Since my TV shows are on hiatus, I thought I would delve in and dissect and congratulate one of my favorite shows out there. I own the four season boxed set of Felicity and have watched it from the beginning through the end over 10 times. Here are some of my favorite things from all the seasons, my favorite characters, and my insights. Enjoy!
Felicity (1998- 2002)
Background: Felicity is about a girl from Palo Alto, California who is the shy, smart, dorky girl. She is madly in love with the mysterious bad boy Ben (Scott Speedman). She gets up enough nerve to ask him to write in her yearbook. He writes how he "watched her from a far, always wondering what she was thinking" and she then decides to change her college plans and follow him to New York. She is supposed to go to medical school to make her father happy, but deviates from the plan and goes to UNY - University of New York. Keri Russel plays Felicity Porter and she has this crazy, curly, messy hair. Its sort of her trademark. She gets to New York, realizes her and Ben really don't belong together and almost leaves. Until, Noel. Ahhh, Noel Crane. Where would we be without Noel? Scott Foley does an amazing job of making you love him and want to be around him. She also meets her future best friend Elena (Tangi Miller) and Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) and has a wacky, Gothic neighbor Megan (Amanda Foreman) who makes her freshman year miserable.
Seasons 1 - Her freshman year is like a whirlwind. She ends up falling for Noel after playing a game of boggle. Classic scene where they kiss and Megan walks in. Her and Ben begin to study together and end up getting held at gunpoint which brings them closer together. Ben is also dating Julie, after Felicity tells them this is OK. Felicity almost gets Ben kicked out for helping him with his paper. Elena's boyfriend is cheating on her with her friend from home. Felicity takes a side job at Dean & Deluca and works for her gay extraordinaire boss Javier (Ian Gomez). Thanksgiving comes around and we find out that Noel has a girlfriend from home, Hannah (Jennifer Garner and Foley's real life ex). Classic scene when Noel takes Felicity out to dinner to tell her about Hannah and she goes "Hannah" and cocks her head. Classic. Felicity and Noel make out in the bathroom during Thanksgiving as Hannah is at the table, Ben walks in and sees this. She starts to date Noel and it is great. Truly great. She tells him she wants to have sex with him, but ends up almost burning down the dorm "your pants are on fire!" Julie tries to find her biological mother. A guy from Felicity's past, Todd Mulcahay, comes to kiss her. He ends up in the hospital and also nudges Ben, his old buddy, to take a job at Dean & Deluca. Hannah comes back into town and Noel is unsure. He tells Felicity he wants to see where this is going. She ends up sleeping with really hot art student, Eli (Simon Rex). There is a wild game of dorm Assassins and another classic scene. Megan steals Felicity's jello and Elena puts a fake gun to her head and she says drop the jello! Noel finds out about Eli and decides he wants to move out and not be the RA anymore. Megan casts a spell which makes Ben break up with Julie and want to be with Felicity. They almost kiss in the back pantry of Dean & Deluca. Ben and Julie ask Noel and Felicity to come on a road trip with them cross country back to California. Noel finds out he cant go, because he got offered an internship in Berlin. Julie is raped by the pink guy (Devon Gumersall) and pulls away from Ben more. Julie and Ben break up, so now we are left with the choice. Should Felicity go with Ben or go with Noel. We ends the series, without knowing who she chose and her in a cab.
Season 2 - We find out that Felicity chose Ben. How could she not? Her and Ben are all lovey dovey and Noel and Julie hate her. Noel has moved in with Elena in an off-campus apartment. Ben is worried about commitment and love so he breaks it off with Felicity. Julie writes this horrific song about her "slut of Asbury Park" and they get stuck on a subway together. They hash things out. Megan and Felicity are sharing a room again and they are both co-RAs. She has advisees including the amazing Ruby (Amy Smart) who ends up falling in love with Noel and dating him. She gets offered an acting job and leaves for filming. Felicity chops off all of her hair. This is crucial. Ratings dropped really low when she did this.
She gets set up with a guy named David who she dates for a little while, but does not love. She adopts a stray dog and the dog gets in the way with David. They have to put Lucky to sleep eventually. Thanksgiving comes around and in true fashion, her and Noel kiss in his bedroom. Her new boyfriend's mother (and her art professor) walks in and catches them. She breaks up with David. Ruby comes back. Ben and Felicity break into the pool and drink beer and get caught. They are forced to do community service together and see a shrink, Dr. Pavone (Amy Aquino). They work in the medical clinic together with this guy Greg. Ben hates him and drops out. Felicity likes him and begins dating him. Ruby is pregnant and says its Noels. It is really a movie producers she cheated on Noel with. One of my favorite scenes is the painting party, they are all having a great time and dancing and I love it. She runs for student govt against Greg and there is libel and slander. Ben follows Felicity and Greg on their romantic trip away. She shuns him. There is a leak at the dorm so they are all staying at the loft. Julie lives there with Ben and Shawn (Greg Gruenberg). Megan takes the girls out dancing and to have drinks with her friends.
Ben shows up at the club to profess his love for her. Elena is dating her hot chem partner Tracy. Ben takes Felicity to a romantic roof top date to see the movie he bailed on her when they were dating. They kiss, its romantic, the music is amazing. Ben is going home and Felicity is going to stay in NYC to work an art internship. Her and Ben get a hotel together and lose track of time, causing her to miss her final. Ben does something really sweet and asks the teacher for some leeway. It ends with Javier's wedding. Noel ends up leaving with his cousin (Ali Landry) and Ben and Felicity have sex and he leaves. Megan and Sean get together and go away for the summer. Julie spends time with her birth mother.
Season 3 - Back to school. Felicity decides not to live with Julie, Elena and new girl Molly. Instead she wants a small studio apartment in Brooklyn with Ben. It has all sort of issues, bugs, lighting, neighbors who use their bathtubs. They however are going strong. There is a mission to find Noel, or Leon as he has been calling himself. He married Natalie and dropped out of school. Julie ends up leaving after we find out that she could have donated her organs to her biological dad who was dying but didn't. They find drugs in the new apartment, they are really Molly's and her boyfriend James. Noel breaks it off with Natalie and gets an inheritance. Felicity does too many shots at a frat party and ends up half naked in some guys bed on a website. Ben finds out and gets beat up by the frat brothers. Noel even gets to hook up with Tyra Banks! Elena has an affair with cute neighbor across the hall. Tracy finds this out after Elena thought he knew about her affair with a teacher Freshman year. He goes on some mission to help people, Christianity and all. Mid season ends with James crashing their Christmas party and trying to shoot Molly. He ends up shooting a girl named Avery (Kristin Lehman). He saves her life. Back in January, Avery is obsessed with Ben and tries to buy his affection. They even kiss. He goes with her to the Hamptons and Felicity is stuck chasing after him, again. Noel is falling for Felicity again and tries to win her over with a breakup kit. Her mom thinks they are perfect for each other. Elena burns her corneas and dates a heavy guy. Tracy comes back from Africa dating Rose. Elena thinks they are having sex and gets upset. Noel is graduating. He gets a job offer in Seattle and him and Felicity toilet paper the library. He realizes they cannot be a couple and does not want to be around her. Season ends with Ben joining an EMT program and Felicity staying in NY. We find out that Noel's job falls through and he has to stay in NY with just Felicity "want to get some ice-cream?" and Tracy proposes to Elena, she drops to the floor in shock!
Season 4 - Ahh Senior year. All of the great things happen this season. We know that we are saying goodbye to the crew, but we are still saddened and not ready for the end. Noel has spent the entire summer with Felicity and Javier, tanning on top of tar beach (their roof) while Ben has been away. He gets back and wants to be pre-med. He is having a hard time and ends up getting kicked out of class but then let back in and acing all of his finals. Elena and Tracy don't go through with their wedding. In place of them, Sean and Megan get married. They start unsuccessful businesses including Shemegan shirts. Felicity ends up sleeping with Noel on the roof. Nobody knows, except the huge hickey she has. Avery starts sleeping with Noel just to get back at Ben. Ben and Noel are living together and they get into a huge fight and Noel says "I already had her". "I'm not talking about a freshman year crush" "neither am i" score for Noel! Noel is offered a guidance counselor position and offers the art TA position to Felicity. There is a fire and Noel saves Felicity and they bond over this. Ben also feels like he lost her and there is a touching scene where they sleep together and we think all is alright, until the morning when he leaves and says he cant do this. Another Thanksgiving and this time Ben brings his father's AA friend. He ends up sleeping with her and getting her pregnant. Noel gets a job at a graphics firm where he meets Zoe Webb. He falls in love with her. They are going to get married. He quits the firm and opens his own business with Sean. They are doing well together. Felicity copies her art history final, she is so stressed with this baby thing. She gets caught but somehow doesn't get kicked out. Lauren leaves for Arizona with the baby. Ben proposes to Felicity. Her parents ask her when is she going to stop following Ben. The season ends with Felicity going to med school in California and Ben is right there. He finally follows her
The twist - The season doesn't end. They decide that Ben does follow her to Cali, but cheats on her. He follows her but ends up cheating on her. She comes back to NY for Noel's wedding with Zoe (Sarah Jane Morris). Elena dies in a car crash. Megan does another spell. This one sends her back in time to the day she slept with Noel. Now she is stuck back in time and she is the only one who knows she came from the future. This time around she does it different. She picks Noel over Ben and that ends badly. He ends up choosing Hannah, yet again. She goes back to pre-med and falls in love with Ben again. This time he doesn't sleep with Lauren or get her pregnant. However, this time around Noel dies in the fire. She tries to find the guy who wrote the spell book and get back to the future. She also warns Elena (which I saw in the deleted scenes!). They do a whole reminiscing scene and we end up back at the future. She is smiling with Ben and everyone is there at Noel's wedding. AMAZING.
Thoughts - Felicity reminds me of a simpler time. It makes me think of going away to college for the first time and falling in love. How difficult things may seem, when they really aren't. I love this show and the characters. I am still obsessed with the Ben vs. Noel issue. I think that she gained great friends, great insight and found herself, finally.
