Miserable is relative in this sense. Everyone remains pretty, well-educated, involved with the opposite sex. Perhaps a more apt word to describe the Dawson and Joey courtship is unbearable. The 2011 Summer Re-Watch of Dawson's Creek concluded on the second season premiere, "The Kiss." Dawson and Joey fretted about their second kiss not matching the passion of their first kiss. It's a mind-numbing storyline which makes one want to bang one's head against the wall repeatedly. "Crossroads," the second episode of the second season, introduces another concussion-inducing problem for the new couple. One afternoon, Dawson invades Joey's privacy and learns that Joey thinks he's a shit filmmaker who makes 'rancid, putrid' films; she also dismisses his cinematic dreams. Joey, of course, is infuriated by Dawson's invasion of her privacy. I'll always side with Joey in an argument with Dawson because Dawson is a self-absorbed son of a bitch. It's just amazing that the A story is all about this goddamn diary page that Dawson read. Here I am, devoting the first paragraph to Dawson and Joey, which would really piss off Pacey Witter if he was a real and living person.
Season 2 of Dawson's Creek is the Pacey Witter party. After a first season in which he was used as a side-kick, without much celebration, Williamson gave Pacey his own storyline. The season premiere portrayed a Pacey who wanted a change in his life, so he frosted his tips. The new Pacey tried to date the hottest cheerleader at Capeside, but he failed, embarrassingly so, because of the new girl in town's, Andie, little lies about how the cheerleader felt about him. Pacey celebrates his 16th birthday party in "Crossroads." Sadly, no one remembers it’s his birthday. His best friend in the whole world can't get his head out of his own ass. Pacey notices this early and tries to ignore Dawson as much as possible. Pacey drops hints about the day, namely that he failed his driver's test, but Dawson is sickened by Joey's hurtful words about his talents. Pacey doesn't care, insults Dawson, and carries on with his day; in fact, he plans a pier party in which everyone but Dawson and Andie are invited to. Both show up.
This episode tells a really simple story. It's about the first fight between two people in their first relationship, and it's also about how someone can get lost in a relationship and forget about the people around him and her. Pacey's hurt because Dawson would've never forgotten his birthday. Joey is the difference between them now; whereas before a fight between Dawson and Joey would be shrugged off by both, as friends, now, a fight is the worst thing in the world. Pacey doesn't know where he fits into this; he tells Dawson what he'll miss about their friendship. Dawson doesn't know what to say. He's not mature enough to know how to split time between his girlfriend and his best friend (he'll never learn). All he can do is apologize and attempt to make things right. Of course, the apology and the healed friendship happen after he resolves his fight with Joey. Pacey's going to be second now, and he feels crummy about that, but he accepts it with grace when his passive-aggressiveness subsided.
The fight exploded out of nowhere for Joey. One minute she's on Dawson's lap, kissing him, and the next minute, she watches Dawson huff and puff his way out of her house. I admire the writing in the buildup. They're talking about their awkward conversations with the Leery Parents about sex. The night before, Mitch and Gale walked in as the two teens were involved in a hot and heavy makeout session. The two have a back and forth about what they know about the other. Joey states that what Dawson doesn't know could fill a book. Joey brought her diary out to write down a Mitch line about condom usage but she needed to tend to Alexander before she could write in it. As it goes, Dawson opened the diary and nonsense ensued.
Teenagers are hyper-sensitive. I won't break the internet with that sentence. I complimented Williamson's ability to capture what it's like to be young, hormonal, and yada yada despite their college-level vernacular last summer. Their emotions felt real, which is important. One can identify with how these characters feel and react, for the most part, in the first two seasons. The Diary story is the most Dawson thing ever though. A similar discovery by some dumb bastard in any US town or city probably happened many times, but this story takes place over four acts. This is entirely the fault of the writers. Williamson's perception of Dawson didn't match with the audience. Who would sympathize with a guy who invades his girlfriend's privacy and, who then guilts his girlfriend out rather than admit his error and apologize? Joey keeps telling him, "It is about you and what you've done." Dawson just mopes because his girlfriend insulted him one day in the privacy of her journal.
As tradition goes in the wacky world of Capeside, no one calls Dawson on his shit. The new guy in town, Andie's brother, Jack McPhee, shows up for a job interview at The Ice House whilst Joey and Dawson yell at each other. Jack butts into Joey's life while they're cleaning up and preparing to close. He asks, "first fight?" Joey says no, and then yes, then no, then yes but adds that the fight is different. Jack is respectful, doesn't ask question, and just observes that the first makeup is worth however bad the fight is. Joey thinks and smirks. The new closes. She departs for the pier party to find and reconcile with her man.
Ah, the pier party; this slice of Americana is well-represented on TV. Nearly 14 years have passed since "Crossroads" and TV high school parties aren't any less elaborate than the pier party. Pacey managed to rent out an entire pier and print fliers before 3PM. Earlier, he eats lunch with Jen, who tells him to forget about Dawson and Joey and celebrate his birth the way he wants, and between lunch and the end of the school day, the pier party is planned. The turnout is tremendous: it looks like a spring-break party in Cabo. Bikini-wearing ladies populate the many boats docked. Local male youths carry on red plastic cups and drape their arms around their women. Pacey's mostly miserable because of the aforementioned issue with Dawson. Dawson sails into the party on his speed-boat. The friends reconcile and will later take a ride on the speed-boat, neither knowing what will happen in season three in a boat race. Jen and Abby Morgan drink alcohol and laugh a whole lot at the party. Abby vows to help her new friend win Dawson back after Jen admits her longing for The Forehead. Andie and Pacey bond too. Their early interactions were the stuff of 1940s comedies. Andie makes him feel better, which is all Pacey wanted throughout the day.
Our teenage lovers reconcile in a pouring rain. Dennie Gordon's direction is beautiful in the scene. Dawson's Creek is a wonderful show to make jokes about and such, but it snuck a beautiful scene every now and again. The scene's so pretty that it makes one forget about how pointless and irritating the fight is. Dawson and Joey silently embrace in the rain, kiss, and hold one another. They talk through their issues later, which isn't as interesting or pretty. Dawson gets out of it. Joey inflates his ego even more by showering him with compliments about his cinematic prowess. It is absolutely disgusting.
"Crossroads" is a good episode of Dawson's Creek though. By golly the show still retains a certain charm after all of these years. Particularly, I like the simple stories about adolescent truths, of the changes that continually happen as one moves through his or her teenage years, specifically, the changes in friendship, and the priority shifts, and so on. For all of the problems the show had, the writers at least understood these simple things about growing up.
Other Thoughts:
-I'll be honest: I'm not too interested in writing extensively about the Mitch/Gale marriage troubles. This week: they decide to try an open marriage.
-The DC foursome are all in the limelight again. Van Der Beek is playing himself on Don't Trust the B. Michelle Williams continues to win accolades for her excellent acting. I can't say I imagined she'd go from Jen Lindley to Marilyn Monroe. Katie Holmes is acting in movies. Josh Jackson continues to work on Fringe.
-Last summer, I forgot about how endearing Katie Holmes was during the first season. I sort of fell in love with her again, I won't lie, I did.
-The McPhees are the new additions to the cast. Meredith Monroe and Kerr Smith fit in well. The new characters get some of the more melodramatic and emotional arcs during the season.
-Dana Baratta wrote the episode. Dennie Gordon directed it.
UP NEXT: "Alternative Lifestyles"--An economics class project pairs Dawson and Jen as husband and wife, Pacey and Andie as a married couple and Joey as a single mother with two children.
You can stream episodes of Dawson's Creek if you order the Xfinity Streampix package.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
No comments:
Post a Comment