Sugz

After months of finale debate and hearing people comment on the last episode Ive realized that sadly, most people missed the point of the finale.

Now, Im gonna explain it, and you may say "Well Kim, who the hell are you to interpret the finale and claim what you think is perfectly correct?" Well, Im not. The point Im going to bring out is a very important point, probably the most important point of the entire finale not by my standards but by the producers, creators and writer of the last episode.

In essence, the finale of Dawson's Creek was meant to revolve around the passing of Jen Lindley. You may not think so, since "Joey's choice" was hyped up like it was, but expand your mind a bit. The finale was actually planned out very well, and Ive been surprised to find over the past few months that the premise of the finale was lost on so many people and so many people continue to say that the finale was not planned well and was changed at the last minute, therfore it was crap. Bu tit really was planned well if you think about it.

Consider this.

The finale began with the main 4 characters (sans Jen) facing challenges from their past. Jack was dealing with someone in his life being afraid to face up to his homosexuality, something that Jack himself went through earlier in the series. Joey was still suffering from a bad case of love-life indecision, something that plagued her for the entire series. Dawson was still dealing with how to divide fiction from reality, something he struggled with from season 1. True, he became more of a realist later in the series, but his job producing a re-creation of his life apprently brought him back to his world of fiction. And Pacey was still struggling with his vice of older women, but more importantly the fact that he was still searching for love and sabotaging himself in the process because he wasnt depending on himself for happiness.

So, we can all agree that each character was intentionally set up in the beginning of the finale with a problem from their past to overcome. The beginning of good storytelling.

As the rules of storytelling go, something big would have to happen in the finale, something that, over the course of the 2 hours finale, would help these characters to break out of their molds and realize that life is too short. Something had to happen that would really shake these people into putting things into perspective. So, Kevin Williamson used Jens death, combined with the fact that these characters had space and time away from each other combined with the fact that they were now at an age that they could make some permanent and mature decisions in their lives.

So far, sounds good to me. Many people believe that Jens death still wouldnt prompt Pacey, Dawson, Joey and Jack to make such changes but it's perfectly believable that something like that could make someone decide to really make some changes in their life. Plus, our writer Kevin says it will and accepting that it did is really the hinge to a happy ending for these characters, which, we all wanted.

So Jen dies, and agonizingly and Jack and Doug are brought together by the immediate forethought of the future and the new baby in Jacks life, so Jacks problem is solved by being able to handle Doug and the bigotry that plagued his life. Dawson is helped along through Jens message to Amy that reality is something to be lived and captured, not spent in the past, he realzes that "fiction is fiction and reality is reality". Joey was spurred by a bedside conversation with Jen that she has to finally settle with herself and make a final decision and stop running or she'll never be happy. I also think Paceys speech finally spurred her on too, since Pacey was making a definitive decision in his declaration to her she decided to make one too. So Joey makes a choice.
And Pacey learned from Jen, as per his own words, that life is too short and he needs to make himself happy instead of depending on others which heacts upon when he tells Joey as much.

So my point is...the idea of the finale was very well mapped out and the point that so many people dont "get" was that Jens death wasnt there to help Joey choose between Pacey or Dawson. It wasnt there to create promo's and drama, it was there to help these main characters realize things about themselves and finally set right some of their biggest downfalls. Things that we've all complained about when it came to these characters such as Jacks lack of gay-dom, Paceys co-dependence, Dawsons dreamery and Joeys indecision were all resolved. These are things we should be happy about instead of complaining that Jen was used to help Joey choose a man.

Thats not to say that Jen shouldve died, it sucks that she did, but hey, thats drama TV and if it apparently helpe dour favorite characters to overcome their biggest character flaws, well that great. Why would any fan want to think otherwise?

I just felt like bringing this out because so many people really seemed to fail to see the point of the finale and always want to point out that none of the characters grew in the finale when in fact the entire premise of the finale was growth. I think its sad that some people were blind to that due to ramant shipperdom.

D&J2gether4ever

Hey, Sugz!

What I think you're failing to realize is that most D/Jers do, as you so condescendingly put, "get" what the finale was about. We are very aware of Kevin's attempt to have these characters start off with the same problems they've always had, have Jen die, insta-growth, and then the big happy couch scene. The problem is if Kevin really wanted to show these characters grow, he failed miserably by going about it completely the wrong way. Obviously, I can only speak for myself, but by having Joey start out the finale by running to Capeside to escape an engagement, it made whatever "choice" she decided at the end questionable at best, regardless of who it was. If you don't see that, that's fine, but it's quite clear to me and plently of other people. Not to mention the fact that Dawson has shown over and over again that he was no longer the "hopeless dreamer who rejects reality" thoughout the series, so by regressing him back to that to fit the convoluted story Kevin wanted to tell was a total insult to his character, and Kevin should be ashamed of himself for doing such a huge diservice to this character. The same goes for Pacey as well.

Secondly, I thought it was completely ridiculous to have Doug end up gay in the end. I mean, sure Pacey's made the jokes, but come on! There needed to be some lead up to that, just like Jack's convo. with Jen at the end of "Sex, She Wrote". There needed to be something beforehand, beyond Pacey's jokes, to tell us that maybe Doug was gay, instead of just having it sprung on us in the finale. The bottom line is, if they really wanted to show these characters grow, they shouldn't have used a cheap ploy like Jen's death to show it in the last ten minutes of the series. It came off as a last minute rewrite. And (surprise, surprise) it was and it showed.

I could sit here and go on for days about the inconsistencies in the finale. But there's no point. P/Jers have their views, and D/Jers have theirs. That's never going to change. So the endless, brick wall "debates" are pointless.

D&J2gether4ever

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited D&J2gether4ever ]

Jaime Bee

Yeah what you posted is very true Sugz. Something really life changing had to happen to make these characters find there way.
But you can't tell me it wasn't used as a plot devise and as a ratings grabber as well. The WB promoted the Who gonna Die thing? to get viewers who didn't even watch to check it out. lol I'm not even gonna start with the who will Joey choose stuff. lol

COOLCAT200

Sugz I get what you are saying the problem though for me is I thought D/J should finally come together in the end as a couple me being a D/JER I am sure you understand that. Another problem is for me I loved Jen a lot and I feel her character was owed a happy ending of her own. She always had a sadness to her and I would have loved to have scene her finally and fully happy. Now with that said it was a Series Finale and I understand why it was done.

notsomuch

The way it seemed to me, Joey Potter and the Capeside Redemption was the last episode of the series. And the finale was used as a glimpse into the future. Since they placed it five years ahead, they had to give us some kind of idea what had happened to these characters in the five years since we had seen them. So they placed each of them in a situation so that the audience could see they were all basically right where they were when we left them. But if they hadn't have done that, we wouldn't have known that.

And then they had to come up with a life altering event that would affect them all equally. If they had had grams die, it wouldn't have had the same impact on all of them, Jen may have had a moment of clarity, but to the others it would have been sad, but not life altering. Having a close friend die in their early twenties, that is definately life altering, I have lived it myself. It makes you realize that time may run out, and "now" is the time, you better get your ducks all in a row and figure out what you want out of life. They all would have come to that point on their own at some point, but we only had two hours, so they needed something big to get them all to that same place at the same time.

It's sad that Jen died, but I understand why they did it. So as Sugz pointed out above, that event made them
break out of their old patterns and move forward.

COOLCAT200

Well, you are right Grams dying would not have had the exact same effect although she's such a wonderful actress I am sure she would have had us all in tears as MW did.

piglet5517

I think you make a lot of sense, Kim. They needed a life altering event to shake things up. Sadly, it was Jen's death. Did it help the ratings? Probably. Would that be the way we would have written Jen's character? Not necessarily. Did it work? Yes.

Unfortunately not everyone will like the outcome. But if you add to what Kim said in her post, you also have to look at what other character could they have killed and gotten the same result? I don't think any of them. They wouldn't kill Joey unless the ending was that neither Pacey nor Dawson ended up with her. Killing off Pacey or Dawson would have made Joey's choice unfullfilling either way. Of course, respective camps would have been happy "their guy" didn't die and was now with Joey. But would the audience really have known who she would have chosen? No, it would have resulted in she chose the one who lived. Had they killed off Jack the impact could still have been there and we might have seen a happy ending for Jen, but I don't know that it would have worked. Jen was one of the main four. It was Jen's arrival in Capeside that changed Pacey, Joey, and Dawson. It was a beginning not just for the series but a beginning to a shift in the friendships of those three forever. By choosing Jen one last time to be the one to cause the change in the rest of them, it brings the series full circle in a sense. She came and changed things and when she left she did the same. It's kind of bitter sweet.

I don't really think the point of the finale was really meant to be a D/J vs. P/J thing. Although, resolving that issue was certainly a part of the story that was told.

Kim

Sugz

Well I dont recall naming this thread "DJers, did you *get* the finale", so if you saw condescention in the thread title its not me its you, Im sorry about that. I didnt specify any particular group, it was just in the past few months Ive seen many people of different shipper groups bypass the point I brought out and nitpick and small things like character growth and Joeys choice without seeing the big picture. Unfortunately your pre-conceived image of me automatically made you think I was referring to DJers, and thats sad, but I wasnt.

I disagree that Kevin went about showing growth the wrong way. How else do you show growth in a 2 hour span without giving each character something to overcome and having them overcome it? What other way is there? Taking Joey for instance, it's patented Joey style to run when the going gets tough, like spying an engagement ring. Like she said to Dawson, it was decision time with she and Chris when it came to their relationship and when she saw that ring she immediately knew he wasnt the one. I dont know what girl wouldnt have gotten herself out of that situation. Sure, Kevin couldve set up a different scenario for Joey, but this one is something viewers were used to with Joey, something we've all seen in the past and could watch and say "Yup, same old Joey" so that in the end when she finally makes her decision we should be able to be happy that she realized her own flaw and tried to fix it, not be skeptical and say "Pfffft, like thats gonna last". I mean really, did you want these characters to end up happily? Or did you want to be skeptical and think they'd never break from their molds? Thats something I just dont understand, fans not wanting to believe in the growth the characters they love display. I just dont get that part.

As for Doug being gay, well that was for shock factor. They had to do something with Jack and they couldnt just pull a character from thin air so I think KW thought it was irony that he'd make Doug gay from the Pacey jokes over the years and what other character could they have used where the viewers would be familiar with him and he'd have a problem dealing with his homosexuality like Jack did? Doug was kind of the perfect fit since he would have legitimate fears about the people in Capeside finding out, although a little cheesy to us. But thats really beside my point, point was that Jack, just like everyone else, was given an obstacle to overcome that he struggled with all series.

I really dont think this is true. I think its just about having an open mind. Ive heard a few arguments from DJers about the finale and other things that Ive found myself agreeing with and I can admit that. The problem isn that "PJers have their views and DJers have their views" its that nobody is willing to budge and actually think for a moment outside of the signed and sealed beliefs of their shipper group. We should do that more, I know Ive tried and although my main views have stayed the same I sometimes find myself thinking from another viewpoint.

Oh it certainly was used as a rating grabber, what network in their right mind woud pass that up? But I dont think it was the main reason KW put it in the finale, as a promo maker, I think it had a higher purpose...to reach all of the other characters.


Understood, I mean everyone had their prefernces on what they wanted to happen.


I know a lot of people were sad about Jen dying, I wish there was a better way too but I dont want this to turn into another general "gripe about the finale" thread. Im specifically talking about the fact that there was a method to KW's madness in writing this finale and it wasnt just a haphazard throwing together of scenes where he arrived at the ending randomly as people have suggested in the past.

D&J2gether4ever

Hey, Sugz!

Again what you fail to see is that most people don't have an issue with "seeing the big picture". It's the fact that "the big picture" doesn't excuse the way in which they get there. The ends don't justify the means, as they say. Of course, I know you'll disagree, but well...we can all think for ourselves right? So we agree to disagree and it's all good! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Oh I can think of a million other ways to show growth in these characters that would never involve avoiding each other for five years, Joey running from an engagement, having Jen die, or having Pacey involved in an affair with a married woman. See, I'm one of those people who likes logic and prefers NOT reducing characters to idiot status to make a point.

I absolutely wanted these characters to be happy. Which is exactly why I have serious issues with Jen dying and having Dawson end up at his desk, without the only woman he's ever really loved. After everything those two characters have been through, that is cruel and unusual punishment that NEITHER deserved. If you don't "get" that, that's sad.

And I'm all for showing characters "break from their molds". But it's another thing to take a character whose already broken out of that mold (ie Dawson) and shove him back into said mold to fit whatever story you want to tell at the time. That's wrong and downright insulting.


D&J2gether4ever

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited D&J2gether4ever ]

Sugz

See but thats not the point Im getting at. I see what you're trying to say but there's a difference between actually seeing what Kevin was trying to do and just not agreeing with what he did. Im perfectly content with the fact that many people didnt like the way Kevin went about getting where he wanted to go in the finale, not everyone's going to like the storyline, thats fine, you cant please everyone. My point in making this thread was that I didnt get the feeling that people actually understood Kevins premise. A lot of people were berating Kevin not for not liking what he wrote but for changing his mind and changing the ending and supposedly getting to where he got in a nonsensical and haphazard way. People were saying "how could the finale make sense when he changed it so late in the game". All I was doing was clarifying that it wasnt so haphazard and random as some people are saying, Kevin obviously planned it out and had a game plan from beginning to end because you can actually see the structure of the finale.

1. Characters in old habits
2. Characters meet up again
3. Characters old feelings come to the fore
4. Characters begin to re-analyze things when Jen becomes sick and the shortness of life comes into view
5. Characters change after losing a dear friend and realize life is too short to be stuck in oldhabits.

I didnt feel that some people realized that because in their reasoning they would make comments like "there was no growth in the finale!" when the very premise of it was the show growth. So obviously something got lost in translation there. I dont know if I explained that well enough but there is a difference.

Ah, so you're saying that everyone with a vice or a problem to overcome is reduced to "idiot status"? These are problems each and every one of these characters have had for years, its not like KW concocted them out of the blue for the finale. Joey always had commitment problems, Pacey always had a thing for older women and not thinking about consequences, does that mean they were always idiots? No.

And really...I dont think you answered my question. There is no other way to show growth in a 2 hour period without giving a character a flaw to overcome. Simply becaues you didnt like the flaws is your personal preference, you would have chose a different route but the route that Kevi chose makes sense given that number one, you've got to have conflict in a finale and number two, these are things that each other these characters was struggling with all series! I fail to see how that is idiocy. SOmetimes in life people run from love, people have affairs, people die. Im not saying these are right and good things but the good thing about it is each character broke from these molds in the end. Thus, happy ending.

Also, I think it was a BIG thing that they core group lost some contact for 5 years. After all, they were all sorely in need of some time away from each other. They finished school, created careers, became successful, made families. Whats so wrong with that? I dont think they shouldve completely lost touch like Dawson and JOey did but still, their 5 year separation was exactly what they needed to put each other into perspective. I dont think they couldve come to the decision they did about each other if they still wouldve hung around and went through the same dramas for the past 5 years.

Out of curiosity though, what would your scenarios have been in the finale that wouldve fulfilled the premise to have each character overcome a past flaw? Because I cant help but think that they'd be abit boring and less edgy than what KW came up with. I dont know if you're just more of a conservative person and things like people fleeing engagements offend you in an entertainment sense but honestly, its a TV show, Im kind of surprised you thought these premises were so shocking and I think KW did a good job coming up with them and keeping each character in, well, character. I really dont see why they were so horrible, not every story and situation in a characters life can be happy and shiny and crap-free.
I mean, if I wasnt so sure a about a guy and saw an engagement ring I'd sur as hell get myself out of that relationship! I dont know what woman wouldnt.



Ill agree that Jen dying was undeserved. But anyone dying is undeserved for that matter, and since when have they treated JEn fairly on this show. I have issues with your comments on Dawson though. In your mind Dawson was unhappy behind a desk without the only woman he ever really loved. BUt to the rest of the vieweing audience we saw a man, age 25, happily involved with a job that was his dream, happy for his friends and being very successful. Its quite amazing to me that a fan of Dawson could actually disregard the blatant happiness Dwason exuded inthe last scene simply because he wasnt with Joey. Did you see him smiling and happy on the phone? Did you see him content with Joey on the picknick table as simply his platonic soulmate? I did. I didnt see him sad at all. Not everyone has to have found "the one" at age 25. Dawson was happy with his job and his life at that time, there was zero evidence otherwise, so your argument that Dawson was cruelly punished in the end siomply because he didnt get the girl and was living his dream in Hollywood is pretty much pulled out of thin air, in fact we saw the opposite.


I will give you something, I can see your point about KW shoving Dawson back into the "dreamer" mold. But I can sort of see Kevins point too. For years Dawson worked on developing and producing a show that immersed him in his past. He was pretty much living his past, living in fiction, so its kind of believable that he'd have to separate that fiction and reality in his mind again. I dont think its that far fetched.

D&J2gether4ever

Hey, Sugz!

No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the particular situations that these particular characters had themselves in reduced them to idiot status. There were other ways to show conflict and growth without the situation that we were given. For example, Joey has a truckload of issues, especially commitment and abandonment issues. Okay that's all well and good. But how exactly does going from one serious relationship and jumping right into the next within a few days translate into the best way of showing Joey overcoming those issues? If they truly wanted to show that she had changed, they could have had her come back to Capeside single(no running from an engagement nonsense), have sparks fly with whoever she's to end up with, and show her get back with that person and go a few years into the future and show us that she stayed with this person, engaged, married, with children...the works. That would have driven home the message that she had gotten past the issues. And more importantly, people wouldn't still be arguing about it til this day. It could be argued that the endless bickering was Kevin's intention, but that's a whole other subject altogether.

First off, your opinion that Dawson was "blatantly happy" is just that..YOUR OPINION. And of course that's what you want to believe because you don't care about his character. I'm not saying Dawson couldn't be happy without Joey. As a matter of fact, Dawson has proven over and over again that he can survive without Joey. But that doesn't make it okay for him to be alone in the end. I didn't see him "content" in the picnic table scene with Joey. I saw a guy who bowed out once again, because he'd rather have Joey in his life in some capacity than not have her in it at all. And I vehemently disagree with your statement that there was zero evidence that he wasn't happy with his life. Even in the D/J bedroom scene, he even showed Joey that he wasn't happy with just being commited to his show. It was obvious he wanted more for his life than work, and what did he get in the end? His work. That is an injustice, anyway you look at it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not Pacey, not Joey, not Jen...not anyone. From episode one, it was shown that Dawson wanted love just as much as he wanted his film career. Both his dream of filmmaking and his dream of love should have been realized. Neither of which was. A "meeting with Speilberg" (not a deal, not a script in the works, but a "meeting") does not even come close to being a satisfying ending for a guy who constantly wore his heart on his sleeve and gave up film school because he wanted a chance to be with the woman he loved. I'm very well aware that not everyone finds "the one" at age 25. But the fact is, that's where the show ended...at age 25. And guess what? He ended up alone. I'm not saying that they should have just stuck him with some girl we see for only 20 seconds, either. That would have been just as ridiculous. The fact remains that Dawson has only felt that strongly about one person...Joey. IMO, that should have been followed through with.


D&J2gether4ever

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited D&J2gether4ever ]

Sugz

Well, going by what Joey said to Dawson in his bedroom Im not really inclined to believe it was such a serious relationship with Chris from her end. She said that she and Chris were at the make it or break it point. It was decision making time and she decided he wasnt the one. If you can make a decision and just leave someone on a whim like that, Im not so inclined to believe your heart was really there in the first place.


Yea, that couldve worked. But...eh. There's no drama, there's no shock value it's just kind of...boring. And hey, if that works for you then fine, but at the same time that scenario wouldnt have given Joey that obstacle to overcome like the other characters had. The viewers wouldnt have known that she was still struggling to commit. It wouldve defeated the purpose of Joey learning something from Jens death. Its fine if you wouldve preferred this scenario, I think the one with Chris added a little spice. Just a matter of preference.

WOW, it certainly isnt simply my opinion! It was SHOWN in no uncertain terms that Dawson was content! How else are you supposed to interpret the huge smile on his face and the heartfelt words onthe picnic table? I dont see how there's any way to interpret things any differently than what was shown unless you honestly wanted his character to end up miserable so you could justify hating the finale, which, sorry, is what you're doing. Its not my opinion, its simply what I saw, what all viewers saw. I doubt the intention of KW was for viewers to think after the finale "Dawson looked happy, but I bet he wasnt, I bet he still wanted Joey, Poor Dawson." Not a chance. All of the (living) characters were to end off happy. Funnily enough ,it was mostly DJers who decided to believe that their favorite character ended up miserable (even with the amazing career at 25) simply because he didnt get the girl. Thats just crazy to me.

I think you misinterpreted Dawsons unhappiness when it came to his job. He wasnt unhappy with his work, he loved producing "The Creek", working in that capacity was his dream, what he was unhappy about was the way his life was, the way he was working so hard and forgetting about his friends and living through his show, he explained that to Joey n the garden scene. In the end, he decided to change that, in his speech to Joey he realized that fiction was fiction and reality was reality, he fixed the problem that he was so upset about during his earlier scene with Joey so there was no reason to believe he was still unhappy over it. That was his obstacel to overcome and he did.

And that is the perfect example of why I created this thread. The misinterpretations of the finale that people have and use as excuses to justify why they didnt like it. Dawson was not unhappy with his job, he was unhappy with the way he was living his own life, and he changed that. I still cant understand why DJers would want to twist things so that it made their favorite character unhappy in the end...its really just lost on me. Not to mention that common sense tells you that the creator of Dawson isnt going to end his title character unhappy. Its just an excuse.

I also dont see why simply because Joey was the only one who Dawson ever felt strongly about that he *had* to end up with her but I understand that its your couple preference so makes sense that you would say that.

Presonally, and I said this WAY before we knew who ended up with whom in the finale, but I wouldve rather Pacey ended up alone or with Joey. Those were theonly two options. No one else would have done because there's no one else they couldve used that wouldve convinced me that they couldve made Pacey happy. So I wouldve been content as log as Pacey was happy.

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited Sugz ]

D&J2gether4ever

Sugz, you just said it yorself. It's what you saw. That's how you viewed it. You can say that's what all the viewers saw until you're blue in the face, but they are plenty of people on this board that would disagree with you. I know that Dawson's issue wasn't his work. That's my whole point. His issue was his life. He wanted more out of his life than his work, hence the sorrow in his voice when he told Joey "I'm 100% commited to my show...and nothing else." He wanted more than that and he never got it. You don't see it because you don't want to see it. You simply don't care. You want to believe that the finale ended happily because of your couple preference. If you don't see how that colors your view, there's nothing I can do about that. That's how you've twisted things in your mind. I'm sorry, but I can't draw it out for you. As far as your statement that Kevin wouldn't end the title character unhappily...oh, I'm sure Kevin's done a great job convincing himself that Dawson ended up happily. It doesn't change what I saw on screen. You say that you would have been just as happy for Pacey if he ended up alone. Well, good for you. I would want more for him, just like I wanted more for Dawson. That's what I've been saying from the beginning. Nobody deserved to be alone, and nobody should have ended up alone, but once again Jen and Dawson got the shaft.

This back and forth is getting us nowhere, so there's not point in continuing this with you, since you're obviously going to continue misinterpret my point.


D&J2gether4ever

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited D&J2gether4ever ]

Sugz

OK so wait a minute...my couple preference undoubtedly colors my view and I cant see things clearly becaue I could care less about Dawson and only care about Joey and Pacey but you, you're totally subjective and seeing everything clearly and your couple preference doesnt bias you at all?

LMAO. Right. This debate is over....

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited Sugz ]

* Heather *

Dawson did not end up alone just because he didn't have a girlfriend. Seriously. He had his family, and he finally had his friends back (truly back). He had a meeting with Speilburg. I know, I know...it's just a meeting. But do you know how huge a deal it was the Speilburg had agreed to meet with him?

He was happy. That's not an opinion, it's a cold-hard fact.

1. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] <--happy
2. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] <--sad

You can't say the smilie in #1 looks happy but is really sad and putting on a brave face. Unless you can read the smilies mind. And if that's the case I've got some questions about my future that I'd like you to shed some light on. Send me a PM.

Like Sugz said, Dawson's flaw was that he was spending too much time in the fiction of it all and needed reality in his life. Well, he got a big dose of reality when Jen died. And he mentioned to Joey that he finally got it. He was going to stop living his life in the past and he had every intention of devoting less time to his work. I got the feeling that P/J's phone call to Dawson wasn't a one time thing. So, in that regard, Dawson didn't regress back to living his job in the weeks following Jen's death.

[ 02-06-2004: Message edited * Heather * ]