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#1.1 The Last Stand

"Suddenly, it was the best hamburger." -Felicity

Aired October 6, 1998

In a nutshell: Felicity sends Ben a copy of her application essay after discovering that someone called the admissions office about it, but discovers (to her horror) that it was actually her dad who requested it, as her parents are having a hard time dealing with her decision to stay in New York (ed. note: I'd try her diary instead). Elsewhere, Noel convinces Felicity to show her parents the dorm; Meghan's skulls clash with Felicity's hush puppies; Lewis is trying to kill Larry (with a knife); and Julie admits she's looking for her birth mom.

People who thought this up: J.J. Abrams (the writer), Matt Reeves (the director)

Supporting cast: Erich Anderson (Edward Porter), Eve Gordon (Barbara Porter), Amanda Foreman (Meghan), Darnell Williams (Papaleo), John Cho (Larry), William Monaghan (Professor Rogalsky), Jan Schweiterman (Lewis), Brent Roam (male student), Constance Zimmer (girl), Hunter Bodine (Ben's buddy), Meganne Macias (crying girl)

Tunes: Sarah MacLachlan ("Good Enough"--The Freedom Sessions), Jude ("Charlie Says"--No One Is Really Beautiful), Donny Hathaway (song title unavailable--Everything is Everything), Neil Finn ("She Will Have Her Way"--Try Whistling This), Heather Nova ("Valley of Sound"--Siren), Sinead Lohan ("No Mermaids"--No Mermaid)

Quotes

Long Summary

In her weekly tape to Sally, Felicity compares being in New York to being a snowflake in a crazy blizzard, while announcing that both she and Julie are both over Ben. Yeah, right.

In the hall (or maybe the mailroom, since all those rooms sort of look alike), Ben sees Felicity and asks her the obvious. She says yes, she's staying. He says he can't figure her out.

Felicity tells Sally that someone had called the admissions office asking about her file.

Felicity immediately asks Noel, who admitted in the Pilot that he had a crush on her. He says no, then explains that he gets crushes on people all the time. Felicity tells Noel that she's going to send Ben her application essay, which Noel thinks is a bad idea. And he doesn't even slightly have a crush on her.

Cut to a scene of Felicity mailing her essay.

But things aren't that simple. Felicity arrives at the advisor's office just in time to catch a glimpse of her parents, who are worried about her being in the big Apple all alone. That's when she learns the truth--that it was actually her father who called about her essay (they think she's on drugs, or something).

Meanwhile, Larry, one of the dorm residents, thinks that Lewis, his knife wielding roommate, is trying to kill him. He's hoping Noel will do something about it.

Felicity tries to convince an unhappy postal employee to let her have the letter back, even though doing so would constitute a federal offense. Ben arrives, just in time to witness the source of his obsession haggling over the cream colored envelope. In a desperate attempt, Felicity tries to grab the letter after Ben drops it on the floor. Boy, is he glad she decided to stay.

Noel asks Lewis if he has any intention of buying knives. Apparently, he isn't very convincing.

Felicity tells Noel that it was actually her dad who called about her essay, and now, Ben will not only remember her as that obsessive, frizzy haired girl who followed him across the country (her words, not mine), but who also mailed him unsolicited information about herself (she'll be okay if she can live with that). In the mean time, Noel suggests that she invite Mom and Dad to the dorms, and introduce them to her cool R.A. Now, If only Meghan would move her skulls.

But the 'rents seem unimpressed with the noise and perpetual beer smell of their daughter's dorm. Things get a little stranger when Meghan pops out of the closet and announces that Felicity is seriously weird for wearing hush puppies, and Noel inadvertantly calls her parents "overbearing," not realizing that they're standing right there. This leads to a series of verbally repetitive Noelesque apologies, including phrases such as "horrifyingly apologetic" and "transgression." When Larry walks in with his roommate's knife, and a fire alarm bell sounds, Mom and Pops have seen quite enough.

Back at the counselor's, Felicity tells her parents that she came to New York because of Ben--but is staying because of her. Her mother becomes upset when she admits that she likes the independence of doing things on her own terms (something about a burger)--and tells Felicity not to come home for turkey, in that case.

Meanwhile, Ben thinks Julie is avoiding him because of Felicity, even though Julie says it's neither here nor there. She's got her own problems: not only is she adopted, but in an active search for her natural mother. She tells Felicity that her own parents probably feel rejected.

While Felicity is in the bathroom, Noel interrupts (he's still thinking about those overbearing remarks)--but she tells him that he's simply one more straw in the whole miserable haystack. Dr. Porter asks Noel if his daughter will be okay.

Over dinner, Dad makes one final plea for Felicity to come home. When he sees how determined she is to stay, he finally caves and agrees to pay her tuition--but she'll have to finance the rest. Still feeling guilty about her mother, though, Felicity visits her counselor yet again (how she is able to finagle so much of his time is unclear, but so are a lot of things about this show). When her Mom shows up at the dorm, Felicity learns that the "I followed an unshaven, lying boy to New York" scenario sounded a little too close to home--which was why she got upset in the first place. They are still talking when unshaven boy himself stops by, and informs Felicity that he got her essay (which was about him). She introduces him to Mom.

The 'rents finally leave, and they hug their daughter goodbye before disappearing into the sunset (insert sad, but contemporary, music)

Fade to credits.