I am still not over EW's Dawson's Creek reunion. When I wrote about it last, I was mostly word vomiting/ hyperventilating/ having the most extra reaction to the nostalgia of seeing the whole gang back together. I was not alone in my excitement.
Of course, the photo spread and almost hour-long interview featuring the cast sparked a whole new thirst for an onscreen Dawson's Creek reunion. It was inevitable that as soon as this cast got back together –especially since the core four are either still steadily working (Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams), internet famous (James Van Der Beek) or straight up famous (Katie Holmes)—that people would want a revival to happen. And pretty much every beloved show (starring white people) of the 90s and early 2000s is getting a reboot. So, I get it. I really do. But I don’t want a Dawson’s Creek reboot.
I don't want this to happen for a lot of reasons. It's not that I don't love Dawson's Creek. I’ve re-watched the entire series so many times through I can recite season three’s seminal episode The Longest Day by heart. My parents are so proud. It’s not that I don’t like revival series. I loved the Gilmore Girls Netflix series a lot. But Dawson’s Creek is not Gilmore Girls. Dawson’s creator Kevin Williamson had the chance to give his characters the send-off he wanted in a way that Amy Sherman-Palladino did not. The Gilmore Girls revival was a gift to fans who needed answers to big questions the series’ end did not satisfy.
What questions are left for Dawson’s Creek? Jen is dead for f-ck’s sake. Dawson was on his way to getting the career he always wanted. Joey and Pacey were the ultimate end game and they ended the series together. Now, Kevin Williamson has revealed in another new interview with EW that Joey and Pacey would be divorced.
Wait.
WHAT?
What's the word for when you just want to cover your ears and yell “la la la la la” over and over? I don’t want to know this. Joey and Pacey got their happy ending. I watch shows like Dawson’s Creek and other teen dramas that are essentially just glorified soap operas for their unrealistic representations of love and relationships. I want the f-cking fairy tale. Don’t sh-t on my fairy tale, Kevin Williamson.
To give Williamson the respect he deserves, I want to quote what he said in full. He didn’t just mic drop that Joey and Pacey didn’t get the happily-ever-after we were PROMISED and leave it at that. He actually has a very well-thought out storyline for why these two wouldn’t have been able to make it work.
“I think Pacey and Joey got married. I think they had a family, I think there were troubles. I think they got a divorce. I think that when we meet them they’re in a very dark place. But there’s still something between them that forces them to come together and raise their children. As they seek out happiness with others, they just keep coming back to each other. And they just can’t stop that magical thing that exists between them and that bond they have. I think we would sort of have to watch them fall in love all over again as middle-aged adults.”
OK. I am extremely tempted to want to watch Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson fall in love onscreen again but does anyone really want to see a divorced Pacey and Joey trying to co-parent through the misery of not being together – all while they’re dating other people? Anyone? I know that being divorced is not the worst thing in the world and that many people find love again in middle age – sometimes with the person they divorced in the first place. It happens. I’m actually very into this storyline for two other characters but not my Joey Potter and Pacey Witter. Call me naïve but I just don’t want to know. To me, Joey and Pacey and their kids go sailing every weekend on their boat, True Love. They only fight over what to watch on Netflix. LET ME HAVE THIS.
Dawson’s Creek’s final episodes were not perfect but they did give fans of the show the closure we were craving. I don’t think any of the actors whose characters are still alive would be up for a revival any way (thank Blue Ivy) but this interview with Kevin Williamson is a perfect example of why some shows should just be left alone. Some shows are just a perfect time capsule of their era with their characters immortalized forever with their bright futures and satisfying conclusions.
If you need me, I’ll be spending the rest of my afternoon doodling JOEY + PACEY FOREVER in the margins of every notebook I own.
