My mother once referred to this as a blob.

I don’t think she entirely missed the mark.

After all, I’m not sure that what I do here is any different than unleashing the congealed thoughts of my mind, watching them dribble onto the electronic page at a speed one might delicately refer to as “methodical”. The Blob was methodical. It works. So, welcome to my blob. Let’s move on.

The Moss and I are very much routine-oriented. There is a period of time, generally an hour or two before sleep comes knockin’, in which we wind down by watching television. Used to be this involved watching episodes of Income Property, or getting yelled at by Guy Fieri, or marveling over the brazen stupidity of the contestants on Chopped. Then came the infamous day she asked me if I had ever watched Buffy. Which I had not. Which left her amazed I had somehow survived without it. Which made me question my ability to keep my heart beating Buffy-free. I was hooked by the theme song, destined to live another day. And so, thus began the nightly routine of working through shows we’ve always wanted to watch, or were amazed the other had missed. From Buffy to Angel (Right? Because you can’t watch one without immediately watching the other, and also because David Boreanaz.) to Dead Like Me to Lie to Me, we engaged in an episode or two each night, unable to break away to the Live World of Programming, deeply disappointed when any evening’s events (generally involving Baseball and the West Coast) prevented another round.

Then this happened:

Okay, so before I get started, let me just head off all the Dawson’s Creek fanatical outcry by saying this: I didn’t hate the show. But I would have loved it a lot more if it had been called Pacey Witter’s Whiny Distraction, or perhaps My Best Friend is an Annoying Unlikable Know-it-all: The Pacey Witter Story. Because, let’s face it: This show would have tanked without Pacey. We not only liked him, but unlike the rest of the crew, HE ACTUALLY DID STUFF. He even went so far as to evolve naturally, and much to the dismay of ever other character not named Joey, grow up. Better yet, my burgeoning man-crush on the cheeky Joshua Jackson aside, Pacey led us to Fringe, which is better saved for another blob because my one-thousand word review is somewhere around a manuscript at this point. It needs edits. And more pictures.

Here’s a picture:

We’re definitely Michelle Williams fans. How can you not be? But what the hell was the deal with Jen Lindley? It’s as if the writers carried her forward as if she were a cup of hot coffee that may, or may not, have too much sugar and/or cream, or might not have even been coffee at all but merely an empty cup that was neither hot nor cold nor just right. She crushed on Dawson until he wanted her, then bailed (rinse and repeat a few seasons later, then once more for good measure), was a cheerleader for a minute, went from bad girl to wanna-be-good-girl to bad girl so frequently and efficiently that watching Miley Cyrus or Lindsay Lohan is a rather tame affair, pined for a gay guy, had some weird Dawson-esque love/run/don’t love/love thing with a weepy eyed kid named Henry, befriended every most hated character on the show and wondered why no one understood her, was an on-again off-again alcoholic weirdo, was a music dj out of nowhere who did her thing and then suddenly just didn’t, tried to have sex with pretty much every character willing (or even unwilling, actually), and had the most inconsistent, indecisive, and outright awful hair of the entire show.

And why didn’t anyone on this show ever get carded? I mean, sure, they all looked like they were pushing thirty, but somewhere, someone had to have had their doubts, yeah? Or at least a love for keeping their business open?

Then there was Andie, whose endearing fast-talking, brainiac, neurosis somehow morphed into a psychopathic raging mental breakdown out of nowhere, despite the fact that she was dating Pacey, who, as mentioned, was the gold in this pawn shop classic. Before we could come to grips with this surprising about face, she was carted off to an institution, to be locked up with Michael Meyers I presume, and fell in love with some random crazy guy who couldn’t at all have been as snarky as Pacey and his I Call Everyone By Their Last Name wit. Which would have been fine if they hadn’t brought her back, because I suddenly didn’t care. She just became another character on the Let’s Annoy Pacey Because He’s the Heart of the Show dog pile.

Grams was cool. I liked her. She’s my defacto Ms. Ruth in The Storyteller.

Dawson’s parents were weird. Not in that, Every Kid’s Parents way. Just in that I Feel Sticky Because You’re There kind of way.

Audrey waffled between annoying and acceptable. As with every other female on the show, she was only acceptable while dating Pacey. Anyone notice how crazy these girls got without Pacey in their lives?

I liked Jack when he played football. College Jack made me want to pull ears off bunnies.

Oh, Doug. Pacey knew all along, didn’t he?

Some chick shows up, named Eve, right? Looking for her mother, or something. Gets Dawson all worked up, because, well, because he’s Dawson. Makes herself a nuisance. Seems loony. Then she’s all I’m So Sad Because Family, and we’re supposed to like her. Then she leaves. We find out who her mother is. Then it’s never mentioned again. Right. That.

Katie Lee Holmes married Tom Cruise. I mean, is it possible to look past that? And can anyone remember Joey’s profession? I don’t think she can either.

Interestingly, there are several more characters, plot points (what’s that? Dawson’s dad had a contract dispute? KILL HIM DEAD NOW AND HAVE DAWSON BECOME EVEN MORE INSUFFERABLE THAN EVER AMEN PLEASE.), blah blah blah I could ramble on about, but it only now occurs to me I have not even mentioned this:

I think that sums it up. I mean, sure there were a few instances where we were worried about Pacey hair (the goatee comes to mind) and whether or not Joey would choose it over Dawson’s weird feathered 80’s locks, but dude had a boat, became a chef, slept with his teacher, dated a psychopath, traded stocks like a boss, and never once did his hair look out of place. What did your hair do, Dawson? Nothing. NOTHING. Maybe How Pacey’s Hair Won the Internet would have been a better title.

As mentioned, I didn’t hate this show. The first three seasons were pretty okay. After that, the show just annoyed me. There are reasons I don’t want to be a teenager again. Dawson’s Creek nailed all of them, and added a few for good measure. It’s the only show we’ve thus far watched that I could not wait to finish. I just wanted it to end. And it haunts me still.

Of course, I can wash some of it away with this:

If not, I can just watch Dawson cry.