I Remember Everything

Brenda, all the way

I'm a lover of teen television. Hell my first full length graduate school paper was on the topic. As other enthusiasts of the genre know there are some big questions that get debated to this day. Brenda or Kelly? Will Rayanne ever stay sober? How many Hellmouths are there? And of course, at the end of the day who should Joey Potter be with?

Childhood soulmate Dawson or Class Clown Pacey?

The moment that caused me to throw a chair because I couldn't wait three weeks for the next episode.
Ah, college Maile.

Joey and Pacey quickly became one of my all time favorite television relationships. The seeds were planted in season one with a brief flirtation. Of course we weren't supposed to root for these two blue collar kids. Joey belonged with her oblivious friend Dawson. She sang a song for him, damnit! The blond haired hussy (academy award nominee Michelle Williams) didn't deserve him. Feisty Joey was his dream girl. He just didn't know it. 

Fun fact, if you google "Dawson and Joey"
you get more pictures of Joey and Pacey kissing.

And then season one ended. Dawson and Joey got together. Now what?

As anyone who has ever watched tv can imagine, the couple broke up before season two was over. Joey wanted more out of life to be Dawson's girlfriend, then she dated a homosexual and then he came out and right when things were about to work out between our main couple, Dawson ruined Joey's relationship with her convict father causing Joey to say that she'd never forgive Dawson. 

When season three opens Dawson asks his best friend Pacey to keep an eye on Joey. Despite brief moments of true friendship, Joey and Pacey have always had a bit of an antagonistic relationship. He tells jokes, she takes life too seriously. His family is in law, her family is in trouble with the law. He's a slacker, she's driven. But both of their hearts are broken. 

Enough foreshadowing for the entire audience.

Throughout the season they spend more and more time together. He considers a friends with benefits relationship with the aforementioned blonde hussy. She dates some other guy. He watches her sleep. He talks with his brother about feeling butterflies. He falls in love. Joey remains oblivious. 

And then he kisses her. And the WB doesn't air another episode for three weeks. After the commercials all showed that he would kiss her. 

Yes, I'm still bitter. I threw a chair in anger. You don't recover from that. 

Season three ends with the two of them together, breaking the heart of Dawson as well as Pacey's ex girlfriend. They date through the entirety of season four, fighting and kissing constantly. They break up by the season's end and Joey predictably runs into Dawson's arms. I booed.

This afternoon I watched one of my favorite episodes of the series. Season six, Joey and Pacey are just friends and spend the night locked in K-Mart. It's essentially a bottle episode that shows why these two worked as a super couple. The two argue, laugh, eat, and end the episode kissing. It's brilliant. 

Yeah, chemistry

But ten years later I can see that I didn't love these characters because of great writing (though the build up to their relationship was fantastic). It's not the amazing acting or complex characterization. It's chemistry. Pure, natural, intense chemistry. Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes dated for a time, and it shows in their performance. I can believe that these two love to be together and as a viewer, I want to watch them together.

These two lit up the television together. They remain my favorite characters and pairing from the show. Michelle Williams may have been the talent, and I've recently become obsessed with James Van Der Beek (Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, watch it) but neither of them were the reason that I became obsessed with this show. Neither of them are characters that I fell in love with, and a teenage couple that I still get giddy over. 

Joey and Pacey made television magic, and I will always consider them among the great television couples.

How can you resist?