Long before the dramatic denouement in an empty classroom at the ripe hour of 7PM on a school night, Pacey and Andie plan a special night together, and Joey and Jack plan a night of artistic creation once Jack spills chocolate milk over Joey's portrait of a naked man, and Dawson and Jen continue to plan out Dawson's next film--they need to cast folk. Sex sort of comes out of nowhere in each storyline. Andie runs into Pacey in a pharmacy. She's just picked up her prescription medication, and Pacey makes a joke about condoms. Suddenly, they're having a heavy discussion about whether or not they should have sex and what it'd mean for both if they had sex. The rest of their storyline in "High Risk Behavior" is a collection of scenes in which Pacey charms Andie. Andie, more than once, tells Pacey she wants to 'do it' with him and opens up about her fantasy of making love for the first time with the boy she loves in a bed and breakfast. Their romance is definitely the product of male and female writers in their 30s. Pacey takes Andie to a bed and breakfast, and they talk more about sex and what it'd mean and how Pacey wants to respect Andie but how Andie badly wants to do it with Pacey.
Jack ends up naked on Joey's couch because he volunteered to pose for her after he accidentally destroyed her painting assignment. Jack-Joey were an odd coupling. Kevin Williamson knew what he wanted to do with Jack later in the season, which would explain why the writing for these two, together, has always been stiff and forced. Katie Holmes is excellent when she plays awkward and uncomfortable, and Kerr Smith excels at being uncomfortable on screen. Together, their chemistry is non-existent. I wonder if that was the intent during #210-11. Probably not. I don't know, though. Dawson's Creek's tone is inconsistent sometimes. Of course it'd be uncomfortable for a 15 year old girl to paint her 15 year old sort of boyfriend naked, especially if she's barely been exposed to the naked male body. Joey-Jack is the most believable story then of the three sex-centric storylines. Joey's afraid to look at Jack. Jack's afraid to take the towel off. Joey actually talks about how she feels. Jack opens up about losing his virginity. Joey then asks what it felt like, which leads to a weird piece of acting in which Jack's story basically brings Joey to near-orgasm. Once the painting is finished, they stand around awkwardly, unsure of what to say after such an intimate evening. Joey continues to talk about how sex scares her. Sex scares Jack, too. The beats led to this moment between the characters where they can navigate this scary terrain together and not be so scared, plus, since Jack's had sex once, he can help Joey. So they make out.
Dawson and Jen make out in her bed near the end of "High Risk Behavior." The Dawson-Jen storyline isn't interesting. The whole thing hinges on Dawson's script and what he needs to do to improve the script. Dawson's an autobiographical writer; he turns the people he knows into characters. Dawson rarely invents stories. Jen wants the fictional couple to have sex. Dawson resists this choice because it's not risky; the risky choice is keeping the couple virgins. Jen theorizes Dawson resists the change because he never experienced it. Yet again Jen teaches Dawson about being a teenager. Dawson deletes large portions of his script and then he sneaks in Jen's window to get experience. I understand what the writers wanted to accomplish, but it's hard to muster sympathy for Dawson because he lacks sexual experience at 15 and thus cannot write a sex scene.
"Sex, She Wrote" is all about which one of these couples had sex. The mean-spirited literature teacher, Mr. Peterson, assigned each student to break down a literary convention. Abby Morgan didn't complete the assignment. Instead of whipping something up over night, she uses a letter Chris finds as an impetus to find out which couple had sex. Abby considers it a real-life mystery that would captivate the 20 or so classmates of her. Through Abby's insane search for the author of a letter written, which states the author's desire to take a moment to breathe after having sex with his or her partner, because sex changes everything.
Three acts depend on the audience wondering which couple had sex. Each couple interacts in these three acts, but the dynamic changed. Joey and Jack experience difficulty communicating with each other. Pacey is cold and distant with Andie. Dawson and Jen are actually exactly the same, which, of course, bothers Jen, because someone needs to be bothered. As the mystery builds, Dawson sees the naked picture of Jack that Joey painted; Joey reads the revised screenplay which depicts the Dawson character sleeping with the Jen character from across the grass, rather than the girl across the creek; Andie's increasingly worried by Pacey's taciturnity. When Abby brings the six teenagers into an empty classroom at 7PM, she doesn't know the truth, but she plans on using their feelings to get the truth.
The emotions are complicated and twisty. Dawson admits to having sex with Jen just to hurt Joey and Joey admits to having sex with Jack for the same reasons. The Dawson-Joey breakup hasn't been addressed since "The All-Nighter." Both characters entered their own storylines. "Sex, She Wrote" shows how neither stopped thinking about the other. All of Joey's independent activities doesn't make her forget about Dawson. Dawson's film prep and budding friendship with Jen also doesn't help him to forget Joey. Neither had sex that night. Jen's hurt by Dawson's lie. Jack's stung by the lie as well. The lie wakes Jack up to the reality that he'll always be second to Dawson. Jen, after "The Reluctant Hero," is hurt Dawson would lie about her, but she understands why Dawson lied in the moment. In fact, Jack and Jen confess these feelings to one another after the fun in the class room. Jen, amazingly, still reveres Dawson Leery. Dawson, for her, is the apex of the male species, a titan of masculinity and sexuality, a man she'd love to sleep with if his head was in it, if he was all about her. Neither want to be second in the lives of the people they admire. Soon enough, they'll be number one for each other.
Pacey wrote the letter to Andie. Andie leaves upset. Pacey is soon the villain, Capeside's evil sex fiend so to speak, as Dawson labeled him last season, but not in those words. The letter seems terrible when read aloud. Everyone interprets it as Pacey saying, "thanks for the sex and goodbye now." Pacey's just scared. Andie's the first person in his life to give a damn about him. Ms. Jacobs was a passing thought, as intangible as the wind. Andie's transforming Pacey into a better man: someone who aces quizzes and who doesn't feel like a failure. Pacey uses a lot of words to tell Andie what really scares him the most, that world known to all men, which is, love. Pacey's falling in love with Andie, and their intimate evening actualized his feelings.
Dawson's Creek didn't use the lazy route in "Sex, She Wrote." None of the characters use sex to make themselves popular. Sex is treated really seriously. We see sex depicted as scary, hurtful, and loving. Abby tries to ruin her classmates with sex. Dawson and Joey try to hurt each other with it. The episode ends with love and reconciliation, though. Sex, in this instance, is a communion of souls. The DC writers put effort into showing how one can get quite hurt, but the perfect person will make one feel like the most special person in the entire universe. So, the episode ends with a first "I love you" between Pacey and Andie, and Dawson and Joey decide to try being friends again. After all of the drama, it's nice to see Dawson and Joey walk through the rain, Katie Holmes showing off her best sideways smile as she says, "I like how you see me."
Other Thoughts:
-Abby never presents the project to the class. Jen Lindley went early 20th century Irish Catholic Jesuit on the girl. Abby actually smiles when Andie thanks her for not ruining her reputation. I'll argue that Abby's behavior in the election is more reprehensible than her behavior in "Sex, She Wrote." No one remembers the election, though. Abby and Chris were also cast in Dawson's film.
-Speaking of Chris, once KW left the show, each show runner tried to create a new Chris Wolf. Drue Valentine in season four is Chris Wolf with a different name and portrayed by a different actor. The bland generic rich bad boy from season three who gets the principal fired is basically Chris Wolf. Chad Michael Murray and Jensen Ackles' characters from season five and six, respectively, are also Chris Wolf-lite. I assume the show wanted to keep the character around but couldn't because Jason Dohring became the lead in Roswell. Chris helps Abby in her project because Abby promised he'd get to second base.
-Jack reveals why he didn't have sex with Joey to Jen. Jen's sympathetic. I suppose this is foreshadowing, though I'm not sure, because Kerr Smith had no idea Jack would be a gay teenager until he got the script, if I remember correctly. The writers seemed to be planning it.
-Jenny Bicks wrote "High Risk Behavior." James Whitmore, Jr. directed it. Mike White & Greg Berlanti co-wrote "Sex, She Wrote." Nick Marck directed it.
UP NEXT: "Uncharted Waters"--Dawson, Pacey and Jack go on a boat trip with Mitch and Mr. Witter. Tensions rise when Mr. Witter calls Pacey 'useless' and Jack tries to make amends with Dawson. Meanwhile, Gail and the girls spend time together, but Abby causes trouble. Watch the episode on Netflix or Streampix or YouTube.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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