The Dawson's Creek Episode Guide: Indian Summer
One of the first things we learn in the pilot of Dawson’s Creek is that Dawson and Pacey are longtime best friends. But in the dozens of episodes that were subsequently rolled out, we saw very little evidence of that relationship in action. Each got wrapped up in plots that didn’t involve the other, and they rarely checked in on each other in the way that longtime friends do. (When Pacey was trying to help Andie through her mental health struggles in season two, Dawson might as well have been on another show.) But much like the rare Jen/Joey team-ups that I adore, I also love any time Dawson and Pacey circle back to each other and further galvanize their longstanding bond. I always think about the second season premiere when they go get their hair done together, and I think of this episode when they both get embroiled in a noirish plot to crack the case on the elusive Eve. They’re dynamite together, and it’s a shame they have to be torn asunder by the time this season is out.
Dawson and Pacey open the episode on movie night, where they are trying to stay cool and watching The Third Man because Dawson is working on some sort of noir-related assignment. Pacey laments neither of them currently have a woman in their lives and eventually excuses himself from sitting in front of an oscillating fan and drinking a Nantucket Nectar in favor of sitting in the air conditioning in his dad’s car. He misses out on the big action of the evening: Dawson notices some commotion next door at the Lindley’s and thinks someone broke in. He calls the cops and walks next door to find Eve, who had been missing in action but has returned to snoop around Jen’s house. Dawson interrogates her but she’s typically cagey about her intentions, and when Deputy Doug arrives to respond to Dawson’s call he doesn’t drop dime. Dawson wants to solve this mystery for himself, and he’s going to use some heavy sax on the soundtrack to do it.
Believe it or not, this is the last episode for Eve, who will shuffle out of Capeside just as randomly as she arrived. Her presence is so overwhelming and her arc so indicative of the third season’s early misfires that it always feels like the whole ordeal lasts longer than it actually does. She remains a fairly boring enigma who is not in fact registered for classes at Capeside High School but also seems to have never officially existed at the strip club. With no paper trail and no leads, he conscripts Pacey into his mission to find out more about her and takes some advice from Doug that leads them to staking out a laundromat. They tail her to a boat she is obviously squatting in (it’s full of random clothes and junk food wrappers), and she ultimately shows her hand when Dawson takes a photo of hers. It’s (supposedly) a picture of her mom, who bailed on her a long time ago and gave her up for adoption. She’s been trying to track her up and down the coast, and now that she realizes she’s not in Capeside she’s moving on. The twist? When Dawson goes to install a window unit air conditioner for Grams at the end of the episode, he spots a picture of Jen with her mother—the very same woman in Eve’s Polaroid.
Was Eve actually a long lost sibling for Jen? That’s the suggestion, but as mentioned, Eve ducks out of the show and is never heard from again. As far as we know, Jen never knew Eve even existed because she’s been so wrapped up with cheerleading nonsense. Or maybe the whole thing was another elaborate lie dreamed up by Eve! This is the sort of dangling plot thread that would drive many fanbases crazy and lead to all manner of wild theories and conspiracy mongering, but Eve is such a toxic character in the midst of such a bad run of episodes that nobody actually cares if she is Jen’s sister or not.
While Dawson and Pacey are doing Sam Spade cosplay, the rest of Capeside loses its damn mind. Henry desperately wants to date Jen but turns into Stan Marsh every time he’s near her, so Jack engineers an encounter that Jen instantly sees through and storms off reminding Henry that dating is in fact a consensual act. Why would Jack think this is OK? Is he just operating as an agent of chaos, knowing full well that this plan would lead to disaster? Or is he already showing signs of CTE despite only having played football for a few weeks? Jen ends up forgiving both Jack and Henry, but it’s a plot that doesn’t make much sense and has even less impact.
But the true lunacy is unfolding with Joey and Andie, the latter of whom should probably check herself back into that hospital. Joey is working at the marina because her family restaurant burned to the ground not too long ago, and she’s continually hit on by her boss Rob who is a turbo jerk and also very willing to be a statutory rapist. There’s a scene early on where he brings Joey a cold drink and then proceeds to take off his sweaty shirt and toss it at her while he badgers her for a date, and the fact that he didn’t get harpooned in that moment is a testament to Joey’s steady hand in these types of situations.
But Rob is undaunted and he very much wants to have sex with an underage girl, so he makes a date with Andie (the two of them knew each other previously—Rob was classmates with Andie’s dead older brother Tim). Joey is incensed by this and tries to come to Andie’s aid, which manifests in her crashing their date at the Rialto to see the deeply terrible Martin Lawrence comedy Blue Streak. Andie is not interested in being rescued, and in fact tells Joey that she enjoys being objectified by this obvious creep (“Not everybody minds being looked at as a sexual object,” she tells Joey, while also noting “You’re not exactly sophisticated when it comes to dealing with guys”). What is Andie’s deal? Why is she like this? Is she just trying to get over Pacey? Is she pushing for some kind of self-actualization process she learned in therapy? Is she just hella horny? Between this and the PSAT fiasco, it really feels like Andie has been replaced by a Body Snatchers pod.
In the end, Joey’s boss fires her as Dawson makes his pointless discovery about Eve. It’s funny: When I started writing this recap, I was feeling softer about this episode because it does have some moments that conjure Dawson’s Creek at its sparkiest, including the banter between Pacey and Dawson and the shared romantic sadness of Jack and Jen at the end. But the more I wrote about the wet fart of the Eve arc and Andie’s totally nonsensical turns, the more ire I reserved for this hour. But there’s good news, because Eve is gone and we’re only a few episodes away from this show finding its next gear (even next week, while imperfect, is a great leap forward). I have been enjoying this, but it’s about to get seriously fun.
Also:
-This episode aired October 27, 1999. This episode has zero Halloween content, but an actual “scary” episode is coming up in two weeks which makes very little sense.
-“Indian Summer” was written by Gina Fattore and Tom Kapinos, two Dawson’s lifers. Kapinos actually becomes the showrunner for the final two seasons following Greg Berlanti’s exit.
-New albums released the week this episode aired included Master P’s un-retirement album Only God Can Judge Me, Stone Temple Pilots’ post-rehab No. 4, the Dismemberment Plan’s watershed emo opus Emergency & I, Incubus’ breakout platter Make Yourself (that’s the one with “Pardon Me” and “Drive”), and the final CSNY album Looking Forward.
-Newcomers at the Halloween weekend box office included the better-than-you-remember-it spooktacular remake House on Haunted Hill, the treacly Meryl Streep bomb Music of the Heart, and the limited releases of two of the most exceptional films in one of the greatest film years there’s ever been: the mind-bending psychological comedy Being John Malkovich and the epic animated action spectacular Princess Mononoke.
-Eve refers to Dawson’s friends as “Sweet Valley High extras,” which is an in-joke: Both Brittany Daniel and her twin sister Cynthia were in the cast of the teen dramedy Sweet Valley High, which ran for four seasons from ’95 to ’97.
-Jen notes that while she enjoys watching the stars with Jack she’d rather be hanging out with Matt Damon or Ben Affleck. Michelle Williams never ended up making a movie with either of them, however she was nominated for an Oscar for her work in Manchester By the Sea, which was produced by Damon and starred Ben’s brother Casey.
-I don’t know why, but I was really feeling “I Don’t Want to Wait” this week. Sometimes I skip past the opening song but this time around I cranked it up in my headphones and really let myself get lost in the way those drums sound.
-Speaking of music, they get two different cues out of Madonna’s “Swim,” a gooey little bit of ambient pop that was on 1998’s Ray of Light. It’s probably not a good sign that I first thought that was a tune from Moby’s Play and then when it came back I wrote in my notes “Is this some Sneaker Pimps thing?”
-Is Blue Streak the worst movie that has shown up diegetically in this show so far? Or the better question: Is Blue Streak a worse movie than 1941? (It’s a tough call, and whoever wins we lose.)
-Next week: Andie’s affair with Rob unravels (no shit lady!) and Jen navigates being homecoming queen.