Felicity, Episodes 3.9 & 3.10
“James and the Giant Piece” & “Let’s Get It On”
Original Air Dates: Nov. 29 & Dec. 6, 2000
Emma: Molly’s drug addict boyfriend James who she has never mentioned prior to the last episode is real! And he’s Tag from Friends so I can’t take his bad boy thing seriously at all or that this is a relationship that has been going on the entire time Molly has been living with them. Felicity is also bewildered by this fact acting as the audience with her huh this is weird reactions. It is like they realised they needed a reason for Molly to be there and to add some drugs are bad drama to the situation.
What Molly is really here for is to show growth in Ben and it’s hard to feel much sympathy for her when she’s not been developed in a believable manner. Yes the drugs made an appearance earlier in the season, which could suggest that this storyline had been planned all along and it might have been but the plotting is way off. Instead what this does is give Ben a cipher for his dad – maybe he can help reach someone in a way he couldn’t with his dad. And it looks like it is working as Molly agrees to go to rehab and maybe ditch James, except she doesn’t and James is moving in. Whaaaaaat?
Yep and Ben is rightly pissed at this whole situation and Molly insisting that he can’t tell Felicity a single thing about it. It’s impressive that Ben keeps it in as long as he does and I thought he would spill as soon as Molly mentioned James moving in, instead he waits until Molly’s hair is all over the bathroom floor and a gun falls out of James’ bag before he tells Felicity all about James and Molly’s habit. At this point it’s beyond fair game as yes there is the confidentiality aspect, but there’s also the safety of everyone else who lives there to think about.
Felicity gives excellent shocked face at this revelation and when Molly returns with her banging new haircut – how did it end up looking good considering how blunt those scissors are and how high the person cutting it was? – and then gets all pissy at Felicity and Ben when they confront her. I get that I should maybe feel some sympathy but urgh at this ‘James is my addiction’ blah blah blahing and being all kinds of “this is the kind of people you are” as both Ben (and especially Ben) and Felicity have been there for Molly. Am I being too harsh?
Julie: Yes, Tag. I couldn’t see anything else.
And I don’t think you’re being too harsh. This character is grating.
Also, this relationship is ridiculous. I’m sorry, but I have no patience for Molly and her “I want to leave him, but I can’t.” She’s the classic drama queen and just get over it already, Molly. Ben is right on for tolerating none of her shit. She wants help; she doesn’t want help. She’s going to leave him; she’s not going to leave him. Ben, Felicity, and the rest are not good enough friends with Molly at this point to be so deep into her nonsense. If it were Elena going through this, or Julie, I’d say, yes, give her your help. Lend her your ear. Be there for her. But as this is Molly, someone we and they barely know, I have a hard time giving one single fuck.
She does do good things for Ben’s character, so there’s that. Felicity was very turned on by the way he dealt with Tag, and rightly so. Ben has shown waaay more patience for this whole situation than anyone should feel obligated to do.
And Ben being so cool in dealing with Molly makes the whole sting of what’s coming even more painful — Felicity and Noel. His stalker ways have been forgotten, and he and Felicity are working together (all night) on some kind of really lame sounding cartoon called “Loser Pet Shop” for Pete Hornberger. Felicity and Noel work well together. They’re on a similar intellectual plane. This is how they’ll bring them back together.
What say you?
Emma: Noel the stalker is now Noel the brat and urgh I’m so not on board with the direction this is going in. They do work well together and Noel is definitely looking at Felicity as if she is this shiny object that he’s into, which he definitely is. Even though he lives with her boyfriend. There are a couple of Ben/Noel moments over the two episodes where Ben has zero time for Noel – the first is when there is Molly dramaz and he pretty much shuts the door on Noel, it made me chuckle for some reason, the second is when Noel is bitching to Ben about how shit Felicity is being. What the fuck Noel? This is not the dude you complain to.
Knowing where the narrative is going means looking for cracks in the Felicity/Ben relationship and aside from the frat party incident it’s all been pretty good between them, well aside from that time Ben’s dad neck nuzzled her. But we know it’s coming as this whole cartoon thing is going to lead to late nights, laughs and rekindled romance. Is Ben going to do something to push Felicity closer to Noel? Or is going to continue down this path of self improvement and it’s going to be something else entirely?
After the whole James/Molly confrontation there’s the super cute Ben/Felicity moment in which as you mention she’s pretty turned on by how he handled the situation, I also think it’s not an accident that Noel is hovering like a third wheel before getting shooed away.
So Noel goes all cartoon crazy and he’s completely focused on that and that alone so when Felicity is unfocused and sleepy he thinks it’s because she’s a shitty friend and not because she has a lot on. In this moment he is the shitty friend. Wow I really sound like I’m hating on Noel and at the moment they’re not giving me a lot of reasons to be on his side. Be better Noel. He does help Felicity with her impossible revision task but that only gets him so many points.
There’s a lot of other relationship conflicts going on over these two episodes and Meghan and Sean continue to experience problems. What are your thoughts on this?
Julie: Such a good point about the cracks in Felicity and Ben’s relationship. There aren’t any right now. They’re very happy with each other. I thought maybe Molly was going to be a problem, but I don’t think so. Felicity’s not jealous of the help he’s been giving her and I think Ben’s over that whole “I can fix this hot mess of a woman” thing.
I’m banking on what draws Felicity and Noel together is that he’s a bit cheerier than Ben right now. I love Ben, but he has to be exhausting to be around. There’s always drama surrounding him, even if it’s not his drama. Noel’s easier. He knows what he wants. And he also loves and cares for Felicity, which is not nothing. I just wish it didn’t take him stalking Tyra Banks to get to this point. Was that really necessary? I suppose they needed to give Noel something to do…? Maybe we should’ve seen more of him trying to get into the whole graphic designer comics thing? Why did it have to be girl focused? Or if it had to be girl focused, why did Noel have to be such an unredeemable twat during the whole thing?
These are questions we’ll never know the answer to.
Also, Felicity should’ve told Noel right from the get-go what was on her plate. That one’s on her.
As far as Meghan and Sean go, their journey seems to be simply figuring out that they’re 100% right for each other. It’s usually the guy who has the “holy shit I’m in a relationship and my old life is ending” panic attack, but this time it’s Meghan. She had this whole freaky, who knows what she was up to, personal life before Sean and before becoming better friends with Felicity and Elena, but now she’s been domesticated. Sean is older, he likes staying in, and he has cancer. That is a thing he’s dealing with.
Her running into Earl and heading out for a night on the town at the fetish ball was really just a way to juxtapose her old life with her new and to prove to Meghan that she’s really over that nonsense. Also, it gave Sean a chance to step up and try to be more like Meghan, to be more exciting. They’re meeting each other in the middle. Love.
In the second episode, Sean is trying to get his groove back. Meghan thinks he’s just not that into her anymore. Sean is worried she’s going to leave him for a hot piece with two balls. In the end, they realize that they’re both idiots and they’re perfect for each other.
Bonus, we got to see Donald Faison without his shirt on. What did you think of Sean and Meghan and also (since I’ve already starting going there) Tracy and Elena?
Emma: I also wonder whether Molly is enjoying the Ben attention in that he’s this good guy who is trying to help while her actual beau just wants to get high and cut her hair. It’s super suspect that she’s been with him this long AND he’s the reason she came to New York in the first place. So ready to move on from this storyline/character.
Still so many references to their unlocked front door.
Yeah it definitely feels like they’ve been spinning their wheels with Noel this season with his marriage and stalking ways. This ambitious version is a whole lot more enjoyable to watch and doesn’t come across as an imposter version of Noel. He’s fun and I just wish the writers would remember that his comedic side shouldn’t come with a side order of crazy.
I think you’re spot on about Meghan and Sean as they’re definitely still in the transitional stage of their relationship and as they’ve just dealt with a huge life changing event it’s not surprising that Meghan needs to blow off some steam. Bumping into her old friends gives her this reason and it’s also a reaction to them calling her out about her recent domesticity. No one wants to feel old before their time and getting into a comfortable routine can make you worry that you’re losing your fun old life. But her old life isn’t as much as she remembered and her friends sneering doesn’t make them very good friends at all. Although Kevin Weisman is always a welcome sight. I’m pretty sure Scott Foley’s reaction to those assless chaps was 100% natural.
The second episodes bickering was maybe a bit more annoying and I was very much with Richard and his telling them to figure their shit out reaction. Hopefully this will be the last of the Meghan/Sean disagreements for a while even of splitting up is their thing.
I’m going to start at the end of “Let’s Get it On” and the reveal of Elena and Tracy in bed together (he’s also shirtless in this scene, so much shirtless Donald Faison) and they’ve done the deed. This is a big way for them to mark getting back together again and I’m worried it’s going to cause more friction between them considering his relationship with God and all. There’s also part of me that’s wondering if Tracy slept with anyone else post Elena breakup, but I think that’s unlikely. What did you think of this big moment?
It was really good to see the flirty banter as well as the support he provided while Elena was going through her existential crisis about her academic achievements and Professor McGrath. This ended up coming across as a really organic way to revisit this season one story and I’d forgotten that only Noel knew about the affair.
Elena maintained that she was the one who did the pursuing and she was fully consenting with this relationship. Even so there was manipulation at work with the story of his sick wife (apparently all BS) and he was in a position of authority which he abused. There’s also a consistent pattern so he definitely deserved to lose his job.
The other thing Elena worries about is that everything good that has happened since he bumped up her grade was based on a lie – the classes, meeting Tracy – and I can understand why she feels the need to retake the class, but also I’m with the Dean on this one as she really doesn’t need to. What did you think about this?
Julie: I’m also confused about the Molly/James timeline. She came here for him, but they’ve only been together for two months? Her obsession is unreal. She had said that she wants to leave him and get clean, and then she doesn’t. I apparently have very little patience for people with addiction, or maybe just “ad-dick-tion,” because this girl is at Level 10 Dickmazation. She needs to get a grip.
And now I’m wondering if they named him James just to make the “James and the Giant Peach” joke.
I hope you’re getting a screenshot of Noel seeing those assless pants. 🙂
As far as Elena and Tracy go, this whole storyline makes me sad. That look on his face at the end of the episode says it all: He has regrets. If only they had met each other ten years down the line, when they could just get married and be together and have the sex and it would be fine.
Because I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to end well. From now until forever, she’s the girl he broke his vow for, and he’s never not going to look at her that way. She is never going to live up to everything that means. I’m sure he thought maybe he could “keep” Elena if he just gave in and gave her his flower, but will she be able to “keep” him after this? I don’t know.
The thing that makes me really sad is that, yeah, the two of them are so adorable together. The flirting, the mutual respect and admiration. They are equals, intellectually. And the really dumb thing is, I think Elena would’ve been fine with the no sex thing if they had gotten back together without it. Sex has only gotten her in trouble at this point, with school and with Tracy. She’s sowed her oats and she realizes that being with Tracy is more important than getting her rocks off with someone else. If they had just gotten back together and reverted to the way things were, maybe they would’ve been fine? What do you think?
Emma: Still laughing at that episode title, I think mostly for that reason. I shouldn’t find it this funny, but here we are. Also the shot above is product placement central.
Regret is definitely going to be on the menu and like you I’m left feeling sad by this story. Even though Felicity is rather tame in comparison to other teen shows that have come after it, the manner in which it deals with various sex related story is something I am continually impressed with. They’ve covered a lot of ground in the past two and a half seasons and it never feels like they’re making a value judgement with the characters and sex. Yes they portray some of the relationships as messy and complicated, but I don’t get the impression that we’re meant to look down on these characters for making these choices. Hopefully this will continue with Elena and Tracy as I don’t want to see Elena beating herself up if Tracy does regret this moment.
I think the Christmas episode is coming up and considering how heavy some the recent storylines have been I wonder if it is too much to ask for some holiday cheer.
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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