Without Kevin Williamson, Dawson's Creek took a dive in season 3, but things seemed to be on the right track. The last few episodes, powered by the Joey-Pacey romance, were very strong. They had also developed an interesting friendship between Jack and Jen that could potentially finally give them the screen time they deserved. Unfortunately, all the progress made was completely ruined in season 4, which took promising relationships and drowned them in a morass of overblown melodrama.

As the 4th season opens, the summer has passed and everyone is awaiting the return of Joey (Katie Holmes) and Pacey (Josh Jackson), who spent the summer on a long sailing trip. Unfortunately, we don't get to see any of the sailing trip. The first we see of the couple they are arriving back in Capeside and already worried about the ramifications their relationship will have back home, especially with regards to Dawson. This is the first sign that Dawson's Creek wasn't interested in showing us many happy moments of Joey and Pacey's relationship. As the season wore on, we either witnessed them fighting about Dawson or about Pacey's insecurities. There were very few romantic moments between them or anything else that showed their wonderful chemistry in season 3. Instead, it was mostly a long season of misery for the pair.

Dawson (James Van Der Beek) began to behave like a total jerk at the end of season 3, and he didn't get any better this year. To him, Joey and Pacey's betrayal (as he would call it) was enough to completely end their friendship. However, he was willing to make amends with Joey long before he would with Pacey, which did not make any logical sense. Dawson would get his revenge when he began to date Pacey's sister Gretchen (Sasha Alexander). Gretchen appeared out of nowhere, previously unmentioned on the show despite many instances where it would have happened. Gretchen's introduction was just to throw more drama into a love triangle that didn't need it. As a couple, they never approached anything resembling chemistry.

The writers started to avoid logic in order to create melodrama in this insipid love triangle. A late season storyline involving college admissions dealt with Joey's inability to pay for her tuition at the prestigious university where she was accepted. Dawson offers to loan her the money (which he got through contrived reasons), but she feels guilty and has to come clean about sleeping with Pacey. This made absolutely no sense. By the end of the year, we learned that Joey was so smart to be the valedictorian, but somehow missed any scholarship money? Not only that, but the writers have contrived reasons for explaining away her refusal to take a loan. This is emblematic of a season where the writers cared so much about piling on as much angst as possible, that they defied all common sense.

Possibly the nadir of the season was an episode entitled "A Winter's Tale". This episode was heavily hyped because it featured Joey and Pacey finally sleeping together. This was actually handled fairly well. However, in a subplot, Jen and Jack got drunk and when they got back to the hotel room, began to fool around. Ever since Jack came out, they had tiptoed around his dating life, only briefly showing him kiss another guy, and then trumpeting their courage in showing something so controversial. But now they were willing to have him make out with Jen for an extended period of time, far longer than he had with any guy. This is what they call courageous? I can understand that the censors probably frown on extensive same sex kissing, but if they want to be courageous, they have to be willing to fight the battle. And if they aren't, then they shouldn't have shown him making out with Jen. This story was highly offensive and obliterated any efforts they had made at seriously exploring this issue.

There were many other problems with season 4. Unlike the past, there weren't any standout episodes. The best was probably "The Unusual Suspects", a fast paced caper story where Dawson and Pacey team up in an elaborate prank against the school principal. It may have been silly, but it was also the only fun episode of the season. There were some big missed opportunities in the senior year. Both the prom and graduation episodes were terrible. What should have been fun and nostalgic times for the gang turned into more depressing angst. The introduction of recurring character Drue Valentine (Mark Matkevich) was a mistake. Drue was intended to be the antagonist, but the main characters were antagonizing each other on their own, and he was just an unpleasant addition to the mess. Andie McPhee (Meredith Monroe), once one of the most interesting characters, was shuttled off early in the year because they had forgotten how to write for her.

There was very little to enjoy about the 4th season. Josh Jackson and Katie Holmes did their best as usual, but the constant sniping their characters were forced to do did neither actor any favors. And it seemed that the show forgot how to have fun. Yes, this is a drama, but it's a cheesy drama. Where are all the uplifting sentimental moments? In season 4, they lost that aspect by making things far too serious. This would be the worst season of the entire series and I wouldn't recommend this DVD set for even the most die hard Dawson's Creek fan.

Reviews of other seasons:

Dawson's Creek - First Season
Dawson's Creek - Second Season
Dawson's Creek - Third Season
Dawson's Creek - Fifth Season
Dawson's Creek - Sixth Season

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD