DAWSON'S CREEK: THE LONGEST DAY (TV)
Summary
One in this series about the romantic exploits of Dawson Leery and his friends in coastal Massachusetts. In this episode, Pacey’s friends gather to christen his newly-restored boat, but Pacey himself is off sharing a clandestine romantic moment with Joey. She frets about hiding their relationship and says they should tell Dawson, and he promises her that he will do so soon. When Buzz’s mother Nora fails to show up on time to collect him, Pacey pawns him off on Doug, saying he has a quick errand and will return soon. At her home, Jen sends Grams off for the weekend, saying she can “handle” Henry without a chaperone. She sees Pacey hovering outside Dawson’s home, afraid to tell him about himself and Joey because of their long history together and Dawson’s feelings for Joey, but she encourages him to be honest. Mitch tells Pacey that Dawson is at the library, and when Pacey goes there, he runs into Andie, who tells him she has a date with Will that night. Failing to locate Dawson, Pacey returns home to Doug and Buzz, who has been destroying the house, and Pacey reveals that Joey is “into him,” but Doug has doubts that it will work out. Later that night, Pacey arrives at Dawson’s to find a panicked Joey already there, and she says that Dawson is her family and that they cannot tell him, and he realizes she never intended to. Dawson emerges, and Pacey admits that “there’s an us” between himself and Joey.
The day then starts over, and the narrative follows a different point of view: at the boat christening, Dawson brings champagne as Jen calls Henry to make plans for later. Joey confesses her relationship with Pacey to Jen, saying she feels like the “villain” driving a wedge between Pacey and Dawson, but Jen reassures her. She adds that Pacey is not as “fearless” as he seems and can also be heartbroken. When Joey goes to the library to finish some work, she sees Pacey and Andie talking, and a clueless Andie then tells Joey about her date with Will but admits that she is still hung up on Pacey. Joey then runs into Dawson outside and awkwardly turns down his invitation for a movie night, and then calls Pacey, telling him not to talk to Dawson yet, but the message goes unheard. Later that night, Joey climbs into Dawson’s room and finds him watching “The Last Picture Show,” the movie from their first date, and he explains the ending of the story, which uncomfortably parallels their current situation. She attempts to leave, and runs into Pacey outside the house, leading to the encounter between the three of them.
The day rewinds again and Pacey gives a toast on the dock, thanking his friends for their help with the boat before christening it the “True Love.” Dawson meets Will at the library and Will asks for advice about his first date with Andie, and Dawson offers him his boat for a romantic evening on the creek. Dawson goes to Jen’s house and finds her there with Henry, and she accidentally lets slip about Pacey and Joey, believing Dawson already knows. He leaves, upset, and goes home to brood, and when Joey arrives in his room, it’s revealed that his choice of and explanation of the movie was to make a point. When Pacey arrives and he confronts them, he says that Jen unknowingly told him and angrily says that they lied to him. The situation is made more uncomfortable by the sudden arrival of Andie and Will. Back at Jen’s, when Dawson leaves, Jen worries that she made everything worse. Henry makes a move on her, saying he wants to avoid her friends’ “mini-dramas,” and, frustrated, she tells him to leave. On their date, Andie and Will go out on Dawson’s boat and he tells her the tragic love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. When they go to Dawson’s and accidentally overhear the confrontation, Joey chases Dawson into the house and a hurt Andie chastises Pacey for ruining his friendship with Dawson over something that won’t last. In the house, Joey and Dawson argue as she says she cannot explain her attraction to Pacey and he demands if she “needs” them in the same way. She refuses to choose between them and leaves, and Jen soon arrives and comforts him, and he debates whether he should let her go or fight for her. Pacey and Joey meet on the docks, and she expresses her wish to do the day over again differently. He realizes that their relationship is over already, and she sadly says that it “has to be.” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: WB
- DATE: May 3, 2000 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:69846
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Teenagers
- SERIES RUN: WB - TV series, 1998-2003
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alex Gansa … Executive Producer
- Paul Stupin … Executive Producer
- Greg Berlanti … Co-Executive Producer
- Greg Prange … Co-Executive Producer
- Jeffrey Stepakoff … Producer
- David Blake Hartley … Producer
- Tom Kapinos … Co-Producer
- Janice Cooke-Leonard … Co-Producer
- Gina Fattore … Co-Producer, Writer
- Cynthia Stegner … Associate Producer
- Kevin Williamson … Created by
- Perry Lang … Director
- Mark Mothersbaugh … Music by
- Paula Cole … Theme Music by
- James Van Der Beek … Cast, Dawson Leery
- Michelle Williams … Cast, Jen Lindley
- Katie Holmes … Cast, Joey Potter
- Joshua Jackson … Cast, Pacey Witter
- Kerr Smith … Cast, Jack McPhee
- Meredith Monroe … Cast, Andie McPhee
- Mary-Margaret Humes … Cast, Gail Leery
- John Wesley Shipp … Cast, Mitch Leery
- Mary Beth Peil … Cast, Evelyn 'Grams' Ryan
- Nina Repeta … Cast, Bessie Potter
- Dylan Neal … Cast, Doug Witter
- Michael Pitt … Cast, Henry Parker
- Rodney Scott … Cast, William 'Will' Krudski
- Jonathan Lipnicki … Cast, Buzz