...Must Come To An End

...Must Come To An End
Season	6
Episode	24
INFO
Aired	14 May 2003
Written by	Kevin Williamson & Maggie Friedman
Directed by	Greg Prange
EPISODES
Previous	All Good Things...

❝

“Dawson – What we have goes beyond friendship, beyond lovers. It's forever

Joey – Yes it is. I love you, Dawson

Dawson – I love you too, Joey

Joey – You and me always

Dawson – Always”

...Must Come To An End is the Season 6 and series finale of Dawson's Creek.

Synopsis

THE END — As Jen's (Michelle Williams) health starts to deteriorate, Dawson (James Van Der Beek) helps her make a video for her infant daughter. Jen asks Joey (Katie Holmes) to choose between Dawson and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) once and for all. Secrets start to come out, important conversations are had, and love becomes clear as it time to say goodbye to Capeside.

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 Appearance By Meredith Monroe as Andie McPhee Special Guest Stars 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 Co-Starring Ashleigh Sumner as Assistant Kristen Solt as Lilly Leery Matthew Slate Wells as Alexander Potter Wells Terry Loughlin as Doctor Michael Hartson as Stan Michael O'Connell as Mr. Dudley Ann Pierce as Mrs. Dudley John Copeman as Stunt Coordinator

Jen's video

Hi, Amy, it's Mom.

Well, by the time you see this, I won't be here anymore, and I know how much that sucks, for both of us. So seeing as how I won't be around to thoroughly annoy you, I thought I would give you a little list of the things that I wish for you. Well, there's the obvious. An education. Family. Friends. And a life that is full of the unexpected. Be sure to make mistakes. Make a lot of them, because there's no better way to learn and to grow, all right? And, um, I want you to spend a lot of time at the ocean, because the ocean forces you to dream, and I insist that you, my girl, be a dreamer. God. I've never really believed in god. In fact, I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to disprove that god exists. But I hope that you are able to believe in god, because the thing that I've come to realize, sweetheart... is that it just doesn't matter if god exists or not. The important thing is for you to believe in something, because I promise you that that belief will keep you warm at night, and I want you to feel safe always. And then there's love. I want you to love to the tips of your fingers, and when you find that love, wherever you find it, whoever you choose, don't run away from it. But you don't have to chase after it either. You just be patient, and it'll come to you, I promise, and when you least expect it, like you, like spending the best year of my life with the sweetest and the smartest and the most beautiful baby girl in the world. You don't be afraid, sweetheart. And remember, to love means to live.

Quotes

❝

Lilly – What's a soulmate?

Dawson – It's uh... Well, it's like a best friend, but more. It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else. It's someone who makes you a better person. Actually, they don't make you a better person, you do that yourself because they inspire you. A soul mate is someone who you carry with you forever. It's the one person who knew you and accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you'll always love her. Nothing can ever change that. Make sense?

❝

It's not about getting it right... It's about knowing when it's wrong and doing something about it

—Andie to Pacey

❝

It's interesting how people use that expression, life and death. As if to imply that life is the opposite of death, but birth is the opposite of death. Life... has no opposite

—Dawson

❝

Pacey – You're off the hook. I never really put much faith in all that "if you love someone set them free" crap, as evidenced by everything I've done in my life up to this very moment but I am determined to be happy, Joey. Happy in this life...and I love you, I mean, I always, I have always, always loved you. But our timing has just never been right...and the way I figure it, time is no man's friend. So I have to get right with that and be happy, now. Because this is it, I mean, this is all that we get. If there is one thing I've learned from losing Jen, that's what I've learned...Because I also want for you to be happy. It's really important for me that you be happy. So I want you to be with someone, whether it be Dawson or New York guy or some man that you haven't even met yet. But I want you to be with someone who can be a part of the life that you want for yourself. I want you to be with someone who makes you feel like I feel when I'm with you. So, I guess the point to this long run-on sentence that's been the last 10 years of our lives... is just that the simple act of being in love with you is enough for me. So you're off the hook.

Joey – You know what, for the record, I don't want to be let off the hook. Because everything in my life that I've done has led me here, right now, and the last thing I want, need or deserve is to be let off somebody's hook...Pacey, I love you. You know that... and it's very real. It's so real that it's kept me moving, mostly running from it, never ready for it. And I love Dawson. He's my soulmate. He's tied to my childhood and it's a love that is pure and eternally innocent. I can't be let off the hook, because I might just get the notion that it's OK to keep running.

Locations

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

Trivia

• Jen tells Jack that she wants him to take care of her daughter, Amy.
• The show ends with Joey choosing Pacey and Dawson telling them that he has meeting with someone (implied its Spielberg).

BROADCAST

• The two-part series finale was watched by 7.3 million people upon its original airing — the largest viewership since Season 2.

PRODUCTION NOTES

• Michelle Williams added the 'love to the tips of your fingers' bit to her monologue.
• The final day of filming took place on April 25, 2003. Pacey and Joey watching The Creek was the last scene shot. Pacey's tears are actually the actor emotional over the end of the series.
• The food fighting scene between Joey and Pacey is mostly ad-libbed, as the script simply said, "food fight."
• Kevin Williamson's childhood friend, who Joey is based on, recently had a child at the time of writing the finale, inspiring Williamson to give Jen a baby in the series finale.
• Williamson's frequent collaborator, Julie Plec, wrote Pacey's "you're off the hook" monologue.
• Greg Berlanti wrote pieces of dialogue as well.
• Meredith Monroe returned as Andie but her scenes were cut.

Music

angel | SARAH MCLACHLAN

dawson films the video jen makes for her daughter

hand in my pocket | ALANIS MORISSETTE

jen and pacey watch a home video of the season 1 intro credits and scenes

healing hands | MARC COHN

dawson and joey outside in the hospital gardens

green apples | CHANTAL KREVIAZUK

montage at the hospital

hands | JEWEL

montage after jen dies

say goodnight, not goodbye | BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN

the end

Photos

stills

screenshots

Videos

Dawson's Creek - Jen's Last Message To Her Daughter

Media

Kevin Williamson Comes Home To “Dawson Creek” To Write The May 14 Two-Hour Series Finale (WARNER BROS • FEB 2003)

Dawson's Creek Finale Scoop! (TV GUIDE • MAR 2003)

Awesome ‘Dawson’ leaps Frog records (VARIETY • MAY 2003)

'Dawson's Creek' series finale: Kevin Williamson on saying goodbye (EW • APR 2014)

'Dawson's Creek' Could Have Had a Completely Different Ending If Joshua Jackson Didn't Have a Say (POPCULTURE • MAY 2022)