Dawson's Creek: The Kiss (2.1)

Now that they're an actual couple, I can't help but see Dawson and Joey as a little incestuous. Their romance is definitely being pushed as something romantic and finite, but it really feels like the love shared between them is unevenly balanced. We've seen Joey pine over Dawson for the last thirteen episodes, while Dawson's sexual attraction to her seems a lot more new and, as a result, sort of mystifying. Dawson has never been a character we can entirely root for, but as The Kiss stumbles into that new area where the two of them are actually on the same page (romantically), Dawson appears more and more like somebody who's jumped on board rather than someone who actually feels something strong for her.

But here I go again, pushing my Dawson hate. The Kiss is actually a wonderful season premiere, picking things up straight from where we left them but easing into a new year with a real confidence and drive that has attached itself to every member of the ensemble. Dawson and Joey are troubling as a couple, but I liked that the show seems to be running with them in this form, instead of immediately tearing them apart as the teaser sequence began to imply. They're obviously people prone to annoying self-analysis, but so far that doesn't seem to be harming them.

Jen has entered her 'basket case' phase, devastated over her Gramps' death and even more saddened when she realizes that Dawson has finally moved on. There's an awkward undercurrent to almost all of her scenes here, in particular when she unknowingly becomes a third wheel during Dawson and Joey's date, and after when she launches into an elaborate screaming match with Dawson in the middle of the Rialto. She's becomingly increasingly nuts, but you can completely understand her hurt. And shame on Dawson and Joey for not telling her about their relationship, instead deciding to make things even more uncomfortable for her at a later time. Ugh.

Pacey is elsewhere, but an elsewhere that doesn't feel as ugly as his fling with Tamara last year. Andie McPhee, the Andrea Zuckerman of Dawson's Creek, crashes into the show practically holding a neon sign reading 'new love interest', but her biting humor and penchant for flirtatious mind games makes her an interesting foil for Pacey, and the two of them undoubtedly have chemistry. At the same time, a squishy-cheeked Ali Larter appears as a hottie cheerleader, and Pacey sports some distracting blonde highlights. Maybe it's just my Urban Legend goodwill speaking, but do they really look that terrible?

Mom and Pop Leery have unfortunately stumbled into '90210 Parents' territory with a storyline that is entirely removed from everything else on the show, so much that they don't even share scenes with any of the other cast here. What I liked about the affair story last season is that it directly impacted Joey, and both characters only really work when the kids are involved, too. But I guess that sort of bogs down the young characters as a result. Eh. Maybe it's a lose-lose situation.

The Kiss steam-rolls through its various subplots and character points with breezy efficiency, setting up a strong second season. There are still strange plotholes (would Grams really have a fondness for The Last Picture Show -- with its rampant teen sex, orgies and infidelities?), but nothing similar to some of the contrived insanity that plagued the second half of last season. A

Credits
Guest stars Meredith Monroe (Andie McPhee); Ali Larter (Kristy Livingstone)
Writer Jon Harmon Feldman Director David Semel