I just want to start out this post with a little bit of context: I am a millennial who is sort of in the middle of the age bracket for that group. I know people around my age who did watch Dawson’s Creek, particularly the later seasons, in the early aughts. Most of these people had older siblings, but given I was the eldest in my family, I didn’t have a ton of interest during the show’s original run. Now, though, it’s time to go back and binge, baby. So I’m in the middle of watching the Creek with an Amazon Prime subscription, and while there’s a lot of star power in this series and some things I like, there are three big questions I have for original fans about some of the choices made on this show.
To also mention, I decided to write this before I finished binge-watching. I’m currently only partway through Season 3, so if there’s some big, crazy plot that comes up later, just think of me as being on a fledgling journey; I’m not dumb, I just don’t have the full picture of this series yet.
Did Everyone Originally Cringe-Watch Through The Tamara And Pacey + Jack Coming Out Plotlines?
I had no idea going in that signing on for this show would mean countless minutes of watching a young teenager hooking up with his 40-something teacher. (I think she says she's even younger than that during one ep?) Or that one LGBTQ+ character would come out while getting hazed by his teacher. Really I get Jack coming out on one of the most popular nineties shows was brave and I’ve read it was a compromise show creator Kevin Williamson –who is himself LGTBTQ+ – made to get better representation on network TV. Still, things have changed a lot since this TV moment and there’s quite a bit to learn from Jack’s coming out.
But this Tamara plotline and Pacey actually getting hazed about it when people found out?! I literally had to watch many of these scenes with my hands over my eyes and peek through the gaps. Were we OK with this plotline in the ‘90s? Was it cool? Was it as cringe as I find it in 2024?
Why Does This Show Kill So Many People Off?
For a small town in Massachusetts, an awful lot of Dawson's Creek cast members seem to die. There’s Jenn’s grandfather, of course, but that one kind of made sense. But then Monica Keena wanted to leave the show, and her character died in a drunken drowning accident. Joey Potter’s mom is dead when the series starts. I’m not to the end of this series yet, but from what I understand, Dawson loses a parent at some point. I’m probably missing more, but you get the gist.
I know a lot of shows have loved killing off characters over the years. There was a big run of this when shows like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Justified, Sons of Anarchy and Boardwalk Empire were killing off characters while making peak TV happen. But like, at least those shows were meant to be violent. This is a coming-of-age drama!
Most Importantly: Did Everyone Hate Dawson In The ‘90s?
Look, I don’t think it’s even really meanspirited for me to say I dislike Dawson. Even when he’s more palatable in Season 1, he’s too precocious and self-aware to be anything but eye-roll inducing. Normally I use self-aware as a positive adjective, but it’s really, really not here. Years later, James Van Der Beek has made comments about Dawson's Creek going off the rails, as well as not really enjoying some aspects of playing his most famous TV character.
A quick perusal shows that I am not alone in my Dawson hate. In fact, a colleague of mine even rewatched the Dawson’s Creek pilot a couple of years ago and voiced a similar thought. But when the show was first airing, was this the case? Was Dawson a misunderstood teen who garnered sympathy? Or has it only been the passage of time that’s been unkind to our young, selfish, titular hero?
As a millennial who didn’t watch during the early run, these are the questions that have really stood out to me most as I’ve started embarking on my binge-watching journey. My sister has informed me there’s more to hate on later, notably after the main gang graduates from high school. I guess I can’t wait.
