Dawson's Creek: Merry Mayhem (6.10)

I remember liking the new environments of the college years at one point in time, but it sure is nice to return to Capeside every once in a while. With that in mind, it's disappointing that Merry Mayhem doesn't capitalize more on the 'original recipe Dawson's Creek' vibe, instead very much being swallowed by the various annoying Boston stories that the ensemble have been involved with of late, making the entire episode something of a missed opportunity. I have no idea why the show decided to drag Natasha and Todd and Audrey's boozing all the way back to the old Leery house, but it's another in a series of ridiculous storytelling decisions this year.

Another reason that the Audrey saga just isn't working is because there's almost too much self-awareness of her issues to be believable. Here she even states that everybody's been ignoring the fact that she's "screwed up", leading you to believe that she's pretty much faking her way through it to get attention. The major issue this week is Audrey's meltdown at the Christmas dinner, yelling at everybody, attempting to unearth old wounds and generally being obnoxious. She then proceeds to flee the house and plow Pacey's new car through the living room wall, because this storyline can't get more embarrassing. I'm at the point where Audrey has become such an ugly character that I can't bear seeing her on-screen anymore. The writers are wasting Busy Philipps and saddling her with appalling material that makes little sense. It's no wonder she didn't like her time on Dawson's Creek.

I hate to whine constantly, but the Natasha thing is on my last nerve, too. Whatever their perceived chemistry, it's way too early in her and Dawson's relationship to have her show up at the Leery house for the holidays, while the annoying conversations about cheating and "what [their] relationship means!" dragged on for about a century. Can she and Todd just vanish right now?

Capeside itself was about as wasted as Audrey here, if in slightly different ways. Did Bessie, Bodie and Grams even have any lines this week? And I wish there was more build-up to Mike Potter's sudden return to the family. The only element that seemed appropriately "vintage show" was that last scene between Joey and Dawson, where they try and move past their lack of speaking since their night together. There didn't seem to be anything romantic there, either, which was welcome. I should also add that I miss Jen. When she's not absent all-together, she's casually tossed in the background with little to do. It's strange that they're wasting Michelle Williams so badly.

So... yeah. This was more misery. Only made slightly worse because it could have been so much better, what with all the old regulars coming back and the cast all together in the same room. The show seemed to be reaching for an Appetite for Destruction tone at points, but this one lacked any of the warmth or interest. I hate seeing Dawson's Creek ending on a whimper. D

Credits
Guest stars Oliver Hudson (Eddie Doling); Nina Repeta (Bessie Potter); Obi Ndefo (Bodie Wells); Mary-Margaret Humes (Gale Leery); Dylan Neal (Doug Witter); Hal Ozsan (Todd Carr); Gareth Williams (Mike Potter); Bianca Kajlich (Natasha Kelly)
Writer Tom Kapinos Director David Petrarca