Date of airing: May 12, 1998 (WB)
Nielsen ratings information: 7.80 million viewers, 5.2/8 in Households
Twelve episodes in and this series has delivered its best episode yet again. This was quite a tender episode, going into all the thicks and thins, and ups and downs of friendship and teenage romance, while also not forgetting the initial premise that originated the series. The writers knew how the season was supposed to look like as a whole, with a story going from episode to episode that had a destined end from the beginning. So while it may have taken a while for the Dawson/Joey romance to blossom and to find its origins, it truly feels like the end goal here, in case DAWSON’S CREEK was not making it as a show and WB had to cancel it after its first season. And now that the season finale was on the doorsteps, it was time for the climax of the narrative, to bring home the prize, to carry the ball into the end zone, to make love true and last.
It took a while for Joey to come to terms with her feelings for Dawson, and it took even longer for her to speak about them out loud and have the center of her affections know about her feelings. But when it finally happened, hearts and minds were dropped to the floor for everyone to see, and even I almost had to push a tear out of my eye, because the scene with Dawson and Joey, shortly before she gave back his suit jacket, was truly powerful when it came to romantic emotions, and how stuff like that remains unrequited for some of us. Between Joey’s wants and needs to get the hell out of town and live a bigger life than what she thinks everyone wants of her, as well as her feelings for Dawson, there are worlds between them, and she had to come to grips with all of it in this episode, which is probably why she dropped that huge bomb on Dawson and left him standing there with her truth. Time to make decisions, Joey probably thought to herself, because she simply cannot wait any longer.
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| Becoming Miss Capeside is going to be annoying and hard work for Pacey. |
The beauty pageant was a great premise to put all the characters into one room and have them interact with one another without losing the sense of each of them being in their own little story arc. It’s also fascinating how every one of the main characters had a different spot in the pageant – Dawson was the newsman (the channel entrusted the coverage of the pageant to a teenager?), Joey was the contender, Pacey was the activist, Jen was the coach, Mrs. Leary was the judge, and if Bessie would have been in this episode, she could have been the family member in the audience, cheering for one of the contestants.
That was some smart writing, especially when each of the roles had an impact on the characters’ stories. Yes, even Mrs. Leary had an impact on both Pacey, because she was smashing all of his dreams with the logic he needed to anticipate and hoped to circumvent, hence his William Wallace impersonation, which I found surprisingly hilarious, but could have been directed more towards real political activism if Pacey had directed that speech directly at the judges who thought of him as a joke. Because really, Pacey had all the reasons in the world to be a little mad here – why is he not given the chance to showcase his talents and be rewarded with respect? Although maybe the audience truly saw him as the comedic foil of the pageant, considering his acts were more comedic and he actually brought everyone to laugh. Does that mean he was never taken seriously as a contestant because of his nature to overplay things? What a shame that this episode didn’t go a lot deeper with the pageant’s elements of sexism and patriarchy – maybe the writers could have delivered some real political activism with this hour and told the viewers what something like that would look like.
Joey’s change from the introverted girl to the young woman who is desperately trying to find a way out of town was also great. There was something about her initial hesitance to take part in the contest and her episode-ending confidence that led her to spill out her emotional guts in front of Dawson. She learned quite a lot during this episode, and as it happened, her coach was magnificent and kind of helpful in that regard. Turns out Jen coached Joey into being more of an open person, and that happened to hinder Jen’s chances of getting back with Dawson. Joey’s change in character and purchase of confidence set Jen back a few steps, and the two women are still rivals for the heart of the town’s smartest boy, even if they tried their darn hardest to be friends, least alone not letting Dawson come between each other. The season finale is coming up, right? No finale without at least one conflict that could be confused for an external one.
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| She is singing this song for you, dear viewer! |
And finally, Pacey’s story. Yes, it was politically motivated. Yes, Pacey needed the money. Yes, Pacey would have loved to choke his butthead of a father whom we have never seen before (and I believe it’s not a coincidence). And yes, it was the comedic storyline, because judging from the emotional level of the final two acts, a little bit of comedy and good-old Pacey awesomeness was needed, just to remind the viewers that DAWSON’S CREEK isn’t a purely dark drama that needed to be aired on HBO, followed by OZ. This show was still a teen drama on a broadcast network, accessible for all the young ages, as long as they are between 12 and 29. For all of these purposes, Pacey’s story did work, and the writers knew they had to put some meaning behind it too, which you could see in Pacey’s almost aggressive disappointment when Mrs. Leary told him he had no chance to win the pageant. It almost makes me want to wish the guy would start dating his competition in the form of Hannah for a hot episode or two, simply to show that Pacey isn’t all about wanting to be a Capeside hothead.
