Teen Drama Series Finale Weddings
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What’s that I hear?
It’s wedding bells!
Okay, not really, but as the traditional TV season recently came to an end, I was reflecting on finales of years past when it hit me: Nearly all of our teen drama series finales included weddings.
Some were hardly a surprise (“Beverly Hills, 90210”), others were unexpectedly set in the future (“The O.C.”), and one show even featured two sets of nuptials (“Gossip Girl”). Let’s go to the chapel, walk down memory aisle, and remember just who got married!
Beverly Hills, 90210
Episode 10.27, “Ode to Joy”
Donna and David started dating in the show’s second season, but it took them until “The Penultimate,” the first half of the two-hour series finale, to get engaged. That second hour largely revolved around the couple’s wedding, complete with bachelor and bachelorette parties, a tearjerker of a ceremony, and a reception that featured one of my favorite music moments of the entire series.
Dawson’s Creek
Episode 6.23, “All Good Things…”
Set five years after the preceding episode, the first half of the series finales sees the gang reuniting in Capeside for Gale’s wedding. The nuptials themselves are less important than what happens at the ceremony: Joey shares pivotal dances with both Pacey and Dawson, and Jen’s illness is revealed when she collapses on the dance floor. The Pacey-Joey moment still makes my heart go pitter-patter, though it’s just one of many incredible Poey interactions throughout the two hours.
The O.C.
Episode 4.16, “The End’s Not Near, It’s Here”
This series finale actually has two time jumps: the first is six months after the events of the second-to-last episode and the second, in the show’s final minutes, is five years later. After seeing Summer and Seth go their separate ways in that first flash-forward, fans are treated to a happy ending after all when the pair tie the knot in the second flash-forward. It’s incredibly brief — less than a minute, in fact — but still pretty darn satisfying.
One Tree Hill
Episode 9.13, “One Tree Hill”
The most understated wedding of this roundup is easily that between Quinn and Clay, who marry at the local courthouse. The informal officiant? None other than Bevin, much to viewers’ surprise and delight. The moment is made all the sweeter when they formally adopt Logan.
Gossip Girl
Episode 6.10, “New York, I Love You XOXO”
In the first of the episode’s two weddings, Blair and Chuck are spurred to marry for legal reasons, but love too, with a last-minute ceremony planned to take place in Central Park. With Cyrus officiating, the couple barely get “I do” in before the police arrive (it’s a long story…). A five year time-jump gives us the second wedding, with Serena and Dan marrying — and fans discovering Blair and Chuck are not only still together but also parents.
“90210” may not have had a wedding in its series finale, but the episode did end with an engagement as Liam proposed to Annie. For all the criticism I dish nu90210’s way, this at least made my Lannie-shipping heart happy.
My favorite of these series finale weddings is undoubtedly the “Beverly Hills, 90210” nuptials, because it felt like an incredible culmination of 10 years, even if Donna and David didn’t start their on-and-off romance til season 2. The episode ending with the cast / characters dancing at the reception as the speed slows down and the music changes… it’s just perfection.
Tell me: Which teen drama series finale wedding is your favorite?