Editing Dawson's Creek (section)

== Series overview ==
=== Episodes ===
{{Main article|List of Dawson's Creek episodes{{!}}List of ''Dawson's Creek'' episodes}}
{{:List of Dawson's Creek episodes}}

=== Season 1 (1998) ===
The first season covers a love triangle between Dawson, Joey, and Jen, which some critics have compared to the love triangle between [[Archie Comics]] characters [[Archie Andrews|Archie]], [[Betty Cooper|Betty]], and [[Veronica Lodge|Veronica]].<ref name=":4" /> Some episodes feature homages to movies such as ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' and some reference Kevin Williamson's work on ''[[Scream (franchise)|Scream]]''. Jen's reasons for moving to Capeside are revealed – she was acting "too sexual" as a result of being taken advantage of when she was twelve. Pacey aims to lose his virginity and has an affair with a new teacher at Capeside High School. Dawson must cope with the news his mother Gail has had an affair, and then witness his parents' attempts to recover from this.

=== Season 2 (1998–1999) ===
The second season takes place during the characters' second half of their [[Sophomore|sophomore year]]. Siblings Andie and Jack McPhee move to Capeside and enroll at the high school. The type-A achiever Andie becomes romantically involved with Pacey and helps him to become more motivated. It is revealed that her older brother has died but her mother sometimes acts as if he is still alive. Andie seems to be responsible for caring for her and protecting her at such times, as her father is absent. Pacey becomes a rock for Andie as it is revealed she struggles with [[mental illness]] herself. Joey finds herself drawn to Jack, who initially reciprocates her feelings, but comes to realize he is gay, which puts him at odds with homophobic classmates and an intolerant father. Jen befriends "bad girl" Abby Morgan and goes down a path of self-destruction. Dawson must deal with the divorce of his parents, Mitch and Gail.

=== Season 3 (1999–2000) ===
The third season saw the beginning of the characters' [[Junior (education year)|junior year]] and a blossoming romance between Joey and Pacey. When Dawson discovers his two friends have become a couple behind his back, he is dejected and angry. Dawson and Pacey become rivals for Joey's affection. Joey tries to repair her friendship with Dawson, but at the end of the season, Dawson realizes he does not want to hold Joey back, so he urges her to go and join Pacey, who is sailing down the coast for the summer. Jen is pursued by freshman football player Henry Parker and initially finds him immature but grows to return his feelings. Jack tries to find his first gay experience, while also juggling football and trying to find a new place to live after his father sells the only home he knows.

=== Season 4 (2000–2001) ===
The fourth season takes place during the characters' [[Twelfth grade|senior year]] of high school and deals with Joey and Pacey's ups and downs as a couple. Their relationship is tested by differing post-high school plans, Joey's friendship with Dawson, and Pacey's insecurity. Jen learns that Henry wants to break up with her but he does not say this to her face. Andie almost dies at a rave when she takes [[MDMA|ecstasy]] that was in Jen's possession via a new boy, Drue, whom Jen used to know in New York. The drug conflicts with Andie's prescribed medication. The incident fractures Jen's friendship with Jack and the group. Dawson starts to date Gretchen, Pacey's older sister who has moved back to Capeside.

=== Season 5 (2001–2002) ===
The fifth season follows most of the characters leaving Capeside to begin new lives in big cities. In [[Los Angeles|LA]], Dawson attends film school at the [[University of Southern California]] but starts to have second thoughts. After arguing with his parents over dropping out, his father dies, leaving Dawson more confused about his future. In [[Boston]], Joey, Jack and Jen navigate their freshman year of college at Worthington University. Pacey finds himself adrift after working on a yacht all summer but enters the restaurant business when he takes a job as a cook at a trendy restaurant in Boston. Jack joins a fraternity and embraces life as an openly gay college student, but it puts his relationship with Toby{{who|date=May 2025}} under strain. Joey struggles to adjust to life as a college student but makes a new friend. Jen finds herself drawn into a whirlwind relationship and also supports Dawson when he attends grief counselling.

=== Season 6 (2002–2003) ===
In the sixth and final season, Dawson moves to Boston and begins to work on a low-budget film project that echoes his life in Capeside. Jen must deal with her parents' impending divorce, while Jack faces sexual harassment from a professor. Joey clashes throughout the season with an egotistical writing professor. Pacey embarks on a new career which comes as a surprise to everyone when he takes a job as a stock broker in a small brokerage firm in Boston. The two-part finale, which is set in the year 2008, finds everyone reunited in Capeside for a special wedding, but the happy reunion is cut short after the group learns that one of their own has been harboring a heartbreaking secret. In the midst of the tragedy, old scores are settled, new relationships blossom, and new ventures are chosen for a better future.