In the mid-to-late 90s, Kevin Williamson was the most sought after screenwriter in Hollywood. Scream revived the dormant horror genre and ushered in a lucrative era of copycat slasher flicks. Paul Stupin, a future executive producer of Dawson's Creek, approached Williamson about developing a television series--a horror television series. Naturally, with the Scream success, executives wanted Williamson for his talent and ability within the horror genre. The man took quite a few projects as well. He wrote the original treatment for the seventh Halloween movie. Williamson wrote the screenplay for 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer. He penned the Robert Rodriguez teenage alien film, The Faculty. In 1999, he directed his first ever screenplay, Teaching Mrs. Tingle--perhaps his proudest moment as a screenwriter and filmmaker because an old teacher, after reading the original Killing Mrs. Tingle draft, told young Williamson that he couldn't write and promised failure for him. I'm sure Williamson wrote unaccredited polishes on a number of horror projects during this insane five year period of success.
I suppose the sheer number of horror movies that man wrote or polished or composed treatments for burned him out in the genre. After all, he grew up a Steven Spielberg fan. His interests in storytelling were larger than "crazed, masked killer stalks teenagers." Williamson declined to write a horror pilot script because he wanted to write a coming-of-age drama, based on his own experiences growing up in North Carolina. He wanted to write a series about "adolescent anxiety, sweaty palms and first kisses" so he wrote a pilot called Dawson's Creek that incorporated those three things. FOX passed on the series. TheWB, though, reached a deal with Williamson to bring Dawson's Creek to their Tuesday night lineup. In January of 1998, Dawson's Creek premiered on TheWB Tuesday. The series ran for six seasons. Williamson left the series at the end of the second season to focus on his other series, Wasteland. He didn't return to Dawson's Creek until the series finale in which he tried to salvage any decent storytelling from the massive train wreck the show was under Tom Kapinos' reign as show runner. In between, he created TheWB's Glory Days but the series produced only ten episodes before cancellation. Williamson didn't find television success again until The Vampire Diaries began in the fall of 2009.
The first season of Dawson's Creek isn't complicated. Joey Potter's in love with her life-long best friend, Dawson Leery but he's in love with the hot new blonde who just moved to Capeside, Jen Lindley. Dawson's best friend, Pacey Witter, wants to have sex and, when he does, it's with his English teacher. The relationships between these four characters is the heart of the first season. The first season has more meat, of course, which I'll devote too many words to in the weeks to come. The "Pilot" only plants the seeds for the drama to come in the Leery household as well as the drama between Grams and Bessie.
Dawson Leery, the aspiring filmmaker and selfish teenager, is resistant to change. He whines when Joey suggests that she and he stop sharing the bed. Dawson doesn't understand why considering they've shared the same bed every Saturday night for the last ten years. Joey can't openly state that she has romantic feelings for him. Dawson's too daft to register anything because he's a "me me me!" kind of guy. Joey's essential point that Dawson misses is, their bodies are changing, feelings are changing, and their hormones complicate everything. Nevertheless, Dawson somehow convinces Joey to spend the night and they awkwardly lay next to one another as Dawson wonders why Joey had to bring it up in the first place.
The issues between Joey and Dawson throughout the episode stems from her unrequited affection towards the boy with the large forehead and the ridiculous hair. Joey's frustrations mount throughout the episode and she expresses resentment for Dawson's need to create conflict in the interest of his screenplays. Joey wishes Dawson realized how perfect his life is because her mom passed away years ago, her dad's in jail for possessing and trafficking 10,000 pounds of marijuana, her sister lives with an African American in a small town and carries his baby. Dawson, of course, lacks that sort of self-awareness. When Jen arrives in Capeside, she successfully changes things forever between Joey and Dawson. Dawson pays more attention Jen, tries to impress her with his knowledge of Steven Spielberg movies and invites her to the movies. Joey only receives an invite because Dawson doesn't want Jen to feel uncomfortable with just her and two other guys. She reluctantly accepts but causes hell for him during the date.
She behaves like a jerk throughout the night. She outs Dawson as a virgin and rejects any attempt by Jen to bond but Joey's a teenager after all, and she behaves like a teenager. The girl's full of emotions and she's not sure how to deal with these emotions in a mature way because she's 15 years old. Critics complained about the highly intelligent dialogue spoken by the characters, which is a fair criticism but Williamson succeeded in capturing the emotions of a teenage girl in Joey Potter. Dawson tries to understand his best friend once they're both back in his bedroom following their night at the movies. Specifically, Dawson wants to know why Joey freaked when he tried to hold Jen's hand. Joey smoothly explains that she didn't want to hold Dawson's hand; she just didn't want Jen to. Like it or not, though, Dawson will continue to pursue Jen because he likes her as he yelled earlier in the episode (not much nuance in Van Der Beek's performance). Joey reiterated that their friendship won't be the same because of change, which Dawson rejects again. Joey then asks Dawson how much he masturbates, who he thinks about, how many times, etc. Dawson goes silent. Joey leaves in tears. All seems broken between the two as Joey climbs into her boat to travel across the creek until Dawson yells, "every morning when Katie Couric reads the news." Joey laughs and Dawson beams. Joey continues to smile until she sees Dawson's mother kissing her co-worker on the lips when he drops her off.
The Leery household's the portrait of domestic bliss. Mitch and Gale dote on their son, support and love him. The two have an active sex life. Dawson nearly walks in on his parents fornicating in the family room. Dawson groans but the scene suggests their marriage is strong and healthy. Of course, Dawson wonders if his mother's having an affair with his co-worker because she uses a soft B when pronouncing his name during broadcasts. Joey rolls her eyes (a Katie Holmes signature) and accuses Dawson of creating conflict for the sake of his screenplays. The thought passes. Gale, of course, IS having an affair with her co-worker as I wrote already. Dawson's life won't be so perfect anymore which goes well with the theme of change throughout the "Pilot." Whether he likes it or not, he can't avoid change.
Dawson's the romantic of the core four. He pans sex because Spielberg never shot a single sex scene for any of his movies. His courtship of Jen Lindley's something out of the 1940s. His best male friend, Pacey's the complete opposite. The dude wants to have sex and he wants it now. The boys' differing philosophies will lead to conflict later in the season and throughout the rest of the season. Dawson will behave like a puritanical zealot and he'll demonize Pacey for having the gall to lose his virginity but I'm ahead of myself. Pacey meets an older woman in the video store with the name Tamara. The woman Pacey wants to have sex with is Tamara. Unfortunately, she's also his teacher but it's only a temporary hurdle. Before long, Pacey charms her by declaring he's "the best sex she'll never have." Teenage boy and 40 year old woman kiss, and THAT story begins.
Jen Lindley, meanwhile, claims she moved to Capeside to assist her Grams with caring for her grandfather; however, Jen's lying. Before school, Jen sits by her grandfather and Grams wonders what she's doing. Surely someone brought to help wouldn't be asked such questions. Nellie Olson, a tertiary character not seen past a few episodes, wonders if Jen parties. Jen likes a good time without substances. When Joey asks about her virginity, Jen says that she is one. The girl, though, carries herself like someone walking on glass, someone so reserved and secretive that the slightest movement might reveal something. Indeed, Jen has a past but I'll wait until the episode in which it's revealed to write about it. More than any character in the show, I feel bad for Jen. She's the outcast, her attempts to become friends with Joey fail, a psychopath has feelings for her and her religious beliefs conflict with her Grams so much that it creates a separation between the two that neither need at this particular point in their lives. She rejects her Grams' offer to attend mass as well as her Grams' request for her to say grace. Grams is a woman who looks down on Bessie and her boyfriend because of their racial differences. Grams won't always be like this though.
Dawson's Creek is a series, for whatever reason, that I have too many thoughts on. I watched the series after it ended on TheWB. I caught repeats on TBS during the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I stupidly thought that I needed to act like the characters to get a girl's attention. I believed that I could only woo a girl by telling her my feelings in a monologue. I kid you not. The series is nowhere near perfect. It has major flaws. The first two seasons, widely considered the best two seasons (except for Pacey-Joey shippers), have problems. No matter how maddening and terrible the show became, I still get a kick out of the episodes. It's very easy for me to write about the show.
I'm going to post the weekly write-ups on Tuesdays instead of Mondays. Tell your friends. My DC posts will be worthwhile reads, I promise you.
Kevin Williamson wrote the pilot. Steve Miner directed.
UP NEXT: "Dance." Dawson casts Jen as the new leading lady in his film, but creates a messy off-camera scene during her date at the school dance. Meanwhile, Joey confronts Mrs. Leery about her liaisons and Pacey gets under Tamara's skin with his public flirting.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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