1 Juni 2000
By Laurie Kalb
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When Felicity first appeared on my television screen I thought I had died and gone to heaven. At last I had evidence
that someone else existed on Earth with hair almost as unmanageable as my own, and there was much rejoicing. Although
critical discourse about the second season's decline in ratings would have us believe otherwise, the moment the show aired
I had no idea that what was in store for me was far more than a public display of wild, curly hair.
I was about to get hooked on a show that would air right alongside my own college years. I was about to get hooked on a show that made my private humiliations feel shared. I was about to get hooked on a cast of characters who each, in their own way, resembled myself, my friends, and other people I'd known throughout my own life. But most of all, I was about to get hooked on a show which would make me think, laugh, and cry... when they were the last things I wanted to do, and maybe the very things I needed most. Way back when it all began, for the most part we thought Felicity crazy for going all the way to New York in pursuit of a guy she hardly knew. Few of us would take such a leap, especially when a free academic ride sat waiting for us back home. Watching Felicity take that risk, unloosening the parental tethers and acting without thinking, had some suspended in disbelief and others rooting her on. She was a naive, wide-eyed girl who possessed a kind of self-assurance even she was ignorant of. There was an enviable courage to her. The whole move would be touted as "the best mistake" she'd ever made, but for a while there it was hard to tell when the payoff was going to come. Over the duration of a year we would watch her slip and stumble as she inched her way closer towards finding herself and further from the life she left behind the minute she boarded that plane to the Big Apple. Of course she'd go through a fair share of loves and losses, have to endure the Pink Power Ranger's arrival to ruin the day, be a leaning post for her friends when they were weak, and be vulnerable enough to let herself rest against one of them during her own low moments. We all lined up to board the Ben-Noel-Felicity roller coaster which, no matter how sick it made us, kept us coming back with interest time and time again for more. We knew exactly where the dips and turns were, exactly what was going to happen after the agonizing ascent upwards, and exactly what was lurking around the bend when everything seemed to be moving on an even keel. Yet with such shockers as Todd Mulcahy's accident with the bus and Elena catching her boyfriend red-handed at the club, the show still managed to surprise when we least expected it. Over time it seemed as though we'd been invited to pull up a chair alongside the lives of the cast for a close-up view. This wasn't going to be an ordinary show with flat, forgettable characters who would flash on our screens and dissipate into light when we turned off our sets. This was a show with a rounded, three-dimensional cast who would make us feel almost as though we knew them inside and out. They had an extraordinary way of really making us care. By the time Season two rolled around, it had become evident that most of the real learning was happening outside of the classroom. Whether it was dealing with the horror of a too-short haircut or the sudden split of her parents, Felicity suddenly found herself required to tap into emotional resources she may not have even known she had. Circumstances called for her to grow up a little. Less and less screen time was devoted to coursework, exams, and the trials and tribulations of the world of academia. Instead we shifted focus to the one common factor in it all despite what was changing in the environment: the people. And isn't that what it's all about in the end, anyhow? Things did get sidetracked for a while as everyone gave into their primal urges. Yet while the novelty of weekly sexual escapades wore off quickly for a disgruntled viewing audience, it would eventually wear off for the cast as well. In the end, it was a necessary digression, which showed how receptive the writers were to audience sentiments towards the content of the show. The highly original Twilight Zone episode served as a turning point. The community service jobs, dorm disasters, potential record contracts, student protests at the health clinic, and student council elections that followed all kept the show relevant to those still in college, those on their way there, and those who held their university years in memory. Meanwhile: Meghan was softening around the edges; Ben was in the process of replacing his gorgeous-dumb-jock status with a self-chosen identity; Noel was being forced to deal with the prospect of being a father and husband; and Javier was changing from his role as occasional jokester to an ever-present, sensitive, source of comic relief. A sort of softer Falstaff. At the close of a second season, a different Felicity would stand atop a New York high-rise piercing the clouds. This Felicity had muddled her way through the unfortunate but necessary humiliations, let-downs, confusion and chaos of a transitory and transforming stage of life. She had emerged on the other side with a more secure sense of herself, where she was going, and who she was going to invite along for the ride. The good news for us is that there will be front-row seats to the action with our names written all over them. Thanks to the efforts of loyal viewers and as a testimony to the undeniable quality of the show itself, season three will be back with an initial 11 episode run followed by a 13 week hiatus during which Jack & Jill will invade the airwaves. Then, Felicity will be back to finish off the TV season. There are also plans to bring reruns to either the Lifetime Channel or ABC. So make sure you have plenty blank VHS cassettes and a working recliner. When next season returns, we are undoubtedly going to discover: where Noel and his new friend scuttled off to, what new inventions an Italian summer escapade with Meghan has inspired in Sean, how well Ben and Felicity handled their summer apart, whether Julie will agree to part with one of her kidneys, and whether or not a summer of abstinence will inspire Elena and Tracy to push for more of the same. We'll also have the pleasure of watching Javier, who will be balancing the hell of a freshman year with married life. As is often the case, there can be a subtle to enormous difference between what we think will happen and what we want to happen. That said, I am personally going to refrain for the time being from offering any predictions. For the long-term future of the show, as much as I adore it, I will say right now: I hope it DOESN'T last as long as 90210. I'd rather have it go out while the characters are still very believable and the plotlines are more than a ritual passing around of the same sexual partners from within the cast. Right now we're in the clear and the weather looks beautiful. It's been a bumpy ride, but remember: the bumps remind us of the "smoothie" sailing we weren't paying attention to. See you all next season, and thanks for a great year! |