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#2.1 Sophomoric

"It's just real contentious." -Felicity

Aired September 26, 1999

Written by J.J. Abrams, Directed by Lawrence Trilling

Guests: Michael Pena (Brian Burke), Ian Gomez (Javier), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Nancy), Brittany Ishibashi (birth control girl), Ayo Adeyemi (cab driver), Julie & Jenna Dunlavy (Penny and Stacy), Lamya Jezek (Eve), David Reivers (housing officer)

Tunes: Jude (album-No one is really beautiful); Spain (album-She haunts my life); Macy Gray (album-On how life is)

Quotes

Long summary

Javier is back, and he's pestering Felicity to tell him who the hell she went with (he got a Visa). But hey, it's a hellishly long story.

Felicity learns that Meggy is her co-RA, and Meggy announces Felicity's sexual history to the new advisees during a joint R.A. meeting (after an advisee asks about birth control--like anyone would really do this in a room full of strangers). An annoying guy named Burky pesters Felicity, but in a totally different way, than say, Javier.

Julie runs into Sean as she is moving her stuff back into the dorms (something about his new business idea, and five dollars, but I wasn't completely paying attention). Not only has she not spoken to the Ben-meister, but her roommates are twin cheerleaders who missed their high school bus, and ended up in her room (okay, not really, but it's possible).

So Felicity tries to get a single, but there aren't any left (something about toxic chemicals). While she's standing in line, Julie, who's also waiting for a single, overhears. She leaves without saying a word to her former best friend.

Noel and Ben have nothing to say to each other either, especially with Felicity caught in the middle. Noel does the staring thing and walks on by, but hottie Ben's got the possessive smackaroo to clinch the "Ben or Noel?" cliffhanger title (a fact that makes this editor very happy, by the way).

So Felicity goes back to telling the summer story (which doesn't mesh with the book, "Felicity's Summer Vacation," incidentally)-- she initially planned to go with Noel, but then changed her mind and went to Ben's while still in the taxi. In the book, she is about to have sex with Noel (in Berlin) but yells out Ben's name in the heat of the moment, causing her to go home early (or something).

* If you want to hear this scene, choose the audio link below (the conversation with Javier, not the sex scene):

WAV File: ( 345k ): http://members.xoom.com/Keith_K/summer.wav

RA Streaming: ( 44 seconds ): http://members.xoom.com/Keith_K/summer.ram

RA Download: ( 90k ): http://members.xoom.com/Keith_K/summer.ra

Felicity tells Javier she tried to call Julie and Noel over the summer, but neither returned her calls.

Sean offers his place to Julie, who's trying to escape the cheerleaders, but she refuses, then breaks into a cheer (y-e-s!).

Ben stops by Felicity's room as she is finishing up a tape to Sally. She tells him that she's not sure that Julie and Noel will ever forgive her. They kiss.

Felicity tells Javier that Ben went to Mexico for half the summer.

Sean asks Ben about Julie moving in with them, and Ben reveals that he's dating Felicity--a fact which seems to upset Sean (since Felicity is the girl that you marry, not date).

Meanwhile, Elena has decided to share an apartment with Noel--but it's okay, since she asked Felicity first. Felicity helps her move said hideous table into the apartment.

Being that this is a drama series, however, Cyber Boy soon shows up, and things get nasty when he tells Felicity how he slept with some girl in Berlin (making his Cyber personality less attractive than ever). Felicity tells him it's not about revenge--but he doesn't want to hear it, and says he never wants to see her again (ed. note: as much as I find Cyber Boy annoying, this little outburst was really not in line with his character. I think Stephanie's story does a much better job describing how Noel, in character, would have responded to the whole Ben situation).

Upset, Felicity snaps at Meghan when she finds her roomie recording a very loud message (with music) on their answering machine. Meghan tries to be a good listener while Felicity rattles on about Ben, Noel, Julie, Elena's new table, her hair, Ben's hair, etc.--but stops her before the sarcastic remarks pour out.

Elsewhere, Julie's cheer-aholic roommates break into cheer, causing Julie to move out.

Felicity goes to see Ben--but finds Julie and Sean instead (she's moving in).

So Felicity tells Ben about Julie, but he doesn't care--that, and he needs to tell her something important. Felicity thinks he wants to break up.

Julie, Noel and Elena make plans to go to see the Blair Witch Project (a little late, isn't that on video by now?). Elena tells Julie that she doesn't think her moving into the loft is such a good idea.

That's when Felicity and Ben show up, and the heated exchanges fly. All I'll say is this: in a city full of restaurants, how is it that they all happen to pick the same one? Other observations about this scene: the word "dick" and "ass" get thrown around a lot for an 8:00 show (which explains the TV-14 rating, I suppose); Ben insults Cyber Boy's computer geekiness (I would like to think they got that from me, but hey, I'm not the CSFWS); Julie and Felicity start yelling at each other; Noel calls Elena a cheapo; Ben calls Felicity a masochist, and by scene's end, Elena and Felicity are the only two left in the restaurant. Elena asks Felicity if it's going to be like this all year.

Ben finally tells Felicity what he wanted to talk about before: that he's happy to be with her (that, and Julie's moving in means nothing to him). Even though Felicity thought he wanted to split. They kiss again.

Elena tells her new roomie about doing it with Professor McGrath, who called it off over the summer (since honesty is the best policy). In that case, Noel really hates her new table.

At the loft, Ben, Sean and Julie are sitting around pretending to study, so Ben tells Julie to be mad at him, not Felicity. But Julie insists she has more to her life than him and what's-her-name (i.e. power watches, Dawson's Creek reruns, her Zord, the Lillith fair, etc.)

Meanwhile, Sean's still intent on breaking up Ben and Felicity--but why, we can't say. Perhaps he wants the curly haired vixen to himself, a la Todd Mulcahy, minus the big bus. Somehow, the L-word gets mentioned, and Sean makes Ben repeat something twice--but I was too busy admiring Ben's new 'do to remember what.

Ben stops by Felicity's and finds she and Meghan arguing over a ferret (you know, those weird mink/cat/rodent-like creatures that are illegal in most states). He waits while she and Meggy resolve the dispute, and off in the elevator, Meghan tells Felicity that Ben is kinda cute. But no, they haven't done it yet.

In the final scene, Ben gets nosy and listens to Felicity's Sally tape--and learns that she might actually love the guy (that, or his new 'do, and the fact that he now shaves--it was hard to tell).