Bye, Bye, ‘Dawson’s Creek’

‘Dawson’s Creek’ only has three weeks left before its series finale May 14. Creator Kevin Williamson returned to write the two-hour epic, which will focus on the original cast: Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson) and Jen (Michelle Williams). The final show will flash forward to post-college life and an event that forces the friends back to Capeside. Previews have been teasing audiences with the ominous tagline, ‘One of these four will lose their life.’

‘Dawson’s’ premiered on the WB in 1998 as a mid-season replacement. It followed the lives of the Capeside foursome as they faced the challenges of high school life, many challenges which were also plaguing their teenage viewers. Many of the show’s stories coincided with the lives of actual high school students who tuned into ‘Dawson’s’ to see the characters deal with their PSATs, college applications and high school graduation. The current BU class of 2005 shares many things in common with the ‘Dawson’s’ bunch: they graduated high school the same year as them and they all go to school at a prestigious Boston University.

Over the years, ‘Dawson’s’ has seen many characters come and go, sometimes in the most depressing ways. In addition to Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen, there’s been Andie, Mr. Leery, Abby, Eve, Henry and Charlie, to name a few. Jack, Grams and Audrey are still hanging around until the end.

And though some may have lost touch with the ‘Dawson’s’ clan in recent years, there’s no doubt the show will be missed. ‘I’ve been watching it since eighth grade,’ College of Arts and Sciences freshman Sarah Bilman said. ‘Wednesdays won’t be the same.’

Viewers like Sarah are in luck: TBS will be airing reruns, and the first season was recently released on DVD, complete with special features so fans can relive it all.