The Kids Are Alright:
Written by: Tom Kapinos
Directed by: Greg Prange
Original airdate: October 2, 2002
Synopsis:
Joey recaps the events of the summer which entail her staying at home in Capeside rather than going to to Paris, not talking to Dawson because time got away from her, Jen learning and being okay with her parents getting divorced, Pacey and Audrey living the life in LA, and Jack being broken up with by Eric over email, henceforth known as Pulling A Henry, leading to Jack becoming quite the man’s man as he has a number of summer trysts that he tries to hide from Grams.
On her way to class, Joey bumps into and knocks over a young man, who we later find out is the very Professor that she was on her way to see. After the initial awkwardness, he offers her the chance to work for him as a research assistant, and then notes that she is in his class but that it is usually a little advanced for sophomores. She convinces him to let her try, and he says to make sure she has read the first book before the first class, which starts in a few hours.
Audrey and Pacey return to Boston with Audrey worried that Pacey will become a typical 9 to 5’er due to the fact that he impressed Audrey’s dad so much that he found him a job interview in the city selling stocks.
Jen points out to Grams that she finds herself happy to be there, given that her parents’ divorce has restored her faith in humanity. Later however, she finds that Grams has decided to go back to school, having been inspired by Clifton, and is actually in one of Jen’s classes, much to her embarrassment.
Pacey tells Joey to not let him stay at her and Audrey’s dorm room, explaining later that as happy as he is, he just needs a break sometimes from Audrey and her exhausting pace. Joey tells him that while she is both his and her friend, if he breaks her heart, she’ll break his face.
Jack mentions to Pacey that he is interested in finding his own place, and that gives Pacey the idea to look into that, meeting a young woman and drummer named Emma who has a place for rent. Emma however is uneasy about being roommates with a male, despite Pacey trying to reassure her that Jack is gay and he himself has a girlfriend already.
Back at college, Joey finds herself challenged by Professor Hetson, who asked her to read a specific entire book before class, but after he starts his lecture, it becomes clear that Joey was not able to catch up, and is made fun of in front of everyone in the class for not just that, but also for having her cell phone go off in the middle of the class. One of the students, Eddie, also takes issue with Joey’s interpretation of that book, seeing as how his interpretation of the book is very different after having read the entire thing.
As Joey, Pacey, Jen and Jack hang out with Audrey at Hell’s Kitchen, Audrey mentions that she still hasn’t seen head nor tail of Dawson, who for the whole summer would get up before anyone else got up and then get home after they all were in bed. She reveals that Oliver left Hollywood, fed up with it, and tells the others about Todd, the director who once fired Dawson. After several missed connections, Joey and Dawson finally find each other and catch up. Dawson reveals why they haven’t talked all summer, with Dawson telling her that thinking that things will just work out for them made him feel really good about where they were and he didn’t want to ruin that feeling.
The two talk about a memory from when they were younger, when a specific song was playing and they were running to their parents' car in the rain. They have a dance together in the bar which leads to him walking her home, and an offer from Joey to stay the night since Audrey is at Grams’ with Pacey. While Joey gets ready for bed, Dawson falls asleep, but wakes up and gives her her birthday present, a snow globe featuring the Hollywood sign and hills. Joey thanks him, and hugs him, but that soon turns into a deeper, longer, more sensual hug, as the two embrace, kiss, and then seemingly do what comes naturally.
Dawson's Trivia:
Megan Gray played Emma. She has a couple of handfuls of roles but Dawson’s seems to be the biggest thing she’s done. Most other roles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Drew Carey Show, Time Of Your Life) are all just one or three episode stints. She has done a number of shorts, one of which was simply called Porn, and starred only one other person, an actress named Chet. (a girl? Named Chet?) Also, the cinematographer and editor was George Gross. She was a lead in Welcome to Ibiza (a young woman from America inherits a beach bar in Ibiza, Spain, and soon experiences all kinds of wild and crazy adventures).
Eddie Doling was played by Oliver Hudson. He was a lead in Kurt Russel’s Netflix film The Christmas Chronicles, a lead in Hallmark’s Journey Back to Christmas (with Candace Cameron), and in 15 episodes of Scream Queens. Other than his role here, he is probably known for his role in The Rules of Engagement with Patrick Warburton and David Spade. He was a lead in Nashville, playing Jeff Fordham for 40 episodes across three seasons. He was recently in Jenna Fischer’s Splitting Up Together (a couple who finds their marriage reignited by divorce). He’s also done some teen comedies, some horror films, and various other TV movies over the years. He’s currently playing Garrett in The Cleaning Lady (a Cambodian doctor comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her son, but the system fails, pushes her into hiding, and she uses her cunning and intelligence to fight back, breaking the law for all the right reasons).
Roger Howarth played Professor Greg Hetson. He was in 171 episodes of One Life To Live, 719 episodes of As The World Turns, and most recently 807 episodes of General Hospital. When he isn’t being someone’s secret lover, or long lost twin separated at birth, he makes guest appearances in other shows like the CW’s Flash, Californication, and Prey.
Professor Matt Freeman was played by Sebastian Spence. Over the years he’s done a number of TV movies as a supporting cast member, but actually made a name for himself playing Cliff Harting in Cedar Cove (a series based on the books, it follows the professional and personal life of Municipal Court Judge Olivia Lockhart and the surrounding townsfolk of Cedar Cove). He’s done various voice work in an Eternals mini series, played Bruce Banner in a Hulk cartoon, and John Howlett Jr. in a Wolverine cartoon called Logan. He does appear in Smallville as Ted Kord (DC comics Blue Beetle), and was in Battlestar Galactica for a run of 9 episodes and a movie. He’s also done a number of TV movies, not just Christmas ones, but other typical Lifetime/Hallmark fare. One of his recurring TV movie roles is Tim Callahan, a gay detective who takes on cases dealing with matters of homosexuality issues and problems. Most recently he’s been in a few episodes of the very popular Murdoch Mysteries.
The art history professor played by Jeffrey West, and the drunken townie played by Zach Hanner were in episodes of Surface.
The Song Remains the Same:
Written by: Gina Fattore
Directed by: Robert McNeill
Original airdate: October 2, 2002 (2 ep season premier)
Synopsis:
Joey wakes up to find Dawson returning to her room with coffee and flowers, before he has to leave for work with Todd. They chat a bit first about their feelings about what happened but are interrupted by several calls from Todd, prompting Dawson to rush out.
Pacey attends the meeting for the job that Audrey’s father set up and he learns that it is for a training program to become a stock broker, which the boss, Rich, unabashedly tells the whole group of trainees is the lowest form of life and if they can’t stomach being that, to leave. Pacey introduces himself to the boss and signs on to go through with the training.
Jen and Grams talk at a cafe about the classes they’re taking with Jen surprised that Grams is suddenly taking a math class taught by Clifton and calls her out on it, asking her if she really wants to be monogamous and spend the rest if her days folding his laundry and pretending to share interests with him. The conversation attracts the attention of a young man, CJ, nearby, whom Grams actually invites to join them after he reveals he knows Jen’s voice from the radio station before she got fired by the new management. Later as he and Jen chat, he comments that she sounds like the type of person that would be good at helping others out as a counselor, inviting her to a meeting.
Joey is knocked aside at Hell’s Kitchen by a guy she remembers as Eddie, from her class discussion the other day, and while he tries to rush off, she calls him out on his rudeness. He talks down to her condescendingly thinking she’s talking about class, but she clears it up and he apologizes somewhat for bumping into her. Emma sees Joey and welcomes her to the place as a waitress before revealing that Eddie also works there.
Joey then visits Dawson’s set where he and Todd are working and is surprised to see that the movie set is a recreation of Dawson’s house in Capeside.
Jen goes to the meeting and quickly finds that their methods are not something she is into and leaves. She bumps into CJ but she explains her reasons for leaving before rushing off.
Jack and Pacey enlist Audrey to help convince Emma to let them rent the place, but Audrey starts to regret it as she sees the banter going on between Pacey and Emma. Jack meanwhile is convincing the lesbians who were interested in renting the apartment that there is a mouse problem.
After hanging out for some time, Dawson and Joey have a little champagne on his porch before heading back to her dorm. As they kiss and discuss his plans for leaving for LA in the morning, his phone rings but he refuses to answer. After it rings again, she grabs the phone, thinking it’s Todd yet again but it turns out to be a girl that Dawson admits is a girlfriend that he broke up with this morning while he was out getting coffee.
Audrey opens the dorm room door and tells her they have a surprise party inside and to come in, not realizing what was happening. The gang cheer and they give her gifts and cake but Joey is noticeably out of sorts. She pulls Dawson into the bathroom and they begin to argue. Joey comes out and asks the gang’s input on what Dawson did and then the friends proceed to leave so they can talk it out.
Pacey, Audrey, Jen and Jack chat at Hell’s Kitchen, and discuss whether Dawson and Joey are in a healthy relationship or not, with Jack and Pacey agreeing firmly that they aren’t. Jack approaches Emma and asks again about the apartment and she decides to give it to them, which prompts the gang to celebrate with a toast.
Back at Joey’s, Dawson explains the situation and the two argue back and forth about who should have done what, with Dawson bothered by the fact that Joey didn’t call him over the summer, and Joey angry that Dawson slept with her knowing he already had a girlfriend. He calls her out on not knowing wants in life and that she is more of the dreamer now than he is. She tells him that she wants more than anything for them to be together but not like this where they are yelling at each other about things that happened long ago. She tells him that maybe there isn’t a romantic relationship here worth saving and that last night was just two friends making a mistake. The comment crushes Dawson and he leaves. On either side of the door, they both make a motion to go to each other but ultimately stop themselves as Doey, Jawson, calls it quits yet again, hopefully for the final time.
Dawson's Trivia:
CJ was played by Jensen Ackles, best known for his 15 season run on the show Supernatural. He’s had long running roles elsewhere as well, starring in 448 episodes of Days of Our Lives. He had a good run of episodes in Smallville, as well as Dark Angel (with Jessica Alba), and would star in movies such as Devour (Jake Gray and his friends that have been playing a deadly game called "The Pathway", which eventually spirals out of control and threatens a worldwide epidemic of violence), Ten Inch Hero (with Sean Patrick Flannery, an artist gets a job at a beachside sandwich shop, where she hangs out with a techie, a flirt, a rocker, a hippie, and a Wiccan), and My Bloody Valentine (Tom returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people and finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame is the only one that believes he's innocent). He’s been the voice of Jason Todd/The Red Hood in several Batman animated movies, and has recently, in the last year, also played Bruce Wayne/Batman in the animated Batman movie The Long Halloween. He currently stars as Soldier Boy in The Boys.
Dana Ashbrook played Rich and is best known for his role in Twin Peaks as Bobby Briggs. He’s had many roles as the lead and at the top of the supporting actor list in movies, including:
Girlfriend From Hell (The inventor of the condom-- now God's bounty hunter- is tasked with tracking down and capturing the Devil, who has possessed the body of a high school wallflower in order to feed on human souls via sex)
The Willies (A harmless backyard camp out becomes an unforgettable night of chills and thrills for three young boys as they share their favorite scary stories)
Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story
Desperate Journey: The Annie Wilcox Story
Kisses in The Dark
W.E.I.R.D. World (Greed, murder, sex - all appear to thrive at the Wilson Emery Institute for Research and Development, aka W.E.I.R.D., where brilliant, young, but emotionally unstable scientific geniuses are recruited to develop cutting-edge projects in such fields as virology, time-travel, rejuvenation and robotics)
Comfortably Numb (William is a young man who is soon to be a successful prosecutor falls into a dark trap of sex and late night parties, where he falls head over heels in love with Meadow, but this love affair causes him to throw away his hopes and dreams. Can Meadow help him escape before it's too late?)
The Last Place On Earth (Rob Baskin, a businessman who travels to Lake Tahoe in order to spread the ashes of his late mother, meets Ann Field, a woman who'll change his life forever)
Angels Don’t Sleep Here (a man is accused of murder and manipulated into a web of deceit as his thought-to-be dead twin brother plots revenge on those who tried to kill him)
Restraint (a mentally ill woman who's been submerging her violent impulses for years unravels after she marries a controlling older man and relocates to his suburban home)
Minor Premise (attempting to surpass his father's legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist becomes entangled in his own experiment, pitting ten fragments of his consciousness against each other).
He also starred in Hitler’s Folly, a mockumentary from indie animator Bill Plympton
The head counselor was played by Chandler McIntyre; he appears in Surface as a nurse.
Melissa Ponzio played Female Student, and we’ve seen her before as the Poet Robin Ellsworth in the 4th season episode “Mind Games” hanging out with Doctor Tom. We talked about her back then as best being none for her role as Melissa McCall in Teen Wolf, and as having two episodes of Surface to her name, as well as a ton of other roles.
Several Brokers will be showing up again. They have a number of roles on their IMDb listings but if they are featured more we will talk about them in the future.
Essential Playlist:
Classic Creek Critiques:
jimsum…@aol.com says: This show sucks now. I started watching this new season and after about 25 minutes I realized that I don't like any of these characters anymore. Jen and Jack have both been over for 2 years. Pacey is over now. Dawson and Joey have been over for 1 year. There just wasn't enough character development to keep this show going, the characters are dull, dull, dull. The only redeeming member of the cast is Audrey. Sorry, but the Magic is gone!!!!!!!!!!
Paul Lefecvre says: I enjoyed the season opener last night. I thought finally the characters were actually putting some real acting into their acting instead of saying their lines as dramatically as possible without gagging on their bubblegum. And it's about time they start fleshing out more realistic storylines in Boston. Audrey's good for comic relief every now and then, but this is a drama right? A good show.
All other posts for THIS week’s airing were asking if anyone had a copy of the premiere recorded, someone asking if Eve was coming back, and someone saying that Charlie was on CSI for an episode. There was a thread by tachyon about spoilers, which he posted a month before this aired, so I did not look into anymore, lest I be spoiled.
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