Dawson's Creek s03e07 Episode Script

Joey, hey.
Dawson, please tell me you guys have The Crucible.
Belinda checked it out about an hour ago.
Oh, no.
- Serves me right for being that girl.
- What girl? The girl who rents the movie the night before a paper's due because her attention deficit disorder got in the way of her reading the book.
Since when are you that girl? Well, between taking care of baby Alexander and getting the B & B up and running I haven't had time for that pesky endeavour known as schoolwork.
B & B? I thought you worked at the marina.
- What happened? - That's a long and exceedingly soapy story, Dawson.
Okay.
So, what's up with you? Has Eve helped you add any more crimes - and misdemeanours to your record? - Eve left town, actually.
Well thanks a lot, Dawson.
- I guess I'll see you around school.
- All right.
- I'll be the one cloaked in failure.
- Hold on.
You know what, Joey? What if I told you you didn't have to do the paper? - I'm listening.
- All right.
After we got the assignment, I said to Green, " Do you really want the standard five pages of footnotes and cribbed encyclopaedia passages chronicling the Salem witch trials, or-?" Let me guess.
You sold him on the idea of making a movie instead? - Classic Dawson Leery.
- Here's the best part.
Jen and Pacey are excused from doing the paper if they help me tomorrow.
I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.
- I would've invited you.
I just- - Forget about it.
So, what's it about, your movie? Well, since we're reading The Crucible and studying the Salem witch trials I figured, "Why not do a documentary based on something that happened right in our own backyard?" Witch Island.
So, basically, you're ripping off The Blair Witch Project.
I am insulted.
I am making a real documentary.
I wanna use the myth of Witch Island to tell a larger story about hypocrisy and religious persecution.
So are you in? Well, you know, if I blow off the paper, then I'll probably fail the class and if I fail the class, that could be the beginning of a downward spiral that dooms me to wait the tables of Capeside's greasy spoons for eternity so count me in.
In the year 1692, 13 young women- Well, teenaged girls, really were banished to a small island off the New England coast because they were suspected of practicing witchcraft.
One night a year later, a fire raged out of control, killing them all.
Hands down, best high-school mak e-out place ever.
I think that's where your father and I made love for the first time.
- God, Mom.
- Honey, are you okay? Blair Witch didn't do it for me.
I wasn't remotely scared the girl was irritating, and I had to run to the snack bar in need of Dramamine.
I was scared.
There's no surprise there, Potter.
After all, you are quite the skittish kitten.
Blair Witch was groundbreaking.
Hollywood laid to waste by a couple of guys with a camcorder.
How cool is that? I think my father makes scarier movies with his home-video camera.
You want scary? The Witter Family Christmas Project.
Guaranteed to make your teeth chatter.
Before we're off to see the witch, I'd like to opine - there are no such thing as witches.
- Here we go.
I say "witch" is a buzzword for a girl who happened to follow her completely healthy, natural urges and explore her sexuality.
But you can't do that in the 1690s without getting the good townsfolk all up in arms.
What do these puritanical, impotent creeps do? Instead of taking Viagra, they brand these girls as witches.
They send them off to some godforsaken island to die a horrible, solitary death.
Lucky for you, Jen, we live in a world where you can follow your natural urges without fear of persecution.
You're right.
I would've been so burned at the stake by now.
Okay, I think it's time to set up for some interviews.
- Joey, like to lend me a hand? - Sure.
All right, you guys rustle up some interviewees.
Have fun, kids.
Now, doesn't that just warm your heart? Kevin and Winnie taking those first tentative steps back to the wonder years.
It just makes me really glad that you and I had the forethought never to hook up.
Amen, sister Christian.
Why is that, do you think? Well, if you look at the clinical research you'll find that the smart-ass sidekick, he never gets the girl.
No.
The real reason there was never a you and me is because you and me, we don't need anything from each other.
I'm sorry.
I left my decoder ring back in the cereal box.
You see, you, as the girl whose wanton ways had her banished to the boonies, you needed the affection of the unblemished small-town pure heart to validate you in your oh-so-vulnerable time, right? Me, as the perennial black sheep of the Witter brood I just needed the love and affection of a woman whose drive and devotion will so shame me to the core that it would force me to get in touch with Shall we call it my " inner achiever"? But you and me, we're different.
We're on a level playing field.
God, I thought that Dawson was good at deconstruction.
- Do you have a moment? - Not the best time.
I take my appointment to the head of the disciplinary committee with the utmost seriousness, and I am determined not to lose your trust.
That's an earnest attitude.
Excuse me- I wanna let you know that the last few weeks have been tumultuous but I'm pleased to report that I have my priorities in order.
- Good.
I'm glad to hear that.
- I'd like to run by a few ideas if that's all right.
- Come on.
- Excellent.
I've read the rules of conduct prepared by the board of education- I can't tell you how much I miss this, Joey.
Me too.
I feel lucky.
- So do I.
- You know, like I've been able to recapture a feeling that I lost somewhere along the way.
- I know what you mean.
It's like- - Granted it's only for a school project, but it just feels good to be making movies again.
I thought you were talking about us.
Silly me.
Well, that too.
Obviously, I mean You know, I- I miss that whole let's-make-a-movie bug thing we had before things got so terminally angst-y.
But it's- I'm really glad we're friends again.
Friends.
Right.
Three hundred years ago, harlots practicing witchcraft were banished to that island.
What happened there is proof that the Lord doesn't tak e lightly to those who dabble in the black arts.
One time in high school, this kid disappeared there.
He was a big stoner.
One of those guys that has Led Zeppelin IV playing in his head at all times, so everybody said he probably got wasted and drowned.
I don't know.
Some people say the witches got him.
Yeah, well, kids just mysteriously disappear there over the years and they say it's the witches or whatever but I think the CIA or the NSA had something to do with it.
It's just lik e our government to come up with some occult backstory to cover up their malfeasance.
- Nobody brought snacks? - No.
What is a field trip without the snacks? Nobody brought the Doritos the Ho Ho's? My kingdom for a Coke wrapped in tinfoil.
- It's the Dawson Leery party, right? - Present and accounted for.
Can I ask you some questions? I'm making a movie.
Only if you return the fav our.
All right? So what's your movie about? I'm making a documentary on Witch Island.
What's your movie about? A documentary about all the people making a documentary about Witch Island.
Ever since Blair Witch hit, every geek with a camcorder's been out here so, with a little luck, this baby will get me on the festival circuit, right? Yeah.
What can you tell me about Witch Island? I know you kids think it's all spooky fun and kitschy cool and all that but don't get so caught up in your Scooby-Doo adventure that you get - stuck out there past dark.
- We don't scare that easy.
You calling me a liar? Is that what you're saying? Girls died out there.
You don't think they're ticked off about what happened? You think they're above taking their anger out on a teenybopper or two every once in a full moon, huh? These girls, they just can't control their natural urges, you know? All right, all aboard.
Let's go.
Hey, gang.
Welcome to Witch Island.
I'm Wendy Dalrymple of the Capeside Historical Society.
I'm here to answer any questions you may have about Witch Island which, I'm ashamed to say, represents a dark period of our nation's history.
Oh, good God.
You wouldn't happen to have a snack bar up here, would you? I'm famished, and Cameron over there decided to cancel the 7-Eleven run.
You'll find refreshments at our gift shop along with a lovely selection of our witch-themed souvenirs.
I like souvenirs.
Come on.
Making a little movie, are we? He's ripping off The Blair Witch Project.
Seen it.
I'll take you to the cemetery.
Goes over real well with you filmmaker types.
It's got a lot of atmosphere.
Hey, Joey, you realize Blair Witch was fake, right? Whereas my documentary is real.
Pacey, check this out.
" Has that wicked crush got you down? Do you stare at him for hours without getting a glance in return? Do you ever call and hang up? Rifle through his garbage? Has the thought of disfiguring his girlfriend ever crossed your mind? Stalk no more.
This handy-dandy incantation will turn the object of all your sugary affections into a lovesick puppy dog.
" - Dream on, Lindley.
- What, you don't think it'll work? Not to be a naysayer No.
Actually, to be a naysayer, my belief in the power of spells is somewhere up there with my belief in the validity of sea monkeys.
I'm gonna try it.
- Really? On whom? - You.
- Me? - Who better? - You're not attracted to me.
- Not in the least.
No, no.
I didn't mean it like that.
You are quite the little uber vixen and I'm nothing if not fond of you, but you're just not my type.
Right back at you, man.
- I'm brooding and comely.
- I'm sure that you score way high on some girls' cute-o-meter, Pacey, just not mine.
I'm a better catch than Ty the Bible beater or that skirt-chasing Neanderthal Chris Wolfe.
This from a guy whose past two relationships ended with the girl either leaving town to avoid prosecution or cool out in crazy camp.
There are only 12.
- What? - There were 13 witches, Dawson.
Thirteen girls were sent here, and there are only 12 graves.
Smart girl.
Nobody ever picks up on that.
- Her name was Mary Waldeck.
- What happened to her? Her body was never found.
No one knows what happened but there are two distinct schools of thought.
Those that lik e ghost stories, they believe she was a witch and she haunts the island to this day but for those romantics out there they believe that her lover came and took her away from this awful place.
- Her lover? - Yeah.
I'll give you the Cliff Notes.
Mary was an orphan.
She was tak en in by a family called the Bennetts and raised alongside their own son, William.
William and Mary got along famously.
So much so, in fact, that in time they fell in love.
One night, Mary and William were found in bed together.
This did not go over well with the God-fearing Bennetts.
And in the blink of an eye, Mary was no longer their daughter.
She was a witch.
That's horrible.
Can you imagine what this poor girl had to go through? This is a young girl no older than you put on trial, banished to some island for crimes that she didn't even understand, much less commit.
She was separated from the love of her life.
I think that's what makes this island such a charged place.
Because if you've ever loved somebody that you couldn't be with you can feel it in the air.
The sadness, the longing the uncertainty.
Are you taking this down? What do you mean? Soul mates torn apart by circumstances beyond their control doomed to wonder what might have been.
There's your movie.
- The fire, where did that happen? - Through the woods, at the church.
- Take us there.
I'd love to get footage.
- No.
Because I never, ever go into the woods.
And if you kids are smart you won't, either.
But if you do decide to go, we have some maps in the gift shop.
"With lights low and feet on the floor, chant these words to make him yours.
" Your turn.
Excuse me? I'm sorry, it sounded like you said something about me consuming that God-awful muck.
Says right here that both myself and the object of my affection must ingest the potion for the spell to work.
No, no, no.
Please? Pretty, pretty please? You don't have to swallow the branches.
I promise.
Fine.
Fine.
But, Lindley payback is gonna be a bitch.
How do you feel? Less than fresh.
What is going on in here? Just a couple of crazy kids practicing a little bit of black magic.
You shouldn't mess with things that you don't understand.
Here.
This will take you through the woods and to the church.
And, oh, yeah, don't get lost, because it's very dark, it's very dangerous and there's a chance that you will never be seen or heard from ever again.
Okay? Take that Mary Waldeck girl, for example, was she a witch? I think not.
Sounds like she just had a bad case of the warm and fuzzies.
- It's too heartbreaking for words.
- I couldn't disagree more.
How do you figure? It clearly illustrates how love can thrive in even the worst of circumstances.
- And look what happened to her.
- Nobody knows what happened to her.
I think it's safe to assume that Mary died a very sad and lonely death.
- Separated from the one boy she loved.
- I don't buy that.
If two people are truly in love, they'll figure out a way to be together.
They were young.
They were split up for a long time.
Maybe he forgot about her.
Maybe he met someone else.
If he met someone else and forgot about her they weren't meant to be in the first place.
- Could you be any more naive? - Could you be any more cynical? Could you be any more irritating? Pipe down, you guys.
We're here.
Do you think they've got a men's room in there? Because I think I went a little heavy on the witch's brew.
Be right back.
Spaghetti straps and open-toed shoes? Not on my watch.
Inappropriate display of the female form, statute 97.
1.
Offensive and disgusting.
Excuse me, excuse me.
In case you didn't know Elvis has most definitely left the building.
And in his absence there will be no sideburns creeping past the earlobes.
Rules of conduct, baby.
Read them, learn them, live them.
Listen to this.
The townspeople built the church to help the girls find God.
They'd send a minister over, but the girls would tease him.
Eventually, he gave up and stopped coming.
I could hang with those girls.
I wonder if Pacey loves me yet.
They were murdered.
Beg your pardon? It says here that a group of men from the mainland treated the island lik e their own personal brothel.
When word got out, the Bible-thumpers got together and decided enough was enough.
And then an angry mob came corralled the girls into this church, set it on fire.
That's when William must've run off with Mary.
Hold on, Romeo.
Why are you reading into this all of a sudden? How do you know that William didn't light the torch? Maybe because he loved her? How do you know he was such the enlightened male, Dawson? If the town thinks your girlfriend's a witch maybe it's just easier to go with the flow.
That's not the story I'm telling.
A good documentarian looks at the story from all possible angles not just from the perspective of his cloying and annoying world-view.
Hey, has Pacey shown up yet? Not since he went in search for the perfect tree.
- We gotta get back.
It's getting dark.
- I'll go find him.
Go back to the boat guy, make sure he doesn't leave.
We'll meet you back at the docks.
Joey, why does my optimism have you so irked? - That's not what's irking me, Dawson.
- Well, what is it? - What's going on with us? - This is not the time or the place to run through a dissertation on the state of our relationship.
Right.
We should stand back and watch it crumble around us.
We'll deal with it later when convenient.
We're friends.
Why can't we just leave it at that? - Friends.
- Yeah.
You take away everything else that we are and that's what we are.
We're friends.
Dawson, you can't just will a friendship into existence.
I give up.
For the first time, I have no idea what you're talking about.
- Of course you don't.
- Well, explain yourself.
Dawson, what exactly do you know about my life these days? I mean, think about it.
Do you know how I lost my job? How I did on my PSATs? How the Potter sisters are eking out their meagre living? And, you know, I don't know a thing about your life, either.
I'm sorry if I've been distant, but that- I thought that's what we needed.
You know what? The last year of my life has been this wide-awake nightmare of conflicting emotions.
And no matter how bad it got there was always one thing that kept me going, and that was us.
Our bond, our connection, whatever you want to call it.
It made me feel like I wasn't alone that I was part of something special.
So I'm not standing here whining about being friends or not being friends.
It's just, for the first time in my life I'm not feeling that connection, Dawson.
And it scares me.
Wait! There you are.
Great.
Get in.
Let's go.
We can't leave yet.
We got split up from our friends.
Stupid, stupid.
Didn't I warn you guys about getting stuck out here past dark? - I'm sure I did.
- They'll be here any minute.
No.
No way.
I'm not staying.
Weird things happen out here at night, man.
So you can come with me now, or I can come back in the morning and find out who's still alive.
- We're not gonna leave our friends.
- Fine.
I warned you guys.
I told you.
Whatever you do, don't go in the woods! So you feel anything yet? - Feel what, exactly? - The spell.
Yeah.
Yeah, I am actually starting to feel something.
I think I'm starting to feel a little lost.
That's what it is, lost.
Yeah, I know.
I gotta say, the idea of a wholesome, Biblically themed meal with Grams isn't sounding too unappealing.
I'd even consider saying grace.
But instead, I am traipsing around some haunted forest with the likes of you.
Why am I always the bad guy, huh? Do I deserve this? I don't think so.
What is it about me that inspires such vitriolic diatribes? Take Andie, for example.
She goes away for the summer and sleeps with a mental patient.
So I break up with her for conduct unbecoming a girlfriend something which I think that I was justified in, yet she manages to turn it around so that I feel like the creep.
How does that happen? What, you think you're the creep? Just wait until some sweet, innocent freshman gets a crush on you and then you accidentally on purpose break his smitten little heart thus derailing his nascent love life forever.
Love has this horrible habit of messing everything up.
That it does.
But sex is nice.
- Yes, it is.
- Yes, it is.
Sex, good.
Love, bad.
You toss it into the wok - it messes the whole thing up.
- This is true.
I'm starting to think that maybe casual sex is the way to go.
- Sex is never casual, Pacey.
- Perhaps.
But what if both partners agreed to the terms beforehand? - Like a prenup? - Yes.
Exactly.
Like a pre-getting-busy agreement.
I'm just thinking out loud here but the concept of two horny teenagers coming together for some gleeful coitus and parting as friends is positively revolutionary in this day and age.
- Sounds killer in theory.
- No guilt.
- No shame.
- No head games.
- No bad mix tapes.
- I hate those.
This may be the witch's brew talking but you are starting to look all kinds of cute.
"Another day goes by without word from William.
It's been a few weeks since I arrived on the island yet it feels like an eternity.
This time apart has me wondering if our bond was but an illusion.
" Is that what you think, Joey? That our relationship was some magic trick you made to fill up some hole in your life? I didn't say that, Dawson.
Don't put words into my mouth.
- I don't have to.
- Dawson, don't you ever wonder where this is going, where we are exactly? Is this just the first act, or has our story ended and we're just too stupid to realize it? Why do we have to figure that out right now? What's wrong with living in the present? Because the present sucks, Dawson.
Excuse me for thinking back and looking forward.
I'm just trying to make sense of what's happened to us.
Joey.
Joey, you yourself once told me that some love stories never end.
What happened to that girl? She offered herself to the boy she loved.
The boy she thought loved her back.
And he rejected her.
Joey, listen to me, if we are truly meant to be then we will find a way back to each other.
It's as simple as that.
You so sure about that, Dawson? Listen.
" I fill my days with memories of him.
I remember how he used to look at me as if I was his most valuable treasure.
Has he found a new treasure? I can't help but wonder if we'll be able to find our way back to each other.
The road before us seems so long and my head is clouded with such dark thoughts.
I feel our bond grows weaker by the day and I'm powerless to stop it.
" That's probably them.
- Hey.
- You rang? - You guys rang.
- We didn't ring.
Well, somebody rang.
Well.
- This is mighty peculiar, people.
- What? - There's no bell.
- What? Okay, I'm now sufficiently wigged.
How goes the 17th-century soap? - She just got a letter from William.
- Do tell.
- " November 1 Oth, 1693.
" - Wait, that's today.
It's also the anniversary of the fire.
Yeah.
"A letter today from my beloved William.
He has made me so happy.
He says he's coming tonight to take me away from this prison.
Yet, I am scared.
He says there are those in town who feel we should be punished further for our crimes.
" That's the last entry.
So you think he came back for her? No.
He probably played her for a fool and took up with some well-bred hussy from the mainland.
Come on, Joey, hop on the happy train.
Sounds to me like those two were madly in love.
Yeah.
I hate to be one of those girls who mistakes pop lyrics for profound thought, but sometimes love just ain't enough.
And I hate to be the one to burst this whole subtextual bubble that you're living in, but do me a favour don't let somebody else's love life dictate your own.
You're not filming anymore, hombre? I'm not feeling particularly visionary at the moment.
Let me ask you something, Pacey.
Do you think I made a mistake? - When and where? - Well When I told Joey that we needed some time apart.
Do you think you made a mistake? Not at first, but When I look at her now, and I see how far apart we drifted, and I- I don't know.
What if I was wrong? What if we don't end up together and it's all my fault? You wanna know what I see when I look at you, Dawson? For better or for worse, I see a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve.
No matter how harsh it may seem in retrospect, when you decided to put some distance between yourself and Joey I know all you were doing was following your heart.
And with that in mind I really don't think it's possible for you to have made a mistake.
So you honestly think we can pull this one off? I don't see why not.
- You don't have feelings for me, right? - None whatsoever.
- No offence, of course.
- None taken, of course.
- You for me? Feelings? - Hardly ever think about you.
You gotta love that.
So, what do we do now? - Should I take my pants off? - Maybe we should kiss first.
Yeah.
That's a good idea.
- Is this the spell? - I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't care.
All I know is that in November of 1999 four hyperverbal teenagers wandered into the woods on Witch Island to film some ridiculous documentary for history class, and eight hours later two of them started making out.
- That was- - Weird.
Yeah.
- Try again? - Okay.
How about that, more weird? Not so much.
Open the door! Break it down! Break it, Pacey! Break it down! Come on! Can we please just go home now? I don't care if we have to swim home.
Let's get out of here.
There's gotta be a logical explanation for this.
Why don't you send us a postcard because I, for one, am not sticking around to find out.
Come on! Let's go.
Come on! Hey, the boat's here.
- Joey, get the line! - All right.
Careful.
Watch out.
Get in! Get in! - Go, go, go! - Come on! I had envisioned a more straightforward documentary on the history of Witch Island but I was surprised by what I found there.
A love story, pure and simple.
Two soul mates torn apart by the social climate of their time.
While what happened to us is open to interpretation there's no disputing that the island embodies the turmoil of a girl who didn't know what the future held - for her and the boy she loved.
- It's nice work, Mr.
Leery.
A tad derivative in the wake of the whole Blair Witch phenomenon but inspired work nonetheless.
- I particularly liked the part when- - Hey, man, what's that all about? - What? - It looks like two people standing on the dock, watching you go.
See? Look close.
Principal Green, we got a situation here.
Milling and making a filthy den in the library one week's detention.
- Next.
- Miss McPhee you care to explain what's going on? Principal Green, I took your advice, and I ran with it.
I've teamed up with Belinda, and we've taken the first steps towards improving Capeside.
What could all these students have done? Each and every one of them was in direct violation of the rules of conduct.
The rules of conduct were prepared in 1957.
Of course they're gonna be in violation.
After you've dismissed these students, I'd like you to stop by my office.
So when are we gonna talk about it? - Talk about what exactly? - What happened out there.
- What did happen out there, Lindley? - I don't have any idea.
But I would just prefer if it didn't get in the way of our experiment.
Perhaps we should take the shadowy, ill-explained events of our brief sojourn in the woods as something of an omen.
No.
- No? - No.
If nothing else, that gooey little melodrama only proves that love just mucks everything up.
So then your thinking would be that we should still have sex? - Yes.
- Well, all right, then.
Okay.
Do you want to do it right now? Do you? - I'm kind of tired, actually.
- Oh, fine.
Roswell's on in five minutes, anyway.
You just let me know when you want to do it, and I'll do it too.
Okay, so let me get this straight.
If I am ever in the need of a release - you're just gonna help me out? - Exactly.
- But keep in mind, it's a two-way street.
- Of course.
- Well, that sounds fantastic.
- Doesn't it? - It does.
- Good.
Should we-? I don't know, should we kiss on that? - No.
- No.
Kissing is intimate, and- And we're not about intimacy.
Perhaps we should just shake on it, then.
- Shaken.
- Great.
It's good seeing you.
Who could it be other than Wendy and that boat guy? He's a guy, she's a girl, they both had access to the island.
They left the boat out there for us.
I mean - it's the only possible explanation.
- The only possible explanation? - Let's hear your version.
- Okay.
The girl is Mary Waldeck, and the guy is William Bennett.
Look at those clothes and that hat.
Those are 17th-century clothes.
I think the crack habit has come between you and your cognitive powers.
Obviously, Wendy and the boat guy were screwing with us the whole time.
- Sceptic.
- Sucker.
- Cynic.
- Gullible.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe we've seen The World According to Dawson too many times.
Maybe I should step out of the movie theatre and into the harsh light of day.
I don't know, Dawson, I mean, maybe you're right.
Maybe William and Mary found their way back to each other after all.
You think? It's just a thought.
Joey, I wanna apologize.
- For what? - For taking our friendship for granted.
I was wrong to think that we could just pick up right where we left off.
Well, it's not entirely your fault, Dawson.
I mean, look at us.
We've spent years intellectualising every little feeling and it doesn't count for anything.
All that matters is what we do.
You know, how we take care of each other.
So let's not talk this to death.
Let's take it slow and check in with each other every once in a while.
That sounds immensely doable.
Good.
I think this is one X-File we're never gonna close.
Well, not unless we go back.
- No.
- Come on, Joey, the sequel? Let's just see how this one opens first.
By the way, how did you do on your PSATs? Brilliantly.
Watch out.