Revisiting a classic - Dawson's Creek

A few weeks ago, I had a dream. No, not that kind of dream. No, not that kind either - get your mind out of the gutter! It was one of those dreams I usually have when I've gone to bed too late and fell asleep watching a TV show. You know the type - where you imagine that you are one of the characters in said TV show? (Just me? Well, OK then.)

Anyhow, despite the fact that I hadn't seen the show in years, I dreamt that I was one of the characters on my old favorite, Dawson's Creek. The gang and I were sitting around watching, natch, Dawson's Creek (yep, just like in the series finale), and then suddenly, I was making out with Pacey, my TV jailbait boyfriend. I woke up with an extreme sense of urgency, one that required a trip to Target to see if I could acquire some episodes of the long gone TV show. Despite my lingering homework and housing woes, I needed to spend some quality with Dawson, Joey and Pacey. It was just my luck that the first two seasons were on sale as a bundle ($20 for both!), and I've been glued to them ever since. I am now nearing the end of season 2 in my TV marathon, and have just received the amazon package containing seasons 3 and 4 (the best ones, in my opinion - those were the ones written after Greg Berlanti took over the show).

What I've discovered is that watching the Creek some ten years after it aired is a completely different experience than the first time around. For one thing, as is true for all TV on DVD, knowing what's going to happen next, and then watching it half an hour later, certainly changes the way the drama plays out. For another, with the 90210's and the Gossip Girl's of the TV landscape now, Dawson's Creek doesn't seem nearly as risque and unique as it once did. It's fascinating to see how the tone of the show changed as well - the first season was so clearly the product of Kevin Williamson's showrunning, while the second season and onward had Berlanti written all over it.

Let me back up a little. I remember watching this show and constantly having my mouth hit the floor - these kids talked all funny, the acing was overwrought, and the storylines were preposterous. Don't get me wrong, all of that is still true. But having been through it once, I'm finding myself relating to the show perhaps a little more than I should be. Yeah, they express it in ways that 15 year olds would never speak, but these kids' thoughts are pretty on par with anyone who's experiencing any kind of transition or coming of age - whether you're 15 or 30. The fear, introspection, and general weariness they experience is pretty relatable, despite the overwrought acting and trite dialogue (which are precisely the parts that make the show craptastic!). It's obvious that Williamson and his successors were writing from personal experience, albeit ones that may have happened to them last week, rather than when they were teens themselves. Watching season 2 is fun too, because being a Greg Berlanti fan from watching the last few seasons of the Creek as well as Everwood, I can see where his voice takes over and changes the tone slightly from Williamson's earlier one.

I'm at the point in the season right now where Abby Morgan just drowned in the Creek (which, according to the commentary, Monica Keena asked to be killed so she wouldn't have to commute back and forth to Wilmington anymore!); Andie is having a nervous breakdown; Joey and Dawson just got back together; Jen's Grams kicked her out of the house for cursing too much; and Dawson's parents are debating getting back together. I remember watching this season when it was on, and being riveted by the 'Andie's gone crazy' storyline. But watching it years later, as a 31 year old with a slight anxiety problem, I have a whole new perspective - Andie is not crazy, she's normal. She's a woman going through a lot of transitions in her life, and she has a slight fear of everything - one that can only be calmed by Xanax and Prozac. Who can't relate to that?

And then of course, there's Pacey Witter, whose last name just now hit home for me, as I was about to type that he's "witty." Enough said about that, I think.

I think perhaps the problem with the show from beginning was that the writers decided to create their characters as 15 year olds, when really they meant for them to be in their early 30's. Their parents are conveniently absent, which makes them feel all the more adult. I find myself relating to this show more now than ever, and more so than I ever related to any show where the characters actually ARE in their 30's, like Sex and the City, et al.

So, as I myself face a road full of transitions, anxieties, and homework ahead, I find myself relying on the Creek once again for wisdom and security. Because I know that I'm not actually taking advice from teenagers, but from the alter egos of talented scribes like Williamson and Berlanti - ones who seem to have a firmer grasp on what it's like to constantly feel like you're growing up than say, Shonda Rhimes and her cohorts.