The purpose of the bedroom scene with the five friends was to depict them as reunited after months of discord and hurt feelings and broken hearts. Reunions were important in "Reunited." Jen and Joey tried to bring Mitch and Gail back together; Dawson was reunited with Miss Kennedy, the woman who hates Dawson's movie, which, of course, makes her a bad person; and Andie was reunited with her subconscious manifestation of her deceased brother Tim, as well as her old hair color, and repressed grief. Andie definitely had the least fun in this episode, though Dawson would probably argue that he actually had the worst night even though Miss Kennedy offered him a foot in the Hollywood door at any production or agency company.
I dreaded revisiting Andie's story with Tim from the moment I began the re-watch in April; in fact, I thought the story happened in mid-season, so when it didn't, the dread built every week, because Crazy Brunette Andie was coming back. I just didn't know when. Andie's carefree and full of laughter in Dawson's room, but she comes to school the next morning with brunette hair, and a horrible attitude. Pacey woke up and came to school and found an absolutely miserable and violently emotional girlfriend. The dude didn't stand a chance even before he failed to compliment the new hair color. Pacey's put in a reactionary protection; it's like he's swimming in the ocean, minding his own business, riding a wave to the shore and completely unaware of the other wave rising to concuss him and nearly drown him.
Meredith Monroe's performance became increasingly frustrating to watch. She doesn't bring any nuance to the character. Monroe was either loud or REALLY LOUD as Andie, and this trait worsened in season three and then sank to the bottom in season four. Andie's story with Tim is supposed to be heart-wrenching. Andie of three years ago returns, and Pacey sees the girl who lost her grip on reality when her brother died. The intent of the story is sound and pure. The texture exists for the audience. I've lost a brother, and I'm sure people who watched DC lost a sibling. Andie's histrionics aren't effective; they're rather distracting. Monroe writhes around like she's been possessed by a demon. Perhaps the writers wondered what the result would be if they combined Lifetime movies and 1980s ghost flicks. If so, the result wasn't pretty.
I praised the time jump in the opening paragraph, but I have a quibble about the time jump: Andie goes from okay to insanely depressive character rather quickly. Pacey and Jack discuss how edgy she's been since Abby's funeral. Tim's appearance seems new since Jack doesn't mention it and Pacey learns about it when he's innocently walking into the McPhee kitchen. Andie discusses the issue with her therapist but omits Tim. Tim's around because Andie feels disconnected from others, like no one understands her but her older brother. The thought process of Andie doesn't track since Pacey's been by her side since day 1, aside from the episode when he got quiet because he earned an awesome grade on a test/paper/, or had sex with her and briefly freaked out about the depth to which he'd fallen in love with her. The death of Abby brought back the memory of a painful time in Andie's life, and that's what seemed important once you got past Monroe's shrieking and histrionics.
Kerr Smith and Joshua Jackson rescued the storyline when Jack and Pacey worked together to convince Andie to unlock the bathroom door. Andie freaks out when Pacey learns about Tim's appearance. Tim, meanwhile, seemingly tries to convince his sister to kill herself to join him. Of course, Tim is Andie's subconscious, so it's Andie who's actually debating killing herself or joining her loving boyfriend. The WB probably didn't want an overt storyline about a young schizophrenic girl contemplating suicide airing at 8PM, knowing impressionable teenage girls and tweens were watching. The storyline's heavy and dark. Pacey and Jack plead for Andie to open up. After all, she's locked in a bathroom that has a medicine cabinet full of pills she can OD on. Andie eventually opens the door, choosing life over death, and falls asleep. Jack then grounds the storyline instantly when he quietly tells Pacey why he needs to call his father and why Andie's in need of significant and expensive professional psychiatric help. Jack grounds the story by telling Pacey about how his mother got sick and never recovered, by repressing her grief for Tim until she couldn't function normally, and how everyone missed her silent cry for help, and how small and helpless it made him feel. Pacey urges Jack to call Mr. McPhee, terrified of losing Andie to her illness.
The Dawson-Joey-Mitch-Miss Kennedy-Jen-Gail adventure in the local Capeside French restaurant has little in common with the Andie-Jack-Pacey storyline. Tonally, the two stories are light years apart. Berlanti's script balances the two stories equally, though. Dawson and Joey dine in the restaurant because they want to celebrate their one month together in style. Joey, namely, wants to escape Dawson's room and another movie as their date nights have been solely movies and Dawson's room. Naturally, the pricey French restaurant can't handle a reservation. Dawson and Joey share a table with Mitch and Miss Kennedy. Meanwhile, Gail burns pot roast and wants Mitch back, so Jen and Gail go to the French place for dinner.
Jen and Joey hatch a plan to reunite the Leerys sometime before the entrees are served. Dawson spends his time making Miss Kennedy feel like shit for having an opinion and disliking Dawson's movie. Mitch obliviously sits by, as does Gail. Dawson passes up internship opportunities in Hollywood because Miss Kennedy was mean to him, as if everyone else in Hollywood will be a peach to him. Dawson gets treated like shit in the season five premiere and makes a grand moral speech about directors being assholes that don't appreciate their jobs and is promptly fired; however, the director admires Dawson's "balls" so much so he's offered the job of director's assistant for season six. The dinner's mostly awkward from the moment Dawson moans about his movie. Joey joins in bullying Miss Kennedy when she's actively trying to break her and Mitch up.
The plan inevitably fails. Gail chooses to go to Philadelphia. Dawson's shitty attitude with Miss Kennedy does nothing for him. The girls wanted to help Gail for her sake, and for Dawson's because he doesn't want his mother to leave. Gail and Mitch share a meaningful dance in which they briefly feel an old spark before it burns out. The girls manipulated the evening, thereby manipulating the emotions of Mitch and Gail. The benevolent act of the girls was going to fail because emotions can't be forced. Gail's heart breaks when she sees Mitch being romantic with Miss Kennedy. So, she needs to go because it's too painful to stay (how WB of Dawson's Creek).
The only reunion that actually works is Dawson-Joey. Jen makes a comment in the teaser about how they're not like the Party of Five BFFs. Andie's "reunion" with Tim is nearly suicidal. Gail feels pain when after reuniting with Mitch during the dance. Reunions usually have negative stigma attached. People don't want to attend high school reunions if they're life hasn't turned out the way they wanted. Family reunions can be problematic. "Reunited" touched on the negative side; the pain and the sadness rather than the joy. Dawson and Joey were happy, but, really, how long will that last?
Other Thoughts:
-Dawson tried to get some on a row boat. He failed. Dawson then asked Joey if she masturbated to the thought of having sex with him, albeit with language appropriate for The WB. Dawson asked Joey if she just thought about or considered thinking about it. Joey said she considered the thought. Soon, the conversation dovetailed into Dawson mining for details about Joey masturbating to the thought of him. Mercifully, the scene faded out.
-Jen hasn't spoken to her Grams in a month.
-Mrs. McPhee remains mysteriously absent. Neither Andie nor Jack ever mentioned she's in a hospital or special home. Perhaps she was always at that small grocery store.
-Mitch thinks he and Dawson share an inability to express himself. Hasn't Mitch heard his son babble about his feelings?
-Greg Berlanti wrote the episode. Melanie Mayron directed it.
UP NEXT: "Ch...Ch...Changes"--All of the teens' lives go through changes. Watch the episode on Netflix, Streampix, or YouTube.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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