Seasons 2 and 3, is where the good fun and drama does. Then it's all downhill from here. It's still to this day, a very realistic look at teenage years self discovery, and shameful phases, from its main protagonist especially. But I think things went a little overboard with the infamous love triangle, and the Joey/Pacey love story. Which was a real torture to witness, once they made the step forward. I guess the chase, is what made the idea of them so appealing... The show also has that weird drunk uncle vibe. You know, the one who starts being too intense, when you're finally spending a nice family time. Well, Dawson's Creek was, and still is, that « drunk uncle » for me. Whenever something light and/or fun happened, you'd be sure something, or someone would spoil it. The hurricane episode, in season 1 comes to mind. That fun feud between Pacey and his brother, was turned into a nasty and rude score settling so fast, it makes you wonder when things got so out of hands, like it usually does when good times turn sour. At least the show was good at depicting drama, in the most precise and erratic way. Which isn't so easy to do... Speaking of characters, they all have flaws and emotional baggage. But that's how you handle characterizations accurately, right? You'll laugh, you'll cry, a lot. People can say what they want about the acting, because it was great and always on point. Especially on the episodes « supervised » by Kevin Williamson (I'm not going to quote the god awful two parter finale, though. He clearly doesn't know how to put an end to his stories ...) You can also add a sprinkle of good music, on both the broadcasted and DVD/reruns versions. And you get everything that made Dawson's Creek so special. It has that late 90s/early 2000s charm, without being too hip and lots of talked about moments. It's one of those teen dramas, that knew when to stop when things got too soap opera-ish, but couldn't rely on talks only, so it alternated both. You either like/accept it, or you don't.
Review of Dawson's Creek
