I Named My Fish Joey Pacey And Dawson

What Is Dawson's Creek?

Dawson's Creek is a coming of age teen drama mostly based, as the title states, on one of the main character's (Dawson's) Creek. It follows bestfriends Dawson, Joey, Jen, and Pacey as they maneuver through love, heartbreak, and making it out of their small coastal Massachusetts town. The show begins with the 4 entering into high school and ends with them figuring life out during/after college.

Each character brought life into this show and that's what I absolutely love about it. They are all relatable, flawed, and trying to figure life out with the cards that have been handed to them.

Brief Character Breakdown

Dawson

The dreamer who lived in the clouds more than reality. From the start to the end he knew that he wanted to be a director just like Steven Spielberg. Out of the other character's he was the one with the most functional home life. He had a beautiful two story home on the lake with two parents who supported and loved him. They did have their share of issues such as infidelity, divorce, and death but they made sure Dawson was their number one priority no matter what. While great, it also ended up being his biggest down fall. Dawson ended up being spoiled into thinking the whole world revolved around him. He felt that every thing should fall into place perfectly like in movies. He wanted his friends, family, and relationships to always be a perfect scene, no cut, and when he realized it wasn't reality he was completely broken.

“I wanted to write about falling in love and why it can’t last, but at the same time how it last’s forever”

-Dawson

Joey

The young tomboy who is smart and passionate about what she believes in. Joey’s life was tumultuous at the least. Her mother died of cancer, her father was sent to prison for drug trafficking and she was raised by her sister who was shunned in their small town for being in a relationship with an African American man. All of this went down before the poor girl was 13. Yet through it all Joey was a hard worker who didn’t believe in handouts. She still graduated as valedictorian and went on to go to college and get out of the small town of Capeside.

"Dreams aren't perfect Dawson. They come true, not free."

-Joey

Pacey

Pacey is my guilty pleasure character. Starting off he’s immediately labeled the immature witty jokester with a lot to prove. As the show progresses you start to see just how many layers Pacey has. He is so much more than what he tries to identify as. If you thought Joey’s home life was horrible Pacey’s is down right heartbreaking. With 2 parents who are emotionally abusive and constantly telling him he would amount to nothing, Pacey has no self-esteem and uses his wit and comedic personality to hide it. He was the most developed character through out the whole season and even though it was made as Dawson and Joey being the stars, in my mind, he completely stole the show.

“I’m just saying thank you. You reminded me of what I’m capable of feeling. It’s like I was walking around seeing my life through a smudged window, and then I saw you and the smudges were gone. The window was clean”

-Pacey

Jen

The promiscuous child who’s suffering from childhood traumas and a grandmother who, at first, is too caught up in her religion to actually listen and heal her. Jen, just like pacey, uses relationships to fill the voids that her lack of loving and supportive family has left her. She's trapped in a cycle of alcohol and random hook-ups in search for a happiness that she could only find within herself.

“I mean from the second I stepped out of the cab onto the creek I was the instigator, you know, the girl who caused problems and rocked the creek and upset the delicate emotional balance of Capeside”

-Jen

Why Is It So Great ?

All of these characters come together to create the most messed up, realistic, loving, friendships, and relationships ever to be invented. I stumbled upon this show as a teenager that was, like Joey, going through a realistic tomboy phase. I had no friends and no supportive family to help me through life. I was beyond lost like Jen, Trying to fill a void like Pacey, and itching to be able to dream like Dawson. Over the years I still constantly drift back to this show when I'm feeling lost, confused, or just need a dose of Pacey in my life.

Overall

Joey, Dawson, Pacey, and Jen were the perfect character’s to keep a soapy drama like this one going. You have Dawson the dreamer who runs from reality and Joey the realist who constantly reminds him that everything is not as it seems. You throw in Pacey the witty sweetheart as a reminder that life isn’t perfect and having flaws make you better, then Jen, the towns new gorgeous city girl, and you have the perfect blossoming love story filled with drama and most of the time disaster .

After finishing this series, no matter how many times I watch it, I cry my eyes out. Not because its sad but because through all of their losses, heartbreak, family drama, and death they still found happiness. That reminder, especially now during such trying times, is what I need sometimes to keep it pushing. This show and these characters help me understand myself and the people around me so much better. Life is never as we expect it. Its constantly throwing curves and road blocks but as Joey says,

This Sounds Amazing So Why So Cringey

Well…..

As an African American woman this all white soapy cast gets me the side eye in the circle’s I run in. While everyone else is talking about Ghost in the show Power, Green Leaf, or even Bonnie from Vampire Diaries I'm secretly reveling over the fact that Joey finally gave Dawson a peace of her mind. Even my circle of friends who are into soapy T.V dramas admit that they just couldn’t get into this one. (Mostly because it's missing the town "bad boy")

I, of course, do my dramatic gasp of complete horror. Why couldn’t you? And you know what they say? It was unrealistic and she doesn’t even end up with the guy. GASP!

I’ve looked on reddit, message boards, even the wiki fandom and mostly everyone feels that Joey should have ended up with Dawson and not Pacey. I think its because they wanted a perfect happily ever after, same as Dawson did. Not because he loved Joey for who she was but because he felt that that was how it always ended in the movies. They’d known each other since they were kids when Joey would sneak through Dawson’s window to escape her hectic life at home. While Dawson was her escape and ended up being her constant place of safety, even as they entered adulthood; Pacey was who made her feel loved, flaws and all. One thing all the fans can agree on is that those two characters, Joey and Pacey, always seemed more alive when they were on the screen together. It went from sappy soap opera to a fully developing romance.

While some parts are cringey and melo-dramatic for the most part this show was so perfectly developed and made way before its time. It would have been perfect for todays teens and young adults. It focuses on parenting, death, same sex couples, interracial dating, and friendship. If you haven’t checked it out please do. Netflix is finally streaming it.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed please don't forget to hit the heart below and/or leave a tip. If you plan to watch Dawson's creek or you have your own opinion/questions/remarks about the show feel free to message me on instagram @thatgirlbluedymond. Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!