When a major hurricane moves inland, all take refuge in the Leery home, where Dawson rages at Jen about her past, and Mitch storms out after learning of Gale's affair. That leaves a tormented Dawson to deal with their fallout. Meanwhile, Pacey ruins his brother's chances to get with Tamara at her beach house.
Two tragedies rock Dawson's world. First he learns the awful truth about his parents marriage. Then at the Homecoming dance, he witnesses a heated moment between Joey and Jack, setting of a chain of events that shatter a lifelong friendship and a new found romance. The big night also gives Jen a chance to use Joey's mistakes to get with Dawson. Pacey tries to open his heart to Andie, but breaks hers.
Dawson is suspicious of Pacey's awkward behavior and misconstrues his actions when he learns Pacey has been spending time with Joey. Meanwhile, after rethinking the offer, Pacey cannot move forward with his no-strings-attached relationship with Jen, and Andie urges Jack to meet a gay student from a neighboring town who contacted him via the internet after seeing Dawson's news story.
Joey is looking for a new job and gets one at the Yacht Club pretending to know a very affluent family. She is tricked by her boss's son, Dru, who discovers her lies. Mitch (no also a counselor at the school) tells Pacey he's not going to graduate unless he makes up for his bad grades. Pacey doesn't want Joey to know, but Mitch tells Dawson, who tells Joey, showing that he still cares about Pacey. Pacey and Joey have a fight, and Pacey admits he need help.
Everybody starts to think about their future, and how they are getting into college. Joey's concerned about Pacey not having grades good enough to get into college. Drue makes everybody think it's Jen's birthday so he can make a party. Andie takes over Jack's applications and drives him crazy with her obsession over it. Gretchen is applying for a job as bartender at Mrs. Leery's restaurant, and doesn't exactly tell what happened (or what will happen) with college.
Gail drops a bomb at Dawson saying that she might be pregnant. Joey seeks advice from Jen, now that she has the feeling sexual intimacy with Pacey is approaching. Jen tells her to go to the clinic as prevention. Jack is in an awkward situation when a girl is making moves on him, and he feels pressured to tell her he's gay.
Andie gets accepted into Harvard in advance, but accomplishing what should be the biggest thing in her life doesn't exactly makes her happy. She decides to explore different paths in her life by going to a rave. In the party, Drue gives Jen drugs, and she gives it to Andie. She tries ecstasy, which has a reaction with her anti-depressives and makes a disastrous combination, which almost leads her to death. Mitch and Gail decide to keep their baby, and things get awkward during the celebration when Gretchen brings Pacey and Joey with her.
Joey decides to help throw a surprise birthday party for Pacey with his mother, not knowing about Pacey's 'birthday curse'. The party goes haywire as Pacey's family makes everyone feel uncomfortable, and Pacey a loser. Dawson becomes upset when he feels that Gretchen doesn't want anyone to know about their relationship and postpones their first real date to go to the party.
The results of the Senior Polls have ramifications for Dawson, Joey, and Pacey, as the three try to ignore the tauntings of pollmaster Drue Valentine. While Pacey and Joey try to eke out some time alone together, Dawson finds his night alone with Gretchen more awkward than he'd expected. Gretchen learns that Joey lied to Dawson about sleeping with Pacey and is angry and Joey is forcing her to lie to her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Jack's suspicious when Jen drags him on some mysterious errands, and his suspicions are confirmed when he realizes just what she's up to.
Accepted early to USC, Dawson finds his last night in Capeside has arrived much sooner than everyone had originally anticipated. While Dawson looks forward to spending the evening with Joey, Jack and Jen, Mitch has other ideas. Meanwhile, Dawson's not the only goodbye Jen has in store for her, as she bids farewell to the house she's been sharing with Grams. Finally, Joey says goodbye to Dawson in her own way.
Pacey gets a job at a bar and meets an attractive Hispanic waitress named Karen. Although Karen has a very non-friendly boyfriend, that doesn't stop Pacey from feeling attracted to her. Dawson arrives to visit Joey, and is misled by Audrey when she decides to set her sights on him herself. Jen's compassion gets her to help Charlie and be on the college radio station.
Dawson is having trouble with anxiety attacks since his father's death, so he tries to escape reality on a night of debauchery with Jack and his fraternity brothers, which ends with Dawson's accusing Joey of causing his father's death. Meanwhile, Jen seeks revenge on Charlie; Audrey's mom visits; and Pacey makes a discovery about Danny.
Jen helps Dawson go to the shrink he ran away from last week. Dawson still thinks that the whole idea of sharing his thoughts with a complete stranger is weird, but he is surprised with how much he learns from it. Back home, he has to handle the problem with his father will, which does not include Lily. Meanwhile, Joey is working on a project about old love letters written by an obscure writer, and with the help of Audrey's audition tape for "The Real World: Ibiza", she manages to catch something no one of the fellow students caught. Pacey confronts Karen about the risks she is taking for having an affair with Danny, and Karen is hurt when Danny's wife shows up at a dinner party and he blows her off completely.
Dawson takes Jen on a road trip to a small film festival in New Hampshire where his documentary is being honored. The spotlight is intoxicating for both of them as they share one of the single most momentous events in a boy's life. Meanwhile, Jack brings Joey and Audrey to a frat party under false pretenses; and Pacey takes Karen on a non-romantic date.
After watching scary movies, Joey, Pacey and Jack talk about their creepiest experiences and urban legends. Joey shares her story of how she was almost attacked by the librarian on Halloween and saved by the creepy man she was running from. Jack tells the story of when he was helping clean the frat house basement and found a guy strapped, who later he found out to be a ghost. Pacey reveals that he was chased by a black car while giving Karen a ride home, but there was nobody driving the car. Grams arrives and says she has the scariest story: the time when Jen got locked out of the radio booth.
Pacey offers to cook for the gang on their weekly dinner (an event they always plan on doing but always fail to). Jen and Dawson return early and decide to keep what happened between them, but they are caught by everyone making out at the door. The dinner goes on in a very awkward way for everyone as Audrey and Dawson worry about Joey. But surprisingly she seems to be fine with it. Charlie also drops by, causing some tension for Dawson. At the end, they all decide that keeping their long lasting friendships is more important than having a weekly dinner, and Joey confesses to Pacey how she really feels about the whole Dawson-Jen thing.
Joey and Audrey go to a nightclub to celebrate both Joey's grades and fall break. There, Audrey tries to convince Joey to have some real fun. Charlie is also there and he hits on Joey, who turns him down for what he did to Jen. But Charlie doesn't give up so easily and dares Joey to do something wild. She accepts the dare and goes on the stage to sing with the band. Excited about it, she kisses Charlie. Meanwhile, Pacey sees himself hanging out with Audrey after he joins the ladies at the club to celebrate his new promotion. And Dawson and Jen go back to Capeside, where they have their first fight over what Dawson will do with his life. At the end he decides to move in to Grams's attic in Boston and move on with his life.
Dawson and Jen realize that living together is not as much fun as they hoped to be. Between ruined toothbrushes and bathroom overcrowding, they're getting on each other's nerves. Jen faces a new challenge at work after she turns her regular show into an advice show. She mainly gives advice to other girls with problems, and makes statements on men that hurt Dawson's feelings. She comes home expecting a fight, but Dawson surprises her saying he won't fight or lie or cheat on her. Meanwhile, Melanie (Pacey's summer flame) shows up offering Pacey a job working with her uncle's new boat around the Greek Islands. After a lot of thinking, Pacey decides not to go, since he has developed a successful life in Boston working at the Civilization. Jack moves into the fraternity house and gets his own room, but has some problems staying there after he discovers he was supposed to be rooming with another guy who felt uncomfortable living with a gay guy. And Joey decides to give Elliott Sawyer another
It's Dawson's first day in his new film school. Oliver (the somewhat obnoxious filmmaker Dawson met on the film festival) starts showing him around and wastes no time in asking Dawson to direct a movie he wrote. Reluctant to direct someone else's work, Dawson starts giving notes to Oliver on the script, and ends up accepting the job, thanks to Jen's incentive. Jen, on the other hand, is having some problems of her own. Her current state of happiness from the wonderful relationship with Dawson is reflecting on her on-air performance. Now she has to go back to the sharp-tongued, edgy advices she used to give instead of the romantic, love-themed ones. Meanwhile, Elliot finally has the courage to ask Joey out, but Joey makes second plans for a gathering with professor Wilder. She makes a fake excuse not to go out with Elliot, and her evening takes an unexpected turn when she and professor Wilder kiss. Elsewhere, Jack is reprehended by his brothers for being on academic probation. Irritated
Directing Oliver's movie is not an easy task. First, Dawson has to deal with Audrey's (who took the leading part) complaints about Oliver's kissing skills. Then he has to recast the other lead role after watching the footage and discovering that Oliver stinks as an actor. Now they have to find someone who can act, is hot, charismatic in less then 6 hours. They can't think of anyone but Charlie, who fits the profile like a glove (for Jen's desperation). During the shooting Audrey has a crisis and locks herself in the bathroom because she kissed Pacey and felt like she was betraying her best. They have to call Joey (who was over at Professor Wilder's house to solve their issue) for help, and after her blessing Audrey is back on the set so they can finally finish the shooting. Meanwhile, Jack is fed up with his brothers and decides to move out of the fraternity house after he and Eric have a moment and later Eric accuses him of trying to kiss him to the other guys.
Joey is held up and forced to clean up her account by a street mugger, who is accidentally run over by a car just after mugging Joey. The merciful girl from Capeside stands by her aggressor, checking up on him and trying to get an ambulance and get him to the hospital after seeing the similarities between him and her own father. When the cops and paramedics arrive, Joey faints and is taken to the hospital. After recovering, she accidentally meets the mugger's estranged wife and daughter. Joey stands by her dying mugger as she tries to learn more about her own father. After his death, she makes a choice of sparing the guy's little daughter's feelings by telling her he jumped in front of the car to save her life.
Jen and Audrey are tempted to risk their new relationships with Dawson and Pacey after interviewing a couple of cute musicians. Meanwhile, Pacey's caught by surprise when he realizes Jack has taken him to a gay bar, and Dawson's curious upon seeing Joey's reaction when she catches Professor Wilder on a date.
Charlie asks Joey to sing with his band at a distant club, which requires Pacey to give them a ride. Pacey and Charlie hate each other, and it takes a patient Audrey to keep them from going at each other's throats. Joey is nervous and isn't well received by the audience, until Charlie helps her with a duet. Still, he doesn't give up putting his moves on her. Audrey and Pacey, on the other hand, seem to be more and more in synchrony. Meanwhile, Dawson, Jen, Jack and Grams drive up to Capeside for Lily's 1st birthday, and Dawson finds out his mother has a significant other. Meanwhile, Jen confesses to Jack that she wants to break up with Dawson, while he is conflicted with the possibility of loving Joey again.
Oliver tells Dawson he's arranged a screening for their movie, which is yet to be finished. Dawson freaks out, but Joey comforts him saying the movie is brilliant. Everybody attends to the screening and solve their conflicts while waiting for it to start. Dawson meets a handful woman, and after exchanging insults she reveals herself to be Amy Lloyd, movie critic for Boston Weekly, whom Oliver secretly invited for the screening. She storms out of the theater, and it's up to Dawson to bring her back. They go out for coffee, have a heart-to-heart talk and even make out! Meanwhile, Joey is scared about her feelings towards Charlie and goes to Jen for advice. Jen says it doesn't matter if the guy is a jerk; at the end of her life there might always be a Clifton Smalls (the new African American boyfriend of Grams). Pacey asks Audrey how many men she's slept with, and she tests him by saying 27, then 57, when it was really only 5. Pacey passes the test and tells Audrey he's in love with her.
It's Spring Break and the gang goes down to Miami to party! But not everything is a reason to celebrate. Audrey and Pacey go through their first relationship test when Audrey's high school boyfriend (and her first true love) shows up with tickets for the M2M concert at an MTV event. She is torn with the memories of the past, and eventually kisses Chris, who confessed to Pacey still being in love with her. Nevertheless, Pacey stays cool about it and asks Audrey to be his official girlfriend after she confesses she loves him not Chris. Meanwhile, Dawson and Oliver hit to road to NY to meet a film agent who's interested on their movie, but never make it there. Dawson starts to tell Oliver his story with Joey and decides to surprise her in Miami, looking to reactivate their romance. But when he gets there, all he finds is a suicidal Jack (who's failing out of school and is suffering with the fact that Tobey's got a new boyfriend) and Pacey, who tells him his story with Joey is over. Charli
Charlie's band lands a deal for a tour and Charlie asks Joey to go with him, but she doesn't want to leave college in the middle of the semester. Charlie then decides to quit the band and stay with her, which freaks Joey, who thinks they're jumping too many steps. She breaks up with him so he can go with his band on tour. Meanwhile, Oliver and Dawson finally get to NY to meet with an agent, but Oliver ruins the meeting. Dawson threats to end their partnership and begs for another chance. Civilization is sold and Alex Pearls takes over as the new manager. She promotes Pacey as head chef and fires Audrey. Pacey tries to get Audrey her job back, but all he gets is an inadvertent kiss from Alex.
Pacey's new boss proposes more professionalism in the workplace and promises to leave behind her attraction towards him, even offering Audrey her job back. Audrey suspects something is going on between them and refuses to return to Civilization. Later, Alex drops by at Pacey's and Audrey walks on them talking about their kiss. She storms out in anger, leaving the future of their relationship unknown while Pacey struggles with the growing attraction he feels for Alex. Meanwhile, Dawson runs into Amy Lloyd, the movie critic, and they end up in bed together. After sex, they talk about movies and she lends him her movie. Joey and Jack focus on studies, and while she has problems concentrating, he has to catch up an entire semester and even goes back to the fraternity house asking for help. Luckily, Eric (the same guy that caused Jack his expulsion) shows up at Grams with the needed notes.
Pacey leads a revolt against Alex at Civilization. Dawson, Joey, and Audrey return to Capeside, leaving Audrey to wonder about their pasts. Joey decides to see her father for the first time since his latest incarceration, while Dawson finally pays a visit to his father's grave. Jack and Jen wonder how they'll spend the summer.
As summer approaches, everyone gets ready for various travels. Dawson prepares to head out for LA with Audrey, while Jack and Jen get ready for their Costa Rica vacation. Left behind in Capeside for the summer, Joey and Pacey lament their fates - until they make a crucial last-minute decision that changes everything.
Audrey gets drunk before her band performs and worries her friends, especially CJ who suspects a deeper problem. Meanwhile, Eddie and Joey agree to go on a real date; Pacey hits it off with a beautiful woman while on a business trip to New Orleans, and is shocked to discover that she's a call girl; and when Professor Freeman announces that he's leaving he and Jack have a heart-to-heart talk about their future.
Back in LA, Dawson is asked by the studio to direct re-shoots but is conflicted about being disloyal to his mentor. Meanwhile, Joey hasn't heard from Eddie since Christmas and finds his apartment empty; Pacey starts skipping work to spend time with Emma; Jen's insecurities as a peer counselor are compounded when C.J. is assigned to train her.
Joey follows Eddie to his family home where they face up to their true emotions and the obstacles they must overcome to be together. Back in Boston, Pacey is invited to an exclusive party where he receives a promotion and is recruited to be part of a special project but is tipped off that the project maybe not be ethical. Audrey returns from Los Angeles and is welcomed back into the band, but blows her chances by getting drunk just before taking the stage. (The WB)
After agreeing to pose as Pacey's sister at a business party, Joey demands to be taken home. When Pacey makes a quick stop at a local K-Mart they are accidentally locked inside the store. They're forced to spend the night there and talk about their friendship and relationship, both past and future. After the night is over they are both left to ponder what the future has in store for them.
Jen's seemingly happy world comes crashing down when she learns that Grams has breast cancer. Meanwhile, Joey's tumultuous love life continues when Eddie reveals his true reasons for returning to Boston, and Pacey agrees to join Joey as she chaperones for Harley's school dance, but what should be a magical night doesn't feel right for Joey. Although he is at first reluctant, Pacey agrees to invest Dawson's life savings to finance his new film project.(the WB)
In 2018, Entertainment Weekly reunited the cast of 'Dawson's Creek' for the show’s 20th anniversary. Watch the full PeopleTV special to see James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, Kerr Smith, Michelle Williams, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps and creator Kevin Williamson reminisce about Capeside, reveal who is Team Pacey vs Team Dawson, share where they think their characters would be today, and reflect on the iconic show’s series finale that aired on May 14, 2003.