Season 1, Episode 12: Beauty Contest

Come on – if you remember only a handful of Dawson's Creek episodes, this one MUST be in there: if we were to translate the title into a Friends episode, this would be The One Where, Although It Contradicts Everything We've Learnt About Her All Season Long, Joey Enters a Beauty Contest (and So Does Pacey, But Pacey Can Do ANYTHING HE WANTS).

Pre-titles: it's movie night as usual chez Dawson's bedroom, but Joey and Dawson are watching some gross doco on bug mating in lieu of the usual Hollywood classic, because Dawson has a paper on...err...bug mating due. The season-long, barely repressed, much denied sexual tension between the pair is expressed this time not through suspicious wrestling, but in the form of an argument over whether, LIKE BUGS, humans mate by instinct or not. Dawson says there must be an element of instinct guiding humans in their romantic entanglements, to which I say: YOUR INSTINCTS SUCK ASS THEN DAWSON, BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH BITCHFACE JEN AND YOU ARE OBLIVIOUS TO JOEY PINING OVER YOU RIGHT NOW DAMMIT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. Also, Joey's instinct's are all messed up, because remember how last episode, Pacey Witter KISSED HER FACE OFF and she was all like “Um, meh, where's Dawson?”

NO-ONE WITH CORRECTLY WORKING INSTINCTS WOULD RESPOND IN THAT FASHION. THE CORRECT RESPONSE IS TO RECIPROCATE AND KISS PACEY WITTER'S FACE OFF IN RETURN. HELLO? Joey is obvs defective.

At least Joey is aware of her screwy instincts because she is all like “I don't know if humans are like bugs, Dawson, I DON'T KNOW *bites lip and looks coy*” which is actually a good way to shut down an inane conversation and take us to the titles.

I DON'T WANNA WAAAAAAAAIT! etc.

So the gang are weirdly all together – Pacey, Dawson and Jen are hanging out at the Icehouse with Joey loitering while she is supposed to be waiting tables. Let's not ask why Jen and Dawson are in the same place apparently just hanging out like BFFs when last time we saw them IT WAS HORRIFIC and BITCHFACE JEN WAS STOMPING DAWSON'S HEART INTO A FINE POWDER, SETTING IT ON FIRE THEN PISSING ON IT as she revealed the truth about their breakup on a mo-foing FERRIS WHEEL Dawson couldn't even escape from.

We rapidly learn:

• Dawson hasn't let Jen's Ferris Wheel burn of shame go, but instead of GETTING OVER HER, he's embarking on a campaign to win her back with biting sarcasm and cutting remarks that disguise how much he still adores her. A misguided strategy, but then, Dawson's an idiot and admits to Pacey he's probably just trying to win Jen back in his deranged fashion OUT OF HABIT.
• Dawson's mum is one of the judges in an upcoming annual beauty pageant, the Miss Windjammer contest, held at a local yacht club.
• Joey, unsurprisingly, is against beauty pageants.
  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
• Jen's mum used to make her participate in beauty pageants when she was a kid “before she was old enough to object” - so I guess her and Joey are on the same team on this issue.
• Dawson, UNSURPRISINGLY, is Mr INSENSITIVE – telling Jen that she should enter because she is SO BEAUTIFUL and going on and on about it RIGHT IN FRONT OF JOEY, without even a “you too, Jo!”. Sure, she has made it clear she thinks it's a stupid contest, but YOU COULD TELL HER SHE'S PRETTY TOO, DOOFUS.

Most importantly, we learn that the Miss Windjammer contest doesn't just come with a silly title, but a sweet $5000 cash prize, plus a trip to New York. And then we learn about two of “the gang'' who could really use that prize.

JOEY: I'm sure you've already guessed it, but if you've been ignoring Joey's whining season long, then here: Joey is willing to enter the pageant and sell out her principles for the prospect of winning the $5000 cash. Bitchface Jen once again tries to extend the hand of friendship to Jo at the Icehouse, waiting casually until Joey is counting her meagre tips, which she comments on. HELLO JEN THAT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY RUDE TO OPEN A CONVERSATION BY TALKING ABOUT SOMEONE'S EARNINGS, BUT WHATEVS, YOU HAVE NO MANNERS. Joey spills – tips are down, and OMG SHE HAS TO GET OUT OF CAPESIDE AND A SCHOLARSHIP IS HER ONLY HOPE BUT WHAT IF THEY DON'T GIVE HER ENOUGH MONEY WHAT WHAAAAAT?

I know what you should do, Joey. THE ONLY POSSIBLE THING YOU CAN DO. You should enter a local beauty contest and pin all your hopes on winning a one off cash prize, depending on the fact that a) you won't be disqualified for being best friends with the judge's son and b) no-one will see through your inexperience and total disdain for the whole thing, and VOILA! ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WILL BE SOLVED. Especially if you let Bitchface Jen, YOUR FORMER LOVE RIVAL be your coach on how to be a Real Girl.

PACEY: It makes me so sad when Dawson's Creek is mean to Pacey, WHO IS THE COOLEST GUY EVER. But Dawson meets up with Pacey at his locker in the corridors of Capeside High, and finds Pacey FREAKING THE FUCK OUT because he can't find a pen. Obviously Pace is under some pressure. It all comes down to his dad – Pacey's policeman father thinks Pacey is a wastrel, a clown, a layabout, a no-goodnik, and he is apparently not shy in sharing his negative opinion of his son WITH his son. Dawson, having ridiculously supportive parents is incapable of comprehending just how broken the relationship between the Witters is. 

And then this:

Heartbreaking. For Pacey to consider entering the beauty pageant is pure Pacey Witter: on the surface, it seems like a joke, something he doesn't take that seriously. But underneath – he has very real reasons for actually needing the prize and seriously wanting to win.

If he's gonna move out, he can't pay rent on his part-time video store minimum wage. 

THE REGISTRATION:

Jen has taken to calling Joey “Miss America” as Joey fills in the requisite forms.

Beauty pageant “coach” and professional bitchface Jen is confident of Joey's ability to win the contest based on the appearance of the competition lining up at registration at the yacht club. Especially when they hear Pacey arguing his way into the contest claiming that it's discrimination to deny him based on his gender.

They run into Dawson who OUTDOES HIMSELF at insensitivity:

• assuming that they are there because JEN decided to enter
• when he is corrected, assuming that Joey must be entering undercover to do an 'expose' on pageants for the newspaper
• then when Joey shoots that theory down, assuming that Joey is joking about entering ALTOGETHER. Seriously. Dawson. SHUT YOUR FACE BEFORE JOEY PUNCHES YOUR MOUTH.

Joey, QUITE RIGHTLY gets really pissed off. Which will be an interesting look for the pageant.

Meanwhile, it seems Pacey has successfully argued his way into the contest – there's nothing in the rulebook saying boys CAN'T enter, so grudgingly, the yacht club mavens HAVE to let him in. As all the girls, and Pacey, are read the contest rules, Pacey gets into a wisecracking bitchfight with Hannah von Wenning, a snobby rich girl he knows from his childhood who OBVIOUSLY expects to win.

THE COACHING

Jen attempts to teach Joey how to walk in high heels – and SERIOUSLY? If she thinks Joey is winning material, when the girl walks with her TONGUE STICKING OUT (and needed to be taught how to walk in high heels full stop) then the other girls in the contest must be basically retarded.

Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of the time, Jen walks like a truckdriver wearing jackboots. WOULD YOU LET HER TEACH YOU HOW TO WALK TO WIN A BEAUTY PAGEANT?

When all the walking is done, Jen and Joey have a super awkward convo that is basically a mutual “So what's the deal with you and Dawson?” info exchange. Jen: “We're figuring things out”. Joey: “He will always see me as the gawky girl from down the Creek”.

Over at Dawson's place, Pacey has enlisted Man-Meat and Dawson as his gurus of pageantdom. HAS ANYBODY WONDERED ABOUT THE ETHICS OF ALL OF THIS YET? Hello? The HUSBAND and SON of one of the pageant judges are coaching one of the contestants? IS THAT NOT....SOME KIND OF BREACH OF RULES?

To be honest though, it's not like Pacey is a frontrunner for anything but the sympathy vote at this stage. He sings a...spirited...rendition of New York New York that gets a furrowed brow from Man-Meat. And WHAT WILL HE WEAR FOR THE FORMAL WEAR SECTION? (oooh Pacey, I bet you scrub up nice).

Hellooooo Mr Witter!

Man-Meat vanishes and it's time for the girly talk. It's sort of easy to forget that Pacey really likes Joey and backed off because she rejected him because of her unrequited love for Dawson, but also how Dawson was a total dick about Pacey's feelings for Joey. It's summed up nicely in this scene, with the two boys talking about the pageant and Joey entering and how Dawson just doesn't ever see Joey as a woman, he sees her as a “sister”, so anything romantic with her – which he has never thought about – would feel “incestuous”. Pacey: (pissed off and bitter) “So you don't want to be with her but you don't want anyone else to be with her?!”

Dawson: (just looks like a stunned mullet)

OKAY YOU GUYS. Don't think for a second I have forgotten why I started this blog – to EVENTUALLY – even though at this rate it's gonna take me LITERAL YEARS – finally see the final episode of Dawson's Creek I have NEVER SEEN.

I haven't lived under a rock so much that I don't know that it basically does (at least partly) boil down to Joey having to choose between Pacey and Dawson. HELLO the seeds are already planted for who that should be. Dawson's an idiot. Pacey is THE MAN.

And that, my friends, is a point that just gets RAMMED home in the remainder of the episode, which I will give the sur-title: DAWSON IS A GIANT DOUCHEBAG.

THE PAGEANT

Long story short: neither of them wins the freaking pageant.

Pacey was never going to win, because he's a guy in a female beauty pageant, which makes him at best a novelty and at worst a freakshow, but the saddest thing about his storyline is that he proves, as Pacey does, time and again as the series goes on, that when Pacey Witter applies himself, he is a force to be reckoned with, yet EVERYONE IS DETERMINED TO UNDERESTIMATE HIM FOREVER. Even as the “novelty” contestant, Pacey is charming, gives fantastic, intelligent answers to the inane pageant questions, he scrubs up well, and the audience ADORE him and his charismatic, cheeky stage presence. It's hard not to think he could actually have a shot at winning – even as the token guy in the contest.

Would it have killed them to have invented an "Audience Favourite" prize for the guy? SERIOUSLY?

So when Pacey is informed by Gail Leery (in a vastly unprofessional move in her role as contest judge) that yes, he's the audience favourite, but “honey, you know you haven't a snowball's chance in hell of winning, right?” he is GUTTED. In an instant, Pacey goes from having the potential to be really something – rewarded for being his charming, intelligent self, back to being a joke, and he's HUMILIATED, because he realises that everyone saw him as a joke from the start – and he was the only person taking his entry in the contest seriously.

It really does make me so sad AND YES I DO REALISE HE'S A FICTIONAL CHARACTER.

His reaction to finding out he can't win is to forego his planned talent performance – a magic routine – in favour of making a statement:

The upside for Pace is that he discovers that his life isn't as crappy as he thought - or at least he's not as alone in having a crappy family. He goes to offer ''losing advice" to Hannah von Wenning and discovers her life is far from perfect - they are both kind of black sheep in their families.

Joey actually puts up a good fight, despite being the most sour faced, sullen contestant to ever grace the Miss Windjammer stage, EVER;

 and wows the audience (I use the term “wows” loosely) with her...rendition of On My Own in the talent portion of the contest.

WHY HAVE SINGING IN THE EPISODE IF IT HAS TO BE REALLY CREEPY DUBBED SINGING?

Ahem, anyway. Weird singing aside, as any good reality show judges would tell you, it's all about song choice, and little Joey Potter NAILED it. Because not only does she wow the audience and impress the judges, her complete transformation from “tomboy/gawky girl from down the Creek” to “girl awkwardly wearing an evening dress, high heels, too much makeup and an up-do – aka A REAL GIRL”, coupled with her song mournfully lamenting her unrequited love (complete with furtive sidelong glances at the object of her affection) finally makes Dawson stare creepily at her in a way that is wrong for someone who regards her as a sister. 

This bums Bitchface Jen out, who has decided OUT OF THE BLUE that she wants Dawson BACK – because she had no real reason for dumping him.

 But Dawson only has eyes for Sparkly New Pageant Joey.

And that's why Dawson is a douchebag. HE WANTS HER NOW SHE LOOKS PRETTY. And he tells her so. To Joey's credit – she rejects Dawson when he's all like “Wow Joey I think I have feelings for you SUDDENLY”.

SHE REJECTS DAWSON – the guy she has been pining over FOREVER – because he wants a version of her that isn't really her. She tells him it's not what she imagined. She imagined him realising how great she is as herself – Joey – the girl he has known forever – not some version of herself that has to learn to walk in heels and put on lipstick and parade in front of strangers in a contest.

 FUCK YEAH! TEAM JOEY BITCHES!

And do you know what? I know people diss Dawson's Creek all the time, but that right there is a pretty awesome message, even if everything else turns to shit from here on in.

Season 1, Episode 11: Double Date

Double date? MORE LIKE DOUBLE TALK! This episode's prologue – as usual – takes place in Dawson's bedroom, which is apparently now OFFICIALLY known as the creepy lair from which he spies on Jen because he CANNOT BELIEVE THAT BITCH DUMPED HIS ASS so he'll just wallow in his pain and watch her through his tears, day in, day out, watching, watching, like an emo creeper creeper. OBLIVIOUS to the pain he causes to Joey who LOVES HIM DAMMIT SHE LOVES HIM.

I mean, Joey basically says this outright to him, just using less words.

And Dawson, also known as Mr Oblivious, fails to glean any of the major points of the conversation except that Oh My God: Jen's dating again? Cue titles!

( doo doo doo doo! Doo doo doo doo!)

I don't wanna wait! For our lives to be overrrr....

…

will it be yes or will it be......SORRY?

(doo doo doo doo! Doo doo doo doo!)

So after the spooky shenanigans of last episode, it's...a wee bit disconcerting (not to mention INCONSISTENT) that Dawson's major concern this episode is the super pressing question of WHETHER HE CAN STAY FRIENDS WITH JEN. I guess the fact that he seemingly had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM with his ex-girlfriend and her new man using his house for their first date is a mere distant memory; that was all about Jen's ish with Dawson not preparing a Friday 13^th scare for her like he did for his other friends (and if you remember – he did at the end of the episode, thus: errr...they're all good?).

But anyhow: that was a special episode guys, so pretend like Dawson was on crack (which he kind of was, let's face it) because he's back to his emo self this week. He bumps into Jen in the corridors of Capeside High and she raises this issue:

and he doesn't know how to answer. Pacey, in what is apparently a Marine Biology class, has some stellar wisecracking best bud advice for Dorkson, namely: LIE.

Basically: pretend like you're A-OK being best buddies with Jen and that will make her crave what she's missing: the power of Dawson loving. Then BAM YOU'RE IN.

Dawson, being a huge dork, messes this up within five seconds. The key to lying is pretty much keeping your dorky mouth shut Dawson.

“So Jen, about before when you said hey I hope we can still be friends and I stared at you in disbelief and then ran away and cried a little bit – hey sorry if that was awkward! I...thought I heard someone calling me and simultaneously had chili flakes in my eye, you know me, OLD KLUTZY DAWSON AM I RIGHT?! So yeah, I decided to interpret your polite request literally and take it to mean BEST FRIENDS FOREVER because I don't actually know what boundaries are. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND?

No, REALLY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Jen's discomfort in revealing her weekend plans to Dorkson is based in the fact that...it means once again revealing herself to be a big fat liar and also, to be all kinds of crazy.

She's going on a date with Cliff. They are going to the carnival.

1. THIS IS THE GIRL WHO BROKE UP WITH DAWSON CITING THE FACT SHE NEEDED TO BE SINGLE FOR A WHILE TO SORT HERSELF OUT. Apparently, 2 minutes is all that took. NO I WILL NEVER LET THIS GO
2. She's going on another date with CLIFF, henceforth known as Krazy Killer Eyez Kliff, the guy who TERRIFIED her by sending her threatening letters and making phonecalls to her pretending to be a serial killer. JEN IS ON RECORD AS SAYING SHE HATES TO BE SCARED. JEN IS FUCKED IN THE HEAD.

At this revelation, Dorkson's facade of Eternal Best Pal crumbles slightly. He just kind of stares at her with a goofy expression on his face, like his brain is frozen, and then manages to tell a really obvious lie about how he too happens to have a date that weekend, ALSO at the carnival, 

before he comes out with his best stupid plan ever (thank you Dawson's Creek writers!):

Look at his lips. THEY ARE TRYING TO HOLD HIS STUPID IDEA IN. Subconsciously, even Dorkson knows this date has DICKsaster written all over it.

“WE COULD DOUBLE DATE!” (Boom! Episode title!).

Meanwhile in Capeside...

Mitch and Gail make a breakfast time appearance. Sigh. Their marriage is still on the freaking rocks. Mitch looks refreshed though, like he's had a new haircut or something, but it seems that constant rage is just good for his complexion, maybe. The phone rings and Mitch answers, and it's a guy wanting Gail, AND WE ALL KNOW WHO IT IS, RIGHT? Gail gets off the phone superfast and Mitch is all bitchily “Was that [some guy we have never heard of and will never hear of ever again] because I haven't talked to him in AAAAAGES!”

Gail: (looks shifty) IT WAS A WORK CALL I NEED TO GO TO WORK NOW I LOVE YOU?

Mitch: (goes into a precursor to a Hulk rage).

YeeeeeeeeeAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Mitch had like, cheesy David Caruso CSI Miami lines before that was even a THING. Also, his name should not be Mitch. HIS NAME SHOULD BE BITCH. 

Seriously though? This storyline is really sad. The couples counselling Mitch and Gail attended a few episodes back (when they were mysteriously absent from the action) clearly hasn't worked for Mitch – he's super jealous, and still so angry, and the worst part is that he involves Dawson in the mess – asking him to monitor the calls coming into the house and report if Bob rings for Gail.

And those mommy daddy issues are what will tip Dawson into deeply disturbed killer eyez territory.

DAWSON SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE FIFTEEN AND OBSESS OVER HIS OWN TRAGIC LOVELIFE, NOT HIS PARENTS'.

The 'B' storyline is awesome in that Pacey and Joey are pushed together YET AGAIN :) :) :) Turns out Pacey's been messing around in Marine Biology and is going to fail (which means he'll have to spend the summer repeating the class if he doesn't want to get held back) – except we finally meet a teacher at Capeside who isn't somehow defective. 

This teacher a) reveals that Pacey is actually quite intelligent, he just needs to apply himself and b) gives Pacey a chance to redeem himself and pass the class if he completes an extra credit project with another student...that turns out to be Joey.

Naturally, the two bicker and fight like an old married couple through the entire project (which is studying the reproductive habits of underwater snails). Pacey ruins the initial project by trying to create a snail menage a trois with a carnivorous snail from another tank, prompting the need for him and Jo to go on an expedition to a tidal pool to find more snails. Where Pacey's failure to tie up the boat gets them stranded as the tide comes in. It's not that Pacey's an idiot, it's that he's lazy in his thinking, and he needs good role models (as we will see in later seasons). The thing is – he flunked a test, which is nothing new for him, the class clown. WHY IS JOEY DOING A MAKE-UP PROJECT? She keeps avoiding the issue. Is her unrequited love for Dawson affecting her grades now? (No - it turns out Joey got a 98% grade BUT THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH for Lil Joey Potter. She has to get 100% to fulfil her perfectionist, scholarship craving tendencies. I don't think it's healthy how badly she wants to leave Capeside and how much she depends on her schooling to do it. There ARE other options Joey. And the way she inadvertently damns underachievers like Pacey to rot in the 'hellhole' she deems Capeside to be makes me kind of spurn her even more). 

But the best part is that Joey actually softens a little under Pacey's influence. Joey has a big moral 'mare at Dawson before he goes on his fake ''date'' to the Carnival, telling him that his experiment with jerkdom (taking out a girl just to make someone jealous) doesn't suit him because he's a nice guy deep down. He tells her he'd really rather hang out with her and she's all like “Yeah I wish I could come too (BECAUSE I WANNA DATE YOU DAWSON!)” but instead she has to spend the day with Pacey, which is like, a fate worse than having to spend all her life in Capeside, I guess. AND though things get off to a rocky start, the two end up having a pretty fun day together, despite being stranded in the rockpools and getting drenched. Even though Joey is Lil Miss Sarcasm to Pacey right to the bitter end, he sees something in her he never saw before (APART FROM A SNEAKY PEEK AT HER NEKKID BODY). And JOEY ACTUALLY SMILES AND REALISES THAT PACEY HAS A HUMAN HEART OF GOLD (and a killer bod). 

Okay maybe she just realises she shouldn't be such a mega-bitch to him all the goddamn time.

I JUST DIED OF CUTENESS ALL IS RIGHT IN THE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE

BACK IN DAWSONLAND:

So Dawson has to find a date, and fast, for his Carnival Double Date Disaster Torture Lie Fest. Pacey suggests Mary Beth, some girl we've never seen before this episode, who is reading Erica Jong's Fear of Flying alone in the cafeteria. So...obviously, will be a pushover.

Dawson's lies are spinning wildly out of control, as he assures Mary Beth – who INSTANTLY questions him whether he is over Jen, whether dating again so soon is a good idea, whether he ACTUALLY wants to go out with her – that this Carnival date will be THE BEST IDEA HE HAS EVER HAD.

Until they get there and OOPS. Turns out he never actually mentioned to Raging Feminist and Apparent Psychic but NOT PSYCHIC ENOUGH Mary Beth that IT IS A DOUBLE DATE WITH HIS EX GIRLFRIEND THAT BITCH HOMEWRECKER JEN and KRAZY KILLER EYEZ KLIFF (Scott Foley!!!). Mary Beth = PISSED. Dawson subdues her with more lies: he's doing it for Jen! She was nervous about being alone with Cliff on her first date, so he's there to take the pressure off. Mary Beth – I feel sad for you that you bought that, and didn't think it was creepy and inappropriate that Jen had NO OTHER FRIENDS EXCEPT HER EXBOYFRIEND to double date with.

It soon becomes apparent that Dawson is a big filthy liar when The Most Awkward Moment Ever happens. Him and Krazy Killer Eyez Kliff end up in a giant metaphorical pissing contest at a carnival booth after KKEK wins a teddy bear for Jen by winning a throwing competition. Dawson won't let it go, and keeps going until he wins a prize too. When the carnie goes “which lady is the prize for?” Dawson TURNS TO JEN.

AWKWAAAAAAAARD.

And THEN he goes to Mary Beth “We need to talk”. Just hammer those nails into that coffin, Dorkson. Ad break! Dawson goes to apologise to MB, who is shovelling popcorn into her mouth while sitting on the bonnet of a car.

TWIST ALERT! Mary Beth doesn't care a fig about Dawson and never did – she's in love with the way Krazy Kliff's Killer Eyez sparkle, and is heartbroken not because of anything Dorkson did, but because it's so obvious that KKEK and Bitchface Jen are in love. Bleeeuuurghghghghgh. Then the way she says “but we can still help each other out” to Dawson has a sinister undertone.

Leaving...all that implies...aside, what she actually means, it turns out, is hijacking KKEK so she ends up on the Ferris wheel with him, forcing Jen and Dawson together, where they end up having a HUUUUUUGE argument. Bitchface Jen SUDDENLY DOESN'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS ANYMORE 

SHE CHANGED HER MIND WHAT A SHOCKER! And Dawson FINALLY SAYS what I have been waiting forever (or like, 2 episodes) for him to say:

She doesn't have an answer either, and sure, maybe I should cut her some slack for being a) a fictional character and b) 15 but BASICALLY WHAT A BITCH FALL OFF THE FERRIS WHEEL ALREADY.

I also couldn't help but think how extremely awkward it was for them to be having this huge argument at the top of the Ferris wheel with their dates like, 2 cars below them, probably eagerly listening to every word. Anyway, Dawson gets his heart re-broken, when he finally forces Jen to say what we ALL KNOW ALREADY because omg it's obvious: JEN JUST WASN'T THAT INTO HIM (or fluffy clouds and rainbows, which is how Dawson sees the world) and by the way she hasn't actually sworn off guys.


 I know, what a shockingly unexpected turn of events.

Following this extremely public emo, Jen, Cliff and Mary Beth mysteriously disappear as if abducted by carnies, leaving Dawson sitting on a bench at the Carnival with a creepy dazed smile on his face. He looks like someone you would KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM. Happily, into the frame wander Pacey and Joey. They have conveniently come to check out the Carnival and happened upon creepy shellshocked Dawson.

Pacey needs to talk to Dawson about something...IN PRIVATE. Joey decides not to push it and vanishes.

OMG SQUEE! Pacey wants permission from Dawson to pursue Joey. Because he realised after spending the whole day alone with her that he LIKE likes her. AND HE WANTS TO KISS HER.

Dawson's brain explodes.

AND SO DOES MINE when Pacey kisses Joey and she gets all weird about it because she CAN'T SEE THE GOOD THING THAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER FACE. She rejects Pacey as graciously and kindly as possible, and Pacey accepts it like a gentleman.

 JOEY! KISS HIM BACK DAMMIT!

He's somewhat less gentlemanly when Dawson strides into the video store stating “That thing we talked about [e.g. Pacey pursuing Joey] I don't want you to do it, YOU DON'T HAVE MY PERMISSION”. At first Pacey seems like his clownish, goodnatured self – pulling a prank on Dawson by saying he was too late, that the kiss had already happened, but then adding a whole lot of outrageous, clearly untrue details so Dawson knew it was all lies.

But then Pacey turns dark. I think this definitively marks the point where the shortlived easy, breezy BFF bromance between Pacey and Dawson ends, all because of a girl.

Now, things get interesting. TWO EPISODES TO GO (to the end of Season One!)