Dawson Leery
Dawson is your typical sensitive, overprivileged, intelligent teen. He wants to be a filmmaker, and he’s a giant Spielberg fan. He’s somewhat talented, and his first movie wins an award at the Boston Film Festival. But he’s not incredibly original, and his next movie, a take-off on the over-hyped Blair Witch Project, bombs. After this disappointment Dawson takes down all his Spielberg posters and drops film, making him far less interesting. He decides to start having some fun, so he befriends a lying stripper and gets drunk a couple times.
Dawson’s life in season one seemed pretty perfect, but first his films and then his family life fall apart. His parents, who had once been affectionate and close, split up when his mom has an affair. But months after separating and divorcing, the Leerys seem to be reconciling; Dawson doesn’t want to get his hopes up.
Though Joey’s oldest and best friend, Dawson is at first oblivious to their changing feelings for each other. Instead of Joey he dates Jen, the tough and sexy new girl in town. But Jen eventually dumps him, giving Dawson time to rethink things with Joey. When they finally do get together, it doesn’t last long, and Dawson gets his heart broken. But Joey’s the only girl for him, though his feelings for her waver between hot and cold. Still he’s devastated when his best friend starts dating Joey, leaving Dawson out in the cold.
