Summary: Everyone’s at Dawson’s for movie night, and they all find it a little strange that they’re in the same room at the same time. Joey and Jen note that they’re “a long shot off from 90210-land friends forever.” No one planned the group time; apparently Dawson invited Pacey (and Joey), he invited Andie, she invited Jack, and Jen lives there now. Pacey says they’re this close to being at the Peach Pit. Then there’s a pillow fight. Sadly, there are no fatalities.
Sometime later, Pacey is shocked to see that Andie’s dyed her hair brown. He asks her out, but she tells him she has to study and take care of her mother. He suggests that she take the night off, but she insists she can’t. She also gets overly frustrated over having the wrong textbook with her. Jack tells Pacey she’s just extra sensitive because of the new hair (which she dyed herself). Now alone, Andie spots a guy and tears up.
Joey asks Dawson if they can do something different tonight from their usual dinner and a movie. He says they try to be spontaneous, but she says even their spontaneity isn’t that spontaneous. Their one-month anniversary is coming up, and she wants to do something fun. Dawson says they’re boring people and are incapable of being spontaneous. He’s really just trying to hide the fact that he has a surprise in store for Joey.
Gail encourages Jen to give Grams a call, but Jen doesn’t know what to say and doesn’t think Grams would listen anyway. Even if she moved back home, the peace wouldn’t last. She thinks she and Grams just aren’t meant to fit into each other’s lives. Gail knows how that feels. They decide to have a girls’ night together. Meanwhile, Mitch and Ms. Kennedy go to the same restaurant Dawson takes Joey to. Unaware that there were two Leery parties, the maître d’ has given Dawson’s reservation to his father.
Andie goes to see her therapist, who thinks Abby’s death has brought up unresolved issues from Tim’s death. Andie has told the therapist about seeing Abby in her room, but now she’s trying to downplay it. The therapist wants her to come back later to be evaluated in case she needs medication. When Andie gets in her car to go home, the boy is there. “Did you tell her about me?” he asks. She says it won’t be a secret for long, and she doesn’t want to lose him. Andie gets very emotional and he comforts her.
Jen asks Gail if she’s tried to get Mitch back. Gail thinks it’s pointless, since “you can’t connive or entice love. By definition, it has to find its way to you.” Jen mentions Gail’s job offer in Philadelphia, and Gail says she’s waiting for a sign that she should go. That sign might be the smell of smoke and the fire alarm going off.
Dawson, Joey, Mitch, and Ms. Kennedy wind up sharing a table and some very awkward conversation. Ms. Kennedy offers to help Dawson get a summer internship in L.A., which he rejects, since she told him he wouldn’t be able to make it there. She tells him she’s a fan of his enthusiasm. Joey pulls Dawson aside and he complains about having to spend time with a woman who trashed him. Joey tells him to stop letting her get the best of him. Just then, Jen and Gail show up.
Pacey and Andie hang out at her house, where she sees the boy in the kitchen and blasts him for arriving late. She’s frustrated to have them both there at the same time. Pacey goes to the kitchen and hears Andie talking. The boy, who she calls Brown, tells her to choose between the two of them, but she refuses. Pacey enters the kitchen and doesn’t see anyone there with Andie.
Joey tells Jen the cast of characters at the restaurant; Joey’s prepared for disaster but Jen thinks things will be okay. While Ms. Kennedy’s away from the table, Dawson tells Mitch that Gail’s there, adding that she’s going to run off to Philadelphia and leave things unfinished. If Mitch even slightly wants to work things out with Gail, he can’t let her leave. In the restroom, Gail and Ms. Kennedy run into each other. Gail says she might leave, which Ms. Kennedy says would be fair to Mitch. Gail changes her mind, saying she’ll let him decide what’s fair.
Pacey accuses Andie of talking to another guy on the phone; she insists there was no phone call and there’s no other guy. He’s worried about her unpredictable moods, so if there’s no other guy, he can’t help thinking that she’s having psychiatric problems. Pacey asks her to explain the photos she’s been looking at of her family, which include her with brown hair. He wants to know why she’s gone back to looking like she did three years ago. Andie accidentally breaks a lamp with the photo album and says she’s going to bed. Pacey looks at one of the pictures, which includes Brown.
Gail and Jen get their own table (even though Mitch and Ms. Kennedy couldn’t), and while Gail complains about all the happy couples around, Jen teases that she’s a romantic. Someone sends a bottle of wine over to the other table, where Ms. Kennedy is going on and on about movies. Joey gets on her case about saying that Dawson could be big in Hollywood after she trashed him before.
Jack comes home to find Pacey cleaning up the broken lamp. Pacey tells him something’s really wrong with Andie, and Jack says he’s also heard her talking to herself. Pacey says that he heard Andie calling someone Brown, which makes Jack freeze. Andie joins them, announcing that Brown is Tim, and she’s been seeing him. She insists that he’s really there. Then she runs off and locks herself in a bathroom.
Joey continues to pick a fight with Ms. Kennedy, claiming she wants her and Dawson to confront their issues. Joey and Dawson ask Ms. Kennedy to repeat exactly what she said to Dawson about his movie. She says it has to do with Dawson’s potential, and Dawson notes that she can’t judge that since she’s a teacher in a small town. Joey tells Ms. Kennedy that if she only focuses on “life’s meaner bites,” it’s because she’s bitter. Ms. Kennedy decides that’s her cue to leave.
Dawson pulls Joey aside and asks why she started pushing Ms. Kennedy’s buttons just after telling him to be civil. Jen joins them and the girls tell Dawson they have a plan in the works. Mitch goes over to Gail’s table and asks her to dance, thanking her for the wine. She doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He asks if she’s going to take the Philadelphia job; he’d like her to stay, claiming it’s for Dawson’s sake. The song they’re dancing to ends before they can get any farther.
Jack and Pacey try to get into the bathroom, where Andie sees Tim in her mirror and smashes it. Pacey tries to convince her that they don’t think she’s crazy. He asks her to tell him what Tim’s saying, but Tim tells Andie that she can’t trust anyone else because they don’t understand. Pacey says he understands Andie, if not the situation. Tim promises Andie that he’ll make her better.
Andie doesn’t want to choose between the two guys, but Pacey tells her she has to, and he’d like her to pick him. He promises he won’t give up on her like she’s never given up on him. After a long pause, Tim goes away and Andie opens the door. The guys put her to bed and Jack decides he needs to call their father.
Pacey doesn’t think Mr. McPhee will be there for Andie any more than he was for his own wife. Jack says he has the resources to help her. The last time this happened, everyone ignored it until it was too late. The doctors said that Andie was grieving so much that she created someone to experience it with. Jack regrets not being able to do anything for her. Pacey decides he’s right and needs to call their father.
As they head home, Gail thanks Jen for giving her the sign she was waiting for. She knows that no matter how far away she goes, she’ll never be able to let Mitch go. She doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to let her go either. Just then, she spots Mitch and Ms. Kennedy sharing a romantic moment together.
Dawson and Joey are having their own romantic moment in a canoe, and she wants to know if he planned their evening with the intentions of “closing the deal” at the end of the night. They admit they’ve both thought about having sex. But apparently tonight won’t be the night. Andie wakes up to find Pacey with her, and he assures her that everything’s going to be fine. She tells him she’s scared, and he admits that he is, too. He promises she won’t lose him.
Thoughts: Mitch takes Dawson’s reservation, then won’t leave the restaurant? Nice.
Aaaaaaaand now I’m really in love with Joshua Jackson.
You know the real reason Dawson and Joey shouldn’t be together? They’re boring.
I hope someone calls Child Protective Services on Mr. McPhee. He left his teenagers in charge of his mentally unstable wife – while one of those teenagers is herself mentally unstable – without any other adult supervision. Jerk.
'90s Flashback 
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