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Y'all can never be friends as long as you keep fighting over the same guy. Joey, it's obvious you're in love with Dawson
—Abby Morgan

Detention is the 7th episode of Season 1 of Dawson's Creek.

Synopsis[]

TRUTH OR DARE -- Emotions run rampant in the halls of Capeside High when Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Jen (Michelle Williams) and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) are all saddled with Saturday detention. But the detention rapidly evolves into a game of truth or dare forcing the friends to face their true feelings for each other, revealing that sometimes a kiss is just a kiss and sometimes it's more.[1]

Summary[]

Sexual tensions and frustrations are the main theme of "Detention" as the episode opens with Joey and Dawson discussing what men and women are really looking for in each other. Dawson’s idealism is snuffed by Joey’s insistence that girls are looking for guys with the biggest biceps and "joysticks", while Joey’s teasing about his and Jen’s lack-there-of only encourages Dawson’s ever-growing sexual inferiority complex.

In true "Detention" form each of our stars is sentenced to Saturday detention for one reason or another. Jen’s heated battle with her teacher over euthanasia lands her a spot with the club on Saturday. Joey gets into it with high school super-jock Grant first in class during a presentation and then after he cuts in front of her in the lunch line. Grant’s categorization of Joey into either servant or concubine earns him a swift kick between the legs and Joey a trip to join her friends. When Pacey calls Dawson by his despised childhood nickname of "oompa loompa" during a one-on-one basketball game he loses it and nails Pacey in the face with the ball and himself a spot with the others on Saturday.

The next morning Dawson and Jen arrive at detention to find Pacey already seated at a table. School mega-bitch Abby Morgan and Joey are not far behind as a seeming day from hell is about to begin. Pacey refuses to say why he is in detention mumbling only about "a long story" and Abby makes vague references to an orgy, ecstasy and the boy’s locker room. Boredom leads to an "innocent" game of truth or dare, and when Pacey chooses "dare" over having to reveal the truth of why he is in detention he is instructed to kiss Jen. Pacey’s extended kiss with Jen only raises the tension between Dawson and his friend. Pacey then chooses Joey and asks her who she likes. Rather than exposing the truth, she chooses a dare that ends up being a kiss between her and Dawson. Joey feigns protest, but the truth she tried so hard to hide becomes obvious to all during her passionate delivery. Joey’s simple question to Jen about who she is most attracted to spurs a half-hearted response that only sinks Dawson’s ever-lower sexual self-esteem.

The supposedly friendly game gets really nasty when Jen unloads on Joey about her obsession with her and Dawson’s relationship and lack of a boyfriend of her own. Dawson breaks the tension by leading a jail break down the hall in true "Detention" tradition. Jen proceeds to quickly identify Pacey’s anatomy during a proceeding match the butt on the copier machine contest. This brings Dawson’s and Pacey’s macho competitiveness to a head that can only be decided in another one-on-one basketball game. The testosterone boils on the court while Jenn and Joey verbally spar over their Dawson driven rivalry. When the group loses track of time they are discovered by Mrs. Tringle the school librarian and punished with the chore of sorting library cards.

In the final moments of their Saturday detention and the concluding moments of the episode the building sexual tension and frustration are brought back to earth with a dose of reality. It turns out Abby’s sexploits in the boys locker room were a mixture of fiction and fantasy designed to make the day more interesting. Dawson’s feelings of sexual inadequacy are somewhat dissuaded when Pacey admits that the real reason for his detention was from getting caught playing with more than the ball in the bathroom. Jen lets Dawson know that while she is not ready for sex it is not because of her lack of attraction to him.

In the end, while Dawson, Jen and Pacey find release from their hormonal frustrations, Joey is left to bottle up her true feelings for Dawson. Tearfully, she decides that her friendship with him is more important than the words that would change everything.[2]

Starring[]

James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery
Michelle Williams as Jen Lindley
Joshua Jackson as Pacey Witter
Katie Holmes as Joey Potter
Guest starring
Monica Keena as Abby Morgan[3]
Co-Starring
Helen Baldwin as Mrs. Tringle
Mati Moralejo as Grant Bodian
Mike Pniewski as Mr. Pickering
Micah Learner as Daniel
Barry Bell as Coach
Linda Bureau as Cheerleader #1
Adrienne Harvey as Cheerleader #2

Quotes[]

I may be reaching but I think the four of you have some weird sexual tension deal going on. Am I right?
—Abby Morgan
You're my Godsend, Dawson, and I don't even believe in God. I mean, this school hasn't exactly welcomed me with open arms. It seems like everybody here hates me and I don't know why. If it's because I'm from New York, or because I'm different. It seems like my life here is just one big detention that I can't escape, but then, I think about you. And about how I've met a guy who's so romantic, and so caring, and who I like, and who I want so much. Dawson it's because of you that I get through the bad days. And if you think I want you to be some big, varsity sex stud then you're crazy
—Jen
Emilio Estevez! He was in those Duck movies, remember? God, those were classics. So funny
—Meta comment from Pacey[4]

Locations[]

Trivia[]

  • Thanks to Pacey, Jen learns Dawson's childhood nickname is Oompa Loompa.
  • Joey and Dawson share their first kiss during a game of Truth or Dare.
  • Jen and Pacey kiss (for the second time).
  • Both Jen and Dawson get jealous.
  • Mrs. Tringle spends the duration of the day watching Days of Our Lives.
  • Abby announces the elephant in the room – that Joey is in love with Dawson.
  • Dawson, Joey, Pacey, Jen and Abby all get Saturday detention for various reasons:
    • Jen curses in class
    • Joey punches Grant Bodian
    • Dawson breaks Pacey's nose with a basketball
    • Pacey pleasures himself in the bathroom
    • Abby is excessively tardy

BROADCAST

  • The episode was watched by 7.52 million people upon its original airing on the WB.[5]

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • In April of 2023, a clip from the episode went viral on Twitter,[6] amassing millions of views overnight, featuring a moment where Dawson strikes Pacey in the face with a basketball and it bounces off him and into the camera. The tweet questions how this shot was accomplished, receiving many replies, including insight from Joshua Jackson, who assured, "No Pacey's were harmed in the filming of this scene."[7] Jackson also confirmed a tweet speculating that production used a lighter ball painted to look like a basketball, with the ball accidentally hitting the camera after bouncing off Jackson's face. Thus, kept in the final cut as a "happy accident."[8]

Films[]

WATCHED
REFERENCED
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
E.T. (1982)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Mighty Ducks Trilogy (1992, 1994, 1996)

Music[]

stupid | CHICKENPOX
tensions brew at school
saturday | COLONY
several scenes throughout
a lot like you | COLONY
bathroom break
grace | MICHELLE MALONE
joey and dawson's dare kiss
will tomorrow ever come | DANCE HALL CRASHERS
everyone runs back to the library a la the breakfast club

Photos[]

screenshots

Videos[]

Media[]

People are losing it over this old Dawson's Creek clip (USATODAY • APRIL 2023)
Joshua Jackson Reacts to 'Dawson's Creek' Basketball in the Face Moment Going Viral, Responds to CGI Claims (JUST JARED • APRIL 2023)

Notes and References[]

  1. "Detention" official synopsis archived from The WB on dawsons-creek.com
  2. Detention - Official Summary
  3. First appearance of Abby Morgan
  4. Joshua Jackson in The Mighty Ducks
  5. Ratings Ryan — Dawson's Creek (WB): Ratings Recap
  6. @JayCheel This shot in Dawsons’s Creek is blowing my mind.
  7. @VancityJax on Twitter
  8. @rtalalay Def not CG, not then + window reflections correct. Theory: realistic lighter ball thrown from close to actor, accidentally bounces off and hits matte box/camera protection. JJ was already turning, just misses him. Lucky accident, director would not design this shot.
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