Synopsis of You had Me at Goodbye
Written by Tamara Jaron
This episode begins with Joey in the guidance counselor's office discussing the college application process. The guidance counselor assures her that she is in great shape. In fact, she is only missing one recommendation for one application -- her peer recommendation for Williams College. The subject? "The Person Who Knows You Best." You can see the lack of enthusiasm written all over Joey's face.
"You've got the easy part," says the counselor. "You just have to pick someone." Joey is silent. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"No," responds Joey, "I was just kind of hoping to take a vacation from large decisions that carry even larger consequences."
The counselor seems to understand, but she has a suggestion. "Okay, try this: close your eyes." Joey reluctantly obeys. "Clear your mind of everything. Now, picture the question -- who is the person who knows you, Joey Potter, the best? Okay, open your eyes." Joey opens them. "Who'd you see?"
Joey doesn't speak and we are all left wondering which of her buds, Dawson or Pacey, she pictured. Deep down, we all know the answer to the question.
Pacey is delivering homework to Andie's house. Andie comments that she is not looking forward to going back to school. She's afraid of what people are thinking about her.
Pacey tries to comfort her. "If our high school didn't have a history of forgiving stupidity, how do you think I'd be able to walk down the halls, huh?" He does have a point.
Andie admits that she's mainly upset because none of their friends are talking.
"Yah," agrees Pacey, "we're not the most huggy of groups right now. Our previously fractured circle of friends has just gone and fractured itself again."
Andie can't understand why everyone's still angry. She doesn't see why everyone blames Jen for her mistake.
"I told you -- it's not her fault," insists Andie. She promises Pacey that she's going to fix the problems between their friends, but Pacey doesn't think it can be done.
"Maybe not all friendships need to be saved," he says. He thinks that perhaps it's time for friends to move on. "Isn't that what this whole year is supposed to be about...moving on?"
"Pacey, we can move on without moving away from each other."
"Maybe we can't," he replies. Andie, however, is always the optimist and is determined to bring her friends back together.
Dawson is leaving Mr. Brooks' house carrying all the painting supplies, when Mr. Brooks approaches him and begins criticizing his painting job. He then goes on to say that the labor he has done thus far will not repay the damage to his boat.
Dawson tries to explain that it was a matter of life and death, but Mr. Brooks insist that he move on to painting his fence. Dawson complains that he hasn't had a chance to start his college applications and he just doesn't have the time for another painting job, but Mr. Brooks threatens to press charges unless Dawson completely works off his debt.
Dawson is trapped.
At school, Jen is at her locker when she sees Jack. The exchange a long, painful glance and then Jack turns and walks away. Drue surprises Jen from behind, and she tries to get rid of him by blaming him for all of her problems with her friends. He is his usual evil self and he admits that he is happy to see that she is having problems -- that was his plan all along.
"Frankly," he says, "I didn't think it'd be this easy."
Jen is disgusted with him, but Drue won't leave her alone. He won't let her forget their past. "No matter what, or who, you did," he says, "I've always been there with you. Not pretending to be and then judging you afterwards."
Jen expresses her true feelings for Drue. "I don't care if every friend that I have in Capeside never speaks to me again," she says. "I will not look to you for solace or support -- ever."
Drue smiles. "That which does not kill me, makes me more diabolical." I really don't like this guy.
Pacey arrives home to find Joey waiting for him. Apparently they haven't seen each other for a while. They share a lingering kiss and then Gretchen interrupts them. It's Pacey's day to do the grocery shopping. After another smooch or two with Joey, he's out the door again.
Gretchen has noticed that something is bothering Joey and she presses her to talk about it. Joey explains that she needs advice for "college application dysphoria." Gretchen sits down with her and insists that she tell her what's really bothering her. Joey shares her dilemma about the peer recommendation.
"So," says Gretchen, "have you asked him yet?"
"Who?" asks Joey.
"Dawson," replies a very confident Gretchen.
Joey still can't be straight. "Well see, if I ask Dawson, not that I'm going to, but if I do..."
"What about Pacey?" Gretchen completes her question.
"Exactly. What about Pacey? No matter who I ask, someone's going to get hurt." Apparently Dawson is Joey's choice.
Gretchen shares some good advice. "They want the person who knows you best. Not the person you happen to be dating."
"So you're saying I should ask Dawson?"
"I'm saying you should answer the question."
At the McPhee house, Andie and her dad are hanging out in front of the TV. Out of the blue, he suggests that she take the rest of the year off and go to Italy to stay with their Aunt Georgia.
Andie is surprised and hesitant. She thinks he is trying to protect her and she's not ready to leave Capeside.
Dad shares some wisdom. "The next four years are going to be even more intense than the last four, trust me. This might be your only chance in your whole life for an opportunity like this. Think about it."
Jack is checking his AOL mail (yet another shameless Time Warner/AOL plug), and he sees that he has a message from Jen. Without reading it, he deletes it. Andie comes up behind him and sees what he's doing. She wants him to make up with Jen, but Jack is not ready. She sees that he won't budge for now and instead tells him about their father's offer for her to take the rest of the year off.
Jack is not thrilled. "It just sounds like you'd be running away," he says. Andie is not sure what she has to run away from, but as Jack continues to give her reasons not to go, she begins to see that he is expressing his love for her. She realizes she's not going to get an unbiased opinion from either of her family members.
Jen is called into Mr. Leery's office at school where she is confronted with Drue, Drue's mom, Grams, and a police officer. Apparently Drue turned Jen and himself in for giving Xstasy to Andie.
Drue tells Andie, "I told them all about our mutual experience with Xstasy, and how we both contributed to the delinquency of poor Andie McPhee." Why can't anyone see through his lies and manipulation?
Jen is defensive and tries to explain that she is not entirely to blame.
"Are you saying that we don't have a past speckled with recreational drug use?" asks Drue.
"I'm saying that I don't have a present," she replies.
All the adults are buying into Drue's story and the police officer assigns them 100 hours of community service as their punishment. Grams hurries out of the room and Jen follows. When they get outside Jen tries to explain what happened, but Grams doesn't want to listen. She is unforgiving and expresses her anger.
"I have never in all my life," she says, "been so deeply disappointed in anything or anyone." Jen is in tears as Grams walks away.
Jen shows up at Jack's door. Apparently Andie sent an e-mail in Jack's name is an attempt to reconcile the two friends. Jack does not want to talk to her and wants her to go away. Jen is begging for his forgiveness.
"Come on Jack, what do you want? You want to just be angry, fine. But I mean, at some point you're going to have to tell me how to fix this. You want me to say sorry, I have. I've apologized for making a mistake, for poor judgment. I've apologized for things that I don't even think were really my fault. I'm 17 and I did something stupid. But when you're close to someone and they do something unexplained or out of character, you don't just abandon them. You of all people should understand. It's killing me what you're doing. You may not ever do what I did, but what you're doing right now, I can tell you, I would never do to anybody -- especially you."
She walks out, but Jack appears unaffected. He turns to Andie, who overheard the entire conversation. "Nothing you can do is ever going to fix this."
Joey goes to Dawson's house to ask him the question. He is surprised to see her, and he can tell by her face that she wants to ask him for something.
"Are you gonna ask me?" he says.
"Ask what?" she replies, taken aback by his uncanny perception.
"You've got your favor face on."
"I do not," she answers, defensive.
"Now you've got your lying face on."
Realizing that she's not going to win this argument, she asks him to write the peer recommendation. Dawson is hesitant and asks if Pacey knows about it. She says that it doesn't matter, that Dawson is the person who knows her best, and that he should think about it before answering. Dawson agrees to consider it, but is obviously uncomfortable with the question.
Dawson is contemplating the recommendation while painting Mr. Brooks' fence. Mr. Brooks invites him in for lunch, and as he walks in he sees all sorts of family photographs covering the walls. Dawson begins to eat and compliments Mr. Brooks on the cooking. Mr. Brooks asks him to shut up -- he doesn't want to talk while eating, and Dawson, ticked off by Mr. Brooks' crankiness, gets up to take his food outside.
"That's why your friends never come over here to help you," says Mr. Brooks. "You don't face the issues, Leery. You just take them outside. You keep doing that, you're gonna end up doing a lot more than just painting alone."
"What about you?" asks an upset Dawson. He makes a remark about all the pictures of people he's never seen. Mr. Brooks explains that he had a falling out with his family over a mistake he made long ago.
"You don't always lose people from your life by choice," he explains. "Sometimes it just happens. When you make the wrong one." Another deep statement from Mr. Brooks.
Pacey is back at Andie's house with more homework. Andie tells him about the offer to go away for the rest of the year. Pacey pulls up a chair to talk.
"What does Jack have to say?" he asks.
She explains that Jack doesn't want her to go. "My father wants what's best for my health, my brother's being selfish out of love."
Pacey gets her drift. "And you want a tie breaker," he says.
Andie asks Pacey if he thinks she'd be just running away, but Pacey doesn't think she has anything to run from.
"Maybe this is exactly what you need," he says. "To have the strength of will to take off the training wheels and try riding on your own for a while."
"I don't know if I can do that, Pacey." She wants him to tell her what to do, but Pacey is too smart for that.
He says, "At the end of the day, it's your life. It's not your dad's, it's not Jack's, it's not mine, it's yours, and you get to live it. So you're the tie breaker Andie."
Drue and Jen are sitting together outside of Mr. Leery's office. Drue is thinking about all the wonderful times they're going to have while doing community service. Jen is trying to wish him dead. He is telling her to ditch her friends, but she is not falling for it.
"These are not your people," he insists. "I'm your people. And all Capeside will ever be for you...is your past."
Back at the McPhee house, Andie is talking with her father. She wants to know if everything is alright between him and Jack. He says that things are fine. His assurance gives Andie optimism. "If you can work things out with Jack," she says, "then why can't Jen and Jack, or Pacey and Dawson, or any of us really?"
"All it takes is realizing what you risk losing by letting someone go," answers her dad.
Dawson approaches Joey while she is doing her homework on the docks. He came to tell her that he can't write the recommendation for her.
"I've been thinking about it since the minute you asked me, and the answer just keeps coming back the same. I'm not the right person to right this. Not anymore."
Joey is visibly disappointed. "You did what I asked," she says. "You thought about it, and I thank you for that."
As Dawson walks away, he runs into Pacey. He has overheard and after Dawson is gone, he asks Joey what's up. Joey tells him about the recommendation.
"Pacey," she says, "I asked Dawson to write a peer recommendation for me. He said no, so it's really nothing."
"Well that's not nothing," he responds." The nothings you tell me about, it's the somethings you keep secret." Uh oh, here we go again.
"I know this tone," says Joey. "It signifies the start of a really nasty conversation, but you know what? It takes two to have one and I'm not up for sparring. Not over this." She begins to walk away.
Pacey stops her. "Ah, so now you not only get to decide what it is that we talk through, but you also get to decide what it is we let slide, huh? Were you ever going to tell me about this?"
Joey is getting angry. "It's been hard to tell you much of anything this week...you're never around."
"Okay, look," says Pacey. "If you were angry with me for how much time I was spending with Andie, you should..."
Joey cuts him off. "Look Pacey. That's not it, okay. I was just waiting to see if he would agree to do it in the first place before starting world war, where are we now, 15? And if you're upset that I asked him, Pacey, it's because it was the question." She explains all the reasons why she chose Dawson as the person who knows her best -- all the moments from their childhood when he was there for her.
"You can't be angry with me for asking him," she says.
Pacey looks sad. "I'm not angry that you asked Dawson to do something for you," he says. "It's the question. The person who knows you best. When do I get to be that person?"
Joey and Dawson show up at the Leery restaurant. It seems as though Andie secretly invited them both to dinner. Imagine their surprise when Jack shows up with the same story. When they enter the restaurant, Pacey is waiting. The plot thickens. Andie arrives from the bathroom and explains that they are waiting for one more person. They all want to know what is going on. When Jen, the missing person, shows up, Jack hastily grabs his coat to leave. Jen immediately insists that she be the one to leave.
"I'll go," she says.
"I just said that I was going," replies an angry Jack.
"No, I am," says Andie. Everyone stops and looks at her in shock.
"I'm leaving Capeside," she continues. "And that's why I asked you all to come here tonight. To say goodbye, and also there's something I want to say to you guys, all of you, before I go. So Jen, Jack, please stay." They all sit down and Andie begins her monologue.
"You know what," she begins, "it shouldn't have taken a scheme to get you all here tonight. When my dad first made me the offer to take the rest of the year off, I sat down with my trusty no. 2 and made my list of pros and cons. The pros were pretty obvious. Opportunity of a lifetime right? And then came those nasty cons. And you know what got top billing? You guys. The thought of leaving all of my friends. I mean you guys are the ones who have supported and consoled and understood unconditionally. But look at us now. We are a mess. And let's talk about it now, starting with last week's fiasco. Okay, enough with the blame Jen game. If I don't, you shouldn't. Yes she had them, but I took them, it was MY fault. And Pacey, Joey, Dawson. You guys are so lucky. Do you have any idea how rare it is to have friends you've known your entire life? Don't underestimate that. Because in the end you always go back to the people who were there in the beginning. And in the beginning there were the three of you."
"And you two," she says, looking at Jack and Jen. "You know what, this is just, it's really inexcusable. The biggest reason that was keeping me here was that if I left, you wouldn't have a sister around. But then I realized that you would."
She looks back at the group. "When I first me you, I didn't know much about love or friendship. And each of you taught me a lot about both. So maybe by my leaving I can return the favor. Because the thought of it ending like this, the way things are right now, it's just, it's not how I want to remember us. Do you?"
Jen gets up and hugs her.
Joey and Pacey are both waiting to use the bathroom. Joey starts to apologize.
"Pace, I'm really sorry."
"Hold on a second," interrupts Pacey. "I'm gonna go first this time. Joe, I'm sorry for how I reacted to the whole peer rec thing. I think it was just kind of a left hook to the hot button, and I reacted like Pacey."
Joey looks at him. "You know who that guy you reacted like is going to be in ten years, Pace? The person who knows me best. But Dawson knows my past. My future lies with you."
Pacey seems satisfied with this answer. They kiss and make up.
"You didn't even like me three years ago," says Joey.
"Well," responds Pacey, "you always tease the ones you love."
They kiss again.
"And you do have to deal with the ones that you used to love," says Joey.
Jack finds Jen outside. She has been crying, but she is expecting him.
"Is that the girl who used to tell me everything?" asks Jack.
"Is that the boy who used to listen?" asls Jen.
"I never stopped listening, Jen. I just didn't particularly like what I was hearing."
Jack apologizes for the way he acted.
"I don't need an apology," says Jen. "I just need someone who will stand by me. Are you willing to do that?"
"Are you willing to keep standing?" he asks.
They hug, and all is right again between the two friends.
Dawson approaches Joey on the pier.
"I never doubted how much I knew you Joey," he explains. "I was just afraid of what would happen if I had to put it all down on paper." He offers to write her recommendation and she accepts.
Pacey and Andie are having their final moment. Pacey is sad that she is leaving. He tries to console himself by saying she'll be back, but she says that anything can happen (i.e., don't hold your breath).
"You know, I think what we're going to miss about you most McPhee is your overwhelming optimism. Your ardent belief that everything in the world is wonderful until proven crap. You think maybe you could just leave us with a little of that before you go?"
"Ah, it's the least I could do," says Andie.
They hug and Pacey admits, "I'm gonna miss you Andie."
They all gather back inside the restaurant for one last group picture. Jack and Andie have a moment aside from the group where Jack tells her he's going to miss her. "I love you," he says.
Dawson sets up the camera and they all get ready to pose. Andie is standing between Pacey and Dawson and she slyly sneaks out from between them at the last moment, putting Pacey's arm around Dawson. Dawson does not look pleased, but he doesn't argue. The picture is snapped and we see them as a group for the last time.
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