It’s been 18 long years since fans said goodbye to Dawson’s Creek. While the series still lives on in streaming (aside from its iconic theme song), with so many shows getting revived and rebooted these days, is there hope we could see Dawson, Pacey, Joey and Jen once again? (Okay, maybe not Jen.) Pacey Witter himself, Joshua Jackson, gave his opinion on that and more.
The Mighty Ducks alum spoke to Variety about all things Dawson’s Creek, as well as new Peacock limited series Dr. Death. When on the subject of the possibility of a Dawson’s Creek revival, Joshua Jackson wasn’t too keen on the idea, nor was he particularly fond of the final two seasons:
I don’t know that we need to see Pacey and Joey in their mid-40s. The story was told about a group of people at a time and frankly, you probably could have cut the last two seasons out and just kept it in high school because it’s such a particularly beautiful moment — and specific moment — in a bunch of people’s lives.
At the time that Dawson’s Creek was a thing, so were Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, Degrassi, One Tree Hill, and The O.C. Most of these shows had a very specific setting in high school and so resonated with so many people at the time. When shows move away from that storyline because the characters are growing up, the audience can grow with them. But at the same time, those high school storylines are so relatable that it makes sense that Joshua Jackson feels there wasn’t really a need to get away from that.
Moreover, many people who watched Dawson’s Creek were Pacey and Joey (Katie Holmes) shippers. While it would be nice to see what the couple is up to now – if they are still together, if they have kids of their own, etc. – it doesn’t seem like Jackson is up for that story, and for good reason:
I know what their story is there: it’s beautiful and it’s self-contained and it’s a moment and it’s all those great things. No one needs to see the gritty drama about Pacey and Joey and their marriage 20 years later. I don’t know that you service that old story by telling the story of us getting old and gray and wrinkly and going through a midlife crisis together. I don’t think that adds to the original story.
Despite Joshua Jackson not being on board for a revival, Mary-Margaret Humes, who played Gail throughout the series, revealed in 2017 she would be on board for a Dawson’s Creek revival simply to tie up some loose ends. Even though Jackson doesn’t necessarily want a revival right now, opinions can change. Though much of the cast is busy doing other things so it may be hard to get them all together, if there were to be a revival. While still waiting for a Dawson’s Creek revival or reboot, the series is streaming on both Netflix and Hulu in full.
