Dawson and Joey try to figure out what to do next since they had their first kiss. Meanwhile Pacey plays a not so funny joke on a new girl. Jen deals with her grandfather's passing. Mitch sees a divorce lawyer.

Dawson's is preoccupied in his relationship with Joey and forgots about Pacey's sixteenth birthday. Dawson looks at Joey's diary without her knowing. Mitch and Gale seek advice about their marriage. Jen begins hanging out with Abby. Andie's brother Jack gets a job at the Ice House.

A school economic assignment puts Dawson with Jen, Pacey with Andie and Joey by herself. Jen uses the opportunity to get closer to Dawson. Pacey misreads Andie's situation. Joey explores what life could be like as a successful career woman and accidently offends Bessie. Mitch and Gail consider an open marriage.

Joey's newfound interest in art causes a rift between her and Dawson but common ground with Jack. Tamara returns to Capeside to sell some property and runs into Pacey. Andie reveals to Dawson that she likes Pacey. Jen's friendship with Abby is threatened when a hot older guy shows interest in Jen but not Abby.

A full moon means bad luck for several residents of Capeside. Dawson comes to a realization about his parents marriage. Jen goes on a date with Vince that ends with Grams catching the two making out. Andie agrees to go out with Pacey but doesn't want him picking her up at her house. Pacey meets Andie and Jack's mother and Andie has to tell him the truth about her family. Jack kisses Joey.

Two tragedies rock Dawson's world. First he learns the awful truth about his parents marriage. Than at the Homecoming dance, he witnesses a heated moment between Joey and Jack, setting of a chain of events that shatter a lifelong friendship and a new found romance. The big night also gives Jen a chance to use Joey's mistakes to get with Dawson. Pacey tries to open his heart to Andie, but breaks hers.

Facing the scariest English test of their lives the gang has an all night study session at wealthy, horny Chris Wolfe's house. At this all-nighter secrets are revealed and friendships are altered.

Joey's "semi-date" with Jack prompts a resentful Dawson to join Jen at a bash where he saves her from doing some things she'll regret. Pacey proves his worth when Andie's mom has a psychotic break during their study session. Mitch cannot understand Dawson's views on their divorce.

Andie and Joey are the victim in a smear campaign by Abby when they run for class officers opposite her. Dawson catches his parents having sex on the kitchen table but is stunned to learn they are still going through with the divorce. Jen encourages Dawson to take more risks. Jack notices that Andie's mood swings are become more frequent.

"Horrifically epic" tryouts for his movie prompt a steamy dialogue between Dawson and Jen that could recast her role in his love life. Jack poses nude for Joey, who feels herself drawn towards intimacy. Pacey sets out to fulfill Andie's dream date and his own.

Abby and Chris find an anonymous note at school. Abby realizes the author and intended recipient had sex the night before and in true Abby fashion, she sets to expose the affair. Working from clues about Joey's night of nude sketching with Jack, Dawson's steamy stop over at Jen's and Pacey's bed and breakfast trip with Andie. Abby calls together her list of suspects and reveals the dirty secrets of Capeside.

The gang explores uncharted waters when Dawson and Pacey go on a father-son fishing trip with Mitch Leery and Pacey's grumpy, critical, alcoholic father, Sheriff John Witter, whom does not pass up any opportunity to browbeat and put Pacey down every chance he gets. But tensions really begin when Pacey invites Jack along whom tries to make amends to a reluctant Dawson.

Old feelings return for Joey and for Dawson while he is making his new movie, about their relationship. Pacey finds the Xanax bottle in Andie's trash and confronts her about it.

In a compelling two-part episode, the Capeside High School gossip mill kicks into overdrive after Jack bears his soul in a English assignment and is forced to expose his innermost secrets while reading the poem aloud in class, leaving Dawson, Joey, and Andie shaken by the implications of what it all means. Meanwhile, Pacey tries to defend Jack in the face of an adversarial teacher, and Jen finds her latest suitor Ty is full of surprises.

On Dawson's advice, Joey attempts to heal the wounds of her new romance with Jack left shattered by rumor and innuendo, but when Jack confronts his innermost secrets, their lives and everyone's close to them will never be the same again. Meanwhile, for the first time in his life, Pacey stands up for what he believes in when he takes on an abusive teacher, but the consequences of his convictions are more than he could have imagined.

On the eve of Dawson's sixteenth birthday, Pacey and Andie follow her therapist's advice and throw themselves into an unabashed night of recklessness and the blues. Meanwhile, back at the Leery house, Joey is organizing a surprise party for Dawson, but the longer the guest of honor is a no show, the more she is subject to surprises of her own; Jen and Ty face up to the their potentially irreconcilable differences; and Gale and Mitch come to decisions about how to raise their son in light of their separation.

Dawson's confidence as a filmmaker is shaken when his new teacher turns out to be a movie studio executive on sabbatical in Capeside and tells Dawson the painful truth about his amateur movie. The future is unsure for Joey as well, when a fortuneteller advises her to be open to every new opportunity that crosses her path, and she stumbles into Colin, a gorgeous photographer who brings out Joey's free-spirited side during a wild photo shoot.

With Joey's father back in town, Bessie and him decide to expand the Ice House to also cater weddings. Needing help they enlist Andie, who says she hate's weddings but doesn't and Pacey who loves them. Joey who doesn't think her father recently out of jail should be seen in Capeside and Dawson, who is angry when his parents arrive separately. Jack and Dawson battle to help a scared bride, while Andie and Pacey scramble to fix the cake. Making Gail sad, Mitch shows up to the wedding with Mrs. Kennedy. Jen and Abby's sneaking into the wedding leads to tragedy.

Everyone is shocked by Abby's sudden passing. Jen cannot stand everyone's hypocrisy when they all act like they liked Abby. Abby's mother thinks that Abby and Andie were friends and asks Andie to give a speech at the funeral. Pacey worries the Andie could have a breakdown especially after Jen blames Andie for kicking them out of the wedding. Gail tells Dawson that she got a job offer in Philadelphia. Abby's passing brings up feelings for Joey about her own mother's passing. Jen gives a eulogy at Abby's funeral blasting everyone and God. Grams throws Jen out over her actions. Andie returns to Abby's house to take Abby's journal before her mother can see the cruel things Abby wrote in it and Andie sees Abby's image in the mirror.

Dawson and Joey are reunited for a while, so Dawson decides to take Joey out to dinner, also eating out tonight are Mitch and Nicole Kennedy. The restaurant, not realizing there are two Leery parties, only has one table available, forcing all four to sit together. Mrs. Kennedy, Dawson and Joey fight causing Nicole to leave. Also there are Jen, now living with Gale and Dawson, and Gale. Dawson, Joey and Jen attempt to reunite Gale and Mitch. Also reunited are Andie and her deaceased brother. Pacey and Jack catch on and realize she thinks he is with her, but is just a figment of her imagination as is Abby, who Andie also thought she saw at the end of the last episode.

All of the gang's lives go through changes. After Andie begins seeing her dead brother Tim in the last episode, Jack and Pacey agree to call Mr. McPhee not realizing that he'll want them to be treated in Providence, not Capeside. All are stunned at the new changes and Andie and Pacey must decide if Andie's mental wellness is more important than being together. Jack also must decide whether or not to go with Andie or stay. Dawson while helping Mr. Potter extend the Ice House interviews him for a film project about his changed life, but has it changed? Jen decides to make a change so she calls her mother and inquires about returning home or visiting and is told it is inconvenient right now.

When Mr. Potter's drug dealing causes the Ice House to be attacked and burned down, Dawson has to admit to Joey that he caught her father selling drugs. Joey has to turn against her father in order to keep the rest of her family safe. Pacey's relationship with his father reaches a boiling point when Mr. Witter makes a crack out Andie's mental state. Grams asks Jen to move back in and Jen eventually agrees but with a few conditions and another house guest.