Later, Dawson and Mitch commiserate over their respective romantic struggles. Thankfully, though, the writers weren't stupid enough to portray Mitch as one who perceives his son's romantic struggles as equal to his own. In fact, Mitch dis-spells the perceived theme of the episode as well as Dawson's theory about nice guys. Mitch tells his son that worthy relationships aren't built upon such adolescent ideas about 'nice guys' and 'bad guys.' Relationships are more complicated. They require work, commitment and dedication in order to achieve consistent happiness and stability.
"Boyfriend" is about the difficulty of relationships and how some can't be fixed with simple apologies and verbose sentiments. The theme's anchored by the C story involving the Leerys, who have been going to marriage counseling with the hope that their marriage can be saved, with the hope that their marriage is worth saving. Dawson's new to the world of broken romances. He watches his parents' marriage crumble and wonders if two people reach a point where pain and misery overwhelms everything else. As much as he claims to understand the world and its people, Dawson's still a 15 year old boy whose experiences are new.
Among these experiences is his first break-up. Jen's old boyfriend, Billy, visits Capeside with the intent to win back Lindley's heart. The two males are complete opposites. Dawson's Gary Cooper. Billy personifies the contemporary anti-Gary Cooper. Throughout the 44 minutes, the characters vie for the affections of Jen Lindley. Billy feels she belongs with him, the one who treated her right and didn't over-sexualize her in New York--the one who respected her. Dawson reminds Jen that he's respected her from the first day they met. Jen's torn between the two boys and, eventually, chooses neither. She tells Billy to leave town and she breaks off the relationship with Dawson. The Self-Involved one reacts terribly, questions Jen's character and proclaims himself superior morally.
The A story should've worked but break-up stories rarely work in Dawson's Creek because of the writing and The Beek. The story of someone's first break-up always has promise but rarely do any writers execute the vision effectively. On Everwood, the break-up between Ephram and Madison fell flat and the writers tried to manipulate the audience into feeling something through Irv's poignant narration as Ephram walked away from Madison's for the final time. Similarly, Dawson's break-up should've worked emotionally because he's a character with innocence, in a relationship that means the world to him but Van Der Beek never had the acting chops to convey those emotions. I don't mind the highly-intellectual dialogue of the teenagers, but that choice hurts the show in these adolescent moments. The result is clunkiness. The viewer feels no sympathy nor empathy for Dawson because he's ass and his relationship with Jen had no definition outside of Dawson's adolescent fantasies.
Jen, conceivably, should benefit from the end of the relationship because she's the one character that needs definition. Her reasons for ending the relationship make sense. She explains that relationships have defined her, which is true because the two men define her throughout "Boyfriend." She's only reacted to their ideas about her. In other scenes, she reacted to Joey's opinion about her. Unfortunately, Jen never grows beyond her season one lack of identity. Sure, her relationship with Grams and Jack become cornerstones in her life but she's stuck in pointless storylines with tertiary characters until Kevin Williamson saves the character with a poignant, sad story that commentates on her mis-use throughout the series.
As the relationship between he and Jen crumbled, Joey watched from the sidelines and grew bolder. Certainly, several alcoholic beverages gave her more courage. Joey drank at Cliff's beach party and briefly hooked up with some nameless male. Pacey rescued her from certain date-rape, and he and Dawson brought her home safely. As Pacey kept the baby quiet, Dawson rambled on about how he can't define he and Joey's relationship. Joey, drunk and sleepy, caressed his face and kissed him on the lips. Later, as Pacey and Dawson rowed home, Dawson expressed bewilderment when Pacey informed him that Joey knew exactly who she was kissing, that she's head over heels for The Beek.
For the time being, Dawson's all about Jen. Joey only matters to him insofar as her worth at a particular time. If he needs to whine about Jen, he goes to Joey. Soon enough, though, he'll wake and realize truths he hasn't yet recognized. Until then, there'll be more Dawson/Jen centric episodes.
Some other thoughts:
--Mitch realizes that he wants to save his marriage with Gail. In the C story, the two tried new activities following the advice of their therapist; however, Mitch believes he and she must return to the beginning so they dance slowly on the porch. On Re-Watch, I'm surprised I didn't mind the story because their marital trouble storylines wear thin because it's seemingly never-ending. I liked the C story though.
--"Boyfriend" is a great Pacey episode. Without the millstone that is Tamara, the character shines. In his first scene, he converses with an old fishermen about how dull the town is. Later, he rescues Joey from a bad situation and keeps baby Alexander quiet. Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes have their first extended time together in the series. Their chemistry's fantastic and it's a wonder it took until the third season to get those crazy kids together. Williamson had tunnel vision with Dawson and Joey though.
--I don't understand why Dawson attended Cliff's beach party. He dislikes Cliff. Jen won't be with him. His friends, as far as he knows, aren't going. Cliff doesn't even want him there. He only extended the invite as a courtesy. I guess it doesn't matter. The writers needed the party for some plot points.
--Jon Harmon Feldman & Dana Baretta wrote the teleplay; Charlie Rosin & Karen Rosin have the story credit. Michael Fields directed.
UP NEXT: "Road Trip"--Dawson goes on a road trip with Pacey and Billy. Jen helps Joey deal with a rumor about Joey and a football player.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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