’Tis the season for binge-watches, and while Gossip Girl is the series of choice for many, I’ve decided to settle in for a Dawson’s Creek rewatch.
The show, which aired between 1998 and 2003, focused on a group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts.
But now, 25 years after its original launch, Instagram account 90skid4lyfe has pointed out a special effects, erm, choice that’s left fans reeling.
Sharing a clip from the show, the caption began, “Dawson’s Creek really had no budget,” before showing a seemingly snow-covered scene from season six, episode 10, titled ‘Merry Mayhem’.
A close-up of the footage revealed (to my personal horror) that the white, fluffy floor of the episode was created not by crunchy, fresh snow – or even its fake movie alternative.
Nope. Producers went with a fluffy white blanket instead, which characters’ feet sank into like a marshmallow.
Sorry, what?
I know. You and I aren’t the only ones confused by the sight, either.
“Daaaamn, they fooled me,” Instagram user iam_sp1187 commented under the post. “They just threw a blanket on the ground and called it a day,” reads another comment.
Some people pointed out that this was way, way before HD or 5K TV. “Watching a show in the 90s on a standard definition 19-inch tv allowed networks to get away with being cheap,” said sauson98.
“There had to have been several rolled ankles while filming this,” another Instagram user pointed out. (I would have asked for a stunt double.)
Audrey Lidell later staggers on the literal bed of snow in the show, and while this was scripted, Reddit users say it was still hard to rewatch.
“I was trying so hard to ignore it and focus on the episode but I burst out laughing when Audrey tripped on the ‘snow rug’,” Reddit user u/GladNecessary494 said.
Golly
Yep. And it’s not the first time the show has used some interesting special effects, either.
Joshua Jackson, who played Pacey Witter, once got a basketball thrown VERY HARD at his head by Dawson (James Van Der Beek) in the series.
Filmmaker Jay Cheel shared the clip on Twitter in April of this year, saying: “This shot in Dawsons’s Creek is blowing my mind.” The post went viral; fans speculated that the scene could have involved some early CGI, or that the entire shot was an accident.
Jackson later cleared up the rumours on The Tonight Show, saying that “there’s like a forensic analysis of this 25-year-old TV show”.
In reality, “this was just a beach ball painted to look like a basketball that got bounced off my face,” the actor shared.
Ah, Dawson’s Creek... never stop being you.
You can watch Dawson’s Creek on ITVX, Apple TV, and Amazon UK in the UK.