Crying Game drag queen." Vincent and his new friend just stayed up talking all night, and the drag queen turned out to be a really nice guy who got a bad rap from his father growing up. Jen tells her story of being caught on her parents bed, and how it "killed the mood." (She's lucky that was the only thing killed -- if that were my father, he'd be up on double homicide charges.) Vincent stares at her with that look, you know -- the one that guys give you just before they're about to move in for the kill ... er, kiss, I mean ... and then he traces her lips with his finger. She licks her lips and they kiss. Jen adds that her has something in common with Vincent's drag queen friend, her father can be harsh too. He tells her he hopes that's all the two of them have in common, and they kiss again.
Back to Dawson, who is just having the worst night. Not only does he have his parents to contend with, but now Abby's made herself comfortable in his room like some sort of parasite to which he is the host. He tries, again, to elict what the hell she is doing there: "And you're in my room because ... why?" Abby tries the friend routine, Jen's on a date with an older guy and she's merely concerned about it. "So you're spying on her?" he asks, puzzled. "Of course!" she replies, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to break into some guy's house who you barely know and don't like and use his window as a vantage point to stalk his ex-girlfriend and some older man whom you have the hots for. "Go away, Abby," Dawson begs wearily. Abby won't though, she's like some sort of recurring nightmare. She asks if his parnts are getting him down, and that she heard the screaming from all the way up in his room. Speaking in a been-there, done-that manner, she tells him to let them fight, get a divorce and voila! It's a home improvement. In her case, her father's happy, her mum got a life and her allowance skyrocketed.
Dawson's not impressed, in fact, he's pissed. Abby offers a massage, but she has ulterior motives, as usual ... she tries to do it in front of the window to see if Jen notices (as if she would!! She's being kissed by this hottie, why the hell would she look up at her ex-boyfriend's window?). It's actually kinda funny, the way Abby does it so obviously. "Mmmm ... you smell good, Dawson," Abby purrs. "No offense Abby, but this isn't going to happen," he replies shortly, and brushes her off. Abby abandons all pretense at that exact moment and whines, "Okay, well can we just kiss in front of the window so she can see? Can't you just tell her we made out?" Dawson rolls his eyes and says Jen would never buy that. Abby continues, asking if he can just tell Jen that he and Joey have an open relationship and that's why he and Abby would have hooked up. "It's very legit," she says. Suddenly, two words stand out in his mind: Open relationship. He pushes Abby towards and out the window and slams it shut in her face ... too funny!
Those two words keep echoing in Dawson's mind, as he comes downstairs and pulls Mitch and Gale from their respective dates, er, meetings. Mitch, incidentally, is wearing his huge black glasses, which make him look like Waldo (as in "Where's Waldo?" the cartoon book character). I'm sorry, but I cannot take him seriously with those on! Too Clark Kent-ish! Despite his parents' protestations, Dawson flat-out asks them if they're having an open marriage. He doesn't get the answer he wants -- they just look at each other and remain silent.
Back to Jen's kitchen, where Vincent is about to feast on her on the kitchen table (minds out of the gutter, people!). They're knocking things off the table left, right and centre, leaning back, going at it fairly hot and heavy, when Jen asks if they've taken it far enough (I guess there's hope for her yet, the old Jen would have just given in right to him there and then). She tells him it's getting late, and he asks if she's serious, cause they're just getting to the good stuff. He forces himself on her just a little and she kinda fights him off ... then she delivers the four words no guy wants to hear in that situation: "I'm 16 years-old!" adding that it won't look good on his law school application. He's in shock, and says "YOU'RE 16!?! Oh my God ..." but before he can continue, Grams is home from Bible study just in time to see the worst of a bad situation. She interjects with, "Even God won't be able to save you if you don't hands off my granddaughter this instant!"
Next, we have Andie, who rushes home frantically to try and stop the worst of her own bad situation. She finds Pacey in her house and hysterically tries to get him to leave with her. "What about dinner?" he asks. "Forget it," she replies, "We can just sneak out without being seen!" He thinks that's horribly rude and won't do it. She tells him he has no right to be there, that her family is none of his business. He gets upset, and says that it is rude to leave, because he was invited there by her mother for dinner. He gets really angry and tells her that at least her mother approves of him, and isn't ashamed of him, like her spoiled daughter. "What did she say to you?" Andie begs. She's anguished, upset and desparate. He tears strips out of Andie, telling her that at least in her mother's eyes, he's worthy of meeting her Ivy-League dad and country club brother. Then finally, she can't take it any more. She tells Pacey that Tim, her older brother, is dead, and breaks down crying.
Meanwhile, over at the Icehouse, Joey and Jack are frantically trying to resuscitate the tank of lobsters, which are going to die in about 10 minutes time. Mr. Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none tries, and continuing his grand tradition of being a bumbling, incompetent twit, screws it up, and turns the power off in the whole restaurant. The lone coffee-drinking customer is still there, and he tells them to try unplugging the power source and plugging it back in. They do, and it works. Joey wishes their customer would leave, after all, how much coffee can one person drink in one day (obviously, she's never worked in a huge office building!)? Jack replies that maybe the customer doesn't have a place to go, maybe he lost his family. Or wife, Joey echoes. Or child, Jack adds. They look over at where he was sitting, but their customer has vanished into thin air. Agreeing that that was weird, Joey and Jack go over to the table. "No tip," Joey notices, and walks away.
Jack picks up the napkin beside the coffee mug on the table and reads out a cryptic poem the customer must have written, about love and the moonlight.
"By moonlight many years ago,
My true love did I know.
And by that moon I begged her wait
But that night did she go.
So young lovers, heed my words,
Don't squander love away.
The moon is changing ever still,
Soon comes the light of day."
Underneath the napkin is a $100 bill. Joey is thrilled, and hugs Jack. You get the feeling that Jack is more impressed with the poem than the money, and certainly the opposite holds true for Joey.
In a scene that I'm sure had people hurling insults, rotten fruit and vegetables at their televisions the world over, the lights suddenly flicker out in the Icehouse and Jack, who must be possessed by the same weirdness that the full moon is casting on the other characters, grabs Joey and kisses her. She kisses back a little, much to her (and my) surprise. After a second or two, she pulls away, walks away and starts cleaning up the countertop in complete silence. Jack stares at her but says nothing.
In the Leerys' kitchen and within earshot of Tamara and Gary the reporter, Dawson forces his parents to confront each other, and him, about the open marriage. "It's not what you think," Mitch start out calmly. "I think you've lost your minds!" Dawson shouts. "When were you planning to tell me? When the revolving doors were installed?" Gale echoes her son's sentiments and goads Mitch on by self-righteously backing up everything Dawson says. Mitch feebly tries to explain to Dawson that they are trying to heal areas in their marriage, but Dawson will have none of it. He tells Mitch that it doesn't take a degree in psychobabble to figure out that an open marriage won't work. When Gale agrees, Mitch blows up at her, saying that they wouldn't be in the position of having an open marriage if it wasn't for her having an affair in the first place. Gale gets frustrated and says she has apologized over and over, but that Mitch just won't let it go. On the verge of tears, she says she has to go back to work (with Gary). She adds that she must go back to work, in order to continue supporting Dawson's father and his pipe dreams. Mitch states that there's more than one way to support someone, that Gale could have stood behind him instead of jumping into someone else's bed. Gale starts crying and leaves the room.
The tension and stress here is excellent, completely convincing and horrifyingly realistic. As a viewer, I was uncomfortable as Tamara and Gary -- like I'd involuntarily eavesdropped on a real family's fight. Brilliant acting, all around.
After Gale leaves, Dawson explodes at his father, in what is the most powerful scene in the show, in my not-so-humble opinion. :) "Why can't you just let it go?!" he begs Mitch. "She made a mistake. You know that. I know that. She knows that. Why won't you let her off the hook?! You've got to get beyond your ego and just forgive her ... make the decision ... commit ... go in there and forgive her and fix this family."
Mitch doesn't know what to do. He explains that he thought he had all the answers, but he doesn't. His own father, he tells Dawson, had the answers to everything -- he taught Mitch how to shave, how to drive a car ... but he never taught him what to do if your wife cheated on you. And, Mitch continues, he didn't know how to ask a question like that. Mitch cries, and Dawson's on the verge of tears. It's a heart-wrenching scene, a lot of growing up is done in those five minutes -- it's as if the roles have been reversed, and Dawson is now the parent and Mitch the child. I speak from experience when I say it is truly heart-breaking to be the brave, strong one who has to comfort your own parent and provide emotional support when inside, you're just as devastated and upset as they are. Poor Dawson ... it doesn't sound like life is going to get any easier for him, either. What a night!
Over at Jen's, her Grams is giving her the third degree. What on earth was Jen thinking? Her Grams just doesn't know what to do with her, to which Jen begs her not to preach, and that she had the situation under control. Grams replies that she is not upset, she is sickened, and that she will not allow Jen to slide back into her old ways. She continues, telling Jen that she must act like a lady and not disrespect either herself or her Grams while she is living under her roof. She finishes by asking Jen if she has no respect for herself. The scene ends with Jen on the steps of the porch, looking forlorn and miserable.
Dawson's had enough of life at home, and goes to the Icehouse to get Joey. He hugs her, in front of Jack, who tells Joey to go and that he will finish up. As Joey and Dawson walk away, Jack stares after them. Joey steals a backward glance at him and then keeps walking, hand-in-hand with Dawson.
Meanwhile, Andie fills Pacey in on her own sad life story. Turns out, her family was in a car accident which killed her brother Tim. Her mum was driving and ran into a truck during Homecoming Weekend at Columbia. She begs Pacey not to say anything, because she doesn't want her mum to be the centre of town gossip. (she doesn't know who she's talking to, clearly!) Pacey promises he won't. Andie tells him that her father bailed on the family and still lives in Providence, where his business is going under and so is he. No one can handle Mrs. McPhee, except Andie. Apparently Jack lives in a "fantasy world" (yeah, I think we all figured that out pretty much) where "if you don't think about it, it just didn't happen." Sometimes, Andie confides, it gets really hard for her, cause she's the only one who can deal with her mother and who can handle her. Sometimes, her mother is fine, and then other times, she's just ... not. (Let me just say that this scene hit a little too close to home for me ... it was the first time in my life I've ever cried watching television.) She's close to tears, but when Pacey pulls her in for a hug, she pulls away, telling him she doesn't want his pity. "It isnt pity," he replies, and hugs her tightly, stroking her hair. Oh yeah ... I'm going to like these two together. A lot.
At Dawson's, he and Joey have climbed onto the roof and are sitting there, outside, staring at the moon. Joey's acting weird, and Dawson's too upset to notice. When he starts to mention his night of horrors, she chimes in with "I had a really weird night, too." But he's too miserable to pick up on it. "All I want to do is stare at your face in the moonlight, because it's the only thing that matters to me." She says nothing (guilt, probably). He kisses her, but she kisses back only half-heartedly (guilt, definitely).
Dawson looks up at the moon and asks Joey what she sees. "The moon?" she responds, like he's moronic for even asking. He tells her to close her eyes and now what does she see? She does so, but you can see she thinks all this moonlight madness has gotten to him, too (so did I actually, watching him ... the tone of voice in which he said all this made me think he was certifiable ...). Joey suddenly twigs on to what Dawson is expecting her to see. "The man ... the man in the moon," she nods. He's pleased. "Wait," she continues. "Not the man ... the woman!" She laughs and they kiss, but as it deepens, she stops. Hesitantly, she starts to confess to Dawson whose lips she used for practice tonight, but then stops as she sees the hurt in his eyes over his parents. "Look I ..." she begins. "... I ... think you're right. It's a really beautiful moon." She doesn't have the heart to tell him the truth, but by keeping it from him, she's bound to just hurt him more later on (like, say, at the Homecoming dance next week?).
Inside the house, Gale and Mitch are silently contemplating the state of their union. "It's time, Mitch," Gale says, sadly. "I know," he replies, equally sadly. "So ... do you want me to ..." "No, I'll go," Mitch replies. That's it. Twenty years of marriage anihilated in under 20 words. Bang ... just like that.
The next several scenes are absolutely stunning, both in the intensity of what it makes you feel as a viewer, and in the way they've been filmed. There's no dialogue, just short fade-ins and fade-outs between all the characters on the show. Everyone's been tossing in a sea of very volatile emotions tonight, as if they've all been nearly drowned in a tidal wave controlled by the moon itself. No one is in the same state of mind they were at the beginning of the episode, and each person suffers in silence, grappling with their own waves of emotion. The whole montage is set to a beautiful piece of music by Jewel, called "Hands."
First, there's Dawson and Joey, staring up at the moon. Joey looks over at Dawson sadly and tenderly, and he starts to sob.
Jack, at the Icehouse, is reading the poem the coffee-drinking customer left behind, thinking about what happened between him and Joey that evening, and staring at the moon.
Pacey holds Andie in the kitchen, stroking her hair and embracing her tightly as she cries.
Mitch lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling fan and contemplating his fate.
Gale rocks on a chair on the porch, her eyes focused on nothing in particular, but her mind focused on everything all at once.
Jen sits on the porch steps, crying a little bit, with her eyes closed.
Finally, we go back to Joey and Dawson on the roof. She's holding his head in her arms, stroking his head gently as he cries and staring up at the moon, just thinking ...
Fade to black...