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216 reviews in total

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66 out of 75 people found the following review useful:
the show that made me watch TV again., 21 June 1999
Author: Dan Grant (dan.grant@bell.ca) from Toronto, Ontario

The thing about Dawson's Creek and it's borderline pretentious vocabulary is that the characters acknowledge that they are a bit too smart for the average teen. They know how silly they must sound at times. Remember the episode where Dawson had his birthday and Andee and him got drunk and he just leveled into everybody? Do you remember what he said to Joey? " Joey, the only fifteen year old I know that needs to find herself. "

To say these teens are precocious is to say that Star Wars has a large following. It's just not needed. We all know that, but what makes the show so good is the characters, the writing, the setting, the direction, the production values, oh hell, everything makes this show good. It really is one of a kind.

What I like best about it is that Dawson is a dreamer. He does not want to grow up to be " Joe " down the street. He wants to be Spielberg. And sometimes he takes flak for who he is. But how many of us have dreamed? How many of us have taken flak for it? So how many of us can relate to this in one way or another?

I do agree however with the general census that Joshua Jackson is the best part of the show. Pacey is down to earth and he is not as wordy as the other characters. But his relationship with Andee is so complex and so refreshing that you yearn for his screen time, you get anxious to see what he is going to do next, and I do think he has the greatest range on the show. In the final episode of the second year, when he finally made some sort of amends with his dad..... powerful stuff.

I do like Joey and I think Katie Holmes is a wonderful actor, as is Van Der Beek and Williams. All in all this show is a refreshing taste of what it was like to be a teen and I applaud them for having the guts to tackle such delicate subjects as homosexuality and the difficulty in believing in God. That takes guts and they handle it with integrity and class.

There isn't a better show on TV and I look forward to every Friday ( here in Ontario ) to see what is going to happen next. Just one complaint: When the hell are Dawson and Joey going to do it?

An excellent show!

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62 out of 77 people found the following review useful:
What TV should be., 24 May 2000
Author: Covey-3 from Sheffield, England

Dawson's Creek is by no means a realistic portrayal of teenage angst. I'll admit this. The power of the series and what, in my view, makes it far and away the best thing to happen to TV in a long, long time, is that is it a realistic portrayal of teenage emotions...

The characters in Dawson's Creek may only be 16, yet as Eve said to Dawson (early Season 3) they are all 'old souls'. The emotions in the series are real, the emotions felt by the characters are real, yet, the fact that Kevin Williamson has allowed the characters a vocal outlet for these emotions is the genius of the show. My So Called Life was a brave attempt to do this, but fell short through its pretensions of grandeur. Dawson's Creek embraces the fact that the vocabulary spoken is fake and because of this, is entirely forgiven. This is why we watch television, to feel and see emotions that we cannot or do not feel in our own lives.

As Dawson once said, "Movies (And TV) by definition are escapism, if you want reality look out of the window." Dawson's Creek knows what it is. A fictional television show about high school kids and the emotions they deal with. By admitting its falseness, yet retaining its warmth, humanity and heart, we are able to witness characters that we know aren't real, that we know in real life wouldn't have the vocabulary that these kids possess, but who we believe in and we root for.

Not only emotionally is Dawson's Creek superb, but technically, the series is faultless. Musically, artists like Sarah Mclachlan and Jewel fit snugly into the feel of the series, while artists like New Radicals and Semisonic serve to enhance emotions. The choice of song in Dawson's Creek is rarely wrong and often perfect. The music does not lead the scene into the direction of the song, but serves to reinforce and enhance the emotion that the scene portrays and requires.

Visually, the gorgeous backdrop of Wilmington, North Carolina is fitting as the small American village that is Capeside. The scenic beauty of the Creek, the coast, the woodland, the foliage. Everything visually about the show is in keeping with the emotional context of the show.

Camera work is also faultless. When presented with a difficult emotional scene, we usually pull away from the action at the end of the scene, not judging the characters for their mistakes and allowing them the right to deal with it on their own, without our interference. Only rarely do we judge the characters and when we do, the characters themselves have already beat us to it. (Dawson and Andie getting drunk)

I'd like to thank Kevin Williamson for allowing me the chance to fall in love with the town, the people and the life. These emotions are real. The vocabulary, is just a way of allowing the emotions to have a voice.

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35 out of 43 people found the following review useful:
Great Work!!, 14 October 2004
Author: sajeeva sinniah from Sri Lanka

From it's very first pilot episode, Dawson's Creek has been able to capture the hearts of every teenager. Ever since it's ending in 2003, I believe this TV series was one the best teen set drama. One thing that this show was able to maintain was it's cast. Dawson Leary played by James Van Der Beck, Pacey Witter played by Joshua Jackson, Jen Lindley played by Michelle Williams, and Joey Potter played by Katie Holmes have all been in every episode since season one- and hence everyone was able to follow the characters from beginning to end. Though some episodes were cliché, and were equipped with some cheesy lines, that did not stop it from one time being one of the most popular shows in th world. This show brought many stars to the lime light especially Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson.

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32 out of 39 people found the following review useful:
A superb character driven teenage drama program, 23 February 2005
Author: James Lamont (jameslamont) from London, England

Dawsons Creek was revolutionary as it was a show that really cared about its characters, the story lines and the audience. The characters in the show were very likable, honest people who the audience grew to love. The thing that puts this show above most of the other teenage shows is the strength of the acting, the character depth, the realism of the show and the way the show is written.

Dawsons Creek follows the trials and tribulations of a group of very close teenage friends who are growing up in the fictional seaside town of Capeside. James Van Der Beek plays the main character in the show, the honest, romantic and genuinely good-guy Dawson Leery. Katie Holmes soul mate Joey Potter and Joshua Jackson was the plays his life-long best friend and funny, naughty and charming other best friend Pacey Whitter. Kerr Smith and Michelle Williams does a good job as Jen Lindley and Jack McPhee who were the other main cast in the show and who were also friends with the other three characters.

The show is mainly about these teenagers growing up through their adolescent years and it shows all the problems that they encounter, and by having each other the characters so close to each other it means they all have people they can turn too when things go wrong. This show dealt with a massive amount of issues and themes whether it be: sexual encounters, affairs, deaths, gay characters, love triangles, fights, mental problems etc and at the heart of the show is the problems they all have with growing up into adults.

Many people complain about the way that these characters spoke in sophisticated vocabulary that was unrealistic to how teenagers would really speak and that may be true to a point that was one of the good things about the show. It did not stick by the conventional teenage drama mould that has been copied many times by other shows.

All the characters in the show are very complex and because they are all there from day one the viewer learns to love each character because we come to respect and understand them. The viewer can also learn to see things they like in each of the characters and because the show stays true to itself, the characters do not change they just evolve.

The writing in this show is generally of a very good standard, and particularly in the first three seasons the music score is also great. The best episode of the show is probably "The Longest Day" as this is just superbly directed and put together and will probably rank among the best for many fans of the show.

A big strength of this show is that it appeals to a large amount of people in the teenage age group and unlike most teenage shows, it appeals to both men and women. I think this is due to the fact that the characters are not just two-dimension Hollywood cutouts and they all have deep personalities. The audience can identify with the characters because they paint a realistic portrayal of teenage life.

I personally think the show went on for too long and it should have finished after the fourth season. This is due to the fact that in Season 5 most of the characters moved away to different parts of the country and the closeness of the characters we had become to love simply vanished. The new characters that were cast into the show did not really add much to the already established show.

Go and see this show 9/10

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27 out of 35 people found the following review useful:
"Hang on Dawson it's gonna be a bumpy life"..., 11 August 2004

Author: Annie from New Hampshire

"Hang on Dawson it's gonna be a bumpy life"... This quote basically describes the entire series. Through the good times and the bad times the four Capeside buddies, Joey, Dawson, Pacey and Jen stick together with some other characters thrown in for good measure... Although I am a die hard fan of the series I do at times find it tiring, with all the off and on again of the groups varied, hormonally charged relationships. Occasionally I find my self wondering why I spend so much of my time watching and re-watching seasons past on DVD but no matter how hard I try I cannot stop. So overall this series is well... interesting, fluff with a couple of dramatic moments to send the group crashing hard back to the reality of life.... but hey it's always more fun to see someone else's' life crashing than your own so set aside some time and watch away but don*t watch to long or you will get sucked into the whole teen angst ridden story.... :)

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14 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Dawson's Creek - what every teenager goes through, 6 November 2007

Author: Ibuk from United Kingdom

Dawson's Creek is my favourite American teenage drama. The story is written in a way that every teenager can relate to it. There has been lots of teenage dramas since, for instance The O.C. but they have lacked the brilliance of Dawson's Creek. What is so brilliant is how they dealt with real issues like divorce, mental illness etc.

The character I could most relate to was Joey Potter. The reason was her crush on Dawson Leary and him not realising how she felt. I am sure that every teenager knows how that feels. In fact when Dawson's Creek came out I had a thing for her.

To me it was always the Dawson Leary and Joey Potter show. Their on off relationship had me hooked. Their love story was so well written and so heartfelt.

I didn't actually watch it from the start. I caught it during the last season but I was lucky enough to catch the reruns. Dawson 's creek has been replicated but can never be matched.

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20 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
One of the best shows on Television!, 1 January 1999
Author: KW_118

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!OK now that we've got that out of the way I'd like to tell you why.First of all Kevin W.'s witty and intelligent writing style give the characters a real sense of personality.Second the young actors and actresses are extremely talented(in fact Katie Holmes happens to be one of my favorite actresses:).Finally I would like to compliment the show's honesty.Instead of talking down to teens in a condescending manner this show's very upfront and direct.It's willing to say things that others might be afraid of saying.Dawson's Creek is one of the best shows to come along in awhile.I love it:)

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25 out of 43 people found the following review useful:
Dawson's Creek Season 1, 3 April 2003
Author: valens-69 from New York

Set in the fictional Capside which is in Massachusetts, Dawson's Creek tells the story of teenagers entering adulthood.

Dawson Leery(James Van Der Beek) is an aspiring filmmaker who idolizes Steven Spielberg, his bestfriends are Josephine "Joey" Potter(Katie Holmes) and Pacey Witter(Joshua Jackson)

Jennifer Lindley(Michelle Williams) is from New York and is sent by her parents to live in Capeside with her grandmother Evelyn Ryan(Mary Beth Peil)

Joey's mother died when she was young and her father is in jail her sister Bessie(Nina Repeta) looks after her.

Joey is secretly in love with Dawson.

Pacey is having an affair with an older woman Tamara Jacobs(Leann Hunley) who also happens to be Pacey's teacher.

Dawson ends up hooking up with Jenn which causes Joey to be jealous.

Dawson's mother Gail(Mary-Margaret Humes) and his father Mitch(John Wesley Shipp) are going through marital problems since Gail cheated on him.

Jenn decides to break things off with Dawson.

Dawson is down on his luck and wants badly to get back with Jenn.

Joey is thinking about going to France and go to school out there.

And right then Dawson realizes the one he really wants has been in front of him the whole time.

Dawson makes his move for the girl he really loves Joey.

Kevin Williamson is the creator and also serves as Executive Producer and one of the Writers.

Season 1 was brilliant. The Creek set it self apart from all the other teen shows, and was a bit more realastic.

Though at times the characters did act a bit too mature for their ages.

Standout episodes are The Pilot, Detention(Breakfast Club Spoof) The Scare and Decisions

I give Dawson's Creek Season 1 9/10

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
An Honest Opinion of this show, 13 February 2009

Author: bonosancho from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

when this show first aired, i was just graduating high school, making me a member of the target audience. That said, as a teenager/twenty-something, it didn't appeal to me. At the time, the market was starting to get flooded with teenage shows and movies. However, i was aware of it's presence on the pop culture scene. And most of my friends (mostly girls) watched this show. Fast forward 10 years and i'm at home watching TV late at night and i catch the pilot episode. It was probably one of the better pilot episodes i had ever seen. So i started watching the show. Through the years, i caught little bits and pieces of the story lines through TV commercials, friends conversations, message boards etc..so i was aware of how the show ended. I knew that pacey ends up with Joey and that the dad dies in one of the later seasons. Part of the reason i was intrigued after watching the pilot was that i wondered how they got to that point. The way the series began, it seemed to be a childhood sweetheart story. So i was very curious of how the show turned.

First, you have to know before you watch one episode that it's going to be really sappy. This comes with the territory. So if you don't like sappy, you're not going to like this show. I was aware of that. The IMDb rating is a pedestrian 6.8. Pretty average for a show with the hype it got. I wondered why the rating was so low. I know there are a bunch of haters of this show, so before i formed an opinion on it, i watched every single episode.

My opinion is an informed opinion. After watching all the episodes, i must agree that the rating is appropriate. This show is very average.

To start with, i'll tell you why this show is good. The music in every episode was well done. I'm a big fan of good soundtracks. Some of the songs helped bring a real sense of sentimentality. And being that this is a somewhat biography of kevin williamson, i thought that it was very effective. The show's pilot as i mentioned was very good. It introduced all the main characters and had three awesome plots with Joey and Dawson's relationship, Pacey and his teacher and dawson's parents marital issues. In between, there were some really good shows. One of my favorites was "The Long Goodbye". This episode was heartbreaking and realistic. Watching season 1's last episode, i understood why so many people liked this show. The episode "downtown crossing" was an excellent concept for a television show. The last episode was probably one of the best series ending episodes i've ever seen. It was climatic and had a good concept. I thought it would have been ridiculous to end the show when they are in their early 20s making lifetime decisions, but the idea of going into the future worked brilliantly.

Now, i'll tell you why this show could have been better. It starts and ends with the dialogue. I know from reading the various postings on this message board that this is a common to criticize. This was just not realistic. Walk into any high school in America and you won't hear too many kids talk that way. Even the smart kids don't talk like that. My second criticism of this show is that there aren't many likable characters. So many times i wanted to punch dawson. Joey spunk was overplayed. Jen was in need of slapping. Andie was so annoying. When they finally got it right and got rid of her, they replaced her with a more annoying and less redeemable blonde in Audrey Liddel. Pacey was the only one who i really sympathized with and celebrated with. Pacey's character was realistic. Teenage boys are sex crazed. thats what made dawson so unbelievable. He was constantly getting propositioned and never did he concede. I find that very unbelievable. Another problem i have with some of the characters was how they all seemed to bust on to the show real abrasively and then do a 180 to become lovable. (Was this intentional? showing that people are not always what they seem to be) For example, watch Jack's early episodes then watch him in seasons 3-5. He's a totally different character. Arthur Brooks character was that way to a much lesser extent. The worst case was Grams character. She started the show as a conservative Christian who was very judgmental and was even hinted to be a racist (maybe it was just joey herself being judgmental). By the end of series, she was living with a gay man and cool with the promiscuous lifestyles of her granddaughter and her friends. That was just ridiculous. I thought it was just a way to shoehorn her into the later episodes. Speaking of which....those later episodes were pure garbage. Season 5 started good and went downhill. Season 6 is just unwatchable. Overall, this is a decent show that could have been a lot better. Those are my opinions. i'd like to hear your opinions on the show and on my opinion.

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15 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Who Got The Girl?, 27 November 2004
Author: Mandy Young from Edinburgh, Scotland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The series finale of Dawson's Cree took an interesting turn as Joey had to decide for the last time as to who gets the girl. Either her soul mate Dawson or Pacey. I thought that she made the right choice choosing Pacey as they are more suited for each other than Dawson and Joey. When Dawson and Joey were together they was too much teen angst and analysing and basically making each other more and more depressed. Dawson was also too selfish and only cared about his films. This evidently got in the way of true happiness. Joey was much happier when she was with Pacey as he didn't have anything else to care about as he had nothing else in his life to care about. They are much better together and they deserve each other. The right guy got the girl in the end.

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