-Kelly-

"That Was Then"

Joey (Katie Holmes) and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) must make a decision about their future together, but before they even have a chance to talk, Pacey rushes to Capeside when his dad (John Finn) is admitted to the hospital.
As a favor to Professor Heston (Roger Howarth) Joey agrees to stay with his daughter Harley (Mika Boorem) and is reminded of what is was like to be a teenager in love.
Back in Capeside, Dawson (James Van Der Beek) returns to the high school film class as a guest speaker and reflects back on the passion and creative convictions he seems to have lost.

Perry Lang directed the episode written by Anna Fricke.

Jerry D

Here’s what I wrote about this episode at the time that it aired:

I thought that this was a rather interesting episode, as Dawson, Joey, and Pacey reflectively looked back on their teenage years and some of the choices that they made during that time, and we got to see some indication of how they’ve changed over the years. There were some parts of this episode that I found very moving, like the scenes between Pacey and Doug, and Pacey and his father, but there were other scenes that I found to be over the top, as Dawson met someone who was supposed to be a younger version of himself, and Joey supposedly saw her relationship with Pacey mirrored in the relationship of her “charge,” Harley, and her sleazy boyfriend, Patrick.

I liked the opening scene between Pacey and Joey, as Pacey looked out the window at Hell’s Kitchen, with Joey obviously on his mind, and Joey, for her part, had Pacey on her mind as she went to see him, and their awkwardness as they considered the possibility of trying some type of relationship again was endearing and real. Obviously, though, all their interaction, from their scene in the “teaser,” where Joey said that it was hard to regret something that had already been in the back of her mind, namely, Pacey previously declaring to her that he had never gotten over her, to the ending scene where Joey said “I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not going to look at you and think of everything that happened, I’m going to look at you and think of everything that could,” seemed to be deliberately calculated to give their fans hope, while keeping things ambiguous enough to keep everyone guessing (and arguing ) as to what it all meant, as Joey vacillating nature manifested itself once again when she turned away when Pacey tried to kiss her, but as always, I simply have to comment that Josh and Katie do play off each other well, and the friendly affection that these two actors have towards each other made the scene between them in this episode enjoyable to watch. I was also glad to see that “Bertha,” also known as Pacey’s wide screen television, apparently survived Pacey’s party, unlike Emma, who seems to have fallen into the “Black Hole” of forgotten Dawson’s Creek characters.

Now we go from the sublime to the ridiculous, as we had to endure watching Joey “banter” with Professor Hetson as he fretted about Harley, Joey’s “mini-me,” and we got to meet Patrick, Harley’s boyfriend. It was patently obvious that Patrick was supposed to be Pacey’s “mini-me,” but unlike Pacey, Patrick was a total sleaze, and watching him smugly try to hit on Joey right in front of Harley turned my stomach. I’m so tired of seeing every single guy on this show fall for Joey’s IT, and I had to laugh at the ludicrousness of Joey acting like the “wise older woman” with both Harley and Patrick, and giving them relationship advice, because to me, Joey’s character has done very little growing up as she’s bounced from guy to guy in all the years that we’ve been watching her. I also had to note with dismay that two more characters on this show told Joey how “wonderful” she was, like when Harley called her “Helen,” i.e. Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships, and Patrick told her that she was a “timeless sort, pained by the world, but more beautiful because of it” and these hack writers couldn’t be any more obvious when they had Patrick say “You slay me Joey,” echoing Pacey’s “You, Josephine Potter, have just wrecked me,” declaration from Season Four’s Failing Down. Yes, The Powers That Be, We. Get. It. Joey Potter is perfect.

I enjoyed watching Dawson return to Capeside High and talk to Mr. Gold’s class, but I thought that George seemed more like a younger version of Oliver than Dawson, but I enjoyed seeing his conversation with George after he watched George’s film, and I really enjoyed it when George told him that “not too many people have heart anymore. You can’t lose that, right?” Obviously, though, George served as the perfect plot device to show Dawson’s “crippling self-doubt,” as his ambition to become a great filmmaker has seemingly hit a temporary snag, but considering that Dawson is only supposed to be 20 years old, it seems premature to say that he has the “stink of a burned out talent on him, “ and I also noticed that as always, the writers seem to love taking little pot shots at Dawson’s character, like in that scene with George, and when Dawson later called himself a “sentimental loser with ten cent dreams.”

Now we come to what I thought was the best part of the episode, namely the relationship between Pacey, Doug, and their father. We saw Pacey and Doug’s old rivalry come to a head in this episode, and you could tell that Doug really resented the fact that he had lost his position as the “favorite son,” and he lashed out harshly at Pacey, but I was glad to see Pacey stand up for himself, and the scenes between them were charged with emotion. The scenes between Pacey and his father moved me to tears, especially when Sheriff Witter told Pacey that he grew up to be one of the good guys, and it was so nice to see Sheriff Witter finally show that he loves Pacey and that he’s proud of him, and that he appreciated Pacey coming to see him. I also thought it was incredibly kind of Pacey to tell his father that Doug had arranged for him to get a private room, when it was Pacey who had done that, and you can tell that Doug was really moved by Pacey’s magnanimous gesture.

I liked seeing Pacey and Dawson’s scene together, but it was very obvious that there still is quite a wide chasm between these two former close friends as they talked about “ghosts,” and going back and starting over, and trying to pinpoint that moment in their lives where everything went wrong. I thought that there was a lot of tension between Dawson and Pacey in this scene as they tried to feign a lost sense of amity between them, and just like the obvious affection between Katie and Josh made their scene enjoyable to watch, the rumored rivalry and distance between James and Josh made this scene rife with awkwardness and apprehension, which I think was what the writers wanted this scene to show, and I feel that these characters still have a long way to go before they can really be friends again, if they ever can. Still, though, I was glad to see them begin to reach out to each other, and I did see some glimpses of the camaraderie that these two characters once had, and this scene reminded me of how much I’ve missed Dawson and Pacey’s friendship.

Overall, I felt that this episode seemed to kick off a period of self-reflection on the part of both the characters and of Dawson’s Creek itself, as we head into the “final stretch” of new episodes of this television show.

Emily

I agree the scenes between Pacey and John Witter really were the best, I think that the scenes between these two are always great, especially one of the final scenes on the beach in 'unchartered waters' and the final scene in the te of Pacey. Then there was the mention that Pacey's dad gave him the car in season five. The scene where he told Pacey he was proud of him was so moving and it was so great to finally see that father/son bond between them,

COOLCAT200

I was so glad to see a Dawson/Pacey scene. They had not had and 1 one 1 scene in a long time. Was nice to see at the end both having a laugh and Dawson inviting Pacey to stay.

--daisy--

This episode looks good. I haven't seen season 6 yet!