In January 1998, the world was introduced to a close-knit group of teen friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts. And at the center of the iconic Dawson's Creek cast was Dawson Leery himself (played by James Van Der Beek), an introspective 15-year-old and aspiring filmmaker with a serious love of Steven Spielberg movies and a complicated relationship with the girl next door, Joey Potter (a breakout Katie Holmes).
And whether you're a first-time watcher of the popular nineties show or viscerally remember watching that formative pilot when it first aired on The WB all those decades ago, you will quickly recognize that, despite the show literally being named after him, sometimes Dawson Leery wasn't all that. He could be insensitive, self-righteous, entitled, melodramatic and downright insufferable — over six seasons, here are 32 times that Dawson himself was the absolute worst on Dawson's Creek.
When Dawson Shamed Jen For Her Romantic Past
In the first season, Dawson dates — and deifies — the mysterious new girl in town Jen Lindley (played by future four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams, who would ironically go on to play Steven Spielberg's mother). However, when he finds out that his new girlfriend has been sexually active since age 12, Dawson's reaction is less than understanding and he harshly ridicules Jen for her past experiences.
When He Used Mary Beth To Try To Make Jen Jealous
Though Dawson regularly posits himself as a self-proclaimed "nice guy" throughout the six-season series, he does frequently behave quite callously to those he's dating. Case in point: taking innocent Mary Beth (Megahn Perry) out in the season one episode titled "Double Date," all as a ruse to get a reaction out of his on-again-off-again love interest, Jen Lindley.
When He Read Joey's Diary Without Her Permission
Dawson can proclaim all he wants that he and Joey are soulmates, but that still doesn't give him the right to read Joey's personal diary without her knowledge in the season 2 episode "Crossroads". Even worse is that he believes he's in the right to be angry that she derided his talent as an amateur filmmaker but remains unapologetic about the fact that he violated her privacy.
When He Guilted Joey For Her Summer Plans Abroad
Given her penchant for the arts, it makes sense that Joey would want to spend a summer in the famously beautiful and cinematic city of Paris. However, when she relays such plans to Dawson at the end of the first season, he selfishly guilts her about how hard the distance would be for him, instead of thinking of how great it would be for her. Ultimately, she forgoes her French plans to be near Dawson and stays in Capeside for the summer. (Thankfully, she would eventually see the Eiffel Tower in season 6.)
When He Filmed His and Jen's First Kiss Without Her Knowledge
Dawson famously wants to be a director like Spielberg when he grows up and frequently films little student movies and such throughout Dawson's Creek. However, one of his creepier screen projects was in the third episode of the first season, when he set up a camera to secretly record his first kiss with crush Jen in tribute to all of the famous movie smooches in film history. Only, life isn't a movie, Dawson!
When He Broke Up With Natasha Over Voicemail After Cheating On Her
In the sixth season of Dawson's Creek, Dawson has a fling with an actress named Natasha Kelly (Bianca Kajlich) during his summer working as an assistant director in Los Angeles. However, things get very complicated when he returns to Capeside and rekindles, ahem, physically with Joey. After the longtime friends finally sleep together, Dawson phones Natasha the morning after and brutally dumps her via answering machine.
When He Accused Jack of "Stealing" Joey From Him
In the season two episode "Unchartered Waters,” Dawson unfairly snipes at Jack McPhee (Kerr Smith) that he stole Joey from him. However, in reality, Joey actually broke up with Dawson well before she and Jack got together because she needed space from their relationship. Jack wisely reminds Dawson of that important fact, and that Joey is far too smart to be "stolen" by any boy.
When Dawson Entered That Boat Race To Spite Pacey
Saying that Dawson handled the fact that his beloved Joey was dating his best friend Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson) very poorly is an understatement. In the third season, he even decides to enter a local sailing competition at the last minute under the guise of beating Pacey and winning Joey back. Of course, that misguided scheme is a big old fail, with Dawson nearly crashing his boat into Pacey's vessel and getting disqualified from the regatta.
When Het Got Too Drunk And Ruined His Surprise Birthday Party
In the sixteenth episode of season 2, fittingly entitled "Be Careful What You Wish For," Joey sweetly plans a surprise party for Dawson's big 16th birthday at the Leery residence. The only problem is that Dawson and Andie (Meredith Monroe) decide to get rowdy at a nightclub beforehand and get absolutely zonked — while underage! — on rum and cokes. When he finally arrives at the surprise party, he's acting plenty foolish, falling face-first into his birthday cake and spending the rest of the night vomiting in the bathroom alongside Andie.
When He Publicly Aired His Parents' Dirty Laundry At His Birthday Party
During a drunken tirade at his 16th birthday in season 2, Dawson takes the time usually reserved for making a wish and blowing out his candles to instead ruthlessly rant about his parents, telling a party full of people about how his mom Gail (Mary-Margaret Humes) slept with her co-anchor, how his dad Mitch (John Wesley Shipp) doesn't have a job, and so on. It goes without saying that it brings the shindig to quite a halt.
When He Guilted Joey Into Turning Her Father Over to the Cops
In season 2, Dawson sees that Joey's father Mike Potter (Gareth Williams) — who had previously been in prison for drug trafficking — has sadly resumed his drug-dealing activities. And instead of quietly supporting Joey and letting her handle that strained family situation on her own, Dawson forces Joey to wear a wire and get a confession implicating her dad. The plan works but is distressing not only for Joey, who tells Dawson she will never forgive him for forcing her decision, but also for actor James Van Der Beek, who cites the episode as the moment when Dawson's Creek went off the rails.
When Dawson Practiced Kissing On A Mannequin In Front Of His Dad
Okay, sure, there's coming-of-age sweetness throughout the iconic teen drama series Dawson's Creek, especially where first romances and such are concerned. But an early scene where Dawson is given smooching pointers by his dad, all while practicing said moves on a mannequin doll fashioned to look like his female best friend Joey is definitely less cute and more creepy.
When He Demeaned Pacey In Front of Everyone At His Birthday Party
The love triangle between Dawson, Joey and Pacey meant that there was a lot of animosity between the two boys throughout the series, but even before Joey and Pacey got together, Dawson demeaned his supposed best friend on the regular. An especially egregious example is Dawson's boorishly drunken rant at his 16th birthday party in season 2, which saw the birthday boy suggest that Pacey's only purpose is to make Dawson feel better about himself in comparison. Even worse, we never actually saw him apologize for that slight!
When He Prodded Joey About Her Physical Relationship With Jack
In the early seasons of Dawson's Creek, Dawson had a bit of an obsession with the status of Joey's virginity. One such instance of the teen butting his nose into his friend's business is in a season 2 episode where he publicly questioned Joey about whether she had slept with Jack and lied about sleeping with Jen just to make Joey jealous. Jen rightly dubbed the whole thing a "pathetic little display."
When He Insulted A Film Critic Who Was Reviewing His Movie
Dawson's dreams of being one of the film industry's great directors was a common thread through the show's six seasons. However, he didn't always make things easy for himself — in the season 5 episode "Cigarette Burns," Dawson insults Amy Lloyd (Meredith Salenger), a film critic tasked with reviewing a movie he made, even telling the writer that she has bad taste in films. We don't think Spielberg behaves that way, Leery!
When He Made Fun Of Jack's Coming Out Journey
With Jack McPhee, Kerr Smith played one of TV's great queer characters — he even was the first man to have an on-screen gay kiss on American television. As part of that onscreen LGBTQ+ representation, Smith's character navigated the ups and downs of his coming out journey in the back-half of season 2, a self-discovery that Dawson drunkenly mocked at his 16th birthday. "Tonight, starring in his very own version of In & Out," Dawson taunted him. "He's in, he's out, he's in, he's out! Nice hair by the way." He might've been joking but it was clearly not funny.
When He Dated Pacey's Older Sister After Giving Him a Hard Time About Joey
For giving Pacey such a hard time about dating his best friend Joey, Dawson didn't seem to see any problem with romancing Pacey's own sister Gretchen (played by NCIS star Sasha Alexander) for much of his senior year. Not to mention there's a not insignificant age difference between the 17-year-old Dawson and the 21-year-old Gretchen.
When Dawson Ruined Joey's Time At The Anti-Prom
At the end of season 3, the Capeside gang throws an "Anti-Prom" in support of the newly out Jack, but Dawson instead takes it as an opportunity to parade Joey around as his date to make Pacey jealous. After seeing Joey and Pacey slow dance — in a sweet and romantic scene that will make you believe in love again — Dawson melodramatically storms out of the event and unfairly yells at Joey that the only reason he suggested "this whole stupid alternative prom" wasn't about Jack at all but rather her. Manipulative!
When He Was Upset That Joey Moved On With Pacey, Even Though He Rejected Her First
The end of season 3 saw the lifelong friendships of Dawson Leer, Joey Potter and Pacey Witter implode when Joey and Pacey started developing romantic feelings for each other. That development really shouldn't have been a problem for Dawson at all, since he previously turned down Joey's offer to rekindle their own romance because he didn't want to ruin their friendship, plus he had specifically asked Pacey to look after the young Miss Potter in the first place.
When He Overreacted About His Student Film And Swore Off Movies Forever
Teenage hormones are a famously fussy phenomenon, but even so, Dawson Leery always had quite the penchant for melodrama. One textbook example is in season 3 after he enters his Blair Witch rip-off student film into a film festival and gets rightly roasted by the other filmmakers in contention. After dismissing the constructive criticism of those “art house snobs," he goes home, clears his walls of all of his beloved movie posters and then drops out of film class. Overreaction much?
When He Didn't Tell Joey He Had a Girlfriend Before They Slept Together
It was six long seasons before Dawson and Joey consummated their on-and-off again relationship, but the slow-burn moment was pretty much ruined when Joey catches a girl calling Dawson on his cell phone the morning after. Turns out, the girl is an actress he had been seeing up until that very morning. "I would rather you weren't involved with someone when we finally sleep together...you should have told me, before!" Joey roars in the season 6 episode "The Song Remains The Same," only for Dawson to respond that she's blowing things out of proportion.
When He Clashed With The Director and Got Fired on His First Day Of Work
Sure, British director Todd Carr (Hal Ozsan) was no picnic to work for, what with his hot temper and no filter, but given that Dawson was only a mere intern working at a Hollywood film studio for the very first time, the young Leery lad probably shouldn't have told his boss that he's basically a hack who only makes bad movies. Unsurprisingly, Dawson was promptly fired and even dropped out of film school because of the embarrassing incident.
When He Reacted Badly To His Mom's Pregnancy
The introduction of a new baby into a family can conjure up feelings of jealousy in a soon-to-be sibling, but usually not when that sibling is a fully-grown 18-year-old. In the season 4 episode "The Family Way," Dawson doesn't take well to the news that his parents are expecting a baby, sulking around the house and offering a very belated — and begrudged congratulations — to Gail and Mitch. Things get worse when Gail reveals that she's considering an abortion, given her age and the family's financial troubles, which causes Dawson to react horribly instead of supporting his mother in her personal decision.
When He Broke Pacey's Nose By Throwing A Basketball At His Face
We'll play devil's advocate here: Pacey was definitely out of line telling Jen that Dawson's childhood nickname was Oompa Loompa and for trying to embarrass Dawson in front of an entire squad of cheerleaders in the season 1 episode "Detention." But that doesn't mean Dawson should have ever resorted to violence, especially not chucking a basketball directly at his best friend's face and breaking his nose. Unsurprisingly, that courtside fight lands both boys in detention.
When He Didn't Listen When Joey Said She Was Uncomfortable Sharing a Bed
For much of their childhood friendship, Joey would spend the night over at the Leery residence and share a bed with her good buddy Dawson. However, what with the changes that come with puberty and such, Miss Potter reveals in Dawson's Creek season 1 that she's no longer comfortable being bunkmates with her boy bestie. "Things change, Dawson. Evolve!" she tells him. However, Dawson downplays her concerns and forces her to spend the night even though she's clearly not feeling totally okay with it. Plus, he hogs the bed!
When He Immediately Went Against His Film Teacher's Rules
In season 1, aspiring director Dawson wanted to take a film class at the fictional Capeside High, but the underclassman was deemed too young. However, after some earnest begging from the student, the school's film teacher Mr. Gold (Mitchell Laurance) decides to let him audit the class, so long as he promises not to participate since he's not officially enrolled. Cut to Dawson's very first film class and what does he do? He immediately throws passive observation out the window and smugly inserts comments and questions into the film class.
When He Cringingly Sang The Blues About His Romantic Troubles
As part of Dawson's alcohol-fueled 16th birthday celebrations, he and Andie decide to throw themselves into a night of unabashed and underage recklessness, which includes taking the stage at a jazz club to awkwardly sing "the blues." Such choice lyrics include: "My name is Dawson Leery, I'm feeling kinda weary / Today is my birthday, and you all look a little blurry / The girl that I cared for left me and ran away / straight into the arms of a guy who turned out to be gay." Better stick to filmmaking, Dawson!
When He Tempted His Friends With A Stolen Copy Of The PSAT Test
In the season 3 episode "None of the Above," Dawson is far from the only student tempted to cheat when the Capeside gang gets their hands on an advance copy of the PSAT test, even veritable goody-two-shoes like Joey and Andie consider it. However, he was the one who brought the stolen test to his friends in the first place — in school, no less! — after getting the test from his bad-girl love interest Eve Whitman (Brittany Daniel).
When He Wrecked His Dad's Boat While Hooking Up With Eve
Dawson's season 3 romance with Eve revealed a wild, and irresponsible, side of the usually straightlaced character. While smooching with the mysterious blonde during a cruise on his dad Mitch's boat, Dawson gets so distracted that the boat crashes into a dock, warranting $3,000 worth of repairs. As if that isn't bad enough, he decides to have a rowdy house party with strippers and charge $20 a pop for attendees to drum up the cash, all while his parents are out of town. Of course, Mitch comes home early and is not happy about the situation.
When He Spent His Professional Career Stuck In His High School Days
Sure, by the series finale of Dawson's Creek, our titular lead finally got his happy ending as a director working in Hollywood, one with apparently enough notoriety to snag a meeting with the one and only Steven Spielberg. However, it's revealed that Dawson isn't working on acclaimed feature films like his filmmaking hero — instead, he's working on a TV show, The Creek, about his relationship with Joey and their experiences in Capeside. "Write what you know" is one thing, but "obsess over your past" is a different thing altogether.
When He Didn't Take Joey's Artistic Talents Seriously
"Dawson, why is it that your obsession with movies is your life passion, but my interest in art is just a hobby?" Joey rightly questions Dawson early on in season 2. Indeed, Dawson had regularly diminished Joey's sketches and artistic pursuits as a mere pastime all the while expecting his best friend-slash-love interest to take his short films and student projects seriously. It's no surprise, then, that when Pacey iconically bought Joey a wall as a canvas to pursue her art, she — and we — swooned!
When Dawson Made This Crazy Face As He Cried
It's the face that launched a thousand hilarious memes: when Dawson finally realized that Joey and Pacey were endgame in season 3, he sadly had to come to terms with his broken heart over losing Joey. And he did so, but not before unleashing one of the most memorable crying faces in TV history. The cry-face was so iconically awful that Van Der Beek's own Dawson's Creek co-star Joshua Jackson jokingly offered up his own small-screen sob in tribute.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
