I never thought of this before, but after reading your post it is almost exactly what they did to break up Pacey/Andie season three. They made Andie look horrible so Pacey could get out of the relationship and be with Joey.

End of season four they made Pacey look like an uneducated dufus; in some respects.

In my opinion they were still thinking season four was going to b e the last season so they had to free Joey from Pacey so the series could end Dawson/Joey.

And they brought back Andie so Pacey could tell Andie how much he appreciated what she had done for him and if would end season four with Pacey? Andie on good terms with a chance of resuming their relationship.

Let's face it Andie did quite a bit more for Pacey then Joey ever did.