All Good Things...

Season	Episode
6	23

INFO

Aired

14 May 2003

Written by

Kevin Williamson & Maggie Friedman

Directed by

James Whitmore Jr.

EPISODES
Previous	Next
Joey Potter and the Capeside Redemption	...Must Come To An End

❝

Of what's real, it terrifies us – all of us. And you say I've changed and you're right, but I mean I went kicking and screaming. And if you think that anything of any value in this world comes at an easier prize, you're wrong

—Jen to Jack

All Good Things... is the 23rd episode of Season 6 and the penultimate episode of Dawson's Creek.

Synopsis[]

A JOYOUS REUNION TURNS TO HEARTBREAK AT THE CREEK — Five years have passed and everyone is 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. Since they were last together, Dawson (James Van Der Beek) has been living in Los Angeles producing his autobiographical television series 'The Creek,' but has never forgotten the love of his life; Joey (Katie Holmes) is a successful book editor living in New York with her boyfriend (guest star Jeremy Sisto, "Six Feet Under") but comes home to realize she still loves her childhood sweethearts; Pacey (Joshua Jackson) is the owner of the new Icehouse and still carries a torch for Joey, although he continues his pattern of getting into trouble with older women, including his newest conquest (guest star Virginia Madsen); Jen (Michelle Williams) is a single mom living with Grams (Mary Beth Peil) and managing an art gallery in Soho; and Jack (Kerr Smith) is a teacher at Capeside High and has fallen in love with a secretly gay man.^[1]

Starring[]

James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery

Katie Holmes as Joey Potter

Michelle Williams as Jen Lindley

Joshua Jackson as Pacey Witter

Kerr Smith as Jack McPhee

Mary Beth Peil as Grams

Special Guest Stars: Virginia Madsen as Maddy; Nina Repeta as Bessie Potter; and Mary-Margaret Humes as Gale Leery

Guest starring: Dylan Neal as Doug Witter; Kyle Searles as Colby; Sam Doumit as Sam; and Jeremy Sisto as Christopher

Co-Starring: Ashleigh Sumner as Assistant; Steven Roten as Writer #1; Jason Davis as Writer #2; Elizabeth Roberts as Writer #3; Corey Jackson as Busboy; Robert Pralgo as Cute Guy; Terry Loughlin as Doctor; Melissa McBride as Melanie; David Jenkins as Jock Kid; Lou Criscuolo as Man; Kristen Solt as Lilly Leery; Mark Joy as Maddy's Hubby; Michael Hartson as Stan; Logan Berkshire as Director; Dean Mumford as Buddy #1; Denis Larouche as Buddy #2; Matthew Slate Wells as Alexander Potter Wells; Vincent Peeples as Lead Singer; John Copeman as Stunt Coordinator

Quotes[]

❝

Maybe if your daddy hadn't burned it down in the first place, it would still be yours

—Pacey to Joey

❝

I couldn't write this stuff if I tried

—Dawson's reaction to the above

❝

Dawson, remember when I de-virginised you?

—Drunk Jen

❝

You guys are the best friends I have ever had

—Drunk Jen hanging upside down

❝

Dreams aren't perfect, Dawson. They come true, not free

—Joey

Locations[]

Capeside
- Capeside Cardiac Center
- Capeside High School
- Dawson's House
- Potter B&B
- The Icehouse
Los Angeles
- Leery Productions Inc.
New York
- Joey's Apartment

Trivia[]

It is revealed that Doug and Jack are dating.
Jen in suffering from left heart systolic dysfunction resulting in pulmonary congestion.
On the night before the wedding, Dawson and Joey fall asleep in his bed in the same positions they fell asleep in for the series premiere.

BROADCAST

It was written by creator Kevin Williamson and Maggie Friedman, and aired on May 14th, 2003 as part one of the two-part series finale.
The two-part series finale was watched by 7.3 million people upon its original airing — the largest in the series since Season 2.^[2]^[3]

PRODUCTION NOTES

The 'true, not free' quote is from a Stephen Sondheim musical.^[4]
Mary-Margaret Humes (Gale Leery) did not like nor approve of the storyline of having Gale remarry.^[5]
Williamson "always regretted the first hour of the finale" and thought the second hour was stronger as he cites running out of time.^[6]