DVD/TV Series Review: Dawson's Creek: The Complete Series

 

Dawson's Creek was a late 1990s coming-of-age teen drama set in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts. It starred James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, and Joshua Jackson, as the main case members throughout the series, and pretty much launched all of their careers, and also included Mary-Margaret Humes, Mary-Margaret Humes, Mary Beth Peil, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, and Busy Philipps as series regulars at different points in the run of the series. While it could be a bit cheesy with the teen drama and angst, especially with the will-they-or-wont they get together storyline between Dawson (Van Der Beek) and Joey (Holmes), or would Joey choose Dawson or Pacey (Jackson), it also tackled difficult and sometimes controversial subjects. For example, there were storylines that involved divorce and the effect on kids, a teacher sleeping with a student, the death of a parent, and a character dealing with their sexuality. The series finale was unique in that it did a time jump to show where the characters ultimately ended up and had a very emotional wrap-up to the series.

For those who get the complete series, the discs seem to be the same as those included in the individual seasons. The packaging is weird as all of the discs are stacked on top of each other in two large spindles. So, you should definitely check to see if you have any scratched discs. The extras include commentary tracks on selected episodes as well as a few featurettes and/or interactive items in seasons 1-4, and then a commentary track on the series finale. There are no extras on the season five discs. Then, there is a separate disc just with bonus features like deleted scenes and an interview with series creator Kevin Williamson. The extras vary in quality, but there is a decent amount of you who like watching them.

Chances are, most people are going to get this because they watched the show when they were growing up (or as a young adult). For anyone who has never seen the show before, as I said above, it can be a bit cheesy, but it does kind of suck you in, whether you want it to or not. Even if it was not always well written, it was well-acted and the issues that the characters faced were really many of the timeless issues that everyone faces to some extent growing up. I cannot say that everyone will love the show. If you have not seen it you probably want to check out a few episodes before buying the DVD set, but if you are a fan of the show this is a way to always have access to it and not risk it disappearing from the streaming services.