Dawson's Creek
Episode 9: Roadtrip
By: Carlos Uribe
Dawson's
Creek is a show about teenagers growing up. It ran from 1998-2003 and
was created by Kevin Williamson (creator of the Vampire Diaries and
the Secret Circle).
Spoilers
Ahoy!
Getting
over someone can be difficult. It means having to accept that they
are no longer with you. Dawson has the post-relationship blues pretty
hard. He didn't just get dumped by Jen, but she's the girl next door.
His window faces her house. This means that he spends a lot of time
looking out, wondering what she's thinking and doing. This opens him
up to an opportunity that he wouldn't have taken otherwise. When
Billy decides to stay in Capeside just a little bit longer, he
decides to take Dawson to a nightclub that is crawling with college
girls. The hitch is that this would mean missing school but the
promise is that by being with a woman then Dawson will be able to get
his mind off Jen. Billy isn't acting in the best interest of Dawson
as he's merely hoping to ruin Dawson's reputation amongst Jen. This
would hopefully lead to Jen reconsidering her decision and deciding
to get back together with him. This isn't just observed by Dawson but
also by the audience when Billy tells Jen and Joey that he's taking
Dawson to a whorehouse. While Billy is clearly not a good guy, it is
hard to completely dislike him since he has a lot of charm. The actor
potraying Billy is Eion Bailey, currently a series regular on Once
Upon a Time. Dawson doesn't
actually sleep with anyone but he got pretty close. Being a noble
guy, he decides against it.
While
Dawson is letting himself live, Joey has to deal with a major high
school problem: protecting her name. When a high school football
player claims that he slept with her, Joey is understandably upset.
She has chosen to be a virgin and she doesn't want to be known as a
whore. She would also never sleep with the football player, who
detests her. She has a small revenge due to Jen. Jen has Joey pretend
that she's pregnant so as to apply pressure to the player. This leads
to the player's revelation that he never slept with Joey but only
after Joey's discovery that the player is soft on girls. This seems
to implicate that the player is gay but the series doesn't actually
seem to confirm that. Joey's reputation is saved and the player gets
what he deserved for spreading the vicious rumor. It appears to be a
basic plot that halts the series from advancing the Joey and Dawson
relationship from “just friends with feelings” to a full-fledged
“will-they-won't-they” kind of relationship. Joey remains largely
separate from Dawson in this episode and when they're together,
Dawson is still hung up on Jen.
It
isn't just a basic plot as it has a clear purpose: it advances the
relationship between Jen and Joey. Now that Jen is no longer dating
Dawson, it appears that she would have no reason to hang out with
Joey. And yet Jen is shown to be a good friend with Joey. At the same
time, Dawson keeps coming between them. While Dawson may be absent
from most of their scenes together, they keep managing to come back
to him and what they believe he is doing: sleeping with a hooker.
Their friendship has always been shaky because of Dawson and it
appears that for now it will remain that way. Yet, their friendship
isn't over yet. The two remain allies and Jen seems to be getting
through Joey's rough exterior. The sub-plot wasn't just to stall the
love triangle's development but to also develop the friendship
between Joey and Jen.
While
“Roadtrip” isn't that great of an episode (did we really need a
scene where Dawson ruined a truck of some drunk guys?), it's a pretty
entertaining one for the most part. It does stall but it does so in a
manner that isn't a complete waste of time. It's nice that Pacey is
shown going to the nightclub with Dawson, but he doesn't really
contribute to the plot much. It would have been nicer if the episode
had found a way to develop their friendship a little bit more. That
certainly would have made the episode a lot stronger.
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