Dawson’s Creek: 10 Most Hated Storylines

For a lot of television fans, Dawson’s Creek marked the beginning of teen television as we know it today. With love triangles, frank emotional discussions, and tons of drama, Dawson’s Creek paved the way for pretty much everything on the CW. A lot of us look back fondly on the series, but not every storyline evokes fond memories.

For every story arc to build up a fantastic relationship (like Joey and Pacey becoming friends), there were ones that made the audience question how two characters could be interested in one another at all. While Dawson chased his dreams, he also saw his family fall apart and his best friends become completely different people. These 10 storylines are some of the most hated by fans during the run of the series. 

10 Gail Cheated On Mitch

One of the first story arcs that fans found questionable was Gail Leery cheating on her husband. It began in the pilot episode of the series with Joey seeing Gail kiss her coworker goodbye.

Marital problems in Dawson’s picture-perfect family weren’t necessarily a bad point for the series, but the way the storyline progressed didn’t interest a lot of the audience. Joey kept what she saw a secret from Dawson, and Dawson blew up at her when he found out the truth instead of being angry with his own mother. It also created a strange tension between Joey and Dawson’s parents.

9 Joey Lost Herself In Her Relationship With Eddie

Joey Potter was always someone who was very secure in who she was. She explored her creative side through painting and writing, tried to help her sister out with her nephew, and was determined to get the best education she could in order to improve her quality of life.

When Joey and Eddie debated literature in class, she became intrigued by this guy who appeared to want to educate himself in the same way. Unfortunately, Joey lost a little bit of herself in their relationship, so focused on Eddie’s writing and his place in university that she forgot about her own. She even overslept while staying with him and missed a crucial exam, failing it as a result. That didn’t sit well with fans who had watched Joey through her teen years.

8 Pacey Dated His Teacher

Tamara Jacobs was new in town in the first season. She flirted with Pacey at the video store, not realizing he’d end up being one of the students. Pacey didn’t let the flirtation go, and the two had a relationship in the first season.

This storyline happened before it seemed like every high school television show had a teacher-student romance. As lovable of a character as Pacey was, pursuing a relationship with his teacher wasn’t something anyone wanted to watch.

7 Mitch’s Death By Ice Cream Cone

As the teenage characters of the show aged into their college years, there were less storylines for the parents. As a result, Dawson’s father was killed off, and Dawson experienced grief in his own family instead of through his friends.

Loss is an integral part of most TV dramas, but the way Mitch Leery left the series wasn’t exactly in a big dramatic fashion. Instead, he dropped his ice cream cone while driving, and the distraction of retrieving it had him end up in a fatal car accident. Fans thought the character deserved a better sendoff. 

6 Joey’s Father Returned To Capeside

When Joey’s father returned to Capeside, he claimed to be a changed man. During her childhood, he was arrested for distributing drugs, and before that, he cheated on her dying mother. As a result, Joey wasn’t particularly close with him, but when he was released from prison, she decided to give him a chance.

Joey’s world was turned upside down all over again when Dawson discovered that her father wasn’t as changed as he claimed to be. Dawson’s knowledge led to Joey wearing a wire to confront her father, and drove a wedge into their relationship. Fans would have much rather Joey’s father never tried to make a new life in Capeside.

5 Andie Decided To Cheat — Twice

Andie McPhee was always an overachiever. It seemed logical, on the one hand, that she would do whatever she had to do to achieve her dreams. On the other hand, Andie was incredibly judgmental of people who broke the rules. Her cheating seemed incredibly out of character for her.

Not only did Andie enter into a relationship with another patient while she was in treatment (and still dating Pacey), but she initially lied about it. Following that, she crumbled under the pressure of standardized testing, and used the answers she found to cheat on her exam as well. Fans couldn’t wrap their head around this version of Andie.

4 Audrey Took A Road Trip To Rehab

When the Capeside kids went off to university, Audrey was assigned to be Joey’s roommate. Initially, the two didn’t get along, but they gradually became incredibly close friends. Joey even gave Audrey her blessing to date Pacey. Audrey’s college experience, however, included a downward spiral into substance use.

Watching Audrey get help was a good storyline for the series, but the road to get her there made fans cringe. Joey, Eddie, and a random guy named Bob (played by Seth Rogen) all took a trip out to California to check Audrey into rehab. The trip itself was awkward, but also pretty boring compared to the rest of the season.

3 Pacey Became A Stock Broker

While all of his friends went on to higher education, Pacey went straight into adulthood and work experience. He had a lot of jobs over the course of two seasons, but one of the strangest was his sudden rise as a stock broker.

With no degree and no financial experience, Pacey got a job investing clients’ money. It was a little far-fetched, even for Dawson’s Creek. The suit and tie — and getting people to give up their savings to chance — seemed pretty out of character for Pacey. His jobs working on boats, where he had more freedom, or in restaurants, where he genuinely loved learning about food, were much more suited to him.

2 Joey Hung Out With Charlie

Before he was Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill, Chad Michael Murray was a guy Jen met in college who two-timed her. Charlie wasn’t anyone’s favorite character after that, but to make matters worse, Joey started spending a lot of quality time with him even after knowing what he did.

Joey wanted a relationship that wasn’t serious or bogged down in teenage drama, and she went after it with Charlie. Would Joey Potter ever date someone who cheated on a friend, even if it was just casual? It seemed unlikely. Her finding Charlie’s antics endearing instead of annoying wasn’t a sign of her maturity.

1 Dawson Met Eve

Eve might be the one character the audience hated most. She appeared in Season 3 on a trip through Capeside to find her birth parents. For a lark, Eve attempted to turn Dawson into a party-loving-bad-boy along the way.

Dawson was always the most straight–laced and judgmental of characters, so it was certainly nice to see him decide to let his oh-so ’90s hair down once in a while. But cutting loose with Andie or Jen was very different than him wrecking a boat with a girl he hardly knew. Even if she did turn out to be Jen’s sister, the audience couldn’t wait for her to skip town.

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