Promicide

Promicide
Season	4
Episode	20
INFO
Aired	2 May 2001
Written by	Maggie Friedman
Directed by	Jason Moore
EPISODES
Previous	Late
Next	Separation Anxiety

❝

You know, I think for the longest time, I was just waiting to find somebody I loved as much as I loved you. I realize that's not gonna happen, you know. You were my first love

—Dawson, to Joey

Promicide is the 20th episode of Season 4 of Dawson's Creek.

Synopsis

IT'S SENIOR PROM IN CAPESIDE — Senior Prom is a mix of young love and heartbreak as Pacey (Joshua Jackson) lashes out at Joey (Katie Holmes) over his feelings of inadequacy in their relationship with Dawson (James Van Der Beek) moving into comfort her; while Jen (Michelle Williams) succumbs to her despair and drinks herself into oblivion, and Jack (Kerr Smith) embarks on a relationship with Tobey (guest star David Monahan).

Starring

James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery Katie Holmes as Joey Potter Michelle Williams as Jen Lindley Joshua Jackson as Pacey Witter Kerr Smith as Jack McPhee Mary-Margaret Humes as Gale Leery John Wesley Shipp as Mitch Leery Nina Repeta as Bessie Potter

Special Guest Stars Sasha Alexander as Gretchen Witter Mark Matkevich as Drue Valentine David Monahan as Tobey Barrett Co-Starring Steve Vernon as Limo Driver

Quotes

❝

I don't think I'll ever love anyone the way that I loved you, either. And that's a good and a bad thing

—Joey to Dawson

❝

I'm at the prom, Pacey. I'm at the prom again. I mean, I graduated four years ago and I'm still here. You know, tonight for the first time, I didn't just feel older than Dawson, I felt old. Too old to be here. Too old to be doing what I'm doing

—Gretchen to Pacey

❝

You know what? It's the strangest thing, but ever since I got back from that trip with Doug, I've been feeling...really angry. But not angry at myself. It's actually worse than that. I've been feeling really angry at Joey. And I don't know why I'm angry at Joey. And that makes me feel guilty, and then the guiltier that I feel, the angrier I get, and I still don't know what to do about it

—Pacey

❝

You know what I actually realized when I saw the two of you dancing there together? That is the happiest I have seen you all night. I mean, I think it's actually the happiest I've seen you in weeks. You want to know what's worse than that? I don't care. I saw the two of you dancing together, and I just don't care. I'm not angry. I'm not jealous. I'm not upset. I'm really not much of anything

—Pacey after seeing Dawson and Joey

❝

You know...last year...I felt like I could give you something that no one else could give you. I could give you that wall to paint your mural on. I could take you away on a sailboat for a summer. I could even give you that night in the ski lodge. But I don't feel like I have anything left to give you now, Jo. I guess I'm spent. I've become a man who hates himself so much he can't even look at his own reflection in the mirror, and I wish that I could tell you that being with you doesn't make that worse, but it does... because the more that you love me in spite of that, the angrier that I get at you... and the more that I stop loving you back

—Pacey to Joey

❝

You've spent your entire life trying to get out of Capeside, Joey, because you felt like you deserved better. Well, I am Capeside. That's why I didn't get out and you did, and you do deserve better. You deserve better than this place, and you deserve better than me

—Pacey to Joey

Locations

• Joey's House
• Jen's House
• Dawson's House
• Tobey's House
• Village Market

Trivia

• Pacey breaks up with Joey at prom, loudly and in front of everyone.
• Gretchen breaks up with Dawson as she says that she had to move on with her life.
• Jack admits he has feelings for Tobey and the two kiss.

BEHIND THE SCENES

• Hosted by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) — Promicide premiered for audiences on April 30, 2001 at the AOL Time Warner Building in New York City. Attendees included, director Jason Moore and David Monahan (Tobey).
• In 2001, Kerr Smith didn't practice allyship with this comment on the Tobey/Jack kiss.

❝

It’s not the most fun thing in the world, but I agreed to play this role, and [producer] Greg Berlanti does want to take it that far. That’s as far as I’m going to take it. I don’t think teenagers need to see two guys kissing on a weekly basis

—Kerr Smith

BROADCAST

• The episode was watched by 4.32 million people upon its original airing on the WB.

Films

WATCHED

—

REFERENCED

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Titanic (1997)

Music

you're an ocean | FASTBALL

prom dresses and tuxedos

i've changed (alternate version) | JOSH JOPLIN GROUP

at the market

ruby's gone | EVA TROUT

dawson and gretchen arrive at prom

talk show | DIG DEEPER

pacey and joey talk

sundrop | EGO

drue watches out for drunk jen

roses around my feet | TISH HINOJOSA

dawson checks on joey

when we collide | K.D. LANG

tobey asks jack to dance; pacey sees dawson and joey dance

wonderful thing | VAGABOND LOVERS

pacey interrupts dawson and joey and starts yelling at joey

aftershocks | MARY BETH MAZIARZ

dawson comforts joey; drue saves jen from falling overboard

20one | SID SIX

gretchen and pacey talk

take my hand | DIDO

jack and tobey kiss

whadify | EVERETT BRADLEY

gretchen breaks up with dawson

Jen's Article

From the interactive Capeside High Online Yearbook

"Not all It's Cracked Up To Be"

by Jen

Let me start by admitting that I never planned on attending my senior prom. In fact, I had every intention of NOT attending. Back in New York, I had heard enough stories about proms at the Waldorf that the subject itself was enough to leave me nauseous. And when I moved to Capeside, the prospect of the prom in the gym seemed even worse. So I had it all planned out. Jack, Dawson and I were gonna spend prom night drinking wine coolers and shooting firecrackers up down on the docks. But then… it turned out the Prom was going to be on a yacht. And that sounded sort of cool. And no one likes wine coolers, and there was no way I was going to convince Dawson and Jack to drink anyway - because they were smart enough to know what a bad idea THAT would be… and firecrackers are pretty much illegal too, not to mention dangerous so that plan pretty much got axed. And then I convinced my date to bring a guy to the prom instead of me, and in retaliation, he set me up with my archenemy. But other than getting plastered, sick, and almost falling off the aforementioned yacht, I survived the Prom relatively unscathed. That's more than I can say for my friends, though. And the takeaway from this experience was that the prom, like any over-promoted event, is bound to exceed even your most disastrous expectations. Just calling it like I see it.

Photos

Videos

Joey and Pacey's Prom Disaster - Dawson's Creek

Pacey Crushes Joey At Prom! - Dawson's Creek

Media

A gay kiss heats up "Dawson's Creek" (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • MAY 2001)

Will Dawson take the plunge on 'Creek'? (Orlando Sentinel • MAY 2001)