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more adventures in Capeside
"Its a new season and a new semester for the Capeside friends! With the pressures of hight school increasing and seior year just around the corner, Dawson, Joey and the rest of the gang have a lot of planning to do. Along with pals Pacey, Jennifer, and Jack, they deal with sex, ethics, jealousy and more. [dvd cover blurb] dvd review
Season 3 sees more of the same. Those who know the format, grew to love the intricate love-triangles, and in particular the will they?/won't they? relationship between Van Der Beek's Dawson, and Katie Holmes' Joey. Newcomers will pick things up quickly, and this season is perhaps the best for those who have arrived to the party late. The next 23 episodes will lay down the blue-print for the rest of the series, establising definite conflicts, relationships and issues. Joey and Dawson spend the season growing further apart, as they each begin a real sexual awakening (they are supposedly 16 years age here). Joey heading for the more mature males on offer at university, following on from her disastrous relationship with recently-outed Jack last season. By the end of the series she has developed a new friendship with Dawson's best friend Pacey. Pacey is recovering from a break-up with Andi, back from a mental istitution. As he grows closer to Joey, he grows more restless, failing exams, getting into more fights... Jack, has been nationally outed on television as a gay school football player, and is making his first forays into dating men. Jen meanwhile, is for once refraining from sleeping around, and settling with a younger man. Complicated? This season sees the Potter residence opening their B&B, Dawson loosing his nerve as a film-maker following a disastrous screening at a festival, Joey learning to express herself via her art, and Dawson's parents are considering renewing their abandoned relationship. Particularly good this season, are the Blair Witch inspired episode Escape From Witch Island, and the sub-plot about racism in Capeside, which shows itself up in the campaign to vindicate the new headmaster, after he expels a troublesome but well-connected pupil. Why I love it, I can't really tell. This was the first season of DC that I watched the entire run of, and possibly the only one. Rewatching it on dvd was more of a trip down memory-lane. I can remember where I was on first viewing, and the discussions and friendships that were going around. I found myself falling for Katie Holmes (I don't normally go in for this whole lusting after stars approach), and identifying with many of Dawson's ambitions, as at that stage I was working on the first of my short film projects. If nothing else, it was pure escapism. Even now though, I cringe at much of the dialogue. Everyone is a wit, and a cynic, and with a dictionary-worthy vocabulary. Its a bit too much to accept I fear. I've never quite bought the levels of over-analysis the characters are prone too. Neither do most of my peers. Even now I hate it when people suggest that I look like Dawson, or more often, in an arguement, that I shouldn't be so over-dramatic, that there's no need to be so Dawson's Creek. If you liked the series, go out and buy it. I'm not sure I can convince otherwise. Its certainly a pleasure being able to dip in and out of the series now, whenever I feel like it. transfer The sound likewise, is a bit of a mixed bag. The score has been revised by the producers, abandoning the familar theme, for that of the first series. I don't really go for it, but I know there are plenty of fans out there who mourned its passing after season 1. The discs get a 2.0 Dolby Surround mix. Whilst the dialogue is there, much of the sound is muted, and the score is rather limp. The surrounds are barely used, and overall, this is uninspiring. I would suggest that the reasons for the new score concerns copyright clearance and fees for music used. extras There's a weblink, to help you create your own DC soundtrack. I confess, I haven't tried this. Aside from a couple of lame previews for other videos and dvds from CTHE (Sanford and Son etc.), the only other piece is an Interactive Tour of Capeside. This shows a map of Capeside, where you can select areas and see a short clip of the location as used in the series. RJES |
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DISC: Feature length: 997
mins SPECIAL FEATURES: see left for full details |
Kult UK 09th August 2004
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