On-par with the teen melodrama formula, the characters within WB's late '90s hit Dawson's Creek traded romantic partners routinely over the course of its six-season run.
True love could never find its way out of Capeside, nor the North Boston-setting of the show's later season college years. As is the case with many shows with plots that rely on love triangles, audience participation sometimes helped dictate who would end up with who. Allow the following spoiler-filled entries to remind one of both the Dawson's Creek matches made in Heaven and their eye-rolling counterparts.
10 Best: Jack And Doug
Jack McPhee (Kerr Smith) spent the series following others' encouragement to explore his homosexuality; a fellow Capside resident did not share the same luxury.
Pacey (Joshua Jackson) delivered his cop older brother Doug (Dylan Neal) much grief over his lack of dating success. Fast forward to the series finale, set five years after the established timeline, and Doug surprised viewers tuned into the acclaimed two-parter by leaning in to kiss Jack after pulling him over. Though still publicly-in-the-closet, Jack's appointed guardianship over a dying Jen's daughter ultimately inspired Doug to be as declarative of his love for Jack as diehards have been of their unexpected romance years later.
9 Worst: Jen And Henry
"I'm sorry you miss how I looked at you. But I don't miss, how you never looked at me."
While dating the younger Henry represented a pivotal moment in Jen's (Michelle Williams) life as she escaped her chaotic past, their relationship ultimately left fans unsatisfied. Many felt the freshman quarterback played by Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire, currently streaming on HBO GO) outkicked his coverage by wooing Jen with intense promises, only to then abandon her for football in the end. Plus the jaded and complex Jen thankfully outgrew the cheerleader arm candy role rather quickly, paving the way for future teen soap characters like One Tree Hill's Peyton Sawyer to equally travel down this road less taken.
8 Best: Dawson And Joey
The eponymous creek commander (at least in the early seasons) and his perennial girl next door made audiences' hearts swoon every time they got together.
With a first season that culminated in their first kiss, the young lovebirds who regularly reviewed movies from the edge of Dawson's (James Van Der Beek) bed faced many hardships over the show's run that they did not always overcome. In fact, one of their many relationship impasses spawned the meme seen 'round the world. Still, there is not a single '90s kid who does not long for days of innocence the original creek kid power couple embodied.
7 Worst: Joey And Jack
Joey's first boyfriend following her season 2 breakup with Dawson was the then-shy and artsy new kid in town, Jack.
Though Joey would memorably help Jack come out midway through that same season, their brief courtship represented an extreme source of contention for series lead Dawson. Thus, audiences could not help but scorn the ill-fated couple at every turn. But after he came out, Jack came alive as a character – turning initially-reluctant audiences around with hilarious clumsiness and his and Jen's BFF chemistry.
6 Best: Joey And Charlie
After two-timing on Jen in season 5, fans wanted Charlie (Chad Michael Murray, who starred in the short-lived Marvel series Agent Carter) gone quicker than you can sing "I don't want to wait.."
Which made his subsequent, improbable romance with Joey all the more exciting when the guitar-shredding Charlie redemptively journeyed his way back into audiences' hearts. As the typically shy Joey proved in season 1, when a man inspired her to break out of her shell and sing, said man could win over anybody. And win them over Charlie did, as Murray was soon cast as the lead in the network's next teen-oriented hit soap: One Tree Hill.
5 Worst: Pacey And Audrey
Despite being more than a formidable addition to the show upon the Capeside faithful's ascension from high school to the Northern Boston college scene, Audrey (Busy Philipps, Freaks and Geeks) could never escape fans' oft-vocalized displeasure.
Introduced as Joey's rich and party-crazy roommate, Audrey quickly endeared herself to audiences by helping Joey escape the high school mindset that handcuffed her. Only for them all to abandon ship when Audrey spent season 5 shacking up with Joey's most recent ex, even though everyone knew that Joey and Pacey should have been with each other instead.
4 Best: Dawson And Jen
Though Dawson himself would have listed "Dawson and Film" as the runner-up entry, his second-most noted on-again/off-again relationship qualifies more so. After all, Dawson impulsively tore his Spielberg posters down and dropped out of his dream film school whenever his idyllic Capeside Dreamland was threatened.
But Jen – the object of his affection in season 1 – and not Joey, was whom the titular lead character lost his virginity to in a grief-filled season 5. Though their rekindled romance did not last long, they gained an enhanced perspective and renewed respect for each others' pursuits in life.
3 Worst: Dawson And Natasha
Even more so than Dawson's failure to break up with Natasha before he and Joey's first night in bed together, what hurt the most about this romance was that Dawson continued to date the diva actress no viewer anywhere wanted to see him with.
As the college years were essentially more Joey-centric, Dawson's oversight had betrayal-filled overtones galore. Though Natasha became more likable with each successive appearance, her and Dawson's workplace romance never sat well on the tongues of viewers more invested when Dawson was elsewhere.
2 Best: Joey And Pacey
In spite of all that stood against them, they proved to be the victorious pairing in the end.
Having decided early on that Dawson and Joey would end up together, series creator Kevin Williamson (writer, Scream) made the old "switcharoo" when he accounted for the fan outcry regarding how this would defy their most precious "shipping." Dawson's first love and his best friend began an Earth-shattering affair in season 3; a love that refused to die easily or ever.
1 Worst: Jen And CJ
While Jen did get her house in order after some growing pains and resistance, her dating track-record continued to produce duds.
None more so than season 6's CJ, her co-worker at the crisis hotline service. The primary conflicts between these two always seemed to be Jen's continued pursuit of shallow men or CJ's general disinterest in the concept of honesty. While Jen does not reveal the identity of her daughter's father in the series finale, here's hoping the little Lindley did not inherit CJ's genes and that Jack and Doug will raise her to never settle for less than what she deserves.
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