Original air date: April 17, 2002
It's the 100th episode of Dawson's Creek! To celebrate, our gang are heading to Florida for spring break, baby. Shenanigans and, of course, drama ensue. Let's see how they handle it all, shall we?
We start the episode with Dawson and Joey so they seem to be trying to go back to some of their roots in these past few episodes and I think it's actually to the show's detriment. I was really liking where they were going with this season and them imploding everything in favour of getting these two together again feels destructive and counterproductive. I also really hate their exchange which could be partly my bias against all things Dawson and Joey but hear me out here.
Joey is complaining about how spring break is some big hunting event where drunk college guys take advantage of drunk college girls and Dawson laughs her off and says that girls do have a choice and I feel like both of them are missing the point. All college kids like to let loose and have fun but there is a large and heavily marketed edge of toxic masculinity involved in spring break where in it's reinforced that women are nothing but targets for men's good times. It's almost reinforced that men have to seek sex and that if you want to be seen as a cool chick you should be there for men's amusement. I'm not saying that women don't also want sex as well but I think a lot of women are ill prepared for what to expect when they get there. They think show up, drink, act wild and have a little fun, men see this and think they're owed sex and can get aggressive if denied. Promises are made to both parties that often aren't fulfilled in a great way. I hope I'm explaining this well because spring break in the wild MTV, girls gone wild vein is not something I ever had an interest in partaking in.
Back to the story, Joey then congratulates Dawson on his big Hollywood meeting in New York where an agent wants to talk to them about their movie. She's being a good friend, talking him up and telling him that he needs to be happy about this instead of self-depricating. I like this but then Joey mentions that Mitch would have gotten a kick out of this which is nice until she tells him that he's had such a bad year and yet everything worked out for him. I can't speak for everyone but please, I beg you, never tell me this when I've lost a loved one. I don't want to hear that everything worked out after my loved one died. I'd rather have my loved one back. Please and thank you. I do like that Dawson finally truly acknowledges how much he hurt Joey during that time. It's not a lot, it's too quick, and Joey quickly brushes it away as nothing but at least they gave us a tiny glimpse of remorse on Dawson's part. They say their goodbyes and bemoan the fact that they're soulmates but can never get the timing right and we cut to the opening credits. I've probably gushed over this enough but I super appreciate Paula Cole for redoing the theme song because so much of what this show was is caught up in I Don't Want to Wait and it just takes me back to the cozy time I was first watching this show as a teenager growing with the characters. It hits me right in the nostalgia.
After our reinstated perfect theme song, we cut to Dawson and Oliver driving to New York. Oliver asks what Dawson is thinking about but Dawson won't tell him until Oliver starts singing really annoyingly. Dawson admits he's thinking about Joey and Oliver asks what the story is with that but Dawson says it's super long. Oliver points out that they're both trapped in a car with nothing else to do so Dawson begins to recount his epic love story with Joey via sepia toned flashbacks to the very first episode of Dawson's Creek. I kind of like this. You know, it's a clip show but it's not an overbearing super annoying clip show. It just gives us a peak at where they started. I appreciate that. These clips are of Joey complaining to Dawson that they can't have sleepovers anymore because of their burgeoning hormones. Good times.
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| I kind of love that in the grand tale of Dawson and Joey's love, they include clips of him ignoring Joey at a dance to stare at Jen. Soulmates. |
Joey is reading on the beach because she's #NotLikeOtherGirls. Audrey screams at her from up on a deck but it amounts to nothing because Pacey grabs her and pulls her into a bedroom where they proceed to talk about how much they love the bed and then whether or not their parents know about each other. Pacey says his don't and Audrey confirms that hers don't either.
Outside the house, Joey and Jen are looking for Jack and Joey finds him up on the patio roof. He's talking on the phone and quickly gets off but won't reveal who he was talking to. The girls ask if he wants to rock, paper, scissors for the waterbed room but Jack isn't interested because he's going to the store to get alcohol. The girls ask if he can get yogurt but he rudely says that he's only getting alcohol. The girls kind of laugh nervously but Jen asks if he'll pick up cold medicine for her if she gives him money and he seems to only reluctantly agree. Poor Jack is just slowly turning into the biggest asshole on the show, effectively usurping Dawson.
As Jen and Jack leave, Joey gets a phonecall from the worst person that this show is trying to pretend will be an epic love story for Joey. That's right, it's Charlie and he wants to know where she is. Joey isn't going to tell him but he still thinks she's flirting. This is an insanely dangerous storyline for the writers to push because there are so many guys that think back to things like this and thinking they're hearing flirting when a woman is saying NO, GO AWAY! And do you know what happens? The original ending of Dawson's shitty movie happens because the guy realizes that he's not getting anywhere with the girl and gets frustrated that he didn't get the trophy he was promised for "persistence". If you can't tell, I hate this storyline.
The gang are all sitting on the deck of the house now and looking decidedly not like crazy spring breakers. They talk about getting pizza or renting movies which sounds exactly like my idea of a good time but then Pacey suggests strip poker and when the girls protest he says he's seen them all naked before which is rude. I'm disappointed in you, Pacey but I still love you. They see a guy walking up the beach towards the house and they all wonder if they know him and if so, where from. I look too and I'm like it's just some guy? Jen thinks it's Chris Hartley a teen heart throb in Dawson's Creek land only mentioned just today. He's literally just a guy but pretend he's famous and our gang is meeting a celebrity.
Chris seems to know Audrey already and she looks awkward but gets up to greet him and they hug. The gang are all taken aback by the hug. She explains that they went to high school together. She asks what he's doing here and he tells them about a concert that MTV is sponsoring featuring M2M which is a real band from Norway and yes I looked it up. My music knowledge is not great, except in specific circumstances. Jen knows all about them and he invites them all to come. Audrey tries to peace out of the plan but everyone else really wants to go so she's stuck going too.
Pacey asks if he's one of the 5 guys that Audrey has slept with and she denies it and sends him off so she can talk to Joey. She confesses to Joey that Chris and her used to date. Joey asks why she lied and she gives the same excuse she gave the last time she lied to Pacey about her number of guys she slept with. They're figuring this out, it might make him weird, etc, etc, etc... I used to think I was ok with Audrey and Pacey but I'm really disliking this relationship on rewatch. I thought it was just because I was an avid Pacephine/Pandie lover but nope. It's because this relationship is toxic dogshit. I get that characters lie for drama on these shows but that seems to be all these two do and she's constantly testing him and I just don't like it. They're written horribly together.
Joey is left alone where she gets another call from Charlie. He's still trying to track her down so Joey asks how it's going and oops, he's right there already. CREEPY! No! Never do this. Yes, it works out here because we see that Joey likes him even when she's telling him she doesn't but this is just plain creepy behaviour in real life. If someone does not tell you where they are staying? Stay the hell away. Of course, this is supposed to be romantic so I guess this is good for Joey or some junk.
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| My alt text for this picture is a way more accurate description than what we're actually supposed to swallow in this show. This shit needs to stop being romanticized |
At the concert, Pacey is getting hit on by a woman and he is politely declining her offers. She tells him to wait right there because she has to do something and then Pacey makes a comment about how some women don't take no for an answer and asks who she thinks she is. Surprise! It's Marion from the band M2M and she's left to go sing her song. They actually seem to have kept this in which is nice. It gives me hope for the No Doubt episode.
Joey asks Charlie if he's a stalker now but he thinks he's just doggedly persistent which again, horrible message for the writers to be sending. Don't like this whole ship at all. Joey storms off, seemingly upset but of course she isn't actually because she, for some reason likes him. She at least has the common decency to ask how the hell he found her but we don't get to hear the explanation yet.
Chris is talking to Audrey about how much he misses her and wants to talk but Audrey awkwards out of it by saying she needs a drink. She then runs right into Pacey who asks if she's ok. She tells him she is but walks away from him too.
Charlie tells Joey that he tracked down the number by calling all the Liddell's in Florida and asking if they had a daughter named Audrey. Only one did and he told them he was her lab partner and needed his notes back so they gave him the phone number to their house. He then called 411 and tracked the number to the house which is all kinds of creepy but it turns out that none of this is true because he just asked Pacey.
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| Goddamnit, Pacey! How could you betray us like this? |
Joey is more impressed by the truth since Pacey is her ex and they had that bad roadtrip together. She thinks it took balls to call him but no, I think Pacey is a shitty friend for telling Charlie. Look, Joey said she didn't want Charlie here, I don't care how she's acting now, that should have been respected. Joey is still in flirt mode but is doing a really dumb, playing it cool thing by saying she probably won't hang out with him. Does this tactic actually work in real life?
In a bathroom, Pacey and Chris run into each other and Pacey thanks him for the free tickets. Chris is happy everyone's enjoying themselves but quickly turns the conversation over to how beautiful and funny Audrey is. Pacey asks if he had a crush on her in high school and Chris says they dated for 2 years so Audrey's lie is already blown. To add insult to injury, Chris takes Pacey's not knowing as a cue that he and Audrey are not a thing and is super relieved. Pacey quickly excuses himself without correcting Chris.
Joey finds Charlie hitting on a random girl at the concert. So, you know, this really bodes well for him not dicking Joey around, right? I mean, at least he took the hint and is moving on but Joey is going to put a stop to that right away because she isn't done with his attention yet. She tells the girl that he's the little kid from Hanson all grown up and the girl flees saying it would be embarrassing to hook up with him. Look, Hanson got a bad rap, I made fun of Hanson back in the day too but they're a fun poppy band and put out some good music when they got older. It's weird how much we all decided we hated children who just seemed to really enjoy making music. Why do we do that? As a society? Like we tell kids not to bully but then the entire world bullies a group of young kids for loving and being successful at music. I'm going to try to do better moving forward but I do find it fascinating what we're capable of doing without even really thinking it through, you know?
We cut over to sepia toned flashbacks again. This time from the time that Mitch died and Dawson was basically blaming Joey for it. Then we segue to Oliver with teary eyes over all the melodrama. Dawson even laughs at his reaction to the story. Oliver wants to know how it ends but Dawson says it doesn't so Oliver asks how he wants it to end. Dawson doesn't know but he wants Joey to be happy. Oilver thinks that's boring and that it should end with her thinking he's just some bum on the street and then he runs after her and gets hit by a bus. You know, I'm starting to like Oliver. Team Oliver. Dawson thinks Oliver sucks at endings but agrees to tell more since Oliver lives for sappy stories.
Joey is now talking to a guy when Charlie comes up and torches it so I guess these guys are just going to perpetually refuse to get together while also torching the other's chances at better hook ups/relationships? Cool. This doesn't suck at all. They keep bantering after the guy leaves and Jen spots them talking. Oddly enough she doesn't have much of a reaction. Jack walks up to her and is clearly drunk and has entered their names in a raffle to win a timeshare in Miami. He's all excited and hollering but Jen starts hacking up a lung so he asks if she's ok.
Pacey confronts Audrey about lying. She apologizes but didn't want to get bombarded with a million questions. Pacey doesn't think it would have been an issue if she'd just told the truth. Like, he flat out asked her and she said no. Now not only did she date him but he's one of the 5 she had sex with. On top of that knowledge, Audrey also throws out that he's basically her Dawson which is the absolute wrong thing to say to Pacey. I feel like Audrey should have known this. Pacey lashes out at her, saying that he's not upset because they were never serious to begin with and they were just having fun which makes Audrey upset and she storms off. They both acted wrong but I'm wondering what she expected his reaction to be after saying that some other guy is her Dawson. Was he supposed to be supportive? Because she basically told him the same thing he told her, that she didn't see him as the one.
The next day, Pacey and Joey are talking about what happened. Pacey thinks he did the right thing by ditching the whole relationship and not playing second fiddle to some supposed soul mate. I actually agree with him here. He doesn't want a repeat of the past where he dives in to a love triangle and loses the girl anyway. Joey points out that she also had a Dawson and she's not with him today but that's stupid because she already tried to get back together with him this very season. Actually, right after she broke up with Pacey. So, he's kind of right to be skeptical about this whole thing. Joey thinks that he wants to be with Audrey and that they should both give it a chance because they might fall in love. They see Charlie walk by with a surf board and Pacey asks her if she'll take her own advice. He points out how much she seems to like Charlie but she doesn't think anything serious will come of it. So, Pacey says she should just focus on now and go find out. Um, I think we already know what a scumbag he is? Because of what happened to Jen? Are we all pretending that the way he treated Jen is fine now? Because I am not joining in on that. I will die on this hill and I think it's extremely scummy of them all to push Joey towards Charlie without thinking of Jen's feelings at all.
We're in sepia toned memory land of the airport scene where Joey first gets Dawson to stay in Boston instead of going to California for his school. Then we transition to Dawson and Oliver at a gas station. Oliver is completely taken with Dawson and Joey's epic love story and thinks Dawson wants to skip their important meeting and go on to Florida instead. I don't understand how the timelines are matching up. How long does it take to get from Boston to New York? It should only take them 4-ish hours according to Siri. Now let's say they are half way there. They now want to go all the way down to Florida by car. Let's see how long Siri says that takes: Boston to Miami: 22-ish hours, from New York City to Miami is roughly 19 hours. So, they could have and should have gone to the meeting and then driven down to Florida. Because they should have been to New York City within the first day of driving. I'm guessing the rest of the gang flew to Florida because they've been there the whole episode pretty much but the way this episode is cut it feels like Dawson and Oliver have been driving for days. None of this makes sense. Sorry to get hung up on something so trivial but this was all bugging me. There didn't need to be a choice here. Spring Break is all week. They could easily have done the meeting and headed out from New York and just driven like mad men in shifts until they got to Florida.
Anyway, Dawson thinks that's a dumb idea which is good. We really don't need him to torch his entire life for Joey again. We saw how well that played out earlier this very season. Oliver keeps trying to tell him to put himself out there though so I guess I'm done being team Oliver. Dawson feels like he doesn't have the right because he pushed her away and she moved on. Yes, good Dawson. You are learning from your shitty behaviour. But Oliver basically goes "Come on..." and Dawson agrees so they're going to skip a really cool opportunity to beat the soulmates thing to death again. Neat.
We next get a really boring montage between Joey and Charlie who is now teaching her how to surf. He falls off the surf board but it's really poorly acted so it just looks like he flopped over on purpose. He wasn't even standing, he was on all fours, I don't even know how he managed to fall like that. It makes Joey laugh though and he chases her around.
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| He falls so he's adorkable and safe now. The writers swear it. |
Jen and Jack are outside talking. Apparently, Jack got so drunk that instead of him taking care of Jen, who is sick, she had to carry him to bed the other night. She thinks he's drinking to forget something and asks if he wants to talk and this feels very much like something that was supposed to be focused on more during the frat thing but got dropped because I thought they resolved their issues but here Jack is being pissy to Jen again. Jack doesn't want to hear her give him a PSA on undergrad drinking but Jen clarifies that she just wants to know if he needs to talk about anything. Jack denies needing to and leaves.
Joey comes in and I'm sorry but I hate this entire scene so I'm probably going to rant a lot. Jen comments on how Joey looks glow-y and she tells Jen that she's been learning to surf. Jen thinks it's cool until Joey finally let's it slip that Charlie is the one that was teaching her. Jen looks taken aback and maybe even a little hurt so Joey asks if it's ok with her. Jen says it is but she doesn't understand why Joey would want to waste her time and like, yeah that's what I've been saying. Joey immediately gets defensive and says she's going to trust her own instincts so Jen asks what they're telling her. Joey says that they're telling her not to trust Jen to advise her in this situation. No, Joey, Jen is exactly who you want to trust in this situation. Where did the Joey go that was concerned about this happening to Jen and called Charlie out on his bullshit? I liked her better. This Joey is a rude bitch and I hate it because I just want Jen and Joey to be friends, they were working so well together as friends earlier this season and I feel like this is going to make the writers just not have them be there for each other anymore and I don't like it. Jen clarifies that she doesn't want Joey to get hurt and Joey shoots back that Jen didn't seem to care about her feelings when she slept with Dawson.
Ok, I know what they're trying to do here but for real, I don't think it's the same thing at all. For starters, why does she have no anger for Dawson? We already saw in this very episode that she doesn't blame Dawson one little bit for how he treated her. So, how can she put blame on Jen? Dawson was a willing participant too and he's the one that outright rejected Joey and blamed her for his father's death so how is Joey out here thinking Jen is a bad friend? You're never fully in control of who you fall for but I guess my issue is that the way Joey is behaving makes me think she's doing this specifically to hurt Joey when Jen was portrayed as actually falling for Dawson. And I think this scene is bound to make you see it my way in the very next episode but I'm telling you these two scenarios are not the same. Joey can go for Charlie if she wants but Jen is right to be concerned and I don't see why Joey is being this pissy when she knows damn well why Jen would be concerned. Like he was basically using Jen as a booty call without her knowledge and Joey has the gall to make a comment that she's jealous? Ew. No Joey. We've officially entered I Hate Joey Now territory. Or is that again? I was pretty harsh on Joey in the first couple of seasons but my god does she reignite my flames of hatred with gusto.
Charlie enters so Jen peaces out and I really can't blame her. The fact that this asshat has the nerve to show his face in this friend group and everyone is also accepting him is such a slap in the face to Jen. I hate it. Joey wants to get out of the house so she gets Charlie to take her.
Chris finds Audrey outside and immediately tells her how much he misses her and how beautiful she is. She jokes that he could have whoever he wants right now but Chris wishes they could just be in high school again because things were easier. Word. You never appreciate how good you have it when you're a kid living with your parents. And guess what, Chris? It only gets worse as you get older. Mo' Age, Mo' Problems. Audrey gets it too and they kiss, much to a crushed Pacey's disappointment.
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| He even brought her a flower |
Meanwhile, Joey and Charlie are on the beach together and he's trying to set up a tent. They joke around a bit and he goes to kiss her. Joey seems to have come to her senses and turns away. She says she doesn't actually know anything about him and everything she does know is bad. She goes to leave but Charlie stops her and admits that he was terrible to Jen but that people make mistakes and hurt people but it shouldn't define who he is. Garbage. That's a garbage take. I'm not saying that if you do one bad thing, you're spoiled forever, but I am saying that people have the right to be wary of trusting you once you have done a really bad thing. Like, Charlie didn't make an oopsie, he very deliberately led Jen on. She accused him of cheating and he had the nerve to act like she was crazy and irrational. He gaslit her, is what I'm saying and he did it because he wanted his cake and to eat it to. That is not a minor mistake, that is not even accidentally hurting someone, he very callously and deliberately led two women on without their knowledge and when called out, he tried to parlay that into a threesome. This guy is scum and I'm both mad that the writers are trying to excuse it and mad that they're also saying that Joey is so special that she's changing him. She's not, and it's not her job to. He doesn't seem to understand the extent of what he did to Jen and that spells trouble for Joey down the line even if he even thinks he's changing because what it really is to him, what this truly is (even if the writers want us to believe he's genuine now), is a challenge. Charlie views women as conquests and Joey is playing hard to get but he knows he can get her if he just tries hard enough and the minute he does get her, he's probably going to get bored really fast and go out to the next challenge. You'll note that Jen also did the hard to get routine at first, how well did that work out for her?
Dawson has finally arrived in Florida and pulls up to Audrey's house at night. He gets out of the car, leaving Oliver asleep in the passenger seat and finds Jack standing on the patio roof again. Jack is all excited and very drunk. Dawson tells him to be careful and Jack says he'll come down only to lean forward and fall face first into the pool. Dawson dives in to get him out.
We fade out but fade back in to Dawson getting Jack some dry clothes as Jack is wrapped up in a blanket. Jack thinks he's messed up his whole life. Dawson tries to comfort him but Jack just wishes there was a rewind button on his life. Oh man, don't we all. The shitty thing about life is there are no repeats, no second chances, you are just on play constantly with no breaks and you're expected to make all the right decisions all the time and it's just impossible. I really feel for Jack in this moment, even if he's been a jerk most of this season. I get how he feels hopeless and trapped and like he's fucked his entire life up but while we can't go back we can learn from our mistakes and move forward with better tools to help us. Jack then reveals that he called Tobey and he's totally moved on and is touring with this cool band, Semisonic...I'm sorry I had to! I'll stop. Tobey did move on though and with a new boyfriend too. Jack wishes he could take it all back so I guess Tobey got that moment from Jack he was hoping for, just way too late for them to keep going as a couple. Jack cries about how much he wishes he could start over and Dawson continues his tradition of being utterly useless at dealing with or helping people who are upset.
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| So...uh you going to be doing this for long or can I just leave? |
Pacey confronts Audrey who immediately tries to tell him about the kiss but Pacey finishes her thought before she can say it. Audrey is like what the hell? Pacey tells her that he had her tracked but instead of being weirded out Audrey takes this as a sign he cares which doesn't track with how they've been talking about their relationship. I feel like...they were already fairly decidedly uncasual and that the past few episodes have all been them kind of going "WE'RE CASUAL!" but then realizing they want more and I'm over it. I was never under it to begin with but I am decidedly over it regardless. Anyway, Pacey asks Audrey to be his girlfriend and she agrees so they kiss. I have never been this not invested in a Pacey storyline. This feels so unnatural.
Pacey finds Dawson in the kitchen but doesn't look super shocked to see him. Dawson wants to find Joey and Pacey immediately tells him it's a bad idea. This is good but it feels weird that Pacey would ever think Charlie was a good idea. Dawson is determined and feels like he's been led here by fate and that it's their time to shine but Pacey breaks the news that Joey is out with Charlie, crushing Dawson's hopes and dreams which, even though he's slightly improved himself this season, still gives me an unhealthy satisfaction.
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| Sorry not sorry |
Joey and Charlie are all cozy inside of his tent which he ended up building inside of Audrey's house instead of outside. They are chatting and Joey is telling him all kinds of stories and he's actually listening and hasn't tried to kiss her. I'm not impressed, this is just Charlie is trying to prove how much he's changed. I feel like he did similar things with Jen though. He gives me Pick Up Artist vibes all the time. Joey falls for it though and kisses him.
We cut back to Dawson staring out at the ocean waves sadly, knowing that he travelled all this way, cancelling a life-changing meeting, all for Joey again and once again has been kicked in the balls. I can't feel sad for him though because he did this to himself.
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| You're never going to get the girl, Dawson |
That was the 100th episode of Dawson's Creek. It feels a little lackluster for such a big landmark not that a show has to go all out for their hundredth episode but I suppose they did have them on Spring Break and going to a big MTV concert. I really am not in a party scene so I don't know if maybe this was a super big deal and they actually did film at an MTV concert and that's why we got a little cameo by M2M and maybe Pacey appears in the MTV video for this event? Not sure but either way it felt out of place and I'm still hating the stories the writers are pushing right now. It's still decent but they've definitely lost some magic or whatever it was that was working for me at the start of this season. Next up is Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).
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