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Dawson's Creek Season 3 Episode 10

First Encounters of the Close Kind

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AIRED: 12/15/99

Dawson, Joey, Jack & Andie spend the weekend at a Boston university for an advanced look at college and where Dawson has entered his "Witch Island" documentary in a student film festival. Elsewhere on campus, due to a clerical error, Joey's weekend guide is not what she expected; Andie's pursuit for an advanced admissions interview, leads her to some inspirational advice from an unlikely source; and Jack takes a risk and explores the local gay community.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

This episodes is a fine example of why Dawson's Creek became a hit. It had a couple of drawbacks, like every episode, but it was still good enough to hold a cell in my brain.moreless

8.1

By Firetears, Apr 09, 2011

This episode didn't go down in history as a very important episode of Dawson's Creek but it did to me. It's one of the few episode that doesn't have Pacey in it at all and neither does it have Jen. Not that I have anything against them at all, I just like it when a show doesn't "need" the characters that it relies on. This episode had a great introduction to someone who could've been one of the best additions to the show since Andie or Charlie. Nikki Green, a sweet and honest girl, who seems to remind me of Dawson a lot. Next to being a possible love interest, I could've seen her being good friends with the rest of the group. It was just a horrible thing that he character got lost in the show along with many others whom we fell in love with in just one or two episodes.

As for Joey's story, that was one of the weak points of the story. She meets a guy whom she shared her dorm with and he treats her like a little kid. The first half of the story was decent, but it messed me up completely when she said that she spent the last couple of years of her life revolving it around this boy(obviously speaking of Dawson). Now, that line wouldn't have pissed me off so much if she didn't already say that like 10 to 20 times. Soon enough, it all comes to show that she has still spend the remainder of the series being wrapped around by Dawson or Pacey.

This was one of Andie's very episodes where she didn't stand hand and hand with Pacey. She never even mentioned him and I found that as a big step to her character. Andie was without a doubt a fan favorite on the show and I think it was refreshing for even the biggest Pacey/Andie fan to see her get some character development without walking in Pacey's shadow. Jack also took a big step as a character in this episode when he finally decided to face his fears over being gay. He always admitted it but it was like through out the show, he always held back. Well we finally see more than his head and foot leave the nest and this was the episode that gave him a gigantic step into being gay. These are the episodes of Dawson's Creek that I seem to treasure most. Developing story and character without taking a dramatic step. The slow and fun episode. This is a prime example of just that.moreless
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Dawson, Joey, Andie, and Jack visit a college.

8.0

By Jon_MW_14, Jan 29, 2011

"First Encounters of the Close Kind" was a very good episode despite having a couple of boring scenes. I didn't like that Joey's roommate was a guy. He came off as a huge jerk at first. I love the scene where Joey explains why Little Woman is her favourite book to A.J., and A.J. was sort of cooler after that moment. I liked how he decided to show her the fun side of college. I didn't understand Andie wanting to meet The Dean. It didn't make sense at all. But Andie is completely awesome and I loved how she poured her heart out to that secretary. Nikki was so harsh at the beginning of this episode. When she didn't win, I liked how Dawson complimented her on her movie saying it was the best. I love how Nikki revealed that she was Principal Green's daughter. Jack's adventure in college was most interesting. I love how he goes to a gay bar and then he gets scared and runs off. It was so cute how he met Ethan on the bus. I give this episode a 8/10.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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James Van Der Beek	Dawson Leery
Katie Holmes	Josephine "Joey" Potter
Michelle Williams	Jennifer "Jen" Lindley
Joshua Jackson	Pacey J. Witter
Kerr Smith	Jack McPhee (recurring Season 2)
Meredith Monroe	Andrea "Andie" McPhee (recurring Season 2)

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Marla Gibbs	Mrs. Fran Boyd	Guest Star
John Allore	Mr. Pruet	Guest Star
Ann Morgan	Student # 1	Guest Star
Robin Dunne	A.J. Moller	Recurring Role
Bianca Lawson	Nikki Green	Recurring Role
Adam Kaufman	Ethan	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Joshua Jackson does not appear in this episode. It is the only episode this seeason, in which he didn't appear.
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- Both Bianca Lawson and Adam Kaufman have appeared in recurring roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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- If A.J. is a teaching assistant then it means he is in graduate school. We know (and it is stated early in the episode) that Joey is a junior making a college visit. This would make A.J. about five years older than Joey.
  
  Edit: A.J. actually says he's an undergraduate teaching assistant, not in graduate school. He is, however, probably in his last year.
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QUOTES (2)
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- A.J.: Would it be alright if I were to, you know, phone you sometime?
  Joey: It wouldn't suck.
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- (While sitting in Dawson's room talking)
  Joey: So, is it just me or does this room seem a lot smaller all of a sudden?
  Dawson: Really? I was kind of thinking it seemed safe.
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NOTES (11)
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- Spanish title: Primeros encuentros en la Tercera Fase, meaning First encounters of the Third Kind.
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- AJ's dorm room at Harvard has a large number 381 shown on his door. Whether intentional or not, it's interesting that the number could be broken down into 8+1=9 and 9x3=27. 27 has been a number used a few times on Dawson's Creek, including two room numbers so it seems to have some significance to the show.
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- When Joey and Dawson are lying on his bed talking, Joey keeps her boots on while Dawson has no shoes. Being a short a short and sweet scene, the director of this episode, Greg Prange, probably wanted Katie Holmes to be able to make a fast exit out of the room.
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- Executive Producer Paul Stupin mentions on the audio commentary for this episode that the College environment is made out of a mixture of a lot of different locations. The scene when Dawson and Nikki are walking along the outside corridor was filmed at the University Of North Carolina, Wilmington. The big vista shots were filmed at the University of Richmond.
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- Meredith Monroe was known as "Captain Fun" and she would clown around on the set while filming to raise morale. When the mood was low, she would run into the wardrobe truck and put on her red tights and homemade yellow cape with a big "F" printed on the front.
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- The Train Station depicted in this episode is actually a building located in downtown Wilmington.
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- In an earlier epsidode (Abby Morgan, Rest In Peace) Joey is visiting her mother's grave and the name on the headstone reads "Lillian Josephine Potter" which seemed to allude to the fact that Joey was named after her mom. However, in this episode Joey tells A.J. that Little Women was her mom's favorite book and that's why she named her 'Josephine', for the character in the book.
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- Music featured in the episode included:
  Kate by Ben Folds Five
  Mrs. Potter's Lullaby by Counting Crows
  Run Into You by Last December
  Never Ending by Wood
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- In the DVD commentary, Paul Stupin reveals that Gabrielle Union (Bring It On, Bad Boys II) was the runner up for the role of Nikki. Gabrielle eventually worked with Katie Holmes in the film Abandon.
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- Season 3 DVD Box Set includes a commentary on this episode with Kerr Smith and Paul Stupin.
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- Although featured in the opening credits, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams do not appear in this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Dawson: Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the directors cut..."
  
  Richard Dreyfuss was a popular actor in 70's and 80's. He starred in several of Steven Spielberg's movies including Close Encounters.
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- The title of this episode First Encounters of the Close Kind is a reference to the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
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