When news hit recently that Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were teaming up some twenty-plus years after Dawson’s Creek went off the air, many millennial fans were excited.
The former co-stars (and famous exes!) will team up for the film trilogy, ‘Happy Hours,’ which Holmes wrote, will direct, and star alongside Jackson.
The character-driven dramedy will span many years, as it explores young love and the reconnection of former flames in adulthood. Sound the slightest bit familiar?
For those who may be too young to have experienced Dawson’s Creek in its heyday, the series was peak teenage drama in an era where that genre of television was as popular as it’s ever been.
The Kevin Williamson series made stars of its young cast, and it still widely remains one of the best (and most popular!) teen dramas ever. And its leading couple is still one of the most romantic pairings.
Yes, I’m talking about Pacey Witter and Joey Potter. And if you disagree, we probably can’t be friends.
I kid! I kid! Sort of.
But seriously, Pacey and Joey were the prime example of enemies-to-lovers via a high school backdrop.
They were reluctant friends, bound together by their shared friendships with perpetually whiny Dawson Leery. While many fans saw the hint of a spark between the pair during Dawson’s Creek Season 1, many also realized that it was unlikely due to Joey’s gigantic crush on Dawson.
Joey was the very best friend — the one who listened to Dawson whine about his infatuation with new neighbor Jen Lindley, all while she harbored deep feelings for him.
Much of the series revolved around Joey and Dawson dancing around their feelings for one another, or both being fully invested in the other when they were preoccupied with someone else.
And considering the likely trajectory for teenage couples on television, it always seemed like Dawson and Joey would be endgame, but the series had a different curveball in place.
The Pacey and Joey romance evolved, and it’s widely regarded as such an iconic pairing because the series took its time in exploring their burgeoning relationship from friends out of necessity, to confidants, and later full-blown romantic partners.
Like many high school romances, there was plenty of miscommunication and struggles, as the two grew up together and ultimately apart.
Their love was an immature one, as Pacey struggled mightily with his insecurities, and the two of them had to take a strong look at their future after high school and determine whether or not they were meant to be.
I try not to think about the prom from hell and what a terrible evening that was for Joey, but it was also one of those moments that ultimately taught both Joey and Pacey a lot about themselves.
I’ll still never understand why NO ONE would step in to stop that fight from spiraling the way it did on a boat where neither of them could escape.
Pacey was finally honest with himself and Joey, but it came out in such a soul-crushing and cruel way that you had to feel for Joey, even if you could understand Pacey’s feelings as well.
Yes, everyone on Dawson’s Creek spoke too fast and like they were twice their age and masters of the school of Merriam-Webster, but the cast acted their ass off, and they made you feel every single emotion.
You felt the disappointment and sadness radiating off Joey, and the pure panic and defeat pouring out of Pacey when he realized he was in a relationship that was no longer making him happy, even if he’d always love the girl.
Post high school, because it was a television show after all, the two still stayed in each other’s orbits.
In the final season, we got the BEST episode of the entire season, when the exes found themselves stuck in a K-Mart (RIP!) and laughed, flirted, and found an even deeper appreciation for one another as adults.
One of the most profound things about their relationship was that they always saw each other for who they were — warts and all.
When they were younger, it was hard for them to truly appreciate this quality. It was also challenging for them to avoid the desire to either change the other person or themselves to fit what they thought the other person wanted.
In adulthood, quite frankly, they just grew up.
In the two-part series finale, which gave us a significant time jump, Pacey and Joey once again found themselves drawn together and unable to fight that inexplicable pull that always kept them coming back together, no matter who or what tried to get in between them.
It was cute of the series to try to make it seem like Joey had to choose between the new boyfriend we didn’t know (nice cameo by Jeremy Sisto), Dawson, or Pacey, when everyone and their mama knew that Pacey was the love of her life.
Enemies to friends to lovers to exes to friends to soulmates.
Their story covered so much ground, so many years, and while the downs were low, the finale stressed that theirs was a finite love.
It literally had no end because they were romantic soulmates. Perhaps Dawson was Joey’s soulmate, but it was always purely rooted in that core friendship that informed so much of their childhood.
Pacey and Joey had a complicated love, and it was hard, but it was real.
And the two finding their way back to each other, where they could be the best version of themselves, was the perfect ending for a couple who needed to grow up to get it right.
Where are my fellow Pacey and Joey shippers?
Do you agree with my thoughts, or are there some Dawson and Joey shippers in my midst?
And how are we feeling about Holmes and Jackson reuniting on screen?
Leave me all your thoughts so we can discuss!
Chatting with you guys about all things television is what we’re all about here at TV Fanatic, so please jump in and let us know how you feel.
Watch Dawson's Creek Online
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