Uncharted Waters

There isn't a ton of plot here, but there IS a lot of characterization. Some of it ends up changing the entire series, and some of it I only WISH changed the series.

The great: Pacey Witter. We've had a lot of references to him being the "black sheep" of the family, but it was mostly played for comedy with brother Doug. Here, we meet the Witter patriarch and get an uncomfortable look at his abusive treatment of Pacey. This becomes a huge part of Pacey's character and drives his transition from comic relief to dramatic male lead of the show. His breakdown on the beach is truly heartwrenching.

The should-have-been-great: we finally get some scenes of positive teen girl bonding. My one major criticism of this entire series is its complete lack of female friendship. It's like the writers truly believe women can never be friends. Here, after a long build-up of catty interactions, we get some catharsis in Jen-Joey and Andie-Abby honesty and bonding scenes. I just wish the show didn't immediately revert back to the cattiness and rivalries after this.

Final note: Yet another episode demonstrating why Dawson is the goddamn WORST. Literally every single one of his friends has an extremely troubled family background, and somehow he still remains self-centered and oblivious to his own privilege. It's always nice to see him called out on it (by Pacey and Jack in this episode), but it's always quickly forgotten. The writers just refuse to let him grow and be less insufferable.

It's actually quite ironic how the "villain" character (Abby) is fully self-aware that her life is privileged and boring, and she's so terrible to people simply to create some excitement; yet our "hero" character Dawson is oblivious to his easy life and never stops whining to the people around him who have it much harder.