Dawson's Creek - 318 - Neverland

Original air date: April 5, 2000


So, it's been a minute hasn't it? But let's celebrate because we are diving back into the Creek and we are going to take in all the juicy drama we can handle. Starting with this...my least favourite episode. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely worse episodes out there, this is perfectly fine, nothing crazy offensive, it's just...underwhelming. I mean, we last left off with our dream ship FINALLY kissing passionately and we waited and waited for a month to get our sweet Pacephine fix only to come back and have her immediately reject him and then they spend the entire episode apart. Not only that but we have to endure Buzz for a big chunk of the episode and still no one thought to get him an acting coach. It's painful, you guys and I'm not going to lie, it's probably a big reason it was so easy for me to procrastinate on this and I'm so sorry for that but can you really blame me? Ok, fine, you can totally blame me. Let's just get this thing out of the way so we can get to the way better last episodes of this season where things will get simultaneously hilarious and also kind of personal so apologies for that in advance.

First, on to this episode where we open with this most wonderous sight:

Perfection

Followed immediately with this:

Wait, what are you doing? Are you crazy? Kiss him!!

Joey is pissed and continues to yell and shove but she doesn't appear to be mad that he kissed her without asking first so much as mad that he kissed her when Dawson exists and exerts total control over their lives. That's pretty shitty and normally I would be pissed at her for this but oh boy are we going to touch on this in later episodes because I actually get Joey for once. Boy do I.

Joey storms off and Pacey has to follow her in his car so that he can give her a ride home. He insists that he didn't mean to kiss her and when that doesn't work, he tells her that it's 6 miles to her house and it's freezing cold. She relents but gives him the silent treatment. Thus concluding our Joey/Pacey content for most of the episode.

Cue themesong that I just can't get into so I mentally replace it with I Don't Wanna Wait...

Bessie asks Joey how the dance went and she confesses that her and AJ broke up and that Pacey kissed her. We cut to Dougie congratulating Pacey for finally kissing Joey. I get Joey's feelings on this but I really don't get Bessie's reaction of "How could he do this to you?" Do, what Bessie? Are you also of the mindset that Dawson owns all dating claims on your sister? Because that's pretty messed up. Joey admits that she kissed him back so my rage could be quelled a bit because yeah, she's got feelings for him, it's been pretty obvious throughout the season and it really bites that she thinks she's not allowed to explore that because of Dawson.

Pacey then claims that it was her fault for telling him that she thought of him first and then gave him a "look" and "What was (he) supposed to do?" Uh, ask first? Love ya, Pacey, but this is not your finest hour. Joey claims that he gave her a look too and then they both say that it didn't go well because well, Pacey was yelled at, shoved and punched, but both agree that the main problem is Dawson. Which...yikes.

Ok, confession time! I'm going to do this early because I forgot that this entire episode is about the thing I want to talk about. I have been in a situation like this, not exactly the same but similar. It is extremely difficult when you meet someone through a mutual friend and develop feelings for said person, especially if the friend is against it. What could have been a nice meeting and burgeoning, fun, relationship, quickly turns into knots of guilt and stress and it makes you make dumb decisions. I already hated Dawson, that's no secret but I hate him even more now because friends, I had a Dawson in my life and I didn't even realize it because this Dawson, I didn't even date or have any romantic feelings for them. However, friendships can have just as much power over you, make no mistake about that. The fact that Dawson has Joey this well trained that he didn't even have to say anything explicit to her and she just knows that she can't explore her genuine feelings for someone is heartbreaking and I know that feeling way too well. This last part of season 3 is honestly hard to watch because I am intimately familiar with the mental battle that would be going on in Joey's head right now and how awful she feels, it honestly makes you sick to like someone but know that to be with them, you have to go against or hurt a friend. It fucking sucks.

Both are worried about losing their friend. Dougie likens the situation to Speed because it's amazing and why shouldn't he? Basically, Pacey has to defuse the Dawson bomb before he can bring the Joey bus to a stop in Datesville. Pacey has to tell Dawson that he has feelings for Joey and basically ask for permission to date her. It's honestly gross how much everyone caters to Dawson's feelings but I guess that's life when you live in the main character's universe.

Meanwhile Jack is excited because Ethan is going to come and spend the weekend with him. Andie is excited for him but asks what their father has to say about it. Jack figures he doesn't have to tell because their dad is away on a business trip to do a business but whoops, he actually cancelled it. Jack is not impressed but he arrogantly proclaims himself an adult who can have friends over if he wants and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. Cue their father entering at that exact moment and asking who they are talking about but Andie is an awesome sister and bails him out. Jack is still not happy about his father sticking around for the weekend though.

Meanwhile, Henry and Jen are still a thing and Jen has discovered that it's his birthday. She wants to celebrate it with him and has this whole plan but Henry can't do it. Jen is shocked that he has plans on his birthday and wonders with who and like, does Jen think he doesn't have family? I guess so because she jokingly asks if his plans are with another girlfriend but no Henry confirms my suspicions. He says that no friends are allowed and Jen is cool with it until some Jock walks by and reveals that no, Henry is in fact, having a birthday party with his friends and she's just not invited. He says he wants to explain but boy, that's messed up and his explanation really isn't that great, kind of flimsy actually.

At lunch, Joey sees Dawson but can't sit with him because Pacey sits down with him first and she feels awkward. Dawson reveals that their childhood fort is going to be demolished which gives Pacey the idea to take him there for the camping trip as it's a place that embodies much of their bonding and friendship so Pacey's idea bulb goes off. He suggests they go on a camping trip at their fort and Dawson readily agrees.

Andie comments that Joey seems weird but Joey brushes it off. Jen joins them in a huff because Henry is an ass. Andie rightfully points out that they need to hang out with each other because they need to get away from guy drama. She suggests that since they both seem in a funk, they should do a girl's night and they reluctantly agree.

Ethan shows up at the McPhee household much to Daddy McPhee's displeasure. He tells him to send his friend home and Jack thinks it's because he's gay and Jack refuses to send him home. His dad tells him to send his friend home and Jack loses it on him and says he can just deal with him having his friend over, no matter how much it makes him suffer to see it. In fact, he's glad if he suffers. A little harsh but Daddy McPhee has been a questionable parent so far anyway.

Pacey is dealing with Buzz, ugh,and the kid wants to hang out but Pacey tells him he has plans to go camping with his friend. Buzz whines about wanting to go along. Pacey politely rejects the idea but offers to take him out when he's back. Buzz is a little shit, because he has exactly no chill. (Yeah, yeah, he's a kid and has abandonment issues. I know, I know, I swear I have a heart but this story just leaves me cold).

Andie is super excited about the girls night and suggests facials and pedicures. Joey and Jen look super uninterested because they are both #notlikeothergirls which makes me sad that this show like abjectly refuses to really let them be friends. They seem like they would be the best of friends. Anyway, Jen takes Andie's leaving to get beauty supplies as a chance to talk to Joey about the Pacey situation that she's pretty well aware of, at least from Pacey's side and she's deduced from Joey's mood that there's some feelings from her as well. It's sweet that she offers to be an ear for Joey to talk to but Joey is salty about the fact that Jen seems to know about it. Jen says she's not aware of a particular situation but that Joey's reaction clearly means that whatever situation she means clearly doesn't mean nothing to her. Jen is so abundantly patient and kind to Joey that it's frustrating that Joey doesn't see that she could have a great friend in Jen. Damn you, writers. Give us female friendships!

Dawson and Pacey make it to their fort and Pacey is impressed it's still standing but Dawson is upset that it's not as grand as he remembers. Dawson whines that his life isn't as awesome as he thinks it should be and wants to go back to when he was a kid (more of a kid) and he felt sure of himself. Pacey takes this opportunity to jump into the Joey question but of fuckig course, Buzz shows up with two friends to ruin everything.

The girls are in full beauty mode and I love it. Just the three of them chilling out, eating popcorn and doing each others' nails. Andie laments that life was simpler when they were younger (a running theme in this episode it seems) and Joey agrees. She misses when she could just roll around in the mud with the guys and just feel like herself without romance getting in the way. Jen reveals that she wasn't allowed to be a little girl because her mom wouldn't let her play in the mud because it would dirty her dress and she wasn't allowed to try on her mom's shoes because they were too expensive. Poor Jen, her childhood seems like it was just crap, especially with what gets revealed next season.

The writers were so close to having a cool female bonding moment but of course, the convo turns to guys. Jen says that life was better without them because they're twits who lie and Joey adds that they mess with your head. Jen adds that the worst is when they "have feelings for you and won't even admit it." and then gives Joey a pointed look.

I love everything about this picture. Jen is the best

Joey hates talking about her feelings so instead, she picks her activity which is the roller rink, her favourite place as a kid. Excuse me while I have an absurd amount of nostalgia. Do you guys remember roller rinks? Oh my god, they were the height of cool for birthday parties when you were little even though it was literally just a rink you aimlessly skated around while horrible 90s music played.

Feel the excitement. It wasn't a party until you skated around to Cotton Eye Joe.

Andie is in and Jen is excited because her activity can go with it. She pulls out shopping bags and the others look intrigued.

At the McPhee house, Jack and Ethan are about to go to dinner and Ethan politely invites Daddy McPhee. Jack is pissed. End scene.

Pacey meanwhile has informed us that he talked to all of the kids' parents and they can all stay overnight.

yay

The kids then ask Dawson to tell them a story and, proving exactly how painfully unoriginal he is, begins telling them the plot to Jurassic Park.

I mean, what were you thinking?

The kids call him out too so he starts to tell them the plot of ET. This also displeases them so again, he tries to rip off Spielberg (literally all he knows how to do) and tries to summarize Jaws for them. The kids are pissed and demand he tell them one of his own stories. Kids, I got some bad news for you, Dawson doesn't have any...he can only rip off Spielberg or write about that one time he dated Joey for a hot second and she dumped his ass. It's his thing. Dawson does not like to be criticized so he tells them a story about a muderous psychopath who kills children with an axe. A+ idea, champ.

The girls are at the rink and apparently, Jen's activity is dressing in feather boas and really tame lingerie with housecoats. They are still talking about boys but now they're reminiscing with happier memories like the look they give you when they want to kiss you and how it makes them melt. Joey is awkward because Andie is talking about Pacey and Joey knows exactly what look she's talking about. Speaking of boys, Jen spots Henry at the rink. His birthday party is going strong and Jen has now crashed it.

Ethan and Daddy McPhee are bonding over talking about cars and he tries to bring Jack into the conversation but Jack refuses to join in. Mr. McPhee suggests going to the car show after dinner because they have a fancy cadillac there and Ethan is all for it but Jack has sour face about everything.

At the campsite the kids are surprisingly all asleep, despite the story of the axe wielding child murderer that Dawson told them. Pacey has uncovered a time capsule that he and Dawson buried and they go through it. Dawson finds tickets to Jurassic Park from when he went as a kid. I get it, that movie was awesome and it still holds up but man is he obsessed. Pacey's happy memory is that he found a pocket knife of his brothers that resulted in him getting "the spanking of a lifetime" from his father. Yikes. Dawson then gets creepy when he finds a picture of him with "little Joey Potter" I don't know why it creeps me out that he called her that but it does. He then comments on how beautiful she was even back then and says they were crazy not to notice. Oh, but Pacey noticed a while ago, Dawson, before even you did. You suck, is what I'm saying.

They next find an oath of friendship they made when they were kids and became blood brothers which sounds all kinds of gross. This is a common trope in kids movies and stuff and I'm here like, who actually does this though? Is this really a thing? I never thought of doing this with my friends. Is it a guy thing? Is it just a tv/film thing? What is this craziness?

Jen apologizes to Henry for crashing his party which is strange since she was rightfully mad at him for throwing a party that she wasn't invited to and wasn't even going to tell her about. Did he really think his girlfriend wouldn't care about doing something for his birthday? He says he's not mad (he'd better not have been because screw that) but that he's humiliated. Jen is upset that he's humiliated by her. As it turns out, the only reason he didn't tell her is because going to roller rinks is childish and he didn't want her to see him like a kid since it was hard enough for him to convince her he wasn't. It's weird seeing someone so adult like complain about being seen as a kid but this is the storyline they're going with. They make up and kiss, their problems resolved.

At the car show, Mr. McPhee is geeking out over classic cars and Jack has had enough. He pulls Ethan aside and very loudly tells him that this evening is a nightmare and his dad is the worst. Of course his dad overhears because I think the whole room overheard and he politely excuses himself for the night, realizing he's a third wheel and his son hates him but not before revealing that he cancelled his business trip to spend time with him because he thought things were getting better between them. Jack is suitably chastened.

Dawson gushes about how he'll always be sure of his friendships with Pacey and Joey. He pours it on about how loyal Pacey is and how Joey is his conscience, soulmate, and inspiration. Dawson then says that he'd be lost without them and Pacey gets a look on his face that says he's definitely not going to tell Dawson about his feelings for Joey. Boo. He says that if he's loyal, it's only because Dawson cast him that way and damn it, Pacey. Take some credit for yourself. Dawson is not your creator or your writer.

Back at the McPhee house, Ethan wants to talk about what happened at the car show but Jack is in no mood to talk. He hates that his dad looked like the victim and that he looked bad. Ethan tells him that they are both victims which, I don't fully agree with. Neither does Jack because he vents about how awfully his dad treated him and it's completely legit to feel as angry as he does. Ethan says that if he keeps being angry they will lose more years and they won't have each other anymore. He tells him to get rid of his anger so he doesn't have to be angry anymore. It's not terrible advice but it's kind of I don't know, insensitive considering that Daddy McPhee abandoned them with their clinically insane mother for a year and then let him live with Grams and Jen for a while. He wasn't great.

Back at the girls' sleepover, Andie is passed out so Joey finally confesses to Jen that Pacey kissed her and Jen is less than surprised. Joey says that she's angry and confused and that it came out of nowhere and Jen is just like, if it came out of nowhere then why am I not surprised? Then she says that Joey needs to ask herself that if it's really nothing, then why is she so upset and so confused? And YES! Jen is seriously the best.

Jack confronts his father who is, not unjustly, cold about what he's doing there. Obviously, he doesn't want another fight. Jack just wants to know why? As in, why this weekend? Why this trip? Why is he deciding now, not to be a deadbeat dad? His father then answers that it was just time. He then confessed that his coworker has this kid who is an actual fuck up, drug charges, failed out of school, the whole nine yards and he finally realized that he has a good kid. A good kid that he doesn't even know and he decided that he really wants to know him. It's kind of sweet and all the more sad that the actor who plays the father died shortly after this episode was filmed or aired and so he never appears again to be the better dad he wanted to be. It makes this scene all the more difficult to watch, knowing that.

Pacey and Dawson are packing up their things in the morning. Dawson is pleased that the kids liked his child murder story. Pacey has to take them all home. He and Buzz stop into a store where he bumps into Joey. Buzz is annoying so Pacey bribes him with candy to give them some space. They awkwardly try to talk about the kiss and Pacey apologizes and says that what he did was an impulse that's left his body permanently. Joey apologizes for completely overreacting but you can tell that neither one of them thinks the kiss meant nothing but they both say it and they're both hurt by it and my heart honestly can't take this because yowch, personal memories of denying feelings for someone else's benefit. It SUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKSSSSS.

Outside, Buzz asks Pacey if that's the girl that he wants to kiss but Pacey denies it. Joey looks longingly at Pacey as he walks away with Buzz. End of episode.

Oooof, this one was hard to get through but not as bad as I remembered. I really let that kid get to me and he wasn't in this too much. I really liked the girls all hanging out like friends because it's something that this show just does not let them do often. Why can't Jen and Joey be friends, you guys?? They could be such good friends and sometimes the writers act like they are but they just barely show them interacting with each other and that sucks. This episode was good for that and so I appreciate it a little more. The other stuff is painful to watch for entirely personal reasons but where when I first watched this, I was angry and like "Who cares about Dawson? Just go for it!" I now genuinely understand how absolutely confusing and gut-wrenching this situation is and I completely understand and identify with Joey, something I really don't say often.

I understand that look completely. I'm sorry, Joey.

Anyway, tune in next time for the best freaking episode of the season! Spring break shenanigans where Joey totally touches it, it's Stolen Kisses.