Episode Discussion #501 - "The Bostonians"
 

http://www.dawsonscreek.com/guide/se...5/501_joey.jpg http://www.dawsonscreek.com/guide/se...oeyjackjen.jpg http://www.dawsonscreek.com/guide/se...501_dawson.jpg http://www.dawsonscreek.com/guide/season005/501_jen.jpg

Joey, Jen and Jack discover the new world that is college. Though Joey is thrilled to be at Worthington University, she finds her roommate, Audrey's wild behavior makes for an uncomfortable living situation. And while Jen and Jack adjust to life at Boston Bay College, Dawson faces the tough realities of the film industry in Los Angeles. Joey's unsettled feelings for Dawson manifest themselves in a creative writing project for her handsome English teacher, David Wilder who pushes her to face the reality of her relationship. Meanwhile, Jen is the only one that knows Pacey has returned from his Caribbean adventure and has docked in Boston.

Hey people :wave:
I've open the new thread just incase if Jerry can't get to his computer because of Hurricane Rita

Jerry, if your looking, I hope it's ok :)

I'll post my thoughts later

Kelly

I really enjoyed the three J's in this. :) I also thought Audrey was a breath of fresh air too. :lol:

i love audrey. i think she was what the show needed to stay alive at that point. this episode is good, despite joey's horrible hair when they go to the party.

Her hair did look awful at the party. :lol:

lol.

i love when audrey says, i'm easy, not sleasy... she has some funny lines.

also it isnt in the bostonians but i like when she calls jen and has a question. the whole, booty call. if booty means sex, then why dont people say lets go have booty?

hahahaha

I didn't care too much about this episode, too much Joey not enough Pacey.

I liked Audrey, though.

I thought it was pretty cool seeing the gang in a new place at first. But what really made this episode work for me was the incredible ending. It is my all time favorite moment in the shows history and scene ever made me smile more. All the possibilities I thought at the time. I was so excited and happy because it looked like D/J would give it another go. :) Ahhh just thinking about that end scene makes me smile.

I loved this episode.

I liked seeing Dawson on a film set. That to me was the icing on the cake. Too bad it didn't work out, although I was glad the show remained realistic with that ... and didn't just let him stay there.

I liked how they started Joey off. I loved Audrey, she had so much moxy. I liked seeing Jack/Jen/Joey all hanging out. It was also cool that they had a scheduled dinner with Grams on Sunday.

I liked how they began the episode with Professor Wilder reading Joey's essay about kissing Dawson. And then everyone critiquing it. I found that amusing.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode, alot. I liked how they established early on that the show was "different", a new beginning of sorts.

Thanks for posting this topic Kelly. :) We were affected by Hurricane Rita, but the main part of the storm didn't come here and we had no real damage, but we lost power and cable access (I have a cable modem) and we just got it back a little while ago, so I just got back on line a few hours ago.

Here's what I wrote about this episode when it aired:

I found this episode, which marked a new beginning for the characters that we’ve grown to know and love to be rather undistinguished, but also somewhat reflective of what college freshmen experience. One aspect of the show that I could relate to was how the characters kept close to one another as they ventured forth into the “brave new world” of college, while absorbing and tentatively experiencing their new environment, and interacting with new people. Since this is Dawson’s Creek, however, they took this tendency to hold on to the past to the extreme in the case of the “star crossed lovers” that we met back on a very different show way back in Season One, Dawson Leery and Joey Potter, as this episode illustrated once again that they, and we, have achieved no closure in their on again and off again relationship.

I thought that the opening scene was rather clichéd, with the stereotypical “dreamboat” college professor recounting Joey’s essay about her ever so complicated relationship with Dawson that ended its latest chapter with an ambiguous kiss between them that obviously had an effect on Joey that resonated throughout this episode. And so the saga of Dawson and Joey continues, with their story, as always, being left unfinished, ending, as Professor Wilder said, “at the very moment it should have begun,” frustrating both their fans and their detractors, as Joey’s indecisive feelings towards Dawson continued. Like Pacey said so perfectly once, “One week you're soulmates, the next week you're giving each other up for the greater good. I mean, do you think it's possible that sometime soon, you could make up your mind? Please?” Here, here, only this time, all this happened within the same episode, as Joey left a rambling and bewildering message on Dawson’s answering machine that perfectly illustrated just how confused he is about her feelings for the one person who’s played such a large role in her life. I found it incredible that Joey would say that part of her was still fifteen years old still in love with a boy from down the creek who only sees her as a friend, because it makes it seem like everything that Dawson and Joey went through, both together and individually, meant nothing. To me, what started out as an incredibly sweet story about two young people who had a special friendship filled with a magical romantic undertone has turned into a relationship that seems to be holding both of them back, and to me, The Powers That Be have ruined something very special, and although I could feel my heart strings being tugged when Joey’s face lit up when Dawson surprised her at the end of the episode, because Dawson and Joey will always have a special place in my heart, I don’t want this protracted indefinite tease to continue, and I want some type of resolution to their story, which I’ll probably never get.

I enjoyed seeing Jack and Jen’s easygoing friendship, and the way they teased one another as only they can. We also got to see that Jack seemed to be warming to the idea of joining a fraternity because it might give him a sense of family, because although he has Jen and Grams as his surrogate family, it’s very clear that he misses having a sense of belonging to a family, since his own family had been so shattered by death, mental illness, and emotional remoteness.

I really liked Audrey, and her bubbly, vivacious, and outgoing personality stood in stark contrast to Joey’s gloomy and contemplative personality, and I was glad to see her try to get Joey to open up and come out of her shell. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Audrey in future episodes. To me, Audrey seemed like a female Season One Pacey, trying to cajole Joey to lighten up and have some fun, while telling Joey some basic truths about herself, much like Pacey used to do to Dawson.

I thought that parts of the episode that illustrated Dawson’s experiences in Hollywood were well done, as Dawson conveyed the excitement of a young man getting to experience a place and a lifestyle he had dreamed about practically all his life, but also finding that reality differs from that dream. I thought, however, that having Dawson, on his very first day as an intern, give a melodramatic lecturing speech castigating his own boss, on the set of the film he was directing, in front of his whole cast and crew, to be ridiculously over the top, because although we know that Dawson is very idealistic and sometimes overly expressive of his feelings, I couldn’t see any eighteen year old intern doing that, in fact, who ever would say something like that to their boss, at any age? Since the speech was made, however, at least The Powers That Be did show what happens when someone talks to their superior like that, instead of having the director turn around and make him an assistant director or something for showing his “forthrightness.” I did enjoy that speech, however, as Dawson said some things that a lot of us would love to say to our bosses, and James did a great job in bringing that speech across. Still though, I suppose the whole purpose of that scene was to show how disillusioned Dawson was becoming with his life in Los Angeles, and how he wanted to hold on to his ideals, which is actually a very admirable quality that Dawson has always had.

I was glad to see Pacey, and I was especially pleased to see Pacey happy and sharing a friendly and affectionate conversation with Jen, although I would have liked to have seen more of him in this episode. Still though, that scene made me love Jen all the more, as she’s a wonderful friend with a kind and giving heart, as she respected Pacey’s request, at least for now, to keep his presence in Boston a secret.

The fraternity party seemed overdone, as I attended plenty of fraternity parties in my time, but none with fireworks and a live band, but hey, its television, and it seemed its purpose was to illustrate how out of place Joey felt in her new environment. I was glad that Jen met Charlie at the party, however, and it was sweet to see her smitten with him, and to later see Jack, Jen, and Grams tease her about it.

Overall, I found this episode to be a passable but not very engaging start to the new season of Dawson’s Creek.

That's great news Jerry :)

I thought it was mean making fun of Joey's story at class, I got mad at the people LOL I didn't like the teacher very much too

I love Jen and Jack talking about not touching boys and looking, and Jen goes I like Tobey. Tobey's good people LOL

Seeing Audrey for the first time, it was like seeing Andie for the first time, but a little different of the characters

I really thought poor Dawson, Todd is really acting like a Diva
Telling everyone what stuff ups Dawson did and I loved how Dawson stick up for himself shouting at Todd but got fired in the end

Jen meeting Charlie for the first time, was cute

Just wanna say I love the song played at the end of the episode.

Yeah, Thistle is beautiful and unfortunately replaced! :rolleyes:

Not thrilled about this episode. Wasn't really thrilled about any episode in season 5 at all.

I just thought everything the three main characters were going through were just so unrealistic. Joeys college life wasnt portrayed as it shouldve I dont think. THey shouldve focused on more college stories, there's so much there, but of course they throw her into a romance with aprofessor, how new and not at all to be expected! Dawson on a film set is just ridiculous as well and gets even BETTEr when he actually drops out of film school and manages to have his own TV show 7 years later, thats priceless. And then there's Pacey who very contrivedly ends up in Boston (sort of, we didnt really see much of Pacey now did we?) I think that when your writers cant think of anything to do with one of the main characters because of the story you've put the other main characters in (Dawson an dJoey), you've got a serious story problem. Looking back the only thing good to come out of it I suppose was Audrey and that only lasted about one season. Joeys wishy-washiness just continued in season 5 and, of course Dawson and Joey fans loved it, being that they left DJ for about a season and a half, but looking back it was so frustrating that once again, nothing came of any of that childishness. The beginning of the student/teacher romance was a horrible story as well. Audrey and Jen, the saving graces of this episode/season.

Oh, loved Thistle and that whole last scene in 501.

Yeah Kim, I really disliked Joey and the professor storyline. It seemed yet another guy to fall at Joey's feet. And they had a explored a vaguely similiar storyline with Pacey and Tamara and you're right - so many other college storylines to share rather than that one.