Dawson's Creek: Dance (1.2)

Without trying to tailspin these reviews into one lengthy Dawson Leery hatefest, he continues his asshole behavior here. The driving storyline continues to be Dawson's infatuation with Jen, all the while being stupidly ignorant of Joey's own feelings for him. Here, he once again thrusts his Jen attraction in Joey's face, as well as stringing her along for the second night in a row as an accomplice to some ridiculous romance scheme. Maybe I need to remember that these are a bunch of fifteen year-olds and obviously prone to moronic behavior, but I can't help but see how emotionally manipulative the dude is.

Both female leads continue to be endearing. Everybody remembers that sweet moment where Joey watches Dawson practice kissing on her rubber decapitated head (-- strange sentence --), and I loved the first hints at a real friendship between her and Jen. While Joey is still all about the pent-up hostility, Jen is trying to initiate things between them, leading to that awkwardly honest scene where Jen discusses her own body issues and compliments Joey on the very things she hates about herself.

Joey also has her own subplot with Dawson's mom, and it's a story that's being handled really well so far. Instead of dragging out her awkwardness, Joey confronts Gale and tells her how screwed-up her behavior is, hopefully leading Gale to some kind of epiphany when it comes to cheating on her husband.

The rest of the episode falls into obvious teen show trappings with the high school dance and the jock rival, but there's an earnest quality about the show which is already so entertaining. Kevin Williamson continues his trademark Scream tone with the movie references and the self-aware, articulate characters that populate small-town America, and the script sparkles with fun little details about dating and high school politics.

This is a strong second episode, one that lacks the immediate attention-grabbing qualities of the pilot, but still promises strong things for the show itself. Plus Savage Garden! Man, do I miss the '90s in all their melodramatic, commercial glory. B+

Credits
Guest stars Nicole Nieth (Nellie Oleson); Scott Foley (Cliff Elliot); Leann Hunley (Tamara Jacobs)
Writer Kevin Williamson Director Steve Miner