The 2012 Summer Re-Watch: Dawson's Creek "Ch...Ch...Changes" Review

A staple of the TV drama or comedy is self-reflection near the end of a long season. Characters talk about how much changed in the last few months or year or however much time passed from episode one to episode twenty two. Character arcs need to feel complete. Plot arcs need to feel compete. Dawson's Creek adopts a Meta quality in the penultimate episode of its second season. Dawson's final project for Miss Kennedy's film class is an exploration of Rick's arc in Casablanca. Dawson must track the changes of Rick from his first shot to his last shot. The project causes Dawson to think about the arcs all of his friends and how much their arcs changed them, which, of course, leads to Dawson producing a documentary about the changes one of his friends experienced.

Dawson tries to coax Joey into bearing all for the camera because she went from doting soul mate to independent artist to independent doting soul mate. Joey declines. Jen's next because she went from sultry vixen to movie producer to BFFs with Grams to depressive wreck to normal Jen. She tearfully tells the camera about the biggest change she made. Dawson gulps, feeling he's on the precipice of an unforgettable moment. Jen smiles and says it took a lot to actually cut her hair. Dawson's shoulders slump. Jack's too busy to be Dawson's subject as he's dealing with the arrival of his father and the possibility of moving back to Providence. Pacey initially agrees but the interview quickly becomes too sad. Dawson, in a rare moment of compassion, stops filming to communicate with his best friend. Pacey advises Dawson to find another subject. Dawson settles on Mike Potter, Joey's father, the reformed drug dealer; Mike possesses everything Dawson needs from his subject: shady past and redemptive present. Nevermind Joey's uncomfortable with the idea, Dawson sees an A+ in his future.

The interview happens on the condition that Dawson assists in the construction of the new music room at The Ice House. The Ice House has been consistently profitable since Mike returned. Joey's actually happy with her dad around. The normalcy she's wanted for three years made a blissful return. Dawson smiles and takes in Joey's happiness and is more than willing to help in The Ice House. The interview is sometimes painful and sometimes cathartic. Joey looks like she's going to jump out of her skin during the painful parts of the interview; it's like she's terrified that the mere recollection of her father's past will bring it back, and she'll lose her fairy tale life. Dawson thinks the story is inspiring--Mike Potter, in his eyes, is a real life Rick.
Joey uses fairy tale imagery to communicate her feelings to Dawson about the life she has with her father back. The family is stable, the business is good, and she's in love with her soul mate. The only thing missing is a white picket fence. The language is specific and deliberate. Deep down, Joey probably believes her present is an illusion, nothing more than a fairy tale. Joey was introduced as a cynical fifteen year old girl. Cynicism is difficult to shake. Indeed, it is a fairy tale. In a back room in the Ice House, Mike's friend hands him a bag of cocaine. Dawson watches, aware the moment will change three lives. Joey meets him outside with a kiss, but Dawson chooses silence.

The discovery in the back room causes Dawson to re-think the thesis of his final project. Dawson approached the project believing that people do change. Dawson saw the changes in Jen, in Jack, Pacey, Joey, and Mike. Joey asks her boyfriend why he won't turn the camera on himself because, he too changed. Dawson's afraid of seeing a boy who isn't good enough for Joey and who will lose her all over again. Dawson turns the camera on himself after what he saw in the Ice House. Rick's arc didn't change the character, in Dawson's opinion. Rick remains alone. Ilsa leaves with Lazlo. Dawson believes love is change. Now, Dawson misinterpreted Rick's arc. Rick does change. He goes from a selfish character to a selfless one; he chooses to save Lazlo and Ilsa rather than selfishly take Ilsa for himself. Rick's problems don't amount to a hill of beans in in this crazy world. Love changed Rick, but Dawson's too self-absorbed to see how it changed Rick.
The characters perceive change as permanent. Dawson thinks Mike hasn't changed, that he'll remain stuck in his bad habits, and that Joey and Bessie will continually get hurt. Dawson looks sadly at Joey as she sleeps on his bed. Change is a part of life, but the characters misunderstand life. If they knew about Pierre's globe, they will understand how life is, and how things move and change and merge and divide.
Pacey and Andie are going to separate. Mr. McPhee wants to take her for care in Providence. Her episodes with Tim concerned her father. Mr. McPhee still can't emote--he's too rigid--but his eyes and facial expressions convey what he cannot put into words: he's worried about his daughter. The differences between father and son won't be resolved though. Mr. McPhee thinks Jack's homosexuality is temporary, a choice that can be undone with proper therapy. Jack responds that the only choice he made was to be happy.

Andie eventually decides to leave Capeside. Jack chooses to stay, and he takes Jen in as a roommate. Pacey's afraid of what Andie's absence means because he feels his life changed because of her. Without her, who will he be? They have one last date where they return to the place where they first danced and kissed. Pacey remembers the ways Andie challenged him, and when he holds her in his arms, he shuts his eyes as if he's bracing for a huge wave that'll knock them down and force them apart, and he'll be swimming wildly in the ocean looking for her, and drowning.

Jen feels similarly adrift, especially following a poor conversation with her parents about moving home. Before she decides to move to NYC anyway, she stops outside of her Grams' house. Jen raises her fist to knock on the door. Instead, she leaves tearfully. Jack rushes to the bus stop to stop her from leaving town on an uncertain journey to the city and offers her a room in his suddenly empty house. Jack and Jen are similar. Both lack a foundation, a family, and both need the love and understanding only they can give one another. Their great friendship begins in the bus terminal as they walk away holding hands. It's really the only happy moment in the 44 minute episode.

Season 2 has one last episode to address what Dawson saw in the Ice House, to see whether or not Pacey will be okay without Andie, and for even more changes to take place. Another misperception of Dawson's is the idea that change is deliberate, that it happens when it's willed by an individual. Just because the next episode is called "Parental Discretion Advised" doesn't mean characters and their circumstances won't change. It's a season finale. Season finales are supposed to alter everything in a show. Dawson's succinct conclusion about change in his final project doesn't put the button on the matter. There isn't a button for change. Dawson's going to learn this the hard way.

UP NEXT: "Parental Discretion Advised"--Dawson is unsure whether to tell Joey about her father's drug dealing; Pacey's pain is mocked by his father; Grams and Jen reconcile. Watch the episode on Netflix or Streampix or YouTube.

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