August 14, 2021
Felicity 4.22, Back to the Future: Start Again
Probably the last time this group was all together. You know how post-college friendships are
Summary: Where were we? Oh, right: Noel’s dead. Felicity and Ben go to the police station to get his personal items. Felicity blames herself, since Noel wouldn’t have died if she hadn’t time-traveled. At the loft, the three mourn with Sean and break the news to Meghan. Meghan suggests that Felicity can undo this. She found Korsakoff and even has his address. Sean must be very confused.
Felicity goes to see Korsakoff, who thinks she’s been sent to harass him by some guy named Fleming who found out about the book Korsakoff was working on. Felicity tells him that the time-travel spell works. She quickly sums up the past few episodes and tells Korsakoff that he’s the only one who can undo everything. Once he confirms that Fleming didn’t send her, he lets her into his apartment.
Sometime later, Felicity packs up a bunch of her and her friends’ personal items to take back to Korsakoff. Meghan was able to do the spell because she knew everything that had happened, but Korsakoff isn’t familiar with the group, so he needs some help. Ben thinks he might be conning Felicity, but she figures she needs to try this, in case it works. Yeah, Korsakoff might end up keeping Ben’s watch, but oh, well.
Felicity returns to Korsakoff’s apartment and gives him a recap of the series, basically. Oh, great, it’s a clip show. I’m not linking to everything. Sorry. Felicity starts with her high school graduation, when Ben signed her yearbook and she decided to follow him to New York. “You went across the country for this?” Korsakoff asks about Ben’s message. Heh. Felicity insists that she wasn’t stalking him. Plus, Ben handled it pretty well.
We get clips of her running into him in New York, then confronting him for what he wrote in her yearbook and admitting that she read his admission essay. Hi, Julie! Felicity tells Korsakoff that it was hard just being friends with Ben. Noel helped. We see her meet him, then cry to him (and throw up on him) on Halloween. We also see him tell her not to leave New York because she’ll just regret it in five years. Heh, it’s five years later and now she regrets something else.
Felicity admits to Korsakoff that she had feelings for Noel. Clip: Boggle. Korsakoff is doing stuff with all the things Felicity brought him, hanging them on a little tree, and he uses Boggle cubes (is that what they’re called? Eh, whatever) to spell out what I think is “hickey.” He gives Felicity a little break, since she’s overcome with grief. After a few minutes, he puts on a Dean & DeLuca hat that ties Felicity to Javier. Clips: Javier highlights. This should be the whole episode.
Korsakoff tries to do something witchy, but it doesn’t work. Felicity gives him a strand of her hair, which Meghan always uses in his spells. Clips: Meghan being Meghan. This leads to Elena, since Felicity brought Korsakoff her gun from “Assassins.” Clips: Elena in all her Elena-ness. Also, Tracy. Then they move on to Sean. Of course, his clips are about his innovations. Korsakoff comments that he has “a little too much time on his hands.” Felicity says he’s enthusiastic, especially about Meghan. Oh, goodie, clips of Sean and Meghan fighting. Save me, Jeebus!
Korsakoff unspools a tape Felicity brought him and hangs it on the tree. Clip: Felicity’s tape to Sally is played at the party. Korsakoff asks if Felicity lost her virginity to “Len” or Noel. Felicity admits that her first time should have been with Noel. Clip: Felicity trying very hard to make that happen. She tells Korsakoff that Ben developed feelings for her, which caused some issues. Clip: Ben giving Felicity the necklace. Felicity says Noel was fine with that. Clip: Noel not being fine with that and the guys fighting.
Felicity tells Korsakoff that there was always a “force” between her and Ben. Clip: Ben saying that not kissing Felicity leaves an unanswered question, then answering the question by kissing her. But Felicity couldn’t trust him, since he’d let her down too much. She wound up doing some dumb things. Heh, she means her haircut. After that, everyone weighed in on the Felicity/Ben dynamic. Clip: Javier urging Felicity to see Ben differently.
Korsakoff sums everything up: Felicity had two guys in love with her. Yep, that’s the show! Felicity had to choose between them. Clip: Ben regrets not going to the Charlie Chaplin movie with Felicity, and getting a reel of it so he and Felicity can watch it together. He calls it a time machine. This is followed by clips of the two of them kissing and being happy together. The song on the soundtrack is very appropriate: “Let’s pretend that we can start again. We’ll pick up where we left off.”
Felicity clarifies to Korsakoff that she picked Ben, but that damaged her friendship with Noel. Now he’s dead and she’s lost him forever. Korsakoff wonders if that was supposed to happen. Maybe she came back in time to let him go. When you love two people, you have to make a choice. Felicity could have made the wrong one.
Korsakoff tells Felicity to empty her pockets. She’s holding on to something, and he can’t do the spell to send her back to the future until she lets it go. It’s the key to Noel’s apartment, on the Magic 8 Ball keychain. Korsakoff tells her that this is just a chapter in her story. It’ll always be a part of her, but she has to finish it. After a long pause, Felicity gives him the keychain. To finish the spell, the two of them light candles around the little tree. Then Felicity pours wax on all the objects that symbolize her college years.
In bed with Ben, Felicity tells him about the experience and her memories. She admits that she’s afraid to go to sleep since she doesn’t know what will happen when she wakes up. She could be where she is, with Noel still dead, or she could wake up in the future, without Ben next to her. What if she forgets about this moment? Ben apologizes for what he does in the future to damage their relationship. Felicity needs to find a way to forgive him because he doesn’t want to live his life without her.
The two go to sleep, and in the morning, Felicity wakes up with her friends around her, like this is The Wizard of Oz. Noel is there, and he tells her that she was sick last night. She had a fever of 104. Why didn’t they take her to a hospital?? Also, it was all a dream??!?!?! Ugh. Ben comes in to check on his ex, and Felicity is all, “And you were there! And you, and you, and you…”
Felicity tells Noel that he and Zoe are going to have a great life together. She’s left alone with Ben, who says exactly the same thing he said in the past the night before: What he did was stupid and unforgivable, but she needs to forgive him so they can keep being together. Felicity says she doesn’t want to live her life without him, either. She forgives him.
Wedding time! Noel and Zoe get married and everyone’s happy. Elena’s somehow there. Javier fights all the single women to catch the bouquet. Tracy’s also there, and he and Elena may be back together. Lots of smiles and hugs and a few tears because the series is ending. Richard is present but doesn’t get to say anything. And everyone lives happily ever after, I guess.
Thoughts: Korsakoff is played by Kurt Fuller, whom I love. I think I spelled the character’s name wrong, but whatever, it’s too late, I’m leaning into the mistake.
I hate clip shows, but I’ll admit that they’re easy to recap.
Apparently a scene was cut somewhere along the way where Felicity talked Elena into going to Duke instead of Columbia (Columbia being where Elena died), which is how Elena is still alive in the series. I’m surprised the writers bothered to bring her back, considering how little they gave her to do this season. She doesn’t even get any lines in the finale.
’90s music alert: “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan. I mean, of course.
And that’s it for Felicity! Stay tuned for something very, very different.
August 7, 2021
Felicity 4.21, Felicity Interrupted: Out of Time
If these two are working together, you know it’s serious
Summary: Noel meets up with Felicity before heading to his new job as a guidance counselor. Apparently Felicity totally forgot he briefly had that job. She gives him a Magic 8 Ball keychain to hold the keys to his new apartment. She tells him she wants to work things out with him, partly because Ben has done horrible things to her. God forbid she just be single, huh? Noel tells her it’s not the right time. Felicity replies that this is the only time.
He tries to leave, so she decides to tell him everything about what’s going on. She’s not here. Well, she’s here, but she’s not from here. She came back from the future to be with him. Noel, of course, thinks she’s messing with him. Felicity tells him she came back the night before his wedding. He was supposed to marry Zoe, who he’ll meet when he gets a job in graphic design. Meghan did a spell that brought her here. Noel plays along, pretending he believes her, then leaves for the job Felicity already knew he was going to get.
At the dorm apartment, Meghan takes pictures of some flowers for a photography class she’s taking. Felicity tells her she just destroyed five years of friendship with Noel (even though, as far as Meghan knows, they’ve only known each other for three years). She explains that she told Noel everything, and it didn’t go well. She’s determined to find another time-travel spell and go back to her real life, or as close to it as she can get. Meghan gives her a book that might help, warning that the spells in it are hardcore. Meghan isn’t even going to help.
At the loft, Julie, who’s planning a road trip, asks Ben his favorite place he and Felicity went when they took their trip after freshman year. Julie wants to go to Dollywood. Ben isn’t interested in that. Now he’s thinking about Felicity again, but he asks Julie if he can tag along on her road trip. He’s thinking of taking some time off from school so he can figure out what he wants to do with his life (since pre-med isn’t going to work out).
Noel arrives and asks Ben if she’s talked to Felicity lately. Noel thinks she’s using drugs. Ben says that’s ridiculous, but Noel can’t think of a better explanation for why Felicity said she came back from the future. Back at the dorm apartment, Meghan gives Sean back his stuff and acts like she has a new boyfriend, Paul. More flowers are delivered, supposedly from Paul, and Meghan acts like this is the best thing to ever happen to her.
Elena goes to Dean & DeLuca, where Javier is getting a manicure in the storeroom. He’s supposed to be at a play rehearsal, which is the excuse he gave Elena for not helping her study for a Spanish test. She reminds him that he’s already lost a husband; now he’s going to lose her as a friend. When he follows her into the dining area, he notices that the cash register has been robbed. Elena has no sympathy for him.
Felicity tests out a time-travel spell at the dorm apartment but gets interrupted by Ben. She guesses that he’s there because Noel told him what Felicity shared with him. She’s thought of a way to prove that she’s from the future. If Ben calls his father, he’ll find out that Mr. C. is sick (which he doesn’t know yet in this timeline). She also mentions Lauren, but not the fact that Ben’s going to have a baby with her.
Ben goes straight to Noel’s office to say he agrees that something’s up with Felicity. Noel has been researching psychosis, and he thinks Felicity’s behavior fits. Ben agrees, but neither guy is sure what to do. They head to the dorm apartment, where Ben tells Felicity that he called his father and left him a message. The guys tell her they care about her and are on their side, but they’re worried. Felicity insists she’s fine. Yes, she gets why they think she’s crazy, but she promises this is all real.
Noel tries to convince her that she just thinks all this time-travel stuff is real because of her psychosis. They’d like her to talk to someone. Felicity agrees to see a psychiatrist, asking what the doctor would say if, hypothetically, Felicity said she’d traveled back in time. The doctor would say that that sounds scary and ask Felicity how it’s affected her life. Felicity says it’s affected everything. At first, knowing what was going to happen was kind of fun, but now she’s in a panic about not being able to get back to her real life. The doctor thinks she can help.
At the loft, Sean asks Julie if she knows anything about Paul. He’s convinced himself that Paul is rich and handsome. There’s no way Sean can compete with that. Julie isn’t so sure – Meghan and Sean had something great together. If Sean wants to be with her, he shouldn’t let her go so easily.
The psychiatrist tells Ben and Noel that she’s admitting Felicity to a psych facility for a few days so they can keep an eye on her. Ben goes to see Felicity alone, assuring her that no one thinks she’s crazy. He wants to believe that her story is real, but it sounds…well, crazy. Right now, what matters is Felicity’s mental health. She agrees that maybe this is the best thing right now. She admits that she’s scared.
Felicity has to hand over her shoes and jewelry as she’s admitted. It looks like she’ll just be hanging out in a boring room for a few days. At the loft, Meghan yells at Ben and Noel for having Felicity committed instead of just supporting her. After all, Felicity wasn’t hurting anyone. They point out that she was trying to do a spell, but Meghan argues that witchcraft and psychosis are two very different things. She says they’re acting like this is the Salem Witch Trials. Ben says they were just trying to help. Meghan shoots back that if she’s not smiling the next time they see her, they shouldn’t try to have her hospitalized for depression.
Speaking of depression, Felicity spots a familiar face at the psych facility: Zoe. Of course, since the two haven’t met yet in this timeline, Zoe doesn’t know who Felicity is. She also doesn’t know who Noel is when Felicity says they’ll be engaged someday. Felicity thinks that Zoe’s presence is proof that she’s not crazy.
She calls Ben to tell her that Zoe’s there (though Ben doesn’t know who that is). Felicity notes that if she didn’t come there from the future, she wouldn’t know who Zoe is, so this proves she’s telling the truth. Hon, Ben doesn’t know that Zoe exists in the future. That’s not proof of anything. He thinks this is just part of Felicity’s illness. Maybe Felicity imagined Zoe.
Both of them try to sleep, but it’s hard to get any rest when you’re not sure you’re sane/your ex is sane. Then…more possible proof. Ben gets a phone call from Lauren telling him that Mr. C. is sick. He rushes to tell Noel that Felicity said this would happen. How could she know about that when Lauren hasn’t told anyone? Ben thinks Felicity might be telling the truth. Noel probably thinks Ben should be committed, too.
The next morning, Zoe is released. Felicity apologizes for acting weird the day before, but Zoe understands. She asks if Noel is cute. Felicity says yes, and that Noel and Zoe are happy together. Zoe’s glad to hear that. After she leaves, Ben comes by and tells Felicity that she was right about Mr. C. being sick. He believes Felicity now, even if he can’t explain the whole time-travel thing. And that means Felicity shouldn’t be there. The facility must not have much security, since they’re easily able to leave.
Javier submits to a lie-detector test so the police can determine that he had nothing to do with the robbery at Dean & DeLuca. Javier says he’s guilty of vanity and they should “throw all the books” at him. “Sir, you’re embarrassing yourself,” the test administrator says. He just cares if Javier took the money. Javier says no, and the test confirms this.
Sean brings Meghan flowers, pointing out that they’ll outlast Paul’s, since they’re silk. He wants to have dinner with Meghan. Meghan declines, so Sean says Paul is sending her flowers to overcompensate for something. She asks if he thinks the only guys she can get are “one-balled losers.” Yeah, bring his cancer into this. That definitely makes you look good. Sean thinks she’s overlooking certain things because she’s on the rebound. Meghan asks Sean to help with a presentation for her photography class that afternoon, since Paul can’t be there. She says it’ll be “so much better with [him] here.”
Ben and Felicity hide out at Epstein Bar, where he asks what happens to them in the future. Why did she come back for Noel? Felicity admits that Ben’s going to cheat on her. He couldn’t forgive her for sleeping with Noel, so he slept with Claire. Ben’s sorry for that, but in this timeline, that hasn’t happened. He’s not going to cheat on her. He kisses her to prove his love.
Meghan’s project is called “Retribution: When Love Curdles.” It’s a series of photos highlighting the end of her relationship with Sean and how things are going now. Sean is in charge of running the projector. P.S. Paul doesn’t exist. Humiliated, Sean runs out. Meghan follows him and he blasts her for being mean. She points out that he dumped her for Julie. Sean argues that he didn’t set out to hurt Meghan. Anyway, they’re definitely broken up.
Ben takes Felicity to the dorm apartment, where Meghan, Elena, and Julie tell them that Noel’s been calling. Meghan comments to Julie that Ben is “a sucker for a damsel in distress.” Ben and Felicity go to her room, and as they start kissing, Elena tells them that Noel’s on the phone again. Ben tells him he won’t take Felicity back to the psych facility. Felicity gets on the phone to tell Noel that she shouldn’t have been at the facility. Before they can really get into a conversation, the fire alarm goes off in the building where Noel has his office.
Felicity tells Ben that she has to go back to the future. She can’t stay in the timeline where everyone thinks she’s crazy. Ben says that everything that happened in her past doesn’t have to happen again. Maybe Felicity didn’t come back for Noel – maybe it was to be with Ben.
But if Ben’s going to be with Felicity, he really shouldn’t go on the road trip with Julie. When he goes to give her that news, Julie is already ready to leave without him. She thinks he should stay with Felicity. Plus, she has a friend who actually wants to go to Dollywood. They say goodbye and Julie heads back to her life without these people.
Javier goes to the dorm apartment, where Meghan’s trying to cancel an order for earrings that were supposedly going to be from Paul. That’s Paul Korsakoff, by the way – Meghan named her fake boyfriend after the guy who wrote Felicity’s time-travel spell. But the place where she ordered the earrings is confused, because Paul Korsakoff has an account with them. Meghan has accidentally stumbled upon the one person who can send Felicity back to the future.
Javier tells Elena he got fired from Dean & DeLuca for negligence. He’s realized he’s been neglecting all his friends, too. Elena promises that she still has him. Well, at least until she dies. Felicity and Ben are studying while she waits for Noel to get back in touch. She checks her messages, one of which is from a police officer. When she calls him, he gives her shocking news: Noel died in the studio fire.
Thoughts: Meghan does a fake laugh when “Paul” sends her sunflowers that’s going to keep me going the rest of the month. Amanda Foreman is a treasure.
I hope Meghan isn’t planning to use her psych degree to become any kind of therapist. “You say you’ve been up for three days straight, and you won’t take medication for your bipolar disorder because you’ll miss the mania, but you’re not hurting anyone, so just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Why didn’t Noel and Ben call Felicity’s parents? If I found out my daughter’s friends had taken her to see a psychiatrist and she’d been admitted to a facility without my knowledge, I’d be furious.
Just! One! Episode! Left!
July 31, 2021
Felicity 4.20, Spin the Bottle: You Know You Want Me
She’s ba-ack!
Summary: Felicity arrives for an organic chemistry lab and tells Ben she wants to talk about what happened the other night. He tells her not to worry about it. Yeah, he was upset at first, but now he gets it: She’s not over him. Felicity denies that, but Ben knows it has to be true, since she was all over him just a week after she and Noel got together. Felicity says she was just going through a confusing time. Ben predicts that eventually, she’ll realize she wants him back. He hopes by then, it’s not too late. Felicity decides to find a new lab partner.
Sean has gone shopping for a bunch of stuff he hopes Julie likes. He has the whole weekend planned for them. Ben cautions him to slow down, since they haven’t talked yet about how they feel about each other. He doesn’t want Sean to get his hopes up too much. Meghan comes by to get her stuff, and Sean tries to make peace, but she claims she’s already completely over him. She tells him he and Julie don’t have a chance of working out. Noel’s looking for an apartment, but they’re pretty pricey. Felicity tells him that Ben was a jerk to her in class today, but it’s not worth talking about it. Then why bring it up? She tells Noel she loves being with him.
Julie arrives at the loft and reunites with Ben. She asks how Felicity is, unaware that she and Ben broke up. Julie has an audition for a record label tomorrow, so her visit to Sean isn’t just about seeing him again. Ben says that Sean never mentioned that. Also, he and Meghan broke up. Julie finally gets what this visit is really about. She jokes that after she left New York, everything fell apart. She can’t believe that Felicity and Ben broke up, or that Felicity’s with Noel now. Julie’s interested in spending more time with Ben later.
When Sean comes home (with flowers), Julie tries to make it clear that she’s in the city for an audition, not to get together with Sean. Sean pretends he had no ulterior motives here. The flowers are for him! He loves flowers! Julie suggests that she stay at the dorm apartment instead of the loft. Sean agrees and tries to cancel plans to go to a concert the next night. He doesn’t want to put any pressure on her. They can hang out or whatever, if she has time.
At Dean & DeLuca, Ben corners Felicity in the stockroom and interrogates her about how things are going with Noel. She tells him Noel is everything Ben isn’t. Ben guesses that she told Noel what happened while they were studying. He teases that she seemed like she was into him. Felicity fumbles some cups and tells him that his self-confident act may have been charming freshman year, but now it’s pathetic. Amused, Ben says it obviously has no effect on her. She tells him that kissing him had the same appeal as kissing her arm. She demonstrates, then says that was much more exciting.
Noel comes in and tells Felicity he applied for an apartment. Ben hovers as they talk about it, pretending to be as encouraging as Felicity is. The tension breaks when Julie shows up, then reappears when she leaves with Ben. Felicity obviously wants to know where they’re going together, but she doesn’t ask. She asks Noel if he noticed how weird Ben was acting. Yeah, astronauts in space who have never met Ben noticed how weird he was acting.
That night, Noel and Felicity play Boggle. It’s probably significant that one of the words he gets is “turmoil.” Julie comes home as they’re about to make out, and when Felicity goes to get her set up in a bedroom, Noel rearranges the letters so he can cheat. Julie tells Felicity that Ben talked about her a lot while they were hanging out together. Felicity wants him to accept the fact that they’re over.
Julie asks if Felicity would be bothered if Julie and Ben spent more time together. Felicity pretends that would be totally okay. It’s just that they broke up really fast. Julie asked what happened, but Felicity can’t really get into that. She just decided Noel is the one for her. She tells Julie she should do whatever she wants. When Julie leaves the room, Felicity’s happiness immediately disappears.
She returns to her room, where she tells Noel that Julie seems into Ben. She’s fine with that – Ben can do whatever she wants – but since Ben has been acting weird, Felicity’s worried about how he’ll treat Julie. Maybe he’s using her to get back at Felicity. It’s strange to her that they’ve known each other for so long and are suddenly hanging out again. Noel notes that the same thing happened with him and Felicity. He doesn’t think she should talk to Julie about it.
Noel will have trouble affording his apartment, so he’ll need a roommate, and he wants to know if Felicity would like to be that roommate. He knows it’s a huge deal, and Felicity will be leaving behind the awesome dorm apartment for a tiny studio with another person. He doesn’t mention the part where they just started dating again, like, a week ago, and this is really fast. Felicity doesn’t mention it, either, and agrees to move in. I’m sure this will go great.
Ben walks Julie to her audition, giving her lots of encouragement. She’s worried that she hurt Sean’s feelings, but Ben says Sean has been wondering about her feelings for him for a while, and it’s good for him to know where they stand. Julie decides to shoot her shot and invite Ben to the concert Sean bought tickets for. Ben accepts.
He goes to the loft and tells Sean that Julie asked him to the concert. Sean thinks Ben talked him out of trying to get together with Julie because Ben wanted to be with her. He can’t believe this is how Ben is repaying him for confiding in him. Ben says he was trying to protect Sean from getting hurt. Sean replies that he really needed protection from Ben. Also, Julie asked him to a concert Sean bought tickets for. He tells Ben to leave, then realizes he still needs Ben’s rent money, so he can’t kick him out. Ben offers to cancel the date if Sean wants, but the damage is done. Sean does ask for the tickets back, though.
At the dorm apartment, Felicity catches Meghan crying (though she claims she wasn’t, and it’s definitely not about Sean). Meghan says she was going to dump Sean anyway, so the breakup isn’t a big deal. She’s going to start prowling for a new guy tonight. Julie comes home and Meghan practically ignores her, making Julie wonder if she should stay somewhere else. On the plus side, Julie thinks her audition went well. Felicity suggests that they go out and celebrate, but Julie tells her she already has plans with Ben. Felicity’s okay with it. Really! Really okay!
Felicity goes to organic chemistry and confronts Ben for making a date with Julie. He teases her for not being able to deal with them hanging out. Felicity says she won’t let Ben use her friend to get back at her. If that’s what he’s doing. If he’s not, whatever. Ben calls her jealous. Felicity points out that just a couple days ago, he wanted to get back together with her. Ben says he likes Julie and isn’t going to hurt her. If Felicity’s really worried, she can come out with them. It shouldn’t be a problem, if she’s really over Ben. She can even bring Noel. Felicity’s like, “A double date? With you guys? AWESOME!”
Noel got the apartment but wants Felicity to see it before they sign the lease together. He suggests that they go tonight. She tells him she already made plans for them with Ben and Julie. She still thinks Ben is using Julie, so this is like surveillance. Noel is surprised that Felicity doesn’t get what a bad idea this is.
Meghan drowns her sorrows at Epstein Bar, chasing off a guy who asks if the seat next to her is taken, since she thinks he’s giving her a bad pickup line. Sean arrives moments later and gives her the same line. Meghan tells him Julie’s an idiot for not wanting to be with him. Sean says she was just a fantasy. Meghan says he’s an even bigger idiot for saying that. He invites her to the concert, and she says she’ll go, but only because he bought the tickets, not because she wants to spend time with him.
The double-daters go out for dinner together, and the subject of Noel’s new apartment comes up. Felicity announces that they’ll be living there together. Ben reminds her that the two of them tried to live together in that truly nightmarish studio. Felicity pretends not to remember their dancer neighbor, but she actually recalls the woman’s full name. Ben brings up Felicity’s jealousy and how sure she was that he would cheat on her. Pretty ironic, huh?
Felicity leaves the table and Ben goes after her to apologize. She complains that he’s torturing her, but he thinks she put him through worse by sleeping with his roommate while he was out of town. Felicity accuses him again of using Julie to get back at her. Ben denies it again and accuses her of doing the same thing with Noel. He doesn’t get why things changed so quickly.
Felicity tells him he did a bunch of stuff that made her feel different about him. When he can’t get her to elaborate, she just says he wouldn’t understand. Julie suggests that they all go back to the loft so she can play some music for them. Julie, hon, don’t stretch this night out. Also, we don’t want to hear your music.
Sean had a great time at the concert, and even though Meghan is being her normal uninterested stuff, he thinks she did, too. He promises that if he found Ben and Julie naked together in the loft, he wouldn’t care. Julie was just a question that needed answering. Now it’s been answered, and he’s over her. Meghan thinks that means he wanted Julie the whole time they were together.
The others have been drinking while listening to Julie (after having some drinks at dinner), so Ben is pretty loaded when Meghan finds him spinning a bottle around on a table. She asks if the group was playing musical Spin the Bottle, which makes them even more incestuous than she already thought. She wants to join the game. Sean tells her to stop, but Meghan taunts that this could be his big chance.
Meghan spins the bottle and it lands on Ben. Felicity tells them to go ahead and not worry about her. They kiss, and then Ben spins, landing on Felicity. Felicity can’t believe this is happening. Meghan says it wouldn’t be if it weren’t for Felicity’s “return trip.” Julie wouldn’t be there at all. Felicity tries to call off the game, so Meghan tells her she doesn’t have to kiss Ben, but this is her last Get Out of Jail Free card.
Ben spins again, and again the bottle points to Felicity. Meghan asks what she’s afraid of – this is a game for 12-year-olds. She says Ben and Felicity have to kiss for five seconds or it doesn’t count. They kiss while everyone else gets more and more uncomfortable. Meghan says Julie’s up next. “Sean, stop praying so loud,” she quips. Julie’s spin lands on Ben, and the two of them enjoy their kiss so much that they go past the five-second mark. Felicity’s really bothered by that, and Noel notices. He leaves.
After the rest of the party breaks up, Sean invites Meghan to stick around. He didn’t want to kiss Julie during the game – he wanted to kiss Meghan. He wants to get back together. Yes, even after the way she treated him tonight. Meghan doesn’t care if he loves her; he dumped her for someone else. It’s not that he hurt her. She just doesn’t want to be with him anymore.
At the dorm apartment, Noel tells Felicity that the apartment is a foreign place right now, but soon it’ll be his home. In a way, it’ll be a part of him. Felicity says she can’t wait, but she doesn’t sound like she really means it. Noel says that ever since he met her, he’s wanted to live somewhere with her. After tonight, he knows that won’t happen. He’ll never “inhabit” her the way Ben does. (“Inhabit”? Ew.) Whatever Ben did to make Felicity dump him, it wasn’t big enough to keep them apart forever.
Felicity wants more time to make things work with Noel, but he knows time won’t change anything. She insists that it has to. He says it doesn’t work that way. He leaves, and though she protests, she doesn’t go after him. But hey, on the bright side, she doesn’t have to pack up all her stuff and leave her awesome apartment for a studio!
Thoughts: Ben’s really entertaining when he’s teasing Felicity. It looked like Scott Speedman was enjoying himself, too. Same with Amanda Foreman (Meghan) during Spin the Bottle.
It would have been funny if Noel’s apartment had been the same place Felicity and Ben briefly lived in.
So what have we learned? If Felicity and Noel were really together, everyone else would be miserable. Interesting.
Just two episodes left…
July 24, 2021
Felicity 4.19, The Power of the Ex: The Ripple Effect
Sydney’s latest SD-6 mission looks a lot different than usual
Summary: Dear Sally, Felicity is stuck in the past and no longer wants to be. She tells Sally that things with Noel started out great, in that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. After Meghan walks in on them going at it on the floor, they decide to go out and do stuff so they don’t keep encountering people they know. But in the process, they…run into someone they know: Hanna. She and Noel haven’t seen each other in a couple years, but they seem friendly enough. She even wants to hire him to make her a website so she can attract more piano students. As they’re saying goodbye, Hanna hugs Felicity. Weird!
Later, at the loft, Felicity tells Noel that they shouldn’t hang out there anymore. She and Sean just had a really awkward conversation. Noel’s on the phone with Hanna, who’s gotten him another website client. She’s also really eager to work with him on her own site. Noel thinks Felicity doesn’t want them to work together. Felicity’s just a little annoyed that Hanna has resurfaced after all this time. This was totally not supposed to be part of this time-travel thing!
She tells him to go ahead and do Hanna’s site, but later, she complains to Meghan. Hanna wasn’t here the first time around; why is she here now? Meghan reminds her how the time-space continuum works: If you change one thing, you change everything. Somehow, Felicity choosing Noel brought Hanna back into their lives. Meghan notes that Felicity’s eating cereal and watching soaps, which is completely different from how she usually is. It’s the ripple effect – small decisions aren’t so small anymore.
Felicity realizes this is her fault. They went to a street fair because they were avoiding Ben; in the past, they didn’t do that. “Next time, be a more responsible time traveler,” Meghan says. She asks if Felicity’s ever going to class. Felicity doesn’t see the point, since she already graduated. Meghan tells her that if her future diploma didn’t time travel with her, it doesn’t exist anymore. Felicity asks if this means Meghan believes that she really traveled through time. Meghan says no – she’s weird, but not that weird.
At Dean & DeLuca, Javier tells Ben he wants to audition for Man of La Mancha. He asked Felicity to help him get ready, but she’s busy hanging out with Noel, so he’s turned to Ben instead. He just needs Ben to listen to his monologue. He does it right there in the restaurant. Ben just says it’s good as he goes to help a customer. Aw, Javier needs more attention.
At the loft, Sean tells Noel that his relationship with Felicity has made him want to call Julie. They email each other, and Sean has had her number for a while, but he’s never used it. His feelings for her have never gone away. Sean thinks Julie has feelings for her, too, since she always says she wishes she had someone like him in her life. Noel doesn’t ask what this means about his feelings for Meghan.
Javier goes to the dorm apartment, where Elena’s packing up Tracy’s things. Since Ben wasn’t helpful, Javier wants Elena to give him feedback. She’s happy to help. She tells Javier he needs to put together a dance, since the lead has to be a triple threat. I don’t remember much dancing in Man of La Mancha. We did it in high school but I mostly remember being bored during rehearsals. Javier calls Elena his Sancho Panza, after Don Quixote’s faithful sidekick. Elena says she’s no one’s sidekick. Yeah, to be a sidekick, you have to have screentime.
Felicity calls her dad to tell him she’s pre-med now. He quickly agrees to pay her tuition again. That’s one problem taken care of, but being pre-med brings up another: Felicity now has to take organic chemistry with Ben (and Hodges). Also, the ripple effect seems to have erased Trevor. Felicity tells Sally that she knows it was right to break up with Ben, but they were together a long time. Maybe it’s like chemistry: Certain elements are attracted to each other no matter the conditions.
Noel goes to Hanna’s place, where, despite the ripple effect, things are pretty much the same. She has a demo CD, which features the fugue he helped her with. She can’t believe Noel and Felicity are still together. (She means that in a good way.) Noel says they just got back together recently. Hanna’s single after an engagement that didn’t work out. She tells Noel that seeing him is “just like home.” They admit that they think about each other a lot. But that makes Noel a little uneasy, so he tells her he has to be somewhere.
Felicity wasn’t able to move to another organic chemistry class, so she’s stuck with Ben for the semester. Noel isn’t listening, since he’s thinking about how he believes Hanna wants to get back together. Felicity gets annoyed when he tells her that Hanna said she’s been thinking about him. Hanna does the same thing every time she pops up; “it’s like a flashback inside a flashback.” Noel leaves out the part where he told Hanna he thinks about her, too.
He says he told Felicity this because he doesn’t want to keep things from her. He’s not going to do Hanna’s website. Felicity hopes he means it when he says he’s going to avoid her; she’s come too far just for Noel to decide he wants to be with Hanna instead. Yeah, how dare he do something he wants to do instead of what Felicity wants him to do! Does he think he has free will or something?
At the loft, Meghan is confused about why all the furniture is missing. Oh, right, Sean was going to get kicked out. They fight over why he didn’t tell her he owed $50,000 (actually, it’s $55,412). Ah, just like old times. Felicity got an A on her first organic chemistry quiz, earning praise from Hodges. Ben failed it, and he tells Felicity he’s going to drop pre-med.
As Noel plays Hanna’s CD, which she dropped off for him, Sean tells him he’s having some money trouble. He claims it’s under control. He also called Julie, who’s going to come visit. Sean wants to use this time to explore his options, rather than get tied down. (Remember, no Elena/Tracy wedding means no Sean/Meghan wedding, so they’re still just dating.) Noel confides that Hanna wants to get back together with him. Things with Felicity are great, but she’s acting kind of weird. Suddenly both guys seem to have two options for girlfriends. Sean suggests that they’re more attractive than they thought they were.
Javier shows Elena his dance number, and it’s definitely not right for Man of La Mancha. She tells him he has “some kind of dance dyslexia” and is never going to get the lead. They fight over whether she’s being mean or just honest. Maybe both! Felicity goes to the loft, where she tries to talk Noel into sticking with pre-med. She’s positive he can get an A in Hodges’ class, though she can’t tell him why she knows he can. She offers to help him study, if he wants.
Noel’s still listening to Hanna’s CD and has decided to work on her site after all. He downplays it, saying he just had a couple of ideas and needs the practice. He admits that he’s confused. Felicity immediately thinks he’s going back to Hanna. Noel says things were great over the summer, and everything clicked with them, but since that night on the roof, things have been different. Weird, really. Felicity seems to be acting like she’s in a race. It’s freaking him out. She promises she’ll stop, but just the way she says that freaks him out. Felicity says she’ll slow down, then. That doesn’t help.
Felicity tells Meghan about all this, so Meghan suggests that Felicity just go to Hanna’s place and beat her up. Felicity knows that would be a disaster; Hanna’s in awesome shape. (Fighting bad guys every day on Alias will do that to you.) Meghan thinks Felicity should at least tell Hanna to back off of Noel. Felicity doesn’t think that’ll work, either. Then she insults Hanna for putting her own picture on her CD cover.
Because Felicity never makes good decisions anymore, she signs up to take piano lessons with Hanna. Hanna’s smart enough to know that’s not why she’s really there. Felicity says she’s been through a lot to be with Noel, and she wants to give this time around a chance. But Hanna’s return to Noel’s life is confusing, and Felicity doesn’t know how much time she has. Hanna thinks that means she’s dying. She says she doesn’t want to get between Felicity and Noel, so she won’t interfere.
Elena comes to Dean & DeLuca to apologize to Javier. She got a letter from Tracy and took out her anger on Javier. But Javier thinks she was right about his lack of talent, so he’s going to give up. Elena points out that Javier will have to learn to take criticism from a lot of people if he really wants to be an actor. He can’t give up – Don Quixote wouldn’t. Javier asks her to stick around the restaurant while he goes to his audition.
Meghan surprises Sean by refurnishing the loft with her father’s money. Sean tells her he can’t accept her kind gesture. Meghan asks for a good reason why not, and since he can’t provide one (at least not without ticking her off), she won’t budge. She goes home to get ready for a date, and Felicity tells her that she worked things out with Hanna. But Noel has heard about their conversation from Hanna, who still thinks Felicity’s dying. Felicity says she’s not, though Noel thinks that would make sense.
Hanna told Noel that Felicity said not to see him anymore. Felicity replies that Hanna was okay with that. She and Noel have only had a week together, and suddenly they have to deal with Hanna again. Noel notes that they’ve only been together a week because she was in love with Ben the week before that, and for even longer until now. Noel has waited forever for things to come around. Felicity needs to wait just like he did. She thinks this means he wants to be with Hanna. Noel admits that he’s not sure.
We come back around to Felicity making a tape for Sally. Before she can get into the details, Ben comes by to take her up on her offer to study together. Over at the loft, Sean gives Meghan a check for all the furniture. As in the last timeline, or whatever, Noel got money from his marriage settlement with Natalie and gave it to Sean. Meghan doesn’t get why Sean will accept money from Noel but not her.
Sean admits that he called Julie. Things with Meghan aren’t great, and it’s neither of their faults, but Julie understands him. Sean doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but he thinks this is the time to find out. He didn’t want to hurt Meghan. Meghan warns that he’s the one who’s going to get hurt. Actually, I would worry about Meghan using witchcraft to make Julie hurt, but that’s just me.
Felicity and Ben study together in the lab, talking about different kinds of bonds. It’s all a metaphor, you see. Ben asks if Felicity’s okay, since she seemed a little down when he went by the apartment. She tells him he doesn’t want to hear about her problems, since they’d end up talking all night. Ben’s okay with that. They give each other a long, meaningful look.
Noel’s at Hanna’s, going over his website ideas. He tells her he and Felicity had a big fight over the whole Felicity/Hanna conversation, and he asked for time to figure things out. Hanna wonders what he needs to figure out. Noel clarifies that he needs to decide what he wants. Well, WHO he wants. Back at the lab, Ben and Felicity go back to studying bonds, though Felicity says they can move on if he’s ready. He says he’s not, then kisses her. At Hanna’s, there’s also kissing.
Felicity realizes she’s making a mistake – she came back for Noel. Ben, of course, doesn’t want to hear that name, and he leaves the lab. At Hanna’s, the exes have taken things to the bed, but before any clothes come off, Noel stops. He tells Hanna he needs to give things with Felicity a chance. Hanna’s disappointed. Later, Noel calls Felicity and they both confess that they had bad nights. They could only thing about each other. It turns out he’s right outside her door.
Thoughts: I can’t believe Jennifer Garner had time to come back for this episode. I guess when J.J. Abrams tells you he wants you to do something, you do it.
If Meghan doesn’t believe the time-travel story, shouldn’t she be worried about Felicity’s mental health, especially since Meghan’s a psych major?
I’m kind of surprised Felicity didn’t tell Hanna she’s dying, actually.
July 17, 2021
Felicity 4.18, Time Will Tell: The Do-Over
When your drunk friend starts messing with witchcraft, it’s time to cut her off
Summary: Remember when Felicity used to send Sally tapes all the time, talking about stuff that happened to her? She’s doing that again, but she warns that Sally might find what she has to say unbelievable. For starters, she’s back in the dorm apartment. Also, Elena’s dead. Nooooooo! She was in a car accident six months ago, which I think is right after we last saw Felicity. I need a hug.
We go back in time to Elena’s funeral. Afterward, Noel tells Felicity that he feels like they should do something because at any moment, something important could disappear. Felicity admits to Sally that instead of holding on to the people she loves, she pulled away. While studying together, Ben suggests that he and Felicity go do something more fun. Felicity wants to keep working, so Ben leaves without her.
Felicity tells Sally that around this time, Ben started hanging out with a classmate named Claire. Felicity studied with them for a while, but eventually started spending more time by herself. The day she got an invitation to Noel’s wedding – way to bury the lede, Felicity – she caught them kissing. And that was the end of Felicity and Ben.
Felicity calls Meghan, who tells her to come back to New York. Felicity doesn’t want to go to Noel’s wedding, since she’s a mess, but Meghan talks her into coming anyway. At the loft, Sean has made a party favor for the wedding, a shirt with him, Noel, and Noel’s bride on it. It’s Zoe! I didn’t see that working out. Javier asks Felicity where Ben is, and Meghan lies that he’s not coming because he has exams. Why would Ben want to go to Noel’s wedding anyway?
Noel comes by and admits to Felicity how nervous he is to get married. Felicity thinks he and Zoe are perfect together. Also, it’s normal to be nervous – Elena was really nervous before her wedding. Yeah, and it didn’t happen. Not a great example there, Felicity. Noel tells her he misses talking to her. He reminds her of when he took her to the airport right after graduation, and she asked if he ever thinks about the two of them. He said no, but of course he was lying. He even thought he might marry Felicity. But he’s not hitting on her! Definitely not! He totally loves Zoe! It’s just that things don’t always work out the way you thought they would.
Felicity tells Sally that this is when she started thinking she might have made a mistake. Maybe she should have been with Noel all along. Anyway, here’s where it gets weird, she says. Meghan has decided to put a hex on Ben using a spell from a book written by a guy named Korsakoff. After confirming that Felicity will never, ever get back together with him, even after he inevitably comes to New York to grovel, Meghan does a spell that will cause Ben to trip.
The old gang gets together for dinner the night before the wedding. Richard gives a toast that’s less about Noel and more about how Richard is still single. He thought Noel would stay single forever, always pining for Felicity. Felicity tells Sally that she started feeling a little jealous, wishing she was the one marrying Noel. When it’s Felicity’s turn to give a toast, she awkwardly stumbles through some words about how the bride and groom are lucky to have each other.
As Meghan expected, Ben shows up wanting to talk to Felicity. P.S. He has a bump on his forehead because he tripped. Success! Sean encourages Ben and Felicity to get married, since it’s awesome. After dinner, Noel and Zoe split up for the night, and Felicity offers to walk home with Noel. That effectively drives Ben away, at least for now. Richard was hoping to take Noel to a strip club, but Noel would rather hang out with his ex.
When they get to the loft, Ben is there waiting. Noel gives them some space, saying he’s going to go up to the roof and think about how tomorrow, he won’t be single anymore. Yes, he should definitely do that in the place where he once slept with Felicity. Great idea, Noel. Ben apologizes to Felicity, saying his kiss with Claire didn’t mean anything. Oh, well, then it’s okay! He tells her that he and Claire agreed not to see each other anymore. Felicity catches on to his wording, guessing that this had been an ongoing thing before she caught them. He admits that he cheated for a month. Meghan, make him trip again!
Speaking of Meghan, she and Felicity get drunk together and trash-talk Ben. Felicity wishes she could go back to the night she slept with Noel, because that’s when she really blew it. Meghan asks what she would do differently. Felicity admits that she would have chosen Noel over Ben. But it’s all hindsight, so there’s nothing she can do.
…Or is there? Meghan has a book of magic spells, and she thinks she can send Felicity back in time. Felicity’s like, “Whatever, I’m going to go pass out.” But when she wakes up…she’s on the roof with Noel. Her hair, which has been straight for a while, is now curly again, like it was back when she and Noel slept together. Felicity thinks she blacked out and came up to the roof to be with Noel. She scampers off, worrying about Zoe. Noel has no idea who that is.
Felicity tells Sally that she wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or going crazy. She’s still not sure. She goes downstairs to the loft just as Ben arrives with a pizza. He apologizes for their fight about the printer, blaming his mood on Hodges. Felicity thinks he’s messing with her. Noel comes in and acts casual, just like he did when this all happened for real. Felicity runs off to track down Meghan.
At the dorm apartment, she tells Meghan that the spell she did worked. Meghan is very confused and has no idea what Felicity’s talking about when she says Meghan sent her back in time. She’s also kind of excited that Felicity has gone crazy. Speaking of excited, that’s how Felicity feels when she sees a very-much-alive Elena. She tells Meghan that Elena’s supposed to be dead. Meghan quips that she’s engaged, which is pretty similar. She also predicts that Ben will kill Noel when he finds out Noel slept with Felicity.
Felicity wants to get out ahead of everything, and Meghan asks if she wants to be with Noel. Felicity says she thinks she does. Meghan’s thrilled because this means senior year will be awesome. Felicity tries to sleep, but she’s worried about where or when she might wake up, as she tells Sally. All she knows is that she has a chance to do everything again – and this time, she’ll do it all right.
The next morning, Noel comes over and worries that Ben will see the huge hickey he left on Felicity’s neck. Felicity is calm about it, saying she’ll just tell Ben the truth. She knows what will happen if she doesn’t, and it’s bad, so it’s better for her to be honest. Noel doesn’t like this idea, but Felicity says it’s the best out of all of their options. Since she seems so sure, Noel agrees to let her do what she wants.
Felicity goes to the loft, but Ben isn’t there. Sean is on his way to get the fortune cookies for Elena and Tracy’s wedding. Felicity comments that it might actually happen this time. Sean is confused. As Felicity leaves Ben a note, she hears the message from Janet and remembers that whole mess. She crumples up her note and leaves.
Felicity meets up with Ben at Epstein Bar and blurts out right away that she slept with Noel. She felt guilty before, but not anymore. She needed someone who was there for her. Felicity brings up Claire and Janet, telling Ben she no longer believes that nothing happened between him and Janet. When she clarifies that she slept with Noel just last night, not over the summer, Ben asks if she wants to be with him now. Felicity says she does. He needs to trust that this is for the best, especially since he broke her heart.
As Ben leaves, Felicity tells Sally that she knew this was the right thing, but she started to doubt herself. She just had to remind herself that eventually Claire would be in the picture. She goes back to the loft and tells Noel that she was honest with Ben. She thinks she and Noel should get back together. Noel thinks she’s having some sort of weird breakdown because she’s stressed about her future. Felicity says her future is fine; she’s going to ditch art and go back to pre-med. She knows what she wants.
Noel says that’s great, but he’s still trying to figure things out. Felicity says he will. Right now, they need to take this opportunity to get back together. Yeah, she spent the summer talking about Ben non-stop, but now she’s over him. Felicity knows she’s always chosen Ben over Noel, but that was a mistake. It feels right to be with Noel now. Noel is, of course, not going to say no to being with her, so he’s up for it. They agree to get coffee together before Elena and Tracy’s rehearsal dinner.
Felicity goes to a shift at Dean & DeLuca, where Ben tells her he doesn’t want to break up. Maybe they can get past whatever he did that makes her think he broke her heart. She says they can’t. She tells Sally that whether or not this is the real world, the feelings feel real, and this hurts.
Pavone agrees that of course this breakup hurts. Hey, it’s Pavone! Yay! Felicity says she thought it would be easier, given what she knows will happen. She’s sure that Ben isn’t the right one for her. Pavone doubts that Noel is the right one. Felicity reminds her that she urged Felicity to open the drawer and uncover Noel and all that, which Pavone doesn’t remember, since it hasn’t happened yet. Felicity says she wants to make good decisions, but Pavone tells her that’s not what’s most important right now. She needs to think about what she wants. Felicity announces that she wants to be with Noel, but she would prefer if that didn’t hurt Ben so much.
On their coffee date, Felicity suggests that she and Noel go away together some weekend. He tells her it’s not a good idea. Well, really, their whole attempt at another relationship is a bad idea. He was hoping she would come to him some day and ask to get back together, but it doesn’t feel right. He’s having trouble getting his life on track. Felicity assures him again that he will, but Noel doesn’t have that same confidence. They need to stay friends right now.
They head to the rehearsal dinner at the loft, but…there’s no rehearsal dinner. Elena and Tracy had a huge fight about Noel and Felicity’s fling, and Elena called off the wedding. Welp, that’s one way of not having to try to get Donald Faison in the episode. Ben is super-drunk, so Felicity goes to check on him, because I’m sure she’s exactly who he wants to see right now. He tells her he’s upset about missing his first pre-med exam, not because Felicity cheated. Felicity promises that if he keeps working hard, he’ll achieve his goals.
She then pulls Meghan into the bathroom and insists that they find a way to send Felicity back to the future. She’s screwed up too much stuff, and will continue screwing things up (for example, Sean and Meghan won’t get married). Meghan obviously doesn’t remember doing a time-travel spell, but she says she’ll find one to send Felicity back.
The Internet isn’t helpful, and Felicity realizes that if the book is from the future, it might not have been written yet. Since Meghan has never even heard of Korsakoff, she’s probably right. Felicity realizes that she could be stuck in the past forever. Well, you should probably start making better decisions, then. Meghan suggests that she go see a psychiatrist. Felicity pretends she’s getting sick and is just acting weird.
This is where Felicity starts making her tape for Sally. Noel finds her and says he thinks it’s nice that she makes the tapes. She tells him she’s made a big mess of things. Noel admits that he turned her down for a relationship because he’s terrified of losing her as a friend. Felicity promises that that will never happened. He kisses her, and I guess that’s back on. I’m sure everything will work out great!
Thoughts: Oh, come on. Was killing off Elena really necessary?
I don’t get couples who break up and get back together multiple times, especially when cheating is involved. Try being single! You might like it!
I’m sorry, it’s hilarious that Felicity went back in time, torpedoed her life, and tried to go all in for Noel…and he said “no, thanks.”
July 10, 2021
Felicity 4.17, The Graduate: If It’s Meant to Be, It’ll Be
Not the first person to question all her decisions during graduation; won’t be the last
Summary: Noel and Felicity are in the back of a cab, and he wants to know if she’s okay. She voices over that this isn’t the way things were supposed to end. At home, she tells Ben (who appears to have fully recovered from the car accident) that Carnes failed her on the paper she copied, but Felicity passed the class and will be allowed to graduate. Ben is also graduating, though he was supposed to take a fifth year, so I don’t know what happened there.
Felicity notes that their safety net is disappearing and they’re going to have to find a new way to make sure they stay together. Ben thinks he has something that will help: They can get married. Ever since the accident, he’s been thinking about how much he wants to marry Felicity. She apparently hadn’t thought about that, since she seems surprised. Ben gives her an official proposal (no ring, though). She’s not sure what to say, but she really means yes.
Sometime later, the two are woken up by a phone call from Lauren’s sister. Lauren is in Philadelphia and has gone into labor. So I guess a lot of time has passed since the last episode. Ben says he’ll take the train to her, and he doesn’t need Felicity to come with him. He promises to be back in time for graduation. He clarifies that they’re engaged before he leaves to become a father.
At Webb Graphics, Dominic tells Noel and Sean that they lost a client, thanks to the rough economy. Without that client, Dominic can’t afford to keep the guys on the company’s payroll. He makes sure they know that their work has been excellent, and this is just because of money. The guys pack up their things and leave, talking about their options. They want to keep working together. Sean makes Noel promise to stay positive.
Felicity’s parents are in town, wondering where Ben is. Felicity doesn’t tell them that he went to Philadelphia for the birth of the baby he conceived with a one-night stand. Instead, she tells them that she wants to spend the summer in California, then come back to New York in the fall to be with Ben. Edward thinks she’s just following him around again. She needs to figure out what she wants to do ASAP.
Barbara is much gentler, saying that Felicity has plenty of time to decide what she wants to do with her life. Edward is annoyed that he spent four years worrying about his daughter’s future, and now she’s still not picking a path and working toward it. Felicity tells him she gets it – she’s not living the life he wanted for her, and he thinks she’s throwing her life away to be with Ben. She announces that they’re engaged, so Ben is part of her life and will be forever. Edward needs to get used to that.
At the loft that evening, Felicity hesitantly tells Noel that she and Ben are engaged. He tries to be happy for them. She laments that her parents aren’t supportive, and he reminds her that they haven’t been, historically, so of course this time isn’t different. But she’s in love with Ben, so who cares? Noel asks if this is what she really wants to do.
Ben returns from Philadelphia but doesn’t really want to talk about THE BIRTH OF HIS FIRST CHILD (Andrew, after his deadbeat father). Noel congratulates him on his engagement and the baby. Later, in bed, Felicity asks for more information on the birth. Ben isn’t sure when he’ll see his son again; Lauren will call him once they get settled in Arizona. He says it was harder to leave the baby than he thought it would be. Felicity guesses that he wants to move to Arizona.
The next day, I guess, Noel brings Felicity a graduation present at the dorm apartment. It’s a book about New York architecture. She tells him that Ben asked her to move to Arizona with him, so he can be close to Andrew. This makes total sense to her, but what Edward said about her following Ben around for four years is stuck in her head. Does she want to follow him again? Noel knows his advice is corny, but he gives it anyway: If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. That said, he thinks she should stay in New York, since all her friends are there. Yeah, but her fiancé won’t be!
Noel is having trouble finding work, but Sean hasn’t – Meghan’s father offered him a job doing elevator inspections. He thinks Noel should take a job he heard about that only has room for him. They should consider ending their partnership if it means they can make money. They’ll still be a team; they’ll just be focused on survival for now. Once they’re better off, they can reunite the team. Sean reminds Noel that they’re staying positive.
Richard runs into Edward on the way to take Ben some flowers to celebrate his child’s birth. He doesn’t know that Edward doesn’t know about the baby. (He also doesn’t know that Edward isn’t related to the baby. Maybe stay in college another year or two, Richard.) He mentions the move to Arizona, something else Edward was unaware of. Richard realizes a little late that he’s said way too much.
Edward winds up with the flowers, which he delivers to Ben, along with a question about what the heck is going on in Ben’s life. He doesn’t think Felicity gets what she’s committing to. She and Ben are too young and unstable to get married. Ben points out that Edward and Barbara were their age when they got married, but Edward reminds him that they’re not together anymore.
Ben has a child in Arizona, so how can he and his fiancée have a life in New York? As a father, Ben will become protective and want to hurt anyone who hurts his child. In other words, Edward wants to punch Ben. He confronts Felicity with one word: “Arizona.” He knows Felicity doesn’t care what he thinks, but she should know that this move is a huge mistake.
Felicity’s upset that Ben told Edward they were moving to Arizona, as if the problem here is who told him. She blurts out that she can’t just move. She has a job and friends there. She’s been following Ben for four years, so it’s turn to follow her. Ben says she can stay in New York if she wants, but he has more important things to think about. He needs to move to Arizona.
The next day, Felicity is getting ready for graduation when Edward brings her flowers to apologize. He feels like the past four years have gone by fast, while she feels like her high school graduation was a long time ago. Edward remembers how she would come see him at work when she was a kid. He realizes he keeps trying to protect her instead of letting her live her life. Felicity promises that she’ll be okay. Edward decides he needs to get better at letting go.
The graduation ceremony is basically an afterthought in the episode, but we get to see Felicity cross the stage and turn her tassel. Despite their fight, Ben is happy. We skip everyone else and go straight to everyone tossing their caps, then people chatting after the ceremony. Felicity gets Ben alone and tells him she wants to follow him like she did four years ago, but she can’t. He apologizes for asking, which is dumb. He had the right to ask. She tells him to go to Arizona. Maybe they were only meant to be together during college. Ben repeats Noel’s corny advice: If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.
At a graduation party at Epstein Bar, Noel tells Sean that he got a job. It’s a completely new firm with no clients: Blumberg Crane Associates. He already rented them an office. Sean’s happy with the idea. Noel next approaches Felicity and asks if she’s decided what to do yet. She tells him she’s not going to Arizona, and she and Ben are breaking up. She’s also not going to live in New York. She doesn’t know where she’ll go, but it won’t be there.
Ben and Felicity go off to finish packing the stuff he’s been keeping in her apartment, and possibly say goodbye to each other for the last time. But first, sex! (Use protection, guys.) In the morning, he wakes her up to tell her he has to go. They don’t really say goodbye, instead just saying they love each other.
Later, Felicity goes to the loft, where Meghan is clearly unhappy that Felicity is leaving New York. Felicity promises to call as soon as she lands in California. At the dorm apartment, Javier shows Felicity an Employee of the Month plaque that he’s going to hang at Dean & DeLuca permanently. He asks for a group hug with Felicity and Elena.
Felicity looks around the nearly empty apartment, then goes to a closet and writes “Felicity Porter ’02” on a wall. Noel comes by and offers to take her to the airport. This is how they end up in a cab together, with him asking if she’s okay. As they wait for her flight, she asks if he ever wonders what would have happened if the two of them… (had stayed together or gotten back together, I guess). He says he doesn’t. Liar! When it’s time for Felicity to board her flight, she gets more emotional than she did saying goodbye to anyone else, including Ben.
On the plane, we return to Felicity’s voiceover from the beginning of the episode. It’s from a tape she’s making for Ben. It’s been six months since graduation, and she’s still in California. Noel and Sean are working together and are happy. Meghan is working toward becoming a psychiatrist, and Felicity thinks she’ll be great at it. And Elena? Who cares about Elena?
Felicity says that, ironically, sometimes the thing you’re fighting is yourself. After everything, she’s decided she wants to be a doctor. She’s doing it for herself, not her parents – she wants to make a difference. So maybe she and Ben will both end up doctors. She asks Ben to write her a letter or send her a tape back when he has the chance.
But there’s no need for that. While Felicity’s looking at some fliers on her new school’s campus, Ben shows up. He’s signing up for classes there and has convinced Lauren to move to Palo Alto. So maybe Ben and Felicity were meant to be after all. But there are still five episodes left before the series ends, so who knows what will happen next?
Thoughts: Scott Foley (Noel) directed this episode.
So Ben attended the baby’s birth, named him after his father, and then just turned around and went back to New York after, what, a couple of hours with him? Come on.
Again: Long-distance dating is a thing, people. Try it.
This was supposed to be the series finale, but the show that took Felicity‘s times lot after that tanked, so the network asked for five more episodes of Felicity. J.J. Abrams and Mat Reeves took the opportunity to do something… weird. Stay tuned.
July 3, 2021
Felicity 4.16, Ben Don’t Leave: There Are Always Consequences
Someone has her priorities right
Summary: Javier warns Felicity that her “archest enemy” (Lauren) just walked into Dean & DeLuca. Lauren is there to give Ben a message via Felicity – her plans have changed, and she’s leaving for Arizona now. She’s annoyed that Ben hasn’t been around as much as he said he would be. She’s also annoyed that Felicity’s seemingly pretending to care about their problems. Lauren says that Ben and Felicity are both really selfish. Well, she would know about selfishness. Felicity and Javier agree that Lauren is a jerk, and Javier hopes she gets bad stretch marks.
At home later, Felicity’s still complaining about Lauren, this time to Meghan. She still has the stolen book, and she’s going to take it to Professor Carnes and come clean about copying her paper. Meghan thinks she should just let it to, since the deed is done. The person who wrote the original paper will probably never find out. Felicity disagrees with Meghan’s ideas, so Meghan asks how she’ll feel if she confesses and gets expelled. Felicity thinks she might get pity and/or leniency for being honest.
At the loft, Sean praises Noel for having a late night out with Zoe. He misses the fun of the beginning of a relationship, especially the part where the couple has tons of sex. Noel is very clearly not having sex, which Sean says is a problem. There must be something wrong in the relationship. Noel says it’s too difficult to find a time for intimacy; it’s about logistics. “Logistics? It’s not a moon landing,” Sean replies.
Noel reminds him that there are a bunch of get-togethers and meetings with clients, so he and Zoe haven’t had time to be alone. Sean offers to cover for him so he and Zoe can get it on. They’ve been dating for a few weeks now, and this is the best part of the relationship. After this, it’s all downhill. (He whispers in case Meghan is listening in. Sad.)
Richard goes to the dorm apartment to ask Elena to go to a fundraiser with him. He has a crush on a woman who will be there, and he wants to make her jealous. Yeah, Elena doesn’t want to play that game. Richard says she should be flattered – he wouldn’t ask her to participate in this if she were ugly. He reminds her that they’re about to graduate, and he knows that when he gets out into the real world, where he’s not surrounded by eligible hotties, he’ll never find love. He needs to take advantage of this. Elena gives in, making it clear that this is a pity date.
Felicity goes to see Carnes, who’s in the middle of a rough divorce and is about to go meet with her lawyer. She assures Felicity that her grades are great and this investigation into her paper has nothing to do with her. She thinks someone on the editorial board is using it as an excuse to get back at Carnes for getting a grant he wanted. It’s all about politics. She asks Felicity to bring her sources to her tomorrow, rather than next week, so they can get this out of the way.
Felicity runs into Lauren outside the loft building, waiting for Ben. Lauren doesn’t want to make small talk. Upstairs, Ben tells Felicity that he’s going to help her move some boxes, and then they’ll be rid of her and they can go do something to distract Felicity from her problems. Zoe wants to hang out with Noel that night, but they have some client get-together. He suggests that they take Sean up on his offer to handle it. Zoe manages to resists Noel’s…sex appeal? Sure. She resists so they can be professional.
Ben is late getting back from helping Lauren, and Felicity’s worried. She’s right to be, as it turns out Ben and Lauren were in a car accident. When Felicity gets to the hospital, she learns that Ben is in surgery. Lauren, who’s fine (as is the baby), tells Felicity that she got blindsided by another car. Her doctor dismisses Felicity, who’s still able to hear their conversation – Lauren’s blood-alcohol level is over the legal limit.
Webb Graphics shells out the big bucks to wine and dine their clients at Epstein Bar. Sure. Sean has heard some gossip from co-worker Pauline and thinks Zoe is hesitant to sleep with Noel because she’s still hung up on her ex, Dwayne. Noel’s surprised, since they’ve been courting Dwayne as a client for weeks. Sean informs him that he’s been “courting the enemy.”
Richard and Elena go to the fundraiser, where he hopes his crush will be impressed with him for showing up with a Black woman. His crush is really PC, and this makes him look “culturally diverse.” He’s “a man of the people, like Bono.” Elena decks him. Hit him again! Let everyone take a turn! Make Richard a piñata!
Felicity calls Meghan from the hospital to update her on the Ben/Lauren situation. Meghan tries to assure her that Ben will be okay. Also, Meghan called Carnes and rescheduled their meeting about her sources for her paper. She offers to come be with Felicity, but Felicity thinks she should wait for news on Ben by herself.
Zoe flirts with Noel, who wants to know why she left some details out of their discussions about Dwayne. She clarifies that she and Dwayne aren’t exes. She met him when Noel introduced them last week. Looks like Sean’s intel was incorrect. When Sean asks Pauline to repeat what she told him, it becomes clear that a) Pauline isn’t 100% sober and b) she mistook Dwayne for someone else.
After dozing off in the waiting room, Felicity wakes up as Lauren leaves, having spoken to the police. She’s headed to the impound lot to get her car and all her stuff. Ben is still in surgery, and Felicity lays into Lauren for being selfish – she clearly doesn’t care what happens to him. Felicity says she feels sorry for Lauren’s baby, because of who his mother is.
While Felicity goes to see Ben after he’s out of surgery, Noel and Sean leave the party, talking about how Noel and Zoe definitely have a problem. They should be much more eager to sleep together. Sean asks if Zoe has ever said she’s not in the mood. If a woman ever says that, it means the problem is fundamental, i.e., something out of the guy’s control (like his odor, his height, is voice, or how he kisses). Or…maybe she’s not in the mood. Sean urges Noel to surprise Zoe with some flowers and show that he’s romantic and spontaneous.
Lauren returns to the hospital, where Ben is still unconscious. She admits to Felicity that she woke up this morning feeling like she couldn’t continue living the AA one-day-at-a-time life. She’s been trying to find someone to blame for everything that’s gone wrong in her life, but she knows she’s the one to blame. Felicity was right to say she’s selfish.
Richard goes to the dorm apartment to yell at Elena for ruining his plan. He wound up spinning what happened into another lie about how PC he is – he told the crush that he was assaulted by the police while chained to a tree for a protest. I don’t think Richard knows what “PC” means. Elena calls him racist, but Richard still thinks she should be flattered. Besides, she’s not “really Black.” She’s dating a white guy, she doesn’t have any Black friends, and she doesn’t like Spike Lee movies. Richard, begone.
Noel takes Sean’s advice and takes flowers, wine, and ice cream to Zoe’s apartment. Eating and chatting turns to kissing, but Zoe’s still hesitant to go any further. Noel says he doesn’t want to pressure her, but he’d like to return to the physicality they had together when they first started dating. She notes that they’ve really only been together for three weeks (not five – the first two don’t count). She doesn’t want to feel like they’re on a time table. She asks him to leave, saying she’s not in the mood. Ruh-roh!
As Sean calls to let Noel know that Ben is in the hospital, Lauren – who’s suddenly turned into a person with actual admirable qualities – brings Felicity some tea and encourages her to go home for the night. Felicity wants to stay, and she offers to let Lauren crash at the dorm apartment instead of finding a hotel for the night.
When they go over there, Felicity checks her messages and gets one from Carnes, who says she couldn’t reschedule the meeting about Felicity’s sources. Oh, come on! Her boyfriend’s in the hospital! Lauren remembers how Felicity sympathized with her for going through something rough; now Lauren can sympathize right back. Felicity says she wishes she’d done things differently. Lauren does, too. She thanks Felicity for her kindness.
Felicity spends the night at Ben’s side, and in the morning, he finally wakes up. Their friends show up wanting to see him, but Meghan and Elena can’t talk a nurse into letting them in before visiting hours start. Felicity’s touched to see them all in the waiting room. She tells them that Ben lost a lot of blood but is going to be fine. And now she has to go to her meeting and determine her academic fate.
Carnes is pleased to tell Felicity that Lipschitz, the guy who has a vendetta against her, is already backing down from investigating the paper. He can’t remember the name of the student whose thesis Felicity is being accused of copying. Felicity provides it, then gives Carnes the book and confesses to copying the paper. As punishment, she’ll fail the course, and Carnes will have to think about whether or not she can graduate.
Richard has decided that Elena was right, so he goes to the dorm apartment to apologize for being racist. Also, he wants her to look at the black eye she gave him. He laments not having enough friends to be able to afford to lose one. Since when are Richard and Elena really friends, though? It’s not like they hang out a bunch.
Anyway, Elena forgives him, and what he said made her think. Maybe she has a bunch of white friends so she can prove that she fits in. She doesn’t want people to see her as different. Richard, however, would love to be different. He feels special when he goes to Star Wars conventions, since his nerdiness makes him unique. They make him feel like he’s a part of something. Richard offers to go hang out with Black students with Elena; he’s “funky fresh” and can “hang with the brothers.” Richard, shush.
At work, Noel tells Zoe that he doesn’t think things are going to work out for them. She promises that she’s attracted to him, but he notes that she tries to pull away every time they get physically close. She tells him that she was taking medication for her depression, but she felt so good when they started dating that she stopped taking it. Now she realizes that was a bad idea. Zoe hasn’t been in the mood because she’s been depressed, not because of Noel. Now she’s back on her meds, so in a couple weeks, she’ll be ready to rock. Noel completely understands and promises not to rush her.
When Felicity gets home, she finds a note from Lauren thanking her again. She feels inspired by Felicity’s ability to face her problems. She’s going somewhere unknown to do…something, and she’ll call Ben when she gets settled. Should she be leaving the state when she’s probably facing criminal charges for driving drunk? Instead of being mad, Felicity just goes back to the hospital to be with Ben.
Thoughts: This baby deserves better parents than Ben and Lauren. Give him to Javier and Elena. They’ll raise him right.
Gotta love the irony of Richard using Elena to look PC when the show obviously only wrote her in so they wouldn’t have an all-white cast.
Sean finally had a good idea and it didn’t work out. That guy just can’t catch a break.
June 26, 2021
Felicity 4.15, The Paper Chase: What Would Earl Do?
Power fist! (Needs more enthusiasm)
Summary: Ben is showing Sean a copy of Lauren’s ultrasound photo, which makes him want Lauren to stay in New York even more than he already did. Sean encourages him to take her to court to prevent her from moving to Arizona. When Felicity arrives, Sean shows her the picture, identifying the anatomical part that means the baby’s a boy. Sean, of course, wants them to name the baby after him. You’ll have to take that up with Lauren, buddy.
Later, Felicity tries to get some work done in her room while Meghan types a really long paper really loudly on Felicity’s computer. (She doesn’t have her own? She couldn’t use Noel’s?) Felicity has a big paper due the next day, and she hasn’t even picked a topic yet. Oy, haven’t we all been there? Meghan gets why Felicity’s been distracted (Sean told her about the baby and the big move). Felicity denies that she’s worried about losing Ben to Lauren, but when she thinks about the way Ben looked at the ultrasound photo, she knows she might.
Meghan suggests that Felicity skip the paper, take an incomplete in the course, and retake it over the summer. But this is their senior year, so that would mean Felicity can’t graduate. Meghan’s second suggestion is that Felicity find a dissertation on art history in the library and pass it off as her own. Earl does it all the time and has never been caught. Yeah, Felicity should definitely try to be more like Earl. She knows she wouldn’t be able to cheat, so she’ll have to figure something out on her own.
Sean is having a great time at his and Noel’s new job, but Noel…not so much. He got a summons from Dominic and is sure he wants to talk about how Noel is dating Zoe. Sean tells him to come up with a four-point plan, FEPS. F = firm handshake. E = eye contact. P = power fist (AKA a fist of enthusiasm). S = solidarity squeeze. Sean says this is the secret to his success. Oh, I was wondering about that. Sean makes Noel practice his power fist before he goes in to see Dominic.
Javier has signed up for tennis lessons in an attempt to meet someone. He invites Rita to come with him and meet someone else, but she already has a new love interest, Michael. She’s sure that Javier will eventually find someone to love. She thinks Javier should meet Michael; Javier will really like him.
Noel makes the mistake of jumping in before Dominic can talk so he can reassure Dominic that he shouldn’t worry about Noel’s relationship with Zoe. That’s not what Dominic wanted to discuss, though. The client Sean thought he’d secured is going to another firm. Dominic isn’t impressed with Sean’s capabilities other than his ability to be enthusiastic. He just has one speed: maximum. Noel reminds Dominic that he and Sean are a team. Dominic tells Noel to be more of a supervisor and reign Sean in so they don’t lose more business. If this doesn’t get fixed, Sean is out.
At Dean & DeLuca, Javier asks Elena if she knows any single gay guys who might want to date him. She doesn’t. Rita arrives with Michael, who’s very nice and offers to play tennis with Javier sometime. Javier drags Elena to the back room, even though she doesn’t work there, so he can tell her that he knows Michael. Michael used to date a friend of Javier’s, Andy. Apparently Javier is unfamiliar with the concept of bisexuality (as is the rest of Hollywood), and he thinks Michael’s gay. Elena advises him to stay out of it.
Felicity’s having trouble accessing the Guggenheim’s website so she can get information for her paper. While Ben’s helping her, Lauren calls to invite him to a Lamaze class. He tells Felicity he’s trying to participate more so Lauren won’t want to move away. And also so he can be more present in his child’s life, and because he cares about Lauren’s well-being, right? Right, Ben? Felicity pretends she’s totally fine with Ben spending more time with Lauren.
She goes to the library and asks a worry named Jerry where the dissertation section is. She lies about her reason for being there, saying she wants to read a paper her late friend wrote. Hon, he doesn’t get paid enough to care. Felicity looks through a bunch of dissertations until she finds one to copy. She works through the night to retype all 30 pages, impressing Meghan, who spent three weeks on her paper. The professor, Carnes, practically has to pry it out of Felicity’s hands, though.
The next day, Ben tells Felicity that Lauren has already moved to Arizona. Her boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend; Ben isn’t sure) has already moved there. Ben has decided to talk to a lawyer about making her move back to New York. Meghan comes home and tells Felicity that Carnes wants to see her. She’s already graded all the students’ 30-page papers and handed them back. Yeah, sure. Anyway, Meghan got a B+, which is a lot better than she expected.
On their way to a meeting, Noel tells Sean he wants to take the lead with their client. Sean agrees, saying he’ll just analyze Noel’s use of FEPS. Noel says he may skip that. Javier already has tennis elbow from his lessons, but he found a guy for Rita in his class. She reminds him that she’s already found Michael. Does Javier not like him? Javier says he does, but there’s something Rita should know. Remember how Javier’s gay? So is Michael.
Rita denies that he could be gay and accuses Javier of being jealous. Sure, she and Michael haven’t slept together yet, but that’s not necessarily because he prefers men. (Also, if he was in a relationship with a guy that was so committed that they went on a trip to Jamaica together, why would he suddenly start dating women if he wasn’t attracted to them? Logic, Javier, logic!) Rita thinks Javier likes Michael and can’t handle that he’s with Rita. She knows Michael is a great guy and would never hurt her.
Felicity’s guilt is getting to her, and she admits to Meghan that she copied her paper. She’s sure Carnes has busted her. Meghan says this happened to Earl once, so he went back to the library and got rid of the dissertation he copied. Felicity thinks she should confess instead. Meghan’s like, “Why would you do that when you can do something totally crazy instead?”
So Felicity goes back to the library, where she’s spotted by a guy who saw her there in the dissertation section the other night. She throws out the book the dissertation was in, but Jerry sees her and calls her out. She has to fish the book out of the trash, where it’s now covered in noodles. Jerry demands that she hand over the book or he’ll report her. Please report her anyway – to the psych department, so she can go back to sessions with Pavone.
Noel and Sean meet with their client, who makes suitcases. Sean’s enthusiasm is definitely misplaced with this client. Noel pulls him outside and tells him his style is hurting his career. He reveals what Dominic talked to him about and warns that he’s on the verge of being fired. Sean says Dominic doesn’t know anything about pitching to clients, so why should he listen? Uh, because he’s your boss, dude.
Noel tells Sean that he has a bunch of tools at his disposal during client meetings, so he needs to use different ones at different times. It’s just like construction – you wouldn’t use a sledgehammer for a delicate task when you have a ball-peen hammer to do that instead. Sean argues that the sledgehammer always works for him. Noel disagrees. Sean accuses Noel of trying to maneuver himself to take over the partnership. He’ll just get out of Noel’s way altogether.
Felicity hesitantly goes to see Carnes, who has no idea that Felicity didn’t write her paper. Carnes loved it and submitted it to the school’s journal for publication. Felicity doesn’t come clean. Okay, your career has now been ruined before it even begins. Felicity tells Meghan that she’s officially a cheater – she cheated on both Ben and the paper. Everyone’s going to read the paper and know. Meghan doubts that many people will read it. But since Felicity didn’t get rid of the original, she might be in some danger.
Meghan advises Felicity to go to Carnes and tell her she doesn’t want the paper to be published. FELICITY, STOP LISTENING TO MEGHAN! Felicity thinks Carnes will get suspicious. Meghan tells her to just deny everything if that happens. Ben overhears and asks what’s going on. Meghan just denies that anything’s happening. Felicity tells him her art history paper is being published. Ooh, now you’re a cheater AND a liar.
At the loft, Noel wants to talk to Sean about how unprofessional he was for walking out in the middle of a pitch. Sean’s mad at the way Noel handled things, but Noel says he was trying to protect Sean and his job. Sean says he doesn’t need that kind of protection. He’s quitting the partnership; he’s even already told Dominic. Noel likes Sean’s enthusiasm but wants him to tone it down a little. Sean guesses that Noel’s use of the word “overbearing” is what Dominic called him.
Javier goes to see Michael, who’s a dental hygienist, and doesn’t wait long before revealing that he’s not really there for a cleaning. He confronts Michael over dating Andy, but Michael doesn’t know who that is. He also denies using Rita as his beard. Javier warns that if Michael hurts Rita, Javier will hunt him down with a posse. Okay, not really. Michael sticks to his story.
Meghan tells Sean that she feels protective over Felicity in re: the whole paper situation. Sean isn’t really listening, since he has his own problems. He asks if he’s overbearing. Meghan says yes. She gets criticized for her personality, too, but she likes being brutally honest. Sean just needs to figure out when to turn his enthusiasm on or off. He tells Meghan he quit, and she chastises him for leaving his job after one bad day, especially since he loves the job.
In their next class with Carnes, Meghan asks Felicity if she told Carnes not to publish her paper. Felicity didn’t, and she doesn’t want Meghan to do it, either. She approaches Carnes, who reveals that the editorial board reviewed the paper and had some suspicious about whether it was really Felicity’s work. Carnes defended her and is sure things will get cleared up. Felicity chickens out of coming clean.
Meghan steals the book from the library herself, having promised to go on a date with Jerry to get him to look the other way. (She’s not actually going to go out with him.) But Felicity has to meet with the editorial board next week to go over the sources she used. Meghan offers to talk to them, since she blames herself for getting Felicity into this mess. Actually, she blames Ben; if he hadn’t gotten Lauren pregnant, Felicity would have been able to focus.
Felicity worries that she’ll get expelled for this. Yep, probably. Meghan says she’ll set the administration building on fire if that happens. She doesn’t think this is that big a deal – in a year, Felicity won’t remember this paper. She probably won’t even remember Meghan. Felicity thinks they’ll see each other all the time. Meghan’s surprised that she thinks they’ll remain friends after college.
Sean unquits his job and tells Noel he’ll change his style so they’re more alike. Noel doesn’t want that; he likes that they bring different things to the table. Sean admires Noel’s loyalty and asks Noel to keep him in check. Javier runs into Rita, who’s signed up for tennis lessons to meet someone. Turns out Michael’s gay after all. Then why was he dating her if he was out?? I don’t get it.
Ben catches Felicity looking at the ultrasound photo and trying to get used to the fact that her boyfriend is going to be the father of another woman’s child. He tells her he met with a lawyer, but she thinks he should just move to Arizona. Ben refuses to upend his life and promises he’s not going anywhere.
Felicity admits that she copied her paper and is on the verge of getting busted. Everything in their relationship has her so distracted that she couldn’t do her schoolwork. She might not graduate now. Ben is sure she will – as he’s said over and over, they’re going to get through this. Felicity isn’t as sure as he is.
Thoughts: Three of the guest stars in this episode have popped up in other recaps:
- Carnes is played by Jane Lynch.
- Michael B. Silver (Michael) is also Myers the psych resident on ER.
- David Bowe (Jerry) played Garrett Slan on Beverly Hills, 90210.
Ben: “Lauren just gave me a copy of the ultrasound.” Felicity: “Of the baby?” No, of her toaster.
You’re telling me Carnes (and maybe her TA) read and graded every single 30-page paper from the class in one night? Not even close to possible.
Michael: “You’re not flossing, are you?” Javier: “YEEEE-EEES! Okay, no.” I love him.
June 19, 2021
Felicity 4.14, Raising Arizona: What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?
I’m sure they’ve worked everything out and will never have any problems again!
Summary: Noel is doing some work at the loft when Felicity comes by to talk about Adam. She’s worried that working with him again will be weird after he tried to kiss her. Noel tells her that Adam’s an adult, so if she talks to him about the situation, he’ll be reasonable. Felicity invites him to an architectural walking tour, but Noel already has plans with Zoe. He agrees to do the tour with her that night instead.
Ben comes home wanting to talk to Felicity about the Lauren/baby situation. He’s decided he needs to be there for his child, in some way. Felicity must have anticipated this, because she quickly tells him that’s fine. Ben still thinks they’ll be able to get through this and have a normal relationship, even while he’s raising a child with another woman.
The next day, Ben encounters a guy with a crying baby in the hallway of Lauren’s building. Here is your future, Ben Covington! He tells Lauren he’s changed his mind about the baby and wants to be involved. Lauren’s happy to hear that, but it’s going to be more complicated than Ben thought: She’s about to move to Arizona.
Her parents live in Phoenix and there are a lot of job opportunities there. Ben, meanwhile, is 21, is still in college, and wants to go to med school. Lauren will get more support from her retired parents. Ben argues that his child needs a father, which Lauren agrees with. She suggests that he move to Arizona. Ben says his life is in New York. Lauren tells him she’s doing what’s best for the baby, which is difficult to argue with.
Felicity goes to Adam’s office to try to talk to him about how not to be awkward around each other. Adam’s eagerly waiting to hear if he’s gotten a project he wants, so he’s barely paying attention to her. He lands the project and asks Felicity if she can stick around next year to help with it. Felicity says she’ll be in the city anyway – Ben’s going to take a fifth year after all – so why not? Adam asks what Felicity wanted to discuss with him. She mentions their near-kiss, which they both agree was a mistake. He’s totally fine with never talking about it again.
At Epstein Bar, Noel and Zoe are discussing going away together for the weekend. They’re at that point already? Wow. She spots a co-worker, Paulina, and makes Noel hide under the table with her. Paulina sees them anyway, so Zoe tells her that Noel got dizzy. After Paulina leaves, Zoe says that she doesn’t want Paulina to find out about their relationship. She’ll tell Dominic, and Zoe doesn’t want him to know about them yet.
Ben hangs around after one of Hodges’ classes, so Hodges thinks he has a question about some of the material. Instead, Ben asks about pre-med programs in Arizona. He’s probably going to stay in New York, but he needs to explore all his options. Hodges does know someone at the University of Arizona and can find out if it’s too late for Ben to transfer there.
Meghan and Javier do a scene from Oedipus Rex together in their drama class; once again, he’s fine but she’s not that great. Afterward, Javier asks Meghan to give a little more in their next scene so he has more to work with. Meghan doesn’t see the point, since she doesn’t care about acting. A man named Paul approaches and introduces himself as a casting director. He wants to cast Javier in a mattress commercial. “They’re looking for someone really…special,” he says. Uh-oh. Paul also wants Meghan; he likes her attitude. They’ll have to audition against each other, though.
Trevor thinks Noel is moving in on Felicity since he thinks Ben is going to move on to Lauren. Ben says Noel doesn’t know anything about the Lauren situation, and he’s not worried about Noel stealing Felicity from him (again). They’re just going on a walking tour together. They’re actually talking about Felicity possibly working with Adam next year, before Noel tells Felicity that someone left a message for Ben about a school in Arizona. So it looks like Noel’s getting in the middle of the relationship after all, purposely or not.
Felicity asks Ben about the message and why he’s looking at schools in Arizona. He tells her Lauren’s moving there, so he’s thinking about going with her. Felicity’s annoyed that he told Hodges before he told her. Ben again promises that things will be fine, but every time he says that, Felicity becomes less and less sure. She tells Ben that Adam wants her to work with him next year, which means she has to stay in New York. They need to talk about what they’ll do after graduation. Ben blows up at her, saying he’s still figuring it out. Well, yelling will definitely help.
Noel comes home after the walking tour and is immediately confronted by Ben for talking to Felicity about the message about Arizona. Sean notices that Ben is upset and asks what’s going on. Ben fills him in, telling him that Noel doesn’t know what’s going on. Sean says that Ben has legal options; fathers have rights, so he might be able to get a judge to rule that Lauren can’t take his child to Arizona. Ben doesn’t want to go that far. Sean tries to talk up Arizona by saying that Santa Fe’s supposed to be beautiful. Wrong state, Sean.
Javier practices for his audition, getting positive feedback from…who’s that? Oh, right, Felicity and Meghan’s roommate. The one who used to get to do stuff on this show. Meghan is more critical about Javier’s performance. He accuses her of playing mind games and trying to steal his dream. Why is she trying out for a commercial when she doesn’t care about acting? Meghan says she’s just in it for the $3,000 payment. Elena likes the sound of that and considers auditioning herself. Javier says that if Meghan were a real friend, she’d drop out. Meghan replies that if he were a real actor, he wouldn’t care about his competition.
Felicity tells Adam that she won’t be able to work with him after all, since she doesn’t know where she’ll be next year. She gives him a little overview of the situation, and Adam asks why Ben gets priority in determining where the two of them live. Zoe tells Noel that she thinks she’s convinced Paulina that they were just hanging out as friends at Epstein Bar. Noel thinks they should just tell Dominic they’re dating. Zoe admits that she doesn’t want anyone to know about them. She doesn’t think they’re going to work out. Yeah, no kidding.
Hodges tells Ben that he missed the deadline to transfer to the University of Arizona for the fall semester, but his contact in admissions is willing to give Ben’s application special consideration. The catch is that he’ll have to complete everything by tomorrow. The contact is about to go on a lecture tour, so this is the only time she has to review everything. Ben will have to decide immediately if he really wants to go to Arizona.
He meets with Lauren, asking her to put off her move for a little while. He can take night classes to complete his pre-med requirements sooner. Lauren has already lined up her new life in Arizona, and she doesn’t want to wait. Again, she’s doing what’s best for the baby. Ben notes that what’s best is for the baby’s parents to live in the same state. Lauren won’t budge.
Felicity goes to the loft, where Noel is moping. She asks to mope with him. He tells her he and Zoe broke up, but Felicity isn’t about to comfort him when she can cry about her own situation. She blurts out that Ben got Lauren pregnant and now might move to Arizona with her. Noel gives her a comforting hug, so of course that’s when Ben walks in. And of course he thinks Noel is making a move instead of just being a good friend.
Felicity goes to talk to Ben, who complains that she always goes running to Noel when something’s wrong. He guesses that she was talking to Noel about Ben and Lauren. Felicity says she just needs someone to talk to. Ben replies that if she hadn’t slept with Noel, none of this would have happened. Yeah, it’s Felicity and Noel’s fault you slept with Lauren and didn’t use protection. Felicity thinks that’s bull, too. She guesses that Ben will never be able to get past the fact that she slept with Noel. Ben says she’s right, and they’re through.
Looking for a distraction, Felicity goes to Adam’s studio, now wanting to keep working with him. He gets her to open up to him about everything she’s been dealing with. She tells him she and Ben broke up, but she doesn’t really want to talk about it. Adam’s pleased that Felicity’s now going to focus on her life instead of tagging along with Ben to Arizona. Yeah, because Felicity never focuses on herself.
Noel doesn’t want to be in the office with Zoe, so he tells Sean he’s going home. This, friends, is why you don’t date a co-worker. (I say this as someone whose brothers all met their wives at work.) Sean is surprised about Noel and Zoe’s breakup, since he thought they were going to work out. Meghan decides that she and Javier are making too big a deal out of the audition and are letting it ruin their friendship. She offers to drop out. Javier presents a deal: They’ll both try out, and whoever gets the part has to treat the other to dinner. But what if neither gets the part?
Zoe asks Sean why Noel disappeared before a meeting. Sean says he just had some stuff to take care of. He tells her that Noel’s awesome, so he doesn’t get why Zoe wanted to end things with him. Zoe doesn’t want to discuss this with Sean. He leaves her with one last thought: If she lets Noel go, she’ll regret it.
Felicity goes to the loft to get some of her things while Ben is out. Noel can’t believe that Ben really thinks there’s something going on between them. Felicity says she just doesn’t think he’ll ever get past what happened. Ben comes home, and Noel decides he needs to intervene here. He announces that there’s nothing going on between him and Felicity. Felicity loves Ben, not Noel. Noel has enough relationship issues of his own and doesn’t want to be involved in theirs. Ben and Felicity need to work things out and be together.
He leaves them alone so they can talk, but Ben takes a while to decide to handle this maturely. He takes back what he said about Felicity being to blame for what happened with him and Lauren. Felicity promises that there’s nothing going on with her and Noel. She made a mistake sleeping with him, but it’ll never happen again. Ben knows that, but things are so crazy that it’s hard to remember that. He feels like he’s drowning and pulling Felicity down with him. He should see Dr. Auerbach, who won’t let him drown.
Ben continues that sometimes he feels like Felicity should be with someone else. She tells him firmly that she wants to be with him, and he says the same. Okay, then stop acting like a maniac! Ben asks Felicity to come to Arizona with him. She tells him she can’t – she needs to find her own direction in life. But she wants to find that with him.
At work, Zoe asks Noel to talk. She tells him that Dominic doesn’t really hate him; he’s just protective. He’s not the real reason Zoe didn’t want to be with Noel. A few years ago, she fell in love with someone who was in love with someone else. The past three years have been difficult for her. Hey, this sounds familiar! Like something out of a TV show I’ve been watching. What a coincidence! Dominic is overprotective because he’s worried about Zoe. She worried that Noel would dump her if he knew, but obviously Noel can relate. Zoe decides they should tell Dominic about the relationship.
Javier and Meghan meet up at the dorm apartment to find out which of them got the part in the commercial. Neither of them did, but each expected the other to. They both screwed up on purpose to give the other the part. Javier’s happy that Meghan finally learned how to give to her acting partner. They may not have gotten the commercial, but they got a real relationship.
Ben goes back to Lauren’s apartment to ask her one last time to rethink moving to Arizona. He’s trying to be reasonable, but he does have some rights. Legally, he could keep her in New York. Dude, don’t do that. Ben points out that Lauren has made a bunch of decisions without him, and she can’t do that anymore. She tells him she’ll think about staying. Back at the loft, Ben invites Noel to join him and Felicity at Epstein Bar. Aww, look at Ben making adult decisions! Felicity happily observes the two of them chatting at a table.
Thoughts: “And then Javier and Meghan have to compete with each other for a mattress commercial” is an idea someone actually pitched for this episode. I’d say the series ended at the right time if this is the kind of plot the writers were coming up with.
So it never crosses Felicity’s mind for a second that she can stay in New York, date Ben long-distance for a year, then join him in Arizona? Freaking A. Use your entire brain, girl.
The better ending to Meghan and Javier’s plot would have been Elena getting the role. She needs the money more than they do anyway; she has to pay for med school.
June 12, 2021
Felicity 4.13, Kiss and Tell: Everything Will Be Fine
ANGST!
Summary: Mr. Covington has recovered from his transplant and is out of the hospital, having dinner with Ben at Epstein Bar. He has a bunch of time off from his job, so he and Mrs. C. are just going to relax together. Mr. C. saw Lauren recently and found out she’s pregnant. Ben pretends that’s brand-new information. Mr. C. doesn’t know who the baby’s father is, but Lauren said he doesn’t want to be involved. Mr. C. thinks that guy’s a loser. And that’s coming from a guy who practically abandoned his own kid!
After dinner, Ben goes to the dorm apartment and asks Felicity to go for a walk. He wants her opinion on the whole Lauren/baby situation. She says she’s overwhelmed. Ben tells her Mr. C. knows about the baby but not that Ben is the father. Ben still thinks things are going to turn out fine. Felicity keeps saying she knows that, but it doesn’t sound like she believes it.
Felicity lies awake that night while Ben sleeps, and she goes to the loft’s living room, where Noel is making a late-night snack. She confides that she feels like everything’s changing. He’s sure that her life plans will work out, just like his are after she told him so many times last year that they would. He suggests that she look at classes that might provide her with a new course in life. Felicity shows an interest in architecture, so Noel offers to connect her with a grad-student friend of his, Adam, who’s looking for help with a model for a contest. Felicity likes the idea of taking on a new project right now.
In the morning, Meghan tells Sean she wants to go out that night. Sean is too busy working on his latest idea, shoe covers to go over your sneakers to make them look like dress shoes. Meghan thinks people would prefer to just buy new shoes. They start fighting. Shocking! Ben and Trevor meet with the counselor who gave Noel his job (I guess he came back after Noel left), hoping he can tell them if they’re on the right track with their med-school applications. He tells them to do some volunteer work. There’s an opening with Big Brothers, so the guys will try that.
Noel and Zoe run into each other at work, and the awkwardness is palpable. Noel addresses it head-on, saying he doesn’t think things need to be weird between them. They can just be professional. Zoe’s happy to hear that, since her father’s going out of town for a couple of weeks and has left her in charge of the account Noel is working on. Noel’s like, “Yes, professionalism, let’s go! Also, come to a party my friends are throwing.”
Felicity meets Adam, who’s more interested in advice on his personal life than her help with his model. His girlfriend used to help him, but it looks like she wants to date someone else now. I think Felicity’s going to have to hear about this a lot. That means we are, too. Can I preemptively opt out of this storyline? I could recap something else instead.
Ben and Mr. C. are getting ready to go to some game together; afterward, Mr. C. wants to visit Lauren and give her some pregnancy-related books. Since the baby’s father isn’t going to be involved, Mr. C. wants to step up. Ben decides this is the time to tell Mr. C. that he’s the baby’s father. He tries to make Lauren look like the bad guy here, since she waited four months to tell him about the baby. Mr. C. is sympathetic, since Ben is so young and has plans of going to med school and becoming a doctor. He acknowledges that this is a complicated situation.
Felicity was supposed to go to the loft, but she’s working on Adam’s model at the dorm apartment. She didn’t get much direction from Adam, since he’s so focused on his love life. Ben tells her that he filled Mr. C. in on the baby, and Mr. C. just listened like a normal dad. Ben thinks Felicity’s upset and invites her to talk, but she wants to keep working on the model.
The next day, Sean and Noel join a staff meeting Zoe’s leading. Noel presents an idea about a mail-order catalog, but Zoe immediately shoots it down, and not very nicely. After the meeting, Sean asks Noel if he and Zoe are sleeping together. Apparently the tension between them put that idea in his head. Sean would prefer a peaceful work environment since his home environment is definitely not peaceful. He complains that Meghan hates all his ideas.
The two have stopped at a coffee cart, and the woman running it hears about the shoe covers and comes up with a name, Shoe Jackets. Don’t quit your day job, coffee cart chick. Sean’s happy, though, and invites her to the same party Noel invited Zoe to (it’s at the dorm apartment). The coffee cart chick, Clancy, accepts. As they leave, Noel reminds Sean that he’s married, but Sean says he’s trying to set up Sean with Clancy.
Meghan may have excelled as Margo in All About Eve, but her attempt at playing Juliet isn’t going as well. Her scene partner, Rocco, isn’t exactly a Broadway-caliber actor, but he looks like a good kisser. Javier is stunned to see him just go for it, especially since he leaves Meghan speechless. After class, Rocco invites Meghan to come see his band that night. She invites him to come to the party first. Javier reminds Meghan that she’s married, but Meghan likes the idea of hanging out with someone who doesn’t go to bed at 9:00.
Felicity meets with Adam again, and he’s still obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and the end of his relationship. She commiserates with him, and he finally snaps into work mode. Unfortunately, Felicity will have to keep working on the model that night. Mr. C. goes by the loft, where Ben is getting ready to start his Big Brother volunteering. Mr. C. is upset on Ben’s behalf that he’s in a tough situation with Lauren, but he thinks Ben is making the wrong decision. Ben really doesn’t want advice about parenting from the man who was never really a father to him. Mr. C. says he’s trying to be a parent now, but Ben says it’s too late.
Ben goes to meet his little brother, but the second he sees the kid, he realizes he can’t mentor a child. He turns around and leaves. Noel asks Zoe why she was so hard on him during the staff meeting, especially since they agreed to be professional. If she’s uncomfortable with the way things stand between them, they can talk about it, but she can’t just shoot down his ideas without listening to them. Zoe thinks the problem is on his end, and that Noel is having trouble working below her. He points out that without him, the company wouldn’t have this account. He urges her to actually review his and Sean’s ideas.
Felicity and Adam stay up until 4:00 in the morning working on the model. He thinks she’s trying to escape something. She just says her life is intense right now. She had fun doing the model, and Adam says she’s good at this. She should consider architecture as her future. He wants to take her to dinner as a thank-you, but Felicity has the party at the apartment. She invites Adam to come. He tells her that no matter what’s going on in her life, everything will be fine.
Everyone else on the show is at the dorm apartment for the party. Trevor is thrilled with his little brother and asks Ben what he did with his. Ben lies that they just hung out. Elena pops into the episode, then pops back out. Clancy hasn’t shown up yet, but Zoe’s there. Ben tells Felicity he has to leave – Mr. C. just called from a bar, about to take a drink.
Sean introduces himself to Rocco, clearly jealous of the attention Meghan’s giving him. When Clancy arrives, Sean says he’s ready to party all night. Rocco tells Meghan he’s totally into the idea of being with someone in an open marriage. As retaliation against Sean, Meghan introduces herself to Clancy as Sean’s husband, then announces that Rocco kissed her in class. The spouses end up fighting in the kitchen, then split up to spend time with their new friends.
Adam arrives at the party and tells Felicity he submitted the model. He doesn’t think it has a chance, since the other entries were so good. She tells him she’ll be fine. Zoe and Noel find a quiet place to talk, and she tells him his catalog is actually good. She apologizes for not being professional. She got flustered because he chose a seat next to another female co-worker instead of her. Noel says he was just too nervous to sit next to Zoe. They kiss, so I guess that whole “we’ll keep everything professional” thing is out the window.
Felicity and Adam chat in her bedroom about how his relationship is definitely over and she’s still struggling with stuff she won’t tell him about. He tries to kiss her, but she stops him, telling him she has a boyfriend. Poor Adam is embarrassed enough to leave. Ben rushes to the bar Mr. C. called him from and slams him for not calling his sponsor instead of his child. Mr. C. really just wanted to talk more about how Ben is making a big mistake with Lauren. Ben can’t believe Mr. C. lied about wanting to drink so he could manipulate Ben into talking to him.
Mr. C. tries to apologize, but Ben says his apologies mean nothing. If Mr. C. wants to drink, he can, but if he does, Ben will never forgive him. Mr. C. says he doesn’t want to drink. He knows he’s a bad father, but he also knows that Ben will always regret it if he doesn’t do the right thing for his own child. He’s too good a person to just walk away.
When Ben gets back to the dorm apartment, the party’s over and everyone’s in bed. He again asks Felicity for her thoughts on what’s happening. He feels like she’s avoiding having a discussion about the situation. She admits that’s true – she doesn’t know what to say. She keeps thinking about how he promised that the baby wouldn’t change anything for them, but she can’t make herself believe that. Like Mr. C., she doesn’t think Ben will be able to live with himself if he abandons his child.
Over at the loft, Meghan and Sean are giving each other the silent treatment, which, I have to say, is a nice change from fighting. They both admit that they didn’t hook up with their new friends. Meghan says she just wants to have fun sometimes. Sean says he just wants Meghan to like one of his ideas. She admits that the shoes she wore to the party were uncomfortable, so maybe Sean could help her with that. He suggests shoe covers. Just don’t call them Shoe Jackets.
The next door, Felicity and Noel run into each other at Epstein Bar. Adam called Noel after the party, feeling terrible about what happened with Felicity. Noel invites Felicity to talk, but she says she has a lot on her mind that she’s trying to work through. Zoe joins him, and Noel introduces her as a co-worker. Yeah, a co-worker he’s meeting for a meal after a make-out session. Totally professional!
Ben asks Mr. C. to come to the loft, where he admits that Mr. C. is right about Ben making a mistake. Mr. C. offers to help however he can. Later, Ben goes to meet his little brother, Oscar. He’s brought some toys to see what Oscar likes, and when Oscar says he wants to play basketball, they make an instant connection. Oscar, you’re about to learn all you could ever want to know about brooding.
Thoughts: Writers, stop sidelining the more interesting characters on your show just so you can do more angsty stuff with your main three.
I’m not sure how much time is supposed to have passed between “A Perfect Match” and now, but I doubt it’s enough for Mr. C. to have made such a big recovery. I also doubt his doctor would be okay with him going out so much and being around big crowds full of germs when his immune system is compromised.
I think the better plot would have been Ben bonding with Oscar and from there realizing he couldn’t abandon his child. The way it played out, he just resisted a bunch until Mr. C. and Felicity told him to stop, and then he changed his mind.
'90s Flashback 