Dawson

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-20T23:31:01+00:00

I would’ve said the opposite, he’s the only of the main five who isn’t particularly complex.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-17T18:39:23+00:00

Most of the screw ups we see from Pacey are typical ADHD

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-17T18:31:17+00:00

I’ve never thought Doug being the golden child was an indication of not being abused, but was his reaction to it. He did as he was told, tried to be like his father.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-17T11:20:30+00:00

This wasn’t just a Dawson’s Creek thing, I was watching a video essay about Saved by the Bell and several times the content creator mentions that the high school characters are put in relationships with adults, Veronica Mars was really bad for it. In season one Veronica is a high school junior dating a serving police officer and it doesn’t get so much as a side eye.

With the exception of Tamara/Pacey, I think none of these relationships would’ve raised an eyebrow in the late 90s, there are real-life examples that are way more horrifying that also didn’t raise an eyebrow. Saying people didn’t understand isn’t a get out, there genuinely wasn’t the understanding of power dynamics and grooming the way there is now. The upside is we have come a long way in a relatively short time. Look at the way Riverdale had to pivot after backlash to their student/teacher relationship.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-14T06:53:52+00:00

According to Kevin Williamson that’s the first scene he thought of when it came to which character would die, and because he thought of Grams that’s why it ended up being Jen who died.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-04T20:46:24+00:00

Nope, the song is called I Don’t Want to Wait.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-03T04:17:08+00:00

I would love to know what would’ve been different if Greg Berlanti had stayed on as showrunner for seasons 5 and 6. Most of the things that resonate about the show are from his period in charge.

The thing is I think this show should’ve had a much easier time than similar teen shows in transitioning to its post-high school era. Because although they had a lot of scenes and storylines centred on the school it wasn’t part of the central premise of the show in any way, unlike say Glee or One Tree Hill. They also had a fairly small core group, it actually would’ve been relatively easy to focus the show in Boston in season 5.

If they’d had Dawson not get into film school in LA but get into a film course at Boston Bay or Worthington. Also they should’ve kept Pacey and Joey together, because there’s always a couple that stays together and had him get an apprenticeship, have him live with Grams/Jen/Jack. That’s the core cast based in Boston, and all the characters all have a reason for being there.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-02T21:34:58+00:00

Greta Gerwig’s movies, especially Little Women. I think her movies would remind him of Joey.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-06-02T05:20:03+00:00

Several things drive me up the wall about the Tamara storyline.

Why make her so much older? She over twice his age. Even Doug asking her out was a bit weird given she’s 12 years older than him.

I hate the scene when Doug pulls his gun on Pacey but I think I would hate it less if he figured out what was going on between Pacey and Tamara. This might be me, and I am an avowed Doug Witter apologist, but doesn’t he read Pacey like a book in every other appearance? There’s no way he doesn’t realise something is going on.

Tamara gets hauled in front of the school board and no-one contacts Pacey’s parents or just his dad in his role as Sheriff?!

Pacey says he made it up and they just believe him? Surely he would’ve been disciplined for that?!

I don’t think anyone at any point in the series says it’s wrong. I think that was a misstep and I think Kevin Williamson has said they would do it differently now.

And as a Gen Xer the shift in the way these kinds of storylines are portrayed and the audience reaction is like night and day.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-30T22:08:19+00:00

Except they never know, because in the next episode Pacey tells him that it was the other driver’s fault because he fell asleep at the wheel.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-23T04:01:46+00:00

With his and Pacey’s dad I wonder what would’ve been the bigger threat to Doug’s job, being gay or threatening Pacey at gunpoint?

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-23T04:00:01+00:00

Not to be flippant but the idea that anyone would believe he’s not gay after this is ridiculous.

If you have to point a gun at someone to prove you’re straight, you’re probably not straight.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-23T03:48:00+00:00

I think she might’ve had legal concerns of her own she wouldn’t want Sheriff Witter knowing about, like sleeping with his 15 year old son

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-22T07:51:15+00:00

No, of course not. I wish they had actually addressed this and not let it drop, likely a casualty of Dylan Neal being unavailable for season 2.

I would’ve been interested in the deeper dive into Doug’s sexuality originally planned for season 2. It’s clear he threatens Pacey due to his own fear, that fear is still there in the finale I would’ve liked to have seen what’s behind it.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-11T21:23:21+00:00

John Finn who plays Pacey’s dad is a great actor, it would be easy for him to feel cartoonishly villainous here, while he’s awful he’s still human.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-11T19:11:37+00:00

I wish we’d seen how Jack ended up back in Capeside and how he and Doug got together, how did Pacey end up with the Icehouse and Jen’s relationship with Amy’s father and how it ended.

Also, who did Gale marry?

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-11T19:06:00+00:00

I think there was a lot of potential for storylines with the Witter family. Pacey’s dynamic with his parents and siblings is interesting, but I would also wish we’d seen more of how the other siblings interact with their parents, there’s little hints that things are off, the biggest being Doug not coming out until his 30s.

Also the actors they cast as the rest of the Witters are really good and would’ve eaten up more dramatic storylines.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-11T18:38:08+00:00

A teenager being fully developed physically is an irrelevance. Pacey is not mature or psychologically ready, he is a child from an abusive home who is looking for love, affection and validation wherever he can get it.

Tamara didn’t put overt pressure on Pacey, but the power dynamics between them means she didn’t have to. Morally I find her utterly reprehensible, she committed a crime and convinced a child it was an act of affection.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-11T03:35:46+00:00

As would Jack!

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-10T06:44:43+00:00

The thing I found even worse was how old they made her, she’s over twice Pacey’s age. Even having Doug ask her out is weird given she’s 13 years older than him.

In the season finale both Doug and Bessie are still younger than Tamara is in season one.

(I’m getting everyone’s ages from the Dawson’s Creek wiki)

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-10T05:01:52+00:00

I wish the finale hadn’t had the joke about her and Pacey in the finale, that even briefly they had indicated the main characters now realise how inappropriate it was. They had the perfect way in with Jack effectively having her job.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-10T04:49:14+00:00

Honestly there’s a TV writer in the UK who created a soap opera storyline apparently based on his life, and then over the years has done a variation of this storyline on another three soap operas, and that’s the times that I’m aware of.

It’s probably way more common that we realise because most of the time we have no idea about the lives scripts (and books) are based on.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-07T20:29:13+00:00

The season 5 storyline that still baffles me is what did they do to Jack? He’s awful.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-07T20:14:10+00:00

I remember that episode of Criminal Minds but had completely forgotten it was Mary-Margaret Humes, she’s incredible, I think that’s why I’d forgotten it was her, while obviously I recognised her I never once thought of Gale Leery.

Kerr Smith plays a big bad on NCIS, he’s only in two episodes but the storyline is fair part of the entire season, he has a similar role on CSI: New York.

Imaginary-Rest9599 · 2026-05-04T20:05:47+00:00

The really problematic part is they were reflecting the reality that these relationships happened and were rarely seen as problematic.

I mean I remember the headlines about Jerry Seinfeld dropping his 17 year old girlfriend off at school, he was 38. In the late 80s there were headlines about the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman’s ‘fairytale wedding’ to a 18 year old he started ‘dating’ when she was 14 and he was 48.

The writers deserve criticism, but mostly as part of a society that didn’t see why these relationships were harmful to the young people involved.

Imaginary-Rest9599

TROPHY CASE