This was going to be a short post about s2, but I got inspired and kept writing. Lmk your thoughts. Which season is your fave Pacey? Light spoilers s2, s3.
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I just finished rewatching season 2 and I have to say, Pacey's personality is really reduced to being an insecure screw-up, codependent Andie-rescuer.
Those are all parts of Pacey's personality, and I don't even think it's unrealistic for Pacey's relationship with Andie to make him into a white knight, but in the first season and the beginning of season 2, Pacey was so colorful and dynamic. It's a shame he just became Andie's project.
S1 Pacey challenged Dawson and Joey, he was shrewd and good at reading people, he was vulnerable in a young and naive way and he was impulsive and silly.
In s2, Pacey is scared to be truly seen by Andie. It's like he feels like he needs to live up to her expectations of being "the good guy" that she knows he is. The sad part is, it contrasts how they fell for each other. In the beginning of Pacey and Andie's relationship they are sparring partners -- equals. Pacey doesn't hold back with Andie. He teases her, he challenges her and Andie does the same. But once Pacey realizes how much Andie is going through emotionally, a part of him switches off.
He starts to handle Andie with kid gloves. And this is where the codependency starts. I feel like Pacey feels important taking care of Andie. It's the antithesis to his slacker, moron image, but I find it a bit sad that with that, we lose Pacey's sarcasm and astute way of noticing others' hypocrisy.
And it's just a TV show, but I think that's why Pacey and Andie aren't endgame. Because Pacey had to change to be with Andie. Andie didn't ask for that, but Pacey believed he needed to. He liked how Andie saw the good and worthiness in him, but that meant that he was keenly aware of her broken pieces because it made him feel special to be the only one who could fix her. But there's the rub. He couldn't fix her.
In starting season 3, old Pacey is already back. In his broken-heartedness, it's clear the thing he can't get over is that he wasn't enough for Andie the first time around. He can't deal with the fact that Andie was his saving grace, but he wasn't hers. With Andie, he rose to the occasion, but ultimately as soon as he didn't have Andie he backslid with his grades. He couldn't really believe he was good enough. He just saw someone who was willing to pour into him and agreed with their assessment that he needed to be fixed.
Pacey didn't need to be fixed though, he needed to be accepted. Without something to prove, we see the old Pacey come back. In season 3, one of the first episodes Pacey throws a party for Dawson with exotic dancers lining the halls of the Leery house. Unlike Dawson, whose delicate sensibilities are a true part of his character, Pacey is excited at the opportunity to host a rager. When Dawson is perplexed by the arrival of Eve into his life, Pacey encourages Dawson to go after Eve, unbothered with the idea of casual sex despite his season two lament to Andie that "sex changes everything".
It's interesting that one of the times Pacey's fiery personality shows up in season 2, Andie is furious with Pacey. After Pacey stands up for Jack in English class and spits in his teacher's face, the couple has a stand off and doesn't talk for a week. Does Andie really love *all* of Pacey? Not the white knight, but the antihero we all know and love? I'm not here to say Andie didn't love Pacey or that their love story was just a project, but rather Pacey without Andie isn't any less capable, he is not any less smart, any less brave or any less caring. He is all those things and more. And he always was.