Episode 205
The episode begins at Woody�s where three girls dressed as Elvis
are singing �Follow That Dream�. Mel, Lindsay, Brian, Justin,
Michael, and Emmett are sitting at a table together listening to the
singers. Brian�s not too impressed with them. Justin wants another
round but Brian mockingly acts all parental, declaring that Justin
can�t since he has �school tomorrow�. Mel and Lindz say how happy
and proud they are that Justin is starting college. Brian teases that
not too long ago Justin was in a coma, now he�s off to art school.
It�s obvious that Brian is happy for Justin and that Justin is really
excited about starting school. Mel toasts to Justin for �following
his dream�. Lindz says that she has had the same dream since
she was a little girl--To get married, fall in love, and have a baby.
Mikey says that two out of three ain�t bad and Lindsay laughs that
three out of three is even better. Justin asks if they�re getting
married and they say yes. Emmett is thrilled for them. Brian
offers up a toast--That they wise up before they actually do it.
No one drinks to his toast.
Emmett declares how wonderful it is that everyone�s dreams
are coming true. Mel and Lindsay getting married. Justin going
to art school. And Michael . . . Come to think of it, what *is*
Mikey�s dream? Mikey says his dream is to . . . to one day know
what his dream is. They talk about Ted not joining them and how
depressed he�s been since losing his job. Emmett tries to call him
but gets no answer. He�s really worried.
Emmett goes to Ted�s place where he finds Ted watching porn
and jerking off. Ted looks terrible. He hasn�t ate, slept, or
bathed in days. He�s on a porn marathon.
Back at the loft, a much nicer view! <Grin> Justin is giving
Brian a blowjob and his expression is one of pure bliss. He�s
enjoying the hell out of it. He cums and Justin crawls back up
in bed to lie beside him. Brian takes a moment to recover and
then rolls over on Justin and starts kissing his way down Justin�s
chest. Justin tells him he doesn�t have to return the favor.
Justin did that just for Brian. Brian asks since when does Justin
turned down a blowjob. Justin says he wants to save all his
energy for school and his art tomorrow. Brian gets up to go to
the bathroom. Justin promises that he will let Brian suck him off
tomorrow night and Brian calls back that he might not be in the
mood tomorrow night. Justin laughs that Brian is always in the
mood, amazing really, considering his age. The bathroom door
is open--nice shot of Brian�s ass--as he looks over his shoulder
and gives Justin a dark look. Justin just sweetly smiles. He�s
gathered his sketchpad and pencil which was laying on the
nightstand beside the bed and tries to sketch, but his �gimp hand�
starts to tremble so badly that he can�t draw anything. He
cautiously glances towards Brian to make sure Brian didn�t see.
Brian still has his back turned. Justin flexes his fingers and then
tries to draw again, but this time the tremor is worse. He looks
upset but hides it when Brian comes back to bed. Brian asks if
Justin is drawing more naked pictures of him. Justin hides the
picture from him and declares that he was �just doodling�. Brian
jumps back in bed and starts to go down on Justin then, declaring
that he is going to do some �doodling� himself. Justin worriedly
looks at his hand.
At the diner, Mikey thinks he should get a new hairdo. Brian
says that the one he�s thinking of is out of style. He asks what
the problem is with Michael now. Mikey only thinks of changing
his appearance when something is upsetting him. Mikey denies
that, but when Debbie comes over to wait on them, Brian brings
up Mikey wanting a new do and she drives home the fact that
Mikey only does that when something is bothering him. So what
is it?
Michael admits that he feels like the world is leaving him behind.
Everyone�s life is moving forward but his. He�s stuck in the same
place. Brian suggests he quit the Big Q. Debbie asks what would
make Michael happy and he admits that he doesn�t know. Emmett
joins them then and declares that they need to do an intervention
for Ted. He�s addicted. No, not to drugs. To porn. Brian scoffs
over what a loser Ted is. He can�t even get a decent addiction!
At Ted�s place, Michael and Emmett are trying to nicely tell him
that he needs help. Brian doesn�t have time for it. He tells Ted to
get up, go take a shower because he stinks, and get his life together.
Brian makes a call to his firm and asks about an opening in the
accounting department. He lines up a job interview for Ted.
At the Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Arts, Justin is in art class and is
trying to draw, but his hand keeps trembling. His professor sees it
and realizes that he can�t control his drawing hand.
Mikey arrives late at work and catches hell from his boss Andrew,
who sends him to clean up after a kid who threw-up.
Justin is sitting alone in his art class after the other students have
gone home for the day. He�s still trying to finish the drawing. The
dean comes in to talk to him and says that his professors have
reported that he�s having trouble with his hand. Justin tries to make
light of it, insisting it�s no big deal. He�s still working with his
therapists and they assure him that he will get better. The dean asks
to see his work and he flips through Justin�s drawings. Dean relates
that Justin is very talented, but that this is a strenuous course that will
be very demanding. If Justin can�t keep up, he might want to re-think
his options. Justin is left alone and devastated in the room, starting to
fear that he will never draw again.
Michael goes to a comic book store that he�s frequented since he
was a kid. He talks to the owner, Buzzie, and is saddened to learn
that Buzzie is selling the place and moving to Florida.
At Babylon, Ted got the job with Brian�s firm. He thanks Brian
for helping him out and Brian says Ted can repay him this way--
If Ted sees him at work, don�t speak to him! Emmett is proud
of Ted for getting his life back together. Brian offers Michael a
bump and Mikey rudely declines, finally admitting that his bad
mood is because Buzzie is closing down his favorite comic book
store and moving. Apparently, everyone has a dream to chase after
except Michael.
Justin at Babylon! A scene we haven�t seen since 122!! Although
he looks really high. He surveys the scene of dancers, smiling and
practically floating over to the guys. Brian is surprised to see him,
but looks happy at first, glad that Justin is getting out and going
back to some of his old haunts. They kiss in greeting and Brian
jokingly asks what Justin is doing out tonight. Shouldn�t he be at
home packing his lunchbox for school tomorrow? Justin says that
he isn�t going to school tomorrow. Emmett teases that he must be
skipping classes because they told him he was going to have to
draw a naked woman tomorrow. Justin corrects that he isn�t
going back ever. He quit. The guys are stunned, especially Brian.
Em and Ted ask why and Justin says what would be the point of it
anyhow? He can�t draw anymore so he might as well spend his
time partying, popping pills, and sticking his �gimp hand� down
men�s pants. He emphasizes this by grabbing the closest guy
and asking if the guy wants to dance. The guy does and they
go to the dance floor together. Brian watches in a mixture of
hurt, worry, and frustration. Michael asks what is up with Justin
and Brian replies that Justin�s just practicing �pain management�.
Brian should know, he�s done enough of that himself over the
years!
Michael and Tracy are at the Big Q together getting ready for
a big sale. They talk about how every year some poor employee
is forced to dress up like a clown and deal with the annoying kids
that come in with their parents. Jerk Boss Andrew joins them
then and announces that the woman who was suppose to be the
clown this year just called in sick. Michael will have to do it.
Mikey doesn�t want to.
A miserable Michael is in full clown make-up and dress, handing
out balloons to annoying kids when Lindsay and Mel come into
the store to shop. They tease him. He�s humiliated and hates
his job even more.
At work, Ted speaks to Brian in the hall on purpose just because
Brian had previously told him not to. Brian ignores him. Brian
is in the art department over-seeing a project. He�s impressed
with a new graphics program that allows the user to draw on the
screen with an electronic-type pen. Brian asks the guy to show
him exactly how it works.
Ted�s new boss is going over Ted�s duties. Ted is already
miserable and bored out of his mind with the job. Em calls to
ask about it and he lies and says it�s a great job.
Mikey�s in a bad mood when he gets home. Emmett is looking
at pictures from the Pride Parade of Mikey in drag. He even
got a picture of Mikey kissing his jerk boss. Mikey lays down
on the couch and looks up to see his Captain Astro poster
hanging on the wall. He�s inspired and gets up and goes to
his room and retrieves the First Edition Captain Astro that Brian
bought him for his 30th birthday.
At the loft, Brian is working out when a drunk Justin staggers in.
Brian comments on how the lost boy has been found. Justin goes
to the refrigerator and gets out a bottle of water, drinking some of
it and pouring the rest over his head to sober himself up. It�s very
similar to the scene in episode 101 when Brian did the same. Brian
asks how Daphne is and Justin answers that he didn�t see her. She
had to study for classes, which is something he doesn�t have to
worry about anymore.
Brian uses the towel he had been wiping sweat with to dry the
water off of Justin�s face as Justin talks. Justin says he was at
Woody�s, letting guys buy him drinks. They all wanted to have
sex with him so at least he still has his looks he babbles. But he
didn�t get with any of them. He was saving that for Brian. He
starts to kiss Brian�s neck then and moves onto his nipples. Brian
pulls back and says that first he wants Justin to see something.
He got a special gift for Justin today. Justin jokes that it must be
a new sex toy. Brian pulls him towards the computer desk. He�s
bought and installed the new graphics program he saw at work.
Justin sees it and isn�t interested, accusing Brian of trying to give
him �false hope�. Brian is insistent on showing him the pen and
how it works but Justin wants no part of it. Brian angrily demands
if Justin just intents to give up? To quit on his dream of being an
artist. Justin stomps up the steps to the bedroom and starts to
undress, shouting that he has lost his ability to draw and nothing--
not even an �electronic coloring box�--is going to fix that. This
time, the great Brian can�t fix all of Justin�s problems. He then
drunkenly calls out for Brian to come have sex with him before
he passes out. Brian turns away from him.
Mikey�s co-workers are giving him a hard time about the clown
thing. Jerk Boss Andrew comes over and says he has to wear
the clown�s suit again today. Michael refuses. Andrew says
that Michael will wear it or he�s fired. Michael replies with a
�Fuck you�. He�s quitting. He gives Tracy a kiss good-bye and
then turns and plants another huge kiss on Andrew, repeating
the same words he did after the Pride Day kiss. Andrew is
stunned, realizing that Mikey was the Drag Queen who kissed
him at the parade. Michael happily leaves the Big Q for the last
time.
At the diner, Emmett and Lindsay are chatting. Em asks for
more coffee and Justin has problems with the coffee pot, unable
to handle it with his bad hand and spills coffee everywhere.
Debbie tries to talk to him but he curses at her. Lindz and Em are
stunned silent. Debbie pulls him aside and calmly talks to him,
which makes him feel worse than if she had gone off on him. She
doesn�t pretend to know why this terrible thing has happened to
him, but the way he�s acting is making it worse on himself. Justin
feels terrible for the way he just talked to her. Debbie tells him to
just hang in there until things get better. And if he ever talks to her
like that again, she�ll rip him a new one.
Lindsay approaches Justin once Debbie walks off and suggests
that he take a break and come with her. She takes him to an
art gallery. Lindz asks his opinion on the works being displayed
and he gives her snide replies at first, but then starts to get
serious about his opinion of it. He really loves one picture. He
and Lindz are talking about it when the artists comes over. She
is in a wheelchair, paralyzed from an accident. The woman is a
friend of Lindsay�s and apparently Lindz has told her all about
Justin. She and Justin talk. She explains that she has only one
hand that she has some use of. She has a device that she attaches
to her hand that helps her paint. Justin asks her how she feels,
though. Isn�t she angry and frustrated. She admits to being that,
but what would be worse was if she couldn�t do her art at all. She
can�t imagine *not* being an artist. It�s her life. And it was worth
learning new ways and techniques if it meant she could still paint.
Her point is made. She tells Justin to pick out the painting he liked
best. She wants to give it to him as a gift.
Debbie goes over to Michael where she learns he has quit his job.
She blames Brian for it. Brian is there, too. Michael is on E-Bay
trying to sell his First Edition Captain Astro. Brian is surprised and
complains that he spent a ton of money on that comic. Mikey
explains that he wants to sell it to get enough money to buy Buzzie�s
comic book store. The only problem is that no one is bidding on it
but one person. Brian starts to bid to drive up the price. It works.
Ted returns some porn tapes to the video store where he talks to
another customer and recommends a few tapes. He knows his porn.
It�s his passion, after all. Mel is with him and they talk about his
love for it. Ted starts to get an idea of his own.
Back in Mikey�s room, Brian�s scheme has worked. He drove up
the price of the comic and the other buyer bids $10,0000 for it.
Mikey now has enough to buy Buzzie�s store. Debbie, Mikey,
and Brian celebrate.
At Woody�s, everyone is present but Justin. They congratulate
Mikey on his good news. Brian kisses him and says it is
because Mikey is so pathetic, but he�s also brave to literally
put his entire future on the auction block. Ted announces that
he has quit his new job and is going to start his own porn web-site.
Back at the loft, Justin is piled up on the couch staring at the
painting Lindsay�s friend gave him. Brian comes out of the shower
and wraps himself in a towel. The blinds to the bedroom are open
and Justin watches as Brian gets an apple and piles up in bed and
starts to eat it. Justin is inspired and goes over to the computer.
He starts to draw Brian stretched out on the bed and does a
pretty good job for it being his first try using the computer�s pen.
Michael opens the door to his new comic store. The ladies from
earlier come walking down the street singing �Follow That Dream�.
Mikey smiles for he�s finally found his dream and is following it.