Capeside’s own "Friends" are back in action as Season Three
of Dawson’s Creek picks up. I remember this series so
well because it paralleled my college years. As Dawson and Joey were going through
their tumultuous time as high school freshman, I had my first taste of being
far away from home at college. It’s interesting because all the characters
looked so much older (and interestingly enough, they were) so I felt that even
though they were playing high school characters, they were actually my peers.
The third season of "Dawson" picks up in their junior year of high
school. What will happen between Dawson and Joey? Will they get back together?
Will Andy and Pacey find each other again? How is Jack dealing with his homosexuality
and is Jen’s wit still in tact? All of these answers come and boy, do
they surface fast.
Dawson and Joey decide to call it quits, both agreeing that friendship is more
important to the both of them. In the meantime, Dawson has his own fling with
the “bad girl” in town, Eve. First he crashes his father’s
boat, throws a party with strippers, steals a copy of the PSAT’s and finally
picks a fist fight with Pacey for a false accusation. Once the Eve episode is
over, we see Dawson slowly start to question himself. Dawson makes a friend
in Principal Green’s filmmaker daughter and soon realizes that he needs
to remove himself from filmmaking for a bit. He quits his filmmaking class,
tears down his movie posters from his wall and becomes incredibly lost. Soon
thereafter, he’s found in the middle of a golf course silly drunk with
a friend of Andie’s and gets busted. His penance for his bad behavior
is to help his mother with opening a new restaurant in town called “Leary’s
Fresh Fish.”
Joey goes through an interesting journey during this season as well. She begins
with being heartbroken by witnessing multiple public displays of affection from
Dawson and Eve. A new friendship brews between herself and Pacey as he helps
her and her sister build Potter’s Bed and Breakfast. Pacey needs help
passing one of his classes and elicits help from Joey but not without a trade-off.
Joey needs a dance partner for a scholarship opportunity and Pacey agrees. Joey
and Pacey befriend each other and suddenly feelings start to brew. Pacey watches
as she paints a mural in the high school hallway only to see it ruined the next
day. He soon picks a fight with the kid that vandalized the painting and brings
him to Principal Green who expels him. Afterwards, Pacey helps Joey repaint
the wall and soon enough, he buys her a wall all of her own in the town as her
canvas. Meanwhile, Joey finds solace in a college boy named, A.J. who shows
up for a few episodes but ultimately things don’t work out. When Joey
calls Pacey on the night she breaks up with A.J., Pacey can’t hold it
in any longer and kisses her.
Andie and Pacey break it off as the third season commences. Andie slept with
another mental patient during the summer, it broke Pacey’s heart and he
was unwilling to forgive her. Andie goes through her entire junior year attempting
to put herself back together but stumbles at every corner. She steals the PSAT’s
from Dawson and she lies to try and get Pacey back. Meanwhile, her brother Jack
is dealing with his homosexuality and joins the football team, which causes
a bit of a stir in the community. Throughout the season, we see Jack dealing
with the first steps of dating and becoming comfortable in his skin. He also
manages to patch things up with his father and moves home. But will he have
enough courage to push for his first kiss?
Jen starts off the year being voted head cheerleader, much to her dismay. Therein
she meets an eager freshman, Henry (Michael Pitt) who pays $500 in a raffle
to kiss her. She then becomes homecoming queen and asks said freshman to be
her date. After much trial and error Henry manages to win over Jen’s heart
and the two begin to date. Just before they start dating though, there is a
brief hookup between Jen and Pacey, a sort of sexual pact that never comes to
fruition.
That’s basically most of the happenings in the third season without giving
away the intense ending few episodes that challenge the friendships of all involved.
Also Dawson’s parents divorce and re-marry by the end of the season. A
nice little side plot to the teen angst that is the life of these young Capesiders.
The thing about Dawson’s Creek is that it never takes
itself too seriously. It always comments on itself, even having some characters
say that their circumstances are like some cheesy teenage drama series with
contemporary pop music guaranteed to fade playing in the background. It’s
fully aware of what it’s doing and that’s what I think made this
series as successful as it was.
It also had a great cast of actors in the lead roles. Most of the actors have
gone on to do work in the movies and continue to work steadily. From what rumor
tells us, there was also a “first-love” romance between Katie Holmes
and Joshua Jackson during the taping of the first two seasons and it’s
funny that by the third season, their characters get together but they split
up in real life.
The problem with this season is that it’s pat in some areas and I think
that it lost its luster a bit due to the departure of creator Kevin Williamson
as executive producer and writer. The season starts off sluggish. The “Eve”
character is none too appealing and makes me cringe repeatedly until she leaves
the screen for good.
The transfer of this series to DVD looks terribly grainy and the colors are
muted. The color could have been tweaked ere so slightly to make it appear more
alive but instead it’s a wash. The sound is also sub par at best. In a
few scenes, you see the boom sneak into frame, and there is a high-pitched squeal,
much like feedback, during some of the dialogue throughout the entire season.
The DVD special features included on this DVD are slim to none. There are audio
commentaries on select episodes from Kerr Smith and Producer Paul Stupin. A
Weblink is accessible to create your own Dawson’s soundtrack and there
is an interactive tour of Capeside. There are no outtakes, no interviews, no
deleted scenes and no featurettes.
DVD Season Score: A-
Special Features Score: D
Overall DVD Score: B-
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