Episode Discussion # 319 - "Stolen Kisses"
 

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Affairs of the heart plague everyone in Capeside during a turbulent Spring Break, when Dawson and friends visit Dawson's bohemian aunt. The tension between Dawson, Joey and Pacey threatens to boil over, and Andie develops an interest in Will, Pacey's handsome boyhood friend (Rodney Scott from the upcoming teen drama "Young Americans").

A visit from an old friend reminds Dawson's parents of their wedding day and the best parts of their broken marriage, while Jen experiences a new emotion in her romance with Henry…jealousy…much to both's surprise.

I truly love this episode. It has to be one of my favorite episodes from the entire series.

First off, I love me an angsty Pacey. JJ just does that so well. Of course, I absolutley love the P/J interaction as well, what P/J fan wouldn't? I love so much of this episode. hehe. One of my favorite scenes is when Pacey and Joey have to share the same bed, there's so much underlying sexual tension between them. I love the banter between them,"Jo, get in bed, and while you're at it, get over yourself" and "Pacey, get your butt away from me" and "My butt wants nothing to do with your butt". Hehe that always makes me laugh. And on a completely shallow not, JJ looked pretty hot in that grey wifebeater and pajama pants. lol. I love the talk they have outside after karaoke, and the kisses are definitley hott. "Stolen Kisses" is just one of the episodes that I just HAVE to watch when I'm watching my S3 dvds, for some reason I can't not watch it. The end is great, I love how Joey finally lets her guard down and goes for Pacey. I remember watching it and just praying that she would do something, and being so very happy when she grabbed his hand and kissed him, for a change.

My favorite part is when Jo kisses Pace. :sigh: I absolutely adore Will too. :D

Ok..this episode was amazing because we, the audience, got not only one, but TWO kisses out of Pacey and Joey. I loved the first kiss because of all the references she gives to feeling alive and starting their own history (which she of course stopped before finishing this sentence). But when you think about it, they bring up these points a lot in later seasons and this is where it all started. And of course, who could forget the ..."I'm going to kiss you, in about 10 seconds. And if you don't want me to kiss you, well then if you don't want me to, I guess you're just gonna have to stop me." I mean honestly people, it doesn't get any better than this! And then for this exact quote to be in a future episode...wonderful, simply wonderful :) I wish Aunt Gwen didn't interrupt and get all in their business though. I mean, if you saw two people kissing, wouldn't you just leave them alone? But I guess that is a Leery family trait...feeling the need to get in everyone's business. But I did think it was funny when Pacey was like "I think maybe I should head inside and sing myself some more karaoke. Cause Lord knows that's what I want to be doing right now, is singing myself some karaoke." Haha Pacey is so funny! And with kiss #2, I just loved how she grabbed his hand...he's all confused at why she just grabbed it...there's a pause...and then she goes in for the kill! Soooooo great! It's no wonder it was rated as one of the all-time best kisses ever in tv history :)

As far as the other characters, I loved Will. Him and Andie were cute, I wish he had stayed. He seemed to fit in perfectly with the group dynamic. And the whole scene with Jen and Henry was silly and overdramatic, but I loved when Jen said "So should you choose to continue draping yourself all over him like the ****ty wench that you are, you and me, we're gonna throw down" and "Isn't it pretty obvious? I made an ass out of myself so I am hiding"...it made me laugh. But overall, it was a fabulous episode....I give it an A+!

This was the first episode I ever watched and the one that made me an avid fan of the show. The hook for me was the Dawson and Joey storyline. I was fascinated by the history and the connection they shared. While I totally sympathized with Pacey and understood the emotions that he awakened in Joey, it was the DJ story that held my attention and made me want to continue watching...
In other aspects of the episode I loved Pacey's rendition of Wild Thing...great microphone action :D

One of the best episode of season3. As the most of you know in fact I didn't enjoy this season a lot(especially the 1st half) ,but after Northern lights the things begin to light up and this episode is the proof of it.
I think it was emotionally overwelming and that's what I used to love about the 1st two seasons and got lost later. i really like everything: obviously the Pace and Joey storyline seeing it was the leading one but also the Dawson and Joey one. In fact here we can see the beginning of the " Drama" that we're going to see in THE LONGEST DAY. Dawson is finally understanding that after an entire year apart he still loves Joey( this comes out when he says that he doesn't remember why they're not together anymore),while Joey is forced by Pacey and Dawson's aunt to see the light: she's falling for Pacey and at the same time her mind still tells her she's supposed to be with Dawson...but we all know that the heart always wins in the end. I think that season3 was really the best season for P/J coz there was a perfect balance btw banter,love and angst and this is something that in the later seasons got lost in my opinion.

This is my favourite ep of this season, vying with The Longest Day.

My favourite scene is the P/J bed scene, the wifebeater, the arguing, the pulling of the sheets, the awkwardness, the angst, Pacey starting to lean over to Joey in the morning, Joey pretending to still be asleep and then Pacey pretending he'd just woken up when they're called down for breakfast.
I love Pacey's 'I'm gonna count to 10' speech and Joey just waiting for him to kiss her, cos you know she wanted him to.

I like being annoyed with the interfering Aunt Gwen. I liked the Andie and Will scene where Andie is all pouty and annoyed because she thought she'd been good at playing pool!

I like when Joey grabbed Pacey and kissed him because for once she took control and made the first move.




[QUOTE=Lor-baby]she's falling for Pacey and at the same time her mind still tells her she's supposed to be with Dawson...QUOTE]

Not sure I can agree with this though. She felt guilty, 'awful' about having feelings for Pacey knowing that Dawson was hoping they could get back together because getting back together with Dawson something she didn't want.
Joey knew she was falling for Pacey, but I don't think her mind was telling her she should still be with Dawson. While talking up in the barn she was trying to tell Dawson that things had changed .

There was plenty at Aunt Gwen's to remind her of her relationship with Dawson or rather her connection with Dawson, the painting, the karaoke, the carving of their names in the barn floor, but I cant say I saw any indication that Joey felt that she should still be with Dawson. That's why she couldn't answer Aunt Gwen's question about why she and Dawson weren't together anymore and said nothing when Dawson wondered the same thing in the barn.

double post

I really enjoyed this episode for all of its backstories as well as the true introduction of what will be a very angsty love triangle between Dawson, Joey and Pacey.

I wasn't digging the Aunt Gwen character because of her interruption between Pacey and Joey's kiss, but the one thing that she told Joey - about how someone made her feel alive - that put a light bulb over Joey's head, making her realize when was the last time she felt alive. And she answered that question - when Pacey's arm brushed up against her in bed that morning.

The connection that both Joey and Pacey have for one another in this episode is phenomenal. And it also shows us how Pacey really knows Joey, how he's become the one that she depends on during this season. The final conversation that they have at the fire (fire is very important during their relationship), where Pacey tells Joey that she's not asking herself the right question, the he can't be the one to always give her the answers...that he cannot always be the one intiating their kisses...we have stadium wattage over Joey's head. She realizes that it's okay to want Pacey, it's okay to step away from the script that has been her life for the past two seasons, it's always what's in your heart. And what's in her heart for then on out is Pacey. When Joey finally kissed Pacey...really kissed him with all of her heart, she knows that she has done something that she wants to do.

Some old thoughts I found on this episode....

The Ten Kiss and the final scene of Stolen Kisses ~ In the Ten Kiss scene, I :love: how Joey comes looking to check on Pacey and he totally lets her know that he isn't ok with the way things are at all. He totally calls her on either being clueless or just feigning it for whatever reason and almost walks away. What I find particularly great is that this episode, while perhaps can appear to be more Pacey telling Joey what he feels, is really more about Joey's actions and reactions to Pacey. She stops him from walking away, with the I felt it and she does nothing to stop him from kissing her. Later in the final scene, Joey is really struggling with everything that is going on between her and Pacey and indirectly with Dawson (and Andie). You can tell that she really likes the new relationship that is happening between her and Pacey, but at the same time she is both scared and worried about hurting her friends. I think Pacey really hangs his heart out there and when he almost leaves again, Joey stops him. When she grabs his hand and whispers his name, I was like at last!!!!! I :love: that she finally kisses him first. We get to see that she does have feelings for him and she doesn't want them to go away. I was holding my breath through that scene and I still wish that it didn't end there. :)

Well, in this episode of course Joey kissed Pacey and I know that was a big moment for all the P/Jers(show too). But as for the rest Dawson and Joey's talk in the barn was kind of symbolic in a way when Dawson's say's he does not know anymore why he and Joey are not together and Pacey comes into the picture. It also showed me Dawson still loved her but Joey also brought up a point that things were changing. Again in this Ep I just felt for Dawson because here he is at his Aunts who is PRO D/J and he is singing old Karaoke songs with the woman he loves yet in the background his 2 best friends are discovering there intense feelings for one another. I am 99% sure when his Aunt told Dawson to close his eyes he saw Joey.�* I have to say after seeing P/J kiss I did not think it was a good idea for Dawson's Aunt to give him a painting of Him and Joey.

This episode was truly the watershed episode, and I think that a person’s reaction to it really marked whether you were a Dawson and Joey fan or a Pacey and Joey fan. If you were a Dawson and Joey fan, and obviously, I was, you hated this episode with a passion, and if you were a Pacey and Joey fan, you absolutely loved it. Up until this episode aired, I had been pretty neutral about Pacey and Joey getting together, and I had even written a topic called “Why Blame Pacey?” where I basically said that there was nothing wrong with Pacey falling in love with Joey. Well, that all changed in this episode, and from that point on, I hated Pacey and Joey, and there was no turning back for me. The thing that I found most insulting, then and now, was that Dawson was the “safe” choice for Joey, and that Pacey made her “come alive,” and I also didn’t like the calculated way that Pacey “got to Joey” in this episode. People later complained about how calculating Dawson was by staging the “Anti-Prom” to get to Joey, but Pacey was every bit as calculating in this episode in my humble opinion, but as always, the incredible double standard that has always applied towards any of Dawson’s actions versus any of Pacey’s actions applied here. Looking back, I feel certain that this episode ruined the idea of a Pacey and Joey pairing for me and a lot of other D/Jers, and I think that it was one of the key episodes that polarized the fan base into two “armed camps” hurling insults at one another and on the “other couple.” Here’s what I wrote about that episode when it aired:

Over the last few months, I have tried to remain neutral concerning the issue of the love triangle between Dawson, Joey, and Pacey on Dawson’s Creek, but this episode has hurt and disappointed me right down to my heart, as both Pacey and Joey, in my humble opinion, have destroyed something magical, and special, and betrayed love and friendship in a way that I find difficult to express in words. Right now, I find myself so angry at both Pacey and Joey, that it’s very difficult for me to write my usual objective episode summary, so please forgive me if my anger filters into what I write here. I really have to say that what the writers have foisted on us with this love triangle attacks the very heart of Dawson’s Creek, and it has left this fan of Dawson and Joey so disillusioned, and so angry, that I shake my head in disbelief. The very notion that Joey could come to regard what she had with Dawson as merely “safe,” and that Pacey makes her “come alive” touches a true anger deep within me, and it makes it very difficult for me to want to see Dawson get his heart crushed by the two people he values most.

I thought it was completely wrong for Pacey to invite himself along to Dawson’s trip to his Aunt Gwen’s house, and by doing so, “forcing the issue” with Joey right under Dawson’s trusting nose. To me, both Pacey and Joey “crossed the line” with their actions in this episode, and I, for one, will have a difficult time in looking at either character in the same light. I really disliked the metaphor that the writers used when Aunt Gwen told Joey that she abandoned her “safe” marriage for someone who “made her feel alive,” and that that Joey would view her relationship with Dawson versus her relationship with Pacey in this light really incenses me. Let’s face it, Joey never gave her relationship with Dawson a chance, and she threw away her chance for happiness with him with both hands, so it’s completely unfair for her to regard Dawson as merely “safe” and “comfortable.” I also thought it was wrong for Pacey to walk out when Dawson and Joey were singing, and set Joey on the guilt trip that brought their feelings to a head. As far as I’m concerned, Pacey and Joey deserve each other, and Dawson deserves better.

In one the episode’s few bright spots, I thought it was sweet that Jen was jealous of Henry, and that she showed both her vulnerability and her own self admitted “issues” by not disclosing that Henry was her boyfriend to Shelly, and then crying because she realized that her feelings for Henry had broken down the walls she had built up, and that this realization truly scared her, because she’s simply afraid to care. I thought that once again, Michelle Williams gave a very touching performance, and it reinforced my belief that Jen is the best character on the show.

I was also touched by the way Mitch and Gail related to one another in this episode, and how the sad news of the death of one of their close friends, the best man at their wedding, brought back feelings long buried, and it may have started them on the road to repair the love that they once had. I feel that it’s an irony in life that sometimes tragedy truly can put a person’s life in perspective, and I do hope that perhaps we’re seeing a new beginning for Mitch and Gail.

I liked the character of Will Krusky, and I enjoyed the interaction between him and Andie. To me, Andie truly has moved on from Pacey, and I commend her for it. I’ve enjoyed the growth in Andie’s character, and I hope it continues.

In a scene fraught with sad irony, where Joey and Dawson talked in the barn, I felt that Joey still has incredible insight into Dawson’s soul, but we also got to see, once again, the fundamental difference between these two characters, with Dawson, still the eternal optimist, still looking at life with hope, and Joey, the cynical realist, letting go of something that was so very special, and dismissing it as something in the past. In light of what happened in this episode, I’m not sure if this combination is a good one anymore. I think it’s true that Dawson has grown up, and no longer feels the need to be the center of attention, but my heart aches for him as the last constant in his life will soon be shattered.

Overall, my disappointment in this episode far outweighs anything positive in it, and I view the rest of the season with true apprehension, as I see nothing but pain and betrayal ahead for a character that truly doesn’t deserve it.

I thought that was really good camera work, with Dawson asking why they aren't together and then Pacey shouts from down below "Hey, you guys wanna come down and give us a hand?", implying that the reason why they aren't together is because of Pacey. And then they show the carved heart with Dawson and Joey names, but you can still see Pacey in the picture. Excellent work with whoever directed this episode.

Sorry for the double post, but I didn't see Jerry D's post until after I posted and I have something to comment on.

I completely disagree with this statement. How was Pacey in any shape or form calculating the way Dawson was in "Anti-Prom"? I know this should be saved for the "Anti-Prom" discussion, but it was brought up now, so I felt the need to comment on it. The difference between Dawson getting to Joey and Pacey getting to Joey was Dawson KNEW Joey had feelings for Pacey in "Anti-Prom", but was so incredibly selfish that he organized the Anti-Prom, not with the intention to help Jack, who it initially began with, but in an attempt to win Joey back. The only reason Joey agreed to go with him in the first place was because he said it was to get their friendship back on track and what better way than fulfilling a pact by two best friends. If he hadn't said that and played on her emotion, as per usual, she probably wouldn't have gone with him. And of course Dawson says all these fine words with an alterior motive. In "Stolen Kisses", Pacey didn't have some master plan to win Joey over or anything, like Dawson did. Everything just happened. I honestly don't think Pacey formulated some secret plan to win Joey, but at the same time, invite his childhood friend. It doesn't give a lot of time to bond if you are trying to manipulate a girl's feelings, now does it? So I don't Pacey at all had this motive, unlike Dawson, who knew full well what he was doing.

ITA I've always thought the same thing.

I have to agree with Jerry. Pacey even admitted the reason he came was because of Joey. TrueLovePJer Yeah I agree great camera work.

But he wasn't like hmmm first we're going to sleep in the same bed and then I'm going to get upset so Joey will follow me outside so I can kiss her! Unlike Dawson who "orchestrated the whole night" so Joey would be convinced to choose him over Pacey. Everything with Pacey and Joey was spontaneous and just happened, not planned. And Pacey was all for her making decision for herself and he didn't force the issue upon her, unless she gave leeway.

Yes but that still is calculating on Pacey's part as he admitted he came because of Joey maybe not as extreme as Dawson of course but still.

Yeah, but Jerry D was comparing the two like the they were on the same level, when they most definitely are not. And yes, Pacey did come because of Joey, but what is the harm in that? I honestly don't think Pacey was going to kiss her anymore, but all that changed when Joey was like "We're supposed to have our own history" and "it made me feel alive", so that basically gave him the OK to proceed with another kiss.

Ok but that is calculating on Pacey's part though as he said blew.......... but no one found out luckily but Dawson's Aunt.

Pacey:You know, for a bright girl, you can be really daft sometimes. Why do you think i came here? I came here to be with you! It's as simple as that. I mean, when you like somebody, proximity is a good thing.

Yes, but he's not being manipulative in the process.

Ther's a huge difference between being maliciously calculating and knowing you're hurting someone else in the process and literally following your heart. Before Stolen Kisses aired JOey and Pacey had decided that it was over, there was nothing else to even discuss and they'd go back to normal, so what was wrong with Pacey going with his friends to AUnt Gwens? What was calculating about that? Was he supposed to get penalized for his actions in CInderella Story while everyone else goes back to normal? Sure, he went mainly due to the fact that he loved Joey and wanted to be around her but thats not the same as going on the trip trying to seduce her. Things happened for a reason at Gwen's and none of it had to do with Pacey manipulating the situation, it was natural progression, things just played out on that trip, with Dawson and the Anti Prom everything was set up. Huge difference.

Other than that, I hated Aunt Gwen. I thought she was so exceedingly annoying from the second she weas bouncing around to "Wild Thing" painting when everyone arrived. We know that she's some amazing free spirit but that was overkill. Then her life is pretty much Joey's big neon sign guiding her to Pacey and the unknown and all she does is push her in the opposite direction of where she said her heart took her. Hypocrite much? I just never understood how Gwen could be so occupied with the little teenage drama going on. What adult gets so entrenched in who their 16 year old nephew is smooching?

Other than that I just thought the episode was really amusing and emotional. Andie, Will and Pacey and the pool shark thing was fun, I loved all of the little subtelties and underlying messages floating around and I adored the Dawson/Joey barn scene because, let's face it, it was really obvious that things were about to get good and that Joey was definitely not on the same page as Dawson romantically.

And of course the last Pacey and Joey scene is a scene that makes me wonder if chemistry really is as subjective as we all say it is, the emotion in that scene was so palpable how someone can say "Pacey and Joey dont have chemistry" is beyond me.

Granted, what Dawson did in The Anti-Prom was much more calculating than what Pacey did in Stolen Kisses, but the fact remains that both Dawson and Pacey did some calculating things to “get to” Joey. I know it’s pointless for me to argue that because this board is now about 98% Pro-Pacey and Joey, but I get so tired of the notion that Pacey was merely following his heart at the end of Season Three while Dawson was this conniving schemer out to hurt everyone because he had lost Joey to Pacey. In short, I hated the Season Three Love Triangle.

Thanks Sugz! I was struggling with the point I was trying to get across and you explained it perfectly! So again, thank you :)

But he did. He couldn't accept the fact that Joey was in love with Pacey, thus he goes and makes himself look like an ass in "Show Me Love". He put all these claims and ultimatums on her, which was complete bs. And I don't think Dawson was scheming out TO hurt everyone, I think he was scheming so HE wouldn't get hurt, so he did anything in his power to prevent this, even if it did hurt others in the process.

I also hated the way the show choose to play it out. Had they done it differently I would never have hated P/J as much as I did in season 4. Sugz you are right on the chemistry issue but I wonder how anyone can watch the Kiss The Rain scene and say D/J do not have Chemistry. Pacey was also kind of calculating with the whole ''Ask Me To Stay'' on the wall thing kind of. I mean they both wanted Joey.