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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What did you think of Ben and his relationship woes?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I still hope they kiss next Thanksgiving, though.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found at chicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.

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

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Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

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

22 May

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What did we miss? Javier’s cat?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anything else to add?

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

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

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

Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found at chicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.

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

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

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

8 May

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anything else?

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

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

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

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

What did you think of this subplot?

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

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

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

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

Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found at chicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.

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

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Ancient History”

24 Apr

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Julie: Yes, thank you! Richard is BACK.

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

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

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

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

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

What do you think?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found at chicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.

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

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Sophomoric” and “The List”

11 Apr

Felicity, Episodes 2.1 and 2.2
“Sophomoric” and “The List”
Original Air Dates: Sept. 26 & Oct. 3, 1999

N.B. Julie Hammerle (of the blog Hammervision and on Twitter as @juliehammerle) and I have been writing about Felicity for the past several months over at This Was Television. To start the second season, we’re moving our posts over to TV Ate My Wardrobe. We hope you enjoy all the ’90s nostalgia. Please feel free to comment and relate some of your own college stories.

Julie: I’ve only seen Season 2 of Felicity once, so I think I keep getting the events of this season confused with what happens in Season 3. I have a vague idea of what to expect, but I am by no means a sophomore year expert. It’s kind of fun to watch it that way.

The season kicks off with everyone back at school. Felicity and Meghan are RA’s and roommates, which really defeats the whole purpose of being an RA, i.e. getting to have your own room and having it paid for. The girls’ room is basically the same as their room last year; it probably is the same room. So, as far as living conditions go, not much has changed for Felicity.

Ben is still living with Sean, and Julie has moved into the loft as well, because 1) Sean has a crush on her and he’s friend zoning himself and 2) Julie pretty much wants to make Ben’s life a living hell. I mean, she moves in under the guise of the fact that she hates her freshman cheerleader roommates, but really the chance to make things awkward for Ben is a major selling point.

Elena has moved into an apartment with Noel, which…did she consult Felicity before agreeing to this? The whole thing is so incestuous, but also so college. Felicity’s best friend is living with the guy whose heart she trampled on.

I feel like the tone of the show shifted between the first and second seasons. There’s a lot more angst already. Maybe it’s because the living situations are so emotionally charged. People are taking sides. It’s Noel and Julie vs. Ben and Felicity (with Elena and Sean in the middle). And now that Felicity has decided to ultimately choose herself, how will that affect the dynamics?

What did you think about the start of Season 2?

Emma: So season 2 of Felicity and thanks back of the DVD box for ruining an integral plot point that doesn’t happen until episode 2 (that she becomes single). There are better ways to tease the dramatic hair chop than pointing out the why of it all. I’m still bitter that NBC recently ruined a MAJOR plot point in a press release, so this is adding to my spoiler frustration. Take a hint from Mad Men, vague is good – ok maybe not too much of a hint.

The flimsy excuse for sharing (asbestos) is perfectly fine with me, especially as Felicity and Meghan are back together again and for all the angst (which I also noticed has been increased) at least we have this comedic pairing. Meghan brings me so much joy, even when she’s being a jerk and openly discussing Felicity’s sex life in front of all the advisees. At least she sees the error of her ways and apologizes for that major dick move. Meghan’s styling is as wonderful as ever including nude shimmery lipstick and an endless supply of animal prints. I have more on Meghan, but first all of the other living arrangements.

While it comes across as contrived, considering how Elena reacted to Noel post-Hannah, I’m down with this living arrangement as they bounce really well off each other. They didn’t get a whole lot to do with each other in S1, but they did have a notable conversation when Elena almost quit over financial issues. I also don’t think there will be anything vaguely romantic here and I’m always happy to see platonic lady/dude friendships and I think they will be good for each other.

Now as you mention it gets complicated when you factor in Felicity and Elena’s BFFdom and it’s so unbelievably awkward when Elena leaves the two of them to chat in the apartment. And it goes so, so bad. Noel’s hurt and this is the first time he’s spoken to Felicity since she didn’t go to Berlin and he pretty much says all the worst things – he’s mean in a gross vulgar way and it’s very un-Noel. After dealing this low blow he then tells her he never wants to see her again and even though he knows this won’t be the case, he wishes it were true. I’m guessing Felicity won’t be hanging around there anytime soon. It escalates to a whole new level later when they go to the same bar and I didn’t realise you could say dick on the WB, I’m not sure why but I thought it was a relatively new insult network TV could use. This is awkward scene number two, but I want to talk about Julie’s new living arrangement first.

Moving in with Ben and Sean has bad news written all over it, I mean she did pretty much live there last year but under very different circumstances. It also makes it clear that Julie has very few friends which makes me sad. What Felicity did was not a good friendship move and yet I find myself siding with Felicity (if I had to pick one). Of course this could be down to the fact that this is her story, but as we talked about a lot last year the Felicity/Julie pairing was always lacking something. While I find Sean’s friend zoning to be rather icky, they at least have a friendship spark that started with the fruit selling during finals.

Considering they couldn’t keep the living arrangement the same as last year, this seems like the most organic way to deal with that. It’s also a good way to increase conflict and build on new relationships. Oh and it’s very cool to have both Amanda Foreman and Greg Grunberg in the opening credits. The dynamics are different and it’s definitely unsettling and kind of exciting. The first two episodes back have to deal with so much relationship dramaz that it does bog it down a tad and it’s having address such a life changing decision for Felicity in terms of her relationships so some of the momentum gets lost. Did Felicity chose well? Both between Noel and Ben, coupled with what happens at the end of episode 2?

Julie: There has to be a happy medium between spoilery promos (I’m assuming you’re talking about Hannibal? I heard some things) and what Mad Men does. And it’s just silly that the Felicity boxed set would give away the cliffhanger from Season 1 like that. Actions have consequences, blurb writers.

Because I had seen on Twitter that you were peeved about what you read on the back of the DVDs, I purposefully didn’t look at the wording. Since I kind of don’t remember much about Season 2, I didn’t want anything to be “spoiled” for me, as well.

I’m completely with you that I love the Elena/Noel friendship dynamic. I do wonder, however, if Elena rooming with Felicity’s ex (without consulting her first?) wasn’t a little rude of her, but I do get that Elena and Noel are friends and that she’s the type of girl who looks out for #1. I can respect that. Also, she and Noel have a great rapport. Remember when they went to the Halloween party dressed as Subway employees? And then she met Blair? We hate that guy.

I also want to point out (since we’ve talked about the evolving friendships on this show) that at the start of freshman year, these characters became friends due to convenience and proximity. Julie and Felicity got together because they happened to sit next to each other in class. Noel and Felicity hooked up because they lived on the same floor. Now, as everyone on the show is growing and maturing, they’re starting to pair up with their actual best matches. Julie hanging out with Felicity and Elena never really made sense to me. Julie hanging out with a guy like Sean, who totally worships her and will do whatever she asks, totally makes sense. At least from Julie’s perspective.

And, of course, I’m completely on board with Amanda Foreman’s elevation to regular cast member. Felicity is such a wet blanket sometimes. She’s always so serious and trying to do the right thing, she needs someone like Meghan around to instigate her. Because they are such good foils and because Meghan ended last season revealing how impressed she was with Felicity sticking it out in New York, I think there’s potential there for a very interesting, very fun friendship. And that’s something this show definitely needs — more fun! What was college if not fun?

For that reason, I think Felicity made the right decisions all around, regarding Ben and Noel. She owed it to herself (and the girl who moved cross country because of a crush) to see if things could happen with Ben. She also knew that going to Berlin with Noel would be a pretty serious relationship step that could set her up as “Noel’s girlfriend” for the next several years. As much as I think she liked Noel, I don’t think she was ready for anything serious. Just like Ben is not ready for anything serious, so her dumping him at the end of the second episode felt right. I’m so glad she was the one who did the dumping.

What did you think about her reasons for ditching Ben, that she wasn’t being herself around him? Along the same lines, how did you feel about the man-grabbing advice in that one girl’s magazine? Would putting blush on one’s nipples really make a big difference in the grand scheme of things?

Emma: The happy medium between over and under sharing in blurbs is a tricky one to navigate and The CW are the experts on this one, they some how reveal so much without revealing anything at all. So I just went to read the rest of the back of the box as I thought I was safe, guess again as it spills more plot details that haven’t happened yet. When will I learn?!

The proximity thing is definitely a factor and I can say from my own experience that moving out of a dorm meant that there were people that I never spoke to again. Luckily it wasn’t because I’d broken one of their hearts.

Meghan is the ray of light these two episodes need – which is probably ironic considering her love of all things dark – she’s the voice of reason Felicity needs to hear when she starts to over analyze everything. Which she does a lot. I also adore the conversation about Felicity’s tape vs Meghan’s box and I’m sorry, Felicity, but yours does sound kinda lame.

I’m with you on the Felicity choice, narratively and for her character it made sense. If she had chosen Noel, I think it would have been very difficult for anything Ben and Felicity to happen. She’s already had coupledom with Noel and yes it’s the safe, sensible choice. Ben is THE guy after all and even though I was Team Noel last year, my position has shifted. Actually my position is now the same as Felicity’s and that is choosing singledom. She didn’t date in high school and she’s far too young to be tied down; road trip adventures and super cute selfies on photos you have to get processed (I loved waiting to pick photos up and seeing how great/terrible they were, this is something that had definitely been lost with digital) are fine, declarations of love less so.

Now while I think Sean is terrible at advice (my notes once again state NEVER LISTEN TO SEAN) and he plants the seed of doubt in Ben’s head about how serious it is, in the long term this is probably better. As we saw last season Ben is really susceptible to other people’s influence and if he’s going to get dissuaded this easily, then now is definitely not the right time for this to happen.

Ben listening to her Dear Sally tape prompted some yelling at the screen, as this is akin to reading her journal and really Felicity didn’t get as mad enough at this invasion of privacy as I would hope. Ben feels bad, but the damage is done. Now to the magazine (the made up ‘Girl World’ – this sounds like a tween publication) and I think this goes to highlight that no matter how self assured you come across, no one is safe from the suggestibility of these magazine advice columns. We have all probably been a Gretchen or a Ben at one time or another. We might roll our eyes at the super dumb suggestions (like blush on nipples) and yet we might try some of them out as Felicity does and justify it by claiming we would have done that anyway. Felicity does look smoking hot in her very on point (then and now) red slip dress. I can’t think of a specific example and it pains me to admit it but I’m sure I’ve read a dumb magazine article like this and maybe applied it to my life. Have you ever followed a magazine advice column?

To Gretchen, Felicity is the wise and experienced RA and yet Felicity is new to all of this and she doesn’t have a whole lot of advice options – Meghan can only last a minute, Julie is no longer her friend, Sally is on the other end of a tape making service and while she still has Elena, Elena’s new housing arrangement puts a kink in things and she’s now helping Noel out with his romance issues.

I’m glad Felicity didn’t stick with the adjustments she was making to accommodate Ben as it’s not a good sign if you’re having to alter your entire behavior. Yes comprise is essential to making a relationship work, but not when you’re compromising yourself this much to make something work.

Now that Felicity is single, do you think the super awkward encounters are going to increase or simmer down? What did you think of the Noel’s attitude/reactions to seeing Ben and Felicity together both at the party and in the season premiere at the bar?

Julie: That’s such a good point about how dire Felicity’s friendship options are right now. She’s very much alone, even more alone than she was back at the beginning of freshman year. It’s going to be hard for her to mend fences with Noel and Julie. She basically can never go back to the loft again (except it’s TV, so we know she’s going to eventually have to go back to the loft again). And Elena is great, but kind of caught up in her own stuff/living with Noel. This is the time where Felicity really needs to start branching out into new endeavors.

I definitely remember reading and following some relationship advice stuff from magazines, especially back in high school. None of it ever worked for me, so I don’t put a lot of faith in these kinds of articles. And, yeah, while it did seem to work for Felicity for the time being (and she should definitely continue to dress smoking hot just for herself, because it was totally working for her), how long would she have been able to keep that up with Ben?

As far as Noel’s behavior at the bar, I loved it. Snarky, pissed off, funny Scott Foley is my favorite Scott Foley. We recently saw this on Scandal when he complained about the contents of Olivia Pope’s refrigerator. I hope he continues to be “exactly the amount of dick he needs to be,” both on Felicity and on that Shonda Rhimes show.

Let’s see. What else haven’t we discussed…Oh! Javier’s back! Welcome back to America, Javier. And how cute/silly was Michael Pena as one of Felicity’s freshman advisees? And where was Richard Coad? We need Richard Coad.

Emma: I noticed that both Felicity and Noel are generally being more assertive in these first two episodes back, whereas Ben is resorting to his passive ways. Felicity does briefly lose this assertive quality when she goes back to Ben, but generally she’s saying what she thinks and she’s not shying away. Ben leaves when things get super awkward at the bar and while I think it’s not the best choice Felicity has made, by staying she’s confronting things head on.

Noel’s anger masks his confidence issues that we see Elena coaching him on and he’s been through enough with Felicity that it’s not surprising that he has no issue speaking his mind with her. Forming coherent sentences with other women is an issue, and I properly laughed out loud as Elena role played using Gwyneth Paltrow as the suggestion. Not because she isn’t hot, but just because of how much we both appreciate GOOP.

Javier’s return made me very happy indeed and I love that he’s pro Noel. I also can’t wait to see how he reacts to Felicity’s haircut as I’m sure he will have Opinions. Speaking of which, surely D&D is going to get super awkward now they’ve split, different shifts ahoy.

Yep, Michael Pena is adorable, if not a little too attentive; and while Felicity shouldn’t have used him, he probably needed it so he would back off. Not sure that’s going to happen. Gretchen broke my heart, partly because he sexy outfit looked like a whole load of nipples rather than flowers and ooph her attempts to walk in crazy high heels (which I thought she’d borrowed from Meghan) was so tragic, especially when she ended up dumped.

One relationship update I was glad to hear about was Elena losing the good doctor, it’s just a shame that he did the dumping (and over the phone, showing the zero class he possess). It does provide a nice bonding moment with Noel.

Yeah where is Richard?

Couple of other things, first Felicity’s khaki Capri pants gave me SO many flashbacks to my wardrobe (including this photo I recently put on Instagram of khaki green pants that got ripped and I then fashioned into cropped ones instead). While I wore a lot of halter tops, I didn’t have any like Felicity’s knitted number – love that even her summer wear is made from wool – there’s a sexy twist as she’s not wearing a bra with it. And yes the smoking hot dress can stay. Oh and I spotted Felicity’s iBook, ensuring she will never have to go I Noel for Photoshop ever again. She totally got it in the same color as Noel’s. Another late 90s reference is the discussion about whether they should go watch Blair Witch Project. Any thoughts on the late summer wear?I’m pretty sure Julie needs to set her top collection on fire.

Oh and the photo Ben moons over is a Felicity selfie, long before the term entered everyday discussion – did we even have a name for those kinds of photos back then? All I know is that arms always looked super long or you’d get super squashed up faces, normally half cut off.

Julie: Again, I think this all reflects back to Ben’s social chameleon personality. He can’t handle the conflict. I think he genuinely likes Felicity and wants to be with her, but he’s so susceptible to other people’s opinions, he automatically balks when Sean tells him that’s what he should be doing (Never listen to Sean’s advice!). The only way things will ever work between Felicity and Ben is if he figures out who he really is and what he really wants.

Your black and white photograph reminded me that I wanted to talk more about the photograph thing. I just cleaned out a drawer in our house and I found about a million old pictures from high school and college. As much as I love the convenience of being able to take decent photos on my phone, I do miss the surprise of having film developed, and I miss the hard copies of the pictures. (I found a ton of black and white ones as well, that I know were supposed to be “artistic.” They’re mostly just hilarious.)

Felicity was a tad too braless for my taste, maybe that’s just me talking as a fairly well-endowed lady. This episode was from late summer of ’99, and I had a favorite halter top at the time — it was red and from J. Crew, I think. Most of my wardrobe was from J. Crew back then.

Felicity was so ahead of the curve with her selfie-taking. Also, her tapes to Sally are basically podcasts. I’m trying to picture how Felicity would be, social media-wise, in 2014. I’d bet she’d be one of those girls who are simply too busy for Facebook and Twitter. Maybe she’d have a Tumblr dedicated to knitwear or something.

And yay for the Goop reference! She was fresh off her Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love at this point, and was probably preparing to do press for Talented Mr. Ripley (which I keep meaning to watch again, but keep forgetting to do so). Everything was coming up Goop, which should come as no surprise.

Tags: "Sophomoric", "The List", 2.01, 2.02, Felicity, Keri Russell, Scott Foley, Scott Speedman, Teen TV

Comments 5 Comments
Categories Felicity, TV Team-Up
Author Julie Hammerle

Festive Rewind: Gilmore Girls “Forgiveness and Stuff”

24 Dec

It’s TV Ate My Wardrobe’s first festive season and to mark this occasion we are hosting a very special rewind series. What this means is that we will be featuring a whole host of guest posts and in the spirit of the holidays we have asked a variety of writers to discuss a festive episode of their choice. These will be appear on the site over the next couple of weeks and there’s an eclectic mix including teen dramas, science fiction, animation, comedy, drama and more to get you in the celebratory mood. Or to at least give you plenty of suggestions of TV to watch over the break.

Today is a bumper Festive Rewind day (it is Christmas Eve after all) and Kari Peperkorn Marlowe talks us through the Gilmore Girls episode “Forgiveness and Stuff.”

‘Twas the weeks before Christmas and all through the town,

Bright reds and greens filled the square – and Taylor’s sweater, it was brown.

The Christmas pageant – a mess; Jesus missing his arm,

And the smell of sweet apple tarts, like fresh from the farm.

Christmas parties, so merry – Richard adjusting his tie,

Before dessert was served, he dropped like a… fly.

Okay, it’s official. I can’t pull together a full synopsis of Gilmore Girls’ season one, ‘Forgiveness and Stuff’ to ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas without getting callus and corny (which, by the way, sounds like a disgusting combination in itself). It’s not that I didn’t try, believe me. I just got stuck with rhyming ‘Santa burger’ and felt it would be better for all concerned if I took a more traditional route. Hey, if it was good enough for the Three Wise Men, it’s good enough for me.

Here’s the scene:

Rory and Lorelai aren’t talking; Lorelai and Emily aren’t talking and Dean is busy lurking outside the Gilmore residence since that whole, ‘we fell asleep at Miss Patti’s after the dance, but nothing happened’ situation. Despite knowing Rory is a good kid – a great kid, really (and we’re still far from season five’s rebellion) – Lorelai is forced to don her ‘Mom hat’ (maybe in this case, more accurately, her Mom jeans, as this was December 2000 and high-waisted pants seemed more of thing). With Emily mad at Lorelai over letting Rory gallivant about town, the annual Gilmore Christmas party invitation is quickly reneged and Lorelai is left to dream of Emily’s famous apple tarts while eating salad from a bag. While I’m unsure why Lorelai had bagged salad on hand in the first place, it’s clearly a last resort as she makes an attempt to order pizza, but to little avail. That’s the problem with a small town. If dude’s brother has the delivery van, all bets are off. With starvation imminent, Lorelai puts on her winter coat and heads to town by foot. First stop? Luke’s Diner for some festive cheer and an especially good cup of nutmeg-infused coffee.

Lucky for Lorelai, her sadness over the lack of apple tarts prompted Luke to boost her spirits in the form of a Santa burger. “No one has ever made me something quite this disgusting before,” she says with love and thankfulness in her voice. The mayonnaise beard is, admittedly, an inspiring and artery-clogging addition to any holiday feast and now I can’t celebrate Christmas without whipping up my own culinary masterpiece. Or at least watching this episode to remember how it was done.

Before Lorelai can dig into her bearded burger, she gets a message from Rory saying the party has been cut short and Richard has been taken to the hospital. While Lorelai was trudging through town in her parka and mittens in search of food, the Gilmores were sitting down for their holiday feast. During dinner, Richard began complaining he was too warm and had to loosen his Burberry bowtie. This act caused a look of extreme disapproval from Emily who must have been equally toasty as she was sporting a fur-trimmed suit jacket – a piece we thankfully never saw her wear again… but I digress. It isn’t long before Richard collapses and is taken to the hospital where, believe it or not, Jane Lynch is working as a nurse. Fortunately, this is in the pre-Sue Sylvester of Glee days, so her demeanor is as even-tempered as one could expect with Emily yelling for puffier pillows and crazy things like ‘answers’ and ‘updates.’

In the end, Richard fends off a bout of angina, Emily and Lorelai make up, Rory and Lorelai repair their relationship, Lorelai and Luke become a little closer and Taylor gets his free hot chocolate.

Looking back on this episode, I can’t help but reflect on the wonderful foreshadowing that was done in such a clever way. Christmas or other such holiday episodes can often be put on the shelf and filed under ‘filler’ as they don’t necessarily contribute in an active way to a show’s story arch. That’s not the case with ‘Forgiveness and Stuff’ though. In fact, there were three great moments that provided flashes into the show’s future:

1) It’s all about Harvard: Leaning through Rory’s open bedroom window, Dean tells Lorelai that he wants Rory to follow her dream and go to Harvard, and that if she doesn’t, it won’t be because of him. Of course, by season four, Rory’s new dream is to go to Yale and Dean never stood in her way.

2) The Dating Game: After driving Lorelai to the hospital, Luke finds himself in the waiting area. Sitting down next to him, Emily tells Luke he’s an idiot and that he should have been on a date with Lorelai. Even in this 10^th episode I think the world agreed, but their relationship wouldn’t turn into something more until the end of season four.

3) Father Knows Best: Richard did the best for his family and provided in the ways he thought he should. Lorelai tells Luke that unlike her father, she thinks he would be a good ‘Barbie-buying’ Dad. While Luke seems vaguely open to the idea of being a father – or at least to this discussion – he said he would give his daughter the money to buy what she wanted and would wait outside. Of course, by season six, Luke’s daughter, April, had joined the show and it turned out that Luke loved being a hands-on father. He would pick out the Barbie’s, or in April’s case, a cat-themed vanity bathroom set, complete with toothbrush holder.

The one thing that I love most about Stars Hollow, holidays or not, is that despite the fact this was the first Christmas we experienced in the town, it felt like we’d been there forever. Maybe a few seasons, or maybe a lifetime. It’s as though we’d heard Luke explain that he doesn’t have a holiday menu *again* this year and we know that he’s turned Taylor down in his plea for free hot chocolate before. It’s a warm a cozy place – like coming home in December and sitting down with a giant cup of eggnog (with or without rum, no judgment) in one hand and a minty candy cane in the other. It’s a place I came to love for 154 glorious episodes. And it’s a place I feel comfortable saying, “But there’s food, and there’s people and there’s a burger with a face.” It’s family… and in the end, that’s what “Forgiveness and Stuff” and Gilmore Girls is all about.

With a passion for theatrics and a flair for the dramatic, Kari is a self-proclaimed TV fanatic and someone who’s not afraid of getting zealously immersed in the fictional lives of her favourite characters. If the world was a different place, Kari would most likely be found running Stars Hollow’s Dragonfly Inn or climbing her way to the top at Lockhart Gardner or Florrick Agos and Associates. Kari writes all about The Good Wife over at Lockhart Gardner.

Tags: "Forgiveness and Stuff", Festive TV, Gilmore Girls, Guest Post, Teen TV

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Festive Rewind
Author Emma Fraser

Festive Rewind: Boy Meets World “A Very Topanga Christmas”

23 Dec

More ’90s treats and Whitney McIntosh discusses Boy Meets World and “A Very Topanga Christmas.”

“A Very Topanga Christmas” isn’t the worst episode of Boy Meets World by a long shot; I wouldn’t even classify it as a particularly bad episode when taken as a whole. The problems I had with the episode are few, but any fan of BMW would be able to tell immediately that a few characters seem off in their mannerisms and reactions to certain things. Which is unfortunate, because I really think this show is one of the TGIF programs that could pull off a holiday episode seamlessly and without it feeling like a “very special episode” every time.

The episode, which originally aired around halfway through Season 5, centers on Topanga spending the holidays at the Matthews’ home because her parents are away and she didn’t want to spend the holiday season alone. That is where the premise starts and end, no more details needed than that simple set up. Shenanigans are obviously bound to ensue, but the way everything unfolds is fake seeming and almost feels like someone wrote a spec script and the producers decided to film the episode without reading it first.

Instead of acclimating herself to the Matthews traditions and participating in a family Christmas, as anyone who has ever watched an episode where Topanga speaks could tell you she would be likely to do, she instead decides to be uncomfortable with other people’s traditions and pressures the Matthews to change their holiday to make her feel at home. It’s a false feeling storyline to start with, and only becomes increasingly so when this division between the way the holiday is celebrated is then used to cause a divide between Cory and Topanga and cast a shadow on Cory’s feelings for his girlfriend of many years.

Most of the episode centers on these “issues”, but still manages to be funny. Topanga making them drive all the way to Vermont from outside Philadelphia just to get a real tree may be unrealistic, yes, but the subsequent cut shots to show the passing of time were well done and Topanga not letting Cory have maple syrup on his pancakes when they just drove all that way to get it definitely made me laugh. Of course the two make up at the end of the episode and give each other the promise rings they bought for each other (cue the awwwws from the audience), but I just didn’t feel the need for manufactured drama when so much of the joys of Boy Meets World come from the way we know each character inside and out and how they interact in their tight knit group of friends and family.

The appearance of Mr. Feeny as the annual reader of A Christmas Carol to the Matthews family was a welcome one, if not exactly surprising. His annoyance at being told the tradition had changed was classic, as was the decision to have Cory dream he was in the Christmas Carol situation of being visited by a ghost. Having this only be a brief part of the episode is a nice nod to the cliché of Christmas episodes using it as a framing device, and I liked the creative decision not to suffocate the episode with it. The joke of Topanga being married to Jack in the future was there, it was funny, and they didn’t ruin it by beating it into the ground for more than 2 or 3 minutes.

The Shawn and Jack part of the episode feels a little shoehorned, but not enough that it should have been cut completely. Since most of the later seasons took place in their apartment and treated them as brothers who get along for the most part, it’s always interesting to go back to when they were first introduced and see how far the relationship came from these early days. For most of the main plot both of them served as the peanut gallery for everyone else’s issues, but what else are you going to hire a Lawrence brother for if not that reason exactly?

The best part of “A Very Topanga Christmas” is that even with all the useless drama, the story wraps up with not only Cory and Topanga recommitting to a healthy and happy relationship for many years to come but also with Alan giving Cory some fatherly advice. Once Cory grew out of the early high school years that relationship didn’t get as much screen time and the advice between father and son aspect of it was mostly phased out. Which is true to life, as fathers and sons only share so much in conversation after a certain point, and this was a nice moment between the two. The episode ends with everyone being happy together as a family, having fallen asleep to the sound of Mr. Feeny reading Dickens aloud. Even Morgan gets some face time this episode, although I’m pretty sure she didn’t actually get a line. All in all, it isn’t the best holiday episode I’ve ever seen, but it does reinforce familial relationships (as you would expect an ABC show to do during this era) and supply a lot of laughs in what feels like a short 20 minutes.

Whitney McIntosh is a marketing professional/sports and television lover who blogs in her spare time. She is currently in the process of moving to New York after living in Boston all her life, which can only end in interesting ways. You can read more of her writing at her blog MyTVSangtoMe.

Tags: "A Very Topanga Christmas", Boy Meets World, Festive TV, Guest Post, Teen TV, TGIF

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Festive Rewind
Author Emma Fraser

Festive Rewind: Beverly Hills 90210 “It’s a Totally Happening Life”

16 Dec

Julie Hammerle is treating us to the joys of early 90s teen TV and the wonder that is Beverly Hills 90210 and “It’s a Totally Happening Life”

“Don’t thank me. Thank you-know-who.”

These are the last lines of Beverly Hills 90210’s third season Christmas episode, “It’s a Totally Happening Life,” and I’m pretty sure the “you-know-who” we’re supposed to be thanking is Donna Martin Graduates for being a perfectly perfect role model and character who solves all the problems and never does anything wrong. She gives angels wings, people. She makes miracles happen.

This whole “Donna the Angel” thing is a recurring theme throughout the ten seasons of Beverly Hills 90210, and I just wonder if it was Aaron Spelling’s doing or if it was the brain child of the writers to stay on Aaron Spelling’s good side.

Anyway.

“It’s a Totally Happening Life” is ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous hour of television. It has everything: a potential bus crash, talking star angels, lots of smooching, and Andrea rapping.

The episode starts when Miriam, a star who wants to be an angel I don’t know, asks a more seasoned angel-star, Clarence, to help her save a bunch of rich, good-looking adults-pretending-to-be-high-schoolers. We don’t know why she needs to save them when millions of other people need saving around the world every day or what she needs to save them from (themselves? food poisoning) until later in the episode (spoiler: it’s a bus crash), but we just know that she needs to do it.

What is happening outside the bus crash is that everyone in the West Beverly popular group is fighting or moping. Steve is stuck in detention. David is sad that he’s only junior and won’t graduate with Donna Martin Graduates, et. al. Andrea and Brandon have both just been dumped, and they wind up kissing each other for no good reason. Brenda and Kelly have proposed a fake friendship with Dylan, though really they both just want to jump his mom-jeaned bones.

Because everyone is so frustrated with one another, they almost don’t get on the bus (yay, the bus is going to crash!), but then Donna and the principal guilt them into getting on the bus and doing what they promised (bringing Christmas joy to underprivileged girls and boys).

Everyone keeps pouting on the bus and yelling at one another, even at the people with whom they had no beef. Why was Kelly yelling at David? I have no idea, but it happened. Then Donna gets up and gives a big, dumb speech about the Reason for the Season and everyone kisses and makes up and then the drunk guy in the truck drives RIGHT THROUGH, literally RIGHT THROUGH, the bus and no one is hurt. Because Donna is God. That is the lesson here, I think.

While the truck was on its way to ram into the bus, I just kept thinking, what if the show had had the balls to just let the bus crash. The only main character not on that bus was Steve. What if they had killed everybody else and just started over with Steve? That would’ve been kind of amazing. I’m sure we’d still be talking about it today. Remember that time 90210 killed EVERYONE?

But, of course, that didn’t happen. And I guess I’m thankful for that. If everyone had died in the bus crash, we would never have seen drunk Donna or meth-head David or coked-out-burned-stalked-in-a-cult Kelly or Brandon, doing whatever it is Brandon does.

I know I should mention the fashions here. This show was from December 1992, when I was in 8th grade, and much of this fashion hits close to home. I especially loved Donna’s velvet choker that, up close, revealed itself to have…a tiny Christmas wreath charm attached. Amazing. I need it. I also loved how baggy Dylan’s shirt was, tucked in and bloused out of his stone washed mom jeans. And Andrea’s upholstery vest? Gorgeous. A thing of beauty. How did anyone ever think she could pass for a teenager?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good…this.

Julie Hammerle is, according to Klout, an expert in the areas of both Morgan Freeman and glasses. Her writing can be found atchicagonow.com/hammervision and you can holler at her on Twitter as well.

Tags: '90s fashion, Beverly Hills 90210, Festive TV, Guest Post, Teen TV

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Festive Rewind
Author Emma Fraser

Festive Rewind: My So-Called Life “So-Called Angels”

10 Dec

Today join me as I discuss the My So-Called Life episode “So Called Angels”

As with Halloween and Thanksgiving, the festive period gives teen dramas an opportunity to explore the wider themes of impending adulthood; Halloween can enhance the exploration of who the characters are and want to be through costume and as with Thanksgiving, Christmas opens up the idea of what a family is. Family can mean many things and the extension of friends as family is an important component.

My So-Called Life heads into “Very Special Episode” territory with “So-Called Angels” as Rickie is beaten up and kicked out of his house; the opening scene is Rickie bleeding into the snow and it’s a very bleak intro to a festive themed episode. This is another thing about the holidays and TV drama; bad things happen and the resolution tends to be a happy one after a series of trials and tribulations. MSCL deals with a wide range of issues in this outing including teen homelessness, religion, privilege, prejudice, holiday related depression and domestic abuse. It’s one of the cheesier episodes thanks to the presence of an actual angel (more on that below) and a well telegraphed message, but at the same time it’s a Christmas episode and so sentimentality is expected.

Angela has new boots and these become a symbol of the things that people have and don’t have. This goes from sibling jealousy to conversations with dead people; for a show that is grounded in reality there are two episodes in which Angela talks to the dead (the other being Halloween). Singer Juliana Hatfield (cue raspy, sad sounding music which you can hear below) guest stars as a girl who died on the streets because of the cold, a girl who appears to both Angela and her mother to impart an important message. Angel Juliana Hatfield tells Angela that her good boots were stolen and now she can’t get warm. This conversation is all about showing the vast socioeconomic difference between Angela and this girl, Graham has already emphasized how warm Angela’s boots look. Angela leaves her boots for Angel Hatfield and they must be magical as Angel Hatfield manages to wear them even though she is dead. Yes I am only questioning the logic of this aspect.

Juliana Hatfield is a guardian angel of sorts for Rickie; she’s there to show Angela where Rickie has been sleeping so she can come to his aid. It’s a Wonderful Life is the quintessential guardian angel Christmas movie and as MSCL’s production company is called “Bedford Falls” it all makes sense. Angel Hatfield is also there to dish out some words of wisdom to Patty; Patty who is wary of Rickie because she doesn’t know him in the same way she knows someone like Brian Krakow. Angela and Patty get into a fight about the Rickie situation and Angela turns the tables exclaiming that “This girl [Juliana Hatfield], she could be me.”

Patty can’t reconcile this comparison until she meets our guitar winged visitor. This is where the episode takes a sharp turn cheese avenue, but it’s also the point where the misty eyes kick in. I’ve seen this episode countless times (it is part of my present wrapping watching playlist) and the tears hit at the same point every single time. I am a sucker for heavy handed comparisons that layer it on with emotions. That’s right Angela could be Angel Hatfield. If that wasn’t enough the combination of the choir and Patty embracing Rickie in the church sends me over the edge.

The B story of the episode is on the lighter side, even if Brian Krakow is on the verge of tears thanks to his feelings of perpetual loneliness. It’s ok because Sharon has enlisted Rayanne to help with the help line (in the all important bathroom location – those who read the This Was TV MSCL posts will know how much I love this) and she distracts Brian by turning his plea for help call into something to distract him. Denying us the future chronicles of Sharon and Rayanne is one of the many reasons why I’m still bummed out that this is a one season show. This plot is an extension of the friends as family notion and the only person alone in the montage is Jordan Catalano, who I assume is lighting a candle for Rickie.

While the Rickie situation has been solved in the short term and he won’t be sleeping in an abandoned building for Christmas there is still a long way to go. The episode ends of a hopeful note and yet it doesn’t suggest that it’s all tied up in a bow; this is why My So-Called Life can indulge in fantastical elements because the next episode will face up to the reality of the situation.

Tags: "So-Called Angels", Angela Chase, Christmas, Claire Danes, Festive TV, Juliana Hatfield, My So-Called Life, Teen TV

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Festive Rewind, My So-Called Life
Author Emma Fraser

Halloween, Growing Up and Freaks and Geeks

29 Oct

It’s been mentioned on several occasions over the past week here at TV Ate My Wardrobe that I love Halloween episodes and teen shows like My So-Called Life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freaks and Geeks have produced some of my favorite takes on this candy/monster filled event.

Teen shows spend a lot of time with characters who are constantly questioning who they are in that very self-involved but perfectly acceptable adolescent way. My So-Called Life explores a classic urban legend as a mirror to Angela Chase’s personal drama and features a costume moment that is hard to beat as Danielle Chase dresses as her older sister. With Buffy‘s first Halloween outing they become the character of the costume they are wearing and this gives an alternate version of their reality as Buffy turns into the type of woman she mistakenly thinks that Angel is interested in. Remember it’s bad to change who you are just because you think it’s what a dude wants.

Halloween offers a backdrop to not only dress the characters we are familiar with as something completely different but to also explore other larger issues that these characters are experiencing.

The Halloween episode of Freaks and Geeks “Tricks and Treats“ comes early in the life of the show (episode 3) and it expands on the boys straddling the line between what was fun when they were kids and how they should behave now they are at high school. After deliberations they go for the first option and venture out trick-or-treating even though they’re probably a tad too old. They soon find this out when they get berated by everyone and end up on the receiving end of Lindsay’s own teen dilemma as she accidentally eggs her brother Sam. Lindsay is still trying to prove to her new friends that she isn’t just a straight A student and all round good girl; she does so by emulating their Halloween pranks.

Sam and Lindsay Weir are both at crossroads and they should both look to Bill Haverchuck who throughout the series has fun with what he likes and generally doesn’t worry about what others think about him. Bill dresses as the Bionic Woman and has imaginary conversations with Steve Austin as he gets ready because Bill wants to enjoy himself and if this involves make up and stuffed bra then he’ll do it. Bill is a rare flower and you’re more likely to find people like Sam and Lindsay who do worry about the opinions of others because that’s how most of us operate and teendom only magnifies these feelings.

Halloween is when we can become something we are not and the boys go for the childhood aspect they are leaving behind, whereas Lindsay attempts rebellion and finds that she doesn’t really like this side of herself. When I talked about this episode with Julie over at This Was TV I mentioned nostalgia as a key element and this applies to most holiday days as some of the strongest associations come from childhood experiences. Halloween comes with a high nostalgia factor particularly when it comes to trick-or-treating and then before you know it Halloween becomes a whole different kind of event involving booze and sexy versions of things.

One of the reasons why Freaks and Geeks resonates with me even though I didn’t watch it when I was a teenager is that it perfectly captures the many conflicting feelings that come during these teen years; it doesn’t patronize in how it presents this and you immediately get the sense of what it was like to be that age no matter what decade it is set in. This Paul Feig written episode might come early in the run of this show but it manages to get to the core of who Lindsay and Sam Weir are, even if they are questioning the people they are becoming.

Freaks and Geeks makes my heart ache and feel warm in equal measure and this scene from “Tricks or Treats” shows why Bill Haverchuck is always a joy to watch.

Tags: Bill Haverchuck, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks, Halloween, Lindsay Weir, My So-Called Life, Paul Feig, Sam Weir, Teen TV

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Halloween
Author Emma Fraser

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TV Ate My Wardrobe

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

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

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

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Ancient History”

TV Rewind: Felicity, “Sophomoric” and “The List”

Festive Rewind: Gilmore Girls “Forgiveness and Stuff”

Festive Rewind: Boy Meets World “A Very Topanga Christmas”

Festive Rewind: Beverly Hills 90210 “It’s a Totally Happening Life”

Festive Rewind: My So-Called Life “So-Called Angels”

Halloween, Growing Up and Freaks and Geeks

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