"A face like that leaves nothing to the imagination. I can see
her entire future in that face...In three years her above average SAT
scores will grant her admission to a small liberal arts college...
where she'll major in art history, before returning to Manhattan
to marry a bond trader she meets some Saturday afternoon at
America's Cupwatching party...they move to suburban Conneticut, refurbish
an old farmhouse and raise three neurotically perfect children."..."You've
put quite a bit of thought into this"..."Not really...it's just so
obvious." Joey Potter & Dawson Leary, "Carnal Knowledge"
Episode 4: "Carnal
Knowledge"
(aired January 27)
Dawson is reviewing the tape of Jen he had recorded the first day they met.
He remarks on her perfection and Joey of course bashes the comment. She
rants about her lack of mistery and how predictable someone like Jen is.
After Joey maps out her entire future, Dawson remarks that he'll just wait
and let Jen surprise him. He then asks Jen for the tape that he had
recorded at the ruins with Jen. As he pops it in, they both stop and are
shocked to see that on his tape, he's caught two people in the act of
making love (Tamara and Pacey, but neither knows this yet). As they stare
at the images on the screen, they realize that the woman in the video is
Miss Jacobs.
The next day, at the S.S. Icehouse (Bessy's restaurant), Dawson and Joey
tell Jen and Pacey about Miss Jacobs and some mystery man and how he had
somehow caught the whole entire love scene on tape. Pacey becomes
uncomfortable and asks Dawson if you can tell who this man is. Joey,
thinking that he's jealous since she knows of his crush on Tamara, teases
him about the whole incident. Pacey beomes further agitated and convinces
Dawson to let him see the tape.
Dawson walks Jen home and when he reaches to give her a goodbye kiss, Jen
sees her grams looking out the window watching them. She tells Dawson that
they shouldn't kiss and walks away, only to return and give him a very
passionate kiss. When Jen walks inside her house, her grandmother begins
criticizing her actions with Dawson. She hints once again as to what
happened in New York and how she doesn't want to see Jen make the same
mistakes all over again. Jen clarifies that what happened between Dawson
and Jen was just a kiss, but her grams is not convinced. At his house,
Dawson walks into his room only to find Pacey rummaging through his tapes
frantically searching for the tape of Miss Jacobs and her mystery man.
Dawson can't understand why Pacey is so insitent, but he gets him the
tape anyway. Pacey decides it's time to open up to Dawson about his
relationship with Tamara. He tells Dawson that he's the one in the video
with Tamara. Dawson is shocked and can't think of anything to say.
Before Pacey leaves, feeling a bit insecure,he asks Dawson how he thinks
his 'performance' was. Dawson assures him that he did fine and Pacey
thanks him. Pacey asks him to keep this between the two of them, and
leaves.
The next day, Dawson and Joey head downtown to shop for an anniversary
gift for Dawson's parents. He has no clue what to get them so Joey
starts suggesting gifts that would stereotypically fit his perfect
parents. Dawson remarks on his parents make-out habits all over the house
and how in love they still seem to be. Just then, Dawson sees his mother
with her co-anchor (her lover) trying on suits. Joey glares at Dawson's
mother as his mother stumbles akwardly to find some words to say. She
introduces Dawson and Joey to Bob, and Bob in turn flatters Dawson by
asking if he could take a look at his movie when he finishes. As his mother
and Bob leave, Dawson comments on how at first he hadn't liked Bob, but now
that he had actually met him in person, he realized how nice of a guy he
was. "What do you think?" he asks Joey who replies "I think you had it
right the first time", knowing that Bob is the man who could potentially
destroy Dawson's happy home.
At Jen's house, Jen is trying to convince her grams that Dawson is a
perfect gentleman with only the best intentions. But then her grams
mentions how strange it is that Joey is always climbing in and out of
Dawson's window, spending the nights there and such. Jen assures her
that they are just friends, and that it never goes further than that, even
with the mounting sexual tension between them. Jen tells her grandmother
she has feelings for Dawson. Her grams reminds her once again of New York
and Jen resents the constant criticism so she leaves.
Across from the video store, Pacey spots Tamara having coffee outside
the cafe. He sits down at her table and she's happy to see him. They start
talking about school, and the reading curriculum of her class. Pacey brings
up the fact that there is no sex in the books they read. Tamara points
out that in fact there is sex in probably every book he read in class but
Pacey argues that it's not real. Everytime someone in the books has
sex, something terrible has to happen to them. He points out that sometimes
two people have sex, they enjoy it, and things work out fine. He reaches
out to touch her hand, but she pulls away, leaving Pacey confused, once
again.
Jen and Dawson are reviewing the scenes in the movie where Jen meets up
with the sea creature and screams in terror. They decide to go to the
station together the next day to work on the pre-dubbing. Dawson is
surprised that Jen actually wants to spend time together so Jen tells him
to get over it and they kiss. As they kiss...Dawson tries to pull Jen
onto the bed with him but she stops him, assuring him that there is
plenty of time for them to explore each other physically and that she feels
they should wait.
The next day at the studio, Jen and Dawson are taking a break from the
pre-dubbing when they spot Dawson's mother and Bob kissing. Dawson is
shcoked and bewildered and can't talk to Jen (even though she offers
a sympathetic ear) so he goes to see Joey. As he complains about his
whole world crashing down, he starts to realize how imperfect his whole
world is. He wonders if people knew about the affair and Joey replies that
people always know. "Well we didn't..." Dawson says, but as Joey falls
silent, he recognizes the guilt on her face and becomes outraged
that she kept if from him. He denounces his friendship with her and storms
away, feeling alone, confused and betrayed.
Pacey sees Tamara across the way from the video store having coffee and
acting chummy with Mr. Gold again. Upset, he walks into work. Back home
Dawson is waiting for his mother to come home. When she arrives, his mother
notices he seems concerned about something but thinks it's just girl
problems. Dawson walks off and decides to go talk to Jen after all.
As they talk, Dawson tells her how he's feeling about the whole affair and
how he feels that complete and total honesty is essential in a relationship
and that secrets destroy. Jen decides to take this opportunity to be
honest with him and tell him the complete truth about why she came here
from New York. She admits that she lied to Dawson, and that the real
reason for coming was that she had grown up too fast in New York, and that
she really wasn't a virgin. They had wanted to get her out of New York
in hopes that it would help her. Dawson is a little shocked and upset
at her lies and that his perception of Jen was completely off. He pretends
he's okay with it, but Jen knows better. Dawson is now officially pissed
at the world.
The next day at school, Dawson tries to brush Jen off and she's hurt by
his actions. Meanwhile, Pacey confronts Tamara about her affair with
Mr. Gold. Tamara laughs and reassures Pacey that there is nothing going
on with Mr. Gold more than a friendship, and that there could never be,
because Mr. Gold is gay. Stunned, but very pleased by the information,
Pacey explains how confused he was by Tamara's brush off at the cafe the
other day. She explains that is was a public place and they could have
been seen together. They admit that they're both confused about the
relationship and Pacey feels much better. Jen corners Dawson at his
locker and tries to find out his feelings on what they had discussed the
previous evening. He assures her that he's fine, but he just can't think
of anything to say. So, she says it for him...how he's acting strange
and that they should just take a break for awhile. Angrily, she walks
away.
At work that afternoon, Pacey and Dawson discuss the bomb Jen threw on
Dawson's lap. Pacey is convinced that this is Jen's way of inviting
Dawson to have sex with her, that she just wants him to know that he
doesn't need to feel uncomfortable making a move on her, because
she wants it just as badly as Dawson does. But Dawson insists it's about
romance, not sex. Pacey informs Dawson that this is real life, and that
his expectations are being met, but he should just live with it, and enjoy
it. They joke about the strange plot twists going on in their worlds...
from the high-school strike out artist having an affair with the
English teacher, to his own seemingly happy and horny parents troubled
marriage. Dawson also decides that he's going to tell his father
about the affair, instead of talking with his mother.
On the night of Dawson's parents anniversary, Dawson attempts to tell his
father, but changes his mind. Meanwhile, Jen tracks Joey down in order
to get some advice on Dawson. At first Joey tries to turn her down but
when Jen tells her that she told him that she wasn't a virgin, Joey
changes her mind. At first Jen thinks that Joey is just trying to scare her
off because Joey tells her how idealized Dawson's perceptions of the world
are and that she doesn't envy Jen's position. Joey reassures her that that
isn't the case. So Jen asks her what she would do in her shoes. Joey
replies "I'd get mad, confused...ask people for advice, maybe the wrong
people, then I'd just wait...but don't go by me, I'd probably be stupid
enough to wait around forever" (obviously talking about her feelings
for Dawson and waiting for him to come around and realize they
belong together). Jen smiles and wants to know if Joey could use a little
company waiting...Joey, a little uncomfortable, is unsure of what to do
or say. Jen is really making it difficult for Joey to hate her.
That evening at Jen's house, Jen sits by her grandfathers bed, telling him
how Dawson and grams both think she's a slut. She rambles on about how
nobody will even care in the future, and that hopefully someday, the 15
year old girl with the shadowy past won't be such a bad thing.
Joey finds Dawson at the ruins sitting alone thinking. When she tries
to talk to him, he makes angry remarks, but Joey persists. She informs
Dawson that if he keeps up his attitude, he's going to ruin things with
Jen permanently. He then lets her know that he doesn't even want to talk
to Joey anymore, because he's not sure what they are. He feels that they
aren't getting along the way they used to. Are they more, are they less?
He's unsure of everything in the world now. Joey replies that things
change...what is strong will survive, what isn't "we look at behind glass
cases in science museums". Dawson asks where they are headed, if they are
museum bound. Joey is unsure...and then they start to argue playfully
with each other. Dawson then remarks how they were probably married forever
in some other alternate universe. They start talking about the wedding
and how they each brought dates. At the end of the wedding there was
the question of whom do they go home with, the date, or the wife? As Dawson
makes a decision on who to take home, looking from the date to the wife,
only to find Joey (the wife) at the bar talking to some rich guy. Dawson
insists that she needed rescuing though...so Joey turns to him and asks,
"Did we save eachother that night Dawson?" Dawson squirms out of the
question, but promises if he remembers, she'd be the first person he'd
call. Joey stands up and says goodnight. As she turns to leave, she says,
"No matter how the wedding turned out, I'm pretty sure I had an awesome
time up until the end." and she walks away. "Me too," he says to himself.
Joey rurns around to look at Dawson one last time and can't help but feel
that they are definately museum bound...
