The 'Dawson's Creek' Kids' Lives Are Super Bleak Now, According to the Creator

According to the actress who played Dawson's mom, a reboot of the series picking up where it left off is a "strong possibility." We all know better than to trust Dawson's mom, but she's apparently speaking for everyone in the group chat and has gone so far as to write nearly 200 pages of material, so who knows?

What would that even look like, though? We left things at such a perfect place: Pacey and Joey living in blissful New York sin, Dawson meeting his hero as an up-and-coming television god, and Jen dead. 

Can't we just leave well enough alone and assume everyone lived happily ever after (or dead)?

No, we can't, because creator Kevin Williamson told us all the way back in 2018 what the Creek gang is up to these days. He thought it might be fun to share his vision of a "Where are they now?" for Entertainment Weekly's Dawson's Creek cast reunion, and it ain't good. Pacey and Joey? Divorced, and bitterly. "I think they had a family; I think there were troubles," he said. "I think that when we meet them, they're in a very dark place."

But Dawson's okay, right? He was coming down off the first season of a hit TV show! "I think Dawson became Spielberg; all his dreams came true," Williamson confirmed but went on, "I think they shattered. I think he fell apart. I think he never really found love." Great. So among the core characters of the show, your options are traumatic divorce, Bojack Horseman, or dead.

Of course, that's all just a setup for the story Williamson is writing in his mind. Though Dawson's having a rough time, "he's just on the cusp of changing his whole life and finding the one thing that's going to make it magical," Williamson said. Regarding Joey and Pacey, "I think we would sort of have to watch them fall in love all over again as middle-aged adults."

But does anyone want that? Their love story was always unrealistic, which is why they broke up once a season, and if we can't just pretend everything worked out, maybe it's best to leave that dead horse alone. After 25 years of endless turmoil, maybe it's time for those two to ask themselves if this is what they really want. As far as Dawson goes, Californication is already a show, and in the same universe.

Top image: Sony Pictures Television