Long before Heartstopper, Sex Education and Euphoria, 90s classic Dawson’s Creek was widely hailed as one of the most progressive teen dramas of all-time.
Starring Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, and James Van Der-Beek, Dawson’s Creek followed childhood best friends navigating their way through the perils of adolescence.
As well as having one of the greatest theme tunes of all time, Dawson’s Creek was packed with groundbreaking storylines including the first ever ‘passionate’ gay kiss on US primetime TV.
Jack (played by Kerr Smith) was central to Dawson’s Creek as teens were finally given a small glimpse into the reality of living as an LGBTQ+ teenager.
Well, kind of.
In hindsight, not many LGBTQ+ teens shared quite the same experience as Jack which was highlighted in one particularly questionable episode.
YouTuber Rob Anderson dissected season 3 episode 4 Home Videos, breaking down how absurd the plot line is with hysterical accuracy.
Essentially, aspiring filmmaker Dawson wants to make a documentary following the only gay football player on the High School team, Jack.
Dawson plans to submit the documentary to the national news station where his mum is an anchor but his dad, who is the coach of said football team, is vehemently against it, quite fairly pointing out that it will cause his team to lose focus.
Dawson, who is 16, says his ‘entire future’ depends on this documentary though so sends the tape in any way.
The station decides to invest in a high school student’s short film and Jack is plastered all over television.
Dawson’s dad is livid, predicting Jack will become a target in future game – and he’s right. Jack gets piled on by a rival team and Dawson realises subjecting an LGBTQ+ teenager to the rife homophobia of the 90s was a pretty bad idea.
However, he has a plan. A plan which is one of the strangest plot twists known to man, and was somehow seen as a giant leap for the LGBTQ+ community at the time.
Dawson suggests the players hide their shirt numbers and wear drag make-up so the rival team can’t work out which is the gay player. One teammate then literally shouts: ‘Spot the homo now.’
Responses to Rob’s forensic takedown ranged from ‘wild’ to ‘omg that’s truly awful’.
‘THIS IS SO CRAZY!!!!’ wrote radio host Shari Nycole, while Instagram user kwizzzzy added: ‘My jaw is on the floor . Wtf.’
While Dawson’s Creek is more of a fever dream than a ground-breaking teen drama in 2024, Kerr Smith who starred as Jack recently revealed he’s working on his own spin-off centred around the character.
‘Myself and a couple other cast members are working on something,’ he said on The Morning Show
When pushed further, he stressed: ‘It’s very preliminary at this point. But something’s been written and we’re trying to get it made.’
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Dawson’s Creek is available to stream on ITVX in the UK.
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