Something Wilder:
Written by: Rina Mimoun
Directed by: David Petrarca
Original airdate: January 30, 2002
Synopsis:
Jen gets various school supplies for Dawson since they missed the normal back to school shopping events, and tops them all off with a trapper keeper emblazoned with the haunting image of ET itself. He heads off to VAB, Visual Arts Boston, and runs into Oliver who starts to introduce him around very obnoxiously while insulting other people in the class. Later, Oliver gives Dawson a script he wrote and asks him to direct it. Dawson, surprised at the request, says he will read the script and get back to him.
Meanwhile, Jack finds out he is on academic probation for failing some classes. As he wants to continue to party and play, Blossom suggests that he should be studying instead as the frat doesn’t want their members failing out of school as it reflects badly on them as well. Annoyed, Jack goes to study and on his next quiz he scores an A.
Jen, answering calls during her shift, is not as negative and snarky as she was before because she now finds herself utterly and deeply in love with Dawson. Unfortunately the producers at the station don’t like the new direction and want the old Jen back, a “Jen” that Jen isn’t sure how to get in touch with at the moment due to Dawson being a great boyfriend.
Elliot awkwardly asks Joey out for a Friday night date consisting of dinner and a movie and she agrees. However, later on, Professor Wilder gives her good news regarding the Lazare project and invites her and the rest of the student team out for dinner on Friday to celebrate and she agrees to be there, setting up the old Brady Bunch trope of making two dates on the same night. Wha wahhhhh!
Jen tries to persuade Dawson to direct Oliver’s script, saying she sees the twinkle in his eye but he isn’t too sure he wants to get into something that time consuming right now. He tells Oliver he can’t do it, but then gives him a note about one particular scene which leads to the two of them going to lunch to discuss it more, which then turns into dinner as well, both meals of which were supposed to be dates with Jen. At the end of the day however, Dawson’s notes to Oliver end up being a bit too much and he tells Dawson he doesn’t want him to direct his film anymore.
The following day, Dawson talks to Jen about the whole thing, reasoning that he would probably be just as passionate about his own script as Oliver was about his and he starts to realize he IS ready to get back to work after all. Jen however is still annoyed at what happened, and being treated by Oliver as if she was just arm candy with no opinions about his work either, and lets Dawson have it, before realizing that she just accessed her “other” Jen and can get back to her radio show without being canceled. She tells Dawson she loves him and takes off excitedly. Later we hear her on the radio slinging out sardonic advice in the manner that got her huge ratings in the first place.
Joey, despite having multiple days worth of time in which to call Elliot and tell him she needs to reschedule for any other day, even 24 hours later on Saturday night, decides instead to avoid the confrontation with him completely, until at the last minute he shows up to ask about picking her up a little earlier, decides to tell him she isn’t feeling well, leaving the young nice guy feeling dejected as he walks away.
Joey heads off to meet Wilder and the team and after a great dinner, they all go their separate ways save Joey who gets walked back to her dorm, arm in arm, by Wilder who was heading in the same direction. They discuss his book and how he came about the story and the characters and it comes out that Wilder isn’t married but uses that as an excuse to get out of things he doesn’t want to do. As they decide to get coffee they sit and chat more about relationships and first crushes and butterflies in the stomach which leads the two of them to kiss. Joey pulls away and Wilder worries about going to prison but Joey assures him that it’s not just his fault and they don’t need to worry about this, and they go their separate ways. She returns home to discover that Elliot left her a get well basket with cards and medicines and little pick me ups.
After a conversation with Eric, who reveals that most of the house is talking about Jack’s grade issues with Blossom, Jack ends up drinking heavily at Pacey’s restaurant. Blossom and the gang are there as well and when he and Jack start talking, Jack gets offended that it seems as if Blossom doesn’t care about Jack but rather how Jack’s grades reflect upon the house. Blossom makes a homophobic comment and Jack throws a punch which results in a fight with other frat brothers jumping in and Jack getting his hand cut badly before Pacey is able to separate them all. Jack comes back to the restaurant the next day to give Pacey some money towards damages but Pacey confronts him about what happened. He calls out Jack on his behavior and asks if it’s all worth it, given how hard he worked to get himself into college, but Jack just leaves.
Joey decides to break up with Elliot and then confides in Audrey that she kissed Wilder and they dish about what it was like with Joey confessing that she enjoyed it and didn’t want to stop it.
Dawson finds Oliver and apologizes for some of what he said, admitting that maybe some of Oliver’s ideas don’t need to be cut, but Oliver says he actually does agree with him after all. Dawson tells him he would love to direct his script, and that he was just trying to coast for a little while. Oliver says that he understands but that if you avoid doing things that make you feel good because you’re worried that afterwards you’ll be feeling bad, you’ve found a terrible way to live. Oliver agrees to let Dawson direct but then expresses that he wants to play the lead before running off, as Dawson heads off to catch up with him.
Dawson's Trivia:
Dikran Tulane played the film Professor. He’s had a number of roles, but all are bit parts. He was in three Surface episodes as either Gardener or a gardener. He did appear in The Librarians III at the top of the supporting cast list, playing Sergei Kubicheck. He also was in 8 episodes of the 20 episode series High Rise (no synopsis other than Drama Elevates at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont). It appears to be a drama, but the style of shooting, audio and visual quality, and dialogue in the scene I saw sounded terribly campy, and soap opera-like. Some other series where he guested are The Punisher, The Walking Dead, Constantine, The Blacklist (10 episodes however), and the movies GI Joe: Retaliation, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song (with Lucy Hale), and Vengeance (with Nic Cage).
Parody Dachshund’s Creek:
VisArts Boston is a small film college that only exists in Dawson’s Creek. There is, however, the School of Visual Arts which is part of Boston University.
Guerilla Filmmaking:
Written by: Jonathan Kasdan
Directed by: Julia Rask
Original airdate: February 6, 2002
Synopsis:
As Dawson begins making Oliver’s film, we see Audrey and Oliver acting out a scene but she stops because she is having issues with the things her character is saying. Dawson does manage to quell her doubts and they get back to shooting.
At school, after Wilder’s lesson is over, he and Joey talk about the things that have been happening between them and she brushes past his sarcasm to ask if she can just say what she needs to say, to which he acquiesces. Unfortunately being put on the spot causes her to freeze up and they agree to talk later.
Audrey deduces that Pacey has been sleeping at the restaurant, and Pacey reveals that he has had at least one random encounter with a beautiful young woman while staying there.
Eric confronts Jack about what happened at the fight the other night as he tells Jack that the rest of the guys are trying hard to make it up to him. They hang out and end up playing video games together. After, Eric asks Jack what it was like when he realized he was gay. Jack opens up completely and Eric leans closer to him, as if looking for a kiss. Jack changes the subject and Eric leaves suddenly.
Dawson talks with Jen about the movie and says that he really needs to fix the movie’s ending and Oliver as the lead. Jen suggests Charlie as a replacement and he agrees really due to the fact that he gets to make out with Audrey for a couple of hours. Oliver is happy to make the change because he trusts Dawson’s judgment and wants the film to be as good as possible.
Audrey and Joey hang out and while Audrey starts off by talking about Pacey, that’s left to the wayside as Joey is talking about Wilder, and whether or not she needs to drop his class now, seeing as how even Audrey can see she is completely infatuated with him.
Joey instead goes to Wilder’s house and tells him about her decision to drop the class. He tells her it doesn’t matter because he can see that she has the gift to become a great writer, with or without his class. They discuss the events of the other night with Joey bringing up her example of internal conflicts between ideals and desires and Wilder confessing he had never done anything like that before as they get close enough to kiss when Joey’s cell phone goes off. She starts to head off in response to the call, but rushes back quickly and kisses Wilder first.
Elsewhere Audrey runs her lines with Pacey but the content of the scene and their attraction to each other leads to them actually kissing, which causes Audrey to stop, due to her respect for Joey. Back ons et Dawson begins filming again but Audrey keeps having one problem after another, from Charlie’s acting to Pacey’s boom mic operation.
Back at the frat house, Jack is suddenly confronted by Polar Bear and Blossom and accused of trying to kiss Eric. Jack tries to defend him but they won’t believe him, leading him to decide to move out and leave the frat as well. Jack goes to find Eric and tells him that they both know what happened in that room and that Eric has serious issues that he needs help to deal with before walking out.
As Dawson tries to get a handle on things, Pacey reveals he kissed Audrey. Jen, who has been having severe moments of loud annoyance and exasperation ever since Charlie got on set is asked to go home and take a break by Dawson. Dawson sends Joey and Pacey to retrieve Audrey who is hiding in the bathroom with Joey wondering why Pacey is there to help her. While Pacey tries to skirt the issue, she tells him that she would prefer him hooking up with an amazing girl like Audrey instead of some random ditz. Audrey comes out and tells Joey that her friendship means everything to her and doesn’t want to jeopardize that by betraying her with Pacey, but Joey tells them that she loves them both and wants them to be happy.
Joey returns to set to talk with Dawson and he reveals he has issues with the ending. He wishes he could be the embarrassing hopeless romantic kid he used to be but it’s difficult after so much has changed. Joey tells him she once saw some words written on a bench that she really loved: Hope Dies Last. He says he’s been waiting for a sign and she counters that maybe she is the sign that tells him it’s gonna be ok for them all.
At the bus stop, Jen sees Jack and talks with him. He reveals he isn’t running away waiting for a bus, just sitting there. He asks her about a movie that was brought up between him and Eric earlier, and the two laugh like the old days before the frat.
Back on set, Dawson tells Audrey the changes he has decided to make after talking with Joey and gives her some direction on what to do in the scene, and to play it as honest and vulnerable instead of the dry sardonic take her character has had so far. The scene begins with Charlie acting according to the script, but adjusting when Audrey’s character changes her demeanor. The scene ends with them walking hand in hand as it begins to snow, giving Dawson the hopeful romantic ending he wanted but didn’t know he could believe in anymore.
Pacey and Audrey talk about their kiss from earlier and while they try to play it off and proclaim that they are not each other’s type at all, they kiss again and Pacey offers to drive her home rather than have her walk home alone. Joey makes a snowball and throws it at a sign, and nails it, echoing her feeling of the day’s events.
Dawson's Trivia:
Alaina Huffman played Rina. She was a main cast member of Stargate Universe playing Tamara Johansen for 40+ episodes. She was also a supporting character in the series Painkiller Jane (Jane is a DEA agent recruited by a covert government agent to hunt down genetically enhanced powers but discovers that she has powers herself) and Supernatural as Abaddon. She did have 8 episodes of The 100 as Dona. She’s also done a number of TV movies as a lead and supporting actor. One of her most recent is called The Perfect Match (a woman’s son gets a liver donor after an accident, and then a man shows up in her life who isn’t all he seems to be). Her latest project is called The Missing Twin, where she plays the lead Jenny who is haunted by the feeling that her young daughter’s twin, who died in childbirth, is still alive. She also did 8 episodes of Smallville where she played Dinah Lance/Black Canary.Rasool J’Han has a few handfuls of credits but we have seen her before in Dawson’s, where she played the manager of the store where Andie and Jack’s mother had wandered into during one of her mental episodes and ended up being helped by Pacey. She also had a bit part in I Know What You Did Last Summer as Deb.
Kevie Penny was the “walking businessman” and seems to have made a side job out of being an uncredited extra.
Essential Playlist:
Classic Creek Critiques:
tachyon responds: I’m curious to know where you heard this. They haven't even finished mapping out the end of this season yet...So I *very* much doubt they'd have any idea what is going to happen next season at this time. In fact, they don't even know if there's going to be a *next* season. I'd take anything regarding the end of this season and next season with a large grain of salt.
Alberich says: There is nothing official about anything in what I said. I'm just speculating based on the storyline with Dawson and Jen. I'm tying this to a blurb I did read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) that said Dawson will be facing some big changes next year. What could that possibly mean? His mother dies too? I doubt it. More likely his romance that goes sour with Jen will boomerang into the news that he's a father and Jen will carry the baby to term. Any reunion between Dawson and Joey will definitely be strained by such a development, let me tell you.
Dave tries to clear it up: Here is were the rumor comes from: LOUISE UK: hey Jason my friend said she met Joshua Jackson while she was in holiday in Greece this summer! Can you please tell me whether or not she was lying? Also i heard that jen gets pregnant and jack is shot! Is that true? Thanx
JASON: Hello Louise. I do not know if Josh was in Greece this summer, but I can tell you the other two rumors you bring up are true. Yes, that's right. Later this year Jen becomes pregnant with wisdom and soon after that Jack takes a shot in the arm from a frat buddy after telling an uproarious joke. Hope I didn't reveal too much!
Alberich is wondering: How and where did you get this? Are you sure this is where it all came
from?! I only "surmised" the pregnancy theory based on the storyline itself and the rumors about the something "big" happening to Dawson next year.
tachyon says: That snippet came from the official site and Jason is the guy who writes the desktops...You never can put too much faith into what Jason says. He makes really obscure references that you never work out until the show actually airs. I highly doubt that they'd make Jen pregnant, the writers couldn't handle such a storyline. Maybe they'd give her a scare or something though. But we saw just how well they handled that with Joey at the end of s4 *rolls
eyes*
Psyrax theorizes: I think this blurb came before the season even started, and it refers to the death of Dawson's father.
Alberich says: That was what I thought. But what I've heard is that this something "big" happens to Dawson's life next year during this year's shoot. So that means the rumors about Jen getting pregnant might be true. I mean, come on, Jen is having intense sex with Dawson. All it takes for the bombshell announcement is Jen saying "Dawson, I just wanted you to know...I missed my period."
But Dawson's dad is already dead. So why is it I've heard about something big happening to Dawson next year if this year is already being shown? Clearly, it ties in with the general speculation I've heard all year. That Dawson will reunite with Joey but that there has to be some monkey wrench that messes this up. And what's that? A "big" announcement from Jen would definitely change everything for Dawson.
tachyon says: Well Jen does cheat on him in 516...But we don't yet know what the result of that is. So this could be a *big thing*...However there is also quite a bit of speculation that there's not going to be a season 6. Some of it is coming from people in the know. We should hear confirmation on that sometime soon :-) A P/Jo reunion is planned for the end of this season :-) All I know so far is that a P/Jo reunion is the third story arc for the season...No details yet as the scripts have not been written. Also, I know some of you might be happy to know that Prof. Wilder's final episode is #516.
Albericha asks: How do you get this info? You know somebody who's close to the set? Or do you get this from that Spoiler site online. Just curious.
tachyon says: Both :-) The site I get info from is http://pub25.ezboard.com/fprojectnookiefrm5 It's the most reliable spoiler board on the web. It is a P/Jo bias board though...And I do also know
someone close to the show who drops me info now and then :-)
Alberich says: I'm getting the feeling this is the last season of Dawson's Creek. It would be a MIRACLE if the show survived another season. Witness The X Files "attempt" that finally ended when the show's producer decided to call it quits. Is there a feeling that's the same thing's coming to Dawson's Creek when this season winds down?
tachyon responds: There's been whispers around that this will be the last season...But nothing
confirmed. I don't think they really know yet, as I've heard that they have 2 alternative endings for the end of this season. Yet again, this is not confirmed. However, a decision will need to be made in the next 3-4 weeks for filming purposes...So I'm sure we'll be hearing something shortly :-)
Alberich says: I hope Pacey wins Joey. I'd hate to see the series end on Dawson getting back to his "soulmate" Joey crap. Unfortunately, if that's the way they're going, they won't have any time for making Jen wake up to her senses and smell the coffee when it comes to being with Pacey. Her safety valve appears to be Charley. So if Jen gets Charley, and Dawson gets Joey...where does that leave poor Pacey?! He gets that stupid airhead Audrey?! No way. I don't want this series to end that way. It's got to be a Joey reuniting with Pacey for the ending of this series.
Gary L. Dove says: Well the ratings have been mediocre and suffered major tankage in January, going into February sweeps ... I'd say that is is a VERY bad sign.
Cardsrul wraps it up: Even if there is a "next" season, there won't be a Jen. Michelle Williams has said that she's leaving the show after this year
*
ckchevy asks: Did anyone else notice how in one episode Joey could not stand to be near
Dawson and Jen, and now things are all cool between all of them? Was what happened resolved between them without me knowing it, or was that whole 'dilema' dropped??
tachyon with the spoilers: The whole thing was cleared up on the Desktops on the official DC site. As for the show itself, it was just dropped. Joey's more worried about the P/Au pairing that becomes more serious than she thought. Basically TPTB are trying to make P/Au the new supercouple on the show, trying to re-create the ratings that P/Jo brought them in season
3. It won't work.
Alberich says: I agree with you on that. Audrey/Pacey doesn't work. Audrey is too stupid for Pacey. I hate being the one to say this...but it appears the writers have found someone worse than Andie. Audrey makes Andie look like a saint. I just wish the writers would wake up and let Pacey have Jen. Especially since the writers are determined to give us the "soulmate" crap another go around between Joey and Dawson. Noooo...they get this idiot character Audrey. Pacey should run the other way when Audrey gets on the screen. Of course, the ultimate pairing in my opinion has been Joey/Pacey. That was awesome.
Tommy Poe says: Funny...I think Joey and Pacey were not as good as advertised, _liked_ Pacey/Andie, and think Audrey is the best new character on the show...since the show began. She's not like Jen and Joey...she's actual new blood who steals every scene she's in. Pacey's lucky as hell not to have a nutcase like Jen, Joey, and Andie right now.
Anneli says: OMG, you are such a retard. Andie was THE best thing ever happened to
Dawsons Creek, without her it sucks. Many people agree with me. She was intelligent, cute, adorable and she rocked!
marci says: I'm hoping they will reveal that she's a drug addict or at least manic depressive. (well, i guess andi already corned the insanity thing). I think Joey is the most fake charactor on that show, and she's beginning to irritate me as much as dawson and his giant forehead.
Nahid Filan says: that's pretty easy. prof. wilder gives her butterflies, so she forgot about
dawson at all
*
Steve Raznar proclaims: Jack is an IDIOT. That's reeeeeal smart, Jack. Make the guy feel uncomfortable when he is opening up to you.
IceBlast agrees: I thought the same thing. Why make him feel like you think he's weird? I
would have just sat up, and talked.
