15 Best Dawson’s Creek Episodes To Watch If You Miss Joey & Pacey

An epic romance on Dawson’s Creek was between Pacey and Joey and it’s always exciting to relive their story. Season 1 had viewers thinking Joey and Dawson Leery were meant to be, but in season 3, the series switched things up, bringing Joey (Katie Holmes) and Pacey (Joshua Jackson) together. It changed the course of the show not only with Joey and Dawson’s relationship but also with Pacey and Dawson’s friendship.

Most of Joey and Pacey’s love story in Dawson’s Creek is in seasons 3 and 4, but there are a handful of episodes in other seasons that allow glimpses of their relationship. There are many stories that happen throughout seasons 3 and 4, but focusing on these episodes can help fans relive them falling in love and their season-long relationship.

15 “Double Date”

Season 1, Episode 10

In the show’s first two seasons, there aren’t many hints that Pacey and Joey could end up together. In the first season, Joey is nursing a crush on Dawson, and in the second, Pacey spends most of his time in a relationship with Andie. There is one episode in the first season, however, that hints at the great chemistry between Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes, making it clear that, despite how antagonistic they can be with one another, Pacey and Joey are still friends.

In the episode “Double Date,” the focus is mostly on Dawson’s double date as he tries to get closer to Jen. Pacey and Joey are paired up in the B storyline for a science project. They are expected to observe the mating habits of snails. Pacey needs the project because he’s failing the class and Joey wants the extra credit. When Pacey makes a mistake that causes the death of one of the snails, the two head out to the marsh to find more.

It’s on this mini road trip where they run into constant (and hilarious) trouble that it’s clear there is something between them, even if neither of them is fully aware of it yet. Pacey even leans in as if to kiss Joey at one point, but it doesn’t happen just yet. The B storyline is a lot more fun for the audience than Dawson’s attempts to woo Jen.

14 “Four To Tango”

Season 3, Episode 9

By season 3, episode 9, there’s already a spark between Joey and Pacey, but “Four to Tango” is the first episode where their feelings are obvious to other people. Joey and Pacey agree to help each other. Pacey takes ballroom lessons with Joey, and in exchange, she tutors him in math. It seems like a simple plan, but their chemistry is starting to build, and when Joey sees Jen Lindley and Pacey kissing, she’s pretty upset. Pacey is also rather defensive when Dawson thinks his mystery woman is Joey and not Jen.

Dawson is still oblivious at this point, but Jen sees the budding romance between Joey and Pacey, even if the two haven’t admitted their feelings for each other yet. Anyone who saw that the show was hinting at these two getting together was vindicated by Jen pointing it out. It’s still a way to go before Joey and Pacey are together, but it’s a fun episode to see both of them avoiding their feelings, yet confiding in each other.

13 “Weekend In The Country”

Season 3, Episode 12

“
You know you love someone when you can spend the entire night… watching them sleep
.”

While Pacey doesn’t come out and express his feelings in season 3, episode 12, his actions are saying it for him. Pacey gets to work helping The Potters make their B&B a success. He contacts a travel journalist and orchestrates fake guests to show how good the B&B is. Of course, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, but Pacey keeps at it. It makes Mitch Leery ask, “What makes you care so much?”

Later Grams tells a story about her and her late husband, saying, “You know you love someone when you can spend the entire night… watching them sleep.” Then at the end of the episode, Pacey is seen watching Joey sleep. This is the moment Dawson’s Creek says Pacey is in love with Joey for the Pacey and Joey shippers. Though there were sprinkles of this throughout the episode, this is a beautiful ending to Pacey’s declaration, even if he hasn’t said it out loud yet.

12 “Crime & Punishment”

Season 3, Episode 15

It makes it very clear to those who know Pacey’s fondness for grand gestures that he cares more for Joey than he’s been letting on…

Since season 3 is the season in which Pacey and Joey grow closer, Pacey’s feelings for Joey become apparent very quickly to the audience. This episode, however, helps his feelings become more apparent to those around him as well, even if no one calls him on it just yet.

When Joey is one of the students chosen to paint a section of the school wall in Capeside, she chooses to paint a character in a different language, meant to be a symbol of unity for the students. When her hard work is finally unveiled, however, it’s been covered in graffiti, and she has to start over, which hurts Joey, but it makes Pacey angry.

Pacey makes it his mission to figure out just who ruined Joey’s artwork and get his version of justice. This is also the episode that leads to Pacey buying Joey a blank slate of wall in Capeside so that her art can be displayed for the whole town to see. It makes it very clear to those who know Pacey’s fondness for grand gestures that he cares more for Joey than he’s been letting on, and it’s getting harder for him to hide that.

11 “Neverland”

Season 3, Episode 18

At the end of season 3, episode 17, Pacey kisses Joey for the first time. The kiss follows Pacey finally calling Joey out for him being the first person she calls when she’s in trouble. He even pulls the car over to the side of the road to have it out with her, but kisses her. The following episode picks up right where the previous left off. Joey is furious with Pacey, and they have yet another argument, but this one is different.

While Pacey is ready to admit that they both care for each other, Joey is not. But Jen even asks her why she’s so mad if it means nothing. “Neverland” makes Joey confront her feelings for Pacey and even open up to Jen, proving she and Joey were really friends. It’s a pivotal time for Joey and Pacey as it marks the next step for any kind of future between them. Joey had to admit her own feelings before they could go any further.

10 “Stolen Kisses”

Season 3, Episode 19

In season 3, episode 19, viewers see Joey fight her feelings for Pacey. Dawson invites Pacey and Joey along for a trip to see his Aunt Gwen whom they all know from growing up together. It’s an awkward weekend trip away where Joey and Pacey end up having to share a bed and get caught kissing by Aunt Gwen. But most importantly, this is the episode Joey finally admits how she feels for Pacey. While Pacey is overwhelmed by the history Gwen reminds him that Joey and Dawson have, Joey openly tells him they’ll build their own history.

It’s also a nice moment to see Joey finally admit she cares about him too.

However, both of them are scared because, while they admit how they truly feel, they are worried about how Dawson and Andie will feel when they find out. It foreshadows the following episode’s events nicely, but it’s also a nice moment to see Joey finally admit she cares about him too.

9 “The Longest Day”

Season 3, Episode 20

“The Longest Day” is one of the few Dawson’s Creek episodes to take a big creative risk when it comes to storytelling. During the episode, Pacey and Joey’s friends finding out about their relationship is the main story. The story, however, is told over and over again from different points of view, a technique that has made memorable TV for many shows. This ramps up the tension in Joey and Pacey’s romantic journey.

Unfortunately, because of Dawson, their relationship journey had to include telling him. It didn’t go as planned and went painfully wrong since Jen accidentally tells Dawson before Pacey and Joey get the courage to. Following that, Andie also finds out in an awful way, with Dawson telling her to “ask” Pacey and Joey how long they’ve been sneaking around. “The Longest Day” actually puts the brakes on their relationship. Dawson has been the biggest issue from the beginning of this slow-burn relationship, and it was, of course, going to add some bumps in the road.

8 “The Anti-Prom”

Season 3, Episode 22

Dawson’s Creek best captures the teen experience, especially “The Anti-Prom.” The episode examines all of the drama that can surround the Prom as a rite of passage in high school. In the middle of all of that drama is a great glimpse into how Joey and Pacey feel about one another.

Joey and Pacey’s relationship may have been on hold in season 3, episode 22, but it holds one of the sweetest moments. Joey asks Pacey to dance, and he tells her the earrings she’s wearing are not her, but the bracelet that she’s wearing is, and he recalls what Joey was wearing when she told him it was her mother’s. It’s undeniable how they feel; even Andie can see it and tells Pacey to fight for her. At the same time, Dawson is still trying to win Joey back.

7 “True Love”

Season 3, Episode 23

Season 3, episode 23, “True Love,” is the epitome of Joey and Pacey’s journey. Pacey makes the big declaration of “Ask me to stay” on her wall. Joey admits to Dawson that she’s not with Pacey because she doesn’t want to lose his friendship, which leads to Dawson letting her go. The season 3 finale gives fans a big payoff, with Joey telling Pacey she loves him and leaving with him on his boat.

This episode makes Pacey and Joey the new relationship that
Dawson’s Creek
is defined by. It used to be Dawson and Joey.

This had been brewing since season 3, episode 1 when Pacey became that shoulder to cry on for Joey, and they started to open up to each other. This episode makes Pacey and Joey the new relationship that Dawson’s Creek is defined by. It used to be Dawson and Joey. The show dabbles in that again, but it can’t be denied how significant Joey and Pacey came to the show in season 3.

6 “Coming Home”

Season 4, Episode 1

…it sets the tone for what their relationship will be like.

Joey and Pacey spend the entire summer together following season 3. Though the audience doesn’t get to see much of what happens on the boat, season 4, episode 1, sees Pacey and Joey returning from their summer adventure more in love than ever.

Of course, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether they have had sex. There’s a preoccupation with sex and relationships in Dawson’s Creek which Dawson questions himself multiple times throughout the season, but the preoccupation is born of hormones and falling in love for the characters, and this episode exemplifies that better than most.

The answer to the big question, to Dawson’s relief, is no, even though some characters cannot believe Pacey and Joey spent two months with only one another and never slept together. Their relationship has grown. It shows them as a stronger couple than Joey and Dawson ever were. It’s a great way to pick up their love story in season 4, and it sets the tone for what their relationship will be like.

5 “Future Tense”

Season 4, Episode 4

Season 4, episode 4, is a fun episode between Joey and Pacey. Joey finds out she’s fourth in her class, but Pacey can’t understand what the problem is. Pacey is never ranked at the top in academic settings, so he sees the fourth spot as an impressive ranking for Joey. They go to Jen’s unbirthday party, and she drinks, which is not typical of Joey.

Pacey ends up carrying her out of the party after she becomes intoxicated. Pacey and Joey are basically fighting in this episode, but their banter has always been fun. They know how to tease and taunt one another in ways that can be light and fun, but they also know exactly what buttons to push for the other. It’s cute seeing Pacey trying to take a drunken Joey back into her sister’s B&B, and she coerces him to take care of her.

4 “A Winter’s Tale”

Season 4, Episode 14

In this episode, Capeside High reveals that there are apparently annual winter field trips for the students. The class gets to head to a ski resort for the weekend. It’s a nice change of scenery for the show since, at this point, it was rare for the series to take place away from one of the main characters’ homes or the high school.

The winter trip gets to an awkward start for Joey and Pacey, but it ends with Joey ready to sleep with Pacey. It’s a beautiful moment of her saying he understood why she wasn’t ready on the boat but should understand why she is now. They couldn’t have had a more romantic setting than the mountains in the winter. Dawson’s Creek crafted a beautiful love story for the two characters, and “A Winter’s Tale” is the peak of that tale.

3 “Four Stories”

Season 4, Episode 14

The morning after their first time together is a little more realistic than the previous episode’s teenage fantasy. Joey calls their night together “nice,” and Pacey gets offended. It was incredible for Pacey but for Joey, it was different because this was her first time.

It’s a rocky moment for them, but it gives their relationship a more true spin. Their conversation starts to get better until the topic of Dawson comes up. Later, Joey lies to Dawson about her and Pacey despite saying she would tell him the truth if he asked. While the cute banter remained, this was a turning point in their relationship. It’s clear after this episode that, despite how much Joey and Pacey love one another, they’re going to face more problems before anything improves, and they eventually end up breaking up when Joey goes to college.

2 “Castaways”

Season 6, Episode 15

Season 6, episode 15 is far removed from Pacey and Joey’s high school relationship, but an entire episode with them stuck in a K-Mart overnight is such a fun watch, especially for those missing their chemistry. At this point in the show, they’ve both had other relationships – some casual and some more serious – and maintain a strong friendship.

When Joey gets a job in Pacey’s office and goes to a work event with him, they end up locked in the store, having fun with the entire store to themselves. Pacey even lets Joey shave off his beard. To make things even better, Pacey kisses Joey and confesses he’s always wanting to kiss her. Joey even throws it back to the boat, saying when they were sailing, she dreamed they would be castaway somewhere.

Viewers are transported back in time in “Castaways” and are given hope that Pacey and Joey may indeed be endgame in Dawson’s Creek. While fans may have had to wait for nine more episodes to find out that would become true, it’s a cute and sweet episode to relive Joey and Pacey’s romance.

1 “…Must Come To An End”

Season 6, Episode 24

The series finale might not be the best episode of all time for Joey and Pacey fans, but it does provide closure for their relationship on the show. Though the two-part finale opens with Joey in a relationship with someone in New York, that relationship is over as the events of the final episode play out, allowing her to rekindle her romance with Pacey.

The friends reunite in Capeside to visit with Jen who is dying from a previously unknown heart condition. It’s an emotional farewell that sees Jack agree to raise Jen’s daughter, Dawson get the push to turn their lives into a television show, and Joey and Pacey to have a frank discussion about their feelings.

Though Pacey is running a restaurant in Capeside, he still very much carries a torch for Joey, but informs her that he’s letting her “off the hook” when it comes to his feelings. She immediately realizes that isn’t what she wants. When the series flashes forward to the future, Joey and Pacey get their happy ending together, leaving a lot of Dawson’s Creek fans very happy.