"Detention"
Sexual tensions and frustrations are the main theme of
"Detention" as the episode opens with Joey and Dawson discussing what
men and women are really looking for in each other. Dawson's idealism
is snuffed by Joey's insistence that girls are looking for guys with
the biggest biceps and "joysticks", while Joey's teasing about his
and Jen's lack-there-of only encourages Dawson's ever-growing sexual
inferiority complex.
In true "Detention" form each of our stars is sentenced to
Saturday detention for one reason or another. Jen's heated battle with
her teacher over euthanasia lands her a spot with the club on Saturday.
Joey gets into it with high school super-jock Grant first in class during
a presentation and then after he cuts in front of her in the lunch line.
Grant's categorization of Joey into either servant or concubine earns
him a swift kick between the legs and Joey a trip to join her friends.
When Pacey calls Dawson by his despised childhood nickname of "oompa
loompa" during a one-on-one basketball game he loses it and nails Pacey
in the face with the ball and himself a spot with the others on Saturday.
The next morning Dawson and Jen arrive at detention to
find Pacey already seated at a table. School mega-bitch Abby Morgan and
Joey are not far behind as a seeming day from hell is about to begin.
Pacey refuses to say why he is in detention mumbling only about "a long
story" and Abby makes vague references to an orgy, ecstasy and the boy's
locker room. Boredom leads to an "innocent" game of truth or dare, and
when Pacey chooses "dare" over having to reveal the truth of why he is
in detention he is instructed to kiss Jen. Pacey's extended kiss with
Jen only raises the tension between Dawson and his friend. Pacey then
chooses Joey and asks her who she likes. Rather than exposing the truth,
she chooses a dare that ends up being a kiss between her and Dawson.
Joey feigns protest, but the truth she tried so hard to hide becomes
obvious to all during her passionate delivery. Joey's simple question
to Jen about who she is most attracted to spurs a half-hearted response
that only sinks Dawson's ever-lower sexual self-esteem.
The supposedly friendly game gets really nasty when Jen
unloads on Joey about her obsession with her and Dawson's relationship
and lack of a boyfriend of her own. Dawson breaks the tension by leading
a jail brake down the hall in true "Detention" tradition. Jen proceeds
to quickly identify Pacey's anatomy during a proceeding match the butt
on the copier machine contest. This brings Dawson's and Pacey's macho
competitiveness to a head that can only be decided in another one-on-one
basketball game. The testosterone boils on the court while Jenn and Joey
verbally spar over their Dawson driven rivalry. When the group loses
track of time they are discovered by Mrs. Tringle the school librarian
and punished with the chore of sorting library cards.
In the final moments of their Saturday detention and
the concluding moments of the episode the building sexual tension and
frustration are brought back to earth with a dose of reality. It turns
out Abby's sexploits in the boys locker room were a mixture of fiction
and fantasy designed to make the day more interesting. Dawson's feelings
of sexual inadequacy are somewhat dissuaded when Pacey admits that the
real reason for his detention was from getting caught playing with more
than the ball in the bathroom. Jen lets Dawson know that while she is
not ready for sex it is not because of her lack of attraction to him.
In the end, while Dawson, Jen and Pacey find release from
their hormonal frustrations, Joey is left to bottle up her true feelings
for Dawson. Tearfully, she decides that her friendship with him is more
important than the words that would change everything.
Written by Mike White
Directed by Allan Arkush
Originally Aired Tuesday, March 3, 1998 9pm/8pm C
The WB Television Network