James Van Der Beek and Expedition X

Actor James Van Der Beek passed away at the age of 48 this week due to cancer, and it was news that made me sad. For one thing, I am in my forties, and 48 these days is a young age to pass away. Also, like many, I was introduced to him through the show, Dawson’s Creek, where he played Dawson Leery. That show was the starting point for the four main leads, who all went on to do big things in the acting/entertainment space. I admittedly watched Dawson’s Creek, but fell out of the show as it went on and everyone seemingly had a relationship with each other. However, Van Der Beek was a small part of my childhood, and he was also in movies like Rules of Attraction, where he played an unhinged young drug dealer, and Varsity Blues, among many other movies and television roles. From all accounts and testimonies, Van Der Beek seemed like a good, values-driven person. He moved out of Hollywood and onto acres of land in Texas to get away from the Hollywood scene. He was married with six children and became very religious. In interviews with him talking about his cancer diagnosis, he seemingly took the path of optimism.

My wife and I have started to watch the show, Expedition X, on Discovery Plus. I have seen Expedition Unknown starring Josh Gates, and I really like the show as it is educational, adventurous and entertaining. Going to different parts of the world, many times in dangerous areas, and exploring and researching will always be fun for me with that sense of adventure. Expedition X is a spinoff of Expedition Unknown with the differences being that the ones doing the research and investigation are scientist, Phil Torres, and paranormal expert, Jessica Chobot, with Josh Gates just being someone that gives out the mission and someone that they report to. I was already familiar with Jessica Chobot from the show, Attack of the show, so I was surprised to see her here. The investigations are interesting as they pertain to unusual activity and cases in certain regions of the world. Torres is the more fact-based researcher and more of a skeptic. Chobot is much more open to paranormal and extraterrestrial activity so they have a good dynamic going on. We go to Discovery Plus to watch 90 Day Fiancée and Suddenly Amish, and Expedition X popped up. Having already seen and liked Expedition Unknown, I put it on and got my wife to watch it with me. Now, we have just marathoned through much of season 1 during this three-day weekend.

The news of James Van Der Beek’s passing is a good reminder of one’s own mortality. Good things can happen and suddenly, bad things can occur unknowingly. I suppose that is just how life can be, and we can only keep moving forward despite everything.