Remember When Our Friends Lived on a Creek?

A long time ago, we used to be friends* with a bunch of angsty teens that lived on a creek. Remember those days? Yeah. Those were some pretty great days.

Today my Dawson’s Creek season 6 box set arrived from the library (yea, buddy - I’m cheap). The sixth season is the last season. And I think most fans will agree that seasons five and six are pretty lackluster (read: mostly a suckfest). It always feels like, ‘Really? Where’s the Creek magic? Why does Jack Osbourne have a cameo? Why can’t Andie McPhee come back?’ I don’t think I can actually handle watching the series finale again. I watched it at first (all those years ago), with a couple of friends. So I held it together in that first viewing, no tears. Maybe just a little bit of mist. But that’s all. Honest!

But… when I watched it by myself…oh noooo. SO MANY TEARS. Because, oh God…Jen! Also, the line Dawson’s delivers about, ‘I guess this threesome has become a foursome’ always held such perfect self-aware irony (for the characters and the show, itself) that I find myself almost able to forgive them for some of their lamer lines.

In that last episode of Dawson’s Creek Michelle Williams gives a performance as Jen that seemed to be crying out, “You’d better hire me after this, Hollywood. I’m worth it. I can do more than just teen drama.” And she’s proven them right. Seeing the artfully acted Jen scenes (with so much pain pouring from her that it was tangible) it made you realize how Williams didn’t get nearly enough of the good storylines. (Yet they devoted an entire episode to just one character, Joey Potter - played by Katie Holmes**. That episode wasn’t even that good. Pah.)

This makes me wonder about the series finales of different shows. You want them to be fulfilling, but if the price of high ratings and a big climatic moment is at the cost of a major character’s life, does it ultimately affect how the show is seen for years afterward? Basically, can the final show ruin it all? Probably only if you let it. Still…

Alias was such a strong show for the first few years - it was amazing, actually. Jennifer Garner kicked major EVIL ass as Sydney Bristow. But those last two years of the show killed it. Plus, the season finale was so ‘bleh’ that it left a bad aftertaste whenever I think of Alias. Three years great out of five isn’t bad, but it’s probably part of the reason that J.J. Abrams made the decision to set an ‘end date’ for (his other show) Lost.

I truly wish that Dawson’s Creek had ended when the character’s left high school (with a different season finale taped for the ending of that season). The last two years tainted the show with what I can only describe as ICK. I recently wrote about why a show I don’t even really watch, One Tree Hill, has some respect from me because it skipped the college years. (Click the One Tree Hill tag to read it.) That was a smart move.

I’m going to pull this back to thoughts of Dawson’s Creek. What happened with Jen in the finale played against the love triangle with the three other main characters. It reminds me of how so many Lost fans I know are interested in some facet of the Kate/Jack/Sawyer love triangle, but when Desmond and Penny had their scenes this year there was no comparing. Desmond and Penny won us over in just a few short minutes. Talk about epic.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be watching the Creek finale yet again, or not. But I’ll be sure to let you guys know. It’s seeped with my teenage memories, which might be fragile. I find that denial works pretty well. Plus, denial is cheaper than most of your typical anti-depressants.

My googling adventures today lead me to a noteworthy post by HeyWriterBoy. (Hey, Writer Boy!) The post is about a book I’d never heard of before, called Billion Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That Saved Dawson’s Creek and other Adventures in TV Writing by Jeffrey Stepakoff. Looks preeeeeetty interesting.

Also, the aforementioned Writer Boy linked to Jane Espenson’s blog. She’s one of my heroes. Dear Writer Boy, I think you have good taste.

I also came across an article about a woman who wrote her Masters Thesis on Dawson’s Creek. Hrm. Hrm, I say!

* This is my not-so-subtle allusion to The Dandy Warhols song ‘We Used to be Friends’. Did you get that? Did you know that in my 8th grade English Class I was one of the only people to spell the pop quiz word ’subtle’ correctly? I always felt so weirdly proud of that. Mock away!

*This was before Tom Cruise brainwashed her with aliens. (If I disappear, assume Tom sent people to capture me.)