#420-“Promicide”
So, “Promicide”
is not really a treasure. Pacey’s nonsense meltdown is a treasure. From Autumn
to Ashes, the screamo band from Long Island, used Pacey’s meltdown on their
track “Reflections.” Joey’s “You break my heart into a thousand pieces and you
say it’s because I deserve better?” opens “Take Her to the Music Store.”
“Capeside Rock” has a Dawson’s Creek heavy bridge. I was a stupid teenager. I
looked to Dawson’s Creek for dating guidance. I adored the angst I heard from
DC in those two songs. I wanted to watch “Promicide” more than any other
episode when I began watching reruns of the show on TBS. Describing it as a
treasure is an inside joke only I get. Yes, I’m an insane man.
“Promicide” is
the reverse of “Anti-Prom.” Dawson lost it on Joey after he saw her and Pacey
dance; Pacey lost it after seeing Joey and Dawson dance. He’s terribly mean and
cruel to her. Joey’s teary “You can control how you treat me” is the line of
the series. None of Pacey’s frustrations included that terrible stretch where
she prioritized Dawson’s feelings over his own. Jack couldn’t bring a guy to
the official prom; Jen told him no one cared, so he brought Toby, kissed him,
and they started something promising, whereas Jack and Ethan had a miserable
night. Pacey’s meltdown is nonsense. The breakup’s poorly structured. The
execution’s a classic, but it’s for narrative convenience. Pacey acted out of
character because the writers wanted to push Joey and Dawson together at the
end of high school. Gretchen broke up with Dawson, telling him he’s always
chasing Joey. Gretchen, too, recognized she paused her life. Their
relationship, though never expressed by either character, was convenient—a
distraction for both. Dawson needed someone after the huge hit his ego took when
Joey chose Pacey, and Gretchen needed someone after her miscarriage. Would
anyone else have enjoyed, after Gretchen broke up with Dawson, Dawson throwing
the box of condoms into the water? He looked at her like he wanted to murder
her in the limo. Dawson’s a regular Pozdnyshev.
I forgot that
Drue put the idea of attending school in Boston in Jen’s mind. Drue sold it as,
“I’ll be there.” No, he’s not. Maybe Mark Matkevitch demanded a sizable raise
after season four, or Paul Stupin recognized Drue was a plot device, or that
the gang can’t hang out with everyone they went to school with in college.
Drue’s “Cool; a baby! Can I hold it?” followed by Mitch, Gale, Dawson,
Gretchen, and Joey shouting, “No!” is my favorite Drue thing in the season.
Jen’s flirtation
with jumping overboard reminded me of a chapter in a novel I love—only the
possibility that she’d do it. The specifics of the scene in that novel and the
scene in Dawson’s Creek are as wide and distant as Terra and Antiterra.
#421-“Separation
Anxiety”
This would’ve
worked as a season finale. The title punctuates the theme of the episode. Our
high schoolers fear what happens after high school. It’s a staple of teenage
melodramas or sitcoms. In TV, the future is certain. The college years will
suck, and the fans will only watch the high school years.
Pacey and Joey
got their breakup right in this one. After the travesty of “Promicide,” Pacey
returns to himself. Worthington brings the two together for a function. Pacey
thought Worthington would offer him admission to the college, but the dean of
admissions only wanted Pacey to work as his deck hand. Pacey apologized to Joey
for taking his insecurities out on her, for turning into the stereotypical guy
that can’t deal with his girlfriend’s success, and for making her feel bad
about what she accomplished. It’s much, much better than the “Promicide”
nonsense. They sleep together a final time before they move on and away from
each other.
Gretchen left
town. Dawson, inspired by Brooks and Mitch, declared he wanted to go with
Gretchen to her college. He failed. Gretchen realized he needed to be where he
was rather than where she’ll be. She permanently broke up with him via yearbook
message. So much for her “I’m so past this high school” thinking in “Promicide.”
Jen convinced
Grams to move with her to Boston. Oh, she will. Grams will thrive more than
Jack and Jen in Boston. She’ll meet Mr. Smalls.
Jen and Jack did next to nothing in Boston.
#422-“The
Graduate”
Graduation
episodes in teenage melodramas are the same. One of the core characters
delivers a speech. The rest reminisce about high school, how far they’ve come
in four years, and another character to returns to continue that nostalgia and
reminiscing. Joey delivered the speech (“Take Capeside with you wherever you
go!”). Andie returned, which caused Dawson and her to reflect on love and if
someone would look fondly back on them and think of them as that person who
taught them what mature love is (what the bleep?). Pacey remembered Andie
believed in him first, so she heard the good news about his graduating. Drue
and Jen failed to arrange prank (but they didn’t!) and missed the big senior
party. Of course the graduation episode needed a senior party. Oh, how many
parties my friends and I attended the days before graduation. The Leerys told
Dawson how proud they are of him. Joey’s mother wrote a letter to her before
she died specifically for graduation in which she expressed her pride in her
and Bessie. Pacey’s the hero of the episode. He didn’t attend graduation. He
didn’t tell anyone he passed his final. He decided he didn’t need to compare
himself with his peers any longer. He got on a plane and flew the hell away
from Capeside to spend the summer sailing around the Caribbean Islands. Pacey
made the mistake of returning to Capeside, though.
#423-“Coda”
It took 42
minutes for Dawson and Joey to say goodbye. Dawson’s leaving for USC’s film
program. Neither wants to say goodbye. Neither knows how. Dawson’s Creek’s two
most selfish characters want something. Joey wants Dawson to stay. Dawson wants
Joey to ask him to stay. When she does, Dawson says, “Nah, I’m good. I need to
leave this room and this town” (that’s a rough paraphrase). How do two soul
mates part? Joey described knowing him as “pure magic.” Dawson lamented not
having sex with her in “Like A Virgin.” Joey regretted lying to him about
sleeping with Pacey. Blah. They watched ET. Neither can believe they’re off to
college. It follows the subtle theme of the series about how, despite their
sophisticated languages, the characters don’t know how to deal with what they
feel. Graduating high school and starting college feels momentous. I remember
the graduation parties. I remember graduation day. I remember hugging people I
never wanted to leave. I loved certain folks from my class that eventually
drifted away from me. It seemed unimaginable we’d lose track of each other
until it happened. When I realized it had happened, it did not feel as heavy as
those fresh days post-graduation; it felt natural, like, ‘yeah, this is what
happens, and it’s okay. I still love that time and those people.’ Moving from
high school to college is the biggest change in a young person’s life. They
leave behind what they knew: a home, a school, a group of friends, etc. Many significant
memories are made during those four years. People want to hold tight to what
they knew. That’s how I’d like to read the Dawson/Joey stuff, but I know the
writers’ goal was the romantic soul mate aspect of Dawson/Joey.
The daring thing
in season five would’ve been separating the two, letting the characters exist
independent of the past, as it happens in life across the world in colleges and
universities. Dawson and Joey learned life goes on without them pining for each
other or dating each other. Season four focused on their differing lives. They
immediately unlearn it--without the context of them representing a safety net
for each other. “We were supposed to be together. Why aren’t we? Uh, we need a
cliffhanger.” Dawson’s goodbye to Jack and Jen pales in comparison to Joey,
thus confirming the inaccuracy of my interpretation. Mitch’s goodbye to Dawson
touches my soul. It’s a wonderful short
scene. Pacey’s phone call to Dawson is sort of sour for the viewer, meaning me,
because I don’t like Pacey needing Dawson’s approval. The whole point of “The
Graduate” for Pacey was that he didn’t need anyone’s approval, but of course he
needs goddamn Dawson’s. Ah…Dawson’s Creek. The last Jen/Jack/Grams scene of “Coda”
is, also, wonderful.
“Coda” is where
I hop off the Dawson’s Creek re-watching/re-romping. I wrote a few posts over
the years about the terrible fifth season. I have no interest re-watching
season five and six, two seasons Tom Kapinos said he nearly drove into the
ground. He did not destroy the show’s production, but he destroyed and
decimated whatever charm the series had. Season four’s solidly mediocre and it
veers towards tire-fire status for a long stretch. Kapinos blamed the “four
monstrous actors” at the center of the series for his hellish experience
running the show and the room. Season 6 is maybe the worst season of television
I’ve watched. Its lone contender is No Ordinary Family’s first season. Never
watch it.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK WHOOOOOOAAAAHHHHH
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