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TV Rewind: Felicity, “Surprise” & “One Ball, Two Strikes”

Felicity, Episodes 3.5 & 3.6
“Surprise” & “One Ball, Two Strikes”
Original Air Dates: Nov. 1 & 8, 2000

Emma: As we predicted Ben did indeed find out about Felicity’s drunken mistake and the mistake is she passed out in another dude’s bed. It doesn’t matter to Ben that she didn’t do anything besides take her top off because a) she couldn’t initially remember whether she had slept with Randy (I can’t believe this is his name) and b) she didn’t tell Ben it happened and he found out via an email. His anger at this whole thing is understandable, except for the super anger part, that is not cool. Of course he’s going to pissed that his girlfriend got so wasted she took her top off and slept in another dudes bed. Plus the whole lying factor.

Bad form from Noel and Dr Pavone encouraging her to keep it a secret as this is terrible advice. I get that Noel was trying to do the right thing by both Ben and Felicity as he knew there was a surprise party, but with that email flyer out there it is some Sean levels of dumb advice. Dr Pavone thinks Felicity just wants to unburden her guilt, which yeah she probably does but it’s also the adult thing to do when he’s blatantly going to find out.

I’ve skipped ahead so I’m going to go back to the beginning and raise an eyebrow at the timeline of this episode and the last one we discussed – so this is meant to be the same day as the end of “Greeks and Geeks” and we’ve not heard Felicity’s birthday getting mentioned until now. Hmm. Scepticism aside, we do get to see Felicity going to see the doctor and getting the morning after pill (not from the NYU health service by the looks of things) and getting a small dose of judgement from the doctor. Look lady she already feels shitty enough without your sneering that tomorrow is her birthday.

The email discovery comes courtesy of Noel’s new computer fixing job and this brings up issues of consent with the photo of Felicity that has been used. She is very rightly hacked off they’ve used her image and a photo she can’t remember being taken. This plot is not as insidious as some of the very horrific, real life college/frat video/photo stories in the recent press and I wonder if this show was on now how they would deal with this. It’s 2000 and this email blast feels so quaint considering where we are now, but I had full on stomach churning tension feelings as Richard was checking his emails.

Once again I am impressed with how this show deals with sexual health issues and general health issues over both episodes with Sean. Felicity has made a mistake and it did in love getting blackout drunk, however I don’t get the impression that this is a ‘don’t drink, kids’ PSA. It’s definitely more of a ‘check your balls and go see a doctor if there is anything unusual’ PSA. Before we head into Sean territory, what did you think of the whole Felicity reveal?

And doesn’t Randy look a whole lot like MPDG Eli from S1?! Which also brings me to slight trouble in Ben and Noel friendship paradise. And the episode started so adorably between them.

Julie: OK. I just put randy and Randy together.

And, yeah, that nurse was every timid patient’s worst nightmare. You’re supposed to be helpful, woman. You’re supposed to want people to feel comfortable seeking help from you. You’re not doing your job.

Also the email thing vs. today’s media onslaught was really interesting. I mean, I check my email 4700 times a day, thanks to the phone. But back in 2000, we were only checking whenever we had access to a computer. And, if I remember correctly, I think we only moved to webmail right around that time. Before that, you had to be at a computer with an internet portal for the university, I think. I don’t remember, but I do remember that our early college emails were text only and all black and white. I am old.

As far as the Ben and Felicity stuff, A) she did not handle ANY of this well and B) I definitely told my TV after Ben got jumped at the end of the second episode, “Yup, he had to see that coming.” These two episodes were a master class in doing the wrong thing.

I don’t think Dr. Pavone’s advice was completely off, other than the fact that there was no way Ben wasn’t going to find out about Felicity’s night. EVERYONE knew she didn’t sleep back at her dorm that night. Someone was going to slip about that, and then the truth would come out. The email just sped everything up. But, since Dr. Pavone didn’t know that there were other friends involved in the situation, I think her telling Felicity to keep it to herself was kinder (assuming Felicity could find a way to fend off Ben’s sex advances while waiting for her STD test results). OK, never mind. Dr. Pavone was way wrong.

What Felicity did that was the MOST wrong, though, was asking Randy to talk to Ben. Give it up, girl. Move on. Yes, Ben is mad at you. Quit dragging Randy into this. What good could POSSIBLY come from Ben talking to Randy? No good. No good, and a lot of punching.

Ben, other than the punching, was in the right, in my opinion. Yes, he was hard on Felicity, but all he had was the fact that she didn’t remember anything, there was a picture of her topless, and Randy’s word. That’s not a lot to go on. Merely the fact that she allowed herself to get into that situation had to be disturbing for him. That said, I think a lot of this problem could’ve been rectified if he had just let Felicity talk for once, and if she had just apologized and said, “I understand why you’re mad. Yes, nothing happened with Randy, but the fact that I allowed myself to get into the position where something might have happened, is also problematic. I’m very sorry, and I promise never to let it happen again.” But of course, things had to get much more dramatic than that.

Before we move on to Sean’s balls, I just want to say before I forget, that when Felicity was telling everyone that the paintings with the red dots had been sold, I said (to my TV), “Has Molly also been sold, because she has a red dot on her forehead.”

Emma: It’s now clear why Ben’s father stopped by at the start of this season and not only to show the daddy issues are strong here, but also to emphasize where Ben gets his anger issues from. It’s dumb that Felicity asked Randy to talk to Ben and it’s even more dumb that Randy did it while Ben was sitting at a bar with a drink in his hands. Terrible, terrible idea. Randy didn’t deserve the four punches he took (and the way Ben was going I thought he was going to put his hand through his skull), but this really wasn’t the best way to go about it. And yeah Ben also did deserve the retribution, even if it was very melodramatic in the set up.

Now that Ben and Felicity have made up is this going to be the elephant in every argument? I always knew there were going to be issues this season between them, but ugh I’m annoyed it happened this quickly. It’s surprising that Felicity is the one who fucked up and I pretty much had Ben pegged for the one to cause the friction. I’m glad our lead has flaws and she does fuck up, I just hope the next run of episodes isn’t miserable.

Approaching Ben in a bar doesn’t go so well for Noel and I get why Noel is reaching out to his now friend, however it’s one thing Ben coming to him and crossing the personal boundary line telling him his “I knocked a girl up in school” as opposed to Noel’s “oh I’ve been there with Felicity” comparison. He’s trying to be a good friend and I bet he feels guilty for telling Felicity to wait, this is not the solution and it’s not surprising Ben isn’t receptive to this advice.

Ha on the Molly thing at the art show and yeah she continues to wear bindis and be generally annoying.

This was also the very rare instance where someone’s art on TV didn’t make me cringe, the symbolism is on the nose, but it was a rather good simple image. Yay Felicity!

Now onto Sean’s balls and I’m glad Sean has been given a story that doesn’t involve his documentary or some other scheme. Yes it’s super shitty they’ve given him cancer, but this is a meaty (hmm maybe bad word choice) opportunity for this character. It’s also an important story to tell as dudes are less likely to go see a doctor about these matters and particularly at a younger age (how old is Sean?). This is around the time Steve from Sex and the City also had testicular cancer (and also had to have a testicle removed) and I wonder if this was a story trend (Lance Armstrong had become the famous face of testicular cancer in the mid-90s, I might be reaching for a link).

Regardless, they did the whole it’s awkward for dudes to talk about this stuff for each other, though I do get why Ben and Noel passed on looking at his balls and told him to go to the doctor instead. Ben doesn’t want Sean to say the word testicles because it’s gross and Noel pipes up that it’s like when a woman says labia. I don’t know if I’ve ever said labia, except right now of course.

Sean is embarrassed to tell Meghan and she’s worried he has crabs. The moral of these two episodes is tell your beloved about whatever shit you have going on. Meghan is pretty great with walking Sean down off the ledge as he goes into denial about what’s going on and I’m so glad they’ve made them a for real couple. Everyone has a story about someone they know who died from not getting treatment/getting treatment too late and Meghan doesn’t want to have her own story like that. This is extra great coming from her as she has stories for everything.

Cancer isn’t funny, but I’m glad there was still humor after all the trauma and denial. The peanuts gag could have come across as cruel, but it’s Richard and it’s rather sweet.

There’s a whole thing between Ben and Sean, with Sean telling a Ben that he’s needs to get his shit together. It’s something Ben needs to hear and it’s the first bit of advice he gives a go. In this scene Ben is wearing a black beanie, he should never wear it again because it looks awful. And yes Ben you are out of control and he needs to find a better way to deal with things

What did you make of this Sean centric story?

Julie: I loved the way Meghan handled Sean’s ball scare. The speech about not wanting to have a horrible story about testicular cancer was spot on. I also loved the way she called him out for being a dreamer, who just assumes everything is going to work out, and this time, in this instance, he actually has to live in reality and face the fact that this is serious business. The two of them together are delightful. They really bring out the best in each other.

And while this was definitely a Hot Topic of the Times that they were tackling on this show (I’m pretty sure Lance Armstrong was the impetus), I think giving one of the characters access to the kind of perspective that comes with a death scare like that worked well. Sean was the one who called out Ben for running away from Felicity, and he was able to tell Ben, with certainty, that if he didn’t forgive her, it would eat away at him.

It also gave us a little insight into Tracy’s faith, and while I’m not religious, I thought what he said was beautiful and positive and exactly what Sean needed to hear.

And, yeah, Sean should’ve definitely told Ben to torch that hat.

Now, I think we can move on to what we really want to talk about, which is Noel’s new job as a computer genius. In the first episode, he became the object of his client’s affection (and started to suspect that Richard might be gay, which I’m really sad he isn’t because he’d be a great gay character and very different from Javier). In the second episode, Noel’s client was a hot junior dance major played by none other than Ms. TYRA BANKS.

How was Tyra’s acting for you? Did you catch her smizing at all? Was her hooch tooched?

Emma: I agree with you on the Tracy/Sean conversation and like you I am not religious, but it shows how it can offer comfort particularly at a time like this in the form of a universal language. Tracy’s beliefs have only been spoken about it terms of sex before marriage prior to this and I’m glad to see them referenced in a different way for once.

While I’m on the subject of Tracy he goes away for the weekend in “One Ball, Two Strikes” as part of Habit for Humanity and Elena says she’ll help Tracy’s partner with his sociology work. In a point of contrivance Tracy’s partner happens to be Finn, the hot guy from across the hall who Elena has a crush on. Of course they end up doing the work in Elena’s bedroom and even though they don’t do anything initially, Finn falls asleep and when he wakes up smooching happens. Gross morning breath alert. Finn’s all Tracy is my friend, but who cares because I’m into you and Elena succumbs to the long standing crush. Elena feels guilty for what she did and I wonder if she’ll take the Dr Pavone don’t say anything route or whether she’ll end up spilling (I predict the latter).

Noel makes a couple of misteps other than the Felicity/Ben shenanigans. First he assumes Richard is gay because of a photo and while he’s trying to be a good friend it’s so awkward and he goes about it in a very naive way. I really wish we could have seen the apology email. Richard is a virgin and he’s never kissed a girl, something he is very embarrassed about – Meghan finds the whole thing hilarious and while Richard is embarrasses it’s clear none of his friends think any less of him because of it – but by the end of the episode he gets a smooch off Molly. Which, I guess is the best thing she’s done so far. Maybe.

The other bad Noel act is some of his creeper antics with the one and only Tyra. He peeks on her while she is getting changed, which makes me question why no one on TV ever shuts the bathroom door when there is someone in the next room and they’re getting into their undies/naked. He also looks in her diary. Bad Noel.

Ah yes the acting style is very much a combination of her whisper voice and that super upbeat thing she does whenever they do anything awful and over acted on ANTM. It’s not terrible, but it definitely in a different lane to everyone else on the show. If only Tyra had been to Harvard Business School at this point.

Does Noel stand a chance with Tyra? Were you just as skeezed out by his creeping as I was?

Julie: I feel like the less said about the Elena/Finn situation the better. He’s super skeevy. He hooked up with Julie and now he’s willing to throw a bro under the bus to get to his ‘ho. Not cool, Finn. And not cool, Elena. Tracy doesn’t deserve any of this.

While Noel did not handle the “Is Richard gay thing” well, I did like the storyline, because I think we all had those friends in college everyone assumed was gay but not out yet. Most people (at least back in the late ’90s) do not show up at school out and proud and sure of their sexuality. I think Noel was trying to be supportive (like he wasn’t with his brother back in Season 1), but I don’t think this is a mistake he’ll make again.

I’m assuming Tyra’s coming back, otherwise what was the point of Noel looking in her journal (other than to have him spill the coffee). Maybe that was it. I don’t know. I thought she acquitted herself well, but yeah, what’s with the open door policy? Between that and Feliciben’s living room bathtub, there’s not a lot of privacy at the University of New York.

Where does the show go from here? Ben and Felicity are back on track. Sean’s going to be dealing with the cancer stuff. Whence will the drama come? Elena? Noel?

Emma: I worry that Ben and Felicity despite reconciling aren’t going to be able shake this bump in the road, especially with Ben getting jumped like that and he’s going to have a big dent in his pride as a result. I dunno, I hope they can but I keep thinking that they’re going to reintroduce Noel as a possible love interest soon and ugh I’m not looking forward to that. I liked Noel and Felicity together, but the way things are now with Noel and Ben living together and as friends, I don’t want to see the implosion of this set up.

Yeah I think Tyra will be back as it did seem like this was setting up for something more. Don’t be a stalker Noel. I just checked to see when ANTM started (2003) so this must have been when Tyra was trying her hand at the acting thing.

Drama wise there’s no way the Elena cheating thing isn’t going to come up soon and now she has kissed Finn I think she’s only going to get more tempted, plus he lives across the hall so she won’t be able to avoid him. I predict an awkward elevator ride that ends in a smooch.

Any other thoughts?

Julie: I just can’t believe how young Tyra looked in 2000. I guess that was fourteen years ago, so, yeah. We probably all looked young.

You know Felicity and Noel is on the return, but I’m not sure how they’re going to get there at this point. Right now both characters seem so far from being romantically interested in each other. It would be kind of out of left field. But that’s TV for you.

Emma: I am super intrigued as to how we will get back to that place of Felicity and Noel. I predict booze or beets will be involved.

Julie: Maybe some of Meghan’s smart powder 🙂

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, Teen TV, Tyra Banks

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Hello, I Must Be Going” & “Greeks and Geeks”

9 Oct

Felicity, Episodes 3.3 & 3.4
“Hello, I Must Be Going” & “Greeks and Geeks”
Original Air Dates: Oct. 18 & 25, 2000

Julie: We were right that Julie was hiding the whole truth about her biological dad’s death. She was tested, that was true, but she was a match. She told her mom and dad, however, that she was not. And as a result, her dad died.

That’s heavy. That’s a lot to deal with. It explains why her behavior has been so erratic. She’s been hooking up with random dudes and trying to shoehorn her way back into Ben’s inner circle. And then there was the crystal meth left behind in her closet. I don’t know if I believe Julie when she says it wasn’t hers. What do you think?

Yes, Julie is gone. She took off out of the blue without telling anyone, just leaving a video of her goodbye. She says a personal goodbye to everyone, leaving Felicity for last, telling us that she believes they were better friends than the last fight they had. I still don’t know if I buy that. Felicity was her first friend at college, but I don’t believe they were best friends. Julie was much closer to Ben and Sean than she ever was to Felicity. And Felicity seems much more attached to Noel and Elena.

Before leaving and in the aftermath, Julie was given the opportunity to mess things up for everyone else. She meddled in Ben’s affairs when she called in a missing person’s report on Ben’s dad (still John Ritter). She started to latch on to Ben, trying to rekindle their friendship (and, hopefully, not their romance, because that would be a really awful thing to do to her supposed “best friend”). She got mad at everyone and blurted out the truth about her father. And then she was gone.

But in the second episode, Felicity and friends were still cleaning up Julie’s mess. She never called her parents to tell them about dropping out of school, so Felicity had to do it for her. And then, because Felicity was so distraught over Julie leaving and her mom blaming Felicity for it, Felicity went out and got drunk and maybe banged another dude.

Before we get into that, what’s your take on Julie leaving?

Emma: So that went from fun and light to super angsty pretty quickly then. Maybe we need the black and white credits back to reflect the tone?

As you mention Julie has a lot of heavy shit to deal with and by bottling it all up she comes across as a Grade A bitch and at first it is incredibly hard to sympathize with her until she drops the kidney match bombshell. I figured that maybe when they found out she wasn’t a match her biological parents turned their backs on her, instead she’s the one who in a way turned her back on them (not that I think she should be blamed for this reaction) and the guilt is eating her alive.

With Ben and her attempts to help with his dad it’s like she is trying to get back that connection and bond she previously had with him while also finding an outlet for her own guilt – if she can fix Ben and his dad then it goes some way to make up for what she didn’t do with her own father. It’s incredibly messy and I’m kinda mad about how the show ended up treating this character as the one who had far too much emotional baggage.

What I do want to know (and have yet to look up as I don’t want to see spoilers) is the details of Amy Jo Johnson’s departure – was it because she wanted off the show? Is she coming back? I understand why the character wants to leave New York as it represents a whole lot of pain for her, but like you I also find the ‘Felicity is my BFF’ talk to be a load of baloney. The episode that sums it up best is from last seasonwhen they were stuck on the subway and ended up hashing out their friendship; theirs was and has always been a best-friendship of convenience. If Felicity really were her best friend she would have reached out to her over the summer about this huge thing that was going on in her life.

I don’t mind Julie leaving for now, but I would like to see her return at some point in a much healthier state of mind. What she leaves behind is maybe a baggy of crystal meth (which she claims isn’t hers) and a whole lot of guilty feelings for Felicity that leads to something that makes her feel even more terrible. First I want to talk about the drug MacGuffin and I figured someone would end up taking it by accident by the end of the episode in A Very Special way as, so far, Felicity hasn’t really done that much with drugs, which is unusual for a teen show. I also thought that maybe it would come into play at the frat party and instead all they did was a lot of jello shots. The only alcohol is bad message they gave was a) you might fall down and hurt your wrist and b) you might wake up next to a random dude and have to do the walk of shame the following day, including a bin/vom situation.

Okay the second part is particularly bad and I’m mad that the sequel to the girls’ night out from last year yielded some very terrible results. For this I blame Julie’s mom and Molly. Mostly Molly. Instead of staying with Felicity who was clearly in an incredibly emotional vulnerable state Molly fucked off and didn’t even check the frat house it would seem for her friend. Yes I could argue that Molly doesn’t really know Felicity all that well yet so she doesn’t have a responsibility to her, but she should still have checked on her. Ugh, I think Molly might be my new Ruby. What do you make of the new addition?

Blaming Felicity for the Julie shenanigans is a low blow from Julie’s mom and even though she’s only reacting out of anger and fear, it’s a totally bullshit thing to lay the blame at the feet of a 19/20 year old. Maybe Felicity should have opted for the low blow and questioned her parenting skills. This whole storyline makes me really mad.

So do you think Felicity did anything with that dude?

Julie: I was wondering about your take on the new British gal. How about her ’90s bindis? So Gwen Stefani.

It’s sort of the gun-in-the-play thing. If there’s a baggie of drugs in the first act, a character must take them (or take responsibility for them) in the third act. Since Julie claims the meth is not hers (and, oh, how I wish it were blue meth), who does the meth belong to? What’s the point of having it show up in this episode, if it has no bearing on the plot. It’s still in their apartment. Maybe someone will take it in the future. I vote for Elena. She’s due for a life mess-up.

I did a little digging into the Amy Jo Johnson departure thing, and it looks like she was let go for budgetary reasons (which doesn’t explain the addition of Molly). Both she and JJ Abrams felt like Julie wasn’t getting enough to do on the show and it was a “mutual decision.” I don’t know. If I were Johnson, I probably would’ve been looking for an out at this point. The writers had no idea what to do with Julie.

The frat party was all kinds of scary for me, mostly because I have children and someday these are the parties they’ll be attending. Not that I didn’t go to those parties, but it just seems so terrifying looking at it from the parent point of view. I was terrified that those Jello shots were going to be laced with something or I don’t know. I think Molly was a complete dick for leaving Felicity like that. You take care of your girlfriends first, lady. Queens before peens. Or something. I remember my friends and I running across a college campus one night looking for another girlfriend who had wandered off on her own. We didn’t stop until we found her (in some random dude’s bed at the Sigma Chi house). Leave no (wo)man behind!

It did look like Felicity was having a fun time playing strip ping-pong, so good for her on that. I am concerned that she and ping-pong partner did do “things” in his bed and I’m wondering if she’ll take one of the morning after pills she worked so hard to bring to campus just in case. What was your take on her random hook up and how do you think Ben will react?

On the other end of the drama spectrum is Noel, who was dealing with alternately the dissolution of his marriage to Natalie and trying to get a job fixing computers on campus. What did you think of the Natalie/inheritance subplot and do you think we’ll see her again? Also, how cute was the play on “Freaks and Geeks” with “Greeks and Geeks?”

Emma: My first remark about Molly on Twitter was about how fake her accent sounds and it turns out that she’s actually British. I think I real accent is Northern, but she’s maybe trying to suppress it and do a ‘typical’ British accent and this makes it sound wonky (and Australian at times). I’m not sure if it’s because I wore a bindi in the late ’90s that she’s giving me so much second hand cringe. So far she’s hasn’t done anything to endear me to her and I’m kind of annoyed they’ve replaced Julie with her.

That’s interesting on the Amy Jo Johnson front and I can’t work out if she was pushed or wanted to leave. The reason they give sounds too neat – mutual decision always sounds a little PR to me – but I guess that could have been the case. They’re right that Julie wasn’t getting a lot to do as they were just recycling every one of her plot points. But urgh Molly.

Yeah I had similar feelings about the frat and I think we’ve been coded by all the awful frat antics that are making the news at the moment and because it’s a TV show we expect something bad to happen. I mean it’s bad for Felicity’s relationship with Ben, but like you I was expecting something so much worse. I know the show has already covered rape once, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a something that wouldn’t happen again. It sucks that this is something that wouldn’t seem like a stretch.

Queens before peens is something Molly should get stitched on a pillow. Never leave a party without finding out where all of your friends are, although I don’t think I ever had a moment like your experience with your friend (nor did we have frat houses).

Quick sidenote – speaking of peens it did make me giggle when Noel referred to the computer dude as a ‘peen.’

I don’t think Felicity did anything other than pass out – my evidence is pretty much she still had her bra on (which is how we left her during ping-pong) and I think the guilt will eat her up because she can’t remember. Even if she didn’t do anything it’s still going to cause friction if/when she tells Ben. I think he’ll be pissed off when he finds out.

They’ve had Felicity make some impulsive decisions this season (the apartment, this dude) and yes I asked for a non-flaky Felicity this is not what I meant. It’s good that she’s not getting everything right, I just feel for her, you know? Also Keri Russell does delightful drunk and hangover face so well. Maybe Felicity will be the one that takes the drugs (insert cat Home Alone face emoji). I’m not sure if they’ll ever bring up the drugs ever again, but if they do there’s plenty of candidates to become a cautionary tale.

The Noel/Natalie shenanigans is the lighter plot and while I was surprised to see that she was still around I did enjoy each time she sabotaged Noel’s attempts at annulment. But I’m not invested in this relationship at all other getting to see Scott Foley getting flustered. By the sounds of it Noel is better in bed than even Jake professes to be (ugh with this already on Scandal).

The Noel story in “Greeks and Geeks” (a nod I hadn’t figured out, but it makes me happy now you’ve pointed it out) worked for me a lot more and I’m glad that both the computer dude and Noel were proven to not be as awesome as they thought. Noel’s kind of a computer and geek snob – he’s a Mac guy and not into Star Trek – and yet he almost gets beaten by a PC. Yes it’s good to challenge the notion that geeks all like the same stuff, but you also still made a Star Trek movie JJ. Plus Noel has shown plenty of outward signs of his geekdom (camping for The Phantom Menace) in the past. What did you make of this?

Also Sean and Meghan have two episodes in a row with relationship drama over broken noses (nice one Ben) and phone sex working, are they built to last?

Julie: Thank you. I was going to defer to the real Brit in this conversation. (I consider myself an honorary Brit, like Madonna or Goop.) I thought her accent sounded fake as well, sometimes almost Scottish, but not. And the bindis need to stop. I can’t with this earth mother, spiritual girl. Even her excuse for leaving Felicity (“There’s a guy who’s really good at reading palms!”) was obnoxious.

When Felicity woke up, I was waiting for the inevitable check-under-the-covers, oops-I’m-wearing-no-underwear moment, but that didn’t happen. It’s probably likely that ping-pong dude was too drunk for any peen action anyway (let’s see how many times we can use the word peen in this post). And yeah, Ben is not going to like this. And yeah, he will find out because EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS.

I suppose that’s what TV has taught us? Scott Foley is an A+ lover. And he’d like you to know about it. It’s in his contract.

I thought the geek guy should’ve been way more nervous around Elena. She’s a fox and he’s, well, him. But he was just a stinky little tyrant. The logistics of the whole computer war didn’t make a ton of sense to me, but I enjoyed watching it. I actually love Scott Foley and Donald Faison playing off each other. They’re the two best comedic actors on the show.

And the geek guy, who kept making Star Trek fingers (the technical term) had a lot of Star Wars characters on his desk. Don’t geeks usually favor one or the other?

As far as Meghan and Sean go, I do think they have potential to stay together. We’ve never seen Meghan give on anything. She always knows exactly what she’s doing and why and she doesn’t kowtow to anyone. But she does give with Sean. I think she really cares about him, which is lovely. I like the two of them together. We need a solid couple on this show (I guess we have Elena and Tracy), now that Ben and Felicity seem headed for a rough patch.

I think we’ve covered most of it, except Javier’s citizenship test, the most important storyline in either episode!

Emma: The spiritual character is such a cliche and I really hope Meghan whisks up a spell to undo whatever nonsense Molly has planned. It looks like Molly is here for the season sadly, which only has 17 episodes for some reason.

Yeah they didn’t really suggest one way or the other what happened with Felicity and the frat boy other than the horrible mistake she thinks she might have made. Other than her trash can street vom and hangover face, her outfit is pretty great for the walk of shame as it’s not all that indicative of a night out and she can also wrap that coat around herself. And it’s way better than her double red denim nightmare from last season. However the combination of guilt and shame is tenfold this time. I hope Felicity doesn’t beat herself up, but she definitely will and yep Ben will know it at least two episodes time (probably the next one). Will Felicity tell him before someone else does?

Like you I was very happy with the Scott Foley/Donald Faison pairing. They both give really good “oh fuck” faces and I actually think Elena was pretty calm/restrained considering how long she spent on that work and the possibility of an F grade looming over her.

Yeah I thought that too about the Star Trek/Wars fandom although maybe this was suggesting that you can be both even if it’s unlikely. In the same way Mac and PC people can co-exist or use a mixture of the two (which is even easier now there are iPhones/iPads etc and our house definitely is half and half).

I certainly hope so with Meghan and Sean – the teen photo was especially touching and now I’m wondering just how many of Meghan’s stories are actually about her and not someone else she knew. I get why she didn’t want to back down on the job front and hey money is money but one plot hole quibble as don’t you have to be on the same number not multiple phones? This is what For a Good Time Call… seemed to suggest. It’s fun to see them grow as a couple and really that was an ultimate angry dick move from Ben with his basketball bro anger.

Uggggghh I really don’t want the Ben/Felicity troubles to start already, but alas is looks like we’re here.

The Javier stuff was cute, however it came across as an excuse to get Ben out of the way so Felicity was free to fuck up. Although he did show Ben the importance of a democratic society with a nod to the 2000 election. I wonder if they will cover this any further. What did you make of this?

Julie: The 2000 election was also my first presidential election, so I did think that was kind of fun. It was right after eight years of Bill Clinton, so we had two totally “new” guys running and there was a lot of promise and excitement and then –wah-wah– George W. Bush got the job. Felicity won’t be around for the 2004 election which I remember being much more tense and angry, with good reason.

As far as Meghan’s phone sex thing, I think she had appointments set up and she was calling the guys, not the other way around? I guess that’s the only way it makes sense that she could work from different phones.

Good call on the basketball scene. Ben is always working out his feelings with ball in hand. That was not a euphemism. This time it’s anger, and it’s anger toward poor Sean, who doesn’t even have a camera in Ben’s face at this point.

And, yeah, while Meghan is kind of mystic and spiritual (in her way), her devil-may-care attitude makes it less hokey and obnoxious. Right now Molly is just too earnest to be believed. Girl gots to go.

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: Amy Jo Johnson, college, Donald Faison, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “The Christening” & “The Anti-Natalie Intervention”

25 Sep

Felicity, Episodes 3.1 & 3.2
“The Christening” & “The Anti-Natalie Intervention”
Original Air Dates: Oct. 4 & 11, 2000

Emma: There are new opening credits with a brand new song and it totally threw me at first. In the space of 30 seconds I went from ‘ugh these are awful’ to ‘I totally love them’ which is a quick about turn. I like the cheese factor and how it captures the fun of the show with some of the farcical elements. There’s also some deep and meaningful hug/talking clips used and while the black and white credits captured that self-serious aspect of early college, I think these new ones represent the less precious aspects of college. They’re now more self-assured than they were and at least it’s not like the Alias season 3 disaster.

After complaining about how flaky Felicity is when it comes to decision making she went and did something impulsive in the season 3 premiere. Sadly it wasn’t a wise move as she ditched her Elena/Julie commitments and instead got an apartment for Ben and herself. She just went ahead and did it before consulting either her friends or Ben so they all kind of have to go along with it. Felicity is all excited about seeing a Ben again and her decision is tied to this romantic notion about both her relationship and the apartment in question. It’s in Brooklyn and what you would definitely call a fixer-upper.

Felicity is flaky, but she can also be single minded and it’s why she doesn’t really consider the consequences of this huge decision. First of all it leaves Elena and Julie down a roommate; this is covered as Meghan’s living plans have fallen through (she was meant to move in with Earl) and she needs somewhere to live. This is one development I am so happy with – Meghan is still with Sean and even though they’ve had an amazing summer together, they don’t decide to move into together, they are not Felicity. Ben doesn’t get a say, yes he could tell Felicity what a dumb idea it is, but he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. Instead he just bitches about how much he hates it to Sean. Standard Ben behavior. Ben takes Sean’s terrible advice because, of course. This advice includes a huge screen and I don’t even understand what kind of TV that is. Pre flat screen I guess.

It’s far too early in their relationship to take this step and there’s a difference between staying over because your dorm is flooded versus actually living together. They should still very much be in the fun stage and an apartment with a bath in the front room is not the way to go. That and everything else that is wrong with it: bugs, rats, loud pipes, a hot neighbour with no boundaries and appliances that catch on fire. Felicity mentions she has experience with fire and the new opening credits helpfully show this experience. On both occasions fire interrupts a hook up.

What did you think about Felicity’s impulsive decision?

Julie: I knew the new credits were coming, but I kind of forgot about it until you mentioned them on Twitter. I remembered hating them (and the new song) on my first Felicity go-around, but this time, I’m loving them. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s just that I love reliving all those little moments and seeing how much Felicity and her friends have grown over the first two seasons.

Felicity in the first episode of Season 3 is not the Felicity of the second episode. I don’t know what that whole “let’s move in together, Ben” thing was, but it was bad. All-around bad. She put her mister before her sisters. She didn’t consult Ben on the decision. And she was just being so “I’m Felicity and I need to feel adult.” Plus, I don’t think she considered how annoying it would be to live in Brooklyn while commuting to Manhattan for school. I am a big proponent of living as close to campus as possible, preferably on campus. There will be plenty of time for apartments and adulthood after graduation. Be a kid for as long as you can. Plus, holy geez, was the girls’ student housing AMAZING!

The whole time Ben kept talking to Sean about it, I was like, “You fool! This is going to be on the Sundance Channel! She’ll see it.” Ben is kind of an idiot. He’s an idiot about their downstairs neighbor who wants to use their living room tub, as well. He, apparently, has very little control when it comes to beautiful women, which hopefully won’t get him into too much trouble. Felicity doesn’t deserve that, apartment renting aside. Also, I don’t know what’s going on with his hair this season. I’m not sure if it was my TV, but it looked like a football helmet.

Anyway, no harm, no foul, because Felicity is back with the girls and Ben is back with Sean. And maybe Richard is living there now? Have they established that? Or is Richard kind of the Phoebe? Regardless, it’s good because it seems like the show is focusing more on the fun, social aspects of college, which is what we were hoping for during sophomore year.

I’m especially liking the girl dynamic. Elena and Julie are getting more to do, just by virtue of playing off each other. There’s some major girl shit happening there. Meghan is there to stir things up and provide comic relief. Julie, especially, has some deep things happening beneath the surface. She, apparently, took the kidney test, wasn’t a match for her dad, and got to know him a bit before he died. I’m not sure I believe her whole story at this point. She’s also having to serve as a buffer between Elena and the hot guy across the hall. Once Elena realizes she doesn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with Tracy, Julie steps in and hooks up with the guy. Is this the first time Julie’s really been with someone since Ben? I think so. I’m concerned Julie’s headed for more dark times.

What do you think about Julie? Oh, and Elena’s little crisis of faith?

Emma: Ben’s hair makes me way more sad than even the hideous Felicity top knot. I have no idea what they did to it. Maybe we can blame the helmet he had to wear on his construction job. The mid-length Felicity is sporting is not nearly as awkward as I expected it to be. You know who has terrible hair? That’s right, Noel. But more on him later.

The girls’ apartment is incredible and I’m guessing is one of these kinds of places that only exist on TV as none of our student housing ever looked like this. And there are also super cute dudes living across the hall, also in a TV fantasy land kind of way and this provides both the entertainment and the friction in the second episode. There is no way that dude’s towel would have stayed up and I love how disappointed they all were when the game ended.

Felicity does seem constantly torn between wanting to be an adult and doing the fun thing which is probably pretty accurate of most 19/20 year old’s. You’re right in that college is very much the time for fun, where you can stay over but go back to your own place whenever you want. Plus nobody wants a 20 minute conversation about where to put the forks. Especially when it’s not even innuendo. With Felicity moving into the apartment does this mean the English student who hasn’t turned up is shit out of luck? Or are two of them going to have to share? I’m going with the latter and I have a feeling Meghan and Felicity might end up sharing again, which probably won’t be too much of a big deal seeing as they both have their boyfriends’ (who happen to live together) apartment to sleep over at.

Also Felicity and Meghan make the most sense doubling up as I sense a lot of icy tension with Julie and Elena thanks to hooks up and persistent questions. Felicity hasn’t been around much to ask Julie about her depressing summer and like you I feel like she isn’t being completely upfront with what happened. It sounds super shitty and I can understand why she is being standoffish, but if you don’t want someone to ask how you are don’t cry in the communal space. Elena asking Julie to third wheel for her while she contemplates other options outside of Tracy is a bit of a dick move, especially as Julie is as she mentions always the third wheel so when Elena decides Tracy is all she wants (thanks to a well timed photo falling over that Elena saw as a sign from God), Julie puts that getting to know you with this pre-law guy to good use. Oh hey awkward morning after bathroom scene.

In terms of dudes post Ben wasn’t there that dread lock guy from the party at the start of last season? Obviously there was the sleazy A&R guy that resulted in Zach flashbacks and a Noel smooch, but no one else that I can think of. I want Julie to get her own story and for them to explore the lady friendships, but I hope Julie’s spiral isn’t just a series of one night stands; I hope they don’t use sex as a way to have Julie question her self worth all over again. I kind of hope this is just Julie being really passive aggressive towards Elena using her and rubbing it in that she can’t have sex with her boyfriend rather. This is also a dick move and one that I hope settles the score.

Elena also commits the dumb move of talking about her Tracy problems on camera and I think they’ve all forgotten what Sean is going to do with the footage. Cut to a few episodes time and the first episode airing. SO many arguments are on the cards.

If everyone was to write an essay about what they did on their summer vacation then Noel would certainly get a “huh?” in his comments section and he doesn’t show up until near the end of the premiere and when he is a very different looking Noel to what we are used to. Gone are the tees, sweaters and floppy hair and in are the highlights, beard and leopard print. They really did find the best worst attire and I’m pretty sure he is very stoned or at least high on something. As Javier predicted his cousin is some kind of whirlwind and Noel’s fallen head over heels for this lack of responsibility schtick. What did you think of Noel’s – or should I say Leon’s? – big news?

Julie: I think Noel’s hair gets a pass for the moment. That is deep crisis hair. That’s not real hair.

Junior year is a particularly troubling time for Felicity’s hair. She seems to have it all figured out personally, but not follicularly. I think I just made up that word. The top knot is horrible. It’s a curly man bun, and it only works on Joakim Noah.

As far as the Julie/Elena fight goes, I’m squarely on Team Julie here. Elena knew she was being an idiot. She knew she was playing with fire, and she dragged Julie into it. I’m thinking at this point Julie only slept with pre-law dude as an eff you to Elena. Like, “See, Elena, if you were single like me, this could’ve been you.” I don’t know. Good for Julie for standing up for herself…in some way.

I also want to point out, as far as pre-law dude goes, he knows WAAAAAAAY too much about New York divorce law for an undergrad. It was actually hilarious. I’m pretty sure most attorneys don’t get that far into divorce law until they actually become divorce attorneys.

OK, Noel. Or Leon. He’s a hot mess. I think this whole Natalie thing was good for him in the long run. As we’ve said, Noel has always been Mr. Responsible. He had a long-term girlfriend. He got serious with Felicity right away. When he went to Europe two summers ago, he was so hung up on Felicity, he didn’t really let himself have fun. Then he hooked up with Ruby, who went and got pregnant, and who tapped Noel as her caregiver/BFF. Noel was due for some irresponsibility.

Of course, this being television, they take it to the limit, turning Noel into some skeezy guy with cool guy tips. He even elopes. At least he didn’t get a tattoo (that we know of), so there’s that.

Noel needed to go through all this, however, because 1) now he knows he can go full-throttle with his life notebook plan to be a giant computer nerd and 2) since he never figured out his living situation before running off with Natalie, he can move into Sean’s loft. Everyone’s living together! Things are perfect! Show over!

How did you feel about the Noel/Natalie situation?

Emma: Woah that definitely tops even the Jared Leto man bun.

The middle stage of a grow out is super awkward and this is why I stick to short hair now (and I really don’t suit long hair at all). So having seen recent photos of Keri Russell has she lost the tighter curls naturally or do you think she has something done to her hair to lose the Felicity style volume? I am no hair expert so have no idea.

I am also on Team Julie on this occasion, I just don’t want this living situation to descend into bitchiness and bad feelings.

That dude definitely seemed like he was an actual lawyer posing as a student as some elaborate scheme to hook up with college girls. That or he has a photographic memory or something, Super useful having him across the hall for all law emergencies. Speaking of which – what kind of lease did Felicity get where she could move in and out of somewhere and still get all of her money back?

During the second episode I ended up writing down that Noel is the Ross of this show, which I guess is appropriately timed as it is the Friends 20th anniversary week (ahh those feeling old feelings). He ends up in these really dumb situations and gets married while drunk, there’s just something very Ross about him. I think it’s good as well that he has had this experience even if it has put a kink in his plan – it might also put Noel in the same year as the rest of the group as I guess he might have to wait until next year to do his senior year. Noel’s freak outs are also reminiscent of Ross as is his realization that their collective assets are a plate. Scott Foely once again gets to flex his comedy chops and show how good he is at this.

The initial intervention is kinda shitty and it’s similar to how they were all interfering when they found out Ruby was pregnant and they discussed it vocally while he was in the room next door. Richard has gone into overdrive and was this a high point for interventions on TV? Or did that show come later? It doesn’t go well and Ben’s the only one who doesn’t think it’s any of their business. Part of this is down to Ben’s general not wanting to get up in other people’s business kind of personality, but there must also be an element of Noel being Felicity’s ex.

In the end Noel does start to freak out about this huge life choice and Felicity’s reference to his life plan notebook basically has him shitting himself about the whole thing. It isn’t surprising that Felicity is the one that gets through to him in her Felicity way and they have a pretty sweet and open conversation about the whole thing.

Natalie discovers the intervention paperwork and she’s pissed about the whole thing; she ends up punching Noel pretty hard, but then later on she wants to get back with him. He’s still pissed but he can’t resist her pizza for breakfast moves although I am assuming this is nothing more than goodbye sex. Do women like Natalie really exist? She feels very much to me like a wild child caricature and the whole vacation every month/move every two years is far more fantasy than reality. Just how could you financially sustain this She also has some terrible clothing choices including the shirt showing her stomach thanks to an oh so classy knot and all of Noel’s hideous outfits are courtesy of Natalie. Javier’s stories about Natalie are also crazy, but hilarious particularly with the defibrillator.

More daddy issues ahoy as Ben’s dad comes into town? What did you think about the John Ritter (*sob*) guest turn?

Julie: I’ve always wondered that about Keri Russell’s curls. During senior year, after she’s gone through the awkward phase, Felicity’s hair is much more relaxed. I’m guessing Keri does something to it. I think her hair gets wet in the new Apes movie and it looks like it has maximum curl potential. Maybe she wants to stay far away from Felicity’s iconic hair. I wouldn’t really blame her, considering all the crap that came with her cutting it. That said, is she a little less recognizable without the curls? It’s not Jennifer Grey levels, of course, but she had a signature look and she ditched it.

That was a long paragraph about curls.

Aaah! Noel IS the Ross! He’s totally the guy who freaks out when things don’t go according to his plan. He just needs a pair of leather pants. Also, I could totally see Noel going Red Ross. Actually, I would love to see (you know, in honor of Friends‘ 20th — God, am I old) the entire Felicity cast get together to do an homage to friends. Or, really, just to see Scott Foley do all of Ross’s lines, because I think he’d be great. Does anyone else fit the Friends bill? Maybe Elena is Monica, because they’re both so Type A.

I think HIMYM took interventions to their height and then back down again.

While the Noel thing was unbelievable, I am glad that it gave us some nice FeliciNoel moments again. I’ve missed the two of them being friends. They were doing so well in the beginning of last season, but then he got all caught up in Ruby and she got all caught up in Greg. The two of them really do understand each other the best of everyone on this show.

John walked in the room while I was watching this episode and was all, “Aww, John Ritter.” My reaction as well. He kind of made a habit of playing deadbeat dads toward the end of his career, what with being Ben’s dad as well as J.D. Dorian’s (I guess two makes a habit?).

It was all pretty cliche, with no new ground covered on the deadbeat dad front, but I did love seeing Ritter again as well as the adorable moment between Felicity and Ben when his dad inevitably didn’t show up. They have each other. Miraculously, Felicity’s impulsive apartment hunting and moving-too-fast didn’t turn Ben off this time. It’s almost as if she was doing it as a test…

Emma: The Keri Russell curl situation makes me think of Julianna Margulies and why she didn’t want her ER curls on The Good Wife, but that’s a wig rather than her actual hair. I really like Russell’s softer wave and it looks more grownup I guess, plus I get all the hair envy at her amazing side sweep. Hmm the mystery of where her tighter curls continues I guess but I know what you mean about how it looked in Apes (I’m still so bummed out that she was essentially just the girlfriend in that movie). Moving away from iconic hairstyles is in part about differentiating from the character and also it must be a style thing to – the Rachel haircut would look like a hot mess now for example. I’m also getting images of Gillian Anderson and her Scully helmet hair from the early seasons of The X-Files. She also has amazing hair now.

This is also a long paragraph about curls and hair.

Now I definitely want to see Scott Foley doing some Ross cosplay and Noel could definitely blow up and go Red Ross. Yeah Elena as Monica works, but I’m not sure about the others. I kind of see Tracy as a Paul – the boyfriend from outside the group who manages to stick around as he is well liked. Richard is kind of a Phoebe. Julie has the aforementioned Rachel haircut four years too late.

John Ritter is so good in a role that isn’t breaking the mold of disappointing alcoholic dad, but both Ritter and Scott Speedman elevate the material they are given to make it more than just a cliche. Oh and the opposite of deadbeat dad is 8 Simple Rules so that breaks the trend a smidge, maybe it’s just when he is guest starring? John Ritter is always an excellent performer and despite only previously hearing super shitty things about Ben’s dad in the past I instantly warmed to him because it’s John Ritter. He also wears that beard well. Ritter is great, but it was actually Speedman that really impressed me with all his nervous ticks while waiting for his dad. It looked like he wasn’t going to turn up for their second arranged meet up and he looks like a little kid while he is waiting. He does show up and he has a gift – a random CD from Tower Records, how very year 2000 of him – and they share a sweet moment with his dad apologizing for being a super shitty parent. He can’t remember a single thing from Ben’s childhood and this is pretty high on the deadbeat dad chart.

Ben doesn’t want false promises, but after this display of contrition he buys into the whole thing which makes them getting stood up later on all the more devastating as he let his guard down, but as you mention at least he has Felicity to provide some form of comfort. I’m guessing we’re going to get to see more from John Ritter at some point. Every season of this show needs some daddy issues.This will provide some excellent material for our Ben Covington thesis.

Hmm I don’t think I have anything else to add – you?

Julie: Poor Julie with her gross Rachel hair.

I just want to say that I’ve only seen this season once, about ten years ago, so it’s not very fresh in my mind. I remember thinking back then that the third and fourth seasons paled in comparison to the first two; but this time around, I think I like where the latter seasons are going. There’s a pull-back from the seriousness of seasons 1 and 2. The comedy and situations are a little more heightened, a little wackier, which on the surface I shouldn’t like, but for some reason I’m finding that I do.

I love the angst, but like Chandler and Monica, I also like the silliness.

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, Friends, John Ritter, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Final Answer” & “The Biggest Deal There Is”

11 Sep

Felicity, Episodes 2.22 & 2.23
“Final Answer” & “The Biggest Deal There Is”
Original Air Dates: May 17 & 24, 2000

Emma: Continuing the fun from our last discussion the penultimate episode deals with finals and the many couples who are distracted by elements of their love life from awkward flirtations, lustful beginnings and unsuccessfully avoiding hurt feelings. As with the season 1 midterms episode “Finally,” where Felicity and Noel were in the early heavy make out stage of their relationship, “Final Answer” had a farcical element that played on both the anxiety of exams and the variety of entanglements that are occurring. Plus Noel wigged out because of beets and it was just as hilarious as it was the first time. More comedy for Scott Foley please, Scandal.

There are lots of couples to address but it makes sense to start with Felicity and Ben. The cold open was bizarre and kinda cute/expectedly creepy from Richard and Sean as they’re trying to peek into Ben’s room. Apparently there is some mooning/flashing and while we see no evidence of this at this point Felicity and Ben haven’t slept together, but that doesn’t mean nudity is out of the question. Meghan’s “that’s my girl” response to this made my heart swell and I’m so happy she’s now very much part of this group.

Felicity and Ben can’t keep their hands off each other which would be fine but they have to study. There’s also the matter of a summer internship that will keep Felicity in New York, whereas Ben is going home to a construction job that will pay for his tuition next year – in contrivance points Ben’s mom can’t afford his tuition so he has to do this job, though because his dad really is awful, this plot doesn’t feel like a reach. This becomes the sticking point/obstacle that takes up a lot of the Ben/Felicity conversations for the last two episodes when they’re not sucking face. I never expected it to be easy between these two but it would have been good to have one episode to enjoy it before the drama, maybe I’m asking too much.

So even though they agree to wait until after their finals before they can hang out again, Ben gets a hotel room – there is a theme of this on this show and like when Noel got a room for shenanigans things go awry – for after Felicity’s art history test and she’s all “fuck it” let’s get some smooching, over the clothes action in beforehand. Ben has been given a watch by Javier as a gift for being an usher at his wedding and this starts my favorite running gag of the episode demonstrating that the watch runs on kinetic energy. Of course the watch stops mid make out and Felicity misses the exam. I am a fan of the title cards informing us how long it is until the exam and when it is way over.

Missing the exam doesn’t mean failing the class, it just means she won’t get the internship and so she initially blames Ben for intentionally sabotaging her with his body. He rightly points out that the hotel room was meant for after her exam, not before and it was her idea to go there first. Big gesture time and Ben’s pleas to the professor (plus using his campus security connection) is adorable and honest getting Felicity a second chance. Essentially he helps her get the intern gig and it’s super cute that they refer to her essay as “our paper.” It’s just a shame that they spend the last episode in this push/pull between her taking the internship or going home. She really is the most flaky at times.

There’s a lot more Felicity and Ben stuff to deal with in the finale, before I get to that I want to see what you thought of them in this first episode we watched this week and how it compared to the other couples dramaz in this episode.

Julie: These final four episodes were so great. They weren’t bottle episodes, by any means, but they sort of had that feel of this group of people being kind of stuck together because of circumstances (the flood in the dorm and Tracy painting Elena’s apartment). Obviously the writers (or writer, J.J. Abrams) had a fantastic time navigating the relationships and trying out new pairings, because these episodes are full of new duos. Again, we’ll get to all that later. Because Felicity and Ben.

At this point, I’m all, “How was I ever on Team Noel?” Ben is super cute, super supportive, and super trying-so-hard. The two of them seem so happy together, and I love how dead on the writers were in dealing with the overwhelming need to smooch when you start dating someone new in college.

Felicity, you’re right, needs to stop being so wishy-washy. And she needs to get some self-control. She tends to completely lose herself when she’s with a guy (or at least when she’s with Ben or Noel; she never really put herself on hold for David or Greg). She was too hot for Noel during finals freshman year and she’s the same way with Ben now.

Regarding the internship, it was realistic, but also disappointing how it was always Felicity who was going to have to give up what she wanted in order for her and Ben to be together during the summer. I get that Ben had a good job lined up and that he needed to make money for school, but he could’ve offered to have taken out loans and/or accept a lower paying job and work more during the school year. The guy never once offered to put his life on hold for the girl.

But then, yay, Felicity does (after much, much, much hemming and hawing; how did her professor not tell her to shove it after all that) take the internship. She, as Dr. Pavone says, chooses herself over the guy, and it’s great. She and Ben appear ready to stick it out for the summer, and Felicity will never hold it against Ben that she denied herself a great opportunity because of him.

All is well, right? Everything’s perfect? Show over?

Emma: Dr. Pavone giving her best advice in the bathroom was of course a high point and I’m so glad Felicity chose herself over the boy. And she still gets the boy so win/win, but as you mention it is disappointing that the onus is entirely on her. Also can’t they visit at weekends? I know it’s not the closest of journeys, they can still make do. Alas no Skype back then.

One concern I had with Ben and Felicity is how they were going to approach the sex stuff, they skirted the issue first time even though they shared a bed. Not that sharing a bed means they should sleep together, but the attraction is strong. This might have been to do with the sex block after that art dude, but as she’s been in two other relationships since, that reason was no longer on the table. I just didn’t want it to be this whole big thing and have Ben be all Noel like and glad they didn’t sleep together or some such philosophical nonsense.

They didn’t get to use the hotel room for a magical night as they had the paper to write and the finale opens with Felicity telling Sally that sex is a big deal and while I’m glad they acknowledge this sentiment, I was also very happy they didn’t drag it out and it happened in a moment of spontaneity. Even if it happened at a point where they were both being horribly self absorbed, they still managed to make it funny/hot/sweet. Even if Felicity was wearing yet another matching disaster. It also occurred to me that Keri Russell is lucky enough to go sans bra making the whole undressing thing a lot less fumbly. The weird thing is that both Ben and Felicity’s exes are in the next room and can totally hear everything. And all their friends. Awkward.

Speaking of exes these two episode really do highlight the incestuous nature of this group and I did indeed draw a diagram to show the various entanglements. It felt necessary. Also in the key that says “dating/ex” despite my terrible handwriting.

The Julie/Noel storyline was not dropped, nope instead Julie used it as a deflection and a way to sabotage the thing with Sean. Julie felt bad and didn’t want to let Sean down, however when you live with the dude it’s probably best to be upfront and not show it with sofa smooches with your friend’s ex. Not that Felicity is remotely surprised or bothered by Julie’s crush as witnessed in the sharing session between the ladies on the campus steps. To me it feels like there is deleted scene that covered this as I’m sure Julie would talk to Felicity first as a result of their rift at the start of the season.

The big development here is that Meghan is into Sean; and even though he was completely bummed out by Julie’s Noel kissing, he gets over it pretty fast thanks to expensive mini bar candy and a hook up with Meghan. What do you think of this latest coupling?

Julie: Well, I love Meghan and Sean. I couldn’t remember if they hooked up during sophomore or junior year, but I’ve been waiting for this moment. I love how she’s all, “Sean’s cute,” and you can see the wheels turning. I think they’re kind of great together. She’s experienced and self-confident and you feel okay with her “settling down” because she’s already done it all. She knows what she wants, and what she wants is Sean. And Meghan is great for Sean, because I think she’s fiercely loyal, but she’ll also call you on your bullshit. Sean needs to be called on his bullshit.

And, while she gave up teaching at Wicca camp for the summer to go to Tuscany with Sean, who can blame her? This act feels less like choosing the boy over herself and more like, “I’m young and I want to have a fun time in Europe instead of spending my summer dealing with bratty kids.” Again, anyone would’ve made that decision.

I just feel awkward for Julie anytime Felicity and Ben are getting smoochy in close proximity. Julie and Ben had a pretty intense relationship. It wasn’t just a fling. He got her through some very tough times. I have a hard time believing that she’s 100% fine with everything, but it’s TV, so she kind of has to be.

And Noel? He’s in his own world right now. I don’t even think Felicity’s on his radar. It’s all Ruby and Julie and beets and now Natalie. Noel has gone rogue. He went to Europe last summer and had a pretty tame time (and he spent all year pining away for/assisting a pregnant woman), but now he’s run off with Javier’s cousin and he’s finally going to be the irresponsible Noel he needs to be. Good for him.

I love your diagram. I think Richard now needs to squeeze himself in here somewhere. Maybe he and Julie should hook up. I could actually see that. They’d be aesthetically cute together, and she needs someone less moody, and someone to drag her out of this birth parents mess. What did you think about the return of Carol?

Emma: I like that there’s nothing labored about Meghan and Sean as neither of them have been pining over the other for a substantial period of time and as you mention it’s a simple case of Meghan mentioning out loud that she thinks Sean is cute. There’s an ease to their hook up and even though Meghan is all whatever to Sean at first, there’s nothing about it that comes across as forced. Even when Sean does the jewelry gesture it could be a “too soon” moment but I love that it turns into a gag about what kinds of items Meghan has received in the past. Ditto her revelation to Felicity that sleeping with Sean is the first time she has done it on her back. Felicity’s reaction is hilarious, though I was also distracted by Felicity’s teeny tiny top knot or whatever the hell hairstyle you would call that. It was bad and you can tell they really regret this hair choice, thought they shouldn’t.

I also agree that the Megan/Sean summer plans thing is a very different situation and hell yeah to a fabulous vacation over Wicca camp. Maybe they will run into Noel and Natalie while on their travels.

Noel hasn’t had the best year when it comes to relationships, though I think it is best for everyone that Ruby is going back to her parents (I’m including us in this too). She can still go to college with a kid, but it sounds like a good plan to get settled with the baby first and rushing into marriage is no way to go. Noel can’t offer the same security and I genuinely believe that he wants to do the best for Ruby and the best is letting her go and sending the odd care package. So long Ruby, you annoyed me a lot less by the end but I certainly won’t miss you either.

I wasn’t too keen on Noel’s sick of being the nice guy speech as it verges on expecting everything to come his way just because he’s the nice guy, but I am all for him having a silly adventure rather than baby daddy drama.

The backdrop of the season finale is the Javier/Samuel wedding and I’m wondering just how rare gay marriage (or rather a civil union at this time) was on TV at this point. I feel like SATC had covered gay weddings by this point and Friends definitely had. The thing these all have in common is the New York location.

Ah yes the return of Julie’s birth mother Carol who only comes back on the scene as a result of her husband/Julie’s dad’s ill health. Julie has a right to be angry and feel used, but as Ben points out – and I love that Ben is the one who has this conversation with her considering how involved he was in this part of her life – her dad isn’t to blame for her mom keeping her a secret. It’s pretty shitty for Julie at the moment and she’s the only one not paired off at the wedding, I’m hoping for a lot more for Julie next season. Maybe Richard is an answer.

Elena and Tracy seem pretty solid and considering what Elena wore to the wedding – when she was looking at it on the mannequin I maybe yelled “why?” at the screen – I’m impressed they are still together. All jokes aside, I do find the Elena/Tracy union to be a rather lovely thing. What did you make of their almost sleeping together moment. Are they in it for the long haul?

Julie: How cute was Ben about “ushering” at Javier and Samuel’s wedding? He’s really winning me over, that boy.

This had to have been a pretty early gay wedding. We had definitely seen Susan and Carol’s wedding by this point, but TV was still skirting around the issue, I believe. And I’m pretty sure gay marriage wasn’t even legal at this point. I’m assuming everyone was getting a “civil union.”

Ugh, I completely feel for Julie in this. Yes, Ben is right that it’s not her dad’s fault (and, yes, I loved that they gave the two of them this moment), but giving a kidney is a pretty ding, dang big deal, and Carol totally sucks right now. She has put Julie in the awful position of either endangering her own health to save someone who doesn’t even know she exists or letting her biological father and the father of a couple more kids die. I do think the best thing for her is if she forces Carol to introduce the two of them. That way she can make an informed decision and she might feel less used. Plus, Bradley Whitford!

Elena and Tracy are wonderful together (and what was her outfit?). I hope they can work it out. Maybe Tracy can be an “everything but” boy. That’s not so bad, right, Elena? He’s worth it.

Speaking of fashion: Felicity’s morning hair topknot is awful and she should check that at the door before Ben sees her and dumps her for it. The short hair isn’t inherently bad. In fact, there have been times where it was downright cute. But this growing out phase is not good. It gets worse during junior year, just look at the boxed set.

I did love Felicity’s red dress for the wedding, though. Classic ’90s, gorgeous color.

Emma: Ben really is the cutest. That super dorky/adorable smile is ridiculous.

Yeah I Wikipedia’d and same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in New York until 2011 so it must have been a civil union. Glad to see Felicity celebrating Javier and Samuel without making it a huge deal that they’re getting married; it’s pretty much like every other wedding on TV. Well except for Javier’s announcement that’s he’s going to NYU next year mid speech, but that’s just Javier. An interesting move for sure, but one they laid the groundwork for when he mentioned in a previous episode that he was applying.

Yeah I want more Bradley Whitford.

Tracy and Elena are really great together and I can see them being an “everything but” couple. Maybe they will sleep together eventually, but at the moment it’s probably for the best that they don’t. Meghan’s hilarious tale of getting between a guy and his religion is hilarious and it stopped Elena from doing something Tracy might have regretted. Basically I dig them and I want to see a lot more of Tracy next season. Please stay, Donald Faison.

The red dress reminded me of what she wore at the start of the season, it’s a really great color on her (though she should never wear the red jeans/jean jacket combo ever again).

Now let’s talk season 3! What do you want to see?

A brief moment of happiness for Ben and Felicity is top of my list and I hope the summer apart isn’t going to derail things quickly. Drama I get, but it took so long to get them where they are now that I will be disappointed if they break up in the first 6 episodes.

Fun Noel! He’s a had a shitty year as he mentioned so I hope his summer of frolics hasn’t left him broken. Also if they’re going to do the love triangle again I still want some Ben/Noel friend time, even if that’s highly unlikely.

Something good for Julie and a story that doesn’t link back to her rape or adoption.

More Elena and Tracy.

Girls’ night out – that episode was really fun and having the four ladies as friends is way better than disputes and bitching.

Meghan. Just more of her.

A less flaky Felicity – just make a decision and stick with it this time.

Less parent drama – Felicity mentions that her parents might get back together and if this means no more dad in NY then let it happen.

One thing I continue to be impressed with is how this show deals with sexual health stories, more of this please.

Julie: I second everything you’ve mentioned. I think you’ve hit on everything. I definitely want more Meghan and more girlfriends’ time.

Most of all, I just want the group together, having fun. College is fun, Felicity!

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: bad 00s fashion, college, Felicity, Keri Russell, Teen TV, weddings

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Ben Was Here” and “The Aretha Theory”

28 Aug

Felicity, Episodes 2.20 & 2.21
“Ben Was Here” & “The Aretha Theory”
Original Air Dates: May 3 & 10, 2000

Julie: Yay yay yay yay yay.

I had more fun watching these two Felicity episodes than I have for all of season two. We’ve reached the final four episodes of sophomore year, and the show is firing on all cylinders.

What’s working?

Ben. In the latter half of the season, the show has become Ben’s show (as we’ve discussed). For a season and a half, he’s been a social chameleon, changing his personality to fit whichever girl he’s dating, floating through life, not really sure about what he wants to do or who he wants to be, taking the advice of anyone who has any advice to give him. Now he’s Ben of action.

I was a little nervous when Felicity said that he was only after her for the chase. Was she right? She might still be right. Ben has this pattern of going after her whenever she finds a new boyfriend.

But this time does feel different. I do think Ben broke up with her at the beginning of the season because he was scared and not because he really wanted to. I think everything he’s gone through to win her back has been genuine. I also think he’s not entering into this lightly. He knows what it means. He knows it means a potentially long-term relationship. And he’s no longer scared. Ben is all grown up. For the most part. At the very least, he’s getting there.

Fun. The other thing that’s totally working for me is how fun these two episodes were. That’s what college was, at least for me, fun. It wasn’t all serious conversations and protests and political campaigns. In fact, it was hardly any of that. College was parties and drinking and spending time with friends. Felicity, both the show and the girl, are starting to figure that out.

These two episodes brought everyone back together again, and living under one roof. There’s a leaky pipe in the dorm and Tracy has taken it upon himself to repaint Noel and Elena’s apartment. Both places uninhabitable, Sean has taken everyone into his apartment. Everyone, including Ruby and Meghan. They’re having game nights and going out to clubs with Meghan’s crew (and how much did you love Meghan in these episodes?). Fun is being had.

The Supporting Cast. There are so many things to talk about here, but I really want to give a shout out to those folks who are not Felicity, Ben, or Noel. Everyone is pulling their weight right now. I want to spend time with all of them, from Richard to Julie to Meghan to Javier. These episodes were written by the show’s creators, JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves, and it shows. They were having a good time playing in the Felicity sandbox again.

Did you have as much fun as I did?

Emma: The second half of this season has been pretty great and I definitely agree with you in regards to how much fun these two episodes are. We spoke in detail during the first half of the season about how detached the two groups were and this was to be expected after the whole big Felicity decision at the end of season 1 which not only put a wedge between Felicity and Julie, but also made it hard to have Ben and Noel in the same room. Despite any relationship awkwardness (which there is in droves) they have now reached a point where they can all sleep under the same roof and for that I am grateful.

It’s not like Ben and Noel were even friends in season 1 and the Felicity of it all made this look like an impossibility. Philosophy classes and unplanned pregnancies have brought them together, so much so that Noel gives Ben an “I’m sorry bro” look when Ben returns from his failed grand gesture. Everyone knows where Ben has been and this is also a pretty accurate representation of any big relationship moment during college as even when you think something is secret, if you’ve told one person then pretty much everyone in your friendship groups knows.

So the Ben mission is played for laughs at first as he hides behind cabs and bushes with Sean’s stolen cell phone. Of course Sean is waiting for a call about his film and so Sean is giving romantic advice (never listen to Sean) while dishing out answering the phone etiquette. When Ben makes his move while Greg pops out for firewood (Greg is THAT guy) Ben pops up and promptly gets told to get out of Felicity’s life for forever. It’s not the reaction he was expecting, though I can see why she’s not thrilled to see him and I’m glad he didn’t win her over this easily.

This episode (and I adore the callback with the title) could easily have descended into angst and while Ben does a lot of moping, he’s also proactive pausing for s’mores and then joining in with the board games. Some of my fondest moments from college are those nights where we stayed in a played card games like Shithead (I played it so much and I can’t even remember the rules right now) and this really captured that experience. As you mention making the show fun again is part of why these episodes are so successful. This is a charming group of actors and characters; by creating a reason for them to stay under the same roof it showcases this.

Greg is not dispatched as quickly as I hoped and I honestly can’t see why he sticks around for as long as he did as it’s pretty apparent that this drama isn’t going to settle down. Maybe he just really wanted to punch Ben. I didn’t expect to see him again, but I did like the surprise Meghan twist and why she’s been mooning over him for all this time. The power of sandbox wedding ceremonies. Also how old is Greg meant to be?

I’m going to join you with praising the supporting characters (even Ruby, yep you read that right) as despite not having the strongest storylines (Elena) or cycling on previous experiences (Julie) they all feel like solid characters and this is down to both performance and the writing. It’s also good to see that both JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves (who I feel bad that I don’t mention as often) have injected some joy back into the show. More of this please.

Before I move onto the second episode and the amazing night out and Ben’s big gesture that worked, what did you think of the whole Sean/Julie smooch? I also have many thoughts on some of the fashion on display, well mostly whatever the hell Felicity was wearing to the club. Plus Javier making her wear his glasses.

Julie: Oh my GOD, Shithead. We used to play that as well, and I, too, have no idea what the rules were. I loved the game night scene on the show (though the montage with the angsty W.G. Snuffy music made it seem borderline boring). Also, Felicity playing some speed card game with Julie just illustrated to all of us what a dork she is. I’m never sure if it’s good acting on Keri Russell’s part, or if that’s just Keri’s own social awkwardness shining through.

The Sean and Julie kiss. I’m glad it finally happened. That whole thing needed to be resolved, and even though it really hasn’t been (Julie gave him a “maybe”), I’m pretty sure that “maybe” was a brushoff and Sean will be forced to move on.

In other Julie news, what kind of behind-the-scenes thing has been going on between her and Noel? It’s so weird. They went to the dance, obviously the writers were “trying them on,” and then she talks about how they’ve been spending a lot of time together and she’s pretty sure he’s over Ruby. I’m guessing this was all either A) in Julie’s head or B) a direction the writers thought they were going to go until they decided to let Ruby and Noel sleep together again WTF.

I’m not sure what happens after this, but it looks like Julie could have her heart broken again. Unless the whole Julie/Noel thing is dropped without comment, which seems likely. I mean, really, like we said last time, Noel and Julie can’t happen because it makes the group too incestuous to be believed.

The Meghan/Greg thing seemed a little far-fetched, but it gave us a nice Meghan character moment, so I’ll allow it. More Meghan, please!

Let’s talk about the fashion now. What in all holy hell was Felicity wearing. Was that a rose corduroy Texas tuxedo?

Emma: The choice of music in that scene was so bizarre and not the time to go angst. Speaking of music – I love Meghan’s Sarah McLachlan theory and how as Felicity’s roommate she has the inside knowledge. This a) sounds like something Felicity would do b) sounds like something Meghan would make up and c) is the best acknowledgment of a TV show soundtrack choice.

We got way more Meghan than we have previously done and I like how she didn’t feel out of place in this band of relationship fuck ups. I also think, despite how much she would protest the fact that she does indeed like this social circle and hanging out with these guys. At least more than the unseen Swane (who is a giant son of a bitch).

The jaw on the floor reaction to Sean kissing Julie was perfect, Ben just put his head in his hands and Noel pulled an “eek” face. I think you’re right about how Julie feels and I think she would know if she had romantic feelings. The “maybe” does come across as a cop out on Julie’s behalf, but I also understand why she doesn’t want to let him down. All round awkward.

Julie and Noel comes across as a writers’ room suggestion that they have instantly recanted, though there are crushes that are fleeting rather than Felicity style epics. Maybe this is one of those where you realize after a few days that nope this shouldn’t be a thing. Or you could be right and she’s headed for heartbreak again.

I read the Noel/Ruby stuff slightly differently in that I thought they only slept in the same bed and spooned. This I got from Noel’s head shake when Sean intimated shenanigans – also I know it’s your house Sean, but I’m not sure you know Noel well enough to ask if he just slept with his pregnant ex – I might be interpreting this wrong though. Whatever happened, this is also a very complicated situation especially now that the baby daddy is on the scene (sadly not Tom Cruise).

Moving on to fashion and the only excuse for Felicity’s outfit is that she either borrowed something from Julie (she has a terrible track record) or she packed in a hurry. I can’t believe that even in 2000 this would be considered a good choice. I love that Felicity approached Meghan in her usual “if you don’t ask” style and Meghan relented. And I love a good getting ready montage. Plus it’s worth saying again that Amanda Foreman has an incredible face, something they always highlight when they do a close up on her putting on makeup.

The goth punk club was pure TV nightclub cliche and I half expected Sydney Bristow to pop up in the background on a mission as these were a frequent location on Alias. TV can’t quite get nightclubs right and it’s hard to recreate the sweaty, drunk atmosphere and this was a valiant attempt I guess. Niggles aside, girls night out was super fun with the funny color cocktails and podium dancing – this felt like another where does Felicity end and Keri begin moment – they need to do more of these kinds of moments. Plus Marshall from Alias and Meghan’s future TV husband! I got a very big kick out of that.

One accurate drunk night out observation is the desire for snacks and I’m happy Felicity chose this ritual over leaving with Ben. So often they do these ‘can’t talk about guys’ nights out on shows only for at least one lady to leave with her love interest. Not Felicity! Even if she does end up drunk dialing Ben (on a pay phone!) and leaving a regretful voicemail.

What did you thinking about their night out?

Julie: I kind of like the Noel and Julie thing just for the fact that it shows the peripheral characters have lives going on outside of what Felicity (and we) can see. We know every minute detail of who’s dating who, who’s getting engaged, who’s a virgin, it’s neat (in an Abed delivering that baby kind of way) to think that the characters have lives going on outside the TV screen.

Though, I’m sure that’s not what the writers had in mind when they shoehorned this into the story. Or maybe they did. If so, kudos.

With Noel and Ruby, I thought Noel was shaking his head in a “Don’t ask” way, which I took to mean he regretted whatever happened between him and Ruby (again, we might never know the answer, which is frustrating, but also realistic). I’m thinking this is just a bit of a rebound (the two of them never got to say a real goodbye to their romantic relationship), and it won’t last. Especially because Wade (who is kind of a low-rent Noel-looking guy) is back in the picture, whatever that means.

Nightclub time. I think every TV show ever goes to the exact same nightclub. I do have to say that I googled “Bonsai Demon,” and it doesn’t exist. It’s probably gross anyway, since I’m sure it contains Midori.

Meghan looked absolutely stunning in these episodes. It all makes me shake my fist at the fact that Amanda Foreman doesn’t have a more successful acting career. She’s gorgeous and she’s talented. Matthew Weiner, call her for the final season of Mad Men.

The bathroom getting-ready stuff transported me right back to college. I loved those days of getting ready in the same bathroom, borrowing stuff from your roommates, giving one another makeup advice.

I so loved the going out stuff. I loved the girl time of it. My friends and I used to travel to this all-boys school once in a while (where only unspeakable things happened), and I remember us making a pact to look out for each other, that if one of us was about to make a bad decision, we were supposed to go up to the girl and tell her, “No, bitch. No.” I don’t remember if that ever worked.

I hope this is going to usher in an era of the girls hanging out more.

Also, Kevin Weisman as Earl. Earl! Whose name is Earl?

I wish they had done a Meghan spinoff after Felicity ended. What is her life?

Emma: “All of Felicity’s hair went away and so did Sarah.”

Just one of the many amazing Meghan quotes I could use and if Matt Weiner continues to cast from teen shows of the’90s then yep Amanda Foreman should be included. That or we can add her to our #SpeedmanOnScandal campaign. The thing with Meghan is that she could easily come across as cartoony and yet they manage to avoid that, part of this is definitely Foreman’s performance.

Ah yes, I can see why you interpreted the Noel head shake differently. Basically, Sean is a bit too forward in asking. I don’t think Ruby is long for this show in part because of Wade and also because they need to get the triangle back in shape. Ok, they don’t need to do this but I’m guessing the Team Noel fans were pretty antsy at this point with the developments.

Speaking of which after much yelling at the screen (from me) Ben and Felicity finally smooched after multiple bumps in the road. Ben of course heard Felicity’s post Aretha theory drunk voicemail and it looked like it was dunzo for good. First I love how this conversation with Meghan captures the grand life affirming declarations you make when you’re drunk and how Meghan and Felicity have reached BFF status in this moment. I’m sure the snark will return, but they will always have this night.

When Felicity took off to find Ben I might have written GO TO THE BASKETBALL COURT (yes in all caps) and I was wrong! Ben instead looked inward as to when Felicity stopped trusting him and realized it was the night he stood her up in Bryant Park. In cute grand gesture moments he found the Charlie Chaplin movie they were meant to see the night and the episode ends with them watching The Gold Rush on the side of a building. It’s adorable and super romantic. After a quick a Google search in 2014 you can watch it on YouTube, so Ben wouldn’t have it so hard I finding a copy now. I like the year 2000 version of this story more.

Where do they go from here? I would be more than thrilled if the last two episodes is relatively angst free for Ben and Felicity, save the drama for season 3. What do you want to see now they are together?

Julie: Obviously you know that Noel comes back into play for Felicity, and I wonder now if that’s not some kind of writer fatigue (or just not knowing where to go with things). They’ve now put Felicity and Ben back together, Noel and Felicity are doing well as “just friends,” and all seems peachy keen. But you know it can’t stay that way. They could bring in a new guy, but you know they won’t. It has to be Noel and Felicity or Felicity and Ben. That’s as far as this show can see.

(Also, they’ve had a very poor track record for bringing in new guys for her thus far.)

I’m trying to watch this show as much for the friendships as for the love interests, kind of like I did with MSCL. They seem to be finally getting there with the girls, and I think Meghan is the reason. She is the exact kind of person Felicity needs in college. Felicity and Elena are too similar (at least school-wise). Julie’s too much of a bore, and for all her love life drama, seems pretty tame. Meghan is the one to bring Felicity out of her shell and into adulthood.

For the next few episodes, I hope they echo these two. I hope we get to spend more time with the friends having fun and being college students. I want the writers to try pairing up new people. That’s when the magic starts.

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: Amanda Foreman, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

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

14 Aug

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

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