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#1.13 Todd Mulcahy, pt. 2

"Did Todd die yet?" -Meghan

Aired February 16, 1999

In a nutshell: Todd goes into a coma; Felicity learns that Todd has a fiancee; Richard studies hand modeling; Julie's birth mother gives her the shaft; Felicity decides to be a doctor without giving up art.

People who thought this up: J.J. Abrams (the writer & the director)

Supporting cast: Chris Sarandon (Professor McGrath), Stephen Berra (Todd Mulcahy), Amanda Foreman (Meghan), Ian Gomez (Javier), Greg Grunberg (Sean), Robert Patrick Benedict (Richard), Maggie Lawson (Rebecca), Simon Rex (art student), Jane Kaczmarek (Carol Anderson), Dahlia Victoria (Charlotte), Taraji Henson (Art Student), Lorin Shapiro (Gloved Woman).

Tunes: Stretch Princess ("Nice Thing"--Stretch Princess), Ebba Forsberg ("Once Upon a Time"--Been There), Travis ("I Love You Anyways"--Good Feeling); Artist unknown ("Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"--album unknown)

Quotes

TKTV's tribute to the chicken boy

Long summary:

Todd may be getting comatose, but he's still able to point out the note that he wrote to Felicity as a kid (stashed in his pocket).

This prompts Felicity to eat Todd's Malomars and watch Dead Poet's Society, while she ponders over her future. After all, some day she'll have to make a decision. She's just happy that that day isn't today (and so are we).

Cut to a scene of Felicity talking into her tape.

Elena and Felicity learn that both have made the cut--the medical seminar one, that is.

Felicity shows Noel her old sketches, but he's concerned about her excellent boyfriend--which he thinks is more important. And no, he doesn't want any of Todd's Malomars.

Felicity tells McGrath that she's considering art, prompting him to remove her name from the list.

Meanwhile, Javier's thinking he could lose a few by cutting down on the rugala (he loves Ben's brutal honesty), while Julie's thinking about her birth mother, and the tape she just sent her (which she tried to retrieve from the post office, after she mailed it. How original).

Felicity tells Elena that she was removed from the seminar--which pisses Elena off.

[ed. note: this is a cool scene] While Todd lays comatose in his hospital bed, the gang (Noel, Ben, Julie, Felicity and Elena) form a pyramid outside his window, and Noel recounts some story about how his brother Ryan broke his arm and leg when he was a kid (something about a baseball). Ben thinks it's funny, but what's not so funny is Sean's idea of taking Todd's near-death picture for posterity's sake with his disposable camera. That, and refill his "disposable camera vending machine" in the maternity ward.

Funnier still (and just plain weird) is Richard's hand modeling scheme--which Noel discovers when he returns from the hospital. There may be a lot of money in hands, but Noel's not interested. Richard threatens to report Noel's fraternizing if he tries to shut him down.

Meanwhile, wide-eyed Felicity is fraternizing with a hot-looking artist at the art studio.

So while Noel's looking for Felicity, Meghan's looking for him to stop asking where her roomie is--that, and tending to her swollen beak. And no, Todd didn't die yet. Even though Meghan's wishing Noel would.

Julie discovers that Carol did, in fact, get her tape--which she tries to grab as it falls to the ground (hey, didn't we see this scene in The Last Stand?)

music: "Once Upon A Time" by Ebba Forsberg

Felicity pulls an all nighter in the studio (with the charcoal, not the hottie).

When Noel finds out that Felicity was gone all night, he gets upset, and even more so when she heads back to the hospital to give Comatic Boy a visit. Richard watches unhappily as the two get into a minor tiff.

But the comatose boy isn't so comatic after all, and begs for that last kiss--which, incidentally, puts him into cardiac arrest. That's when Felicity bumps into his fiancee, Rebecca.

In more pressing matters, Javier teaches Ben how to make a really good mocha (you have to respect the machine), and Noel complains to Ben about Felicity being distant (we think he should keep a journal). He thinks Felicity is going through some mid-freshman crisis (?), but since Ben didn't actually talk to Felicity in high school, all he can do is sympathize by telling him he's got the same problem (with the Pink, er, Julie).

Meanwhile, Felicity learns that Todd may be a little eccentric, but has a big heart--not to mention a really strong liver. They learn that he will be around to cook many more chickens, after all.

So Felicity decides that she can pursue both art and medicine, now that she's seen a near miracle, and asks McGrath for a second chance. After all, medicine is about people -- not grades, research, overpriced HMO's, malpractice lawsuits, Viagra, or anything else.

At work, the Pink, er, Julie, learns that Carol is not her mother. Even though she's convinced otherwise.

Todd is also convinced--that Felicity's kiss was pretty damn good. But Felicity just wants him to leave, as in go away, as in skidattle (and soon). She and Rebecca wheel him onto a van.

Felicity learns that she has been accepted into the seminar.

music: "Nice Thing" by Stretch Princess

To thwart Barbecue Boy's future business ventures, Noel and Felicity stage a fake fight, in which Noel yells a bunch of things at Felicity while Richard disappointedly watches. [ed. note: I had intended on mocking Noel's fake fighting techniques, but hey, Cyber boy's somewhat appealing in this scene]. They kiss, and Noel tells Felicity that she can now draw on his computer (as opposed to playing Pokemon, like she used to).

Montage scene: "Nice thing"

Elena reads her acceptance letter. Ben comforts Julie. Noel watches as Felicity draws on his computer. In a voiceover, Sally congratulates Felicity for getting accepted to the seminar. Then she says something meaningful about searching, college, and life--I'm just not sure what--since I was too busy trying to recreate Todd's chicken recipe.