Episode 14 - "The Kiss"

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5:

Not everyone is having the same relationship luck though. Gale unsuccessfully tries to seduce Mitch, only to find out later he's been consulting a divorce lawyer. And Pacey has his heart set on Kristy, the school babe, after being inspired by Dawson's newfound love. Instead, he runs into a cute new girl in town named Andie in his dad's police car. In true Pacey form he poses as a cop milking the moment for all it is worth. When Andie sees him at school later, a rivalry is born. A tame fight proceeds, but Andie ends up calling a truce by introducing Pacey to Kristy, who Andie happens to know. He takes her up on it and manages to get a date with the cheerleader.

Dawson and Joey find themselves in that awkward "start of a relationship" stage, and are still unsure as to the best way to move forward. Joey has decided to stay home from France, inspiring Dawson. Their anxiously awaited second kiss is interrupted by Jen, who shares the unfortunate news of her Grandfather passing. She's obviously upset, and Dawson goes after her.

Jen is filled with frustration and bitterness and Dawson has a hard time trying to cheer her up. Grasping for something, Jen makes an effort to rekindle her and Dawson's relationship, but Dawson convinces her to keep it as a friendship. She knows that Dawson's feelings for Joey have been building, and when Dawson leaves Jen for his and Joey's first date, it only depresses her more.

Dawson picks Joey up in his boat and although they flirt about heading to a motel, they end up only holding hands instead of even kissing. Their date hits a wall when Jen crashes it, joining them at the Rialto. Jen senses the tension and leaves as quickly as she came, forcing Dawson to again go after her. In the lobby, an emotional Jen reminisces about her and Dawson's first date in that same place and frets over what Dawson and her ever had in the first place. Dawson can't say anything right in her eyes, and when she storms out, he goes back to Joey only to find her gone.

Pacey, meanwhile, watches the clock waiting for his date with Kristy. She arrives and tells him she can't stay, her boyfriend is in the car. Pacey is confused, but when Kristy tells him she is proud of how brave he is to go on with his deadly heart disease, he figures it out: Andie set him up. He plays along but isn't thrilled, and later confronts Andie who laughs him off. Pacey regresses back into his old self-esteem, but Andie cheers him up and they end on a good note.

After the movie at the Rialto, which is the last one to be shown before the historic building is torn down, Jen runs into her Grandmother. Jen is upset with the way her Grandmother is handling their loss, but the two share a heart-to-heart talk that helps Jen come in touch with her feelings. Grandma tells her of her first date at the Rialto with Jen's Grandfather and Jen feels bad for all her harsh words, finally seeing things through her Grandmother's eyes.

Dawson finds Joey on the docks and is relieved to see she is not mad. They discuss their relationship and both know that they are in for a difficult, complicated ride - but they're optimistic. Finally, for the first time since Dawson's bedroom at the beginning of the episode, they kiss. And Joey discovers that Bessie was right; The second kiss is the best.

Originally Aired Wednesday, October 7, 1998

Great Lines

Gail: Well, you can either give me another chance, wholeheartedly, or you can go back to Mr. Drake and write him a large check and make this marriage another statistic. Anyone of those options sound appealing to you?
Mitch: Yes, I'm just not sure which one.

Bessie: The second kiss is the toughest one. That first kiss is the passionate one filled with desire and attraction and all that. The second kiss is rational. You got time to think about it, worry and overrationalize. Most women like the first one but I'm partial to the second one, because it's about something more.

Andie: I have been having major anxiety attacks to the point of medication since you pulled your stupid stunt, spinning scenarios about being carted off to prison and becoming a sex slave to some stint named Bomber Bertha.

Andie: Your tips are an attempt to win over a certain someone. Hot tip, Kristy Livingstone is a homosapien, so perhaps you should try barking up another tree.
Pacey: Maybe you should just stop barking altogether.

Bessie: Did you touch his...
Pacey: thingamjig?

Pacey: Kristy Livingstone, for example.
Dawson: Senior cheerleader? Let's not abandon all hopes of reality here.

Pacey: You cause anymore trouble in Capeside, Officer Pacey is coming after you.

Dawson: So, Joey Potter's staying in town for some guy?
Joey: Yeah, well, maybe if you're lucky I'll introduce you to him.

Pacey: There once was a girl named A-Kristy; the sound of her name makes me misty; a night on the town, we both will get down, by the end of the date she will kiss me.

Goofs

• How did Pacey and Dawson get a haircut during the morning of a school day; it's impossible. Who's open at that hour? And doesn't frosting one's tips take quite a bit of time? And what was Kristy doing there? Touching up her roots at what had to be 6:30 in the morning? Alternative Lifestyles establishes that school starts around 9 AM. And not only that, but when the camera cuts to Pacey with the "frosted tips" and hops into his dad's police car to either just take it for a spin (or did he actually drive that to the hair salon?)
• Dawson doesn't have a motor boat. When he and Pacey took Joey home when she was drunk in Escape from New York, he rowed her home in his row boat and then rowed back.
• In the morning when Jen interrupts the kiss between Dawson and Joey, Jen says her grandfather had died "last night." However, Jen's grandfather died the night before "last night."
• Throughout the entire last episode, the whole cast was wearing sweaters and long jeans, and then the very next day which is supposed to be in the beginning of season two, they are wearing tanktops and shorts. I find it hard to believe that weather can change that drastically overnight.
• Kristy Livingstone's boyfriend seems to be the top football player around, but I thought Cliff was the top Capeside quarterback. And speaking of Cliff, where the heck did he go?! Wasn't Jen dating him? (Actually, the actor who played Cliff, Scott Foley, left the show and went on to play Noel, the resident advisor on Felicity)
• If Pacey's really has a crush on Kristy, you would suspect that he would know practically everything about her. How could he not know that she was dating the quarterback?
• Jen leaves school early, feeling depressed over her Gramps' death. However, when Grams later asks her how school was, she replies "The usual." Maybe she went out cut school day to go out and buy razors...
• Jen: "Hmm... somehow during the hours of night between my grandfather's death and school the next day I went out to get my hair cut! Wait. I'm supposed to be grieving. Do I look sincere enough?" The boy's hairstyles changes were explained; Jen's never was.
• There are slight double chins shown in the profile shots of Joey and Dawson.
• If you look carefully, Andie's drivers licence picture isn't a picture of her.
• Who were those random dudes Pacey was high-fiving about faking being a cop? He can't have new friends! He's the town screw-up who had no friends except Dawson, Joey, and Jen.
• Jo's lipstick shade keeps changing... off, on, off... la la la.
• Since when did Joey have her ears pierced... for that matter, since when did she wear earrings and necklaces and jewelry? She even dresses differently now. She seems to have changed everything about herself in a really short timespan (overnight).
• In the beginning scene, when Dawson and Joey are kissing, Dawson is wearing a wig to cover up his new haircut. You can tell because his wig is a different color and his hair is too thick.

Notes

• The girl that plays Kristy Livingstone in this episode also plays head cheerleader in James Van Der Beek's movie Varsity Blues.
• Dawson and Pacey got their hair done in order to try to explain why the actors would have different hairstyles during a one day period on the show when in real life, an entire summer had passed. It must have been a pain to keep dying Josh's (Pacey) hair different colors. His hair was originally dyed blonde for his summer movie, Urban Legends.
• Many of the great lines with big words seem to be gone this season in response to critics' complaints.
• The episode's teaser showing the aftermath of the great kiss was shot last year at the same time the beginning of the kiss was shot for Breaking Away.
• Joey's joke to Dawson about Luke Perry returning to 90210 is especially hilarious considering that Dawson's Creek in its new Wednesday timeslot is directly competing with 90210 for teen viewers. Joey also makes references to Cheers and the X-Files, other television shows.
• Meredith Monroe (Andie) appears in this episode only as a "Special Guest Star", not as a cast member.
• Though the theme song is still sung by Paula Cole, the new season brings us newer, more cheerful, credits and disclaimers.
• The episode initially aired concurrently with a contest, Combo To The Creek, sponsored by Pepsi which allowed one lucky winner to be in an episode of Dawson's Creek. The correct combination was 10-35-10. The episode also aired before the series premiere of a new WB show, Charmed.
• The movie that was playing at the Rialto was The Last Picture Show. This is quite clever considering that in the movie the tearing down of the town's movie theater serves as a metaphor for a loss of innocence.
• In the United Kingdon, there was a different theme song for the first season, but for the second series, it changed to the Paula Cole theme.

Cut Scenes

There were many scenes in this episode that were filmed but cut from the final episode. This is based on special preview versions of the episode that were sent out to critics and this report was made by Mandy:

• One promo has Joey saying, "What if the reality doesn't live up to the dream?" that was cut from the final episode. Joey and Dawson weren't a couple yet and were both having doubts about getting together.
• In other promos, you see Dawson picking Joey up and twirling her around. This is at the Icehouse and Joey tells Dawson that she's going to stay in Capeside. He picks her up because he's happy to hear the news.
• The Mitch/Gail storyline wasn't supposed to begin until the second episode. The bed scene where Gail tries to seduce Mitch was in the original script, but the parents weren't supposed to have that much screen time yet. Also, Mitch asks Dawson why he is so happy and Dawson replies that he's just having a good day as he's not sure what's going on with him and Joey yet but happy at the prospect of him and Joey.
• There was a scene with Gail and Dawson when she tells him to take the casserole over to Jen and her Grams. The casserole theme is instead introduced in the next episode.
• There was a scene of Dawson actually getting the speed boat to pick Joey up but that was cut out. Dawson helps Joey into the boat and she teases him about being able to drive it. She made it as a sexual reference referring to if he was able to handle himself around her.
• The Rialto wasn't supposed to be a major plot-line. It was only supposed to be in passing and the first step in Dawson and Joey's date. Dawson had planned a whole big agenda that included the movies, the park, and a romantic picnic. The Rialto was shown but as Dawson and Joey were leaving and Jen following them. There was no confrontation between Jen and Dawson in the lobby but there was one at the park in the original episode.
• The scene of Dawson talking to Jen and bringing the casserole over was in the original script.
• There's a scene with Dawson and Pacey where Dawson is telling Pacey about his date with Joey and Pacey is still coming up with off the wall rhymes about Christy.
• There are many park scenes that were cut. Joey and Dawson go to the park and they walk around a bit and they run into Pacey and there is a scene of Joey and Pacey together when Dawson runs off to talk to Jen. Joey basically runs her hand through his hair and says that she likes it. Pacey just tells Joey that "he told her so" about Dawson running off to Jen and harrasing Joey when she's not in the mood to put up with Pacey. Dawson comes back and he and Joey go to another area of the park and have a picnic. They go on the swings and the kiss scene was the same with the exception of the dialogue. Dawson pulls Joey onto his lap and starts swinging as she wraps her arms around his neck. He whispers ever so softly in her ear, "Joey Potter, you are so beautiful" or a line with something to that effect. Jen sees them and that's where Jen picks a fight with them and where Dawson runs off with Jen to explain things to her leaving Joey to deal with Pacey.
• The school scene of Dawson and Joey was never in the original script. Only Andie and Pacey had a scene at the school. Thus, Jen never originally found out about Dawson and Joey until a scene where she saw them at the park.
• Andie does meet Dawson and Joey in separate scenes but doesn't know that all these folks are friends. Jack who isn't introduced until the next episode, was originally in this original episode, but just in passing.
• Pacey has a scene where he runs into Andie and Abby. Abby berates Pacey's hair and calls him a freak when they run into each other on their way to class. The scene from the previews where Andie tells Pacey, "I'm new in town and hard up for friends, I'll take what I can get, including you," occurs right after she tells him that she'll set him up with Christy.
• There was a scene where Grams talks about the death of her husband and where she comments that Jen seems so lonely lately. Jen runs her hand through her hair and in the process knocks the clips out of her hair and Grams notices that Jen cut her hair and says something like, "Oh Jennifer, your hair" and Jen tells her that she needed a change and decided to cut her hair.
• Abby runs into everyone in the original episode.
• The producers decided to stick with "I Don't Want To Wait" at the last minute but Edwin McCain did write a very pretty and heartwretching song called "Go Be Young".

Music

What the Skank Did This Week

This week, Jen started out at her first appearance on this episode, pissing us off. She interrupted what was to be a very romantic kiss between Joey and Dawson, which made Jen-haters everywhere (including me), throw things at our television sets. Also, she insulted her grandmother for not mourning her dead husband "correctly". Excuse me Jen, everyone is different and we handle grief in different ways, but we certainly don't go around telling other people how to mourn their husbands. Also I think that little comment about asking your Grams if she was going to go out and find a little "action" was hardly appropiate. That's not how I talk to my grandmother anyway, but in New York, it's probably different.

But what really pissed me off was that little scene you made in the movie theater while talking to Dawson. It started off with you, blaming yourself, so how did you jump from there, to blaming Dawson, cause it really wasn't his fault for you two breaking up at all. If you all remember, I believe it was her that broke with him. Until next episode.