A lot has been written, and said, about the character of Jen Lindley. In the first season, she was vilified by many of the fans because they saw her as the "accursed interloper" standing in the way of a romantic relationship developing between those (In Jen’s words) "star crossed lovers," Dawson and Joey. Then, in the second season, everyone saw her backslide into promiscuity, drunkenness, irresponsibility, and every other troubled teen cliché in the book. A lot of people, including myself, have complained that her character was written very inconsistently this past season, and we all cited many examples proving this. But you know what? In many ways, Jen Lindley is the most realistic character on Dawson’s Creek. She’s human. She makes mistakes. She sometimes makes severe errors in judgement that cost her dearly.
The point I am trying to make is that Jen is like many of us. She tries to be a good person and do right, but sometimes she fails. Sometimes she back slides into old and bad habits. She sometimes says or does the wrong thing. She also has paid the price for her errors, as we all must do, in her case, being thrown out of her home twice, first by obviously apathetic parents who didn’t know how to deal with her, and then being thrown out by a loving but severe grandmother who simply wasn’t equipped to deal with a rebellious teenager who was precociously embittered by life. I see Jen as wanting to reach out to someone for love and trust, but unsure how to go about doing that, so therefore, she sometimes reaches out in the wrong way (to Dawson at times) or in a negative way (to Grams).
I see her as a wounded soul, old, in many ways, before her time, who has grown up too fast and regrets having done so. I also see her as someone who sees something special in Dawson Leery. I think that Jen recognizes that Dawson has an innocent, optimistic and idealistic view of life that she herself wishes she could have. I think that Jen truly loves Dawson, not just because of who he is, but what he represents, but she doesn’t know how to express that love. But I do feel that her heart is in the right place, and I hope that next season, we get to know this flawed but wonderful character better, especially the story of her relationship with her parents, and the circumstances that have made her outlook on life so overwhelmingly melancholy and jaded. I also hope that we get to see more of the acting skills of the wonderful actress who plays this character, Michelle Williams.
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