Reviewing Movies

As I continue my Dawson's Creek Marathon into Season 2 after the
predictable cliffhanger ending of Season 1 the memories come flooding
back. James Van Der Beek's Head still looks too big for the rest of him,
it may just be the camera angles but.... His father gets to show off a
rather hunky physique but the first of the more youthful characters to
appear in the raw is Jack Mac Phee played by the 26-year-old Kerr Smith
who poses in the nude for Joey to show off a well developed set of pecs.
Despite the actor's age it is never made clear whether he's Andy's
younger or older brother or explained why they are in the same grade.

Something else that dates this show in the late 90ies is the clothing
styles. Fashion lifts and drops hemlines and necklines on a regular
basis. Men's jeans shrink to second skin status and billow, as in this
show, to widths that make Pacey discussing the look of his butt
laughable. Dawson could fit in his jeans twice over. I suppose I should
just be thankful that ripped and open-kneed jeans weren't in fashion.
Dawson, in fact doesn't seem to wear blue-jeans, Jack does, painter
pants were all the rage.

Pacey Witter's Father never appears on the show though Pacey shows up
frequently driving his police chief Father's cruiser. We do get to meet
his brother, deputy Doug who is pejoratively referred to as gay. The
dialogue in this show continues to be as filled with multi-syllable
words as my own writing. I find it amusing that although the perspective
actors reading for Dawson's casting call comment on the fact that the
romantic leads in his movie script never get to do the big nasty; they
do not comment on the rather erudite language he puts in their mouths.

On the other hand the night Dawson learns of his parent's impending
divorce he heads next door to jump into Jen's loving arms for
consolation and more. While Jen comes close to deflowering the virgin
Dawson Gran is remarkably absent from the scene--at Bible Study? On the
same night Jack and Joey get it on as well but surprisingly Pacey plays
the gentleman and demurs at scoring a home run with Andy. Of course next
episode we learn that we were fooled and the scoreboard was reversed.

Another blast from the past appears in the person of Jason Behr as
Chris, the letterman who teams up with Abby, the Mata Hari of Capeside
High. You may remember him as Max, the Jeep-Driving Outlander from the
series Roswell.

I really don't remember this show. Pacey's father shows up for a
Father-Son Fishing derby the sole purpose of which seems to be to prove
that pops is truly as demeaning and unsupportive of his son as the lad
claims. In a later episode we get to meet the dead Tim MacPhee who
haunts his troubled sister. Small towns can be a drag, especially when
they have one fancy restaurant. Dawson finds his Father ensconced with
one of his teachers when he shows up with Joey, things get really
complicated when his Mother shows up with Jen. Bad enough that pops is
the new English teacher.

As the budget for this show increases so does the number of secondary
characters. Joey's sister's black boyfriend seems to disappear from view
but her Father reappears, then recidifies back to prison. Pacey's father
shows up and, at the beginning of Season 3 Jenn's Mother makes a
showing. To add variety more extras are inserted into the storylines.

Whereas this series follows an ongoing arc there are glaring lacks of
continuity. For a dreamy lad one would think to be more a lover than a
fighter Dawson seems to be quick with his fists. He's also made to
appear to throw a rather potent punch. The number of times he and Pacey
trade punches it would seem that using one another as punching bags
lacks much meaning. Especially when they get black eyes one night but
appear unscathed the next morning.

Forget that Dawson's bedroom is a setting his on again/off again
girlfriend enters via a ladder at all hours these sixteen-year-olds
treat Capeside like an extended family. They sleep over and drop in for
meals at a whim with nary a by your leave from their parents. Never once
is anyone seen to phone home for permission.

During its 6 year run a who's who of young actors cycled through the
program. Robin Dunne shows up as Joey's guide to Boston Campus. Lee
Norris, Mouth on One Tree Hill, shows up as an actor in a school play.

Technology tends to date TV Series. Since we'd expect Dawson to be using
the latest in hi tech this series takes place before the development of
DVDs. He even works with Betamax. Something else that dates a show is
the appearance of bulky cathode ray tubes for computer displays rather
than the compact LCD Screens. It's scary how fast technology is changing.

Love triangles are older than Greek Tragedy. In the fires of spring we
tend to think in terms of right and wrong, black and white, while too
often the reality is grey. Take two boys, Pacey and Dawson, best friends
who have known each other all their lives and add a girl, Joey. What
once was tomboy behaviour and innocent friendship takes on a different
cast at the onset of puberty. Throw in developing male egos and
testosterone and a potent mix develops. Asking your best friend to look
after your girl is another plot device in tragedies. As is the girl who
wants to have her cake and eat it too with the result that she hurts
both lovers turning friends into rivals for her affection.

Using a ride along with Deputy Doug, a soccer team including parents,
and servitude to Brooks; Pacey, Jack, and Dawson pull off the perfect
crime and pin it all on Drew. Payback, as they say, is a bitch. Well
there was a dog involved. The actor who played Jack and Andy's Father
dropped dead on the tennis court of a heart attack at 55 in real life.
Aside from a memorial screen the character disappears from the show.

As season 4 winds down the crew are about to graduate highschool. With
the gang spreading to different universities at opposite ends of the
country Season 5 will be different in many ways. While the rest of the
gang suffer the predictable angst over leaving home and becoming little
fish in big ponds Pacey is coming face to face with the fruits of his
wayward ways. Not only does he have no chance of getting into any
university, he may not even graduate highschool with his peers.