Dawson's Creek - Season 4 Wrap-up

 Here we are, once again at the end of another season of Dawson's Creek. I always feel so good to have completed something like this but this one feels especially victorious because of how much of a slog this season has been. Nothing really stuck with me the way other season stories did. Can you name something really good that happened this season? I mean really good and not depressing? I guess the Leery's had a baby but that doesn't factor into any plot that we care about. It won't change anything because the baby has come around right when the kids are leaving Capeside and we're following them so who cares that Mitch and Gail's lives are changing? Anyone? Anyone?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

The most monumental thing was Joey finally losing her virginity to Pacey but it honestly just felt like an about fucking time moment than a really great romantic moment. Don't get me wrong. I love the ski trip episode, it is the one really fun episode of the season (which they weighed down with a death subplot because this season is about depression apparently) but it just felt like it took way too long to get to that point that it stretched believability. I don't want to shame people for not having sex, we are Ace friendly here, but Joey is not Ace and it seemed very odd to have her wait so long to finally do the deed with a guy that she was more than a little into and showed a lot of interest in sex over the seasons. This season felt lifeless and dull and I get that there was no way they could top the sheer drama and build up of season 3 but I still feel like they could have tried a bit harder. I wish they'd done more with Pacey and Dawson's friendship, it seemed like their feud was more forgotten than addressed and the little phone call at the end felt out of place and undeserved. Anyway, let's end this season, the way we normally do. Let's break down our characters and how they developed.

Andie McPhee

We'll start with Andie because she had the least development this season as she was very quickly and unjustly discarded from the show. This was a downer because the writers essentially ruined her character to the point that I didn't care she left but that's on them, not us. They didn't have to write her to lie about a sexual assault in season 3. They didn't have to have her be annoying. They didn't have to have her take drugs and pass out. But they did and thus she left us for Italy. I do have to say that for all the shit they put her character through, I am happy that they brought her back for the graduation and gave her a happy send-off. She's happy, she's relaxed, she's no longer obsessed with good grades, being perfect, or drama. She just seemed content with her life in Italy and I'm glad she got some happiness before leaving us forever. Farewell, Andie, hope you're still living it up large in Italy.

Jack McPhee

Next we have Jack. Jack also barely factored into this season. His football career was put to an end in the first episode and we had a small arc where he coached soccer kids. Then he quit that because of homophobia and joined a gay rights group, begrudgingly where he kind of became an insufferable "not like other gays" gay. I don't think that Tobey was that overtly gay that it would seriously piss Jack off so it just came across as Jack being a dick. Eventually he just kind of comes around to Tobey and calls him his boyfriend in the second to last episode of the season and he doesn't appear again. I can't remember if Tobey graces us with his presence in the college years at all or if he was just broken up with off-screen so that Jack could go on to pursue his casual sex phase but it still felt odd for him to get serious with him at all when it was obviously a throw away relationship. I really wasn't invested in these two and that's a shame because I think they could have been interesting. As it is, Jack was mostly relegated to side character than one of the main cast this season.

Jen Lindley

Next we have Jen and she struggled hard this season. Honestly, she seemed super well adjusted last season but she starts this season getting dumped by Henry (a blessing if you ask me) which sends her into a kind of desperate spiral. She latches onto Jack as a boyfriend substitute (Glee tried but they could never handle something like this as well as this show did), she gets dragged down to the depths by her stupid ex-friend Drew and framed for drug usage. Her friends were way too harsh on her and I appreciate that Andie knocked sense into the gang because Jen did not shove the drugs down Andie's throat. She was subsequently put into therapy which I think was a great subplot that was handled kind of poorly but it lead to one of the strongest character episodes of the show. Jen confronting her father about sleeping with her friend/babysitter was gut-wrenching and Michelle Williams just knocks it out of the park. I just wish they'd gone a little further with it and I really wish that they'd written in that she would continue with therapy rather than drop it cold turkey the way she did. I know the therapist warned her that they had more to go but ultimately the message is that you only need therapy until a breakthrough and then your done is what comes out of it and that is completely untrue. We didn't have to see her further therapy sessions, they could have easily written it as a background thing for her which is why it sucks that they had her drop it. Still, I'm grateful for the one really great episode it gave us this season. Jen did seem pretty well adjusted after it but didn't get much else to do beyond it which is another shame. Any scene with her in it is honestly great and I'm glad we got to see her confront her demons this season. It's just a shame that she will never be free of them. Still, she is this season's MVP for giving us the one really great episode this season and finally letting us know about her sordid past. A girl set adrift by parents who are too wrapped up in their own selfishness to see their child was hurting. I think Mom Lindley was at least trying to do right by her daughter by sending her to Grams but being MIA for most of her teen life is still gross.

Pacey Witter

Pacey's arc was heart breaking this season. He has the woman he loves but is failing school, virtually friendless, True Love sank, and he's starting to see that everyone around him is moving past him into their adult lives while he's essentially still seen as the class clown. He feels like shit about himself and it's no wonder since his whole family seems to expect nothing from him and no matter how hard he tries, everyone around him still sees him as a fuck up. It's also tragic that the one person who loves him for who he is, is the one person he feels safe enough to lash out at and thus hurt. It's not an excuse, it's an explanation and I'm glad that Pacey realized he had to cut Joey free because she doesn't deserve to be treated like that. He has to better himself first in order to be in a healthy relationship and that is tragic because he and Joey are perfect for each other and it's good that she loves him for who he is, because she's loving all the good qualities that Pacey just can't see in himself yet. Still, our boy managed to graduate from high school on his own terms and he landed a pretty sweet gig for the summer that lets him explore his love of sailing now that his boat is gone forever. I couldn't be prouder of him and it's a miracle that I still like him after he acted so shittily at the prom. I think it's because his tantrums can be explained that I can sympathize and also, he had the good sense to acknowledge his assholishness and recognize that he shouldn't be in a relationship right now. He's also looking the best he's looked in a while which will be short lived because we are going to have to suffer two years of Goatee!Pacey and it's the worst. The college years are going to be a weird one for him but Pacey will always pull through and he'll do it while being effortlessly charming as ever.

Joey Potter

Joey's arc is one of learning to let go of her childish dreams and live in the here and now. She always imagined that Dawson would be her first but fate led her to a great relationship with Pacey. Her own insecurities, fears, and youthful silliness almost made her give up a great relationship. I'm still unsure how we went from a character that wants to see Jack's penis, wants to know how sex feels, and joked about leather chaps and Crisco could honestly hold out from having sex with her wonderful boyfriend for so long but the writers were dead set on keeping the Dawson/Joey soulmate thing alive so wait she did. Honestly though, the fact that she took that leap and chose her own destiny for herself is just about the greatest character moment for her. For three seasons she did everything for Dawson or because of him or because everyone around them seemed to imagine them together forever and that's got to be a lot of pressure to live up to, to be that girl that everyone wants her to be and be with who everyone else thinks she should be with. Her choosing to alter that course and untie herself from her predertimined destiny was refreshing and a point of strength for her character. She chose Pacey, she wanted Pacey and then, unfortunately, she got her heart crushed by him but she still wants what's best for him because honestly, Joey has become a pretty great friend and all around person. I hated her in the first season and a lot of the second but over the past few seasons she's become someone who is caring and considerate. I will admit that I do miss some of her snark but I appreciate that it was mostly reserved for characters that deserved it, like useless Drew. I know that this isn't going to last because we are about to enter the college years but for now, Joey is pretty great and seeing her achieve all the goals she wanted for herself, getting into the ivy leagues (even if it was a made-up one for the show) is still pretty great.

Dawson Leery

Our titular character started off the season being the villain and the writers seemed to have caught onto the fact that people hated him because I did notice a course correction midway through the season where they just made him more chill about the whole Pacey/Joey thing. Not to the point that they actually wrote in some sort of forgiveness between the two during the season but they just kind of hoped you wouldn't notice that the gang was hanging out and it's not a big deal anymore. He got together with Gretchen which, while weird at least shifted his focus away from being a murderer of love and chilled him a bit. Oh, I still dislike Dawson with a passion most uncomfortable for a fictional character but he definitely got significantly less annoying as the season went on. The problem is that he also got super boring and I just wanted all his scenes to be over with so we could get to the more interesting stuff with literally any other character. Well, not Drew. There, you're better than Drew, Dawson. Congratulations. Seeing him get everything he ever wanted honestly was just meh to me. It seemed odd to me that they'd have him get into USC while everyone else were going to Boston. I mean, I'd have absolutely no problem with Dawson going to California forever and the show focusing on the rest of the characters from here on out, which is actually sort of what happens, funnily enough. At first, but lets not spoil the fun that's to come. For this season, Dawson improved slightly which was pretty easy considering he put that bar so low, it descended into, at least the first circle of hell so literally anything would be better. He definitely didn't turn into the villain of the season, Drew usurped him there, so yay? I'm sorry to say that his film stuff continues to be the most boring thing about the show and I don't think it's getting any better from here. At least he made a documentary about an actual filmmaker instead of a rip off or something based on him and Joey, he's saving that for his college years. 

All in all, this season felt very long and very blah. I know some things happened this season but it still remains a fog of boredom for me. There wasn't a clear driving force through the whole season, it mostly felt like a plod to get them to graduate and everything ended up right back where we started in season 1 and no one wanted that. Ok, some people did but I certainly didn't. Ending this season on a Dawson/Joey kiss honestly just felt like someone made me sit through a season of misery and depression and then farted in my face. I wasn't even over the Pacey/Joey break up and you throw that at me? Seriously? Not cool. 

But, we are finally done and I skipped the glee recap for this week to get this out because I could think of nothing more poetic than starting a fresh new year with a fresh new season. Nay, a fresh revamp of the show because from here on out, you could essentially call the show Joey's Creek. Get the hell out Dawson, the writers have chosen their favourite and you are going to hear about it constantly for the next two seasons. We all are. Buckle up, have a Happy New Year and stay tuned for the college years, baby!