Butterfly85

D/J was a fantasy and when Joey got the disappointing reality she kept showing over and over she just wasn't that into him.

- just stand still -

exactly, she realized it wasn't what she wanted.

Artemis

Reality Relationship > Fantasy Fake

Pacey was always her reality.

Butterfly85

Ain't nothing like the real thing lol, and Dawson could never measure up to Pacey in more ways than one.

- just stand still -

for sure.

ds44

It was just a crush and she got over it even before she fell for pacey. *Cough* Jack

The rest was a manifestation of her guilt imo.

Butterfly85

Yeah, Joey even put way more into her relationship with Jack than she ever did with Dawson lol! Just more proof her crush on Dawson was fickle fluff that easily got blown away by a whistle.

PJ_always87

You know having recently watched season 2 I really do think that Joey got over Dawson the first time they broke up. However, his constant angst and emoting about it, and the support he offered her when her father came back, led her to a path of romantic reconciliation that she didn't really want. What she wanted was her friend back, but Dawson only offered himself to her as a romantic prospect and was not willing to be her friend, so she took whatever she could get.

.bian.carsan.

I've been re-watching PJ scenes from S3 as well and I gotta say that was peak Dawson's Creek. Who wouldn't fall in love with Pacey? It was never a contest and I just never got into DJ even from the beginning. I was always more of a Pacey fan then PJ later on.

Butterfly85

I agree that is when the show was at it's peak. Especially with great episodes like Cinderella Story, Stolen Kisses, and The Longest Day. Even though I loved P/J, Joey got on my nerves sometimes so I agree I liked Pacey more in general. Especially when she dumped him in S6 to rush back to that fickle flake Eddie but thankfully they made it right when they ended the show together.

.bian.carsan.

Oh yes, those three episodes in succession were PJ heaven, and then Joey had to try to make things right with Dawson and dumped Pacey just like that. Re-watching the show, I don't get how anyone could have liked Joey needing Dawson's blessing to run after Pacey.

S4 was a hit or miss for me but after that permanent PJ break-up, I was in and out and basically just came back for PJ episodes.

Butterfly85

I agree, I liked most of S4 cause they wrote P/J as a great couple. It was also the first time Joey was in a REAL and mature relationship for the long haul. Once they made Pacey OOC to dump Joey so she could run back to Dawson, along with isolating him from the rest of the cast is when S4 starts to suck.

PJ_always87

ITA and the stupidly hooking s Pacey with random women in season 5 in order to remove people off the PJ ship. They tried all the tricks in the book, even having Joey pretend she was OK with him dating her roommate. Nice try writers.
I honestly did not see s1-s4 when I got into PJ. I started in season 6. I caught the bad and sad DJ sex, and kind of tuned out for a bit until somewhere right before the sweeps. I really liked the Pacey character but had no ship.

After Clean and Sober I was intrigued. Then after Castaways I was definitely firmly on the PJ ship. After seeing PJ ended up together I went back and watched the series properly and I have to agree that season 3 is peak PJ, and since Pacey/PJ=DC for me, it was the peak of the show. To be fair the chemistry is so wonderful that they had to know that there was no going back once they went there with PJ.

Artemis

Butterfly85

That was such a cute moment between them.