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TV Rewind: Felicity, “Party Lines” and “Running Mates”

Felicity, Episodes 2.18 & 2.19
“Party Lines” & “Running Mates”
Original Air Dates: Apr. 19 & 26, 2000

Emma: Last time we discussed Felicity you posed the question of how Ben might win Felicity’s heart and once again I did not guess correctly. Nope I didn’t see “is super adorable with a kid after he has used his basketball therapy technique” as Ben’s way back in. Not that anything has happened beyond lingering stares and a whole lot of tension.

Before I get into the next classic teen TV trope of student council, I want to talk about Ben some more as he continues his quest to find out who the real Ben Covington is. Ben wisely stops listening to Sean and goes to see a professional, Dr Pavone. Here he does a career test – I have to say that any career-related meetings made me get super twitchy and my response was always a shoulder shrug as I thought writer sounded far too fanciful – and the results are all over the place, much like Ben. So the choices are stock broker, teacher, tour guide or a captain of a ship. I want to see Ben as a captain, but he of course picks the one with the best financial prospects. Plus this means we get to see him in a suit, but because this is the year 2000 it is super baggy and unflattering. Why so baggy?

Ben is of course doing the gesture thing without doing it; this is all inspired by Felicity (she makes him want to be better), but he doesn’t want to show that he’s doing it for her. Plus it’s a total bust as he ends up as a babysitter rather than learning anything about stocks as his boss is caught up in work and pretty much ignores his visiting son. Ben, as we know, has a complicated history with his own father, though it’s not like this dude is Ben’s dad level of bad, he’s just caught up in his shit. When Ben finds out that Steven quit piano a year ago, they ditch the planned recital and go play basketball instead, because of course.

There’s a montage and it’s clear that Ben should be teaching (so the test was kinda right) as he’s really great with motivating and encouraging this kid. That is until he busts his finger and conveniently the NYU health center is the nearest place to the basketball court. Greg is reluctant to help and I think it’s more his concern for his job, rather than jealousy but, eh, he’s still a jerk so this didn’t win him any points. Felicity is super enamoured by this new side of Ben and I really wanted them to kiss (after the kid was gone of course), but alas I think we’re going to have to wait a few more episodes for that. Especially as there is other DRAMA that has got in the way. Before I get to that, what did you think about Ben in this episode? Do we know who Ben Covington is better than we did before?

Julie: I loved the way Dr. Pavone said, “Captain of ship.” I don’t know why Ben didn’t jump at that one. Ship’s captain = adventure!

But, yeah, he should be teaching (or coaching). It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? He’s been mooning about all season, crying over the loss of his swim team. He’s helped Julie through tough times. He supported Noel during the whole Ruby debacle. He’s a fixer. He’s the guy who’s had all the experiences and he can help other people get through their own issues. Of course, teaching isn’t just being good with kids. He needs to understand the subjects he’s teaching and know how to present them to a class. So, when ti comes down to the nitty gritty of actually instructing kids, I don’t know how much he’ll actually dig the profession. But maybe counselor is a better job for him, working at a boys and girls club, hashing things out on the basketball court. Because isn’t that truly what Ben does best?

I am feeling more Team Ben after these episodes. I still think he’s an immature guy playacting as a mature one. He’s done all these “things” in his life, but has never reflected on what any of it means or where he might be going. I love that he’s finally taking life seriously. I still don’t know if he “loves” Felicity or if he just loves the idea of Felicity. I think a big chunk of his infatuation with her has to do with the fact that he’s trying to grow up, and a relationship with someone like Felicity would be a step in the right direction. Also, Felicity has never shied away from telling people what to do, and I think Ben thinks he needs that. He loves when people tell him what to do (hence Sean and Dr. Pavone’s test).

But, because Felicity’s with Greg and busy with her own life, she isn’t really biting, is she? She’s pretty much been staying out of the “Fix Ben” business, which is good for everyone involved. It’s forcing Ben to think about what he wants for himself. We’re starting to see his true colors. And if his true colors are those of a guy who is nice to kids and wants to help his friends, I like it.

I also think Ben pushing Felicity to run for student council (which, this whole storyline has me SMH) is a bit of a role reversal. Felicity has always been the one to support Ben, to tell him to go for it. Now he’s returning the favor. And thank goodness, because we would’ve missed out on all the campaign speeches and chicanery.

Any other thoughts on Ben? And what did you think about Felicity’s deciding to run for president of the school?

Emma: One of my chief complaints about the first half of the season was how divided it was with Felicity/Noel/Elena on one side with Ben/Julie/Sean existing in another space and I’m so happy with how organically both groups now share stories. Part of this has been the focus on Ben and now that he is friends with Noel it’s made it a lot easier for the writers to mix up the groupings. With Ben especially and as we have seen in how much we have talked about him recently they have really found his footing and while it’s still ambiguous in terms of who he is (which makes sense because he doesn’t even know) I’m really enjoying this meditation on the guy who had everything at high school and is now a big ball of confusion.

Normally with the high school stud it’s all about the burnout after they leave with the classic case being Tim Riggins from FNL, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen TV deal with it in this manner. Maybe because high school shows that venture into college don’t have a character like this (I’m thinking The OC, Buffy, Gossip Girl) and so this feels very fresh. I guess I’m just very excited about the quandary that is Ben Covington.

I also think you’re right when it comes to Ben and Felicity; there is an attraction of course, but he’s definitely into the idea of this love and how she makes him feel. Like I said before I definitely want to see them kiss and when they were on their breaking and entering mission I was sure it was going to happen – hiding in a confined space normally leads to these kinds of shenanigans, but alas – and now Ben has fucked up his chance for now by being impulsive and outing Greg’s coke past.

Ah yes the election storyline and like you this had me shaking my head. Okay so I’ve never run for any kind of council or president and while I remember election stuff going on on campus I was never part of it of anyone’s campaign. But hey TV loves a campaign arc as they can use it as a backdrop to work through all the issues.

Greg of course wants to be president and he wants Felicity to be his campaign manager, which considering how passionate she is actually makes sense, plus I feel like there’s a slightly skeezy motive behind this. The problem is that Felicity disagrees with almost everything on Greg’s platform and it’s actually Leila (the girl who kickstarted the morning after pill protest) who’s campaign she’s all for. Now this is where it made me feel uncomfortable as Leila had a panic attack before her speech and she asked Felicity to save the day and I wish that if Felicity was going to run it wasn’t so she could take over from a WOC. It smacks a little of the white woman coming to save the day again and it feels like they did this just for the visual gags in the speech. What did you think about this moment?

Everyone, but Greg wants Felicity to run and so of course she decides to and Greg comes crawling back because he loves the feisty side of Felicity (it’s that pattern again). The second episode is all about dirty politics – shows also love using this as an analogy of what’s going on – and how far people are willing to go to win. Richard is pretty much the best in both these episodes and I wanted to point that out before throwing back to you. Also random observation, but it feels like the only character who is allowed to call anyone a dick is Ben, including about himself “she thinks I’m a dick.”

Julie: You’re right that Ben is sort of a novelty when it comes to teen TV. He hasn’t had a moment of complete collapse. While he was popular in high school, he didn’t seem like much of a golden boy (unlike Tim Riggins, who at least had football). Ben, I’m assuming, despite the swimming and running, kind of coasted through high school, and now he needs to figure out what else is out there. Oddly, Steve Sanders comes to mind. He was a bit more sinister and less serious than Ben, but kind of the same idea. He was the cool guy, but he was never the star athlete, nor was he a great student.

I basically liked nothing about the campaign plot. Except Richard. If I were running for school president, I’d run on the platform of “more Richard.” I ran for student council once in high school (lost) and basically paid no attention thereafter. I don’t remember anything about college elections. I don’t even know if we had college elections. I do know that if we did, the members of the council certainly did not wield the amount of power Richard, et. al. are banking on.

As far as the ickiness, yeah. Greg is all kinds of no (oh, and good call on him liking her again because of her feistiness). I don’t know if he had an actual angle in courting Felicity as his campaign manager, but it felt contrived somehow. And Felicity taking over for Leila was really unfortunate. Why couldn’t Felicity have just figured out she wanted to run on her own? Or why couldn’t she have jumped ship and just joined Leila’s campaign instead of Greg’s? Have a spine, woman. Know what you want. She’s worse than Ben sometimes in the flightiness department. One day she’s an art major. Then she’s back to medicine. Next she’s heading her boyfriend’s campaign, then she’s running on her own (stolen) platform. At least Ben’s honest about the fact that he has no idea what he wants.

Ben writing “Dick” on the poster was fabulous. “Dick” is a word that should be used more frequently on television.

I suppose we should talk about the Sadie Hawkins dance and (what?) are they trying to put Julie and Noel together? Is that really happening or are the writers just “trying it out?”

Emma: I am having so much fun talking about Ben in this manner and to be honest I didn’t expect there to be this much depth to him; they’ve done a really good job of fleshing him out beyond that super cute smile. If only he wasn’t so impulsive with the Greg info and in turn driving Felicity away. Ben’s not done though and he heads to Grand Central (obligatory Broad City gif dancing moment) to pursue her and it was the hardest thing to not stick on the next episode to see just what he is going to do. Felicity has of course only gone on this weekend trip as a reaction to Ben’s deception – Ben once again went to Sean for advice, because he never learns and Sean flip flopped with what Ben should do – and had previously told Greg that a weekend away was far too soon (what it is it with these older dudes wanting to do the big step stuff after a month together, eager beavers or what). As a way to punish Ben she changes her mind and Greg goes along with this sudden change even though he knows Ben is the reason, way to sell yourself short dude. This is not going to end with a weekend of happiness. As you mention Felicity can be just as flighty as Ben and this is the embodiment of that.

Meghan has the best reaction to all of this as it “makes he wanna puke” and after she wore a straw boater hat for Greg and everything.

Do Sadie Hawkins dances happen at college? This felt like an excuse to have a dance and create some awkwardness between the couplings and to set up whatever the Noel/Julie stuff is. I like Noel and Julie as friends and while I’m not opposed to something romantic happening it does feel a little incestuous with this group and that Felicity and Julie have swapped guys. The advice Julie gives with regards to Ruby is solid, though once again it feels like she is being defined by something dramatic that happened in her life; her storylines tend to focus on the rape or her adoption and I want more from her and for her. It does get a little flirty between them in both this episode and the next one and yeah, it’s a bit out of the blue. They even have a moment on that stairwell where big moments happen and that indicates to me that this is something they are trying out, which is fine.

I’m glad that there is no kind of jealousy at the moment between Ben and Noel regarding Felicity as they both help out with her campaign and I keep expecting there to be passive-aggressive comments that never come. I hope this continues, but when the inevitable happens I suspect this friendliness might not be so forthcoming.

Elena gets her own story! It’s tied to Tracy as their back and forth continues with something I didn’t expect to get in the way. What did you make of Tracy’s revelation?

Also I’m writing this while listening to a Felicity playlist on Spotify – there is lots of lady angst.

Julie: I don’t think we had any Sadie Hawkins dances in college, or high school, come to think of it. I love the addition of Tracy to the group, and I think they, yes, definitely need more guys. The whole man-swapping thing is starting to reek of 90210. There can be other guys besides Noel, Julie.

Honestly, I have no idea if they even let the Noel/Julie pairing go beyond the dance. I’m remembering vaguely what happens in Season 3 (we’ll get there soon!), and I just don’t think it’s feasible that Felicity would dick over Julie not once, but twice, in the guy department. Spoiler. Alert.

I really do love Ben and Noel together. They have great chemistry and Shonda Rhimes should definitely consider bringing Scott Speedman on as a Scandal regular. He needs work! Obviously the writers are on a FeliciBen trajectory now; and, I think, because of Ruby and because of Noel and Ben just generally getting along, he won’t have as big an issue with Ben and Felicity finally hooking up. The Noel/Felicity friendship ship is steady and on course.

I was a little surprised by Tracy’s virginity revelation the first time around. But when I think about it, most of my friends were still virgins when they got to college (by sophomore year? not so much). This show (and most teen shows) treat teen virginity as something sort of freakish, but I don’t think that holds up in reality. It will be interesting to see how Elena deals with this, though, because she’s all about “being the ball.”

What did you think about Tracy? And why didn’t anyone ask Sean to the dance?

Emma: Sadie Hawkins is definitely one of those things that in my head only exists on TV.

More guys would benefit the show, especially ones of the of the non-skeeze variety. Particularly for Julie. I like Tracy too and the energy he brings. The banter is fun and he gels well with the group.

It’s funny because while I know there will be Felicity/Noel shenanigans down the road (in the same way I knew she would get together with Ben at some point) it’s hard to picture that at the moment as the friends thing is working so well. And you’re right, I can’t see them doing that to Julie again. Widen your scope, show.

Yes, yes, yes to the Scandal idea. Maybe we should start a letter writing campaign. He could be an old college buddy of Jake’s, no backstory needed. The next two movies Scott Speedman has coming out are horror movies, come back to TV (still sad Last Resort got canceled). Also Noel goes to a dark place when they start discussing breaking and entering which felt very Jake on Scandal (fishing hookers out of the Hudson). All this spy talk also gave me all the Alias feelings. I do love how many people on Felicity have gone on to play spies in other shows.

The Tracy revelation was a surprise in that the typical virgin on TV doesn’t tend to look or act like Tracy, though this is of course a stereotype and not representative of reality. You’re right it is always treated like something bizarre and I liked the way he owned it. Elena has always been sexually confident (which I think is cool and I’m glad she’s never been painted as a harlot), she knows who she is and what she likes and her reaction/subsequent decision isn’t surprising especially after she made an issue of Felicity’s maybe hang ups. Going forward I am intrigued to see where this goes and I understand why this is asking for one commitment too many from Elena. That friends smooch suggests there is a lot more to come.

If only Richard and Sean could go to the dance together, although I guess Sean doesn’t technically go there (he’s like that girl in Mean Girls, note this is my first a Mean Girls reference in some time). Sean is still making his movie and he is trying to engineer a Ben/Felicity reunion. He’s going to be so pissed when he realizes that Ben’s gone to make a big declaration without the cameras present. What do you think Ben is going to do when he gets to Rhinebeck (upon googling I found this and it does seem like a fancy weekend away choice)?

Julie: How does poor college student Greg afford a place like that? Is he selling drugs? Embezzling from the clinic? There has to be something sinister going on here. Since I don’t remember, I’m going to guess that Ben shows up in Rhinebeck, catches Greg in the act of some bad deed, tells Felicity about it, and she blows him off because he’s just jealous of Greg.

I feel like Scott Speedman could find a really good home somewhere on TV. I’d love for it to be Scandal, but really he’d fit in anywhere. I don’t know why actors still think it’s more “prestigious” to make the move to film. TV is doing waaaay better stuff than movies these days. (Witness: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Would you really rather have that on your resume than Mad Men?)

I also found it very hard not to put on the next episode. I want to know what happens! (Even though I should already know what happens, considering I’ve seen it before. Old age.) I think probably the most important thing on the Felicity Season 2 docket is to figure out a way to get rid of Ruby. Down with Ruby!

Emma: Yeah the magical amount of money some characters have takes me out of a show sometimes, I get suspension of disbelief but sometimes it is truly ridiculous.

One thing I’ve found with pretty much every roundtable is the discussion of better roles on TV over film and not just for women. I guess it helps that there are so many platforms now with network, cable, Netflix plus long form and mini-series. The options are endless whereas in film it’s big studio movie or indie and both of those come with potential failure now. Casting directors you need Scott Speedman in your life.

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.

Tags: college, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scandal, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV, why so baggy?

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Revolutions” & “Docuventary II”

31 Jul

Felicity, Episodes 2.16 & 2.17
“Revolutions” & “Docuventary II”
Original Air Dates: Apr. 5 & 12, 2000

Emma: The sexual health revolution continues on Felicity in yet another episode that feels incredibly progressive and depressingly timely considering it was shot in 2000 and it’s now 2014. Le sigh. First of all I’m going to talk about the positive aspects and that is how this show is interested in a variety of sexual health topics that have an impact on college age kids (not just college kids but as this is the setting of the show it’s good that they’re embracing these issues) like contraception and in this case the morning-after pill.

Felicity is still doing her community service at the health center and when she’s not mooning over creepy Greg or getting into fights with her father, Felicity gets to be pretty awesome. Okay the whole find an issue and then go to a protest about it is a big college TV trope – I did go to one protest at university about the increase in tuition fees so maybe I am a cliche, my university is pretty liberal so there were always protests for something – and of course the outcome is positive in that their demands are met. In reality Felicity would be getting called a slut a whole bunch and all I could think of was Sandra Fluke while watching this episode and how gross people were to her.

As the face of this protest, Felicity is perfect – middle class white woman and daughter of a doctor, she also happens to be pretty which is a bonus – but when Felicity gets on camera she falters and she can’t articulate why this is such an important cause. Ah yes the cause, I’ve neglected to mention this and what they are fighting for is to have the morning-after pill available in the health center for students. This makes all the sense to me. For bureaucracy’s sake, this is something that has been taken away from student health services, though, last year when Julie needed the morning-after pill the morning after Zach raped her, they still administered it. This is where the two stories merge in what I thought was a rather organic function; and after Julie’s recent encounter with skeezy A&R dude Eric, memories of Zach and that night have become all too fresh once again.

Julie is the one who speaks on camera about her experience and why it is vital for students to feel like their health center offers everything they need when dealing with the aftermath of a sexual encounter that could lead to an unwanted pregnancy, whether it is a split condom or rape. While I don’t want to see Julie tied to this story for forever, I’m glad they haven’t forgotten that it happened, as all too often a show will include a devastating story like this for it never to be mentioned ever again.

What did you think of the protest storyline? Did you ever go to a protest at college? Are you as impressed as I am at how Felicity deals with plots involving sexual health?

Julie: I never went to a protest. I feel like I’m missing out. Probably I should go back to college and right this wrong.

I’m also sad/not surprised that this was an issue in 2000 and it’s still an issue today. I’ve been watching a lot of Murphy Brown reruns and it’s almost (*almost*) humorous how little has changed in the interim. Women are still having to fight daily for (what I, and many others, consider to be) basic reproductive rights.

The whole protest itself was very Kumbaya. Everyone was happy and singing. No one got arrested. In the end, they wound up getting what they wanted. It was very sanitized and very perfect, right down to Felicity spearheading it, as you mentioned.

The one thing I loved most about this storyline was Felicity’s reaction to the girl needing the morning-after pill. The look on Felicity’s face was all, “This is so cool. I feel so cool that this girl is confiding in me about her sex life. I will do anything to help her because this is so cool and I am so grown up.” It was the perfect Felicity moment, combining her need to help/be a busy body with her need to feel more adult.

I was also proud of Julie for “standing in her truth.” (Can you tell I just got back from BlogHer?) And now that everyone knows about Julie and Zach, hopefully we’ll be able to move on and the writers will be able to give Julie a new storyline.

Happening at the same time as the protest, however, was the next stop on the Noel/Ben friendship train. What did you think of their bonding/fighting?

Emma: I love how Ruby is all ‘bet you didn’t expect to see the pregnant chick get involved’ and they’re all shoulder shrug about it as if they hadn’t really considered that. Ruby somehow tries to make it all about her, even the morning-after pill.

This won’t be a surprise I’m sure, but I adore the Ben and Noel storyline that starts with philosophy studying and ends with an ultimate hangover – as someone with a philosophy degree I am very familiar with this course of events. Except I’ve never had a fist fight in the middle. So it all starts with a Ben complaining to Felicity about philosophy class (also been there) and Felicity suggests that Ben ask Noel for help. Ben is reluctant until he answers a question kinda incorrectly in class and then he’s all “lets go get sandwiches and talk about old white dudes.”

Studying leads to sharing of course; and Ben, without realizing it, gives Noel more reasons to dislike him as he mentions how easy he had it in high school with grades, sports, and girls (neglecting to mention the abortion story that led to this friendship). They start drinking beer and Ben does the most adorable smile that reminds me of Mark from Empire Records and I’m smitten.

They get super drunk on tiny cans of beer and when Ben throws a full one at Noel’s head (ouch), Ben says he can even the score with a punch. Noel doesn’t want to at first even though this is one of his dreams come true and it ends up in a full on trashing the front room fight. This drunken debauched night leads to a shameful morning after and neither of them wants to say they lost. By the looks of your faces and what I’m guessing your breath smells like boys, both of you did. In true bro style they seem ok with each other, and a gross hangover cure is Ben’s way of saying sorry. They switch from Jerry Springer to the news and get a shock when they see Felicity. I half expected them to turn up at the health center but I’m glad they didn’t, this confused and broken response is so much better. I love how confused they are.

What did you think of the boys studying together? And how do you feel about the emotional blackmail of getting Felicity’s dad to try and stop the protest?

Julie: The look everyone gives Ruby reminds me of this. They’re all, “Just leave already, Ruby. We hate you.”

I think Noel and Ben need a morning-after pill for their relationship. There was a lot of sheepishness in that room post fight. I think this is exactly what they needed for their relationship to grow. They had to get all of the residual anger out of the way. Noel being jealous of Ben. Ben being…why is Ben so mad at Noel again? What right does Ben have to be mad at Noel? I don’t know. I guess Ben is just feeling inadequate (having answered that question wrong/having no idea what he wants to do with his life), so he takes it out on Noel, who has his ish together and is getting paid to basically play professor all semester.

That beer to the head looked painful, though, man. Ben deserved a punch to the face.

So, back to the protest. Of course Mr. Porter shows up, and of course he’s back to being a doctor and a now a teacher at the university. All of his problems are solved! Anxiety and depression are gone! It’s a TV miracle. Thanks, TV, for treating mental illness with such sensitivity and gravitas!

I’m pretty sure they did this just to give Felicity a reason to question her actions, just to add a little drama. Because all her dad does is serve to remind her that she was only at the clinic in the first place because she was in trouble, that being involved in this protest could get her into more trouble — possibly expelled and shipped back to Palo Alto oh noes.

It doesn’t work, and Felicity is, of course, all, “Shut up, dad, and go back to your empty apartment.”

This episode also pushes Greg and Felicity closer together, especially in the mouth area. What do you think about Greglicity as a couple and how bad do you feel for Meghan?

Emma: The social chameleon qualities of Ben is something we have discussed a lot in the past and it’s something I’ve been thinking about with regards to his friendship with Noel as he tries to become a man that he thinks Felicity would want to be with. Ben mentioned recently that there’s nothing in his life that he gets too excited about (except swimming) and his new academic interest is all part of the Felicity ploy and while I command his self-improvement plan it comes across as inauthentic as he’s doing this to impress a girl. As Ben mentions to Noel he’s never had to work at anything prior to college and now he’s finding out that the world beyond high school isn’t so easy to coast through. By attaching himself to Noel in this manner he is tying himself to someone who Felicity has been involved with and I wonder if he is trying to become more attractive to Felicity by molding himself on a former boyfriend. The thing is that Felicity chose Ben over Noel and what he should be doing is thinking about why and also how he fucked it up in the first place.

I’m all for this awkward friendship and how they are united in their dislike for Greg, well Noel didn’t mind Greg until Ben tells Noel that he thinks Felicity is dating Greg and that he has been arrested in the past for coke. They really are a splendid brain trust.

Felicity kissing Greg was not a surprise at all as was Meghan’s “I’m going to kill her reaction.” I just wish Felicity wasn’t into dudes who are older in a super skeezy way. It might be because it feels tied to daddy issues (and I am so done with the Felicity father plots and his convenient depression and getting over said issue) or because these guys are kind of the worst. Yes, she needs way more than Ben or Noel, but I’d actually like to see more single time Felicity where she isn’t defined by the dudes in her life and just hang out with Elena and Julie. This season has had some of that and yet not nearly enough especially as Ruby has been present for some of this (that clip is so accurate).

I was surprised by how up-front with his skeeze Greg was when he told Felicity that she got the job because he thinks she is hot stuff and this sets off a moral quandary for Felicity. She goes to see Dr. Pavone who once again tells her to get over herself and while I get the sentiment that dudes get stuff all the time because of their gender, I also don’t think she is right when she tells Felicity to just take the job and shut up. Felicity is more than capable of doing this job so it isn’t like she is horribly unqualified and yet it still doesn’t sit right with me in the same way it doesn’t sit right with Felicity. Felicity comes up with her own solution and everyone wins – well except the dude who didn’t realize he wasn’t getting paid for a volunteer position – and she carries on dating her boss. There are some serious ethical issues with this place of employment and they definitely need to watch all of the sexual harassment training videos.

Before I move onto other questions of ethics with Ben and his snooping I want to see how you feel about the Felicity and Greg relationship now they are dating. And what did you think about the return of Sean’s documentary?

Julie: You’ve got it all figured out there regarding Ben and his desire to impress Felicity. That is some Dr. Pavone stuff you’re spilling right there. Ben is totally molding himself into Noel, which, as you mentioned, is kind of dumb, considering that Felicity did choose Ben over Noel and Ben was the dude that dumped her on a whim (Sean’s whim).

I do love that, in theory, Ben is trying to improve himself. I just hope that one day he chooses to improve himself for his own self and not to win the affections of some girl. He can certainly learn a lot from Noel, if he chooses to, because Noel has always been very self-assured, even if he does get moony about girls and even if he was a big old dork in high school.

As far as Felicity goes, I think it was ballsy of Dr. Pavone (or the writers, really) to let someone take the stance of, yeah, life isn’t fair. Most of the time the chips won’t fall your way, so when they do, stop complaining about it and just be glad and ride it out. We generally hold our TV protagonists to a higher moral level, especially Felicity, so it’s kind of nice to see someone challenging her to lean in and take what’s hers, even if Alexis Arquette* might get caught in the crossfire. *Emma – That’s who that was!

And by taking what’s hers, I don’t mean Greg. Because Greg is dumb. Kind of hot, but dumb. And he’s even less hot now that he’s gotten his hair cut and looks like a low-rent Bill Rancic.

And then there’s Ben and his snooping, which, didn’t we have this storyline already?

Emma: Likability is a big trend or rather being an unlikeable character is something that’s got a whole lot of blogging inches of late particularly when it comes to a woman with unlikeable traits. Felicity is of course an inherently likeable character and as you mention it’s good to see her being challenged in this way. I do love how she tries to get the volunteer to quit by coming up with a gruesome story only to admit her exaggeration as she can’t quite follow through with a deception, but hey she tried.

That haircut is the worst. Does this show ever learn (I still haven’t forgiven the Ben haircut from the end of last season).

Ben’s snooping is something we have seen him do very recently, but I figure this is meant to be more of a grand gesture as it’s exactly what she did to him at the start of S1 so when she calls him out on it he can point out how similar they are. Felicity is incredibly dumb in this scene as she mentions how she did it because she was in love with him and the dramatic long pause doesn’t clue her in to how he feels.

Felicity should go hang out with Richard as he too does not see to be able to read the very obvious signs as why Ben gets all silent and mad looking when Greg and Felicity is brought up. The inclusion of Richard with Sean’s project is fun and while I was worried this entire eepisode was going to be from a video camera perspective again they switched between the two formats this time (Blair Witch even gets a shout out). Richard is all comic relief and while Ben spends most of this episode pining the various community service positions were also really fun. Working at campus security in that uniform is hilarious as is the hairnet he has to wear after his attempts to not wear a hat at D&D.

This also provides a link to Noel’s missing tests and while I’m not sure what the overall point is of this it is fun to see Scott Foley in full meltdown mode.

Is the Docuventary going to be an annual episode I wonder and can they top the Dear Sally cut in this episode?

Julie: More on Felicity’s likability. I think she’s a ’90s likable female character, but would it be the same today? I mean, I think I would like her, but would “kids today” think she’s an overly-serious buzzkill/prude? That makes me sad. There are not a lot of serious, studious, driven young female characters on television today. The first one that comes to mind for me is Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. How sad is that?

Richard is another thing that’s completely working for me in this episode. For some reason he and Sean have teamed up. I’m not sure how or why that happened. Had they ever been in a room together before this? He was Noel’s buddy, but now he’s with Sean. And I like it. They’re two misguided entrepreneurial nerds, and they make a lot of sense together.

I think this might actually be the last Docuventary, but maybe not. I totally loved the Sally shoutout.

I guess the big questions going into the end of the season are these — Who is Ben Covington? And how can he win back Felicity?

Emma: I honestly find Ben so fascinating as he’s such a big ball of contradictions – he was the guy with the best life at high school, but he also had a super shitty home life and then when he came to college he wasn’t the big hot shot he was and he’s pretty average at a whole lot. He’s a bro who on the surface is the usually stereotype and yet he’s so much more. And this is why I still have no idea who a Ben Covington is or what move he’s going to make to win the girl. He’s too insecure to go big gesture or honest confession and I kinda think Sean’s documentary might be the way Felicity finds out, but that feels like something they’ve done before. And how will this impact his new friendship with Noel when they eventually get together?

Your point about Felicity probably being seen as a prude today reminds me of something Keri Russell mentions during the THR roundtable when she’s asked about the controversial haircut and how social media would explode if it occurred today “You think a haircut’s going to beat out blow jobs? That’s so tame compared to what’s going on now.” And I think she’s right, as are you. It’s mighty depressing that that’s the only example you can think of (I’m struggling to think of one). The funny thing is that she’s not a prude and neither is this show tame when it comes to sex, it’s just not all extremes and feels way more relatable.

The Sally moment cracked me up and it made this whole sequel worth it as was Richard’s involvement a bonus. They instantly made Sean more likeable thanks to this pairing and I love how increasingly pissed off Ben gets when being film. He starts off mad and he gets progressively worse. Just think of the millions Sean and Richard might make.

I also can’t not mention the latest of Julie’s terrible fashion choices and that hat should be shredded and then burned. Bad hat.

Oh and I love Elena’s story about the ‘Elena’ doctor’s name badge she had made special to help during the times she doubts herself and yeah she only reveals this because Tracy made up a story, but it’s rather sweet.

Julie: First of all, we definitely need to write an academic paper on Ben Covington. He is the popular guy from high school, the guy who peaked, but he’s also not content with that. He’s lost his swimming. He’s lost his identity. He has this kind of awkward and dorky girl following him around, and he finds her intriguing, because she sees something in him beyond the cute smile. I think there’s hope for Ben Covington. He just has to keep working on himself.

This show does guys really well, which makes sense because it was created by two guys. The male characters all feel very whole to me. They’re developing, they have distinct personalities. I wish the female characters were a little more well-rounded. Elena is the driven one. Julie is the basket case. Ruby just sucks. Only when Meghan comes around does it seem like anyone has any fun. I want the girls to have fun. Real fun. The kind of fun that ends in a night of video games, beer, and bloodshed.

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.

Tags: college, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “True Colors” & “Things Change”

17 Jul

Felicity, Episodes 2.14 & 2.15
“True Colors” & “Things Change”
Original Air Dates: Feb. 20 & 27, 2000

Julie: Your Ruby theory was dead wrong. No miscarriage; she’s pregnant for another dude. Ruby cheated on Noel. Sure, they had just started dating and everything, but they had already slept together. Noel saw that as a commitment; Ruby saw that as an opportunity to hop up on the first guy she met on her movie set (fingers crossed for Tom Cruise, however unlikely that might be).

If you didn’t like Ruby before, this revelation certainly won’t help matters. Because not only did she hook up with someone else and neglect to tell Noel after she found out she was pregnant, she also had the gall to tell him she hoped he’d be able to get past her cheating and stick with her, in a relationship with her and her movie set hook-up’s baby. Run, Noel, run.

Thankfully, Noel sees right at the outset that this is a jam he’s happy to unstick himself from. He wasn’t all that on board with the baby when he thought it was his own, no way would he stay around to raise Tom Cruise’s illegitimate bastard (let’s call the kid Tom Snow).

Noel plays this exactly right. Ruby tries to get all passive-aggressive, threatening to drop his class. Noel does not take the bait. He calmly hangs out in his room and, after talking to Ben about all his problems, does the right thing and tells Ruby he won’t abandon her. He still wants to be her FRIEND.

What did you think about the Ruby revelation?

Emma: I can’t believe how wrong I was! I hadn’t even considered another guy was in the picture (yes I also hope it is another sibling for Suri). It is still a let off the hook direction for Noel, but in a completely different manner than I expected. I did feel bad for Ruby in a shocking turn of events, not for the whole not mentioning this vital piece of information, but because of the whole undefined nature of their relationship with Noel when she was in LA. This was also when Noel smooched Felicity over Thanksgiving so he doesn’t have too much to complain about here. Okay, he does but for a brief moment I felt for Ruby. Then she asked him to stay with her and I kind of lost what good feeling I had and I switched back to my usual Ruby position.

Noel didn’t want the baby when he thought it was is so I don’t know why Ruby thought he would feel any different when this bombshell was dropped. The offering to be friends still is a whole world of no, on both sides. Now one thing this storyline did which I never thought was possible is that it brought Noel and Ben together and now they’re basketball buddies. They obviously found a good location to use for these scenes as that’s all Ben has been doing since he can no longer swim – basketball courts must be so much easier to shoot.

After Ben went to Noel to tell him he “been there” and he was rightly told to fuck off after this gross invasion of privacy by the dude he hates the most, Noel decides after Ben is now in his philosophy class that he is just the guy to talk to. This to me is perfect and what followed was a scene that not only made me laugh so hard when I watched it, but it is still making me laugh now and it’s completely inappropriate of me. It’s Ben’s abortion tale and how instead of going with the girl he’d knocked up he went snowboarding with his buddies instead. The reason I find it so funny is that I didn’t expect to hear that he went on a trip like this, maybe to the beach as they live in Palo Alto, not snowboarding which is probably hundreds of miles away. Secondly I’m also picturing a 30 Rock style flashback showing Ben with his bros having an amazing time, while this poor girl sits in a waiting room alone (or like the abortion party in S1 of Girls). Am I wrong to find it hilarious? Also it’s so typically flaky Ben and even though I adore him, this story did not surprise me. He does feel bad about it though.

Ben and Noel as friends feels weird in the same way it did at the start of the Twilight Zone episode, but aside from Richard Noel doesn’t have any guy friends to talk about this stuff with and it’s clear why he chooses Ben over Richard to unburden his soul. Basically Noel needs more friends.

I really liked the painting party set up even if it was a contrived way to get everyone in the same place so they could all discuss Noel’s situation in an obnoxiously loud and intrusive manner – did they think he couldn’t hear them or something? There are lots of varying opinions as there always is with something as sensitive as abortion and Noel somehow remains calm and doesn’t yell at them all for discussing his private life.

The dancing that was led by Sean was so dorky and so fun even if it was super cheesy and I always find these sequences equal amounts hilarious/awkward. The recent episodes have been pretty heavy going so I enjoyed the dancing respite even though it was clear that Noel was going to walk in during the middle of it.

Have you ever been to a painting party? The first time I had heard of them was when I read the Zodiac book by Robert Graysmith as one of the Zodiac’s victims had hosted a painting party (I can’t remember the specifics, I just thought alcohol plus decorating might be kinda messy and not all that productive).

How do you feel about Ben and Noel as basketball bros?

Julie: The basketball thing on Felicity is hilarious. I think I’m going to do a gallery post of dudes playing basketball to sort though their feelings (except maybe not, because I can’t find video of the very best example — In Her Shoes. Whoever wrote that scene has never seen a basketball game). This trope was recently lampooned in They Came Together. It also happened on Scandal last season, with Jake (Scott Foley!) and the Prez. Guys can’t just sit and have brunch or go shopping together. There has to be sports involved if there’s going to be any kind of emotional revelation.

And I definitely didn’t think about logistics when it came to Ben’s snowboarding story. Maybe there’s a mountain range close by? Or maybe he really did drive hours just to avoid helping this girl abort his baby. Stay classy, Benjamin.

The painting party was ridiculous. As Noel points out, he and Elena are moving out of there in a few months anyway, so why spend all the time (and money, poor college students) to fix up a place you’re leaving and have no monetary stake in. Also, the husband and I ripped down rooms and rooms full of wallpaper when we moved into our house, and I get the shakes just watching these scenes. Wallpaper removal is not for the faint of heart, or for pre-med students who could find better use for their time.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a painting party, per se. I’ve hosted my own, which basically amounted to me and a radio in my basement or living room. No other people. Now I think I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time. I could’ve been having cheesy dance parties with actual living humans.

As an old person, I can’t imagine asking my friends to come over and help with home repairs. They all have their own shit to do, but a painting party is so college/early 20s. Those were the days when the promise of beer and pizza could entice people into helping you move. Those days are gone for me. I think they’re also gone for Richard Coad, who seemed to be like, “You don’t hang out with me all year and then you invite me over to rip down wallpaper? You people are jerks.”

The thing we haven’t talked about yet in this episode is Felicity’s budding relationship with Greg, the guy with her hairstyle who runs the clinic. What do you think of this and how will Meghan handle her roommate hooking up with her super crush?

Emma: One thing I do like about the Ben/Noel basketball scenes is that they’re not competitive with each other, I expected they would be for Felicity/dude reasons but nope. Nicely subverted show, other than the all round tropieness of it all. I totally ship it.

I am so not down with Greg and agree with Ben’s assessment “63% of me thinks you’re a dick.” As you mentioned on Twitter what is if with guys getting chewed out by Felicity and then falling in love with her? They’re also always older and this makes it even weirder, it’s like emotionally stunted guys fall at her feet when she points out how awful they are. Ben has got a big case of jealousy and that’s because he too has the Felicity feels, but she’s totally not reading any of those signals even if it’s the most obvious thing. I am glad that Ben is having to work for it after he couldn’t commit at the start of the season (there’s more to talk about with Ben in the second episode but I want to cover Greg first).

Greg is being a dick because he’s stressed with a forthcoming review and his flirting manual only includes playground behavior. Also that deleted files story sounds like a BS attempt to spend more time with her, or I could be crazy.

Meghan’s infatuation is so unexpected and hilarious; it’s is out of character and perfect all at once. I love her reactions as the painting party and Meghan should always be there when these big dramatic moments go down. I can’t imagine Meghan taking it well, perhaps there will be another spell coming Felicity’s way. Nice call back to the ripped up and put back together incorrectly photo with Felicity’s original big hair.

One other major relationship moment occurred between Sean and Julie, not in a romantic sense but she did tell him about what happened with Eric and Zach. Sean’s reaction is that of concerned friend, he doesn’t use it as a way to get closer and reveals the same happened to his sister. Julie’s decided that yes she does need to go see a counsellor and thanks Sean for the support he has given her even though he didn’t know why Julie was initially reacting this way. Sean should stop making food though. No one wants quiche at a party.

What are your Greg thoughts? In better new beau news, Elena seems to be having a flirty/competitive good time.

Julie: Felicity has daddy issues, is what I think Dr. Pavone would tell her. She’s falling for these older rude jerks, to whom she has no problem speaking her mind. It’s like she’s saying to them what she could never say to her father. And then she’s all-in once they come running back to her. And 63% of me is pretty sure I’m full of shit.

Greg is just a stopgap. The show is winding down to the season finale, and there’s no way he sticks around for junior year (unless Meghan gets her mitts on him). Actually, that’s the storyline I’d like to see, Meghan getting all peeved that Felicity goes after Greg only to cast him aside like it’s no big deal. That would probably almost be a worse crime as far as Meghan’s concerned. I think she’d be a little bit cool with Felicity edging her out for Greg’s affections, but I don’t think she’d be all right with losing Greg to Felicity only to have her lose interest almost immediately. And I’m pretty sure there’d be spells involved. It’s the end of the year. There has to be a spell at some point.

Aside from Greg and Ruby, the other character I need less of is Sean. I love Greg Grunberg, but Sean is so boring right now. Shit or get off the pot with Julie, Sean. If you’re never going to tell her how you feel, then just move on. Find someone else, or something else, to occupy your time.

I do think they had Sean make quiche just to have Scott Speedman say the word “quiche” several times. Now that’s cute.

I am loving the flirtation between Elena and Turk (what’s his name on this show?). I love that they’ve made him better than her at school and that he doesn’t really have to work that hard. It has to be so frustrating for Elena. I want to spend more time with these people. Less Sean, more Turk. This is my new motto. Maybe he should join Ben and Noel for some hoops.

Emma: Daddy issues is as much a J.J. signature as the ‘magical mystery box’ and on this occasion I find it pretty dull. I generally like teen shows that incorporate the parental characters and with Felicity I think it doesn’t really fit the overall narrative of the show as she’s so far from home her parents should be fleeting in their appearance, season 1 did this perfectly, I also think I would prefer for the focus to be on her relationship with her mother as it’s the most compelling. Instead we get the disappointed daddy and while I think his breakdown and subsequent depression *could* be interesting, it hasn’t really been presented in that way as there is too much other stuff going on. And yeah Felicity’s recent flirtation choice does have a whole lot of daddy issues attached to it.I’m just glad they’ve used up the “sleeping with your professor” storyline.

As you mention Greg is not here for the long term and it’s clear that Ben is going to make his big move before the end of the season. Ben goes on a “stupid date” with a girl who is actually pretty cool, but she’s not Felicity so he shuts it down before they move on from making out on the couch. Good work Ben and it seems like he is growing as person. Pam still wants to hang out as she’s had fun, don’t settle for being second best Pam. Have some self-respect even if he is super cute and can get you free coffee and muffins. Ben also calls Greg a dick once again and I really didn’t think they could use this insult on TV in 2000 as much as they clearly can.

Speaking of D&D and I love the Javier stuff in this episode as he tries to offer Ben advice,even if Javier misreads which woman Ben has feelings for.

I don’t mind Sean at the moment as I really liked that scene with Julie, they do need to get him a storyline that’s not Julie or scheme related. Sean’s documentary from last season is making a reappearance and I wonder how this will play into the overall narrative, particularly with the love triangle.

Turk is Tracy and yeah he’s a fun match for Elena. His post-exam dance while everyone else was still doing there’s (Elena) was on the adorable side of obnoxious and I hope this develops into a bigger storyline for her. Sometimes Elena gives advice that’s kinda awful like when she sex shamed Felicity and in this episode I inferred that she was telling Noel to go back to Ruby because what makes him special is that he can forgive. Hmm, I’m not sure that’s a good idea, although I might be reading into that scene too much.

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.

Tags: basketball bros, Daddy Issues, Felicity, JJ Abrams, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “The Slump” & “Truth or Consequences”

3 Jul

Felicity, Episodes 2.12 & 2.13
“The Slump” & “Truth or Consequences”
Original Air Dates: Feb. 6 & 13, 2000

Emma: Welcome to two Very Special Episodes of Felicity that deal with matters so broad and narrow as to include divorce, therapy (including the magical question we’ve been asking for some time now with “Who is Ben Covington?”), consequences of drunken breaking into swimming pool actions, unwanted pregnancy, the teen TV taboo of abortion and sexual advances from skeezball A&R dudes. There is so much plinky plonk piano music that had me longing for the classical soundtrack that Ben deemed was elevator music. Ben, if you want to hear elevator music listen to the soundtrack from episode 13.

So with so much going on it’s hard to know where to start, I guess I’m going to go with my new favorite character and that’s the chain smoking counselor and qualified doctor Dr Toni Pavone. Pavone is played by an actress who I know predominantly from ER so all my notes say Dr Coburn (also as the long suffering Mrs Schweiber in Freaks and Geeks) and she’s playing the no BS mentor. This is a particular trope when it comes to college movies (I’m thinking Good Will Hunting as I haven’t seen Dead Poet’s Society, but I’m guessing the latter features this) or TV shows (it does also extend to high school) and it’s normally a character who thinks they know best that gets treated to the no BS mentor. Felicity is an interesting case as she professes to knowing nothing; she doesn’t know why she came to New York (other than Ben of course) and she doesn’t know who she is. Pavone provokes Felicity into acknowledging the shitty position her parents have put her in and to reject the good little girl hat she wears when talking about her family.

The act of rebellion that lands Felicity in therapy is something she blames on finding out that her parents are divorcing. She also claims that if this had happened when she was younger, she would have obsessed over it. Obviously she is obsessing over it now, as this is Felicity and over thinking things is what she does, though Ben is the rare exception here – she does have a habit of obsessing over Ben after the fact, but she is definitely more in the moment when it comes to him. Felicity keeps telling people that her parents splitting up isn’t a big deal and no one is really fooled by this. As an adult I guess she feels embarrassed to be feeling this much loss at the end of her parents marriage and yet it is a big deal. The foundation of her whole existence gets rocked in this episode as she finds out that her mom quit college as she was pregnant. Now this is a huge burden for anyone and for Felicity it is devastating (and it quite neatly links in with the Noel and Ruby story), as she recalls a story from her childhood that pretty much sums up who she is as someone who never wants to rock the boat.

When Felicity was younger she went to ballet camp, which she hated, and so she came home early. She found out that her mom had been sleeping in the guest room; and even though everyone in the house knew that the other one had seen this, it was not acknowledged at all and Felicity went to ballet camp for the next four summers. This is such WASPy behavior and it’s not surprising that Felicity is so introspective and repressed if that is the house she grew up in. On the surface everything was great, from the visit we saw at Thanksgiving to Christmas at home and it’s one of those occasions where we realize that a) our parents are people and b) there is so much going on beyond us as their kids. Felicity isn’t the reason they split, in fact she’s the reason they probably stuck it out for as long as they did, and I’m glad Dr Pavone makes her realize this through getting her to open up about who she is and why she thinks the way she does.

Ben, on the other hand, is another tale and he spends most of time in “The Slump” avoiding his counseling sessions and floating the idea of dropping out and going to Prague to live out his Before Sunrise fantasies, because of course he does. Ben is the flakiest of the flakey and while he has a ridiculously charming smile he also doesn’t have much else at the moment other than these flights of fancy. So it might sound strange when I say that I am coming around to Team Ben in spite of his chameleon personality and while I probably would like to see more of Felicity and her lady friends (briefly seen before Felicity’s dad rudely interrupted), the chemistry between Ben and Felicity is just really fun to watch and it’s much needed in an episode that is this angsty.

The Ben self-discovery doesn’t happen until the following episode so before I open that big ol’ can of worms I want to hand over to you and find out what you think of Felicity’s big parental related misery. Do you like what Dr. Pavone brings to the show or is this one college trope you would prefer to see avoided?

Julie: I am 100% with you on the new counselor, played by the always welcome Amy Aquino. This character seems to have taken the place of Sally in some ways, offering us real advice and calling Felicity on her bullshit, rather than just relaying stories from her own boring past (sorry, Sally). I love how fully-formed this character seems to be after only one episode. J.J. Abrams, who wrote the first episode, must have loved developing this character. Also, she definitely calls Ben on his social-chameleonism, so yay for that.

Because Ben is pissing me off. I know you’re coming around to Team Ben, but I’m so annoyed with him at the moment. Yes, he has the nice smile, but he’s also an emotional idiot. He never wants to deal with anything difficult. I’m thinking this is because Ben has never really had to deal with anything difficult. Yes, we got the whole story about his parents and how awful his dad was, but still. The kid was a popular athlete. He gets in trouble and gets out of it easily. He floats through life. And then he wants to drag Felicity, a girl who’s trying to get her shit together, to follow him to Europe where he’ll probably end up flaking out on her as soon as things get rough. He’ll take up with some Czech girl and they’ll live happily ever after until she dies of a heroin overdose and he highjacks it back to New York to further mess up Felicity’s life. And she’ll totally let him do it. That’s Ben in a nutshell.

So, I am definitely glad about the existence of Dr. Toni Pavone and her classical music. She’s the first one really questioning Ben about what he wants and who he wants to be. I’m looking forward to a new, more focused Benjamin Covington. I’m looking forward to a Ben whose entire existence doesn’t revolve around either girls or swimming.

As far as the Felicity stuff goes, it was very special. I really felt for her regarding the anger she felt for her parents. That was a great revelation. Felicity is so bottled up (WASPy) and it’s nice to see her get mad. Her parents deserve all the crap she’s about to throw at them.

We also got some stuff with Julie and Noel this episode. What did you think about Eric and Ruby?

Emma: I am far too easily swung by a good smile and Ben’s Europe plan really was ridiculous. He would totally screw it up.

First I’ll deal with Eric as there’s a lot more to say about the Ruby predicament. Eric continued to be everything Sean said he would be and that really sucks for Julie as even though she only has one song she was very excited about recording a record. In a scene that mirrored what happened with Zach last year (so much so that she called Eric Zach) Julie invited Eric in and then changed her mind. And then she blamed herself. None of this is Julie’s fault of course and it sucks that her character is going through this again. Thankfully Eric took the hint and with it he took all those promises of a record. Him and his curly mop of hair are the worst. Sean is great when he comforts her reminding Julie that she doesn’t owe Eric a thing.

Now Ruby and after more TA/Noel conflict – she wrote “hi Noel” on what was meant to be an anonymous paper, but wouldn’t he recognize her handwriting anyway? – that continues to be not very interesting, Ruby drops a clanger that her period is 5 days late. And she’s never late (of course). Now I have to admit that I expected this to be another teen TV pregnancy scare, especially as this show has been so good to point out various safe sex methods. Instead Felicity is showing that contraceptive is not always 100% effective and unwanted pregnancies do happen.

While I don’t want to sound cavalier and I have a feeling this might come across as flippant after being surprised by the initial pregnancy test result – in the form of color, not the usual lines – I was half expecting Ruby to go through with the abortion. Then I remembered this show was on the WB and abortion is still a HUGE taboo subject on network TV.

A character could have had an abortion as long as it was long ago (a la Kirsten on The OC) and off screen with the most recent teen related showing actually going through with this procedure on network being Friday Night Lights (it aired first on Direct TV so it might be why they could show it). Other characters can talk about their abortion experiences so Ben is fine talking to Noel about what happened on high school, well not completely fine because this is a huge breach if confidentiality even if his heart was in the right place. Ben you are so dumb and yet so pretty.

There’s a lot of sad starring out of windows and it’s super cheesy, and when they’re on their way to the clinic of course a baby’s leg grazes Ruby’s arm. Obviously if this character doesn’t want to have an abortion, she shouldn’t have to and that’s the point it’s her choice, I just wish teen TV didn’t have to follow the same pattern because abortion is such a controversial topic. I also really wish someone with more range could be tackling such a strong array of emotions as I don’t think Amy Smart is quite up to the task. The scene in the bathroom with Felicity reminded me of the scene between Hannah and Felicity in the bathroom (my fav locale) and how great Jennifer Garner was as a supporting player. Keri Russell shines throughout as she struggles to address the weight of the situation as this goes way beyond her expertise.

So what did you think about the surprise pregnancy story?

Julie: I echo everything you said about Eric and Julie and it being a bit of a repeat from her situation with Zach. Yawn. It’s horrible that I’m saying “yawn” about attempted rape, but yawn. Julie needs a new storyline, and better taste in men.

Moving from near-rape to near-abortion (seriously these episodes have IT ALL). I was happy that the writers actually made Ruby pregnant. The pregnancy scare copout is done too frequently and the Noel/Ruby storyline does echo what’s going on in Felicity’s life, so it’s all very poignant. While I agree that Amy Smart is not usually up to the acting task, I thought her reaction to the positive test was really on point. There were a lot of tears. And Noel just kind of sat there, not sure what to do, whether or not to comfort her, which kind of reveals all I need to know about where his head is at in this relationship. Something tells me that if Felicity were knocked up, Noel would be right there holding her and consoling her.

I was annoyed with the fact that Ruby didn’t go through with the abortion, for a few reasons. 1) It’s so cheap that we can’t allow a female character to make that choice on primetime TV, even still. 2) Ruby’s reasoning for keeping the baby is as ridiculous as she is. This baby is all of a sudden, out of nowhere, her purpose. Maybe she should wind up with Ben because the two of them are delusional soul mates.

Ben coming to Noel after looking at Ruby’s chart is shady and a little convenient. I feel like Ben is the Dylan McKay of this show, i.e. the character that has had All the Experiences. You name it, Ben’s done it. He’s a sheltered 19-year-old, but he’s lived hard like a 40-year-old Hell’s Angel. Of course Ben knocked up a girl and took her to her abortion appointment. Of course that happened to him.

I am really ragging on Ben this week.

Which other TV characters have had abortions, either on screen or off. Kelly Taylor did on 90210, but I think that was pre-show.

Emma: So Noel reeeeeeeeeeealy doesn’t want to be a dad, huh?! And that’s a spot on assessment with his reaction, if it was Felicity or even Hannah I think he would be very different. The panic and fear makes sense as this really wasn’t part of his plan and like you I find Ruby’s “it’s my purpose” speech to be completely out of the nowhere. I sense this is not going to bring Ruby and Noel closer together and this relationship has never felt particularly solid. On this occasion I really want Ruby to go to Meghan for some advice. Everyone should always ask Meghan.

Felicity followed Dr. Pavone’s advice about not making it about herself, even though she could quite easily after her recent discovery about her mom. Instead she mentions to Ruby that she knows someone who went through this without elaborating and with Noel she lets him talk. Good job, Felicity.

Quick question regarding their community service – would they really be allowed to work in a health center that caters for the university? Surely there are confidentiality issues to consider. In fact, Ben shows how dumb this is and Noel’s “Are you fucking kidding me?” reaction is spot on.

It really has all happened to Ben and I think this is in part to make up for some of the lack of charecterization and hopefully now that he’s been provoked into some introspection he will become more than just a collection of “it happened to me” with an adorable smile (yeah I’m still stuck on that). I am glad we got a real life Ben and Noel interaction (rather than a Twilight Zone one) and I think that’s the first time they’ve shared a scene since the argument in the bar in episode 1/2 this season.

One other Ben related thing I really liked was the Felicity/Ben rooftop chat that echoes the one when they first talked (I wanna say in the pilot) about snow in New York. It’s good to have Ben acknowledge a real reason why he is drawn to Felicity, rather than the sudden about turn and it’s because she cares about things. Ben has always coasted and now he has to actually look deeper. I am clearly the pro Ben of our discussion this week. I am also pro Ben and Felicity role reversal as he’s now the one very much following her. I also want them to kiss already.

So I was trying to think of some other TV abortions and I found this very useful site that documents the history of abortion on screen and generally on recent network shows abortions are considered but they either keep it or have a miscarriage. That isn’t always the case as the entry for Third Watch shows (and I do remember that episode). Felicity gets a mention and I stopped reading as it looks like it might go further than where we are up to. With cable they’re not hampered by the same parameters of course and so they have far more freedom to show a variety of resolutions.

Elena has a new love interest and it’s Donald Faison! I’m pretty sure both he and Paul Rudd must have made some deal when they shot Clueless as neither of them have really aged. Is Elena about to get her own story?

Julie: You are completely right about Ruby going to Meghan for advice when it comes to boys and pregnancy. Heck, Noel should probably go talk to her as well. I’d love to see Meghan in a room with Dr. Pavone. But then my TV screen would probably melt.

The community service thing seems like a setup. I don’t know what a community service job like that usually entails, but I always pictured, like, working in a soup kitchen or picking up litter along a highway. Working in a medical center seems kind of cushy, and also like there are probably other kids on campus (who are not in trouble) and would love to have one of those jobs. This is not really a punishment, and it also may serve to reignite Felicity’s love affair with medicine? Second season and this show is already running out of new shit to deal with.

Ugh. Reading those abortion story rundowns are depressing, especially after the SCOTUS Hobby Lobby ruling yesterday. We need to stop with this whole “having a baby will make your life perfect” narrative. It’s very damaging. Babies are hard. They’re great, but they’re hard. Also, the TV abortion list missed the other Grey’s Anatomy storyline. Cristina Yang actually does have an abortion in a later season after she gets pregnant via her husband Dr. Hunt. (Yang is a very good doctor, but she’s horrible at birth control.) She actually does have the abortion. She doesn’t regret doing it, but it colors her relationship with Hunt for the rest of her time on the show. I’m actually proud of Grey’s for how they handled this. Maybe this storyline was a response to the chicken shit “It’s an ectopic pregnancy!” copout.

On to a happier topic — Donald Faison! He really does not age, right? Those Clueless folks and their lack of aging. I don’t remember what happens in his storyline with Elena, but at least she’s got some man candy now?

Here’s my question for you, person who has never seen the show: How do you think the Ruby storyline shaking out? We know Noel isn’t too happy about the baby, how does he get out of it? Does he get out of it?

Emma: The forever Felicity quandary between medicine and art isn’t going to go away it would seem and of course she’s wanted to volunteer in the medical office (though they were also very helpful with Julie last season so I think Felicity is the kind of person who would want to give back in this way, so it’s contrived but it also doesn’t feel out of character). I’d quite like to see her take on both medicine and art rather than an either/or situation. Ben is not in it for the experience and his blagging skills are top notch even if he can’t follow through with the actual work. Oh and hey those colorful Mac monitors have got a whole lot thinner. It must be the 2000s.

Shonda is the one network person that I could see getting to use an actual abortion story rather than a loophole and that sounds like a good way to deal with it. Sometimes having a child is not the right thing to do and as you said these persistent storylines can be damaging.

My prediction for this Noel/Ruby storyline is that she’s going to have a miscarriage as I can’t see them sticking Noel with a child when he is meant to be part of this love triangle. Not that Felicity would mind, I just can’t see them going for it. It will be sad and devastating for Ruby, but Noel will be grateful. Ruby will end up leaving college/transferring somewhere else as the memories will be too much for her. Or she’ll tell Noel she lost it and leave, but will secretly have the baby. The latter guess might be a bit too soapy, but hey it could happen.

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.

Tags: A Very Special Episode, Felicity, JJ Abrams, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Great Expectations” & “Help for the Lovelorn”

19 Jun

Felicity, Episodes 2.10 & 2.11
“Great Expectations” & “Help for the Lovelorn”
Original Air Dates: Jan. 16 & 23, 2000

Emma: It’s 2000! Yep Felicity is no longer in the ’90s and yet I think we’ll still be talking ’90s fashion as the previous decade tends to linger in the style stakes – Mad Men did this with ’50s looking threads when it begun and The Americans costuming looks far more ’70s at this point as they’re only in 1982 – so I can’t see Julie ditching her butterfly clips anytime soon.

So it’s a new year and a new term; last time we talked we both mentioned the lack of Ben/Felicity interactions this season and it’s like the writers heard us (or heard the people back in 1999) and there’s a whole lot of Ben and Felicity in “Great Expectations.” What easier way to have them reconnect than for their shifts at D&D to change?! It’s super contrived and yet it’s not at the same time. New York is big enough even if you do go to the same college to avoid each other, but it’s also just as easy to bring them back together with something as simple as a shift change. It’s adorable and cheesy when they mention that they haven’t worked together since the last millennium.

Both Ben and Felicity feel lost for different reasons – Ben has lost the one thing that gives him focus as the swimming program has been shut down and Felicity is out of sorts as her father has taken a temporary job at the university hospital that turns into a permanent position. Part of coming to a city so far away from home was to get away from her parents and so Felicity is of course perturbed by her father’s presence (which I can totally understand). Felicity doesn’t get in to a class that she really wanted and everything is out of sorts for her (even more so in the following episode which I can’t wait to talk about).

Ben’s a hard character to pin down as he is such a social chameleon; he can be whatever easy going guy you want him to be and this makes it difficult to tell when he is feeling something genuine. The 180 he does with his realization that Sean gives terrible advice feels a tad convenient, however as it’s Ben I also buy that it would take him this long to figure out what a bonehead decision he made at the start of the season. How do you feel about Ben’s renewed Felicity feelings?

The chemistry between Ben and Felicity crackles in a way that isn’t present with Noel; there is a familiarity and closeness between Noel and Felicity that makes them seem better suited as friends at this point even though there is sexual tension. The version of Felicity with Ben is a little more daring, she doesn’t think or analyse so much and is very much in the moment. A desire to rebel leads to swimming pool break in and I love that Ben is wearing less than Felicity during this scenario as she keeps her D&D t-shirt on. This could have been an excuse to get Keri Russell into some slinky underwear and yet they stay very true to who this character is in this moment. It also plays up to the breaking into a swimming pool TV trope that has been used on everything from The Sopranos (Lady Gaga was in this episode) to a recent episode of the amazing Playing House. What is it about TV and pool break ins?

What did you think of the whole Ben and Felicity of it all?

Julie: It’s not the new millennium yet, Ben! I thought for sure nerdy Felicity would correct him on that, but she didn’t.

I think you pinpointed my problem with Ben in this episode (really, I think I had problems with absolutely everyone in this episode). While I loved the shift change bringing them back together, his whole 180 from breaking up with Felicity to all of a sudden wondering if he made a mistake in breaking up with her seemed way too fast. Like you, I wonder if his social chameleonism keeps him from having/showing actual feelings, or at least making suspect all of the feelings he does have. I’m not sure who Ben really is or what he really wants. I’m not sure he knows those things either.

I just wish they had taken a little time with this Ben/Felicity thing. Even if the writers had just put off the “hey, Sean, you were wrong” conversation for a few episodes. It’s fine that they’re hanging out together (and breaking school rules), but it’s way too quick for Ben to suddenly want to be with Felicity again. I don’t buy it.

The pool break-in is such a prevalent TV trope (was Lady Gaga really in that ep? Might be time for a Sopranos rewatch. Good thing I’ve got nothing else to catch up on), but I can’t come up with any other examples right now off the top of my head. I think Felicity with Ben is sort of interesting, but I’m not sure I like what her being with him does to her. Yes, she’s more fun and daring, but is it because she wants to be those things or does she do it just to impress Ben? It seems like every time she’s with him, he just gets her into trouble (the cheating thing), and he always seems to show up at the most inopportune times (like when she’s in the process of making things better with Noel). I feel like Ben is one of those guys that you see your friend dating, and know she just can shake him. You know he’s bad for her, but she’s inexplicably (or explicably in the case of hot Ben) drawn to him.

That said, she’s a sophomore in college and if she wants to have fun with a trouble-making social chameleon, she should do that. Now is the time. Besides, Noel’s busy TA-ing Ruby’s class. Barf. What did you think of Noel and Ruby and how annoying Ruby was as one of Noel’s students?

Emma: This sudden interest in Felicity from Ben definitely feels like it’s a reaction to audience dissatisfaction, in that I’m sure there were Ben/Felicity fans who were very dissatisfied with the start of this season. Getting a couple together to have them split up pretty quickly is a standard teen TV action, but they don’t normally spend this much time apart. But yeah I wish the groundwork had occurred in the midst of all the Teri Polo shenanigans.

I also agree with you about the version of Felicity is with Ben and it’s pretty much her version of the “cool girl” (as with MPDG I also have some issues with this trope with how reductive it can be if used in the wrong way). She’s more reckless with Ben, but it’s the PG-13 kind and yet there are also consequences. I’m also wondering what kind of punishment they’re going to get and whether Felicity will have to turn to her father to bail her out, I hope not.

Felicity’s parents are getting a divorce and it’s all been relatively civil between the Porters the few times we’ve seen them together and it totally blindsides Felicity. It’s not really that surprising considering how wistful her mom was about Felicity’s new life and the things she’d missed out on by marrying young and it doesn’t sound like it’s ending because of anything painful. How did you feel about this storyline?

I have some TA questions as we don’t really have them over here , well at least not at my university – is it always an undergrad student? Do they get extra credit for doing this? So they kind of run seminars?

Also Ruby continues to be the worst and I would rather have watched Elena making those three legged frogs than the advice/argument between Noel and Ruby. They’re both trying to help each other out and instead they poke at their insecurities.

Oh and what do you think about Julie and skeezy Eric?

Julie: I was not surprised by Felicity’s parents’ separation. (And not just because I’ve already seen the show.) A lot of real-life marriages end once the kids go to college, so this seems like something that could definitely happen. Plus Felicity’s mom definitely looked wistful when seeing all the fun stuff Felicity was doing in college. Also, she had her daughter very young and probably didn’t get much time to screw around (pun intended) during her younger days. Also, she’s a stay-at-home mom who no longer has a purpose. Her baby has moved clear across the country. I expect her to show up with a 20-something tennis pro from Belgium any day now.

Kudos to Felicity’s mom, however, for doing things in the right order and splitting up with her husband before pursuing her hot, young thing (unlike Maggie).

I never really had a TA either, because I went to a small school and majored in subjects where the classes were manageable and didn’t really need TAs. I think they’re just helpers, for the most part. The only thing I can gather from Noel’s situation is that he’s not so much teaching the class, but running a weekly study session. I’m assuming he gets either money or credit for doing this. And we all know Noel needs the money.

I really could not stand watching Ruby with her finger eyes, non-verbally telling Noel to make eye-contact. As a former teacher, I totally would’ve called on her. She was begging for it. Ruby, you’re an idiot and I wish you’d just go away already.

Oh my god, poor Elena with those frogs. Give her something to do, please! #FreeElena

As far as Eric goes, we saw that coming a mile away, right? I mean, first of all, he’s a “big time” record producer who goes to open mic nights after getting random postcards in the mail? I don’t think so. Secondly, Julie has one song. One song. And it’s not that impressive. What did he see in her (other than her looks) that would make him want to sign her on the spot. I had to say it, but Sean is right all over the place. Eric is skeevy and Ben definitely should’ve broken up with Felicity. He’s not ready for her jelly.

I guess the only other thing I have to add about this episode is that I wish Sean would just tell Julie he loves her so that we can stop hearing about it.

Emma: Well if Noel keeps buying three differs types of Christmas present then he definitely does. I am however convinced that the ugly bracelet cost $15 tops.

The eye contact bit was super cringy and Noel’s reaction was not surprising at all. Also, Ruby, do the reading.

I’m sad for Julie that this dude was all about getting in her pants and yes she really does need new material. They also need to give Sean more to beside harping on about Smoothaise and Julie.

So it’s a new semester and Felicity is taking a different direction with some of their stories and none could be more different than the second episode “Help for the Lovelorn” or the Twilight Zone episode, as I’ve heard it referred to. I’ve been really excited about watching this episode and it didn’t disappoint.

But first I have to make an admission and it’s one that might make me look bad – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of The Twilight Zone… I know. Now I have seen all of Eerie, Indiana, which is not the same thing but it did play an important part of summer vacation TV watching. I’m not sure I’m making it better. Regardless of not having seen any Twilight Zones (still hanging my head in shame), I do know the basic set up and style of the original series and how much J.J. Abrams has been influenced by it. This episode feels like a pretty great love letter to both it and Rod Serling. Plus it lets Felicity and the other regulars do something different while addressing some of the same issues.

What I want to know is if you can remember how it was received when it first aired? Did they promote it as a very different episode before it aired or was it like ‘hey surprise we’re doing a genre episode?’

Julie: I, too, haven’t seen much of The Twilight Zone. I don’t remember how this episode was received back when it aired, but I do remember that I wasn’t a big fan the first time around. I liked it much better this time. I think I appreciated the conceit a little bit more. Maybe years of watching “theme episodes” and Community have helped me come to terms with the one-off gimmick hour.

Because Community has so artfully used these theme eps to further the plot, I do wish this episode had had more to do with what happened in “Great Expectations.” As it stands, the Twilight Zone episode has no bearing on anything and was basically just a way to sort of explain Meghan’s box. That was really the only “value” to the ep, as far as story goes. Oh, and this is the last we’ll hear of Janeanne Garofalo.

So, okay, what did I like about the Twilight Zone episode this time around (because I honestly did enjoy it, story issues aside)? First of all, everyone looked good. Keri Russel and Amanda Foreman have the perfect faces for ’60s period nonsense. Maybe they can unearth Foreman from wherever she’s been hiding since Alias and put her in the final few episodes of Mad Men (or Masters of Sex, really). Also, yeah, I think they did do a good job of touching on the theme of being lovelorn (giving things a little Eternal Sunshine flavor), but only in regards to Felicity, Noel, and Julie. Ben and Elena (of course) had very little do do here.

What did you think of the episode overall?

Emma: Overall I thought it was really fun, despite not really moving the plot forward as there’s still the same love triangle (quandrangle if you include Julie) discussion. In fact that’s the premise really as Felicity gets into this situation as she signs up for a treatment that will help with her ex boyfriend dilemmas. As you mention Community was so good at using the gimmick episode to further the story and while this isn’t as successful as it pretty much underlines what we already know I did enjoy the overall effort.

It’s also an example of where Felicity’s new do suits the time period as I can’t really picture her mass of curls suiting the time period as well and Keri Russell looks super adorable in this era (it’s something they’re touched on in early flashbacks in The Americans when they first arrive to the US). I am so on board Amanda Forman in either Masters of Sex or Mad Men – Matt Weiner has a thing for actresses from ’90s teen shows so this would be all kinds of perfect. I love Meghan teasing at the start and how her “you’ll find out soon enough” to the “what’s in the box?” question was suitably menacing. Also isn’t the answer always Gwyneth Paltrow’s head (spoiler I guess)? Oh and because the look of this episode is so good I’m using screengrabs from this episode alone as there are too many good ones to cut out.

Farewell, Sally! And what a great episode for the final VO from her with no blathering about John or some lame life lesson. I wish they’d used Janeanne Garofalo better and the Dear Sally setup definitely works better with just Felicity’s side. Having the tape recorder appear was pretty fun and I like how they mixed in some aspects from the present with the overall context of the past.

It is very Eternal Sunshine-like and it’s just like Felicity, even in this alt-verse to resist against the easy path if it means losing the ability to love and feel. I mean I think most would do this, but Felicity is all about thinking and feeling so this extreme goes against everything that she is.

The creepy factor is high and suspense is high; it’s disorientating for both the viewer and Felicity alike because this isn’t the world we’re used to. There are elements of horror like the waking corpse, giant needles and forced operations that would be more at home on a show like Buffy than this one. Even the final sequence when Felicity wakes up alone at first in the box is disturbing as they’re all trapped together in box with no exits. A group of exes (and Elena) in close proximity is terrifying enough.

There is tension between Ben and Noel with old resentments rearing their ugly heads. At the start of the episode they’re perfectly cordial to each other and it reminded me of that brief time in S1 when they didn’t despise each other. I miss that. They’re glad Julie doesn’t have her guitar, I am too. Elena is pretty level-headed and while her presence didn’t make much sense in the context of broken down relationships, I am glad that she was there.

I love the different credits and as we saw with the various different themed Fringe credits, J.J. Abrams enjoys mixing things up. Is this the first sign that he was already feeling a bit bored of doing a college show with no overall mystery?

Julie: I think it’s OK to spoil Seven these days. That movie came out (holy shit, I’m old) almost twenty years ago. I need a moment to lie down.

That’s an interesting theory about J.J.’s boredom. Alias started in 2001, so I’m sure he was already laying the groundwork for that show at this point. Also, I think it must be hard to keep a show like this going. Obviously they’ve set up that Noel and Ben are the great loves of Felicity’s life. There are only so many ways you can keep getting them together and breaking them apart. And it’s only sophomore year!

That said, there are so many other great characters on this show that they are underusing. I want to see Sean, Elena, or Meghan get the arcs they deserve.

I’m looking forward to seeing the screen grabs. There were so many lovely shots in this episode. The lighting was beautiful.

Emma: There is definitely a lot that can be done with the supporting characters other than some of the thinly drawn plots they’ve been given this season and Elena hasn’t really had much to do since Professor skeeze last season and that was resolved off screen over their summer break. It’s easy I’m sure to get caught up in the central trio and it is named Felicity so of course she will feature heavily (and I wouldn’t want her to get sidelined), but Elena is getting a short shrift this season.

It’s funny as I thought there would be a ton to talk about with this very different episode and yet there’s probably less to say beyond the aesthetics – and yeah the lighting is very strong – as it’s not going to come into play for the rest of the story. Remember that time we were in a box. Actually one other thing I did want to mention from a technical point is the human tower as Felicity crawled up everyone, of course they are lying down and they’ve just changed the camera angle but I appreciate J.J. Abrams’ dedication to using these old tricks. For all his lens flare shenanigans he does have a habit of using the old classics and that’s why I’m looking forward to his Star Wars.

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.

Tags: Felicity, JJ Abrams, Keri Russell, Teen TV, The Twilight Zone

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Family Affairs” and “Portraits”

5 Jun

Felicity, Episodes 2.08 & 2.09
“Family Affairs” & “Portraits”
Original Air Dates: Nov. 21 & Dec. 19, 1999

Emma: It’s Thanksgiving and Christmas on Felicity and the holiday season is bringing up some not so well-buried feelings between Noel and Felicity. The ghosts of holidays past turn up as a kissing memory turns into a kissing reality thanks to very strong punch and undeniable feelings. As you predicted, David is dunzo after four episodes; but what I didn’t expect was for it to be in such a public manner and in front of Felicity’s parents no less, not to mention Felicity and Noel’s drawing professor. Awkward.

So how did we get here? Well, it’s been clear that Noel and Felicity have been dancing around the friendship/flirtation thing and, as the eyelash moment from our last discussion indicates, these fires still burn deep even if they are both dating other people and are doing the friend thing. Ah yes, platonic love, and however much I was enjoying them as friends, this is TV and so of course romance is going to factor into it all. I’m torn in the same way I was with Danny and Mindy; they’re great as friends but they also have undeniable chemistry. Plus David is sweet, he’s also a tad boring and also wanting to take things WAY too fast. No wonder Felicity went to hide in what she thought was an unoccupied room.

Before I get into the whole Felicity and Noel of it all, let’s talk about David first and the conversation that doomed his relationship with Felicity. It’s meant to be this casual thing and so David’s constant surprise visits, coupled with his ‘falling in love with you’ remark is way more than Felicity was expecting or wants. It’s only been a month after all. As she later explains her first year at college was about these two guys and the serious relationships she had (or still has) with them. It’s too much, she never dated in high school and to bounce from one intense relationship to another is not what she’s after.

Felicity thought they were on the same page, but it’s clear they never have been, after all David is slightly older and his breakup pain is much more acute than Felicity’s. Felicity and Ben broke up because he couldn’t offer her what she wanted and now she thinks she is “the Ben.” On a surface level I guess she is, but that’s far too reductive and basically David wants something more serious because that’s where he is in his life (he’s 7 years older than her) and Felicity doesn’t want to be tied down. This also makes sense, though it’s bad timing and, eh, David was never going to be anything long term really. I just dread to think what his next dates are going to be like if his first one with Felicity is an indicator of how well he takes break ups.

Felicity’s overwhelmed feelings are compounded further as her parents surprise her with a trip to New York and David’s non-freaking out reactions at meeting them drives Felicity further away. It’s been a while since we last saw the Porters and I’m glad her mom is still very receptive to the path Felicity is taking. Her dad doesn’t flip out in the way I expected when he finds out she’s dropped pre-med and aside from the not so wonderful lunch in Felicity’s regular haunt (which by the way is not a pub, it’s just not).

And then the Noel thing happens. Before I go down that road I want to know what you think about Felicity’s reaction to David and the general set up of this year’s Thanksgiving episode.

Julie: First of all, I can’t believe we’re already at the Thanksgiving and Christmas eps. That was fast.

The David thing played out really well, I think. At first I thought it was sort of a stretch that he’d be such a Stage 5 Clinger; but on a second look, it seems right. He, after all, was the one who came looking for her after she told him off on their first date. He was the one who offered to house her when the dorm was lousy with mono. He was the one who offered to take in her stray dog. Also, he’s older and he has been in serious relationships before. He was simply ready for something that Felicity was not.

I also loved the parents’ role in this. It felt so real and so cringy to me. That’s what parents do, right, when they meet their kids’ boyfriends and girlfriends, not to mention the parents of said boyfriends and girlfriends? They start trying to fit these new people into their lives. I guess there’s always that sense of, “This could be the person my kid marries. I’d better get on board.” And since David and Felicity had only been dating for a short time at this point, everything seems really early and really heightened.

The heightened emotions are not helped by David’s mom’s killer punch (which I tried to google, but couldn’t find it after searching for thirty seconds). Noel definitely gets drunk, everyone else gets a little tipsy, and he and Felicity end up “accidentally” kissing on his bed and are interrupted by David’s mom, who happens to be their art teacher.

I don’t remember what happens, but I hope Felicity and Noel kiss during every Thanksgiving episode, no matter what’s going on at the time.

Also, I’m loving the characterization in this episode. Meghan forgetting to order the food for her residents was great. (I loved the cut to the three guys sitting there in the darkness, starving.) I like that Elena, who has had to be the homemaker for much of her childhood, is a whiz at preparing a Thanksgiving meal. I like how Noel gets loopy every time he consumes something out of the ordinary. Good job writers!

So, what did you think of that kiss and the other kiss, the one between Ben and that skanky married lady he’s banging?

Emma: Thanksgiving on Felicity is fun and messy with Noel and Felicity being at the center of these shenanigans. I’m with you on illicit smooches between the pair becoming a Thanksgiving tradition. While this one didn’t reach the frenzied making out heights of their bathroom smooch which was fueled by anger last year, I think it could have gone that way if they hadn’t been interrupted (minus the anger). I like that it directly came from this place of giggling remembrance from the previous year, plus it gives Meghan the dramaz she has been craving all evening. As with the beets, Meghan and Noel make a dynamic duo when one of them, ok Noel, is wasted. More of this please as it gets to show off Scott Foley’s wonderful comic timing. Scott Foley is also pretty damn good at performing awkwardly, as he does while entertaining the parents as Elena and Felicity at the store.

As this was so enjoyable I’m even going to forgive them for not even mentioning where Elena’s dad is after they made such a big deal of their fractured relationship during the last Thanksgiving episode. The Meghan being a terrible RA thing is wonderful, as is the mysterious reason behind her community service. Like with her box Meghan, is a huge enigma and I’m all for more random Meghan tidbits as we go along. I love how she does the fake parent thing so well as she’s been doing it for so long with her own parents.

Felicity’s mom is so adorable as she’s trying so hard with her daughter; as you said it’s cringy and so real. It just so happens that David really isn’t the long term dude for their daughter. I also love the joking around on the walk to the cab with her mom saying she wanted to hit Professor Sherman because of course. They make plans for breakfast and it’s the least stressful thing in the world, embarrassment over and I hope we don’t go this long before we see Felicity with her parents (and specifically her mom) again.

I have more to say on Felicity and Noel, but that’s more to do with the second episode so hey it’s time to talk about Ben and Teri Polo. So in a slightly contrived storyline – why would someone host a fancy benefit at D&D? Sorry, Javier – Ben ends up as a cater waiter at an event catered by Teri Polo and hosted by her husband. Awkward. It goes terribly because Teri Polo wants to smooch his face off in the back room while her husband is the least subtle flirter in the world. Guys, I think you should get a divorce. I feel a tad sorry for Polo, but hey it’s clear you’re relationship is doomed if your both fucking other people who are in the room. Julie does her best not to come across as too judgy and to her credit she isn’t, even when she sasses off a bit. She’s only looking out for Ben who really needs to stop making shitty decisions. Meanwhile Sean is still trying to pedal Smoothaise. As a mayonnaise hater every time he mentions it I gag a little. Stop it, Sean.

They end up eating Tofurkey, which sounds like they’re saying a bad word and their Thanksgiving dinner is very sweet. I just wish it wasn’t so separate to the other group on this show and the second episode we’ve watched this week also has this same issue.

What did you think of Ben and his relationship woes?

Julie: I loved everything about Scott Foley in these two episodes. It, again, makes me wish that he were better utilized on Scandal. I want more David Rosen/Jake Ballard shenanigans. Shonda needs to give those two comedic actors better stuff to work with.

I really loved how terrified he was of hanging with the parents on his own. It almost doesn’t make sense, seeing as he was an RA and probably the most adult of all the college students in Felicity’s world, but it works because of who the parents are — his professor and his ex-girlfriend’s mom and dad. And, yes, Felicity’s mom (and dad) were all kinds of great in this episode. I guess they found something to bond over — the fact that nobody liked how serious David was getting about Felicity.

The “soiree at Dean & Deluca on Thanksgiving” was crazy ridiculous. Or not. Maybe I’ll host my next black tie Christmas Day gala at the local Starbucks. But at least it got Julie and Sean out of the apartment?

I know they *want* me to feel bad for Teri Polo, but I’m just kind of annoyed with the whole “See? It’s okay that she was cheating on her asshole, cheater husband” thing. It felt a little too convenient and it makes Ben look like less of a dick for going along with it. Just let Ben be a dick. I thought Julie handled the situation perfectly, and was probably kicking herself for ever dating this moron (Ben) in the first place.

And Smoothaise needs to be killed. Mayo is disgusting, and this sounds worse. But Sean offering to spread some Smoothaise on the Tofurkey? Genius. Perfection.

Like you, I really want the two groups to reunite. I miss everybody being together. They’re running out of things for the Ben-Julie-Sean trifecta to do on their own. Ben spent the second episode working on a term paper for the wrong novel. Yawn. The Julie/Sean unrequited love story has run its course. Now Julie is dealing with skeevy record producers and I think the show is starting to recycle every storyline from 90210.

At least Noel and Felicity are doing interesting things. What did you think of their portraits? And which gift would you have wanted: The Palm Pilot, the sweater, or the hideous bracelet?

Emma: I’m so glad we share a hatred of mayo! Most people react with horror when I pull a barf face at the mention of this condiment.

The “Ben reads the wrong book” thing had me cracking up, but that was my general reaction to the second episode. Some of it was meant to be funny (like Ben’s bonehead mistake), other parts like the portraits less so (more on my aversion to TV art to come). I get why Julie got mad at Sean, but yeah that guy (I think he’s from one of the CSI’s) had skeeze written all over him so other than the fact that Sean’s motivations are maybe not that selfless I think he’s on the mark. Also it’s crazy how dated Julie’s conversation with the A&R dude sounds with talk of tapes. Even MySpace would sound out of touch now.

So yeah the Felicity/Noel angle is way more interesting, even if it’s sorta frustrating as they continue their thinking too much dance. This is their eternal problem as they have the odd impulsive moment of actual kisses and almost ones followed by so much talking that they end up right back where we started in this weird limbo. It’s why I was rooting for them as friends. However, I also just want them to do it already (actually my notes at one point are more blunt saying “just fuck already”). Do you feel the same the same frustration with Noel and Felicity?

Oh and when it comes to the gifts Palm Pilots weren’t a thing over here, I mean there were PDA’s but not that brand I don’t think, I’m glad to finally see what they are and also in my notes I refer to the bracelet as ugly (because it really is). So hit me up with the sweater, Noel. The three different gifts show his confused state when it comes to Ruby and she still hasn’t enamored herself to me. I think the writers are trying to make her likeable as she points out how she doesn’t like the “GQ guys” who hang out in her hotel lobby and that Noel means a lot to her, but, eh, I find it hard to care about her.

I know Felicity is her RA, but it’s a little weird that she still goes to her with Noel related dilemmas, I definitely want an episode where Ruby seeks out Meghan’s advice. Felicity is too nice to tell her the truth and while I think it’s good that Felicity doesn’t get involved romantically with Noel again she’s still circling around the same issues, it’s why I liked their platonic relationship. Complications can’t be avoided and conflict is paramount to drama, I dunno I just don’t want to go down the same path again. So far I do think Noel and Felicity are both being incredibly mature with how they are handling it.

What did you think of the Felicity and Noel of it all? Oh and what about the slightly goofy/trippy dream sequences?

Oh and here is a tease of why TV art generally makes me laugh hysterically, it’s from Dawson’s Creek and they pulled a reverse Titanic with Joey drawing a naked Jack.

Julie: Also, regarding Julie: Can she learn a new song, please? It’s always the same one. But I do love the new wavy hair.

The A&R storyline really cracked me up. She sent out fliers to random offices? Snail mail? And then one of the dudes showed up? And we’re supposed to believe he’s on the up-and-up AND that Pop Rocks candy won’t sue him for using their name? I do kind of miss the innocence of those days, though. It’s so quaint how she’s “discovered” in a bar (Sorry, Felicity. A cafe). I basically want nothing to do with anything that began on YouTube or anywhere else on the internet.

“Just fuck already” could describe how I feel about many TV characters. I’ll probably start shouting that at the screen now. But, yeah. Felicity and Noel do think too much. They need some on-the-counter sex. Ben shouldn’t be the only one having on-the-counter sex.

I suppose they’re doing so much thinking because of their history and because there is an actual third person in the way, namely Ruby, our favorite. While I think Ben is a jerk for hooking up with Maggie while knowing about her husband, I wouldn’t feel the same way if Felicity and Noel did the deed. 1) Ruby sucks. 2) Ruby has been gone for, practically, months. 3) She and Noel were barely together before they left.

I do understand Noel’s reservations. He has built up this thing with Felicity to the point where it will never be as good as he envisions it in his head. We know that from his “Ha-ha! David had sex with Felicity” comment. He has put her on a pedestal. Also, Felicity is very inexperienced, but Noel is sort of as well. he was with his high school girlfriend for a long time. Then he had a chaste little relationship with Felicity before scoring a drunken hookup in Germany. Noel needs to play the field. More than that, I think he knows Felicity does too.

I still hope they kiss next Thanksgiving, though.

Since one of the three gifts was a sweater, do you think he subconsciously bought it for Felicity and not for Ruby? And way to be all, “I’d want the bracelet,” Felicity. Way to coerce Noel into giving that fugly shit to Ruby. That’s Meghan-level subversion.

Speaking of Meghan, Ruby should definitely start asking for her advice. In fact, I’d watch an entire show that was nothing but Meghan dispensing advice.

Oh my god, the dream sequences. I think the less said about those the better.

Barf on that Dawson’s art. The only good TV art I can think of happened on Seinfeld. Oh, and this.

OK, so what do you think will happen (or what would you like to see happen) during the spring semester of sophomore year?

Emma: Julie definitely had the angsty lady with guitar thing down and I totally agree with you about her hair as it looks really good – it does stray into the ‘Rachel’ while she’s cater waitering, but eh she suits it – less can be said about those chokers that she continues to wear.

I do worry that Noel and Felicity are never going to get past the conversation point of their sexual relationship and the pedestal thing is a concern. I don’t think either of them can get out of their own heads and it’s a shame because under the right circumstances they would be really great together. To invoke The Good Wife’s ‘bad timing’ Will and Alicia catchphrase, this is what they have and I’m intrigued going forward to see how they push beyond what could become repetitive or if they will get caught in a Noel/Felicity cycle. As the friend in the middle Elena is doing a really good job of offering advice while not getting too caught in the middle. This is where her blunt honesty comes in very handy. Plus I love her reaction to the near kiss she walked in on, she’s very much of a similar “just fuck already” mind I think.

Yeah that sweater was pure Felicity (official queen of sweaters) and nothing like whatever awful top Ruby was wearing when she opened the door — it looked like a scientific drawing of a womb and ovaries, which no.

The dream sequences were so awful and way to try and make it ‘sexy’ with Ruby wearing a bra in the bed sequence. So, so cheesy. Sopranos this isn’t.

Also are we done with the Sally replies? As I mentioned last season I love Janeane Garofalo, but Sally’s responses were so superfluous and lesson of the week like.

On the subject of art I love that Friends moment and my personal favorite is Jerry’s painting from Parks and Rec. I think it’s when someone is doing an art class that I can’t suppress the eye rolls and laughter. Every time they showed Felicity’s drawing of Noel (which was a lot) I had to pause the DVD as I was laughing so much, it’s not like it was a terrible drawing there is just something about it that I find very fun.

Oh and way to deliver the best bitchy response to Felicity’s gratitude Professor Sherman as she’s critiquing the art not the artist and Felicity kinda deserved that. It is her son that has been hurt after all.

So next semester I would like to see more unity between the two groups and we’ve barely seen Ben and Felicity converse since the break-up, which is pretty natural but hey who wants natural when there is drama to be had?! Oh and I’d like Elena to get her own storyline that doesn’t involve a skeezy professor, that would be appreciated. Keep up with the funny and less angst.

One other thing I did notice in the second episode is that both Noel and Felicity are wearing Tommy Hilfiger clothes – I love Felicity’s Tommy coat – and I wonder if this is a one episode thing or if there was a deal between the WB and this clothing line. It would make sense for the latter especially as at this time they had recently did a tie-in with The Faculty (I love this movie) and the commercial is pretty funny now.

What would you like to see happen when these characters return for their second semester?

Julie: I IMDB-ed it, and it looks like Janeane Garofalo is out as Sally, except for one upcoming episode (the Twilight Zone ep, which we’ll talk about next time and about which I’m sure we’ll have lots to say).

As far as the next semester goes, we need to bring the group back together. I think all of the current pairings have run their course and it’s time to shake things up a bit. With a new semester come new classes, so hopefully Ben will wind up getting his education on with one or more of these people (I vote for Elena. I’d love to see Elena and Ben get a chance to interact. Also, it would give Elena something to do).

We’ve been very Team Noel during the first half of the season and it’s mostly because Ben and Felicity haven’t spent any time together, and all we’ve seen Ben do, basically, is dump Felicity and bone a married woman. Not exactly the stuff ships are built from.

Also, I want less Ruby, more Meghan, more Richard Coad (wherefore art thou, Richard Coad?), and less Sean mooning over Julie.

About The Faculty, I completely forgot about the existence of that movie. Before clicking the video, I assumed it was a CW/WB show that I had forgotten about. Now I just want to see a new CW drama about first year teachers in a troubled inner city high school. This has been my pitch.

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.

Tags: 90s, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Friends, Keri Russell, Parks and Recreation, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV, Thanksgiving, The Faculty, Tommy Hilfiger, TV art

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

Keri Russell Talks The Americans: Playing a Complex Character, Awards and the Season 2 Twists

4 Jun

Pre-Emmy season is in full swing and there is an array of group discussions and one to one interviews on offer from outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Goldderby. One half of The Americans lead duo spoke to Goldderby this week in a chat that covers the major twist of season 2, what this means for her character Elizabeth going forward next year and what aspects of The Americans she both enjoys and finds most challenging.

The spy hijinks are fun, but for Keri Russell (and I’d have to agree with her as a viewer) it is the complex marriage/dynamic between Elizabeth and Philip that is what keeps this project fresh and exciting. It goes back to the drama actress roundtable Russell took part in for The Hollywood Reporter and she cites this here saying how in film, the roles for women are often the girlfriend or the mother who are there to say “honey, you can do it” to the leading male figure and this isn’t necessarily the case in television. With The Americans quite often Elizabeth is the tough, stoic one and what might be considered as traditional roles are redefined and reexamined. Coming from the girl who played Felicity, Russell does still find this hilarious.

One of Russell’s favorite moments from this season also provided one of the biggest challenges and it’s when Elizabeth starts to question how Philip is when he’s playing Clark with Martha. What starts out as gentle prodding turns into one of the hardest scenes to watch (and perform) and the aspects Russell likes is the “weird, blurry, complicated stuff and I think that’s when the show is at its best.” With regard to this episode Russell also mentions how incredible Danish director Charlotte Sieling is and scenes portraying Elizabeth’s vulnerability are hard, but they are ultimately the most rewarding.

Wigs come up of course, as does the major twist at the end of the season finale and how this might impact Elizabeth and Philip’s relationship next year. Fundamentally, Russell points out conflicts about parenting style and opinions exist in all relationships and it’s just so happens in this world it might involve your child getting recruited by the KGB. As we saw with Jared this can have devastating consequences.

Early awards success with Felicity and the Golden Globes comes up, as does Russell’s recent nomination for the Critics’ Choice Awards, although she thinks that Matthew Rhys (or “the Welshman” as she refers to him) is the more likely of the pair to get an Emmy nod this year.

It’s a fun, relaxed interview and you can watch it below. For more Goldderby interviews head here.

Tags: Emmys, Felicity, Goldderby, Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, The Americans

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Categories Emmys, The Americans
Author Emma Fraser

TV Rewind: Felicity, “The Love Bug” and “Getting Lucky”

22 May

Felicity, Episodes 2.6 & 2.7
“The Love Bug” & “Getting Lucky”
Original Air Dates: Nov. 7 & 14, 1999

Julie: These were a horny couple of episodes. In the first one, everyone in Felicity’s dorm was coming (pun intended) down with mono, AKA “the kissing disease.” (Or so they thought.) And in the second episode, Felicity is trying to psych herself up to bang David.

First of all, Felicity (with her new haircut) and David look so right together as a couple (even if they’re that boring couple you always “forget” to invite to your dinner parties). They almost kind of look alike. But they’re also so serious. I guess we don’t know that much about David as a person at this point, or about how is temperament is, but he seems very bookish and bland, just like Felicity. I think she needs to be with someone a little more fun-loving. Of course, it really doesn’t matter all that much how David is since he’s just a B-list guy, and she’ll probably be done with him in time for November sweeps.

(I also want to point out before I forget how weird it is that Noel thinks he now has one up on David because he (Noel) hasn’t slept with Felicity. I mean, I get what he’s saying about preserving the pre-sex mystery between him and Felicity, but David just got to have actual sex with her. In what world is that a win for Noel?)

So, yeah. These two episodes were all about trying to become more physically intimate with someone. In the first episode, Felicity is desperate for David to kiss her; and in the second, David is desperate to bone. In “The Love Bug,” Felicity and David’s lips are kept apart due to germs and David’s stand-offishness and Felicity’s heretofore undisclosed ex-relationship with Noel. In “Getting Lucky,” it’s a dog and Felicity’s lack of experience that keep her and David from sealing the deal.

There’s also more more more sex in the form of Ruby getting a diaphragm and Meghan hooking up with that dorky resident and Sean seeing Julie in a bra and Ben getting busy with Teri Polo.

What did you think about how DTF everyone on Felicity is all of a sudden?

Emma: Felicity is with David and Noel is seeing Ruby, but it’s still very much about Felicity and Noel. They’re very much friends again and yet there’s this whole other part as they’ve got undeniable chemistry and a connection. They clearly enjoying spending time with each other and yet they’re also both drawn to these other people. It’s clear to both David and Ruby that this is more than friendship, especially after the eyelash moment – it’s such a traditional move, but there is something so intimate about this gesture, or at least on TV there is.

Noel fucks up by saying Felicity’s name when he’s kissing Ruby; Ruby is of course embarrassed that she’s told Felicity things (including the birth control question and I love how dedicated this show is to mentioning safe sex in a not too stiff fashion, boom boom) and that Felicity has also divulged this info with Elena (and therefore Noel). This seems like a bad RA move. David’s feeling fragile about this whole thing and has trust issues, so this Noel clanger is a red flag. All it takes is a super germy kiss – it’s the flu, not mono – to convince him to give it another go. Ruby also gives Noel another chance, which ugh, because she is still super grating. It’s ok as she’s shooting a movie with Tom Cruise (what was this subplot?!) so she’ll be gone for a few episodes.

Noel’s whole reasoning about mystery and why he’s glad he never slept with Felicity induced a whole lot of eye rolling from me, because pretty much what?! It wreaks of putting Felicity up on a pedestal/trying to find something unique when really he should realise their uniqueness isn’t that they didn’t have sex, but how close they are. It’s shit like this that makes me edge towards Ben even if he’s off on his own storyline with older, married women.

I also agree with you about David as he’s sweet enough and that’s about it. There doesn’t seem to be much fire there, nor is there a crazy amount of chemistry. It might be Standards and Practices, but their several attempts at hooking up feature awkward kissing and lying on top of each other, which doesn’t look that great. At least Ben got to be part of a cliche counter sweep – also what is Teri Polo’s tattoo other than a very ’90s mistake? – and there was an element of passion.

I’m not sure how I feel about Elena’s psych 101’ing Felicity when it comes to sex and it kind of felt a bit like Julie shaming her last season. Yes Felicity is inexperienced, but her friends don’t have to talk to her like she’s completely naive. I’m glad Elena acknowledged that this was pretty shitty of her later on and I get why she thought she was being helpful, but good intentions don’t always end in good results. What did you think of Elena’s advice?

When it comes to the sudden horniness I wonder if it was a network note as the first 5 episodes are very much about fixing relationships and talking. This is part of why Felicity is so endearing, but it’s a college show so sex is expected.

Julie: The eyelash thing is funny. The husband and I were recently at a party and someone was OBVIOUSLY hitting on someone else there. Other people said, no way. Nothing was going on. But it SO WAS. It was obvious to most of us sitting there watching it play out. I’m sure Noel and Felicity thought they weren’t being flirty or inappropriate, but it was just that they couldn’t contain their secret lust for each other. When there’s an attraction, there’s an attraction, and shines like a spotlight on the people involved. Or maybe I’m just too busy paying attention to other people’s business and need to get my own self a life.

Noel saying Felicity’s name is a huge gaff. As much as I am on Team Felicity in all of this, I understand Ruby’s annoyance with all of it. Noel and Felicity have been carrying on this secret little relationship without Ruby knowing about it. They never told her the truth about their past, and now Noel is moaning Felicity’s name during their intimate moments. Ruby’s got beef.

Ah, the ’90s and their subtle safe sex messages. I liked Ruby asking for a diaphragm. That was unexpected. Keepin’ it fresh, Felicity.

The Ruby/Tom Cruise movie subplot is RIDICULOUS. Your question of “What is this subplot?” is dead on. What is it? Why is it? Maybe if we were able to see some of the shooting ourselves, or if the shoot itself became a subplot, it might be palatable, but right now it’s just so random. There had to have been a more logical way to get rid of Ruby for a few episodes. Death, for example.

Teri Polo’s tattoo only made me think of Ted Mosby, so I’m grateful for that. Ben gets to have all the good hooking up on this show. He’s had counter sex and a friend’s girlfriend showed up at his house naked and he’s been randomly kissed in a bar by said friend’s girlfriend. Felicity gets boring horizontal smooching with her lame boyfriend while a dog watches them. And Noel gets Ruby, who probably doesn’t even know what sex is, she’s so dim. And then there’s Sean and Elena, who get NOTHING.

As far as Elena goes, I wasn’t a big fan of her prude-shaming Felicity. The girl had never even had a boyfriend by the time she got to college. She had one night of art-fueled passion with that MTV veejay. Give the girl a break. Maybe she was avoiding sex with David because she really wasn’t ready (or because David is lame; either way, good excuses).

You know who else is not a good friend? Julie, for walking around in front of Sean in that bra.

This show is starting to get a little gimmicky. What did you think about the illness plot and the dreaded stray dog who touches all our lives?

Emma: When it comes to safe sex, this show is very keen to place the responsibility on both parties and this including checking dates on condoms (and Noel is super awkward doing this, because of course) and mentioning stats and the like. It’s a tad PSA-y, but it’s better to be like this than cavalier or focusing on just the pregnancy issue. I guess in a way it also reflects the period the writers grew up in when the HIV/AIDS was incredibly prevalent and so using condoms became way more than a way to stop pregnancy.

I had this discussion the other day off the back of a Normal Heart promo about how most of the early AIDS awareness stuff happened when we were too young to really understand, but the death of Freddie Mercury was our entry point into what this disease was capable of. This is a digression, but basically yay Felicity for not being afraid to talk about safe sex. And so far there’s been no pregnancy scares yet. As soon as I see someone throwing up randomly I’m gonna get mad.

Julie is so painfully oblivious to Sean’s feelings, but the dog really did her a favor by destroying yet another hideous pink shirt in her already extensive pink shirt collection. Sean is so distracted by Julie he can’t even offer Ben some very dumb advice which he normally jumps at. Julie keeps saying “I’m gonna have sex, Jack” and it’s practically killing Sean. It’s killing Julie too, but that’s because she can’t remember what movie it is from. This is why I’m thankful we have the internet in our pocket, even if it is ruining our memory retention skills. It is very satisfying when you finally do remember, minus the imdb crutch.

I have to agree with you about Lucky the dog and as a moving on device it came across as far too contrived. Felicity says Lucky had a profound effect on her and I think she’s giving the dog far too much credit as a this symbolic thing. Yes, Lucky is very cute and yes it’s a bummer when Felicity has to make the choice to put him down and this is never something I want to see. I can’t help but get frustrated at Felicity as he really is a distraction mechanism more than anything else. It’s also fortunate that Felicity has switched majors as she’s got more time for shenanigans, pre-med would not allow for hijinks like this.

In both of these episode Felicity turns into a bit of a nomad, first because Meghan’s mono (which is called glandular fever over here and I’m so glad I never had it) and then because of the dog. This puts her in close proximity to both Noel and David, upping the tension. Though there’s only really chemistry with Noel. Meanwhile Ben is very much out on a story island on his own and I hope he started to circle the orbit of the other guys relatively soon. Do you think Ben’s going to ditch Teri Polo and their work top sex now that he’s had an encounter with her husband?

Oh and don’t be judgy about things being high school Teri Polo, when you’re acting the most high school out of anyone.

How did you feel about the mono and dog of it all?

Julie: Of course Noel the ex-RA knows all about safe sex. He’s really the perfect character to deliver all this information, because he’s funny and awkward and would of course have all of the information at his fingertips. He’s also the kind of guy who I’d bet worries like crazy about pregnancy scares. He has too much to live for! Ben, on the other hand, he’s having sex on counters, so he’s definitely concerned about zero things.

Both of us grew up in the post-Gen X generation (the Catalano Generation). We were too young for all the awesomeness of the ’90s, but we’re not carefree Millenials, either. I know I grew up with a deep fear of dying from sex (also getting pregnant). I wonder how many kids of our generation have horrible sex issues as adults because of the incessant PSAs. Someone should make a show about that. Have they? I don’t know.

Speaking of issues, Teri Polo…I’m not sure what her angle is, but it’s a bad one. I suppose it’s the old “who knows what’s going on in anyone else’s relationship” thing, but her husband seems very sweet, remembering their anniversary and wanting to immortalize her horrible tramp stamp in frosting. Or maybe he really is a jerk. No one wants their tattoo mistake all spelled out in cake. Or maybe that’s the best, and most delicious, way to deal with one’s tattoo mistake. Now that Ben has met the guy, I’m sure (hoping) it will be harder (pun intended) for him to carry on with Teri Polo, but who knows. Sex is a hell of a drug.

I’m with you in wanting Ben to just get this over with and get back with the group, though, really, where is Ben’s place in the group now, which includes two ex-girlfriends and the guy his ex-girlfriend dumped for Ben? Not exactly a comfortable situation. But this is TV, and on TV any relationship can be mended. So I’m sure we’ll be seeing Ben and Felicity hooking up again, at least friendship wise.

As far as the dog thing goes, it just felt so lazy. Though it did provide concrete proof of Felicity’s sex issues. (Yes, Elena was mean in pointing them out, but she wasn’t wrong.) Felicity was definitely using the dog as an excuse to avoid boning David, which tells me she really didn’t want to bone him in the first place. Evidently that changed by the end of the episode, or she just talked herself into doing it. Who knows. Either way, I don’t see a lot of hope for her future with her art teacher’s son.

I’m a big fan of Julie and the random movie quote that has invaded her vernacular. I have a ton of those, so many that sometimes I don’t even realize they’re quotes anymore. Some of them even come from this short film I wrote and my friends filmed about ten years ago. That’s when you’ve reached a new low — quoting your own movie (Actually, I shoehorned one of these quotes into my YA novel manuscript. An Easter egg for all six people who saw, an love, Bloodnog).

What did we miss? Javier’s cat?

Emma: They should definitely make that show, as being caught between generations means we don’t get awful a Time think pieces, but we also miss out on self indulgence/narcissism and sometimes I want that; the Catalano generation should be a thing and I think to some extent it is. I was terrified of sex for both pregnancy and STD related reasons and here comes my first Mean Girls reference for Felicity (!) as it reminds me of the sex ed class stating that sex equals death.

Ben and Teri Polo is exactly what we’ve been talking about when it comes to this character as he’s always changing who he is and he’s doing it all over again. I’d like to see him grown a spine and dump her. I love that she has a Filofax as I remember thinking that having one of these meant you were a real adult. It’s just occurred to me that Filofax might not be a US thing, is this a day planner to you guys?

Yeah you’re right about the movie quote thing and sometimes they stick for random reasons – it’s because of Donnie Darko that “go suck a fuck” is my go to joke insult and I guess it sounds weird when you haven’t seen the movie – I also like that certain quotes aren’t restricted to one time or one group of friends. Julie has now passed this one on and it now means something in her past and present.

The tone has been a whole lot less angsty and even though there are arguments and the like it hasn’t felt all that heavy (dog putting down aside). Javier continues to be hilarious and I love how impartial he is and of course his cat looks like that and is called Mummy (it was Mummy, right?). Meghan continues to be hilarious both when she is sick and using Felicity’s Mac without asking first.

They’re leaning a lot towards the female friendships which I’m all for and it’s hilarious when Noel is excluded from the girl chat, but I do wonder if Noel has any kind of dude friends. If only he didn’t have such an issue with Ben and then that would solve Ben’s problem of being isolated in his married lady story. Bonus.

I really liked the scene when Felicity was trying to pick an outfit that was a 3 and Elena kinda lied about her super hot strapless top, but Noel’s slack jaw reaction revealed Elena’s white lie. On this occasion this is a perfectly acceptable use of Elena’s meddling. Of course Felicity changes into her pink sweater which I’m sure she was wearing in the previous episode.

How long do we give David? I’m going two more episodes tops.

Julie: That Mean Girls reference is dead on. Kids, gather ’round. Back in the ’90s all of us were told that you would die if you had sex. That’s actually what happened. Mean Girls doesn’t lie.

We do have a Filofax here, but I think it’s something different from a day planner. Like, a Filofax would sit on your desk; you wouldn’t carry it around with you. Wait. Nope. I just looked up what Filofax is and it’s totally a day planner. I was thinking of a Rolodex. This paragraph is useless.

But, yes, Ben should grow a spine and dump stupid Teri Polo and her Filofax. She is the worst and she made me just go off on a tangent about what a Filofax is.

One of my favorite quotes, a TV quote and not a movie one, is “There’s no Anderson” from Friends. You use it when you’re running your mouth off on a topic you know nothing about.

I think Javier’s cat was either “Mami” or “Mommy.” Probably “Mami,” since he’s Spanish.

David has been in how many so far? Three? If he signed on for a four-episode arc, his days are very numbered.

Anything else to add?

Emma: Teri Polo is good for something now that I know what a day planner really is. And I think you could be right about David.

One final quick thing and that’s Elena calling the dog the ‘r’ word and it was so weird to hear her using this term. It definitely dated the episode and now I’m wondering when this word stopped being something that was casually thrown around like this.

Julie: Oh my yes! I completely forgot about the ‘r’ word. That was jarring, and I’m surprised it was still “OK” to call someone (or something) that back in 1999.

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.

Tags: 90s, Felicity, Felicity Porter, Keri Russell, Mean Girls, Teen TV, The Catalano Generation

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “The Depths” and “Crash”

8 May

Felicity, Episodes 2.4 & 2.5
“The Depths” & “Crash”
Original Air Dates: Oct. 17 & 24, 1999

Emma: These first few episodes focus on the relationships that have been impacted by Felicity’s choice at the end of last season and what I think is really smart is how the show gives the audience a chance to breathe by laying off any kind of Ben/Felicity post breakup interaction until episode 5. By doing this she gets to repair the relationship that clearly means the most to her, at least on a friendship level, and that’s Noel, as well as addressing her not BFF status with Julie.

At the end of the last episode after Felicity has been publicly humiliated in class for her interpretation of hands (which, as I said last time, look more than fine to me, anyone would think she drew stick figure hands), Noel took all his anger and made the first steps towards forgiveness. This continues in the next two episodes and while there is still plenty of awkwardness between them – which Elena has no time to deal with and her lack of filter is wonderful – it’s so much better and I’m so happy to have it like this again. Felicity mentions to Noel that things are different with Julie as despite coming across on the surface as besties, they never had the same intimacy (and not the kissing kind) that Noel and Felicity had. Friendships with the opposite sex are so misrepresented on TV and movies because this closeness always ends up in a will they/won’t they and while I can be quite the shipper (as I have been with this show), it would also be good to see this kind of friendship just be friends – slightly related as I’m pretty sure The Vampire Diaries is about to destroy my favorite platonic ship. So with Noel and Felicity, I’m quite looking forward to seeing them going back to just friends. If only Amy Smart was not in the picture because she is the worst, that whole thing about touching someone’s hands to find out what kind of work they do made my eyes roll so hard.

So this all ties in with Julie, as Julie has written and performed a song about Felicity, something which Meghan thinks is pretty much the best thing ever. Felicity is less than thrilled; and if I hadn’t been watching a lot of The Americans recently, I would have been shocked to hear Felicity talk about punching Julie in the face. But I’ve seen Keri Russell punch a lot of faces now. This song is what prompts Felicity’s assertion that Julie never operated at Noel friendship level status and it’s something we’ve both been saying for a long time now, so I’m glad to see this show is on the same wavelength as us.

In a slightly contrived situation Felicity and Julie end up on the same subway train and it just so happens that it stops between stations for hours (thanks to someone getting hit, they’re not too specific but I guess trains never are when stuff like this happens). It’s the perfect time to hash out these bad feelings and what better than 20 strangers with various issues adding their many opinions to this fraught discussion?! It’s pretty ridiculous but as a process to air grievances it works for me.

What did you think of the set up? Are you glad to see how Felicity and Noel are handling being friends again?

Julie: The stopped train thing, which took up a big chunk of the episode, was completely ridiculous, but also completely expected. It’s not like we’ve never seen this sort of “people stuck somewhere/big truths revealed” thing before. I thought it was handled pretty well. One guy was peeved at the girls for being so caught up in problems that are not problems at all. He’s trying to get a loan for a house, not arguing with a friend over a stupid boy. And then there was the lady who posited that all problems are relative, which is also true. And then a lawyer jumped into the fray, and he was just annoying as hell. Really, that was where this storyline lost me. No attorney worth his salt would’ve gotten involved in this conversation. If he were commuting to work, he would’ve been either a) asleep or b) working or c) reading/watching a movie. Also, that actor was horrible.

How about the mole people? Did you see the Meghan reveal coming?

Anyway, I love that the show addressed the thing we’d been talking about all along — Julie and Felicity were never great friends to begin with. They’ve been kind of frenemies all along, what with Julie hooking up with Felicity’s crush and then calling Felicity an inexperienced virgin and finally Felicity traveling cross country with Ben. They never had the easy rapport Felicity displays with either Noel or Elena. And it was the song that finally got them talking. Maybe they can start over and grow to become the kind of friends they always assumed they were.

I am so glad that Felicity and Noel are back to talking. The two of them together (plus Elena, especially in the second episode of the two we watched this week) are my favorite part of this show. I know the show eventually drags us back into the will they/won’t they Team Noel situation, but right now I’m just enjoying Scott Foley being fun and funny and not mooning over Felicity. And, yeah, if only Ruby could GTFO really soon.

The other thing this episode was the addition of Teri Polo as Ben’s Older Woman. What did you think of this episode? Was it a little early for one of the characters to be getting involved with a cougar? I mean, 90210 waited until at least Season 4.

Emma: Oh yeah that lawyer guy was the worst and it’s such a cheap gimmicky set up to get them to talk about what’s going on. Honestly being stuck underground for that long in a situation like that would make me way more cranky that most of these dudes. Having some teen drama to partake in would either send me over the edge or be incredible entertaining. I’m sure the former is more likely than the latter.

The mole people moment was so bizarre and I kind of want it to be this unexplained Meghan thing. Like this is just something she does. Meghan’s wardrobe continues to be the most amazing collection of awful clothes including a pair of snakeskin trousers in this episode.

The label best friend is so funny when you think about it and I remember at high school feeling this weird pressure to have that best friend, so it makes sense that both Felicity and Julie clung to the first person they met. It’s been a very passive aggressive friendship in a way and both their insecurities has impacted their behavior around each other and this competitive nature hasn’t really been present with Felicity and Elena, even with their academic achievements. They fell out because of a guy, but those cracks already existed and I’m all for shows exploring difficult female relationships.

In the end they both end up at the art gallery, despite going their separate ways which seemed to indicate initially that this relationship is dunzo. The photograph that frames them in this final shot is kinda cheesy in its symbolism, but hey I like a bit of cheese sometimes and it worked for me. The next episode has the pair taking more steps towards being friends again and I’m happy that there are not so many fraught relationships on the show, but I’m glad that they’re not instantly besties again. Julie even gives Felicity dating advice and one thing I’m glad the train conversation addressed was how Julie had given Ben a pass while she was super pissed at Felicity, it’s just one of those things and I think people are always going to pick one person to forgive first. It’s just easier that way.

So we never got to hear Julie’s song which puts us in this interesting position – the folks on the train hear the song but only fragments of the Ben, Julie, Felicity drama. Whereas we have seen everything prior to this, but don’t know how badly the song portrays Felicity (though it sounds like it’s pretty mean). This leaves some mystery and while I’d have liked to hear just how bitchy the song is, I also get why we didn’t. Did you want to hear the song?

The Teri Polo older woman story does seem rather sudden, mostly because it looks like Ben moves on pretty quickly. Also she’s an actress I’ve never really warmed to – including my recentish West Wing first watch – so it instantly got my back up. I don’t mind the older woman story and it was inevitably going to happen as this is a story teen shows love to do and it makes it less creepy that it’s a customer rather than a teacher. Jumping ahead to the second episode what do you make of her going cold on Ben after they slept together? She has a pager which is my favorite thing about ’90s technology.

Oh while I’m on the subject of ’90s moments Noel having a G Shock watch is so utterly perfect for this period and of course Ruby is so impressed that he got it off the internet, which I guess at the time wasn’t all that common. Noel is so cutting edge. I’ve also decided that Noel is probably based on JJ in some respects especially as he loves his Apple products. This is probably a better guess than last season’s initial Zach comparison. Fun Noel is good to have around, just get a better love interest dude.

Julie: The whole “Best Friend” label has always felt icky to me. My “Best Friend” in grade school used to make lists ranking her friends all the time. Sometimes I’d be at the top. Sometimes I’d be second or third. It was kind of an S&M friendship, and this was her way of exerting power over me. Since then, I’ve always had trouble naming anyone my “Best Friend.” If your friend is best enough, I’d like to think everyone would know it without having to label it.

I do love that this show (like My So-Called Life before it) is daring to show the complexities of female friendships. There’s just not a lot of that on TV; even Parks & Rec, which is very pro-gal pal, mostly only shows the women on the show respecting and cherishing one another.

I think they do leave the Meghan-as-mole-person thing unexplained, which I appreciate. We don’t need to know any more than the fact that Meghan wanders around the subway late at night with a group of similarly-dressed people. That is plenty.

As far as Julie and Felicity go, I’m glad we didn’t hear the song. I don’t think it would’ve lived up to the hype that Meghan gave it, and it would either make Felicity look petty or Julie look mean. We didn’t need to hear the song to pick a side. We saw what happened. We lived it.

Teri Polo is totally married. I actually don’t know that, because I don’t remember how her storyline turns out, but that’s my guess. She booked it out of there right quick, and that’s why I definitely think Ben is her sidepiece, which doesn’t make me like her any more than I’m already predisposed to like Teri Polo (i.e. not much; I’m in your camp). You are definitely right that Ben moves on too quickly. It’s like — Boom! — he’s over Felicity. He’s over Julie. He’s over everything. He’s all id at this point, Ben. I believe he certainly thinks with his pants’ head more than he thinks with his head head.

But Felicity is also moving on, sort of, with her professor’s son. What did you think of David and the blind date?

Emma: That Teri Polo theory sounds very plausible, especially as she had to get a new number which is very shady indeed. Ben is the flakiest for sure and I’m kinda sad that we didn’t get an initial Felicity hair reaction. Or he just hasn’t noticed and that would be the most perfect if that’s the case.

Even though it’s SO inappropriate of her professor to set her up and it’s initially an utter disaster, I’m glad Felicity went on that date. She didn’t date during high school and it’s only been Noel and Ben so far which went to a very intense place very quickly. A blind date is just what Felicity needs (incidentally I have never been on a blind date) even if it is a terrible experience. At least she gets to be badass with her French language skills that David didn’t expect she would possess.

There’s something about Felicity that draws people to her that I have a hard time believing she was such a wallflower in high school, I guess she maybe needed a different environment to shine (I sound like a PSA). It might have been the French or David just realised what a drunk dick he’s been as he comes begging for another chance. I love that Felicity doesn’t just accept his apology and she lets him know just how awful he was even if he does have a sad story to explain his behavior (this breakup story reminded me of Before Sunrise and why Jesse is in Europe as I only watched this for the first time recently). It’s no excuses and Meghan’s open jaw reaction to Felicity’s tirade is amazing. Meghan gives amazing reaction face.

Felicity does go on a second date and it’s a lot better than the first, they even hold hands which is pretty adorable. The only point that made me frown at Felicity was during her closing tape to Sally as she explains why she didn’t tell Noel about David – it’s weird for Felicity to talk about the B list date with an A list guy. I get that she’s trying to explain Noel’s position, but this labeling came across as kinda snobby on this occasion. Am I being too harsh on Felicity? Also why do you think Felicity could tell Ben about David and not Noel?

Julie: Ben totally hasn’t noticed Felicity’s hair! What a dumbass. He is so clueless. At this point, he’s going to need to do a lot of work to even make me consider joining Team Ben. Noel definitely has the edge right now.

I was happy that Felicity stuck up for herself with David, and that they did have a nice second date together, but a big part of me wishes she had just told him off and had that be the end of it. Why did he have to have the sob story? Why did he have to acquit himself so nicely on the second date? And, really, other than her French speaking, what was it that compelled him to even seek her out for a second date? The whole thing just feels like a way to shove Felicity into a new love situation that doesn’t involve Ben or Noel. Why can’t Felicity do the Mindy Lahiri thing and date a new guy every episode for a while? Why does David have to turn out to be kind of a nice guy? It’s all too tidy.

Also, I’m wondering if Felicity isn’t starting to see Noel in a more romantic light right now because of his dalliance with stupid Ruby.

Anything else?

Emma: I would love to see “Felicity dates…” and then just a parade of hot dudes from the late ’90s. The David thing was extra weird as I mentioned on Twitter as I watched Elementary after this and there he was kidnapping Joan. It is a bit too easy that he’s this good guy in the end, they should just let some people be jerks and there’s always some kind of redemption angle.

I think you could be right about Felicity’s reason behind her withholding from Noel and with Ben she seemed more curious than jealous that he had an older lady thing occurring.

We do need to talk about the excellent Noel and Elena bonding subplot over video games that Elena dismissed initially before her competitive nature got the better of her. The only consoles I’ve owned myself are a Megadrive and a Game Boy, we do have a Wii and a PS3 but I use the latter for watching things on and I’m definitely not what you would call a gamer. I tend to be terrible at video games and I have little patience to get any better so I’m definitely the Felicity in all of this. So Noel has got himself a PlayStation and considering how much he likes tech stuff this isn’t a surprise and because I don’t know games all that well I have no idea what they are playing. Whatever it is, it is addictive and Noel blows off class to play. Soon Elena gets sucked in and they become incapable of paying attention to anyone else. This includes ignoring phone calls and blowing off plans. We only get Ruby on the phone in this episode, which pleases me.

It all goes too far when Noel makes a kid cry and I love how disheveled both Elena and Noel look by this point. Now they could just go on YouTube for a walkthrough rather than relying on a 7 year old.

What did you think of this subplot?

Julie: How did I completely forget about the video game subplot? I loved it! I have been known to become addicted to video games periodically. I spent too much of my 20s enveloped in the Sims universe, suffering a very brief relapse around Christmas last year. We have a PS3, which we’ve just started to use for video games, since my son is into Legos and there are several Lego games. He and I have also become hooked on Skylanders, which is really the most brilliant money-making scheme of all time. Seriously. The creators should be giving seminars.

During freshman year of college, we used to rent a Nintendo 64 console from Blockbuster (how old am I?) during finals week and everyone would congregate in one room and play Bond or MarioKart whenever they had time. After freshman year, John bought his own Nintendo 64, and we’d spend too much time playing the aforementioned games along with Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Golf. I’m sad to say that the console died recently when our basement flooded, taking the Diddy Kong cartridge along with it.

Anyway, yeah. I loved how Elena and Noel had to go old school and get the 411 from a kid (or they could’ve bought one of the game books that we all used to devour back in the day). It’s so much easer in 2014 with the YouTubes and all.

Also, yes, Noel and Elena hanging out > Noel and Ruby hanging out any day of the week.

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.

Tags: "Crash", "The Depths", 90s, Felicity, Keri Russell, Teen TV

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Ancient History”

24 Apr

Felicity, Episode 2.03
“Ancient History”
Original Air Date: Oct. 10, 1999

Julie: We left off last time with The Haircut, which deserves some capital letters. This was The Haircut that killed Felicity, the show not the character. Season 1, Felicity was a critical darling and cult hit. With The Haircut in Season 2, people started to wonder what they ever saw in this show anyway.

Which is really not fair. We’re only three episodes in and I see Felicity doing some pretty great stuff. During freshman year, Felicity (the character) was all about overthinking things and, ultimately, not acting on them. But as a sophomore, she is ready to take charge of her life, even if that means stumbling a little bit.

The first drastic step we saw last week: Breaking up with Ben. In the wake of all that drama, Felicity turned to her local barber and asked for the Justin Timberlake. She is now sporting an itsy bitsy curly pixie.

I think it’s adorable on her. She looks great. She has such a fantastic, angular face, the big hair was a little too much for her. And I love what they’re doing with her clothes and makeup so far this season. She’s wearing a little darker lipstick, and the cute tank tops. She just seems breezy at this point, not the high strung girl in all the sweaters. Of course, it is only September right now in Felicity Land. We haven’t yet stumbled into fall.

I do want to say one more thing about the hair: It gets worse. I think the Powers That Be from the show or the network, realized that this was a Colossal Mistake, and they had Keri Russell start growing it out right away. I’m pretty sure junior year is simply one big hair fail, if I can remember correctly. But right now, freshly shorn, she looks fantastic.

Before we move on to other matters, what say you about The Haircut?

Emma: So The Haircut! Since we started our Felicity endeavor it feels like it has been leading to this point and while Noel or Ben is one aspect I had heard mentioned repeatedly, the reference to the show-killing haircut is pop culture legend. So I was expecting something WAY worse and as you mention it actually really suits her, the DVD box cover (the same DVD which also includes a description on the back of something that happens at the end of the season?! WHAT?! Yeah I’m still mad about this) clearly shows the growing out disaster and I’m sad they back pedaled this quickly. When it aired do you remember it being a huge deal?

Now as someone who has gone for the drastic chop on more than one occasion (which I have written about here) I know how amazing and terrifying it feels. The reason I cut mine was never as drastic as Felicity, I just suit shorter hair better and neither did I have the incredible amount of curls that Felicity has. The stranger reaction could come across as weird, but with Felicity her curly hair is so distinctive that it’s not surprising she gets so many comments from people she doesn’t know.

I love that Meghan is the first person we see react to it and her verdict is that it’s “wow bad.” Meghan follows this up with how much guys are going to hate it, which is of course a huge generalization as I know guys who both adore and dislike the pixie look on ladies. Micheal Pena is in the former camp, but I think that’s also because he’s still crushing hard on Felicity even after the party incident. There’s also the assumption that Felicity just broke up with someone and this isn’t the only thing Felicity is changing as she’s also dropping pre-med (as Elena predicted when she saw Felicity’s hair). It’s all change around these parts. This change also includes the opening credits where they’ve got both pre and post haircut photos.

Watching The Americans, I’ve got so used to seeing Keri Russell sporting many different hairstyles (including a pixie cut this week) that this hair chop is probably nowhere near as shocking as it would have been a) at the time and b) if I’d only seen her with the mass of curls.

As you mention everything about her seems way more chilled out than last season, even as she makes some pretty big personal changes. Early fall in New York really suits her.

What do you think of the reactions to her hair, particularly Noel and his cruel laughter?

Julie: Looking at the covers of the DVD boxed sets, I definitely think junior year is where it gets really bad. It’s like this curly halo around her head with no real style. The super short look is adorable and I wish I had the face/hair to pull it off. I’ve never gone super drastic with a haircut. I usually hover somewhere around shoulder length, though I’m growing it out a bit now for summer. Maybe In the fall I’ll get a Claire Underwood. We’ll see how that goes. (Though I couldn’t go full Underwood; I was not meant to be a blonde.)

The reactions were kind of awesome. I love that random people stopped to tell her they noticed. This is a very high school/college thing, because everybody is always all up in each other’s business even if they’ve never met. And, yeah, Felicity totally stood out because of her hair. Maybe now, with that burden off her shoulders (ha), she can really figure out who she is.

I thought Noel’s reaction was perfect. He had every right to be just the amount of dick he needed to be. Maybe he’s one who doesn’t dig the pixie look (considering the kinds of girls we’ve seen him pursue, I’m guessing that’s the case), so perhaps this was just the thing to help him officially and for real get over Felicity. I loved seeing the two of them together in this episode, not pining over each other or with one crushing on the other, but just dealing with the shitty hand they’ve dealt themselves. They always were great as friends, and it’s nice to see that he’s willing to stick up for her and support her and I like that this means we’ll be able to see more scenes with Noel and Felicity hanging out (with Elena at the cool apartment).

All of this is vague and ignores the fact that Noel found himself in pursuit of not one, but two women in this episode. What did you think of Brigid and Ruby and Noel? And how do you feel about the other ex-couple (Ben and Julie) mending their fences?

Emma: So at first I read that as Carrie Underwood, which would be a whole other kind of haircut (or extensions I guess) and yes you really should. I’ve always wanted to do the blonde thing but dealing with roots is not something I’d be good at. I like my hair to be as low maintenance as possible.

Noel’s laugh upon realizing who Elena is talking to is so spontaneously mean, but at the same time I can’t really fault him for getting the digs in where he can and I’m glad they’re not making him Mr Nice Guy all of the time. His “It will grow out, right?” remark deserves all the side eye Elena gives him and I’m also happy Felicity basically told him to fuck off rather than turning into a teary mess. Considering how much hair she’s lopped off, she’s not spiralling as much as she could be. What this shows it that while Felicity is prone to making huge, rash decisions – her hair is to season 2 as coming to NYU was to season 1 – when she makes those choices she sticks at it. She’s so thoughtful, but also incredibly impulsive at times and it’s those choices that feel like the right ones.

It’s why she chose Ben over Noel, in her gut she knew she had to see what would happen and even though they’re broken up now, I think for this character and for the story it was the right choice in that moment. Noel wants to know why she chose Ben and instead of giving him an answer she instead asks would it make him feel better if she said it was a mistake? There’s nothing she can say to make up for that summer and that choice, instead they have to learn how to be in the same room as each other considering they are in the same class. Like you I’m happy with how their scenes play out and that Elena’s apartment is no longer a Felicity free zone, even if Richard (!) won’t be too happy about this.

What really gets Noel back in Felicity’s corner is the drawing teacher and several of their classmates shitting all over Felicity’s hand drawings, which in my esteemed art opinion (ha) looked way better than the saggy backpack. They have a heart to heart and it reaffirms one important thing and that’s the close relationship they share that goes way beyond anything romantic. That’s the thing about these two is that they’re besties at heart and the smooching got in the way of this. Noel also tells her that her “hair is not so bad” which I guess is a lot better than laughing in her face.

So onto Noel’s new romantic interests and it turns out that Brigid (no T) gave him a pizza number instead of her own in the last episode. Noel decides to try his luck again, but unbeknownst to him, Bridgid is a lesbian. Bridgid tells Felicity this and at first I thought this was going to turn into some not so hilarious misunderstanding but luckily she tells Noel and he doesn’t react like he did when he found out his brother is gay last season. Brigid also has an extreme zigzag center parting which gave me so many 90s flashbacks and I’m not sure why we ever thought this looked good. I hope she sticks around as a recurring character.

One person I don’t want to be a regular fixture (and IMDB sadly lets me know that she is) is Ruby and I’m sure it’s not all Amy Smart, but urgh is Ruby annoying and pretty self involved. Noel’s totally into her as she’s a Mac person. The instant way to Noel Crane’s heart.

Ah, Ben and Julie and what to make of this. Hmm, well I actually really like the loft dynamic as long as Sean lays off crushing on Julie as I’m worried this could enter creepy territory. I’m glad Julie can forgive Ben, but it’s also kinda BS that she’s pretty much fine with him and not with Felicity. What do you think of this setup?

Julie: Yes, thank you! Richard is BACK.

It’s funny you mention Felicity’s impulsiveness. She comes across as such a labored thinker, but then she goes and does these crazy things and makes these big decisions without a second thought. The most we’ve seen her hem and haw about anything has been over whether or not she wants to be with Ben or Noel.

That art class was just painful. I’ve taken a lot of writing workshops, and you always start with something positive. Even if it’s the worst thing you’ve ever read, you at least compliment the spelling. This art teacher was so mean, needlessly mean. These kids are students; give a little constructive criticism, please.

Brigid’s whole aura is so deliciously ’90s. The zigzag part. The hair strategically escaping from her ponytail. She’s got it all. And she’s our first bonafide lesbian on Felicity, so good for her. She seems delightful, and I’m glad they’ve decided not to just let her “fall for Noel” because he’s so hot he’d turn her straight (that seems more like a future Ben Covington plot line).

Ugh. You’d better get used to Ruby. She’ll be sticking around. And, yes, she’s kind of annoying. What’s with all the freshmen this year? Get a clue. Also, probably part of the Ruby hatred is that Noel seems to dig her, and he and Felicity seem to be getting along so much better. Maybe Ruby appears to be getting in the way of that (though I really, truly like Noel and Felicity as friends right now).

You touched on what really gets my goad about the whole Ben and Julie situation. It’s too easy. She’s too fine with him. I get that the summer has passed, but were Julie and Ben ever really “friends?” He was her savior and her boyfriend, but they admittedly never had any fun together. And yet, she’s still really mad at Felicity. I suppose they (Julie, Ben, and Sean) all lived a happy coexistence, and figured they’d recapture the magic.

What do you think?

Emma: Ugh to the Ruby thing, so far she’s coming across as the kind of person who acts dumb (with both dudes and ladies) but is actually smart and so doesn’t really need to resort to this kind of manipulation. She made me bristle a lot. Random observation time – when Ruby was listing the different kinds of computers she mentioned an iPad. Is this JJ time traveling?

I don’t know how sustainable the loft coexistence happiness is as there’s too much going left unsaid – Sean’s crush, built-up resentment, Felicity – I predict it will all come crashing down around episode 9.

One thing I thought was really smart was the absence of Ben/Felicity scenes, there’s so much going on in the episode and this would have left it feeling over stuffed. It’s more realistic on a campus like this that she would only have run ins with one ex and not two as there’s plenty you can do to avoid someone, like switching shifts at D&D. How heartbroken is Javier by the turn of events?

We don’t get Ben’s reaction to her hair and I’m glad we didn’t yet; if this was now, her haircut would be all over Instagram and the initial shock would come while looking at a smartphone screen rather than in real life. Now I’m longing for some Felicity Instagram shots.

Julie: That’s an interesting call about Ruby being a girl who plays dumb. I don’t remember everything about how her storyline plays out, but that could be true. She definitely feels that way. She got into college, presumably a good college, she can’t be that moronic. The windmills in the Norwegian landscape thing was either dumb, playing dumb, or just one of those dumb things that kids hear when they’re younger and carry with them until someone finally sets them straight. (I thought for longer than I’d care to disclose that you had to present a marriage license in order to book a room at the Sybaris. Do you know what the Sybaris is? You don’t want to go to there.)

I remember there being a big stink made a few years ago about Ruby listing the iPad. My guess is that she was just spouting names and combined a couple of them into iPad by accident. Kind of awesome. Or Ruby is a time traveler, because that would make her character ever so much more interesting.

There should definitely be a What Would Felicity Tweet/Instagram thingy somewhere on the internet. That would be awesome. How many favorites/likes/whatevers would her new hair get?

Emma: I do not know what the Sybaris is, the quick look at that link terrified me.

I think Felicity would get a lot of likes/hearts, especially if she used the right filter/wrote a meaningful blog post about chopping it all off for her and not because of some guy. Also where’s the Buzzfeed “Which Felicity character are you?” quiz? That’s something I really want to know.

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.

Tags: "Ancient History", 2.03, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

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