Chad Michael Murray | Dawson's Creek

• Genre: Teen drama, Romance
• Created by: Kevin Williamson
• Showrunners: Kevin Williamson (seasons 1 & 2), Greg Berlanti (seasons 3 & 4), Tom Kapinos (seasons 5 & 6)
• Starring: James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes, Mary-Margaret Humes, John Wesley Shipp, Mary Beth Peil, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, Busy Philipps
• Theme music composer: Paula Cole, Jann Arden
• Opening theme: "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole, "Run Like Mad" by Jann Arden
• Composers: Danny Lux, Stephen Graziano, Mark Mothersbaugh, Adam Fields, Dennis McCarthy
• No. of seasons: 6
• No. of episodes: 128
• Executive producers: Deborah Joy LeVine, Kevin Williamson, Paul Stupin, Greg Berlanti, Tom Kapinos, Greg Prange
• Production locations: Wilmington, North Carolina, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Running time: 45 minutes
• Production companies: Outerbanks Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television
• Network: The WB
• Release: January 20, 1998 – May 14, 2003

Dawson Leery is an introspective 15-year-old aspiring filmmaker in the small New England town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Since childhood, he has been best friends with Josephine "Joey" Potter, who routinely comes over to his house through a ladder into his bedroom for movie-watching and platonic sleepovers. Tomboy Joey, who lost her mother to cancer and whose father is in prison for drug trafficking, lives with her older sister Bessie, who runs the restaurant The Icehouse.

"The Bostonians"

Dawson is a freshman film student in Los Angeles and about to begin an internship at a studio under director Todd Carr (Hal Ozsan), while Joey is settling in at Worthington College in Boston. Instead of focusing on their new lives, they find themselves distracted by the distance between them and their unsettling last kiss. Joey is out of her depth, dealing with promiscuous roommate Audrey Liddell and a demanding creative writing professor, David Wilder (Ken Marino), who gives her story -- based on her kiss with Dawson -- a C+. Jen and Jack try to settle in at (the fictional) Boston Bay College, with Jack taking the chance to tease Jen about her lack of love life: he points out that in the last year, both of them have only kissed one man, and the man Jen kissed was him. Jen visits the harbor, where Pacey has moved in secret, a caretaker to Kubelik's yacht. Joey, Jack and Jen, with Audrey tagging along, attend a frat party; there, Audrey admits to Joey that she too has a romantic attachment from high school she left behind; Jack begins to bond with the members of the fraternity; and Jen finds a romantic spark with Charlie Todd (Chad Michael Murray), whose band was hired for the party. Joey leaves an emotional voicemail message to Dawson that it's time for them to go their separate ways; the next morning, he arrives at her dorm room, having been fired from his internship, and doubting his future in LA.

"The Lost Weekend"

Dawson is packing to return to LA after spending the weekend with Joey when he receives the voicemail she left him the previous Friday. The two are unable to hash out their differences as Joey spends the day trying to get permission to drop her writing class and get the form through Worthington bureaucracy. At the behest of his brother, Pacey reluctantly gets a dish-washer job at Civilization, a restaurant run by an ambitious chef, Danny Brecher (Ian Kahn), and meets a waitress named Karen (Lourdes Benedicto). Although Karen has a boyfriend, that doesn't stop Pacey from feeling attracted to her. Audrey gives Dawson a tour of the campus while Joey is busy, and Jen helps Charlie at the radio station, then secures a job as his co-host. She also winds up in bed with him.

"Capeside Revisited"

Joey, Audrey and Jen go out to dinner at Civilization, where Joey is perturbed to see Pacey working in the back; she is shocked to learn from Jen that he's been here for more than three weeks and has made no attempt to contact her. Jack is offered a bid by the Sigma Epsilon fraternity; he tells them that he is gay, but they say diversity is part of their mandate, so he accepts. Dawson heads home to Capeside, having made the decision to drop out of university and move to Boston. While Gail is understanding, Mitch is not. Jen, disturbed that her connection to Charlie is primarily sexual, spends the day trying to learn something about him. Dawson and his father have a heated argument about Dawson's future. Mitch thinks Dawson is making a mistake, but adds that he loves his son unconditionally. Joey visits Pacey, and they rekindle their friendship. After Dawson has left, Mitch runs out to the store to get milk for Lilly; he takes his eyes off the road and is killed in a crash.

"Use Your Disillusion"

Dawson takes Joey up on her invitation to spend a weekend in Boston, but the two have difficulty talking, and later Dawson has a panic attack. Joey is asked by Professor Wilder to join a small team of students cataloguing the estate of recently-deceased author, Worthington alumni Rose Lazare. Jack is surprised when his boyfriend Tobey shows up unexpectedly, forcing Jack to choose between his fraternity's hell week and spending time with Tobey. Jack keeps leaving Tobey when his frat brothers call and Jen is left to pick up the pieces. Later, Jack tells Jen he wants to meet new people, but she says he should have been honest with Tobey, rather than avoid seeing him. The two stop speaking. Pacey is asked by Chef Danny if he (Danny) can borrow Pacey's boat for a romantic evening with his wife; Pacey agrees. Jen, on her way to a production of Othello, sees Charlie in a coffee shop touching a woman's hand; she storms in and throws iced coffee at his lap. But the woman is his sister, who had been showing off her engagement ring. Jen apologises but later sees him kissing another woman outside his dorm room.

"High Anxiety"

Dawson is having trouble with anxiety attacks so his doctor refers him to a grief therapist in Boston. Outside the office Dawson changes his mind and instead embarks on a night of debauchery with Jack and his frat brothers, which ends with a drunken Dawson citing his kiss with Joey as being the reason Dawson dropped out of USC, and therefore of Mitch's death. Jen, conferring with Pacey on the issue of Charlie's cheating, finds a locket; Pacey passes it to Danny for his wife. Jen finds the other woman, Nora (Andrea C. Pearson), hiding in Charlie's wardrobe. Charlie suggests they all continue dating and Jen pretends to go along with this, but conspires with Nora to leave him naked and locked out of his dorm room, and short of several prized possessions. Audrey seeks emotional support from Joey when her critical mother Kay (Brenda Strong) visits. And Pacey recognises the lost locket around Karen's neck...

"Appetite for Destruction"

To encourage the gang to actually hold one of the weekly dinners they've been planning since the start of the semester, Pacey offers to cook the meal; he, Joey, Jack and Audrey discuss the fact that Dawson and Jen stayed an extra night in New Hampshire after the film festival, making them a little late to dinner. Jen and Dawson, arriving, decide to keep their re-kindled relationship to themselves, but are caught by everyone kissing at the door. The resulting tense atmosphere derails dinner, with Joey's feelings at the forefront of everyone's minds. She reluctantly accepts Dawson's new status with Jen, but is wounded when Dawson tells her that he needs to move on and away from a past which no longer contains his father, which he could not do if he dated her. Charlie also drops by, causing some tension between Dawson and Jen; he admits that Nora has rejected him, but Jen is adamant that she's already taken. Joey talks to Pacey about her real feelings about Dawson and Jen.

"Something Wild"

Joey, Audrey and Pacey go out to celebrate at a nightclub: Pacey has been promoted to chef, Audrey has been hired as a waitress at Civilization (primarily on her ability to put Pacey in his place), and Joey has achieved a perfect GPA for her first semester at Worthington. Audrey suggests to Joey that they should both kiss some boys but Joey is reluctant to do so. Charlie's band is playing, and Charlie hits on Joey, though he gives up when Joey confirms that she knows what he did to Jen. Still, he challenges her to do something wild. This culminates in Joey taking the stage to sing "I Want You To Want Me," and planting a spontaneous kiss on Charlie backstage. Dawson and Jen go back to Capeside to visit Gail and Lilly, where they have their first fight over what Dawson will do with his life. Gail formally releases him from his responsibilities to the Leery household, and all three agree that Dawson should move to Boston, enroll in the Visual Arts College, and live with Jen and Grams.

"Guerilla Filmmaking"

Directing Oliver's movie is not an easy task. Audrey, playing opposite Oliver, has problems with the star's kissing skills, and Dawson discovers that Oliver is a deficient thespian, leading to a re-casting of Charlie in the role. This puts the film under additional pressure: the final scene must be shot by the end of the day, as the lights are only rented for that long, and Dawson wants to change it as he feels it lacking. Audrey, practicing lines with Pacey, kisses him in a moment of passion; later, she locks herself in the bathroom out of guilt for making a move on her roommate's ex, but Joey, called in by Dawson, gives the two of them her blessing. Joey was called away from Professor Wilder's house, where she has made the decision to quit his writing seminar, thereby allowing them to date. Meanwhile, Jack and Eric bond over the former's coming-out experience, and Eric's body language suggests a regard deeper than friendship; however, Eric then goes to the fraternity's leadership and claims that Jack kissed him without consent. Jack, seeing that he has been pre-judged, quits the fraternity, stopping only to wish Eric clarity and greater self-acceptance. Dawson and Audrey improvise a successful ending in one long take, and Joey heads back to Professor Wilder's house through a snowy, late-night Boston.

"Highway to Hell"

Charlie learns that the lead singer of his band has quit; he begs Joey to take over, as the band have a paying gig the next day. Pacey agrees to drive her and Audrey the six hours. Charlie, who overslept and missed his ride with the rest of the band, turns up needing a ride. Pacey dislikes Charlie as the latter has wronged Jen. The drive is fraught with arguments and sniping from Charlie. Meanwhile, Dawson, Jen, Jack and Grams return to Capeside for Lily's first birthday party, and Dawson is uncomfortable with his mother's friendship with Nathan (Scott Stevens), who also has a young child. Jen confesses to Jack that she wants to break up with Dawson, missing the freedom of getting to make her own choices and be spontaneous. Dawson and Jen argue. Having talked to his mother, Dawson accepts that she is interested in a man again after her husband died. Joey wows the crowd, though she requires some duet assistance from Charlie to do so. Audrey and pacey's relationship is back on and Pacey doesn't want to drive home yet. The four of them take two rooms in a motel. Joey hands out by the pool and Charlie says he's going to bed and gives her a key to the room. Joey later goes to the room and lies down on the bed, fully clothed, with Charlie.

"Cigarette Burns"

Oliver tells Dawson he has arranged a screening for their movie, which is yet to be finished. Dawson freaks out, but Joey comforts him saying the movie is brilliant. At the screening, Dawson meets a beautiful woman, and after exchanging insults she reveals herself to be Amy Lloyd (Meredith Salenger), movie critic for the Boston Weekly, whom Oliver secretly invited. She storms out, but Dawson convinces her to watch the movie after a heart-to-heart talk -- and, after Amy glimpses her boyfriend, who just dumped her, a decoy kiss. Meanwhile, Joey is scared about her feelings towards Charlie and goes to Jen for advice. Jen, recently reunited with Jack, struggles to deal with the fact that Grams has a new boyfriend, Clifton Smalls (Afemo Omilami), an African-American Baptist. Pacey asks Audrey how many men she's slept with, and she tests his reactions by saying 27, then 57, when it was really only five.

"100 Light Years from Home"

It is Spring Break and the group goes to Miami to party. Audrey and Pacey go through their first relationship test when Chris Hartford (Tac Fitzgerald), Audrey's high school boyfriend and first love, shows up with tickets for the M2M concert at an MTV event. She is torn with the memories of the past, and eventually kisses Chris. Pacey stays cool about it and asks Audrey to be his official girlfriend after she confesses she loves him. Meanwhile, Dawson and Oliver drive to New York to meet a film agent who is interested in their movie; to pass the time, Dawson tells Oliver the (long and convoluted) story about his past with Joey. Oliver convinces him to turn the car south and make his case to her. But when he gets there, all he finds is a drunk and depressed Jack (who is flunking out of college) and Pacey, who tells him his story with Joey is over: Charlie has showed up, and he and Joey end up spending the night chatting in a tent.

"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)"

Charlie's band lands a deal for a tour. He asks Joey to go with him, but she doesn't want to leave college in the middle of the semester. Charlie then decides to quit the band and stay with her; Joey begins to panic, as she feels like the relationship is moving too fast. She breaks up with him so he can go with his band on tour. Meanwhile, Oliver and Dawson finally get to NY to meet with an agent (Jack Plotnik), but Oliver ruins the meeting with his awkwardness. Dawson smooths it over by remaining behind to beg for another chance. Pacey meets the nasty new manager of Civilization, Alex Pearl (Sherilyn Fenn), who has bought the restaurant from Danny. She promotes Pacey to head chef but fires Audrey. Pacey tries to get Audrey her job back, but all he gets is a kiss from Alex.