DAWSON'S CREEK: THE COMPLETE 5TH SEASON - DVD review

"Dawson's Creek" picked up where "Beverly Hills 90210" left off, but on different networks. Fox scored big with a teen ensemble drama that made household names out of Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Luke Perry, and Tori Spelling, but the WB went even further with "Dawson's Creek," giving it the serial treatment and hooking yet another generation of teens.

Maybe it's the difference between Capeside, Mass. and Beverly Hills, Calif., but the Dawson "kids" are basically nicer than the group from 90210—less spoiled and better mannered. By the fifth season, they're all so polite and nice that you wonder if they're all somehow tied to the Brady family tree. Then again, it's refreshing that the show's producers resisted the urge to feature radically different "types" and milk them for all they're worth, preferring instead to depict basically normal and decent people in basic (albeit soapy) relationships. Make that lots of soap.

If you're not in the target audience, some of the plots and spoken lines and all of the brooding teen angst can get a bit laughable, and at some point you begin to think that the producers have a dartboard with all the characters' names on it and just make two throws to see which two characters are going to hook up next. Still, the show has enough dramatic power to interest people outside the teen market, and the production values and acting are all quite good. Even in a season that doesn't have the same sparkle as earlier outings, "Dawson's Creek" can become addictive. There are just a few things you have to take with a grain of salt.

For one thing, there are no frat boys with caps who sit in the back of the classroom leaning against the wall in their tipped-back chairs, and none of the characters says "like" in, like, any of their sentences. They don't really talk like the teenagers all of us know. Examples? Dawson says to his parents, "I'm at a profound crossroads in my life," and to Joey, "I alienated my parents, and now I find myself adrift in a sea of uncertainty." Sure, he's like going to film school and whatever, but, like, how is that real? Then again, audiences would probably flip to the Golf Channel or Food Network if they had to sit through an hour of dialogue that was that real. And then there's the unreal relationship between these kids and the adult world. Except for Dawson's parents, Gayle and Mitch (Mary-Margaret Humes and John Wesley Shipp) and Jen's grandma (Mary Beth Peil), who, by the way, offers Yoda-like advice to everyone in the show who comes to her—and sooner or later, everybody comes to Grams—there are practically no other adults in this series. Even at the big funeral this season, it's all teens.

When the show first debuted in 1998, it introduced four core characters who were sophomores at Capeside High School: Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), the brooding wannabe filmmaker whose parents were the kind that invited kids to hang out at their house; Joey Potter (Katie Holmes), his tomboyish best friend; Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams), a girl with a promiscuous past who moves in the neighborhood and begins dating Dawson; and Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson), who has an affair with his English teacher. A homosexual, Jack McPhee (Kerr Smith), would emerge as another central character. The first season set the tone for years to come, with teen angst, identity crises, and sexual seethe hanging like a low fog over each episode.

Season five was the last for Dawson's dad, Mitch, and the first for Audrey Liddell ("Freaks and Geeks" alum Busy Phillips), who's introduced as Joey's college roommate. Perhaps in a playful nod to "Beverly Hills 90210," she's from Beverly Hills and infuses a little California attitude into the laid-back Bostonian world of the "Dawson's Creek" gang. Season five also introduced new music, so series regulars, brace yourselves.

Here's the rundown on the 23 episodes:

1) "The Bostonians"—The gang leaves Capeside for school and the real world. But USC film school isn't what Dawson thought it would be, and Joey has to deal with an English professor that's taken an unusual interest in her.

2) "The Lost Weekend"—Dawson impulsively flees L.A. for Boston and shows up on Joey's Worthington College doorstep, while Jen decides to give in to Charlie (Chad Michael Murray), a musician she meets at a frat party.

3) "Capeside Revisited"—Dawson is disappointed that his dad is opposed to his dropping out of film school, while Joey learns that her old boyfriend, Pacey, is working in the kitchen of a Boston restaurant.

4) "The Long Goodbye"—One of the show's anchors is lost, and the whole cast grieves and recalls memories of interactions with the deceased, while Dawson moves back home.

5) "Use Your Disillusion"—Jack, who had been accepted into a fraternity because he was gay, has to choose between his fraternity and Tobey, while Joey anticipates a visit from Dawson.

6) "High Anxiety"—Dawson's anxiety attacks force him to see a psychiatrist in Boston, where he learns his friends aren't doing much better.

7) "Text, Lies, and Videotape"—Dawson begins therapy, Joey tries to find herself, and Pacey learns about Danny's (Ian Kahn) affair.

8) "Hotel New Hampshire"—Joey her roommate, Audrey, go to Jack's fraternity formal, and Dawson invites Jen to join him for a weekend in New Hampshire . . . and a hook-up.

9) "Four Scary Stories"—A Halloween episode has Jen trying to pull scary stories out of people while filling in for the campus DJ.

10) "Appetite for Destruction"—Everyone learns about Dawson's and Jen's relationship at a dinner party full of surprises.

11) "Something Wild"—Jen tries to get Dawson to move to Boston, while Joey, Pacey and Audrey have things to celebrate.

12) "Sleeping Arrangements"—Pacey has to choose between passions, while Dawson and Jen try to figure out their relationship and Jack starts to feel an anti-gay backlash.

13) "Something Wilder"—Dawson enrolls in a Boston-area film school, Jen's radio show hits a speed bump, and Joey ends up with two dinner dates . . . and yes, a choice to make.

14) "Guerilla Filmmaking"—While Dawson struggles to direct a classmate's script, Joey struggles with feelings over her English professor.

15) "Downtown Crossing"—In this odd but interesting episode, Joey helps the man who mugged her after he's stuck by a car moments later.

16) "In a Lonely Place"—Joey finally admits what she feels for Professor Wilder, and touring musicians leave a lasting impact on Jen and Pacey.

17) "Highway to Hell"—It's road trip time, with Audrey and Pacey and Joey tagging along with Charlie's band. Dawson, meanwhile, road-trips home and learns what his mom has been up to.

18) "Cigarette Burns"—In the "doh" department, Dawson accidentally insults a film critic right before she's to review his film.

19) "100 Light Years from Home"—On spring break in Florida, Pacey and Audrey find themselves confessing their attraction for each other, while Joey has to figure out what to do with Charlie's obvious affections.

20) "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"—A change in restaurant ownership means changes for Pacey and Audrey, and Joey has to decide what to do with Charlie and his band.

21) "After Hours"—In this stranger bedfellows episode, Dawson gets close to a film critic, while Pacey fights temptations of his own.

22) "The Abby"—It's the end of the school year, and the gang is ready to go their separate ways again . . .

23) "Swan Song"— . . . then everyone meets at the airport, with summer plans interruptus.

Video: "Dawson's Creek" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio in color, and as befits newer TV series, the picture quality is excellent. No complaints here.

Audio: The closed-captioned soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, and the quality is good—though it's hard to tell if it's great because so much of the show is dialogue. Subtitle options are Spanish and Portuguese.

Extras: In a strange departure, there are no extras this time around. Zero. Zip. Nada. With but one season remaining to release on DVD, did they just not have enough left to say about the show? Were there no more trivia crumbs to toss at faithful fans?

Bottom Line: While the cast of "Dawson's Creek" are all a bit more "beautiful" than the typical group of college friends, and though they speak with much more composure and philosophical grace, this is an engaging bunch of young actors to watch week after week. Sure, it's soapy, but "Dawson's Creek" is far more literate and polished than the daytime soaps, with more lavish production values and a willingness to submit characters to melodramatic plots while still managing to avoid the total cheesiness that often results from those saccharine situations. Season Five isn't the strongest, but it's still highly watchable.