The hit series from golden boy Kevin Williamson may not only be endangering its own life, but that of the fledgling "Charmed", as well.

The gang from Capeside, new 'dos and all.

"Dawson's Creek" airs Wednesdays at 8 pm on the WB, followed by "Charmed" at 9.

I understand that most TV is intended to be viewed in a somewhat brainless way. But sometimes, a show goes too far. This week, I think Dawson's Creek stepped over the line. And what follows may sound a little trivial, but when details are either overlooked or shoddily executed, a show loses its power to pull you into the story. And if it loses that power, what´s the point?

Just to recap, when last we left those ubiquitous Creekers, Dawson and Joey were kissing and Jen was dealing with the first shock of her grandfather´s death. Joey, by the way, was still contemplating whether or not to go to France. As the season kicks off, Dawson and Joey are still kissing and we´re picking up exactly where we left off. But wait, what´s with Dawson´s hair? This, friends, is my bone of contention: Three of the four principle cast members had major hair changes during the hiatus and the show did a lousy job of masking those changes. So the premiere featured not only Michelle Williams trying desperately to keep her significantly shorter hair looking casually pinned up, but also James Van Der Beek in a really bad wig.

The wig condition was alleviated in the second scene by Dawson and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) taking a trip to the barber shop. At this point, I noticed there was something that looked a little odd about Jackson´s hair, too. But then Pacey decided to have his tips frosted and it dawned on me: They had to dye Jackson´s hair back to a (sort of) natural brown to remedy the unfortunate number his stint at Urban Legend did to his hair. (I´m assuming here that the brown hair scenes were shot after the frosted tips scenes, since by the end of the episode, Pacey was pining to be a brunette once again.)

These minor oddities were nothing, however, compared to the painful and protracted experience of watching poor Michelle Williams, recently shorn, trying to look as if she was still sporting last season´s hair. After all, Jen´s grandfather died the day before. She certainly wouldn´t spend her time at the barber shop.

As bad as it was, the hair catastrophe of the premiere is a surmountable obstacle. Unfortunately, the hair isn´t the only thing threatening Creek´s sophomore season. Back to the recap: Dawson and Joey have their first date, which Jen crashes. Pacey mixes it up with the new girl, Andie, who shows early promise of being able to keep Mr. Witter in line. Jen feels alone and friendless and still thinks she needs Dawson.

All in all, the episode felt like an unsuccessful attempt at cleanup. Unfortunately, the cleanup didn´t leave me with any sense of preparing to move forward. It was pretty status quo at the end of the hour. The only really new development was Pacey and Andie (Meredith Monroe). Jen, the perpetual victim, continues to be really irritating, and rumor has it she´s only going to get worse. Apparently in upcoming episodes, Jen takes up her New York ways, which I can only take to mean she´s going to exacerbate her full-blown case of throw yourself at the boy. We can count on Dawson to maintain his Teflon ability to resist clues. Joey will pine, get fed up, then pine some more.

Quite frankly, from what I´ve heard so far about the upcoming season, Dawson´s Creek is going to get really painful. How could it get worse? you ask. In addition to the ongoing (read: never ending) travails of our heroes, the return of Tamara Jacobs (she who deflowered Pacey) is going to further complicate the Leery marriage, which, by the way, will get a bit of a retooling. It seems Dawson´s parents are going to try an open relationship. Like I said, we´re doomed to a season of pain.

Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Alyssa Milano.

Which brings me to Charmed. Although not painful, Charmed didn´t exactly have the kind of charisma that was so apparent in the first outings of Buffy or this season´s Felicity. I was more than a little apprehensive about a show starring Alyssa Milano and Shannen Doherty. I´ve never been a huge fan of either one. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Milano, who plays Phoebe, the youngest of three sisters. Doherty I was okay with, which is more than I expected. And of course, the third actress, Holly Marie Combs (late of Picket Fences), never worried me.

The basic story is that three sisters are reunited back at the family home and discover they are the charmed ones, the three who are destined to embody very potent powers, namely the abilities to stop time, see the future, and move objects with the mind. The premiere focused mainly on the women discovering their powers and trying them out. One of the best lines came when eldest sister Prue (Doherty) accused Phoebe of making her a witch. Phoebe´s response? You were born that way. A weak subplot involved a warlock bent on killing witches in order to take on their powers. Of course, our heroines must face the evil warlock before the hour is up.

As I said, this one episode didn´t make me an instant fan, but I think there´s hope for Charmed becoming a good show. Unfortunately, I fear Dawson´s Creek´s sketchy and perpetually unresolved plot lines may turn a large part of its audience (those who are not die-hard fans) away from the WB altogether on Wednesdays, dooming Charmed before it has time to work out the kinks and find its way. But given time, I think it has potential. I just hope Dawson´s proves to be the strong lead-in Charmed needs. But things don´t look good and I´m not sure how long the fans will stick around.

Date: October 8, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by Lisa McInnis