Showing posts with label
Dawson's Creek reviews: Season 6.
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Showing posts with label
Dawson's Creek reviews: Season 6.
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I had my own Joey. Or my own Dawson, depending on which one you think is the bigger tool. Heh. It was one of those things that started off young, was founded in a real friendship, and occasionally went deeper. And because you're young and you're trying to understand love and emotion, you naturally fall into a sort of romance. Because isn't that just what people do when they like each other? But no matter how far each 'blip' went, it always ended with hurt feelings or disillusionment. We still hung out as friends a lot, even if there was always that undercurrent of 'maybe', or 'what if...?'; but, in the end, as much as we always thought that the problem was that little hint of sexual chemistry, it turned out to be something far less romantic that pushed us apart. In essence, those teenage years are always the turning point, the years where you evolve the most and rapidly become the person you want to be as an adult, and with those mutual changes came differences between us as people. The person I knew, and the person she saw in me, became alien and different and unappealing, and that longing to remain friends despite our shared history sort of dissipated. So we were done.
I can't help but groan a little whenever a TV show jumps into the future, since it so often feels unearned and somewhat unnecessary -- more an attempt to hook new viewers or promote a derivative 'game-changer' that has little effect long-term. But it actually sort of works for this show's series finale. As a show, Dawson's Creek has been almost unbearably suffocating at times, characters so consumed with emotional longing and repeatedly reminiscing about shared histories and romantic false-starts that it all got a little nuts a long time ago. But what All Good Things... does so well is create a necessary bridge in time for the show's ensemble, allowing them all to have grown up and moved on in the five years since we last saw them. As a result, the emotions that would ordinarily feel angsty and irritating feel slightly less frantic -- feelings smoothed out over time instead of being fresh and impulsive. There's a maturity here that carries the episode, and it's one of the more successful uses of a now-standard TV gimmick.
It's funny how much of this episode feels like a TV show, particularly whenever the writers explore Dawson and Pacey's friendship, or lack thereof. One of the key missions here is to get the two of them back on speaking terms, talking about their recent lack of communication and the way their friendship flew off the rails right around the time Pacey shacked up with Joey and how it's never truly recovered. But what really sticks out at you is that the show positions that friendship as something worth saving, or at least worthy of considerable attention. Because isn't it true that most people wind up losing contact with those you knew in high school? Even the people you were closest to? People evolve, circumstances change, communication drifts. And despite the ridiculousness of so much of this show in general, it's the way these kids are so fixated with the past that most easily throws you off.
I guess it's only right to end Dawson's Creek with Dawson acting like a horrendous jackass once again. There seemed to be real attempts over seasons four and five to make him sort of relatable and endearing, but the way he's been removed so heavily from season six probably ensured that nobody on set was particularly invested in making him a good person anymore. I gather that Dawson's absences this year were at James Van Der Beek's own request, but it has this unforeseen consequence wherein you don't care a whole lot about his movie or all the money he's lost. He just comes off like a ghost from the past, somebody who sits in the background assuming things will fall into his lap and becoming aggressive if they don't. Snore.
This is an episode designed to bring everything to a close. With time running out and the writers seemingly intending to make the last run of episodes more intimate, anchored by the regulars we know and love, it makes sense to shut down all the assy subplots that have bugged for most of the year. So, goodbye Oliver. Goodbye Dana Ashbrook and all your money. Goodbye Sarah Shahi. Bye Professor Hetson, who had more personalities than Raising Cain. Bye sweet, confident David, presumably about to run into the arms of a guy who isn't bogged down by angst and sexual dysfunction. But damn you Jensen Ackles for not departing the show this week and insisting on sticking around long after your presence became a huge drag! Gah.
I remember it being around, but I never actually saw Loveline, MTV's half-hearted teen advice show that birthed the opportunistic fame-whore that is Dr. Drew Pinsky. Based on this episode, the second commercial endorsement disguised as a regular Dawson's Creek hour this season, I'm glad it stayed off my radar. Dr. Drew is all about the inappropriate questions, fine with casually asking young women if they were abused as kids, while his unfunny co-hort, hideous Man Show relic Adam Carolla, sticks around to throw in lightweight barbs, generally involving offensive commentary that entirely undermines what is supposed to be a legit source for guidance. Ugh.
Yeah, Joey made the wrong decision. Instead or running away with Pacey and having whip-smart, endlessly charming babies with him, she decides to let him down gently and reunite with bland bland bland Oliver, who reappeared out of nowhere at the very end of last episode. It's hard to justify on an emotional level, considering Oliver has the charisma of a paint can, but you can just about understand where Joey is coming from as a character. The last couple of episodes have had this heavy past/present/future vibe, the writers specifically using Harley and her boyfriend as a reminder of the show's teenage years, which in itself has allowed Joey and Pacey to exorcise some of their own demons. And while all the teenage angst between the two of them has finally been resolved, you get why she'd want to pursue new pastures at this point, if only to see where it'll take her. It's not an all-out dismissal of Pacey himself, but instead a nice awareness of the importance taking a chance.
This is Dawson's Creek's first out-and-out comedy episode in a long time, an hour that wades through various romantic comedy cliches with considerable finesse and fun, while getting all meta and knowing like the very best of the first couple of seasons. After a year of false starts and suppressive blandness, Dawson finally stumbles into an entertaining subplot, pitching a movie about young adults growing up in a small coastal town. The only problem is the head of the studio is more interested in putting the 'adult' in 'young adult', slowly turning a Creek Daze re-run into a movie called Sunset Stripped featuring, as he so eloquently describes, "wall-to-wall boobs". This is obviously ridiculous, but admittedly funny.
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.
That sound you hear is the writers finally doing something right for a change. Castaways successfully restructures the show after recent weeks of drifting, firmly positioning Joey and Pacey as Dawson's Creek's go-to central couple. Stuck in a locked K-Mart after hours, this is a beautifully-written two-hander, one that explores both of them as individuals, as well as what remains of their relationship. Along the way, old resentments and disappointments are unearthed, but Gina Fattore's script remains steadfastly adorable, both actors easily slipping back into their old rhythms together and quickly making the audience at home collectively squee over the thought of them hooking up again.
I don't know when the writers first became aware that this would be the final season of Dawson's Creek, but there definitely seems to have been an attempt over these last two episodes to draw to a close the various shitty subplots that have been distracting away from the main cast lately, as well as position certain storylines as the focus for this final run of episodes. Not only does Clean and Sober resurrect a true sense of fun compared to the melodramatic lethargy of recent episodes, it also features a genuinely sweet resurfacing of the ballad of Pacey and Joey, a coupling that worked so well all those years ago, before being put on the back-burner to make way for more Dawson and Joey hooey. Some of that was fun, but it's absolutely the right time to bring Pacey back into the romantic fold.
Grams! Gosh, I've missed Grams. She probably had the most fun storyline here, not that there's a huge amount of competition, but it was the one most reminiscent of what the show used to be, before across-the-board suckage commenced. She and Clifton Smalls have gone their separate ways, not due to anything sex-related (Grams even making some crack about his last name not being entirely appropriate, which... gah), but instead because he wanted her to convert to Judaism. Sad and mopey, Grams is set up with C.J.'s similarly depressed uncle, an amusing double date scenario turning out to be a lot of fun. Sure, none of this is particularly interesting on a grand scale and seems to be headed nowhere in particular, but it at least utilizes some of the show's more underutilized actors of late.
It's interesting to wonder whether or not season six's slump is due to the show focusing so much energy on its ancillary characters. Has the show just reached a point where the original ensemble have become exhausted, with nowhere to go? Because it sure seems like it on-screen. Audrey's the benefactor of the season's sole showy storyline, while every other major character is being driven by the needs and desires of people that have only been introduced within the last twelve episodes. Even Pacey is being positioned at the center of other people's actions, adrift in a situation he seemingly has no control over. It's not a whole lot of fun, and only adds to the feeling that this season just isn't working.
For a show that is relatively conventional in its storytelling, it's no surprise that every once in a while the writers decide to recreate the few episodes which seemed to break new ground. The only problem with Day Out of Days re-using the same time-manipulation angle that made The Longest Day so spectacular is that this episode doesn't seem to fully utilize its potential. While The Longest Day was all about varying perspectives and how the same experiences can spiral off into wildly different tangents, Day Out of Days merely uses the 'day of the week' device as a kind of showy visual stunt, only there to distract from the generally banal plotting.
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.
Dawson's Creek has recently had this tendency to let story guide the narrative rather than its characters. It's something that plagues most serialized dramas in their later seasons, but it's particularly noticeable on a show that was at one point so driven by emotions and feelings rather than soapy contrivance. This episode was all about characters randomly doing things that didn't have a ton of internal logic behind them, every story being all about the surface and entirely falling apart when actually analyzed or remotely thought about. It leaves the show itself at a strange crossroads, stories already drab and uninteresting, but anchored by characters that don't even ring true anymore.
No Doubt are one of my favorite bands. Gwen Stefani has been the coolest, most authentic pop star for years and, based on her current appearance, clearly bathes in the blood of virgins every night in order to still look so ridiculously youthful. With all that in mind, you know it takes a lot to make me scream at No Doubt to get the hell off my television set. Spiderwebs is one overlong promotional commercial for their 2002 album Rock Steady, complete with three lengthy song performances, repeated references to their talent, extreme close-ups of their new CD, and merchandising and stickers all over the place. It's insane. Not that the actual narrative is all that interesting either, but I've never been more eager for Gwen Stefani to go away.
It's still hard to care about Audrey right now, despite her clear depression and her eagerness to escape her misery by way of partying and drinking. Ordinarily, the show would depict this from her point of view, but so far the writers seem to be placing all of us at home in a strange position: we're observers of her insanity, not keenly aware of why she's doing these things. It only leaves Audrey appearing like an obnoxious wreck, attacking everybody around her but with little relatable reasoning behind it. It's hard to discern her problem with Pacey, it's even harder to understand why she's suddenly feeling so wronged by Joey. She's now this huge pain in the ass, a character that doesn't have enough audience goodwill to make this story anything but a drag.
I can't be the only one who wanted Audrey to just shut the hell up and get dumped this week. I don't think I've ever seen such an exaggerated turnaround in personality outside of bad slasher movies with an inexplicable whodunnit mystery at their center. What makes it even sadder is that Audrey's presumed breakdown is being really well performed by Busy Philipps. The girl's become this huge walking car wreck; ditching classes, boozing and slapping Pacey around the head. But away from Philipps' enthusiasm, what makes all of it so inauthentic is that we've never seen this kind of behavior from Audrey before, or even some indication that she's prone to this kind of thing. Last season depicted her as this fun comedic relief character with real perspectives on things, despite her wonky history with her parents. But seeing her become judgmental, obnoxious and prone to making day-to-day relationship trials into enormous slights on her... gah, it's just ugly to watch.
I don't think there's ever been a stretch of Dawson's Creek episodes that were universally flawless. There's always been at least one subplot that doesn't hold a ton of interest, but it's usually outweighed by a couple of stronger storylines that feature real emotional resonance and themes that any young adult can relate to. But the show has really hit a wall this season, literally every storyline making little sense and filled with overwhelming levels of disinterest. It may just be my personal opinion and less a statement on the quality of the show itself, but I'm really struggling here.
