if you actually watch the whole series
facepalm) as an adult, you come to realize that Pacey really is the doofus and Dawson the superior character. Also, Joey sucks as well. They pretty much all suck EXCEPT Dawson (and Jack to a lesser extent, but then they made him a drunk). In those first 2-3 seasons, though, Dawson suuuuucks.
The show does a good job of showing that fuck ups are generally fuck ups though-out life, though I think this is incidental rather than on purpose.
Yep, i re-watched it in the last 3 years on Netflix.