Maturing ‘Dawson’ Reflects on Past

Its randy band of high schoolers now running fast and loose in the adult world after last season’s graduation, “Dawson’s Creek” marks a watershed moment tonight with the airing of its 100th episode (8 p.m., WB).

Yet that accomplishment comes not so much with a sense of security or momentum, but with a current of anxiety that seems to be running through the show’s fans as well as its characters. You can almost hear longtime viewers chewing their fingernails on the show-related Web site chat boards--at least from the ones who haven’t already thrown up their hands in frustration over the series’ new direction.

Yes, after four seasons of hormonally driven high school high jinks, set in the cuddly cocoon of a leafy Boston suburb, the series has been forced to come to grips with the maturing aspirations of its principal players, which threaten to scatter them across the country.

Dawson’s (James Van Der Beek) dreams focus on USC’s film school. Joey (Katie Holmes, whose adorability is still the show’s center), Pacey (Joshua Jackson), Jen (Michelle Williams) and Jack (Kerr Smith) are going their separate ways in and around Boston. Is there still a show in there somewhere?

Tonight’s episode, “100 Light Years From Home,” ducks the question for the time being by having the cast spend a reflective spring break together in Florida. It’s an hour of sepia-toned flashbacks and rueful what-ifs, of mismatched emotions and tense ultimatums, of stomping and seething and a bit of heavy breathing.

In short, it’s business as usual on “Dawson’s Creek.”