Felicity, Episodes 3.7 & 3.8
“Kissing Mr. Covington” & “A Good Egg”
Original Air Dates: Nov. 15 & 22, 2000
Julie: Two weeks ago was all about testicles. Now Felicity has moved on to ovaries.
We were worried about Ben and Felicity’s relationship last we spoke, but it turns out there was no reason to fret. Ben’s frat guy beat down knocked all the rage out of him and now he and Felicity are totes fine. She’s taking care of him while he convalesces (he doesn’t look too bad considering the pummeling he took) and the two of them are happy as clams.
Except of course not, because it’s Felicity.
Bad dad John Ritter is back and he wants to make sure Ben’s okay. He comes to Felicity for help because obviously Felicity is responsible for repairing all of her friends’ relationships with their parents. John Ritter wants Ben to go to Al-Anon for help. Felicity thinks he sounds sincere, so she broaches the subject with Ben. He balks. Mr. Covington returns to Felicity’s apartment and, in a moment of despair, he nuzzles her neck and leans in to kiss her. She is, obviously, freaked and rightly so.
But that kiss wasn’t even the worst thing to come out of Mr. Covington’s return. That distinction belongs to Felicity’s “alone in the house” dancing to some generic disco track that was probably Jamiroquai or something when the show aired, but, due to rights, is something I could play for you right now on my Casio keyboard.
Ben eventually finds out about the almost kiss (after trying to get Felicity to hang out with his dad more, whoops), and he goes after Mr. Covington. They are done. Father/son no more. But the good that does come out of it is that he decides to go to an Al-Anon meeting. And he’s not the only member of the crew there — whimsical Brit, Molly, also has a person in her life who is a addicted to drugs and alcohol, her heretofore unmentioned boyfriend…we still don’t know his name. This reeks of the “my Canadian girlfriend” lie. Methinks Molly is just showing up at Al-Alon to meet people with a tendency to fall into co-dependent relationships who can score her some drugs.
(Related, didn’t she mention a brother who was into drugs before? Or her mom? This girl is shady.)
And now we know who the closet meth belongs to for sure.
How sad did you feel watching John Ritter the lech?
Emma: So sad to see John Ritter as a lech and the neck nuzzle was even skeezier than leaning in for a kiss as it feels a whole lot more intimate, the look of horror on Felicity’s face pretty much mirrors my own. And yeah what is it with all the parents asking a lot from Felicity? The list now includes her own, Julie’s mom and Ben’s dad. Back off guys she is only 20 years old and not here to save you or your relationship with your child.
There have been many references to the not locking of their apartment door of late and this is very much a friend hangout trope (including Friends) and considering Sean’s place got robbed in season 1 you would think they would take this more seriously, but I guess this is what all those nods are acknowledging. And it means Ben’s dad can walk in on Felicity dancing to herself and this scene itself felt out of place as has Felicity ever had a solo dance moment like this? Maybe it was intended as a Felicity dances away all her problems moment but it was still odd. John Ritter walks in on her and it’s all kinds of awkward, not as awkward as later but still it’s a little uneasy between the pair. This terrible generic music definitely feels like replacement music – the episode of Beverley Hills 90210 that I saw the other day also sounded like it had been scored by a Casio keyboard for these very reasons – and it sucks when they can’t get the rights for DVD.
Felicity attempts to not rock the boat further between Ben and his dad, but this is not something she should keep to herself and my notes are peppered with TELL HIM. It’s a super shitty position she has been put in and after the recent friction between Ben and Felicity caused by withholding information I was worried Ben would take his anger out on Felicity. I was surprised then when he did no such thing as even though it was not Felicity’s fault in the slightest, I still thought Ben might equate it to what happened with Randy and I was getting ready to yell at Ben through the screen. Instead Ben saw who was at fault and I can see why he is dunzo with papa. This is one too many fucks up in a huge list of fuck ups.
Ben’s dad tries to explain his actions by saying how hopeful Felicity made him feel, but that is not a reason to neck nuzzle your son’s twenty year old girlfriend. Felicity later wears the biggest neck cover turtle neck later on and never has a sweater choice made more sense.
There is a callback in this episode to the season 1 Halloween outing (which I watched/wrote about last week) and this conversation about his dad was spurred on by their experience of being robbed with guns in their faces. So much has changed since then and while Ben does still shut down emotionally going to that meeting is a huge step. Shame about the Molly.
I don’t really know what to make of this development as she’s never mentioned a boyfriend before (and she smooched Richard last week) and it doesn’t match up with her methhead brother cover story – also crystal meth is pretty rare in the UK – and basically I think she is full of shit. This is a strange direction to take this character in and makes me like her even less (which is saying something) and I hate that she is creating more secrets between Ben and Felicity.
There are plenty of other relationship dramas and what about the Noel is a huge creeper development?! I thought his behavior was a little off in the last episode but this is downright sketchy shenanigans. What did you make of the Tyra stalking antics?
Julie: I find it interesting that you thought Ben might go off on Felicity for the kiss thing. I never even considered that. I always figured that Ben would immediately shut it down between himself and his father. He’s been looking for an excuse and his dad gives him one. A big one.
The turtle neck was genius, both because of the covering the neck thing and because it was so on trend for 2000. Let’s bring back big turtle necks, but especially big turtle necks with no sleeves. Those are for when your arms think it’s summer, but your neck thinks it’s twenty degrees out.
As far as Noel goes, what the fuck? I’m not sure where this guy came from. We have never seen Noel act like this before. I mean, he went a little nutso when he started dating Natalie, whom he, of course, married, but I thought Noel was supposed to be getting back on track. And chasing after an adventurous hot girl who likes you back is on a completely different level of crazy than cyberstalking and actual stalking. If they’re trying to set up a future Noel vs. Ben thing for Felicity’s affections, this is a good way to make sure no one’s on Team Noel. It’s hard to come back from this level of crazy.
The only good thing to come out of this, I suppose, was the reveal that Richard was “Tricky” and that he got to play hide the salami with Tyra Banks. That’s quite a step up from Meth Head Molly. I also love that Richard and Noel almost became eskimo brothers, linked by Miss Tyra.
Speaking of eskimo brothers, Tracy has one in Finn (or, well, he would have one in Finn if Tracy had ever done the deed with Elena). She and Finn did officially sleep together, and now the secret’s out. What did you make of their whole situation? And now that someone (Noel?) has referred to Finn as a Tom Cruise wannabe, it’s all I can see.
Emma: Maybe I should have given Ben more credit than thinking he would be mad at Felicity, I was just worried it would constitute another lie. Although this time at least she was the one who came clean rather than finding out via email.
And yes a nice email segue and hacking into someone’s email seems so out of character for Noel. Like how did he even consider this was a good idea?! It’s so monumentally fucked up and crosses so many lines and I’m surprised his friends don’t react with more horror. And shouldn’t he get fired from his computer job for this major infraction? Because he’s cute and Felicity tells him that he’s the one guy who doesn’t resort to tactics like this are we supposed to just shrug or shoulders and forget about it? This is new creeper levels and yeah firmly on Team Ben right now.
The making love line was bad, the reading books, getting lines about art and volunteering at the old people’s (oh hey Leonard from Community) were all things that he ended up enjoying but that is beside the point even if the closing montage showed him playing chess with Leonard. And he told Tyra about what he did before sleeping with her which I guess is meant to redeem him slightly and yet it’s still pretty skeezy that it even got this far through manipulation and creeping. The Richard twist was good and yes Tyra > Molly. Oh and once again I was rather impressed with Tyra, she’s not an amazing actress but she’s not terrible either.
To the other semi eskimo brothers and bringing up Professor Creepy and his indiscretions with students – it’s not surprising Elena wasn’t the only one – is a bit of a contrivance. It does bring up a couple of insecurities about the lack of sex in this relationship but they work through it. That is until they do the second Tracy “I know the truth” mixup and Finn cops to sleeping with Elena. For some reason I thought they’d only kissed, maybe I wasn’t paying attention but yeah they totally did it and now Tracy can’t forgive her.
Elena talks to Felicity about whether Ben could have gotten over it if Felicity had slept with Randy and even though Felicity gives a vague you can’t predict what will happen answer, from his reaction I’m leaning towards no. But hey I could be wrong. Elena does the old school thing and writes Tracy a letter and it’s not enough. I’m sad about this break up as I really liked them together and does this mean the end for Donald Faison on this show?
Another couple has break up dramas as Sean goes on a religious kick after surviving surgery and Meghan is pissed at this turn of events. This very much feels like a Sean fad and he likes to throw himself into whatever project he is into on that week. Luckily he gets some wise words from his Rabbi hospital roommate, well maybe not entirely wise as he tells him to propose which is a gesture that is too big. What did you think of the Meghan and Sean temporary break up?
And what about Javier’s big question?
Julie: Oh, my god! That was Leonard? I totally missed that. I’m off my TV recognition game lately because it took me three weeks to realize Rawls was McNulty’s father-in-law on The Affair.
I hope it’s not the end for Donald Faison. He needs a bigger goodbye, at least, or maybe he should move into the loft with everyone because that’s where exes go to die. He and Noel could be wingmen out on the town, stalking ladies and not having sex with them. Maybe this could be a spinoff.
I’m still peeved at Elena for sexing Finn. I guess she wanted to see if she could have her cake and eat it, too, but then you don’t pick the dude who lives across the hall and is your boyfriend’s sociology partner. Amateur mistake. I really don’t blame Tracy if he can’t forgive her for this.
As far as the Sean stuff goes, the show is venturing into religious territory again with Sean’s new devotion to his Jewish roots. You’re right, it screams of being a Sean fad and it won’t last. I’m glad the rabbi noticed this and set Sean straight. I suppose the biggest point of this whole story was to show just how much Meghan cares for Sean. She’s willing to go along with his shabbas plans, procuring all the food for him while he’s in the hospital. And then she’s pissed (but really hurt) when he dumps her because she won’t convert. And, yeah, it was a bit hasty of Sean to jump from break up to engagement, but, again, that’s Sean. Meghan doesn’t seem too fazed by it.
Then we’re back to the tale as old as time: Javier needs a really intrusive favor and he needs Felicity to do it. Back in season 1, he asked her to green card marry him and now in season 3, he wants her baby making eggs. Probably next season he’ll be asking for a kidney. Oh wait, the show already did that one.
Felicity, of course, says immediately that she’ll donate her eggs for Javier and his husband. Why they’re doing it this way is beyond me. Wouldn’t it be easier (at least for the whole baby-making process) if they just artificially inseminated Felicity and then let her carry the baby for 9 months instead of transferring embryos into Samuel’s 49-year-old aunt’s uterus? I mean, it wouldn’t be easier for Felicity, but who cares about her needs at this point? She’s apt to agree to whatever.
Anyway, she agrees to do it and then freaks out because she realizes she’ll still see this kid who will be one half biologically hers. That is weird. So she has to pretend to be Javier’s wife again to get a girl from Brown to carry the baby. The girl falls for it, until she walks in on the most randomly deployed baby shower in the history of time. There’s no baby to shower yet, morons!
The girl realizes that Javier is a gay and she does not want to carry a gay couple’s baby. So, Javier managed to find the only conservative girl at Brown to carry his child.
What did you think of this ridiculousness?
Emma: Have you seen the trailer for Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife? It looks as bad (and misogynistic) as the title would suggest and I bring it up as it’s a Felicity reunion with Scott Foley, Donald Faison and Greg Grunberg. I’m sad it’s for this film and while the trailer might be misrepresenting the film I don’t think I’ve ever heard the theory that everyone gets one murder.
This new movie is not the Felicity spinoff we deserve.
Javier asking Felicity to provide an egg is yet another in a long list of adults asking Felicity to do something selfless. I understand why Javier and Samuel think Felicity would be a good match, but this is a HUGE favor and Ben’s uncomfortable reaction is understandable. He’s also concerned that she has a habit of making impulsive decisions, particularly if it will help someone who is close to her. Ben explains later on that he was so against it at first as she always puts the needs of others first. He also gives a good example of how this might end up with the kid feeling some trauma in the same way Julie did – her adoptive parents raised her in a loving home but she still felt like something was missing.
For Ben this isn’t about Javier and Samuel, but how Felicity will deal with knowing that this child is biologically half hers. By the end of the episode Ben says he’ll support whatever she chooses and she ends up coming down on the side of saying no. I’m glad they’ve addressed Javier and Samuel’s desire to have a family, but the bigot egg donor and them pretending to be a couple just comes across a retreading old ground. And yeah that baby shower was WAY premature.
At the moment it’s hard to see entirely where this season is going exactly and I think that’s why some of these stories come across as filler rather than anything substantial. I’d still like to see more of how Sean is dealing with having cancer and I hope they don’t just ignore this now that he has had surgery. The Elena/Tracy story has come to a head and I’m intrigued to see where Elena will go from here as I think this could be the shows longest on screen romantic relationship so far.
Molly is making me uneasy and it’s not just because this character has always put my nerves on edge. Something will come between Felicity and Ben at some point this season and I have a sneaking suspicion it could be her. Not that I’m suggesting there will be a hookup, but she definitely comes across as threatening when she reminds Ben that he can’t spill anything that gets said during those meetings. Can’t Ben just go to another one? This is New York so I’m guessing there is more than one option.
Oh and random observation but the concentration on Ben’s face as he played PlayStation one handed was such a delight.
Also are we ever going to see Sean’s Docuventary on TV?
Julie: Yeah, pretty sure “everyone gets one murder” is not a thing. Also, that movie looks terrible. It makes The Wedding Ringer look like high art.
I think the whole Felicity saying yes to everything is so perfect for her character (and I also see why it’s so frustrating for Ben). She always wants to do the adult thing, without really thinking it through. She’s a very impulsive person, secretly. She comes across as this prudish, do-gooder, but she’s really kind of big on the knee-jerk reactions. You need a green card wife? On it. Egg? Sure. You’re going to New York for school, Ben? Good. Me too. She rarely thinks things through. For being such a smart person, she’s kind of an idiot.
Ugh. Yeah about Molly and coming between Felicity and Ben. I definitely don’t think it will be a hook up situation, but since Ben has been so insistent that the two of them tell each other everything, his keeping Al-Anon secrets from Felicity could be a problem, just because she’s directly affected by them. Molly’s going to wind up getting in trouble and he’s going to have to come to her rescue and Felicity will have a hard time with that. That’s just my prediction.
I’m also hoping they don’t drop Sean’s ball story and I’m wondering how they’re ever going to get Noel back to the place where we’re rooting for him and Felicity to hook up again. The writers have certainly made it difficult for themselves.
Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found at chicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.
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