How do our favorite couple manage to end up together in the finale? Here's my take on what the writers did wrong.

Author’s Note: I’m undergoing a massive project here, and the most important thing you, the reader, should know is that I need all the help I can get. I am a die-hard Creeker. From start to finish, I intend to own the entire series on DVD, and track down all of those obscure snippets of songs, but…the bottom line is Seasons 5 and 6 had moments of unforgettable suckage. Regardless of the relationship you were cheering for in the end, the methods the writers used for those ends to be achieved were occasionally horrendous. Hence, I am re-writing 5 and 6, with Kevin Williamson’s ending in mind. Some things must happen, like Mitch’s death (although death by ice cream was weak), but I need your input on the main issues. Should Season 5 be geared toward the rekindling of Dawson and Joey (as an official item for an entire year like we were hoping for in Season 2), or should Season 5 be about a mature Dawson-Jen relationship, not just a Dawson-and-Jen-get-it-on-because-they-need-comfort relationship? And Pacey and Audrey? Any thoughts? I was hoping for an actual connection between the two, if it is decided they will date. Will the Pacey and Joey history be swept under the rug until two episodes in Season 6? No. Do I think that Pacey and Audrey should be all about sex until Audrey decides to become Second-Season Jen? No. If Pacey has a relationship other than one with Joey, I want it to be genuine. What about Eddie? Creepy pervy Prof Wilder? Bring on the ideas! FYI: I am a P/Jer. I have been a P/Jer since Season One, BUT...this re-write is not about smearing Dawson and Joey. If Dawson is so important to Joey, I want the audience to have a reason to love Dawson just as much as she does. We have been told from day one that Dawson is Joey’s best friend. I’d like Dawson to be given a chance to prove that Joey’s praises are deserved.

EPISODE ONE: EVOLUTIONS

Typical establishing shot of the Leery home; camera pans up for a close shot of our favorite window, past the fluttering curtains, and rests on the two figures on the bed: Joey lays on her stomach; Dawson sits beside her, occasionally throwing glances her way. His focus is on her lips

J: This is your solution Dawson? This is your only conceivable means of tackling the…the…herd of elephants in the room?

D: Herd, Jo?

J: Do elephants flock? *off Dawson’s baffled expression she defensively apologizes* The monumental milestone you have now reached in your young life was inevitably destined to decimate my metaphorical prowess. Besides, what is more gargantuan of stature than an elephant? Logic dictates the correct response would be multiple elephants.

D: When did these multiple elephants decide that invading my room would be a pragmatic endeavor?

J: Probably about same time you decided watching E.T. in lieu of packing for the day after tomorrow would be a pragmatic endeavor. I suppose I’ve been laboring under the misapprehension that the Hollywood-bound disdain procrastination. Whatever happened to the never-let-anything-rest Dawson of Yore?

D: Yore Dawson has concluded that touching a suitcase symbolizes his favorite Boston-bound brunette’s decision to row her life in a direction that no longer leads to his dock. Pacaderms and our current, Speilbergian stroll down Memory Lane aside, Jo, we’re sharing a milestone here. Little Joey Potter’s final moments in Capeside. As such, your adoring fans are clamoring to know…is there life for a certain Potter sister after Dawson Leery?

J: Said adoring fans can rest assured that any life devoid of Dawson Leery will never be part of my future. You’ve always given me a dock to row home to, no matter the respective directions our lives have taken. The only reason I’ve been able to row my girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-creek-self anywhere but mediocrity was you, Dawson Leery.

Cue the music

D: Was that the message behind the kiss we’ve been neglecting to mention?

J: We don’t have to deconstruct everything right now, Dawson. Even Freud would have respected the need for opening credits.

Opening credits

Jen walks along the docks, scanning the crowd for…

Pacey (wearing a Hawaiian shirt) bounds down the gangplank with luggage in tow, drops everything, pulls Jen into his arms and twirls her around. He puts her down and picks up the luggage once more

P: The lovely Miss Lindley! At long last! My mail-order slave has arrived. *dramatically hands her his luggage*

J: Refrain from waving a Confederate flag and reminding me why it is that you and I never achieved couple status, or I will be forced to use MY whip on YOUR sorry hide.

P: We tried coupledom as I recall.

J: Pace, I’m not breaking my back holding your luggage in order to fulfill some masochistic desire to delve into our sordid past. We have to discuss that tiny promise I made to you. That’s what this false, masculine bravado you’re forcing down my throat is about, isn’t it? You’re having doubts about whether or not I would fulfill my end of the bargain. Joey does not know that your final port of call is within walking distance of Worthington.

P: Lindley, you of all people should understand why it is difficult for me to have much faith in humanity these days. That isn’t to say you are not one of the only good people in my universe right now.

J: No, Pace! I’m not good people. For all my delusions of evolving, I’m still that girl who spilled the beans to Dawson about you and Joey and the one who made ecstasy available to Andie. I had qualms about participating in your master plan to keep Joey in the dark about your location, but I agreed because…

P: Dawson. You agreed because of Dawson and his impending farewell to Capeside. Heaven forbid that if Joey knew where I was she might be a smidgeon less enraptured by his I-finally-achieved-my-dreams mini-dramas! Betty and Veronica are defined by their codependence on Archie, while Jughead lounges in the background stuffing his face and patiently awaiting the opportune moment to insert a quip in the fray.

J: You’re so much more to ALL of us than a ravenous sub-character, Pacey. Of course, your ensemble does scream “Jughead.” I refuse to let you continue to classify yourself as the despised underdog when you still mean everything to her. She wants you to have all the happiness that you deserve. Joey worries about you all the time, but she won’t know that her worries are unfounded until you show her, IN PERSON, that you are okay.

P: I’ll consider giving in to those feminine wiles, Lindley, as long as you promise me that you will cease referring to yourself as the girl who messes up everyone else’s life. You’re a far, far better leading lady and permanent member of the inner circle than all of the Abby Morgans and other instigators who have graced Capeside with their presence.

Camera travels across a house filled with piles of boxes upon boxes; Jack is sorting boxes when Grams enters, gasping for breath, and collapsing against the front door

G: I don’t know why I let you children talk me into this. I should never have listened to Jennifer. I should have moved into the retirement community when I had the chance. After attempting to familiarize myself with this neighborhood, the prospect of BINGO Night certainly seems appealing.

J: We researched the area thoroughly Grams. All of us together, remember? We’ve found the street with the church two blocks away and the children playing in the front yards and the neighbors peering over each others’ fences. A chance sighting of a single skinhead with triple sixes tattooed all over his body shouldn’t shake your resolve.

G: *appalled* There were no “skinheads,” dear boy. I discovered an adult video store.

J: Well, that certainly wasn’t in the realtor’s brochure.

G: They just don’t make pictures like they used to. I supposed “adult” would entail stimulation for the mind, not a gratuitous display of the human form. I am no longer incapable of using the term penis, particularly in a medical context, but no medical expert could possibly condone the content of that… FILTH.

J: Medicine has advanced since your days as a nurse, Grams.

G: Has it advanced so much that we are expected to embrace the concept that nude contortionists are some sort of miracle?

J: The Lord works in mysterious ways, Grams.

Leery living room; Mitch holds Lily as Gale enters; Gale wraps her arm around his neck

G: What are you thinking, Mitch?

M: Do you think it will be easier the second time around?

G: Sending one of our babies out into the world? *she joins him on the couch*

M: *kisses Lily on the nose*

G: * her eyes begin to water* Not even a little bit.

M: I’ve been sitting her for two hours, and I can’t seem to convince myself to want this to be simple.

G: You always did complicate matters.

M: Our son will never truly feel like he belongs in our home anymore. From now on, any parental advice we give him may be something he has already realized on his own. Yet, feeling completely detached from my son’s life has probably been one of my better experiences.

G: It just means we’ve done right enough by Dawson for him to be able detach, Mitch.

M: I think I’d feel better if he didn’t want to detach all the way to California.

Camera goes up the staircase, down the hall, and into Dawson’s room where Joey and Dawson are still watching TV on his bed

J: Dawson, have you ever been concerned by the amount of time you and I spend in bed together?

D: Concerned two teens in their sexual prime actually take advantage of the chance to share a bed…platonically? We’d probably spend an equivalent amount of time on the floor if we didn’t each have a subconscious need for pillows.

J: Dawson, I don’t think you comprehend exactly what it is we are doing here.

D: Joey, you and I have already proven that we are the ideal teenaged-duo. Just for tonight, let’s shelve any concern about how other soul mates interact and focus on us. We have stopped time. We are simply Dawson and Joey, watching E.T., Spielberg’s homage to best friends and a cinematic representation of the way I feel about you. That’s why I want you to stay here, Jo. Stay with me? I can’t go to sleep unless I know that you…

J: *takes Dawson’s hand in hers* Dawson, I’ll be right here.

Kitchen; Jen, Jack and Grams are huddled around the table, staring solemnly around the sparsely furnished room

J: Jackers, the next time I make any disparaging remark regarding knitting, accidental or otherwise, remind me of that time I reduced my two favorite people in the entire world to creating furniture and entertainment from boxes.

G: That’s enough, Child! You have not reduced Jack and me to nothing. If anything, you have helped us to soar.

Ja: *whispers conspiratorially to Jen* There’s a gas leak, isn’t there? Unbeknownst to us all we are, even as we speak, inhaling noxious fumes, and before you know it we’ll all be clasping hands and singing Kumbiyah.

J: God help us all if you’ve designated me the wind beneath your wings, Grams.

G: God has helped us indeed. Jen, I have never been more proud of you than in the moment when you convinced me to sell the house. You were the poised, beautiful, elegant, confident, intelligent young woman who I have always seen in you, but you have always blinded yourself to. Will I miss the person I was in Capeside? Certainly. Do I regret for even an instant the opportunity to reinvent myself along with my two favorite people in the entire world? Of course not. And Jack, I don’t want you to silently stew over your preposterous theories about sending Jennifer down this path to robbing me of my home in Capeside. What you did for me by pushing my Jennifer into the collegiate masses means more to me than you will ever know.

*Jack and Jen rise from their boxes and race to embrace Grams*

*Grams clasps her hands together and merrily proclaims* G: Now that that’s all settled, who’s interested in singing a rousing round of Kumbiyah?

Outside of Leery home; camera pans upward to the open window; inside Dawson’s room, we see Joey stirring, as the sunlight wakes her. Dawson (duffle bag slung over his shoulder) studies his sleeping best friend; he brushes hair from her eyes, and gently kisses her cheek; with a final, longing look at Joey, he climbs through the window, and down the ladder. Joey finally rises in time to notice that Dawson is gone; she wanders toward the open window and smiles nostalgically as the camera zooms into a shot of Dawson (duffle bag still over his shoulder) running away from the house (presumably toward Joey’s boat); Joey returns to bed, and climbs in on Dawson’s side where she lays on her back, staring intently at the ceiling (thus, the soul mates say their final good-bye before the reality of California for Dawson today and Boston for Joey at the end of the summer crash down upon them).

Cue character montage

Voice over, Joey: I spend a vast majority of my time wondering if it ever gets any easier, this thing called evolution. This horrendous nightmare we call change.
*Mitch and Gale huddled together on the couch; Lily on Mitch’s lap; photos of Dawson spread out between them*
Charles Darwin has implied that humans originated from monkeys and apes. If this were the case, why do the monkeys and apes exist alongside their “evolved” forms? That terrified version of me who spent fifteen years believing that Dawson Leery, my best friend from across the creek, was the love of my life, and that the sun rose and set on his shoulders, she still exists. She was thriving today when that boy potentially walked out of my life forever.
*Dawson (duffle bag still over his shoulder) stands before the Potter B & B sign*
Are the memories of our days on the creek powerful enough to bind us together, despite the distance? Has the impact we’ve had on each others’ lives thus far been as lasting as we currently claim?
*Grams, Jack, and Jen looking cozy in their new home; clasping hands and (dare we believe it?) singing*
That terrified version of me plagues my mind, but my heart; my heart is becoming steadfast. My heart is the truly “evolved” form in this scenario. Split between the innocent adoration of a dreamer who has molded me, and the fondness of a sea creature from the deep who…My heart must prepare for that resounding yes or no to the affections of both.
*Pacey sits on the edge of the dock, dangling his feet over the water, reading a book (close up of cover reveals it is The Little Mermaid)*

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