Skip to main content

Study Hall #10 - Season 4 Recap



As much as we loved season 3, season 4 is probably our favorite. Across the board, there were more consistently good episodes and more new characters we loved (even if we had to say goodbye to them, sigh). We aren't thrilled about the direction the Pacey/Joey ship went and we hate, hate, HATE what happened to Andie, but the fact that season 4 gave us a main character we could genuinely root for was a nice change.

If you've made it this far in our Dawson's Creek journey – thank you!! We love you all and can't wait to embark on the college years together.

From Traci: "I'll be honest, the college years aren't super fresh in my mind, so a lot of the next two seasons will be like both Charles and I are both watching it for the first time."

See you all next week for season 5!!

Episode links:
Got something to say? Leave it in the comments below, or you can email us at dawsonsspeakpod@gmail.com, call us at 732-98-CREEK, or find us at @dawsonsspeakpod on Twitter and Facebook.

Comments

  1. Okay I just listened to this study hall just like I have every season but I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the core six ranking because I think it's a bit of an exaggeration. Pacey has a season of hating himself with the help of the people around him not helping matters and then finally blows up during the worst time but apologizes the very next episode about it and he drops all the way to six when not even season one Pacey was that low on Charles' list. One season erases all the good Pacey has done? Dawson however is an awful character up until season four and then gets the number one spot on Tracey's list? One season erases Dawson's past too? Number one?!? I wish I could understand the reasoning but I am truly flabbergasted about the extreme flip flop you have done between those two characters. I understand not everyone is going to agree on everything but I was sitting here and I couldn't believe the Dawson love fest because he wasn't a jerk for one season. I liked him during this season too but number one and Pacey at number six? I just feel you guys have been hard on him since day one of this season and I think he had a lot of good moments and instead of putting some focus on some of those, it was ignored to focus on what he didn't do right all because he wasn't the Mr Perfect that started in season two that you both enjoyed. Realistically what did he do so bad other than a handful of episodes where he wasn't as sensitive as he could've been? He loved Joey with all his heart and was still a good boyfriend to her despite her flip flop dance with Dawson. He was a good friend when we got to see him with friends, tried his best in school and even went the unselfish route, handled his birthday disaster better than most, and told Joey to cut him loose because he didn't want to feel like he was holding her back. I'm truly confused.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there! Sorry for the delay in responding to this (and because we saw this late, this isn't going to make it into the 501 podcast, but we'll address it in 502) – but we appreciate your thoughts on this. For the most part, putting any characters low on the list has nothing to do with our negative feelings toward them. It has a lot to do with the stories they were given this season, and at least for Traci's part, she felt like Dawson was just given stronger stories that his character was able to grow into. On the part of putting Pacey at #6 for Charles, it was less about hating Pacey and more about feeling disappointed in the direction the writers took his character by the end of the season. Perhaps our rankings have less to do with the performances themselves and more about the narrative arcs of their characters: Pacey had great moments, of course, but we feel like we really got less of what makes Pacey Pacey this season because he got pushed aside while Joey did her flip-flopping, as you mention.

      That being said, it's a longer discussion worth having and we can dive into it for 502. At the end of the day, we know other people have different opinions (our opinions are only our own and we know they're not definitive!), so thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  2. Listened to this study hall while walking my dogs tonight and I have to agree with some of the things said by anonymous. I think Charles in particular was a bit hard on Pacey and it wasn't just this episode that I'm pointing out. It's been that way since s4 began like the very 1st episode. There were some very sweet moments between Jacey? Poey? during s4 and I feel they were brushed aside which surprised me a little bit. There are differences of opinion and those are to be respected but to be perfectly honest with you, it was kind of a drag to tune in this season. As for Pacey, I agree he wasn't the Pacey of past and he didn't really have much to do since he was off doing other projects but I thought he did a good job with what he did have and I'm glad they explored his darker side because with everything he has had to over come and deal with in his past, a breaking point was bound to happen and it's more realistic that way imo. Others might not agree and that's okay too. Your rankings are completely fine with me because those are opinions but I guess I found you guys to be overly nitpicky to me. As if there was a dark cloud while listening every week. Besides all that, I appreciate the time and effort Traci and Charles put into this podcast and I will continue listening until the end even though s5 is a nightmare and should be banned from streaming services. Gonna be a tough one guys. Lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's fair! We were being nitpicky because we liked so much of season 4 and were digging deep to criticize haha ... but that's a fair response, we need to talk about the rankings in our 5x02 episode! Charles knows he was being very polarizing :X

      Thank you for listening though, and continuing to listen through the season even if you hate it :)

      Delete
  3. I wasn't as into S4 as you guys because I feel like they made Joey regress in order to prop up Dawson, which totally destroyed her character — and set the show up poorly for S5. The previous season was so explicitly about her reclaiming her agency and being her own person, yet they do away with all that immediately to the point where she's barely sympathetic.

    Other missteps for me were Dawson never really apologizing for what he did in S3 (how can a character truly grow when they never cede their moral high ground?), Pacey seemingly having depression but it never being seriously addressed, and (I'm sorry!!) the Dawson/Gretchen relationship (adults with adult problems and leaning on high schoolers just because they seem safe and won't hurt you is not appropriate).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You make some excellent points and I agree with everything you said 100%

      Delete

Post a Comment