User Reviews

when this show first aired, i was just graduating high school, making me a member of the target audience. That said, as a teenager/twenty-something, it didn't appeal to me. At the time, the market was starting to get flooded with teenage shows and movies. However, i was aware of it's presence on the pop culture scene. And most of my friends (mostly girls) watched this show. Fast forward 10 years and i'm at home watching TV late at night and i catch the pilot episode. It was probably one of the better pilot episodes i had ever seen. So i started watching the show. Through the years, i caught little bits and pieces of the story lines through TV commercials, friends conversations, message boards etc..so i was aware of how the show ended. I knew that pacey ends up with Joey and that the dad dies in one of the later seasons. Part of the reason i was intrigued after watching the pilot was that i wondered how they got to that point. The way the series began, it seemed to be a childhood sweetheart story. So i was very curious of how the show turned.

First, you have to know before you watch one episode that it's going to be really sappy. This comes with the territory. So if you don't like sappy, you're not going to like this show. I was aware of that. The IMDb rating is a pedestrian 6.8. Pretty average for a show with the hype it got. I wondered why the rating was so low. I know there are a bunch of haters of this show, so before i formed an opinion on it, i watched every single episode.

My opinion is an informed opinion. After watching all the episodes, i must agree that the rating is appropriate. This show is very average.

To start with, i'll tell you why this show is good. The music in every episode was well done. I'm a big fan of good soundtracks. Some of the songs helped bring a real sense of sentimentality. And being that this is a somewhat biography of kevin williamson, i thought that it was very effective. The show's pilot as i mentioned was very good. It introduced all the main characters and had three awesome plots with Joey and Dawson's relationship, Pacey and his teacher and dawson's parents marital issues. In between, there were some really good shows. One of my favorites was "The Long Goodbye". This episode was heartbreaking and realistic. Watching season 1's last episode, i understood why so many people liked this show. The episode "downtown crossing" was an excellent concept for a television show. The last episode was probably one of the best series ending episodes i've ever seen. It was climatic and had a good concept. I thought it would have been ridiculous to end the show when they are in their early 20s making lifetime decisions, but the idea of going into the future worked brilliantly.

Now, i'll tell you why this show could have been better. It starts and ends with the dialogue. I know from reading the various postings on this message board that this is a common to criticize. This was just not realistic. Walk into any high school in America and you won't hear too many kids talk that way. Even the smart kids don't talk like that. My second criticism of this show is that there aren't many likable characters. So many times i wanted to punch dawson. Joey spunk was overplayed. Jen was in need of slapping. Andie was so annoying. When they finally got it right and got rid of her, they replaced her with a more annoying and less redeemable blonde in Audrey Liddel. Pacey was the only one who i really sympathized with and celebrated with. Pacey's character was realistic. Teenage boys are sex crazed. thats what made dawson so unbelievable. He was constantly getting propositioned and never did he concede. I find that very unbelievable. Another problem i have with some of the characters was how they all seemed to bust on to the show real abrasively and then do a 180 to become lovable. (Was this intentional? showing that people are not always what they seem to be) For example, watch Jack's early episodes then watch him in seasons 3-5. He's a totally different character. Arthur Brooks character was that way to a much lesser extent. The worst case was Grams character. She started the show as a conservative Christian who was very judgmental and was even hinted to be a racist (maybe it was just joey herself being judgmental). By the end of series, she was living with a gay man and cool with the promiscuous lifestyles of her granddaughter and her friends. That was just ridiculous. I thought it was just a way to shoehorn her into the later episodes. Speaking of which....those later episodes were pure garbage. Season 5 started good and went downhill. Season 6 is just unwatchable. Overall, this is a decent show that could have been a lot better. Those are my opinions. i'd like to hear your opinions on the show and on my opinion.

The show should have ended when they graduated from high school.

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.

I haven't seen the first season for about 10 years. It was refreshing to see it again and fall in love again. The show isn't a masterpiece and there are bright spots and dull ones – like any show there are great episodse and sucky ones too. But this show is enjoyable entertainment, and for me it's like a guilty pleasure except I know too many people who love it to feel guilty.

The D/J romance is actually handled well in Season 1. I would have liked more Pacey, but it is also good to see the adults play a larger role earlier on. I find the Mitch/Gale relationship to be very real. Season 2 is an excellent season overall. I enjoyed watching Pacey's growth and change. He really shone (and Joshua Jackson is amazing). It was great to see the new characters, Jack and Andie. The only downside I would say is that the Dawson/Joey romance gets repedative. It was okay in the early episodes of the seasons, but boring when they had another go at it near the end.

Season 3 is my favourite season of Dawson's Creek, and the best. Why? Quite simply, because of Pacey and Joey. It is absolutely wonderful, enjoyable and satisfying to see their journey from reluctant friends, to closer friends to lovers. Much credit needs to go to Joshua Jackson for his portrayal of Pacey, as we go with him on his roller-coaster ride of emotions. He made the audience not only sympathize with Pacey's turmoil and pain of falling in love with his best friend's girl, but in being able to see Joey through his eyes… what it was about her that made him fall so madly in love. Katie Holmes steps up too, and has great chemistry with JJ. Unfortunately James Van Der Beek doesn't fare as well… Dawson often comes across as a petulant child.

Season 4 follows the kid's last year in high school. Gale and Mitch are now reunited, and Joey and Pacey continue their romance. There are bumps along the way, but P/J always light up the screen and Joshua Jackson once again brings his talent for all to see. Katie Holmes shines when she's with him, they have great chemistry.

Season 5 and 6 take a noticeable dive in quality with some not-so-believable plot lines, such as Pacey becoming a stockbroker. I think the writers really struggled with the move from high school to college and it shows, unfortunately.

The best episodes of the last two seasons are the final 2 from season 6 and the last episodes of the series. We jump 5 years ahead to see the DC kids more mature, and get a resolution to the D/J vs. P/J love triangle that has been so prominent since season 3. Once again though, the best parts are definitely the Pacey and Joey scenes. Michelle Williams acts her ass off and brings the heartbreak, but in the end it's a satisfying conclusion to one of my beloved shows.

I've been binge watching this all week, 15 years after I've last watched this show and it is exactly as I remember it. Intellectually over the top dialogue for a bunch of teens, but I think it's what makes it still interesting to watch now in my thirties. Many of the subjects are well approached and ahead of their time. However, I do think they overly tortured some relationships and the whole Joey Dawson thing was absolutely annoying. Thankfully they had Joey and Pacey end up together even if they split them up in such a horrendous manner. But, the show became a whole lot less interesting when they went off to college and from beginning to end, Dawson was always intolerable.

I remember all the shows lined up on the WB when I was a teen all being quite mature and blurring my reality of what I should expect from high school, considering all the actors were at least in there 20's, thus creating unrealistic expectations.

The real finale of this series is S6E22. I'd like to think that someone high up in the hierarchy creatively really intended that to be the end. It feels like it is. But fans demanded that Joey end up with Pacey even though that really doesn't fit. Personally, I always rooted for Dawson, but the truth is neither one of them deserves her. In S6E22, Joey comments about life imitating art imitating life and then asks Dawson what his movie was really about. His answer is that it is about a girl and expands on that thought. He says nothing about the two boys. Of course everyone knows that the girl is Joey and that his movie is really a prop for the series itself.

Both boys are deeply flawed and not in a heroic way. Both wear masks with what appears to be good character underneath the boyhood lusts. They can each pull up noble actions almost on demand. Dawson's selfish character takes longer to manifest and I even think that the writer gods changed him sometime after the first season. He earned my respect the night he held Jen in his arms all night after her grandfather died. Dawson had other noble moments in season 1. At that point, I feel like that was the real Dawson, as he was at that time. Later the noble moments were just the mask. The real Dawson appeared every time Joey crossed him, or anyone for that matter. When Jen dumped him, his anger quickly faded, but after that his burning anger would remain for long periods until something came along to turn his interest elsewhere.

Pacey, on the other hand, went to the dark side quickly. His behavior might be excused as youthful lust, but the same basic behavior continued through many woman and girls continuously right into S6E23 when he got beat up by jealous husbands. While I don't hold him solely responsible for losing Dawson's money, that period in his life was controlled by arrogance and lust both for sex and money. Even at the best times in his relationships with any of his women, his was motivated by greed with jealousy always lurking. The one time in his story where I had hope for him was with Andie.

Joey had her issues, but she always gave of herself more than she took. Insecurities rooted in her family history made her seem weak at times. Still she chose the high road more often than not. She really seemed to grow as a person. I especially loved how she took on Harley and mentored her with the love of a big sister. Her performance in S6E22 was positively heroic and should have been her curtain call.

Like most TV shows, this series took on issues of the day usually against the traditional viewpoint of the times. That's not bad in itself, but some of the story arcs were morally questionable. Pacey and Tamara hit us early on. It was presented in such a way that I just can't condone.

Grams was introduced as a bigoted judgmental Bible thumper. Early on it seemed like she was unyielding, but even then she always said things in a way that left room to know that she might truly be thinking in the best interest of the person she came down on, usually Jen. That became more and more obvious as time went on, but in later seasons most of her religious values of righteousness disappeared almost entirely. In other words, she joined the opposition.

Parents were anything from incompetent and hypocritical to everything that is bad in parenting. Dawson's parents, Bessie, and Grams, were the only ones that had any good traits, although a couple softened a little in later seasons. Audrey's and Drue's never did. Jen's dad knew Jen had seen something that deeply disturbed her and just tried to act as if nothing had happened. If nothing worse, almost all the parents virtually ignored their kids.

Drinking and drugs. I think every teen character went on a bender at some point. Consequences ranged from social alienation to total destruction of property. Academic standing was threatened more than once. One person ended up in rehab. One might say that such actions always ended in negative consequences, so that's OK. However, many of the benders were extreme even by typical adolescent standards. I find it amazing that none of them ever learned from each other, and a couple even did it again.

Perhaps my biggest complaint, and it leaves me wondering why I haven't seen more of this criticism, is the way the series treats women. Males in the series almost universally have the attitude that women are sex objects. Some never seem to learn any better. Almost every woman other than Bessie and Grams has at least one instance of being treated like crap by a man and that even includes Gale. With Jen, I feel like the writer gods have chosen her for special abuse. She goes from one disaster to another. To top it off, during the missing 5 years, she gets pregnant and dumped yet again setting her up for her series finale death leaving an orphan! She does have a brief run with Dawson which is nice but emphasis on brief. Jen is another character that appears to have suffered a character rewrite somewhere early in season 2. I admired the young woman during season 1 who seemed to be making good choices and treating others well.

So why did I stick with this series enough to binge the entire thing in about a week on the 20th anniversary of its farewell?

There were a few really nice moments. The birth of Bessie's baby was one. Dawson actually coming together with Jen was another. Andie's temporary rehabilitation of Pace. Gretchen and Dawson. But those things were pretty spread out.

The answer is Katie Holmes/Joey Potter. That innocent smile showing all her teeth is a killer. The character is so sweet and unselfish to a fault. She really deserves better than either guy.

I love this show. So good. So funny. It came out when I was only one, so I didn't start watching it until I was about ten. The only thing I didn't like was how long it took for Pacey and Joey to get together. They are my favorite on screen couple of this show. And also how Dawson did not look sixteen. The show is basically about teenagers growing up in small town and going through normal teenage stuff. The reason the show is called Dawson's Creek is because Dawson (the main character) lives at house that has a creek right behind it, in his backyard. Nearly any person would like this show. Especially if they like shows like One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, The O.C., 90210, Beverly Hills 90210 or Gossip Girl.

Honestly.. I remember watching Dawson's Creek when it first came out on tv and I was in high school.. was obsessed with it! Not sure at what point I stopped watching.

20yrs later I find it on Stan.. absolutely loved the first couple of seasons then it just went downhill from there. The show should have wrapped up with 3 seasons (4 at most if it contained x10 Episoses per season).

S06 (with the exception of last 3 episodes) was beyond rubbish... skipped/forwarded thru majority of it JUST to get to the end. Katie Holmes acting and facial expressions INCLUDING her smile is shocking..

Though the finale was great compared to how sh1tty the entire season 6 was I still somewhat felt it to be incomplete. I really was expecting "In loving memory of Jen Lindley" at the end of Dawson's movie. I was expecting some TINY tribute/shot of Mitch. Anyway... just glad I finally ended the show tonight.

One of the best shows ever! Everything is carefully crafted and designed so that we get a full appreciation and experience. It's about friendship and belonging, about finding your identity, independence and how you navigate life.

There are lots of twists and turns throughout the show which will make it more exciting to enjoy. Pacey and Joey were my favourite but it is really all of the cast which made it the masterpiece it became. Dawson's Creek is a part of my childhood, it dealt boldly with topics like homosexuality, bullying, mental health and much more. It never really lost its quality even in the later seasons. I loved when Joey started uni and met new people, also many literary references made the show interesting and different from any other. Highly recommend.

Joey and Pacey are the only reason to watch this show. Jen is obnoxious-though she does get better when Jack comes in-I liked andie until they ruined her character, the other characters are so boring and unmemorable. Don't even get me started on Dawson. He drives me CRAZY!!! He's so immature even for a teen soap opera and he never learns from the dumb mistakes that he makes over and over again the entire show. Then he acts all woe is me when people try to open is eyes to the truth. He thinks he's better then everyone and is so entitled. He treated all of his so called "friends" horribly not to mention how he treats Joey. Literally the only reason to watch the show is for Pacey and Joey. Even then I can barely stand it so I usually end up skipping around to only watch their scenes. And yes I totally would give this show 2 stars TOPS if it weren't for these two. I will say I didn't live Pacey at first but it hit me randomly on time and I was like dang this man grew on me and I didn't even realize. I love him and he is hilarious and so sweet both on his own, as a boyfriend, and as a friend. I honestly always loved Joey and I know there will be people who disagree with that but she's super strong and stubborn and not without her flaws but for some reason she's so relatable. Pace and Joey together are the cutest swooniest couple ever. They're like a mix of enemies ti lovers and friends to lovers which is so great. The things that they say to one another, the slow burn, the passion, the loooks they gave eachother from s1 until the very end are all too much for my heart and don't even mention the time he did ballroom dancing lessons with her to make her happy BEFORE they were dating when they were "enemies" so yeah give the show a chance but if you find that you agree with me I'd recommend only watching the scenes with Jacey.

This started as a teenage love story which I'm sure we were all waiting to happen and ended so badly.

I loved it until season 6, everything was so fast paced and the episodes weren't even making sense anymore. I remember when the first couple of seasons ended and the first episode of the new seasons was continuing the story, wasn't the gist for the last season though. It didn't make any sense!

* SPOILER ALERT * It's not like I wanted Joey to end up with Dawson, but with Pacey? No way. And how did it even happen? One minute Dawson and Joey were saying I love yous, next thing you know she's kissing Pacey, I don't think so.

It's such a shame because truth be told when I first started watching it I was gonna give it a 10/10, that was until the disaster season 6 was. The episode with the grocery store? No sense whatsoever, why were they even at a wedding, whose wedding to begin with? And what happened to Emma? Audrey? Really? One minute they're all in Boston/Capeside, next they're in Paris or god knows where, separated. Also no Andie, it cant be a real ending without all of the people we've grown attached to. Don't even get my started on Jen's death, so awkward, her mother didn't even come? WTF. If someone who hasn't started watching this reads this, trust me, you're better off.