Dawson returns to Boston after spending the summer in Los Angeles working on a film set. Joey tries in vain to meet up with Dawson, until finally he surprises her with a birthday gift.
Joey and Dawson reconnect following Dawson's summer in Los Angeles and have a romantic night together. A surprise party for Joey is ruined before it begins when Dawson's california ex-flame interrupts with a phone call over dinner at which point Joey breaks off the relationship. Jack moves out out of Gram's house to share a pad with newly-employed Pacey just as Jen meets an attractive guy.
Joey inadvertantly sends a very personal e-mail intended for Dawson to the whole school. Jack finds himself attracted to his married professor, while Pacey tries to maintain some integrity at a new job within the cutthroat world of business.
Dawson and Joey once again find themselves in the middle of a love triangle when the sexy star of Dawson's movie confronts Dawson about getting dumped over the phone. Audrey feels neglected by Pacey and gets wild at a party, with Jen and Jack as company. Jack is let down by his professor for making a move on him, as the professor's wife is pregnant.
Dawson keeps his movie set from being shut down by smoothly dealing with a producer who wants to fire Natasha. Jack has a word with his professor about an unsatsifactory grade. Joey learns the truth about Eddie's "student" status, while Audrey is asked to join the band "Hell's Belles" but fumes when Pacey misses her first gig.
At a halloween party thrown on the movie set, Dawson is led to believe he's witnessed the ghostly return of a famous dead movie actress. Pacey and Audrey enter the party as a couple but make separate exits, while Joey finds herself unwillingly escorting a professor's daughter to a scary haunted house. Meanwhile, when Jack encourages Jen to call CJ, she thinks CJ might be gay, only Jack learns CJ isn't gay, he's just not interested in Jen.
Eddie and Joey finally make plans to go out, while CJ believes Audrey may be having alcohol problems when she appears drunk before a "Hell's Belles" show. Jack makes peace with his professor after learning of his impending departure. Pacey meets a beautiful woman in New Orleans but learns the provocative, and illegal, way in which she makes her living.
Dawson and the gang go to a No Doubt concert where he and Natasha have a brush with the law. Jen sets up a meeting between Pacey and Audrey at the show, where Pacey later ends up throwing a punch at CJ when he learns that he's been with Audrey. Joey asks Eddie go on their first date to the show, only she forgets the tickets, forcing them to sneak in backstage.
Dawson gets jealous over the new actor that Natasha finds attractive. Meanwhile, Joey misses one of her finals after oversleeping at Eddie's place. Pacey takes Emma to his office party, where she turns herself into a punk girl for the evening.
Dawson and his mother invite everybody to spend Christmas in Capeside. Joey's father visits while on parole and disapproves of her relationship with Eddie. Pacey comes home in a new car bearing expensive gifts. Audrey downs alcohol while taking pills, and after rubbing her affair with CJ in Jen's face and berating Joey and Dawson for their own relationship games, she ends up driving Pacey's car into the living room.
The studio asks Dawson, now back in Los Angeles, to direct some reshoots for "Wicked Dead" after Todd refuses. Dawson is torn about whether he is being disloyal to his mentor by taking the job.
Joey and Eddie deal with their feelings for one another. Pacey finds himself chosen for a project that might have unethical consequences. Audrey returns to Boston and ruins her acceptance back into "Hell's Belles" by drinking before her first show back.
Natasha refuses to do a nude scene during Dawson's reshoots. Joey accompanies Eddie on the road to California, and convinces Audrey to come along and attend a rehab clinic in Los Angeles. Jen and CJ set Grams up with CJ's feisty uncle.
Dawson visits Audrey in rehab, and spotting a big movie producer, decides to follow her into a therapy session. Pacey throws a party in honor of his new success and is shocked when Joey lets herself go all out during a game of "Spin the Bottle." Jack agrees to marry Emma and help her obtain a green card. Meanwhile, Jen finds former alcoholic CJ having a drink.
Joey and Pacey accidentally find themselves locked in during the after hours at a Kmart store, taking advantage of the wonderful toys and electronic items at their disposal. After reminiscing about their shared history, the two share a kiss that offers more questions than answers about the future.
Before Pacey and Joey determine the status of their future together, Pacey must rush back to Capeside when his father goes into the hospital. Joey then agrees to watch over Professor Heston's daughter. Meanwhile, Dawson is reinvigorated when he gets to be guest speaker at his old high school's film class.
Joey's decision to act as Pacey's assistant leads to jealousies between them and, ultimately, her being fired. Their relationship is further tested when Eddie returns to Boston. Dawson sells a story idea to the movie studio but must decide whether or not to take the deal when the studio decides to tweak his idea. Meanwhile, Grams tries to bring Jen and C.J. together.
Jen is devestated when she learns that Grams has breast cancer. Joey's love problems continue when she learns the truth about Eddie's return to Boston and shares a less-than-magical night with Pacey as chaperones of Harley's school dance. Meanwhile, Pacey reluctantly agrees to invest Dawson's life savings into Dawson's newest film project.
Joey and Eddie have their relationship drama played out during a counseling center benefit featuring "Loveline" hosts Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Corolla, where a newly-returned and sober Audrey fixes her sights on Dr. Drew. Meanwhile, at the same event, Jack and David deal with the problems of their own relationship, while Jen opens up to CJ about Grams' cancer.
Pacey is asked by his bosses at the investment firm to sell a client's stock only days before a federal ruling, an act which gets him accused of insider trading and costs Dawson his investment money and Pacey his friendship with Dawson. Meanwhile, Eddie offers Joey a surprise trip to Europe, but an argument soon has them questioning their compatibility with one another.
Joey is touched by Dawson's heartwarming script left on her doorstep, but his own dreams of moviemaking are dashed when Pacey tells him about his lost investment money. A subsequent fight potentially leaves permanent damage on the friendships of all three friends. Meanwhile, Jen invites her mother to Boston, hoping to tell her that Grams and Jack will be moving with her to New York to seek medical care for Grams.
With Dawson's spirits crushed, Joey rallies the gang to go back to Capeside and help his film production get back off the ground. Pacey deems not to be a part of it, but determines to help Dawson get the financing he needs to make the movie. Meanwhile, Jack, Jen, and Grams prepare to leave for New York, while Joey pursues her dream of going off to Paris.
Five years have gone by, and the gang comes together in Capeside for a wedding, where old feelings are rekindled. Dawson now lives in Los Angeles, producing an autobiographical television series, Joey is a book editor in New York living with her boyfriend, Pacey now owns the Ice House restaurant, Jack is a teacher at Capeside High, and Jen is a single mother living with Grams in Soho and running
Five years have gone by, and the gang comes together in Capeside for a wedding, where old feelings are rekindled. Dawson now lives in Los Angeles, producing an autobiographical television series, Joey is a book editor in New York living with her boyfriend, Pacey now owns the Ice House restaurant, Jack is a teacher at Capeside High, and Jen is a single mother living with Grams in Soho and running