At the turn of the century, Dawson’s Creek established itself as a great and controversial teen drama, tackling everything from virginity stigmas to affairs with school faculty members in the pilot alone. A Sunday morning staple of the late 90s and early 00s, it was a mix between 90210 and Party Of Five, and delivered unto us a pre-Oscar nominated Michelle Williams, godfather of memes James Van Der Beek and a young Katie Holmes, all while consistently raising the question of whether or not men and women can just be friends. It was sensationalist and overly dramatic, but you grew up assuming at some point your own life would begin to mimic such over-the-top fiction. (It never did.)
My relationship with Dawson’s Creek is a complicated one. From 1998 to 2003, I watched Dawson Leery navel-gaze in cargo shorts and wondered how he managed to have friends, let alone date his best one. I championed Joey-and-Pacey, mourned Abby, and wondered which writer pitched Mitch Leery’s death-by-dropped-ice-cream cone. And, like you, I’d ask myself: “Why am I still watching this?”
But while delivering everything from undercover sting operations and student-teacher affairs to a fresh-faced Seth Rogen, the show never truly lost its way until Downtown Crossing, AKA “The One Where Joey Gets Mugged”. The season five episode saw Joey held at gunpoint at an ATM in a snowstorm before her attacker gets hit by a car. But instead of calling the police, she gets him to a hospital, because he reminds her of her own dad. Joey then leaves the hospital surer of herself (albeit also arguably emotionally traumatised), and the incident is never mentioned again. Seriously: in the next episode, the girl can’t get a word in edgeways when a guy she liked breaks it off, thinking she’d stood him up the night before. And that was it.
Had this episode ended with Joey realising it was all a dream, it would’ve made more sense than what actually happened. To start, at no point when in hospital is Joey questioned by police or asked if she’s OK by doctors. There’s also no reference to the incident in the episodes to come. Also, few of us would take being held at gunpoint in such stride. (I mean, we all deal with peril uniquely, but few of us would accompany our attackers to the ER on he hunch that they had a Good Heart™. Or maybe I’m just a terrible person.)
This episode could’ve given us real insight into Joey. We could’ve learned how, in the wake of a life-altering experience, she reassesses her friendships and family, especially as a grown-ass woman nearing the end of the series. We could’ve had an arc on post-traumatic stress. Instead, we got a breakup with a character I had to IMDB to remember, and Chad Michael Murray as Joey’s new love interest Charlie, who played in a band. (Of course he did.)
When the show wound down a year and a half later, it left a trail of “are you serious right now?” in its wake. Season six saw Joey and Dawson try dating again. It also gave us an episode in which Joey emails the entire school, thinking she’s only emailed Dawson. (No one does this.) Dawson goes on to eventually make a movie in which his actors wreak havoc on the lives of our beloved foursome. And then Jen (Williams) died. What the hell?
I blame it all on that ATM episode and the man credited only as Joey’s Mugger. Or as I like to call him, He Who Shall Not Be Named.
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