Dawson's Creek: That Was Then (6.16)

Appropriately for an episode bearing that title, this was mostly distracted by the idea of going home again and viewing past experiences from a present-day perspective. Joey and Pacey's resurrected feelings fold mostly into this, both characters still discussing whether or not they should really pursue anything together, the complications of their past relationship casting a major shadow over everything they have today. But there's a pleasant quality to these conversations; not burdened by over-analytical angst, instead being something smooth and relatable -- both of them deciding to step back and think it over before leaping in.

It's the events of the rest of the episode that launch them into a new perspective, however, that sweet ending with Joey calling Pacey and telling him that they really ought to feel it over together, instead of moving apart and trying to figure everything out separately. Gosh, I really like these two. It's also a crazily strong decision to let the show bow out with major couples getting back together or at least thinking about it, finally granting the show a narrative drive that has been mostly absent all year.

The middleground of the episode involves Pacey returning to Capeside to support his hospitalized father. There's nothing too surprising here, what with Pa Witter being all "I'm proud of you, son" for the first time in forever. You also feel for Doug, despite his outward whininess, especially with his everyday good qualities getting upstaged by Pacey's recent big-city success just because it's shiny and new and different. You at least understand where he's coming from.

Joey's subplot babysitting Harley isn't too strong, but I liked the parallels between Harley's sleazy boyfriend and the young Pacey. It at least allows Joey to gain a different perspective on the events of her teenage years, and separate them from what she has now, which was cool.

Finally, Dawson also made that trip to the past, visiting his old film class back at Capeside High and giving some rousing pep talk about making it in the real world. The mini-Dawson in this story was sporadically funny, but the final reunion with Pacey, in which he and Dawson bumped into each other and decided to hang out for a while, was a sweet closer to it all. I like that everything's coming together again, the show having rediscovered its identity. It's about damn time. B

Credits
Guest stars Roger Howarth (Professor Greg Hetson); Dylan Neal (Doug Witter); Lukas Behnken (George); Taylor Handley (Patrick); Mika Boorem (Harley Hetson); John Finn (Sheriff John Witter)
Writer Anna Fricke Director Perry Lang