I recently finished watching all six seasons of “Dawson’s Creek” for the first time ever! “Dawson’s Creek” debuted on the WB in January 1998, when I was in 8th grade. I’ll get into the plot more later, but generally speaking, I was too young to watch this show (although I do remember some of my classmates watching it).
For the longest time, I really had no interest in watching this show. But, around Halloween, I mentioned to my coworkers (at my retail job) that I always rewatch some of the “Scream” movies — they’re really the only horror movies I can stomach, and I think they’re pretty well-done.
My manager said if I liked “Scream,” I should watch “Dawson’s Creek” because it’s the same creator: Kevin Williamson.
The more I watched the show, I wondered if Williamson also created “I Know What You Did Last Summer” — a movie I saw in theatres that I enjoyed but haven’t seen it in a while. upon Googling, in fact, he did create it, along with “The Faculty” (a top-tier alien flick) and a few other teen dramas.
After immersing myself in life in Capeside, Massachusetts (I watched all 128 episodes, ok?!), I’ll share all my thoughts and some other factoids about the show that I picked up along the way. So, let’s head to Capeside!
What was happening in the world during ‘Dawson’s Creek’?
One thing about watching shows years — hell, decades — after they were created is that we’re not in the same context. As I watched “Dawson’s Creek,” I kept asking myself what was happening in the world while this show was on TV.
A quick Google search showed me this:
- Season one, 1998: Bill Clinton is President this year, and it’s the kick-off of his sexual scandal. The Winter Olympics is hosted in Nagano, Japan. “Titanic” won 11 Academy Awards. College student Matthew Shephard is murdered, and his death sparks public reflection on homophobia.
- Season two, 1999: America witnesses the Columbine High School massacre. Microsoft releases its initial version of MSN Messenger. George W. Bush seeks nomination for President.
- Season three, 2000: “American Beauty” wins five Academy Awards. The Supreme Court of Florida orders a statewide manual recount of the Presidential votes. The public ensures the Y2K Scare as the year changes from ’99 to ’00.
- Season four, 2001: George W. Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. R&B singer Aaliyah dies in a plane crash in the Bahamas. Nearly 3,000 people are killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, leading to a global war on terror.
- Season five, 2002: Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her family’s home in Utah. Kelly Clarkson wins the first “American Idol” competition.
- Season six, 2003: “Finding Nemo” is released in theatres. MySpace launches. Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and obstructing a federal investigation.
…Now that the context is clear, let’s get into it!
What’s the plot of ‘Dawson’s Creek’?
“Dawson’s Creek” is the story of a group of teenage friends living in Capeside, Massachusetts. At the center of the group is aspiring screenwriter Dawson Leery and his friends Joey Potter, Pacey Witter, and Jen Lindley.
Additional friends and characters enter and exit through the series, but these four remain core to the plot. Together, they navigate life in Capeside and beyond — going from high school to college and making plans for the future.
Watching the series, I pegged the entirety of the plot as this: Will Dawson and Joey be together romantically or friends forever?
A quick season-by-season recap of ‘Dawson’s Creek’
- Season 1: Pacey is determined to lose his virginity (with his teacher), and this had me floored! Regardless, Dawson’s mom is having a steamy affair. There’s a bit of a love triangle between Joey, Dawson, and Jen.
- Season 2: New students, Andie and Jack, come to town and Andie gets romantically involved with pacey (I hated watching this). Dawson’s parents decide to get a divorce, while Joey develops a crush on Jack. However, Jack’s classmates out him — and there’s loads of homophobia here (a reminder of the times).
- Season 3: Joey and Pacey are dating… but only in secret. Once Dawson finds out, there’s hell to pay. By the time summer rolls around, though, Dawson encourages Joey to sail the coast with Pacey. Jen starts dating a freshman football player (who is suuuch eye candy).
- Season 4: High school graduation is nearing and the stress of college is a large conflict. Dawson starts dating Pacey’s older sister, his parents have reunited, and his mom is pregnant.
- Season 5: Every scatters and heads to colleges, but Pacey works on a yacht. Joey starts falling for one of her professors, but it’s cringy to watch. Dawson isn’t sure film school in L.A. is the right move for him, and after getting into an argument with his dad over it, Mr. Leery dies suddenly.
- Season 6: Things heat up between Joey and Dawson. However, the main goal of the final season is for the group to rally around Dawson so he can create a movie — which ends up being a TV series nearly identical to “Dawson’s Creek” — it’s all very meta.
Overall thoughts on ‘Dawson’s Creek’
I wasn’t sold on this show immediately, but I did get hooked and, at times, I really loved watching it. I thought the end of season two all the way until the top of season five was so (SOOO) good! I really loved the episodes in season four when Dawson befriends Mr. Brooks, who was a successful Hollywood filmmaker. Mr. Brooks’ life mimics Dawson’s in several ways, and although it’s not lost on Dawson, their friendship goes both ways.
While watching the show, I realized that I haven’t watched many teen dramas (only “The OC” and I watched it late, too), so it’s impossible for me to put “Dawson’s Creek” into any sort of context. However, I did think the writing was great (until season five, of course), and I really looked forward to getting sucked into life in Capeside. I watched this entire series over a two-week period when I was struggling mentally with work and life, and I’ll forever be grateful that I had “Dawson’s Creek” to escape to every night.
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