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‘Felicity’ 20 Years on: A Look Back at the 10 Best Episodes

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By Jason Bailey

• Sept. 28, 2018

J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves had only collaborated once — for the 1996 movie “The Pallbearer” — when they sold “Felicity” to the WB network 20 years ago this weekend. It wound up an outlier in their careers, which went on to include genre series like “Alias” and “Lost”; scary movies like “Cloverfield” and “Let Me In”; and big-screen reboots of “Star Wars” and “Planet of the Apes.” “Felicity,” by contrast, was a modest, character-driven TV drama about an introverted high school student (Keri Russell) who follows her dream guy, Ben (Scott Speedman), to college in New York City.

The show sounded like the stuff of soapy teen melodrama, but it rarely was, thanks to the intelligent writing and first-rate ensemble. It is a densely plotted, serialized show that rewards close and comprehensive viewing, but if you don’t have time to watch all 84 episodes on Hulu , these 10 will give you the general idea.

‘ Pilot ’ (Season 1, Episode 1)

One of the most striking (if, in hindsight, unsurprising) qualities of the pilot episode is how much it looks like a movie — a great little 45-minute film about breaking away and taking a chance. It is so elegantly done that it makes the show’s nutty premise seem not only credible, but emotionally logical. Speedman is perfect as the object of Felicity’s affection, displaying easy-breezy charisma and also the self-awareness and complexity that gives the character its depth; Scott Foley is immediately charming as Noel, the nice-guy resident assistant who completes the show’s romantic triangle. Many shows struggle to find their voice in the first season, but this series’s aesthetics are firmly in place from the jump: evocative slow-motion photography, thoughtful voice-over, silhouetted compositions and well-curated music. (Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” is so well used, you almost forget it was in “Say Anything.”)

‘ Thanksgiving ’ (Season 1, Episode 9)

Things get complicated in the rapidly developing relationship between Noel and Felicity, when Noel’s long-distance girlfriend comes to New York for Thanksgiving break. That girlfriend was played by Jennifer Garner, who later starred in “Alias” for Abrams, and we’re treated to two enjoyable scenes in the dormitory bathroom between her and Russell, two future TV super spies. But the romantic elements aren’t what make “Thanksgiving” so special, it’s the way the writer Andrea Newman orchestrates the changed plans, missed connections and emotional emergencies that create a makeshift holiday dinner of friends, roommates, and exes. “One minute you’re standing in this new city with nothing but your suitcase,” Sally notes, in the final voice-over, “but then you look around and suddenly you realize: You’re surrounded by family.”

‘ Felicity Was Here ’ (Season 1, Episode 22)

The “Ben or Noel?” conundrum comes to an early head in the Season 1 finale, in which plans for a couples’ road trip for Felicity and Noel and Ben and Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) implode because of Ben and Julie’s breakup — and Noel’s unexpected internship opportunity, in Berlin. Ben still wants Felicity to go on the road trip with him, finally acknowledging that he is attracted to her and pushing her to admit the same. Russell does some of her best acting yet in this episode, and she has quite the task: This is our sympathetic heroine doing something unsympathetic and unlikable, kissing her best friend’s barely- ex-boyfriend while her own almost-boyfriend is oblivious. But somehow we’re still with her, partly because Russell takes such pains to convey Felicity’s self-awareness and guilt, and partly because Abrams (who wrote this episode) gently reminds us that, although the circumstances are a little slimy, Ben is the entire reason she’s there.

‘ The List ’ (Season 2, Episode 2)

Few things on this earth are more frustrating than a relationship that takes forever to happen and then ends before it begins. Yes, Felicity chose Ben, but his discovery of a recording she definitely should not have left sitting around leads to a premature end to the relationship. “One day,” Felicity tells him, “you’re going to wake up, and you’re going to realize what you missed, and it’s going to be too late,” but she is genuinely sad for him, not angry or spiteful — a bold choice that works beautifully. Also in this episode: the blossoming of one of the show’s most charming friendships (Noel and Elena) and most doomed crushes (Sean on Julie), as well as the very controversial shearing of Russell’s flowing locks. Look out for one of a handful of appearances by a very young Michael Peña.

‘ The Depths ’ (Season 2, Episode 4)

“Felicity” is a show that never really got its due as an authentic New York City series; although many scenes were shot in California, it gets the details of city living right (“University of New York” notwithstanding), in sharp contrast to the vague signposting and unconvincing back lots of contemporaries like “Friends” and “Seinfeld.” This episode’s central premise — that Felicity and Julie have to work out their conflict while they’re stuck for several hours on a stalled subway car — rings with authenticity, right down to the unintelligible garble coming from the car’s loudspeaker. And in doing so, Abrams (who wrote this episode) slyly acknowledges the show’s inherent First World Problem-ness, when an African-American fellow traveler, late for a loan meeting, tells them: “These aren’t problems. They’re luxury items.”

‘ Help for the Lovelorn ’ (Season 2, Episode 11)

As a general rule, “Felicity” established its aesthetic in the pilot and didn’t much deviate, which is part of why this wild, gimmick episode from Season 2 is such an enjoyable jolt. Abrams penned “Lovelorn” as a tribute to “The Twilight Zone,” and he hired Lamont Johnson, who directed eight episodes of that series, to direct it in that show’s distinctive style, right down to the sharp, black-and-white photography. But it’s not just the look (complemented by noirish lighting and period costumes) that is stylized; the actors also try on the kind of crisply-articulated, slightly arch line-readings typical of “Twilight Zone”-era shows, with Amanda Foreman (as Felicity’s goth roommate, Meghan) and Tangi Miller (as Felicity’s friend Elena) being the standouts. (Janeane Garofalo does a fantastic Rod Serling imitation in the opening and closing voice-overs.)

‘ It’s Raining Men ’ (Season 3, Episode 16)

Season 3 is the show’s weakest, worn down by goofy plotlines (including a shooting at a Christmas party), the unfortunate post-“Blair Witch” omnipresence of hand-held camerawork (Ben’s roommate, Sean, played by Greg Grunberg, is making a documentary about his friends), and the continuing Felicity-Ben-Noel love triangle. But things finally boil over in this episode, in which Noel goes too far with Felicity and he and Ben come to blows. Also noteworthy: This episode features one of a handful of appearances by the future “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson, who plays a self-conscious potential love interest for Elena. (He delivers a lovely speech about protecting himself from being hurt in relationships.) It also features a one-time guest shot for Teri Garr as Sean and Meghan’s couples counselor.

‘ The Declaration ’ (Season 4, Episode 1)

There’s a palpable sense in this premiere that Season 4 was meant to be something of a reset after the fumbles of Season 3. Abrams returns to write, Reeves to direct, and it even opens with an old-school “Dear Sally” monologue. As in the pilot, there’s an awkward dinner scene between Felicity and her dad, in which he deems the previous three years “a waste of money and time” and insists that he will no longer pay for school. This time, however, she calls him on it. “This is my life,” she says, “and I have to make my own choices, even if they are mistakes.” The characters are in more desperate places at the open of Season 4: Noel, newly graduated, is having trouble finding work; Felicity can’t get in to a prestigious honors art program; and Ben’s switch to pre-med results in a near-impossible schedule that causes friction with Felicity. She and Noel find themselves vulnerable and alone together, and then there is a kiss, and here we go again.

‘ The Graduate ’ (Season 4, Episode 17)

The series comes to a satisfying conclusion — well, the first of two (more on that shortly) — by tying up loose ends, circling back to its origins and embracing its unapologetic heart. Ben asks Felicity to marry him after graduation, and she enthusiastically agrees, but there’s a complication: a brief relationship between Ben and another woman resulted in a baby, and he wants to move to Arizona to help raise the child. “Isn’t four years of following Ben Covington around enough?” asks Felicity’s father, not unreasonably, a perspective that she does come around to (though we all know things will eventually turn out). Nonetheless, this is a model final episode: The past is acknowledged, tears are shed, goodbyes are had, and the closing moments and dialogue are perfection. But, somehow, there was more to come …

‘ Back to the Future ’ (Season 4, Episode 22)

A five-episode arc followed what had seemed to be the series finale (and was intended to be, before a programming bungle left WB executives asking for additional episodes), reuniting the characters after an unexpected death. Felicity, distraught that Ben cheated on her in the intervening months, lets Meghan cast a spell that allows her to go back to the beginning of senior year to choose Noel over Ben. In other words, it’s an alternate timeline — a flourish not out of place on another Abrams-produced series, “Lost,” but far from the norm on “Felicity.” Some fans like to pretend this second finale never happened, but it does offer a different kind of wrap-up, with (of course) the help of snippets from previous episodes. Clip shows tend to be a drag, but it’s forgivable here, both as a victory lap and a time machine: The structure underscores how far the characters have come, as well as the growth all of the actors achieved in those four short years.

An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of an actress on “Felicity.” She is Tangi Miller, not Tanji.

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1st Season 1998

At her high school graduation, Felicity Porter works up the nerve to ask Ben Covington, her longtime crush, to sign her yearbook. On a whim, she decides to follow him to college in New York City, abandoning long-established plans to study medicine at Stanford. Her parents try to convince her that she is making a huge mistake. Felicity moves into the dorm and meets roommate Meghan, a standoffish girl with a decidedly alternative lifestyle. Her resident advisor, Noel, is much friendlier; he quickly develops romantic feelings for her. Felicity confesses her reasons for coming to New York to Ben. He is flattered, but understandably frightened. Felicity befriends Julie, an aspiring guitar player. She is put off by the mutual attraction between Julie and Ben.

Felicity takes a job in the university's records office. She reads Ben's application essay, in which he describes his desire to make his dead brother proud. Felicity receives word that someone has requested a copy of her essay. She believes the interested party is Ben (the topic of the composition), so she sends him a copy. However, her parents have actually stayed in New York in a last-ditch attempt to convince her to drop out and enroll at Stanford. They requested the essay in the hopes of figuring out what she was thinking. Felicity explains that she initially came to New York for Ben, but now sees the experience as an opportunity to break away and make her own life. Her mother is hurt, but the Porters eventually agree to accept Felicity's decision. A guilt-ridden Ben confesses to lying on his essay; he is an only child. Julie decides to search for her biological parents.

Julie tries to avoid the persistent Ben out of loyalty to Felicity. Meghan informs Felicity that something is obviously going on between the duo. Felicity confronts Julie during a dorm party. Julie sneers that she is tired of putting aside her feelings in order to protect Felicity. Felicity befriends floor mate Elena Tyler. A disc jockey accidentally plays one of Felicity's tapes to her friend Sally. Everyone hears a passage in which she talks about sex. She runs off, humiliated. Ben crashes in Felicity's room after getting locked out of his apartment. She stares at him while he sleeps. Felicity has difficulty locating the textbook for her inorganic chemistry class, and irritates the professor with her constant attempts to suck up. A computer error forces Ben to take a drama class.

While playing a game of Boggle in her room, Felicity and Noel kiss. Meghan walks in on them, and quickly spreads juicy rumors. Felicity is upset when Elena (her new lab partner) believes that she is sleeping with Noel. Felicity accepts a dinner date with Noel. Just as she is beginning to realize her feelings for him, he reveals that he has a girlfriend. Julie tells Ben that she only wants to be friends. She meets Zach, a freshman film student who earns the nickname "Pink Guy" after a laundry mishap. Julie upsets Zach with her critical comments about his film. Ben tries out for the track team.

As they return from a study date, Ben and Felicity are robbed at gunpoint in his apartment. Ben has trouble sleeping, and begins hanging out with Felicity in the middle of the night. They are drawn closer by the experience, and decide to dress as Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein for a Halloween party at the loft. Ben forgets about their costume plans, and completely ignores Felicity during the party. When she tells him off, he says that he is tired of having to live up to her expectations. He later apologizes and gives her a necklace to replace the one stolen during the robbery. Julie and Zach bond during a Halloween showing of "The Exorcist." Elena sleeps with Blair, a guy she met at the party. Felicity takes a job at Dean & DeLuca, a coffee shop.

Ben asks Felicity to proofread his English paper and hand it in. She rewrites it in the hopes of helping him get a better grade. The professor becomes suspicious and accuses Ben of cheating. Felicity confesses her actions to Ben. He is not only furious, but hurt that she seems to believe that he is stupid. He stubbornly refuses to allow her to turn herself in. Ben tries to learn the material in the paper before facing a hearing in front of faculty members. He eventually admits that he didn't write the paper. The professor saves Felicity and Ben from expulsion, but they both fail the assignment. (Felicity had gotten an A, and Ben's original paper would have received a B.) Julie prepares to see "Solaris" with Zach. She rents a copy beforehand because she is afraid that she will not understand the film. Blair constantly asks Elena for a date, while she dismisses their night together as a one-night stand.

Ben gives Felicity the cold shoulder after the cheating incident. She whines about the situation to Noel, who becomes very uncomfortable. Noel's fellow resident advisors recommend that he bar Felicity from discussing Ben with him. Noel shares his decision with Felicity, but ends up making her angry. Felicity and Blair try to convince the proud Elena to apply for a scholarship so that she can stay in school. A drunken Julie and Zach fool around after an evening out. The next morning, Julie discloses some shocking news to Felicity: Zach forced himself on her.

Felicity offers Julie her support and encourages her to file a police report. They are discouraged to learn that the district attorney's office does not prosecute any date rape case involving alcohol because of the low probability of a conviction. She decides to file a claim through the university. Zach has no idea why Julie is upset with him; he insists that he did not rape her. Ben hears what happened and attacks Zach in the cafeteria. Zach eventually realizes that he was wrong. He tells Julie that he is going to confess and drop out of school. Felicity is unable to look after a visiting high school senior because she is busy helping Julie. She dumps the student off on Elena, but the girl finds a connection with Meghan.

Felicity decides to stay on campus for Thanksgiving so that Julie will not have to be alone. Ben learns that his parents don't want him to come home for the holiday. Elena visits her father, who irritates her by revealing his plans to have Thanksgiving dinner with his girlfriend. Tired of being ignored, she returns to the campus. Noel entertains his visiting girlfriend, Hanna. She announces that she may be moving to New York to enroll in a special music school. Noel and a jealous Felicity have a confrontation in the bathroom. Ben catches them kissing. Noel breaks up with Hanna, but agrees to remain friends. Felicity's lovably eccentric boss, Javier, throws together a Thanksgiving feast for everyone. Elena's father arrives and apologizes for neglecting her.

Before Felicity and Noel can deal with the repercussions of their kiss, he is called away on a family emergency. When he returns weeks later, they decide to put aside discussion of their relationship until after finals. However, they spend most of their time making out instead of studying. An annoying guy named Richard sees them kissing. He threatens to report Noel for fraternizing with an advisee unless he lets Richard do whatever he wants. Ben calls on Felicity to help him prepare for their poetry final. She agrees because she owes him after causing him to flunk the earlier essay. Noel has an allergic reaction to a "smart drink" concocted by Meghan. He sees Felicity with Ben and flips out. Julie helps Sean sell fruit to students in the library. Ben declines to accompany Felicity back to Palo Alto. He stays in New York with Julie, who is living at his apartment.

Felicity returns from Christmas break and promptly announces that she wants to lose her virginity to Noel. Their first attempt goes awry when a dried-up Christmas tree catches fire in Noel's room. They reserve a hotel room, but get into an argument. They decide that the time is not right for them to sleep together. Julie is hesitant to tell Felicity that she is involved with Ben. Blair gives Elena an article of clothing as a gift. She tries desperately to find out exactly what it is.

Felicity spies Blair kissing another girl in the library. To make matters worse, the girl turns out to be Elena's best friend Tara. Blair tries to convince Felicity that what she witnessed was just an accident. Elena chooses to accept Blair's explanation, and orders Felicity to stay out of her business. She refuses to believe that Tara would betray her. When Blair claims to be attending a concert alone, Felicity and Elena follow him. They discover that he was on a date with Tara, whom he kisses outside the arena. Julie learns the identity of her birth mother, Carol Anderson. Ben comes along for moral support as Julie prepares to meet the woman. However, she chickens out; instead of identifying herself as Carol's daughter, she takes a job as her assistant. Noel poses as an advisee's boyfriend to get a good deal on some vending machines.

Todd Mulcahy, a young man who attended a summer camp with Felicity when they were twelve, arrives unexpectedly. He declares that he and Felicity are soulmates, and announces that he has come to New York to kiss her. Felicity seeks Ben's advice on how to deal with a stalker. She is annoyed when Todd manages to win everyone over with his charms. (He helps Noel with a computer problem, and turns out to be an old skateboarding buddy of Ben's.) Felicity finally takes Todd to dinner and orders him to leave her alone. As she walks home, he follows her and insists that they will be together. He gets hit by a bus. Felicity and Elena win the right to apply for a seminar that is considered essential for students wishing to attend medical school. Blair approaches Elena for a date, unaware that she knows that he is cheating on her. She punches his lights out. Julie discovers that she and Carol have common interests.

Todd gives Felicity an old note in which she speaks of her dreams of becoming an artist. Felicity experiences doubts about her future and blows off her interview for the seminar. She later convinces the professor to give her another chance. A cute art student invites her to hang out at the studio and work on her drawing. Felicity is surprised to learn that Todd is engaged. His fiancée gave him permission to go after Felicity because she didn't want to deny him a chance at happiness. Felicity gives Todd his kiss, and he leaves for a rehab hospital. Noel and Felicity stage a break-up to put a stop to Richard's blackmail schemes. Julie sends Carol a tape revealing that she is her daughter. Carol claims that she never put a child up for adoption.

Javier faces deportation. Horrified by the prospect of being separated from his true love, Samuel, he asks Felicity to help him get a green card by marrying him. Felicity reluctantly agrees to go through with it, although she could face jail time if their scheme is discovered. Javier calls off the marriage because of Samuel's objections. Samuel convinces his boss to transfer him to Spain so that he can stay with Javier. Noel's visiting brother Ryan announces that he is gay. Before Noel can come to grips with this news, Ryan introduces him to his boyfriend, whom he plans to marry. Ryan is infuriated when Noel proves to be less than supportive of his decision. The swim coach observes Ben's workout and asks him to try out for the team. He makes the squad and begins spending time with a new group of friends.

Noel discovers that Hanna has been attending school in New York for several months. She seeks his help in overcoming a block as she works on a musical composition. She kisses him after a dinner date. Noel admits that he still has feelings for Hanna; he is considering getting back together with her. He ignores Felicity's wishes by accompanying Hanna back to her apartment. Felicity continues to frequent the art studio; and agrees to pose for a sketch with Eli, her art student friend. Noel nearly rekindles his romance with Hanna, but cuts things off and decides to go back to Felicity. Meanwhile, Felicity has sex with Eli. Julie becomes lonely as Ben spends more time with his swimmer friends. She initially despises his abrasive buddy Lynn, but discovers that he is actually a decent guy.

Noel apologizes to Felicity for jeopardizing their relationship. She eventually summons the courage to tell him about her night with Eli. He explodes with anger, and their romance ends acrimoniously. The dorm residents play a war game designed to force them to learn each other's names. Elena becomes obsessed with victory. Julie helps Sean sort out his romance with a student librarian.

Julie celebrates her 18th birthday. Carol reveals that she is actually Julie's mother. She was hesitant to admit the truth because her husband is Julie's father. She had the baby while they were separated, and never told him about the pregnancy after they reunited and married. Carol seeks a relationship with Julie, but forbids her from contacting her father. Julie secretly observes her parents and two siblings as they dine at a restaurant. She decides to cut ties with Carol and show more appreciation for her adopted parents. Meghan asks Felicity to watch over her mysterious box while her parents are in town. Felicity is amazed as Meghan undergoes a complete personality transformation, trying to pass herself off as a sweet, innocent preppy. Noel considers moving out of the dorm because he feels uncomfortable around Felicity. Ben turns to gambling to solve his financial problems.

Noel seeks therapy to deal with his unresolved anger about Felicity's fling with Eli. Sean puts together a documentary about college life. He soon narrows the focus to a discussion of Felicity and Noel and their failed relationship. He interviews the duo and its friends and acquaintances. (Meghan describes life with Felicity as "like living with a TV that's always playing Little House on the Prairie , only with more sweaters.") Noel believes that he was the only one who truly cared about the relationship. He is surprised when Sean plays back a portion of Felicity's interview, in which she admits that she loved Noel. Although Sean hopes for a happy ending, Felicity and Noel decide to take things slow. Ben falls deeper into debt, and may be thrown out of school if he can't figure out a way to pay back his loans. He angrily dismisses Julie's suggestion that he ask his parents for help; he can't stand his father, and doesn't want to worry his mom. When Lynn refuses to loan him more money, a frustrated Ben attacks him.

Abby, Dean & DeLuca's officious new manager leaves Felicity in charge while she is away. She orders her to fire Danny, an irresponsible employee. Ben runs afoul of a campus bookie. When he is unable to pay off his debts, the guy enlists his frat brothers to beat up Ben. After the assault, Ben vanishes for 24 hours. He finally resurfaces on Felicity's doorstep. She convinces him to tell his mother about his financial problems. Felicity asks Danny to close up while she is helping her friends search for Ben. He does such a good job that Abby gives him the promotion that had been earmarked for Felicity. (The implausible excuses he had given to explain absences from work--such as helping at a convent--were all legitimate.) Noel receives a summer internship in Berlin. Felicity's reaction to the news leaves him puzzled. Elena fills in for Dr. McGrath's assistant. They develop a friendship, and she asks him out to dinner.

Meghan uses Felicity as her guinea pig as she practices her spells. Noel's friend Guy forces him to work on their group project outside a movie theater as he tries to secure tickets to " Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace ." Felicity, Ben, Noel and Julie plan to drive across the country to California to deliver a car. Noel learns that he cannot make the trip because his internship starts earlier than expected. Lynn's girlfriend continually makes passes at Ben. He turns her down, but breaks up with Julie because he feels stifled by the relationship. While working late at Dean & DeLuca, Felicity and Ben nearly kiss. Felicity lays the blame on one of Meghan's spells. Dr. McGrath treats Elena rudely in class in order to hide his attraction to her.

Felicity concludes that it would be wrong to join Ben on the road trip, as she does not want to betray Julie. After Ben kisses her, she suddenly changes her mind. She reconsiders again when Noel asks her to join him in Berlin. When Felicity visits Ben to share her latest decision, Julie witnesses their flirtation. She realizes that Ben dumped her for Felicity. Julie spills the beans to Noel, who demands that Felicity return her ticket to Berlin. Ben begins his drive alone, but returns several days later and makes a final plea for Felicity to join him. He appears to have won her over...until she finds the plane ticket in her room, accompanied by a love letter from Noel. Elena sleeps with Dr. McGrath. She sneaks a peek at her exam and discovers that she didn't do very well. When she receives the paper in class the next day, she finds that the professor has given her an A.

2nd Season 1999

Felicity returns to school to discover that one of the dorms has been shut down. Due to the lack of rooms, she must share resident advisor duties. Much to her horror, her roommate and co-resident advisor turns out to be Meghan. Elena and Noel decide to share an apartment. Felicity deals with the consequences of her decision to drive across the country with Ben. Although Ben spent much of the summer away in Mexico, he and Felicity are now a couple. Still extremely bitter, Noel and Julie lash out at them. Julie, also a victim of the housing shortage, moves into the loft with Sean and Ben. Ben assures Felicity that he is completely over Julie. Sean insists that Ben isn't ready for a relationship with Felicity, and continually pressures him to break up with her. Ben listens to one of Felicity's tapes to Sally. He is disconcerted to hear Felicity say that she might be in love with him.

Felicity counsels an advisee, who is using tips from a magazine article to win the affections of her aloof boyfriend. Ben worries Felicity with his peculiar behavior. He finally reveals that he listened to her tape and cannot deal with the idea that she might love him. Felicity consults the magazine article and tries to get him back. She agrees to be less intense, but suddenly breaks up with Ben because she feels that he expects her to be someone else. She deals with her pain by getting a very short hair cut. Julie throws a big party (with cover charge) at the loft. Elena tries to help Noel get a girl's phone number.

Felicity rearranges her work schedule to avoid Ben. While looking over the course catalog with freshman advisee Ruby, Felicity laments the fact that she is no longer able to pursue her interest in art. She impulsively drops her pre-med courses and signs up for drawing. Felicity winds up in the same class as Noel, who continues to hate her guts. He accuses her of ruining his chances of hooking up with a classmate, unaware that the woman's lack of interest stems from the fact that she is gay. Ruby turns to Noel for advice about a computer problem. He snaps at her because of her association with Felicity, but they later find that they have a lot in common. Noel defends Felicity when the professor and other students harshly criticize her work. Although discouraged by the experience, Felicity decides not to leave the class. Ben and Sean interview new roommates as Julie prepares to move out. When her new place falls through, they ask her to stay.

Felicity hears a rumor that Julie has written and performed a vicious song about her. They end up stuck in the same car for several hours after the subway breaks down. The other passengers overhear their sniping and get involved in their argument. An older man forces them to realize that they were never really as good friends as they believed. Noel and Ruby begin dating. Sean invents a condiment called "smoothaise" that he believes will make him rich. Ben meets a pushy caterer.

Professor Sherman tries to set up Felicity with her son, who is several years older. Julie suggests that it might be a good idea to date a guy without worrying about the prospect of a long-term relationship. David turns out to be a petulant jerk, and Felicity storms out in the middle of dinner. He apologizes and asks for another chance, so she decides to date him. Ben and Maggie start sleeping together. Noel and Elena obsess over a video game.

A mono epidemic hits the campus. After Meghan gets sick, Felicity tries to avoid the bug by staying with Elena and Noel. Felicity frets about the fact that David has yet to kiss her. Noel accidentally says Felicity's name while kissing Ruby. Ruby is furious to discover that Noel and Felicity hadn't told her the truth about their past relationship. A stranger offers Ruby a business card, claiming to be a movie producer. She follows up on the lead and ends up getting a major role in a Tom Cruise movie. Ruby sleeps with Noel before departing for several weeks. Ben finds out that Maggie is married.

Felicity takes in a stray dog, but has trouble finding a place for it to stay. Elena believes that Felicity is using the dog as an excuse to not have sex with David. Lucky is diagnosed with distemper and has to be put to sleep. Felicity sleeps with David. Ben meets Maggie's husband when he comes to Dean & DeLuca to buy food for their anniversary party. Sean continues to fawn over Julie.

Felicity's parents arrive unexpectedly for Thanksgiving. The Porters, David and Professor Sherman all end up getting invited to dinner at Noel and Elena's apartment. Meghan shows up in the hopes of seeing everyone get into a fight. Felicity fears that David is becoming too serious about their relationship. Felicity and Noel get drunk from Professor Sherman's punch. They go to his room and reminisce about their kiss the previous Thanksgiving. Professor Sherman walks in on them kissing. An ugly scene develops, leaving Meghan delighted. Felicity breaks up with David. Javier recruits Ben, Julie and Sean to help him cater the Sherwoods' anniversary party. Maggie introduces her husband to Ben, "the guy I've been sleeping with." Ben realizes that Maggie was just using him to get back at her cheating husband.

In the aftermath of their kiss, Felicity gets all hot and bothered about Noel. After much soul searching, she approaches him with the suggestion that they get back together. Noel decides that it isn't a good idea; he would rather be with Ruby. Felicity and Noel worry that Professor Sherman will not be able to give an unbiased critique of their final project because she hates them. Julie is approached by a record executive. Sean believes that the man has ulterior motives. Ben has difficulty with his English essay because he read the wrong book. Sean helps him get his paper done before the deadline.

Felicity's father accompanies her back to New York, where he is scheduled to work with the university. She grows tired of his constant intrusions, and panics when he announces that he may take a full-time job at a New York hospital. Dr. Porter sends Felicity reeling with the news that he and her mother are separated. Ben and Felicity begin working the same shifts at Dean & DeLuca. Depressed after the university cuts the swim program, Ben convinces her to join him in blowing off some steam. They buy beer with his fake I.D. and break into the campus pool. They get caught by campus security and face expulsion. Julie rejects Erik's advances. However, he assures her that he truly cares about her music. She is offered a three-song deal. Ruby tries to help Noel improve his poor public speaking skills after he becomes a teaching assistant.

In a special black and white episode patterned after The Twilight Zone , a mysterious customer offers Felicity advice on how to ease her constant heartache. Felicity visits a clinic, where she soon learns that the doctors use horrific methods to mend a broken heart. Felicity and her friends end up trapped in a small, bare room from which there is no escape. The contents of Meghan's box are revealed (for the purpose of this episode only).

Felicity and Ben are ordered to attend sessions with a counselor, who will help determine their punishment. Ben doesn't show up because he thinks the whole thing is stupid. Felicity gets caught in the middle of her parents' bickering when her mother comes for a visit. She learns that her mother married so young because she was pregnant with Felicity. Felicity blames herself for forcing her mother to give up all her dreams. She seriously considers Ben's suggestion that they chuck everything and take a trip to Vienna. Noel struggles to make up with Ruby after an argument. She reveals the real reason that she is upset: she may be pregnant. Elena gets a "sexy new lab partner."

Felicity and Ben begin a community service assignment at the student health center. The head of the clinic, Greg, acts very rude and condescending toward them. Ben quits, but Felicity decides to stick around because she enjoys working with the patients. Ruby learns that she is indeed pregnant. She plans to have an abortion, but cannot go through with it. She decides to have the baby and raise it herself. Noel is terrified by the prospect of fatherhood. Erik stands up for Julie when the head of the record company plans to pass on her demo. Julie and Erik go out to celebrate and get drunk. They return to the loft and begin kissing. Julie has flashbacks to the rape and pushes Erik away. She loses the record deal. Sean assures Julie that Erik was a jerk, and that she didn't owe him anything.

A panicked Noel distances himself from Ruby. Ben tells Noel that he got a girl pregnant in high school, but didn't come through when she needed him. He urges Noel not to do anything that he will regret. Noel decides to take an active role in his child's life. The ultrasound reveals that Ruby is eight weeks pregnant; Noel realizes that he could not have been the father. Ruby confesses that she slept with a producer while she was away in Los Angeles working on the movie. She reminds Noel that they were not really a couple at the time, and pleads with him to give her another chance. Elena holds a party to re-paint the apartment. Everyone loudly discusses Noel's situation while he is trying to rest in his bedroom. Julie confides in Sean about the date rape, and admits that she never fully recovered. He advises her to seek counseling. Felicity tries to get Greg to be as understanding around the staff as he is with his patients. Ben becomes jealous as Felicity and Greg spend more time together. Meghan, surprisingly, develops a crush on Greg.

Greg is in a bind when a doctor leaves the clinic just before it is to undergo an inspection. Felicity volunteers her father for the assignment. She discovers that Dr. Porter is taking anxiety pills, and that he quit his job at the hospital weeks earlier. Dr. Porter explains that he never wanted to take the job in the first place; he misses his wife desperately, and hoped that she would ask him to come home. Noel tells Ruby that he cannot get over the fact that she is carrying someone else's child. He offers his friendship. Tracy annoys Elena with his cockiness as they prepare for an exam. After they both receive outstanding scores, Elena agrees to go out with him. Ben continues to mope about Felicity's close working relationship with Greg. He reluctantly goes on a date, but cannot stop thinking about Felicity. He goes to the clinic to share his feelings. He finds Felicity and Greg talking and laughing as they celebrate the clinic's high marks on the inspection. Dejected, Ben walks away before they can notice him.

Julie has difficulty sleeping because of nightmares about Zach. Felicity recommends that she talk to someone, but Julie doesn't feel she is ready. A student visits the clinic to obtain the morning-after pill, only to discover that the university will no longer distribute it. An outraged Felicity turns to Greg, who cannot take any action because he fears losing the little support the clinic has. Felicity organizes a sit-in, which freshman advisee Burkey helps turn into a major protest. Felicity wants to call the whole thing off after Greg gets in trouble, but the others refuse to leave. Dr. Porter is brought in an attempt to convince Felicity to give up. She refuses, and Greg decides to join the demonstration. When Felicity chokes during a television interview, Julie steps up and delivers an impassioned speech about the pill's importance to rape victims. The university is touched by her words and reverses its position. Felicity kisses Greg during the celebration. Noel helps Ben study for an upcoming sociology test. They get drunk and play a lot of video games. Ben accidentally nails Noel in the head with a can of beer, then provokes a fistfight.

Sean, with help from Richard, resumes his documentary film project. The duo annoys Felicity and Ben by hounding them as they complete their community service. Felicity takes a paid job as Greg's assistant. She is furious to discover that Greg helped her get the job because he is attracted to her; a more deserving colleague was passed over, and must now leave the clinic. Felicity quits, but Greg persuades her to return. She takes a volunteer position. While working in the records office, Ben snoops in Greg's file and discovers that he was busted for cocaine possession. Noel convinces him to keep the information under wraps for the time being. After Sean and Richard show him footage of Felicity and Greg on a date, Ben goes to the clinic and threatens Greg. Greg shares the truth with Felicity and assures her that he has been clean for years. Felicity angrily confronts Ben, who points out that she read his file a year earlier. She attributes her behavior to the fact that she was in love with him. Felicity fails to realize that Ben has similar reasons for his actions. Rather than confessing his feelings, he storms out. Noel panics after he loses his students' exams before he had a chance to grade them. Tracy embarrasses Elena during their interview, but later has nice things to say about her.

Sean follows Ben and Felicity with his camera and pesters them to admit their attraction. Greg asks Felicity to manage his campaign for student council president. Felicity is alarmed to discover that she disagrees with Greg's position on filely every issue. She finds that her views are more in line with her friend Leila's campaign. After Leila's fear of public speaking leaves her ill, Felicity reads her speech to the students. Leila drops out of the race, but urges Felicity to run in her place. Hoping to show Felicity that he has some direction, Ben takes an internship on Wall Street. He spends all of his time babysitting a broker's visiting son. They bond while playing basketball, but the boy hurts his finger. Ben comforts the child as Greg tends to the injury, and Felicity is very impressed. Felicity, with encouragement from Ben, decides to run for student council president. Greg throws a fit and breaks their date to the Sadie Hawkins dance. He later shows up and apologizes. Felicity and Ben exchange longing glances while dancing with their dates. Richard also runs for president, using the platform "Free Pizza on Fridays." Tracy accepts another girl's invitation to the dance because he believes Elena took too long to ask him. He backs out of the date to go with Elena, but she balks at violating the "girls' code." Elena and Felicity convince Julie and Noel to attend the dance together.

Ben catches Andre, a jerk who hangs around with Greg, defacing Felicity's campaign posters. Greg denies that his friend would do such a thing. All of the candidates start acting very immature and sabotaging each other's campaigns. After all of Felicity's posters are stolen from her room, she and Ben break into Andre's room. They discover that he has pilfered materials from all of Greg's competitors. Greg rubs his relationship with Felicity in Ben's face. An angry Ben tells Richard about Greg's drug arrest. Richard plasters fliers around the campus, and Greg is placed under scrutiny during a Q&A with students. Ben agonizes over whether to tell Felicity what he has done. Richard and a female student are elected co-presidents. Richard tells Felicity that he owes his victory to Ben. Felicity suddenly reverses her position and decides to join Greg on a weekend getaway. Ben learns their destination from Meghan and tries desperately to catch up to them. Ruby returns from Colorado after revealing her pregnancy to her parents. Inspired by a conversation with Julie, Noel encourages Ruby to contact the baby's father. Tracy shocks Elena by declaring that he doesn't plan to have sex before marriage. She thinks things over and decides that she just wants to be friends, but then makes out with him.

Ben waits outside the cabin for several hours until he can talk to Felicity alone. She refuses to hear him out and slams the door in his face, declaring that she no longer wants him in her life. Felicity becomes distracted, so she and Greg have to cut their weekend short. Tracy and a friend volunteer to remove the wallpaper from Elena's apartment and finish painting so that she won't lose the security deposit. They inadvertently use toxic chemicals, so Noel and Elena have to stay at the loft until the damage can be repaired. A pipe bursts in Felicity and Meghan's room, forcing the students to sleep in the cafeteria. Felicity, Meghan and Ruby end up moving into the loft. At Javier's urging, Felicity decides to forgive Ben. Meghan convinces Ben that Felicity still has feelings for him. He crashes her date with Greg and pleads for another chance. Felicity insists that Ben doesn't sincerely want to be in a relationship with her. Greg punches out Ben. Felicity races to Ben's aid, but then leaves with Greg. Wade, the father of Ruby's baby, comes to town to meet with her. Sean learns that the Independent Film Channel wants to buy his documentary. After he receives the news, he grabs Julie and kisses her, leaving the entire room in shock. When Julie confronts Sean, he admits that he is in love with her. Javier announces that he plans to enroll in college.

Greg dumps Felicity because she is still hung up on Ben. Felicity convinces Meghan to take Julie, Elena and her out to a club to distract them from their problems with men. They all have a great time. Javier plans to propose to Samuel, and enlists Ben's help in picking out an engagement ring. Javier brings Ben to the club and forces Felicity and him to talk things over. Meghan interrupts the conversation and takes Felicity to a friend's market. When Greg enters the store, Meghan approaches and explains the reason for her crush on him. He was her first love in elementary school, as they were "married" in a sandbox in first grade. After Greg declines to date her, Meghan asks Felicity to return her earlier favor by taking her out somewhere. They agree that they can survive without men. The conversation prompts Felicity to leave Ben a drunken message in which she suggests that they cease all contact. The next morning, she has a change of heart and decides that she is now strong enough to hold her own in a relationship without being dependent on the other person. Sean reveals that Ben listened to her message the previous night, and has yet to return home. Ben arrives at Dean & DeLuca and tells Felicity that he has pinpointed the moment that their relationship fell apart. He decided to go back and correct this mistake in the hopes of regaining Felicity's trust and making a fresh start. Ben had stayed out all night tracking down a film they had planned to see back in the fall, during a date that he blew off. They watch the film on the roof of the loft, and kiss. Noel and Ruby draw closer during a quiet evening at home, as Noel admits that he regrets breaking up with her. Although Sean interrupts them, they later kiss and spend the night in the same bed. Noel remains threatened by Ruby's connection to Wade. Tracy surprises Elena by completing a beautiful remodeling job on her apartment. Julie struggles to define her feelings for Sean.

Felicity and Ben try to avoid one another until the end of finals, but cannot keep their hands off each other. They plan to spend the summer together in Palo Alto, where Ben has taken a construction job to pay for his tuition. Felicity's art history professor mentions the possibility of an internship at a museum, provided that she performs well on the final. Ben rents a hotel room to unwind after completing his finals. Felicity joins him, although she has yet to take her art history exam. They lose track of time while making out naked, and Felicity misses her final. Ben secretly tracks down the professor and takes responsibility for Felicity's absence. Professor Morton agrees to give Felicity one day to complete a take-home essay. Ben helps her complete the paper overnight; she gets an A and is offered the internship. Julie agrees to a date with Sean, who begins obsessing over every detail. Ruby reveals that Wade has asked her to marry him, and plans to accept for the good of her child. Noel asks her to stay, expressing a willingness to commit to her. Sean, Richard and Ruby catch Julie and Noel making out. Sean is heartbroken, but winds up sharing a kiss with Meghan. Noel tries to explain that he was under the influence of Meghan's "smart cookies." Ruby is not angry with Noel, but feels that she is placing unreasonable demands on him. She decides to move back into her parents' house. Tracy announces that he wants to sleep with Elena after all. Meghan warns Elena of the dangers of coming between Tracy and his spirituality. Elena pushes Tracy away, although he initially has trouble understanding her decision.

Felicity turns down the internship so that she can spend the summer with Ben. Dr. Pavone warns that she may be passing up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Felicity reveals that her parents may get back together. Felicity and Ben have a misunderstanding as she reconsiders her decision. Ben doesn't think Felicity wants to spend time with him, while she feels that he is pushing her away. Felicity tells Professor Morton that she wants the internship, but she has already offered it to a grad student. Javier and Samuel prepare for their wedding. "Best man" Felicity makes thinly veiled references to Ben in her rehearsal dinner toast, leading to an argument. They go into Ben's room and have sex. Before the wedding, Felicity learns that the internship is available after all. She takes the position, and she and Ben vow to make their relationship work. They declare their love before he leaves for Palo Alto. Javier's cousin Natalie, an attractive girl with a major attitude, comes to town for the wedding. She spends a lot of time with Noel, who declares that he is "tired of doing the right thing." Noel and Natalie run away together. Meghan sleeps with Sean, then ignores him because she doesn't want to admit her true feelings. She drops out of Wicca camp and invites Sean to join her at her parents' Tuscany villa for the summer. Julie's biological mother visits and announces that her husband needs a kidney transplant. Julie punishes Carol by refusing to submit to testing to see if she could be a donor for her father.

3rd Season 2000

Javier tells Felicity that a friend is giving away his furniture before moving out of state. She goes to the man's apartment and falls in love with the place. She decides that it would be romantic to live there with Ben. Felicity rents the apartment before Ben has even returned to New York. He agrees to live with her, but discovers that the apartment is a "hell hole" with major plumbing and electrical problems and a roach infestation. Felicity is so excited that he cannot bear to tell her how he feels. Felicity grows wary of their downstairs neighbor, a beautiful dancer. She is furious when Ben reluctantly allows the woman to use their living room tub. Ben later apologizes and promises to try harder to make the arrangement work. Felicity reveals that she has given up the apartment, but they discuss plans to live together after graduation. Meghan takes Felicity's place in a student apartment with Elena, Julie and a new student. ("She's British. That's all we know.") Sean is asked to turn "Docuventary" into a weekly series. He focuses on the disappearance of Noel, who hasn't been seen since Javier's wedding and has had minimal contact with family. Richard investigates and manages to track him down. The gang discovers a bearded, greasy-haired Noel sharing an apartment with Natalie and going by the name Leon. He has decided to drop out of school and spend all his time partying. Noel and Natalie elope during a weekend getaway. Julie reveals that she wasn't a match for her father. She spent some time with him during the summer before he died. Tracy stands behind his decision to remain a virgin. He notes Elena's obvious attraction to her new neighbor. Felicity tells Sean that her parents are divorcing.

After learning of Noel's marriage, Richard organizes an intervention in the hopes of convincing him to leave Natalie. Noel is offended and orders his friends to leave him alone. Felicity visits his apartment to apologize. She says that it is difficult to deal with how much he has changed, and recalls all the goals he had for the future. However, she gives her blessing and organizes a party for the couple. Natalie finds one of Richard's fliers about the intervention and storms out. Noel realizes he must divorce Natalie and resume his life. When Natalie comes home and learns his plans, she punches him in the eye. Sean offers to let Noel stay at the loft. Natalie apologizes and agrees to an annulment, but she and Noel end up having sex. Ben's father comes to town, seeking to make amends as part of a twelve-step program. He invites Ben and Felicity to a Yankees game, but never shows up. Julie refuses to answer questions about her father. Elena tells her neighbor, Finn, that she doesn't have a boyfriend. She brings a reluctant Julie along on their dates as a buffer. Tracy's picture falls to the floor just as Elena is about to kiss Finn. She sees this as a sign and dumps Finn. Julie sleeps with him and snarls at Elena in the bathroom.

Ben's mother calls and tells him that his father has been missing for several days. She asks him to file a missing persons report. Ben refuses to open up to Felicity, who hears about the situation from Julie. An angry Ben insists that he will not help look for his father; this is not the first time he has disappeared, and Ben is tired of dealing with him. Julie goes behind his back to file a police report, and learns that Mr. Covington is being hospitalized with alcohol poisoning. Julie explains that she feared Ben would not be able to live with the consequences if something happened to his father. Ben is furious with Julie, while Felicity tries to comfort her about her birth father. Julie finally blows up and reveals that she was a match for her father, but lied about it and did nothing to help him. Ben visits his dad in the hospital; he recovers and prepares to go home. Ben and Felicity return to her apartment to find that Julie has moved out. She left behind a videotape in which she says goodbye to everyone. Noel claims impotence, as grounds for annulment, but Natalie won't back him up. He discovers that she had to get married to receive a $250,000 inheritance. If Noel stays married to her for a year, he would receive $100,000. Noel eventually decides to end the marriage. Natalie thwarts him again by announcing that she has given up the money to prove that it wasn't her reason for marrying him. Noel agrees to continue seeing her if she grants the divorce. While dealing with his father's disappearance, Ben flies into a rage and hits Sean in the nose during a basketball game. When Meghan mentions plastic surgery, Sean concludes that she doesn't like his nose. She confesses that she got a nose job when she was fourteen. Molly, an eccentric young woman from London (with a psychic mother), moves in with the girls.

Felicity lies to Mrs. Emrick about Julie's whereabouts. After finding drugs in Julie's closet, she decides to tell the Emricks the truth. Mrs. Emrick blames Felicity for not looking after her daughter. Overcome with guilt and anxiety, Felicity bombs her midterms. Meghan tries to cheer her up by taking her to a frat party. Meghan and Molly convince Felicity to play strip ping-pong, but then leave her alone. She has too many Jell-O shots and wakes up naked in a frat guy's bed. She cannot remember what happened. Julie calls and says that she is okay. Ben helps Javier study for his citizenship test. Ben does not plan on voting, but changes his mind after Javier lectures him about the privilege of being a citizen. Noel applies for a job with the campus computer center. Tracy tries to help him practice for his tryout by sabotaging his old laptop, unaware that Elena had used it to write her political science paper. Noel must save the day when the arrogant head tech cannot fix the problem. Meghan angers Sean by taking a phone sex job.

Felicity tries desperately to track down Randy and find out what happened between them. During a service call, Noel stumbles across a mass E-mail from the fraternity that includes a naked photo of Felicity and Randy. Noel warns Felicity and advises her to keep the matter quiet until after the surprise birthday party that Ben has organized for her. Richard and Molly inadvertently expose Felicity's secret during the party. Ben storms over the the fraternity house, and Randy's buddies tell him that Randy and Felicity slept together. Randy assures Felicity that they did not have sex; she passed out, so he put her to bed. Ben feels betrayed and refuses to accept Felicity's denial. Sean consults a doctor about swelling in one of his testicles. He insists that it is just an infection, and is reluctant to tell Meghan about his problem. She finally convinces Sean to return to the doctor. He learns that he must undergo surgery to determine if the mass is malignant. Everyone is surprised when Richard and Molly hit it off. He rejects her advances, claiming that he finds her too aggressive. A young man with a crush on Noel fakes a computer problem to get him to his apartment. As he departs, Noel sees a photograph of the guy and Richard with their arms around each other at the beach.

Felicity asks Randy to talk to Ben and confirm that she didn't have sex with him. A drunken Ben repeatedly punches Randy, sending him to the hospital. Sean confronts Ben about his self-destructive behavior. He tries to convince Ben to attend an art show where Felicity has a work on display. Ben surprises Felicity by purchasing her painting. He tells her that he wants to resume their relationship, as she is the only person he can trust. As Ben leaves the loft, Randy has his frat buddies ambush him and give him a beating. Sean's blood work suggests that he has cancer; doctors must remove the affected testicle and check some lymph nodes to see if the disease has spread. He ignores the doctors and pretends that he is okay. Meghan learns the truth and persuades him to face his problem. Richard tells Noel that he is not gay. He discloses that he is a virgin, and has never kissed anyone. Molly kisses him, but tells him they are only friends. Elena agrees to help Tracy with a group project while he is away with Habitat for Humanity. She is unaware that Finn is his partner. Elena rejects Finn after a kiss, but later sleeps with him. Noel repairs the computer of an attractive coed. He steals her E-mail password.

After learning of Ben's injuries, Mr. Covington returns to town with the hopes of reconciling with his son. He seeks Felicity's help after Ben refuses to see him. Mr. Covington breaks down in tears as he describes the way his life has crumbled. When Felicity tries to comfort him, he kisses her. Ben begins to warm to his father, until he notes Felicity's discomfort and realizes that something happened. Mr. Covington confesses, and Ben orders him to leave. Felicity encourages Ben to attend Al-Anon meetings to deal with his feelings about his father. He is surprised to see Molly at a meeting. Sean devotes himself to the Jewish faith to fulfill a promise he made to God before his surgery. He breaks up with Meghan for refusing to convert to Judaism. His hospital roommate, a rabbi, convinces him that he has made a mistake. After Dr. McGrath is accused of sexual harassment, a list circulates with the names of students he dated--including Elena. Tracy confronts her, but quickly gets over it. When Tracy tells Finn that Elena confessed her "affair," a confused Finn accidentally reveals that he slept with her. Noel reads Jane's E-mail and gathers information about her interests to aid his pursuit of her.

Javier and Samuel decide to become parents. Javier asks Felicity to donate an egg, which would be implanted into his aunt. Felicity agrees, but changes her mind after Ben adamantly states his opposition. Felicity poses as Javier's wife during an interview with a potential donor. The woman backs out after discovering that the child would actually have two fathers. Felicity tells Ben that she has come to appreciate his viewpoint; she cannot deal with the idea of watching someone else raise her biological child. During an Al-Anon meeting, Molly speaks of her struggle to break free from an addict boyfriend. Ben confronts her and asks if the drugs discovered in Julie's closet were hers. She denies this, but later comes clean during a meeting. However, Ben cannot share any of her revelations with Felicity because of the confidential nature of the group. Jane angrily rejects Noel after he confesses to stalking her. Overcome with despair, she sleeps with an old friend--Richard. Elena tries desperately to win back Tracy.

Ben encourages Molly to break up with James. She instead invites him to move into the girls' apartment for a while. Molly insists that James has agreed to join her in seeking treatment. James persuades Molly to skip her meeting to get high with him and cuts off her hair. Ben accidentally stumbles upon a gun with James' belongings. He tells Felicity about Molly's problems. Ben and Felicity confront Molly and proclaim that James cannot stay. Ben (without Felicity's consent) also declares that Molly must either stop using drugs or leave. She angrily moves out. A student files harassment charges against Dr. McGrath, and asks Elena to testify. Elena learns that McGrath invented a story about a sick ex-wife to get girls to sleep with him. Elena realizes that the undeserved grade in McGrath's seminar cleared the way for her to take certain advanced classes. She concludes that she is a complete fraud. Tracy, at Felicity's urging, gives Elena a pep talk and stresses that she is one of the smartest people he knows. Elena testifies against McGrath, who is fired. Although the dean assures her that she is not in any trouble with the administration, Elena decides to re-take the class. Meghan's old friends accuse her of selling out. She questions her life and breaks up with Sean when he refuses to go out to a fetish club on the Sabbath. Meghan storms out after her friends insult Sean. She returns home to discover that he had actually gone to the club in a leather outfit with pants that exposed his rear end. Felicity helps Noel with a computerized cartoon.

Molly apologizes to Felicity and Ben, but James forbids them from speaking to her. Molly moves back to the apartment after a dazed James pulls a gun on her. James shows up and demands that she leave with him. Ben manages to calm him and convince him to leave. Molly plans to break up with James, and meets him on the street. He talks her into staying with him. Felicity learns that she is still registered for a philosophy class that she thought she had dropped. Meghan never sent in the card to the registrar's office. Felicity must get an A on the final to pass the class. Noel calls on her to help him with an extensive presentation for a web site that is interested in their cartoon. He lashes out at her for her lack of enthusiasm, until Ben explains her plight. In order to help Felicity focus on her final, Noel pretends that he got an extension on the presentation. He helps her cram for the test, as he had worked as a teaching assistant in that class the previous year. Despite her exhaustion, Felicity does very well on the exam. Noel breaks the news that they must pull an all-nighter on the presentation, but Felicity falls asleep. Richard tries to raise money for the student body by producing calendars (one with scantily clad men, and one with women). Meghan and Sean annoy him by bickering constantly because they haven't had sex since Sean's operation. Elena and Tracy decide to be friends. When he agrees to pose for the calendar, she accuses him of hypocrisy and withdraws her friendship. Tracy shows up at the apartment to tell her that he wants to get back together. He sleeps with her, and immediately feels guilty.

James persistently tries to call Molly, who has broken up with him and returned to rehab. When he finally gets a hold of her, she tells him they are through and hangs up. James waits for her outside her apartment and gets into an argument with Ben. Felicity's mother (now using her maiden name, Barbara Hunter) arrives for a visit. She takes an instant dislike to Ben when she overhears him ranting about James. Sean and Richard buy a bunch of Christmas trees, hoping to sell them for a major profit. They recruit Ben to help them pick up the trees. He then shows up late for a play he was to attend with Felicity and her mom, and has forgotten the tickets. Noel joins Ben, Felicity and Barbara for dinner. He impresses Barbara by prattling on about his goals, while Ben has nothing to say when she grills him about his future. Barbara dismisses Ben as a loser with violent tendencies and questionable friends (i.e. Molly). She advises Felicity to dump Ben for Noel, whom she considers to be just about perfect. Felicity upsets Ben by defending her mother. He suggests that Felicity spend the holidays with her mom instead of joining him in Florida. Ben has a talk with Barbara; he shares how much he cares for Felicity, and points out that many guys who seem aimless at his age turn out okay. Barbara apologizes to Felicity and urges her to go on the trip with Ben. Tracy continues to suffer from tremendous guilt after losing his virginity. He and Elena go to see his pastor, who recommends that they think carefully about what they want from the relationship. Tracy accepts an opportunity to spend a semester in Africa. Meghan and Sean quarrel because she believes that the idea to sell Christmas trees was hers. After he refuses to give her a cut of the profits, Meghan calls the fire marshal to report the trees in his loft. Ben has to skip Felicity's Christmas party to help Sean and Richard move the trees. Sean ends up giving away all of the trees, and Meghan takes him to the party. Ben also shows up, interrupting some awkward flirting between Felicity and Noel. In the midst of the festivities, James walks in unnoticed and starts shooting.

ABC Updates

Felicity: her 11 most memorable episodes.

Felicity is the show that still asks: Ben or Noel? No need to choose! Over two decades later, one of television's greatest love triangles lives on at ABC.com. It's been 20+ years since we were first introduced to Felicity (Keri Russell); a young college student who impulsively follows her high school crush to college in New York City, completely altering the direction of her life with one decision. The milestone was celebrated this summer at ATX Television Festival where the entire cast reunited for the first time since the series ended. Co-produced by J.J. Abrams ( Alias, Star Wars: The Force Awakens ), the show lasted for four seasons of unforgettable friendships, unadvised hair cuts and questionable romantic decisions as we followed Felicity on her journey of self-discovery in the Big Apple. To celebrate some recent Felicity reunions and news, we put together some of the most memorable moments with our list of 11 of the top Felicity episodes. Or you can just watch the full series of Felicity here!

#1 Watch Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot Get to know our heroine, college freshman Felicity Porter--an overachiever with a mess of curls and an unrequited crush on the mysterious Ben Covington (Scott Speedman). Felicity follows Ben to the University of New York, defying her parents' wishes she attend Stanford. This episode establishes our universe and introduces us to the characters we'll grow to love over the next four years.

#2 Watch Season 1, Episode 7 - Drawing the Line: Part 1 This two-part episode was monumental as it addresses consent and rape. Felicity's best friend Julie (Amy Jo Johnson) starts dating and hooking up with Zach (Devon Gummersall). After a night of recording music, they head back to Julie's dorm room. Following their night together, Julie describes her unwarranted experience with Zach to Felicity and a doctor. Believing she's to blame, Felicity urges Julie to report the rape and seek help to cope with the emotional trauma.

#3 Watch Season 1, Episode 16 - The Fugue College is the time for new experiences and Felicity isn't immune! After Noel (Scott Foley) kisses his ex-girlfriend, Hannah (Jennifer Garner), and admits he still has feelings for her, he and Felicity take a break from their relationship. Dejected, the previously shy and reserved Felicity makes the bold decision to lose her virginity to a fellow art student. Her relationship with Noel never truly recovers.

#4 Watch Season 1, Episode 22 - Felicity Was Here Team Ben fans wishes were granted when Felicity and Ben have their first kiss. Felicity tells Ben that she can't join him on a road trip because it wouldn't be fair to Julie. Meanwhile, Noel offers Felicity a ticket to Berlin, but she's torn and can't make a decision. Ben kisses Felicity causing her to panic and accept Noel's offer.  Julie witnesses them flirt realizing that Felicity is the other woman.

#5 Watch Season 2, Episode 2 - The List Ben cuts ties with Felicity causing her to make an impulse move and cut off her cascade of curls.  This spontaneous change represented a new chapter in Felicity's life. In her own words, "it's one thing to say you're going to let go, it's another to actually do it.  So when I walked into the haircutting place, I was taking a leap, but I wasn't doing it for a guy or because of some list.  I was doing it for me."  

#6 Watch Season 2, Episode 11 - Help for the Lovelorn Paying homage to The Twilight Zone , J.J. Abrams created a stand-alone black-and-white episode.  Felicity is approached by a mysterious woman who hands her card for "The Clinic." With hesitation, Felicity visits the clinic in hopes to mend her broken heart.  After visiting the clinic, she experiences bizarre incidents reminiscent of the Twilight Zone . 

#7 Watch Season 2, Episode 22 - Final Answer Ben and Felicity are getting hot and heavy! The couple makes plans to spend the summer together in Palo Alto where Ben will work construction to save money for school. Unfortunately, their nonstop lust leads to Felicity missing her art final. Her professor graciously offers a take-home final, which Ben helps her complete. She not only aces the final, she is also offered an internship. The catch is that it would separate her from Ben all summer. What's a girl to do?

#8 Watch Season 2, Episode 23 - The Biggest Deal There Is In the Season 2 finale, Dean & Deluca manager Javier (Ian Gomez) marries his partner, Samuel, with Felicity as "best man". This episode was one of the few shows at the time to feature a same-sex wedding ceremony (a "civil partnership" in this era). Other end-of-season events include Julie meeting her birth mother, Meghan sleeping with Sean, and Felicity choosing an internship over spending the summer with Ben.

#9 Watch Season 3, Episode 8 - A Good Egg Supermodel Tyra Banks appears as Jane, Noel's love interest.  Attempting to kiss Jane, Noel discovers her heart is set on another man.  Not to mention, Noel was using his computer skills to stalk her.  Meanwhile, the episode gets its name due to Javier and Samuel asking Felicity to donate her eggs in order have a child.  Agreeing to do so, she has a change of heart at the thought of watching someone else raise her biological child.

#10 Watch Season 4, Episode 17 - The Graduate Felicity Porter graduates! Despite a plagiarism scandal, her professor allows her to pass the class and she finishes school with her classmates. But with every ending, comes a potential new beginning. Ben and Felicity get engaged, to the disapproval of her father. Upon reflection, she instead decides to move to Palo Alto for school and this time, Ben follows. This episode was originally planned as the series finale, so it offers a comforting sense of closure.

#11 Watch Season 4, Episode 22 - Back to the Future (Series Finale) Complete with magical spells and time travel, Felicity and her New York friends say goodbye to us and each other in the final episode. Still reeling from her bout of traveling through time in the previous episodes (long story), Felicity jumps forward in the future to land right back where she started. 

#1.21 Felicity was here

"Driving with me makes you the devil?" -Ben

Aired May 25, 1999

In a nutshell : Felicity thinks she's the devil; Noel asks Felicity to Berlin; Julie catches Ben & Felicity sharing a moment; Meghan goes to Wicca camp; Ben gets as far as Pennsylvania.

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

Guests : Amanda Foreman (Meghan), Chris Sarandon (Prof. McGrath), Darnell Williams (Papaleo), Curtis Armstrong (Danny)

Tunes : Sarah McLachlan ("I will remember you"--Mirrorball), Ivy ("I've got a feeling"--Felicity soundtrack), Squeeze ("Tempted"--Reality Bites soundtrack), Scout ("I'll take you there"--Felicity soundtrack), Sheryl Crow ("Sweet Rosalyn"), Counting Crows, Beth Orton, the theme from Bolero, by Ravel (that cool flute music running through the scenes with Felicity & Ben)

Opening scene: Felicity is walking into Dean & Delucca while the theme from Bolero plays in the background. She recounts her "almost kiss" moment with Ben. Danny, the assistant manager, notices that she is staring off into the distance and comments on it. He admits that he's not doing a very good job as assistant manager (I personally liked him as the wacky private eye on Moonlighting). Felicity watches as Ben sweeps the floor. Ben comes over and asks her about their moment. "What the hell was that?" He tells her it could get complicated.

Felicity puts on that silver triangle necklace from Ben--you know, the one he got her after giving her the shaft way back in Spooked . She notices a list of names in her closet, etched into the wood like graffiti. The dates go all the way back to 1968. She wonders aloud to Sally if any of them are alive still (1968... okay, so she's not a math major).

Felicity and Julie are chowing down on something that looks like ice cream. Julie tells her that breaking up sucks. She asks if Felicity is coming to see her at the Bar on Saturday. They mention the road trip, and Julie shares her suspicions that Ben's got a hottie on the side. "Guys don't give that 'I just need to be alone' speech unless they have another prospect."

Julie is cleaning out her things from Ben's apartment. She tells him she can't locate her computer disk. Ben tells her to keep the key so she can come back and find it later. They pause awkwardly. Julie asks him if he's going to live in the loft next year. He says yes, and that he'll call. She tells him not to call.

Elena is in bed with Professor McGrath. She wanders around his room as he sleeps and looks through his papers. She sees that her report is marked with a B-.

In the mailroom, Noel asks Felicity to come with him to Berlin. He tells her he already bought her a plane ticket. She tells him that she'll think about it. In a voiceover, she says that she would be crazy to pass up the chance. "I decided to confront the Ben situation head on."

Felicity goes to Ben's apartment and tells him that she can't go with him on the road trip. She says that she can think of no less than 3 reasons why they shouldn't go. He tells her he'd like to hear those reasons. "First of all, there's the Noel factor." She then mentions Julie, and their almost kiss moment. He agrees that the almost kiss was like a big unanswered question. He then jumps up and kisses her--causing Felicity to test her flight reflexes.

Felicity goes to Noel's room and says yes to Berlin. Noel tells her the trip will be amazing. He kisses her. Even though her parents might have a problem with it, she plans on going.

In class, Felicity tells Elena about Ben. Elena advises her to go on the road trip. McGrath returns their final project papers, and Elena's is marked with an A.

Felicity and Meghan are packing in their almost empty room. Meghan gives Felicity a note she wrote on the first day they met. Felicity reads it. "Felicity will not make it through the whole year." Meghan tells her she was going to give it to her when she dropped out, but since she didn't, she's impressed. Felicity gives her a strange smile. Meghan asks where Felicity is living next year. Felicity tells her that she's thinking about being an R.A., and Meghan says that she is too.

Ben goes to Felicity's room. He tells her he has a feeling she wants to go on the road trip. She tells him she's going with Noel, and that a road trip with him would never be platonic. It would also make her "the devil." He sits on the bed and pretends to be driving, demonstrating how the trip could be platonic. Felicity laughs. "Where would we sleep in a one bedroom motel?" Ben thinks about it, then lies back on the bed and tells her to do the same. They look at each other awkwardly. Felicity jumps up and asks Ben to leave. She tells him it could never work. At the elevator, Noel jumps in and asks if she's gotten her passport yet. He tells Ben they are going to Berlin.

Felicity gets her passport photo. She asks the photographer about Berlin, then driving across country. He tells her that it's such a romantic thing.

In class, Julie tells Felicity that she thinks she knows who Ben likes. Felicity freezes as Julie tells her about Nicole. When Felicity doesn't respond right away, Julie asks if she knew about it. "You knew about Nicole and you didn't tell me?" Felicity tells her that Ben mentioned something about Nicole paying a lot of attention to him, but that Ben isn't interested in Nicole. "That's what Lynn said," Julie says.

Music: "I've got a feeling" by Ivy

Felicity tells Sally that she is considering going with Ben. At Dean and Deluca, Ben watches jealously as Noel brings Felicity items for their trip. Felicity looks at Ben as soon as Noel leaves.

Felicity is shown sitting on the subway.

At Ben's, Felicity is waiting on his steps as he approaches. "So what if we did this." He smiles and they go into his apartment. She tells him she was up last night thinking about what it would all mean if they went on the trip. He asks her why everything has to have so much meaning. He then mentions that he's leaving tonight. She still thinks that going with him would be a direct affront to both Noel and Julie--making her the devil. He tells her he would want her to go anyway. They are about to kiss when someone walks loudly down the stairs. Julie holds up her computer disk. "Found it." She walks out.

Felicity goes to Julie's to apologize. She tells her that she never planned to steal Ben from her. Julie tells her that she's a lying bitch. Shocked, Felicity is speechless and begins to cry. She reminds Julie that she is going with Noel to Berlin. Julie tells her she's not so sure. "I told him."

Felicity goes to Noel's room. He ignores her while he packs, and asks for the plane ticket back. She leaves it on his dresser.

Felicity talks to her guidance counselor. He asks about her plans for next year.

Felicity is packing her bags a few days later when Ben stops by. He tells her he came back for her, and that if he was her, he'd have a big speech with lots of meaning to convince her to come with him. She can't believe that he came back. He tells her he will wait at the loft until 10. After he leaves, she finds a letter from Noel on her table. Enclosed is the plane ticket along with a note asking her to please reconsider.

Music: "I will remember you" by Sarah McLachlan

As she leaves her dorm room for the last time, Felicity reflects upon an ant farm that she used to keep as a child. There was always one straggler left over, trying to make it's way out of the hole. She tells Sally that she will not be flying home alone. She has made a decision about Ben and Noel, even though she didn't have to.

In the taxi, Felicity tells the driver where to go through a closed window.

© 1999 [email protected] Please do not reproduce without permission.

Remembering 'Felicity,' 15 Years After the Series Finale

ET takes a trip down memory lane with Keri Russell, Scott Speedman and Scott Foley.

On May 22, 2002, Felicity ended its four-year run on the now-defunct WB network, a channel hailed for its knack for breeding nuanced teen dramas in the late ‘90s and early aughts. The one-hour series, which debuted four years earlier in the fall of 1998, was an introspective and melancholic take on the trials and tribulations of Felicity Porter ( Keri Russell ), a wide-eyed, curly-haired California girl who impulsively follows her crush, sensitive jock Ben Covington ( Scott Speedman ), to the hustle and bustle of New York City for college.

Coincidentally premiering the same year as Sex and the City, another female-driven coming-of-age story set in Manhattan, and fielding welcomed comparisons to Ally McBeal, a popular dramedy at the time, Felicity shied away from the glitz and glamour of living in the big city -- instead focusing on the often uncomfortable and agonizing journey of being a young woman searching for her place and purpose in the world.

But well before the series aired its first episode, buzz was already building around the fresh-faced cast, led by Russell, Speedman and Scott Foley, who played the older college R.A. Noel Crane, and creators, two unknowns at the time, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves . “We kept describing it as ‘our little secret.’ It was like we were all in the same boat,” a then 22-year-old Russell told ET during her first WB Upfront in July 1998, two months before the show premiered. Speedman echoed his leading lady’s sentiments later that year, telling ET, “There’s a very youthful energy about the show. Matt and J.J. have never done a television show, so we’re kind of figuring out what’s going on and figuring out what the show is."

RELATED: Keri Russell on 'Felicity' Fame: 'Everyone Kind of Wants a Piece of You'

“We didn’t set out to do a show, we wanted to do this show and we felt like if we couldn’t find the right Felicity…,” Reeves told ET in 1998, implying that the show never would’ve come to fruition without Russell. “She’s elevated this whole thing,” Abrams agreed, telling ET at the time: “She’s allowed us to bring Felicity to life in a way that we hoped for, but didn’t necessarily think we could do.”

Finding the Big Three

Right around the time Felicity came along, Russell was feeling disheartened. Her biggest claims to fame at the time were a stint in the early '90s on Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club , opposite fellow unknown youngsters  Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera , and a starring role in the short-lived teen soap from Aaron Spelling , Malibu Shores . “I was a little bit discouraged at that particular time of available projects,” Russell admitted in 1998, saying she “got halfway through [the Felicity script] and was blown away.” “This show, for me anyway, it’s escapism emotionally. I was so touched; ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe that she’s saying that! I’m dying for her!’ I went in [and] auditioned; I never thought they would pick me for it -- never in a million years.”

“It was hard. We saw a lot of people with some really nice performances. Then Keri came in,” Abrams recalled in 1998. “The first thing we thought was ‘She’s so gorgeous, she can never be Felicity.’ How can you believe [she’s] someone who had any problems ever? Then she started doing the reading and what was amazing was, despite her looks, she was able to be heartbreaking and vulnerable and funny without being whiny or complaining. She was brave and you rooted for her. She was so winning, it was a remarkable thing.”

RELATED: Matthew Rhys Gets 'Protective' During Keri Russell's 'Americans' Nude Scenes

Russell remembered finishing the network test and not wanting to go home that day, after being told she’d get a call, "whether you got it” or not, that night. “I drove to this little spot I always hang out at and breathed for a little bit and I had dinner by myself. Then I got back and I had, like, 13 messages from my manager and friends all going, ‘Um, Keri, people are looking for you and want to know are you OK?’ And J.J. and Matt left this big, long message saying, ‘You’re great! We love you! This is going to be so cool!’”

When the opportunity to play Ben became a realistic possibility, Speedman -- who had dropped out of school in, ironically enough, New York, run out of money and was without an agent -- had been living on his mother’s couch in Toronto and not interested. Persuaded by an agent to take a chance, the Canadian native put himself on tape and was immediately cast. “I found out on a Wednesday and I flew down on a Thursday night,” said Speedman, then 22, during ET’s first visit to the Felicity set in August 1998.

While Foley’s Noel represented the charming, geeky (and sometimes awkward) guy next door, Speedman’s Ben was in stark contrast -- the initial object of Felicity’s desires, quickly billed as the show’s brooding hunk with some serious father issues. “It’s a weird thing,” Speedman confessed of being called the “hunky guy of Felicity," uncomfortable with the label. “You get a role like this and everybody says, ‘This guy, you’re the hunk’ or whatever. I don’t know -- it’s a very weird thing. It’s a really good role for me. I can identify a lot with him, what he’s going through, what he’s doing and what he’s trying to do.”

“There’s definitely some of me in Noel,” Foley said to ET in July 1998. “He’s a likable person, I just don’t know that he’s fully aware of that.” Then 25 years old, Foley keyed in on what would become the series’ blossoming love triangle between Felicity, Noel and Ben. (Over the course of four seasons, the love triangle would often morph into a love square or hexagon, but always returning to the main trio.) “There’s definitely a Ben camp and a Noel camp. Ben has the upper hand in that Felicity wants Ben. Noel may be pining away for her and have interest, but he is the reason,” he observed, referring to Speedman's character.

RELATED: Keri Reacts to Matthew Rhys' NSFW 'Girls' Scene

The cliffhanger at the end of the freshman season was the ultimate culmination of the love triangle, where Felicity was presented with a romantic choice of Noel or Ben. "It was written both ways," Russell revealed in 1999 before second season began. "When I left for the summer, J.J. and Matt told me it was one way [Felicity choosing to go to Berlin with Noel] and I reacted as I would react knowing it was that way. Then, before we came back, they told me that it was completely changed and that they changed it to the other way [Felicity ends up going cross-country with Ben, sparking an off-again, on-again romance through the rest of the series]. It's really great the way it is now. It allows for a lot to happen." 

A Breakout Hit

Felicity was a breakout hit.

Barely into its first season, Russell won the coveted Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama Series, in 1999. (“That was completely overwhelming and amazing and so good for the show,” she marveled during an ET set visit that September.) “We all knew it was different, but the fickle part of this industry is something can be great and no one responds to it. People, a lot of the time, like more of the eye candy, cotton candy for the mind-kind of shows,” Russell acknowledged during an ET sit-down in May 1999. “It’s a smart, true show that it attracts those kinds of people -- thank god -- versus if I was running around in my swimsuit, it’d attract different sort of people.”

“I definitely wasn’t prepared for [the show’s success] at all,” Foley admitted. “Being recognized is a bizarre occurrence. The fact that I cut my hair now and I have glasses and people still recognize me... It’s changed my life but it hasn’t changed me as a person, I hope. I’m sure there are some people who are like, ‘He’s an a**hole now!’ S**t! I think I’m dealing with it OK.” Speedman, in 1998, was already feeling the pressures of his likely stardom. “I’ve never been in this position before, so I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it gets to the point where it’s a big show, that’s scary,” he said at the time. “Not being able to walk around? That’s nuts.”

RELATED: Your Favorite WB Stars -- Then and Now!

The Infamous Haircut

But what became bigger than the show was a dramatic change in Felicity’s hair. “It’s a little depressing when your haircut makes the news,” Russell said in September 1999, already rocking her short curly-haired bob. In the second episode of season two, titled “The List,” Ben breaks things off with Felicity, prompting her to spontaneously cut off her famous long locks, quite literally representing a new chapter in her life. The controversial haircut almost didn’t happen -- it began as an inside joke between Russell, Abrams and Reeves when Russell jokingly sent a Polaroid of her short hair before summer hiatus. Abrams and Reeves later incorporated it into the canon of the show, for better or worse.

“I’ve had long hair forever, so it’s just nice to have a little change. Now I’m the one OK with it and [J.J.’s] freaking out now,” Russell said with a laugh, adding it’s been “a whole different attitude adjustment.” Recalling her co-stars’ reactions to her short ‘do, she shared, “Scott Speedman’s reaction was pretty rehearsed. He was like, ‘It looks good.’ And I was like, ‘Take two! Give me another one!’”

There couldn’t have been any preparing for the outcry over Felicity’s new look once the episode aired on Oct. 3, 1999. “Even if it looks horrible, that’s great, because it’s such what a college girl would do. Cut her hair and then she’s stuck with this decision she made that might have been horrible, but what she felt [at the time]. They’re instinctive; they go for it and I love that,” Russell said. “I hope [fans] like it, otherwise, we’re in big trouble.”

It would become ingrained in the pop culture lexicon, becoming a joke of a major life gaffe in future TV show references. In the Gilmore Girls season three episode, “Here Comes the Son,” in 2003, for example, the character of Paris debates whether she should follow her beau to Princeton instead of attending Harvard, quipping, “Suddenly, I’m Felicity without the hair issues.”

As Felicity began to age, rumblings that the show may be nearing its end began to surface. In early 2002, the decision to close up shop after the fourth season, Felicity’s senior year at the fictitious University of New York, was made official. “It’s done. It’s bittersweet,” Russell told ET in February of that year, reflecting on her time on the groundbreaking college drama. “I’ve loved my experience so much and it’s kind of like being in college because you’ve spent so much time with these people. You love them and you hope that they love you. Four years is a long time in your life, but it’s time.”

But the legacy of Felicity lives on, nearly two decades after it first graced TV screens. “Keri Russell makes the show work and I like to think that we help her,” Foley foreshadowed back in 1998. “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be here talking to you. She has really made it what it is. America is going to fall in love with Felicity and Keri Russell at the same time.”

They certainly did.

All four seasons of Felicity are available to stream on Hulu.

• Keri Russell

The Felicity Rewatch Project: 1.21 + 1.22 Have A Nice Summer (With Noel or Ben?!)

Grading Scale

Drinks Taken: 20

Follow the whole rewatch  here !

So  last week , Meredith guided us through Sean’s docuventary, in which people were like, “Felicity and Noel should get back together!” and blah blah blah. True story, Sean and I have wildly different takes on what constitutes a happy ending: his involves asking Felicity and Noel to kiss (which they didn’t) while my version is these last two episodes of Season One, which are SUBLIME.

I love the way this season wraps up like WHOA (as you can see by the length of this post) so get ready for a heavy dose of gifs and Ben Covington razzle dazzle!

Also, plan on putting this drinking game to good use:

The Felicity Season One Drinking Game Rules

Drink once every time: Felicity is endearingly earnest. Ben smiles sheepishly. Noel is adorkable. Elena is a better friend than anyone deserves. Meghan is mean and it’s awesome. Javier butchers a word or figure of speech. Richard freaks out (in a good or bad way).

Drink twice every time: Felicity stresses you out. Felicity says, “Dear Sally.” Sean invents something. Javier refers to Ben as “Benjamin.”

Now, let’s over-analyze the last two episodes of Season One!

1.21 “The Force”

This episode is segmented by various tarot cards with associated themes ( see them all here ) which make it clear that this ain’t your average installment of the show. And that’s because Meghan is making mischief magic! First, she casts a spell to make Felicity clumsy, which seems dumb except for the fact that Felicity immediately trips. And then she breaks a mug at D&D. And then she falls off of Noel’s bed (I tried to get a gif of that but it’s too fast). Suffice it to say, Keri Russell has some serious physical comedy skills. 

Felicity then makes the mistake of telling Meghan that the spell worked, so the latter casts another one for forgetfulness, which also totally works. Sounds like there’s a Hogwarts letter in Meghan’s future (which she would totally throw in the trash, obvs).

Ben, whose beautiful face has healed thank god, gets his tuition debt covered by his mom, but he’s using the cash she sent him for a plane ticket to pay back that bookie twerp. In order to return to Palo Alto, he lands a sweet deal to drive a guy’s car to CA for him, which results in immediate plans for a ROAD TRIP!! He invites Julie, who invites Felicity, who invites Noel, and seriously, this car is starting to get REAL crowded. Oh, I should mention that Felicity and Noel are still friends– kissing  friends. 

Meanwhile, Lynn’s girlfriend Nicole informs Ben that she has feelings for him and then kisses him, and it’s super terrible and gross and IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. Ben clearly isn’t interested, but he does a terrible job of firmly telling Nicole to back off, so she basically starts to stalk him, and it’s insanely creepy. I’m not blaming Ben for her behavior by any means, but the power dynamics make it clear that he could tell her to CEASE AND DESIST and she would. It gets so out of hand that Nicole shows up at the loft and takes her clothes off, but Ben is saved by Sean walking through the door. (I do wonder what would’ve happen if Sean hadn’t appeared, though I stand by my theory that Ben isn’t attracted to her–he just avoids conflict at all costs.)

Ben doesn’t tell anyone (including Lynn and Julie) about what happened, but for  some reason , he admits to Felicity that Nicole has been sending signals that she likes him:

Felicity immediately senses trouble brewing for him and Julie:

Ben confesses that things are a little too serious with Julie, and Felicity tells him she will kill him if he breaks up with her because Nicole “did a striptease.” It’s such a great reversal from the beginning of the season, though things are about to reverse all the way back around to form a complete circle… (not sure if my analogy/geometry is right but y’all know what I’m getting at). Eventually, Ben does tell Nicole that if she doesn’t quit with the stalker act, he’s going to tell Lynn, and that does the trick. Dude, that should’ve been your first move!

Switching to the other creepy storyline in this episode, McGrath starts treating Elena like crap in class because he’s overcompensating for the fact that they’re going to have dinner. Elena at least confronts him about it, but then he reveals that he’s had one other relationship with a student, WARNING SIGN ALERT ALERT ABORT ABORT. 

Over at  NoelCrane.com , Noel discovers that his Berlin internship starts two weeks earlier than he thought, which directly conflicts with the road trip. He’s torn between shoring up his relationship with Felicity and advancing his career, because he’s a dummy college sophomore, but fortunately he has Guy and Obi-Wan in his corner. That’s right, Guy is camping in line for opening night of  The Phantom Menace , and his cosplayer pal offers these words of wisdom to Noel:

Guy tells Noel that it’s a no brainer, he has to take the internship, and I’m relieved when Noel finally agrees. (And not just because I’m Team Ben, but also because I’m Team Ben.) He shares the news with Felicity, who assures him, “You’re not going to lose me, you know that.” Ummm yeah. 

In spite of what Ben told Felicity, Julie is clearly getting on his nerves, so much so that in the middle of a study session at the library, he blurts out, “Do you ever think we’re too serious?” Julie is taken aback but handles it pretty well IMO, yet Ben keeps pushing. “We’re like 18 years old, and sometimes it feels like we’re older.” (Fun fact: Scott Speedman was 23 at the time he said that line.) Ben clearly wants them to take a break but won’t own up to it–Julie nails it when she says: “You’re doing the guy thing. You act all confused but you really know exactly what you’re thinking.” They kinda sorta totally break up, leading to Julie sobbing on Felicity’s shoulder and whispering, “It’s pretty ironic, isn’t it? Now he’s broken both of our hearts.” Girl, you don’t even know HOW ironic.

So now the road trip is down to just Ben and Felicity, who vows not to go. But oh snap, Meghan is cooking up more magic! She tears up a photo of Felicity, Ben, Noel, Elena and Julie to do a love spell, but later informs Felicity that it didn’t work because she forgot the clove. They share this weirdly sweet moment where they both fantasize about living in a world where spells actually worked, then Meghan wraps it up perfectly by saying, “Get off my bed.”

Now it’s Friday night, and Ben and Felicity are stuck doing inventory because Danny has a talent show at the orphanage (he’s not in the show, he’s an usher). Felicity tells Ben that she’s not going on the trip with him, and he’s in the middle of trying to change her mind when she accidentally drops a dusty old box from the top shelf. It hits the ground in an explosion of–you guessed it–clove. They both start to clean it up when suddenly, the air is crackling with chemistry and OMG THEY ALMOST KISS. 

Turns out, when Meghan gave Felicity her photograph back, she taped it together in the wrong order and put Felicity next to Ben instead of her original position in the picture next to Noel. The episode ends with Felicity asking Sally, “You don’t believe in magic, do you?”

Um, yeah girl, I do believe in magic. BEN COVINGTON MAGIC.

How many times do I have to take a drink?

This is the hottest Ben has been all season (until the next episode, obvs). Like, it’s enough to outweigh his reluctance to deal with Nicole AND his inability to handle a serious relationship with Julie. We’re talking BOATLOADS OF CHARM, y’all. The writers also do a great job of warming us up for that final almost-kiss with some dynamite banter between Ben and Felicity. 

Meghan Is Such a Slytherin

Felicity Fashion

For the first time, Felicity is wearing something that is a) mildly revealing b) hip even by today’s standards. 

Y2K Nostalgia Moment

Knowing how bad the film is, it is HILARIOUS (and sad) to behold Guy’s excitement for  Episode I , especially because I too was stoked about the movie, though I only waited in line a few hours as opposed to a few days. It’s doubly funny when you think about the fact that J.J. Abrams went on to direct a  Star Wars  movie (with our ole pal Sean making a cameo appearance).  

p.s. I would kill for a deleted scene of Guy and his pal Obi-Wan walking out of that theater. 

p.p.s. “The Force” is a terrific throughline gag in this episode. Well played, writers. 

1.22 “Felicity Was Here”

BEN GOT A HAIRCUT! I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that this is a major development because SMOKIN’. 

His new ‘do doesn’t help Felicity, who can’t stop thinking about their almost-kiss. (She’s taken to wearing the necklace he gave her again.) That moment is clearly on Ben’s mind as well, and they both realize that shizz is about to get  complicated . Psyche, it’s already complicated! Julie, convinced that Ben likes someone else, begs Felicity to go on the road trip so she can figure out who the “other girl” might be, and Felicity AGREES because even after a full year in college she makes TERRIBLE CHOICES and stresses all of us the eff out and yep, it’s time for a drink.

Ben and Julie are still broken up, and while I feel like we’re never quite impacted by the loss of that relationship (because #TeamBen #ShittyJulie), they do share a poignant moment when Julie comes back the loft to get the last of her stuff. Ben says he’ll call her over the summer, and Julie tells him not to: “I don’t really feel like looking forward to a phone call as awkward as this.” 

Speaking of (making me feel) awkward, Elena and McGrath sleep together! GAHHH NOOOO. The next morning, Elena wakes up before he does and finds herself looking through his graded final papers. McGrath gave her a B-, but later, when he hands out the papers to the class, she gets an A. I’d make an extra credit joke here but I’m too grossed out. 

In a fit of love/spontaneity, Noel buys Felicity a plane ticket and invites her to join him in Berlin. She doesn’t say yes right away, but she does march over to Ben’s loft and declare that she can’t go on the road trip. This is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series, with Maurice Ravel’s Boléro playfully weaving through the romantic tension that builds the more Felicity tries to nerdily explain it away. She points to three major factors that influence her decision to skip the trip: 1. Julie 2. Noel 3. The Moment. It’s clearly the third thing that’s really on both of their minds–“It’s like this big unanswered question.”

So Ben decides to answer that question! For nine whole seconds!!!! (I timed it.)

Felicity responds as you would expect:

In an act of complete denial, Felicity tells Noel that she wants to go to Berlin, but it’s clear that she’s lying to him (and herself). 

Meanwhile, everyone is packing up and preparing for their summer plans. Meghan is heading to Wicca Camp, natch, but before she goes, she hands Felicity an envelope and tells her that it contains a note she wrote during the second week of school. Felicity opens it and reads the contents: “There’s no chance in hell Felicity’s going to make it through the whole year.” Meghan was planning to give it to Felicity as an “I told you so,” whenever she left–but Felicity impressed her by sticking it out. This is pretty much as tender as Meghan gets, because Meghan is the greatest. Even better? Meghan applied to be an R.A. next year, just like Felicity!

Ben comes to Felicity’s room to try to convince her to join him on the road trip, because he has a feeling she wants to go with him, but she can’t overcome the notion if she goes, that would make her the devil.

I mean, yeah, it would make her the devil but DO YOU SEE THE WAY BEN LOOKS WHEN HE ANSWERS, “So?” Then he makes the hard sell by telling her to sit on the bed with him and pretend that they’re driving so he can show her that it’s no big deal, when in actuality he’s showing her exactly why it WOULD be a big deal because NO ONE CAN RESIST THAT CHARM. Felicity dares to ask what would happen if they had to share a bed, so they both lie down next to each other and even though nothing happens, the word “platonic” ceases to be a part of the human language when it comes to these two.

As if Felicity didn’t feel guilty enough, Julie finds out from Lynn that Nicole was making moves on Ben (Lynn and Nicole broke up), and Felicity admits that she knew about it after Julie asks. The latter is upset, understandably, but Felicity can’t bring herself to tell the whole truth, so she just says, “I don’t think he likes Nicole.” GAHHHHHH. DRINK DRINK DRINK.

Felicity, unable to ignore her revived feelings for Ben, waits for him outside of the loft and, when he finally comes home, tells him she’s seriously considering the road trip. He’s leaving that night, and while Felicity still thinks she’s the devil, she admits that she really wants to go with him, and then they’re about to kiss when JULIE COMES DOWNSTAIRS. She had been upstairs looking for a disk when Felicity and Ben walked in, and she heard everything and GAH JUST HAND ME THE BOTTLE.

To her credit, Felicity has the guts to go see Julie and apologize, but Julie ain’t havin’ it. Girl is ANGRY, which she has every right to be, and she calls Felicity a “lying bitch.” It’s like a slap in the face to Felicity, whose expression is so wounded–you can tell she’s never had a falling out with a friend before. Even worse, Julie told Noel what happened! This scene is so intense and painful and I’m so relieved when it’s over, except for the fact that Felicity immediately tries to talk to Noel, who wants his plane ticket back.

Thankfully, my soul is soothed when Felicity goes to see  her advisor from the first few episodes . She tells him, “There were people here that I’d never met, who just became so important to me,” and tearfully shares her fear that she ruined everything. He just listens, with no judgement in his warm, gentle gaze, because he is an angel in disguise. Finally, he asks her if she’s still going to be an R.A. Felicity doesn’t think so–“Who am I,” she asks, “to be giving anyone advice?” He answers, “You’re someone who’s been through it.”

Man, this show slays me. 

Felicity heads back to her room to finish packing and Ben shows up!!! He actually left the night before but turned back around, just for her. SA-WOON. He admits that he’s not good at making big speeches full of meaning (that’s her department), so he just cuts to the chase: “All I have is that I like you… and that I got as far as Harrisburg then I turned around and came back so maybe there’s some meaning in that.” He feels bad about Julie, but he can’t help how he feels, and I DON’T WANT YOU TO HELP IT, BEN. He tells her he’ll wait for her at the loft until 10am, and no hard feelings if she doesn’t show (speak for yourself, Ben–I will be PISSED). Felicity slowly smiles and says, “I can’t believe you came back,” to which Ben responds:

THE WAY HE SMILES AND THEN LOOKS AT HER WITH SERIOUS LONGING AND I CAN’T EVEN.

And then, after Ben leaves, Felicity finds a letter from Noel! I will grudgingly admit that it’s pretty great. He writes about how important she is to him and includes the plane ticket, hoping she’ll use it to meet him in Berlin.

As the episode draws to a close, we see that Felicity has added her name to the signatures in her closet; it’s a list of people who have lived in her room since 1968, and if you don’t get misty eyed during this part, you must’ve really hated college. (I’m not ashamed to admit that I totally started doing that after I watched this episode and have left my name written inside of a closet in every single place I’ve lived since.) Before the camera pans to the wall of signatures, we see Felicity get in a cab as her voiceover says, “I didn’t have to make a decision between Ben and Noel, but I did.” Then she turns to the cab driver and tells him where to go, but we’re watching from outside of the window and so we can’t hear her words and WHAT DID SHE SAY?!! 

I mean, I know the answer at this point, but y’all, I’d be lying if I told you that back in 1999, my roommates and I practically got a PhD in Lip Reading trying to figure out WHAT THE HELL FELICITY SAID. 

Ben’s Haircut

I mean, even Danny was moved to compliment it.  

College Nostalgia Moment

As classrooms empty and students prepare to leave, Felicity observes, “It actually seems like time is speeding up.” This episode deftly captures the monumental yet fleeting experience of college–one year feels like a lifetime but passes in the blink of an eye.

Iconic Felicity Silhouette

If only you could get that  on a t-shirt …

– Noel creates a slide show to sell Felicity on Berlin. Adorkable, drink!

– Noel gives Felicity a  paper ticket  for the flight. And not like, a print-out of an email. 

Real Talk with Elena

We are so on the same page:

Elena follows that up with: “And if Julie was sitting right here, I’d say the same thing.” I BELIEVE HER. 

Love Triangle in Full Effect

Felicity’s face when Noel and Ben get on the elevator together:

And Ben’s response/face when Noel tells him that he and Felicity are going to Berlin:

Y’all, this is one hell of an ending for season one! Do you think the writers made Julie and Ben’s break-up believable? And did anyone actually feel chemistry between them in the first place?

Did it seem realistic for Felicity to bounce back to Ben? Or do you just blame it on Meghan’s spells (and your own thoughts and prayers)?

Instead of waiting an ENTIRE LONGASS SUMMER for the premiere of Season Two, you can tune in next week when Meredith recaps “Sophomoric” and “The List” (a.k.a. the episode that spawned a thousand terrible hair jokes). 

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Sarah lives in Austin, and believes there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure, which is part of why she started FYA in 2009. Growing up, she thought she was a Mary Anne, but she's finally starting to accept the fact that she's actually a Kristy.

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Felicity's Ben or Noel Conundrum: How The Side You Took Predicted Your Entire Love Life

Please try again

By Meghan Lewit

There's a rather famous deleted scene from the film Pulp Fiction in which Mia Wallace quizzes hit-man Vincent Vega on whether he's a Beatles man or an Elvis man, whether he prefers The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family, and other character-defining questions. “My theory is that, when it comes to important subjects, there's only two ways a person can answer. Which way they choose tells you who that person is,” she states.

I’ve always found this to be a profoundly wise observation. My own cultural litmus test revolves around the love triangle at the heart of the late '90s college drama Felicity . Or, more specifically, Ben or Noel?

The show, which first aired on the now-defunct WB network in 1998, starred Keri Russell (currently kicking ass on The Americans ) as a good girl who thwarts her parents' expectations by following her high school crush to college in New York City. (Also worth noting, Felicity was the first foray into television for a then-unfamous J.J. Abrams.) The show became a watershed cultural moment for me -- partly because I was, at the time, at home in Illinois plotting my own escape to an East Coast university, but mainly because Felicity cemented my attitude toward romance for my entire adult life.

As heroines go, Felicity wasn’t particularly cool. She studied a lot, clothed herself in an unending parade of giant fuzzy sweaters, and recorded long, embarrassingly earnest messages to her absent friend Sally on a voice recorder. For a smart girl, she made the dubious choice to follow an 18-year-old boy across the country. But viewers who saw themselves in Felicity understood that the move to New York was about much more than a guy -- it was about making a brash stab at independence, about carving out a place in the world where her uncoolness and her romanticism and penchant for oversized wool could flourish. In her insane, ill-considered moment of bravery, Felicity became the patron saint of nice girls who got good grades, followed the rules and more or less listened to their parents, and sometimes wondered what the hell it was all for.

And in the halls of the fictional University of New York, she found love in the form of two appealingly floppy-haired choices: Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), the mumbly, emotionally inscrutable crush she followed to college; and Noel Crane (Scott Foley), the charmingly geeky, nice-guy resident advisor. Although the Felicity love triangle came along before fans identifying themselves as “Team X” or “Team Y” had entered the vernacular, the Ben vs. Noel question became the basis of a four-season love triangle, the outcome of which can still spark heated debate among those who came of age at the turn of the millennium.

As Felicity Porter felt like my fictional spirit sister back in 1998, so her love life has provided the framework of a theory that has guided my beliefs about romance for the past 16 years: that every straight woman in the world is either a Ben-girl or Noel-girl.

Noel established his good-guy cred early in the show when he became Felicity's confidante and Boggle partner. In the pilot, when Felicity is close to throwing in the towel on her New York adventure, he makes an endearing plea for her to stay:

“You'll be the fancy doctor, with the fancy practice. You’ll be married and you’ll have like four phone lines in your home. And then, boom, it’ll grip you like a blast of freezing cold air. You know, ‘what the hell is my life?’ And you’ll be able to trace it back to this instant...when that geek RA gave you [these] words of advice: stay in New York or perish.”

From that moment we knew that Noel understood her particular brand of romantic idealism, and that he would have her back. And throughout their first season courtship and over the course of the show (with the exception of an out-of-character quickie marriage and divorce to the Doritos Girl in season 3), he remained a steadfast presence in her life.

The Noel/Ben choice reached its most dramatic climax fairly early in the show’s run, at the end of the first season when Felicity has to choose between spending her summer break in Germany with Noel, or on a cross-country road trip with Ben. The season ends on a cliffhanger with Felicity -- in slow motion of course -- getting into a cab en route to an undisclosed destination.

“I didn’t have to make a decision between Ben and Noel,” she tells Sally in voiceover. “But I did.”

A decade and a half later, it’s not a spoiler to report that she chose Ben, and that in season 2, just a couple of episodes into their nascent romance, he broke her heart. This event launched the infamous hair chop, and a series of forgettable romances with randoms until Ben eventually wins her back by tracking down a copy of the movie that had been playing when he stood her up (Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush ). In his most swoon-worthy moment, he describes the film canister as a time machine that would allow them to rewrite their history.

And that was the trick with Ben. He wasn’t a bad guy. He wasn’t cruel or dismissive, although he could often be thoughtless. He was a little too good looking; a person for whom things had always come a little too easily. He was someone we have all known, and probably dated at some point. Even in the midst of their on-and-off coupledom, he remained, on some level, tantalizingly unavailable.

“You want something with me, but you’re not strong enough to have it,” Felicity tells him at the beginning of their relationship.

She had a point because in the fourth season -- after Felicity and Ben have graduated and moved to Palo Alto together for grad school -- Ben cheats. This earnest and heartfelt drama then takes a bizarre turn into the supernatural when Felicity’s former roommate, Meghan, casts a spell that allows a devastated Felicity to travel back in time and live out an alternate reality where she chooses Noel instead. The storyline, which is just about as absurd as it sounds, sets off a sequence of events that results in Noel’s tragic death in a fire on campus, but Felicity is ultimately able to make things right by reversing the spell and returning to her life with Ben.

It’s a deeply unsatisfying conclusion to a show that had dealt so thoughtfully with the college experience. At the end, we’re supposed to accept that she made her choice not necessarily because it was the right one, but because choosing Noel would directly lead to his untimely demise.

But the fact that the Ben/Noel question still lingers is a testament to the viability of both characters. Unlike some other notable pop culture love triangles involving young people, Felicity’s choice never felt like a foregone conclusion. (By the end of their runs, was there anyone left who was still hoping that Joey would choose mopey Dawson over Pacey; that Katniss would pick volatile Gale over gentle Peeta; or thought there was a chance that Bella would end up with the werewolf instead of her creepily possessive vampire beau?) Felicity, for all its '90s trappings, holds up as a contemplative and authentic portrayal of the coming-of-age experience and the choices that it presents. The power of the Ben/Noel divide was that neither felt like a plot device, but rather a choice between two valid real-life archetypes: the nice (albeit somewhat predictable) guy who adores you, or the soulful sort-of bad boy you’ll never be quite sure of.

It’s also important to note that the choice between Ben and Noel has less to do with the guys themselves than it does with the girl doing the choosing. Each type has its own distinct appeal, perhaps depending on where a woman is in her life. A Ben who seems irresistible at age 20 may feel like more trouble than he’s worth at 30. A friend of mine recently noted that, if she were going to write a memoir of her dating life, she’d title it: Too Many Bens, Not Enough Noels .

Although a staunch Noel devotee, when I rewatched the entire show recently, it was easier for me to understand the Ben appeal -- possibly because I’m less self-serious about love now than when I was 17. Still, when I reached the end of the series, I had to conclude that my fundamental preference hadn’t changed . While Ben-girls will always crave the challenge and unpredictability, Noel-girls just don’t need that noise.

It may seem like an over-simplification of the vagaries of love and attraction, but some things really are that straightforward. Just like with the Beatles and Elvis, at some point you have to make a choice. You can like both characters -- think they’re both cute, admire their overlapping taste in flannels -- but no one likes them both equally. And the one you choose says everything about you.

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On-Set Romances, Shocking Scandals and Casting Secrets: Behind-the-Scenes of Felicity , 20 Years Later

Did you know keri russell and scott speedman dated or that jennifer garnet met her first husband on the wb drama look back on the iconic show's four-year run.

Dear Sally, can you believe Felicity premiered 20 years ago?

Break out your tape recorder and a fresh new cassette because we're going back to 1998, the year that Felicity debuted on The WB. And it's fitting that the college drama created b y J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves debuted at the beginning of fall,as it's a show that just evokes a warm and cozy feel. Can't you just picture Keri Russell, with that glorious head of warmly lit curls, walking through the streets of New York City, swimming in a baggy sweater as she endlessly debates between Ben Covington ( Scott Speedman ), the whisper-voiced boy she followed to NYC because of a sentence he wrote in her yearbook, and Noel Crane ( Scott Foley ), her sweet R.A. who helped her transition to life in college?

But Felicity offered so much more than one of TV's most compelling (and still hotly debated) love triangles during its four-year run from 1998-2002, including tackling sensitive subject matter that was ahead of its time, a shocking writer's room scandal that sparked an ageism debate in Hollywood, and two new TV icons in Keri Russell and Jennifer Garner . And, of course, it's fair share of off-camera romances, too. 

In honor of Felicity 's 20th anniversary, here are some behind-the-scenes secrets you might not know about the iconic WB drama...

Russell Was Almost Too Pretty to Get the Role: While it's hard to imagine anyone but Russell playing Felicity Porter, the then 21-year-old almost didn't get the part because Abrams told the L.A. Times she "was so pretty, I thought there was no way she could play the part. And then she started reading and was just funny as hell. And if you're funny, I don't care, you win."

And the role would go on to make Russell a household name, Golden Globe winner and a TV icon, but that sudden rise to fame wasn't easy for the private star. "I found it a struggle," Russell said of her  Felicity  fame in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter .

Still, she looks back fondly on her time on Felicity, saying, "I loved that character and I still love it—it has such a sweetness to it and she was all truth, unabashedly."

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Casting Switcheroos: Can you imagine Foley as Ben? No? Well, it almost happened as the Scandal star was originally cast as Felicity's longtime crush. But when they were unable to find someone to play Noel…we all know what happened.

"I think they liked this guy as Ben better," Foley said on the panel at the ATX Festival reunion, pointing to Speedman. "Nobody could have played Ben Covington better than Scott Speedman."

As for what would've happened if Foley did play Ben, he joked, "What a sh--ty show that would've been."

On-Set Romances: Despite the ongoing love triangle constantly shifting on the show, Ben fans could take comfort in knowing Russell and Speedman dated for years IRL, though Speedman has admitted he wasn't the best boyfriend at the time.

When the former couple appeared together on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2017, Speedman said he was a "disaster of a boyfriend" when he was younger, but refused to give any details.  "This is not the time, Dr. Phil!" he told a curious Jimmy Kimmel .

Russell wasn't spilling either, generously saying, "A young twenties boyfriend is called a disaster of a boyfriend."

But he wasn't the only Scott to date one of his Felicity co-stars, as Foley met his future wife Jennifer Garner when she was cast to play his season one girlfriend, Hannah. ("Hannah?! Her name is Hannah?!")

The duo wed in October 2000 after meeting on-set, before divorcing in 2004.

"We didn't have a shot," Garner told Allure of their marriage ending. "He's a really good guy, and we just imploded."

Garner, of course, went onto marry her Daredevil co -star Ben Affleck , with the couple having three children together, before announcing their split in 2015.

Foley married Marika Dominczyk in 2007, and they have three children.

An Action Star Is Born: Though she didn't really have to do any stunts during her guest stint on Felicity, Garner left such an impression on Abrams that he had Garner in mind when he created Alias and its iconic lead character Sydney Bristow, a college student by day/spy by night.

"There was something about her that I just thought was really special," he told USA Today . "I always thought she had something in her personality that was funnier and sexier and smarter and more mischievous than anything I'd seen her do. And when I wrote Sydney, I wanted to show that."

Outside the Box Storytelling: Or should we say inside the box? Though it was a coming-of-age college drama, Abrams, who would go on to create Alias and Lost , and direct blockbusters like Star Trek and Star Wars , definitely got his sci-fi kicks in during Felicity 's four-year run.

Of course, there was the actual mystery box that Felicity's roommate Meghan, a Wiccan naturally, had in season one. And then there was season two's trippy black and white episode that was an homage to The Twilight Zone. (The gang got stuck inside Meghan's mystery box.)

"People might just reject it, but the exciting thing is we're trying to do something different," Abrams said of the episode in 2000 . "If it was the same show every week, it would become incredibly predictable."

And then there's the time-travel of it all, with the series deciding to go back in time in its final episodes to reveal what would've happened if Felicity chose to be with Noel instead of Ben.

"I thought it was a really fun thing because she was questioning if she made the right decision picking Ben — because Ben turned out to be kind of a turd — so she got to go back," Amanda Foreman said  during the reunion panel. "I thought it was great, really clever."

Russell tried to explain what prompted the time travel element, saying it was "because the network canceled us, kind of, and then said, 'Just kidding, do a few more.' I remember J.J. and Matt saying the show is going to end and they can't tell us if it's this number or this number. Regardless if they give us the extra four episodes or not, she has to graduate. And then last minute they said, ‘Do a few more.'"

So the drama went full genre for five episodes. (And spoiler alert: She was meant to be with Ben all along!)

Ahead of Its Time: Before 13 Reasons Why used its own tapes to take the teen drama genre to another level, Felicity was tackling sensitive subject matter two decades earlier. Stalking, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies and date-rape, with Felicity's friend Julie ( Amy Jo Johnson ) was raped by a guy she was casually dating in season one. Julie would deal with the trauma of the assault (including blaming herself, questioning whether or not to report him or if it was even rape because she didn't fight) in the following episodes, sparking conversation about rape culture on the show and in real-life. Remember, this was in 1998, so it's sobering to realize how groundbreaking this storyline was at the time and how relevant it still is still today.

But Reeves admitted in a recent interview he doesn't think Felicity would be successful or even make it on the air if it was pitched today. Why? Because it lived in the small details and didn't have a crazy hook. 

"The thing that excited us the most was about doing the tiniest moments in these character's lives, and how those tiny moments could be huge. I think, even in the past, the tiny moments are huge, but there is also a huge stakes, and canvas behind that," he told IndieWire . "It's a lot of what genre does. I think that our aims are the same, but that show, at that time, I think it was a time where you could do a show where just having those little moments was enough. That was kind of that period."

Writer's Room Scandal: One of Felicity 's biggest controversies actually happened behind-the-scenes, when a writer for the show, Riley Weston, was outed for lying about her age in 1999. Weston was hired under the assumption she had just graduated high school and was something of a TV prodigy, landing a staff gig on Felicity . But she was actually 32,  her husband posed as her older brother, and her mother, who attended meetings with her, was also in on the lie.

After snagging a spot on Entertainment Weekly 's 1998 list of "100 Most Creative People in Entertainment" and landing a lucrative deal with Disney, her lie was exposed when a producer did a background check after she guest-starred in a season one episode and they thought something was off after seeing the dailies.

"I could not be one age in the acting world and another in the writing world, so I chose to maintain the ruse…in a business fraught with age bias, I did what I felt I had to do to succeed," Weston (also not her real name BTW!) said in a statement, before going on to do interviews about ageism in Hollywood.

"I misled a lot of people and that was very wrong," Weston  told  EW  in 1998. But she also seemed angry over the hypocrisy, saying, "It came down to working as an actor. Show me an actor who's never lied about age."

A Hair Scare: We already went in-depth into the infamous hair-cutting scandal that rocked the show (and nation) in season two, so here's the real story behind Felicity's hair cut that caused death threats and a ratings decline . 

A New Style Icon: With her oversized sweaters, baggy jeans and cozy hats, Felicity became the thinking teen's fashion inspiration in the late '90s (and is still worthy of a place on your fall fashion Pinterest board). If Carrie Bradshaw was NYC's unattainable fasionista, Felicity Porter was the accessible one, complete with a leather backpack.

"Our audience of teen girls and women 18 to 34 don't just look at the hair, they look at the fashions," WB Entertainment president  Susanne Daniels  told reporters at the 2000 Winter TCA Press Tour . "Our heads of marketing told us that they read a quote from the clothing buyer of Target who said she looks at our shows and decides what to put in stores in terms of clothing. Professionals are looking at the styles of our actors, what they wear, where they live."

In an interview with the L.A. Times , the show's costume designer Linda Serijan-Fasmer  spilled some secrets: While Russell wore an extra-small, they bought all of her clothes for the show in a medium. The color palette was kept restrained (think navy, rust, olive, burgundy, etc.). Nail polish was a big no-no. The inspiration for her look was Annie Hall, per Abrams' initial vision. 

In fact, they were so dedicated to keeping Felicity "unsexy" that they "politely declined" Calvin Klein's invitation to pick clothes for Russell to wear on the show "because ours is the most un-Kleiny show imaginable," Serijan-Fasmer said in a 1999 interview, citing that Felicity would near have the budget to wear CK. 

The Show's Legacy: Much like the warm and cozy sweaters Felicity wore, show felt like a comfortable blanket for fans, romanticizing those oh-so-awkward college experiences, giving them the warm glow of nostalgia that still resonates today.

"The beauty of the show is this romantic idea of this chance to change your life completely," Russell said at ATX. "Everyone can look back and say, 'I wish I would have taken that chance'—that was the sweetness, beauty, and truth of the show. That's what we got to live out on the show."

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TV’s Hottest Triangles: Felicity — Were You Team Ben or Team Noel?

Dave nemetz, west coast bureau chief.

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Felicity was about a lot of things: a young woman discovering herself in the big city; the joy and heartbreak of the college experience; woefully ill-advised haircuts. But for many viewers, four seasons of The WB’s dorm-room drama boiled down to a single question: Did Felicity belong with Ben, or with Noel?

The choice between bad boy Ben Covington and nice guy Noel Crane divided Felicity ‘s fan base into two equally passionate camps — and even today, nearly 20 years (!) since Felicity Porter first enrolled at the University of New York, the debate still hasn’t died down. So let’s pull on a cozy sweater, throw on a Sarah McLachlan CD and record a “Dear Sally” tape of our own: Which man should Felicity have chosen to spend her post-grad life with?

Related Stories The Voice : Did the Right 6 Contestants Make It Through to the Lives? Netflix’s Heartbreak High Is the Deliciously Messy Teen Drama We’ve Been Missing in the Genre

What’s your opinion on who Felicity should have chosen? Log your vote in the poll below, then slug it out in the comments!  

More of TV’s Hottest Love Triangles: True Blood — Bill vs. Eric Beverly Hills, 90210  — Brenda vs. Kelly Dawson’s Creek —  Pacey vs. Dawson General Hospital  — Sonny vs. Jax Gilmore Girls  — Jess vs. Logan Lost  — Jack vs. Sawyer One Tree Hill  — Brooke vs. Peyton Sex and the City —  Aidan vs. Big

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Team Ben!!! Scott Speedman is simply amazing!!!!

I liked Noel, but it was clear every season that she preferred Ben. And Scott Speedman and Keri had great chemistry so I liked Ben and Felicity even though they were a roller coaster of never ending drama (but what WB/CW couple isn’t).

I hope they do Smallville for Lana vs Lois and Arrow for Felicity vs just about anyone else.

Only one (1) day left. Temper expectations!

Then do more

Should do these at least once a week for a while. Please?!

Scott Speedman IS amazing, but as far as Felicity goes, Team Noel every darn day.

I just feel like Noel was the one that Felicity should have been with instead of Ben. All Ben ever did was hurt her over and over again and Felicity deserved better than that.

I liked Ben but Noel and felicity should’ve ended up together they were the better couple and he treated her better

Why would anyone pick Ben? Didn’t he cheat on her at the end of the season and also impregnate another woman? Seriously that’s a good catch?

I didn’t really like either. But I remember liking Noel better as I thought he was the better man and better looking of the two.

The Jump The Shark moment on Felicity wasn’t the haircut: it was when she kept choosing Ben over Noel for no apparent reason. She was supposed to outgrow Ben, and she did, yet the show wanted them together despite the utter lack of chemistry, or Ben’s vapidity and unreliance.

Lack of chemistry? What show were you watching for four years? They caught lightning in a bottle with those two. They absolutely had chemistry. I am amazed that things did not suffer after Keri and Scott broke up. I really don’t feel that the show had a jump the shark moment. The stuff about the haircut was always ridiculous to me. I think part of what hurt them in season two was they broke up Ben/Felicity quickly and for a stupid reason. I mean we finally found out that she picked Ben and that they had a fabulous summer (off screen) and then they break up because he snooped and listened to her tape.

Not really, no. They really didn’t. Also, it was kind of uncomfortable seeing Ben and Felicity together giving the premise of the show; Ben represented what Felicity was outgrowing, like her romance fantasies, and putting them together was a huge regression. That’s why the show went down, because it strayed further and further from its premise and made Felicity’s character growth utterly useless. Then there was the whole ‘falling in love because of a spell’, which well… sucked.

I was team Noel at the time, but became (and remained) team Ben by the end.

Team Ben!!!!!

I was hardcore Team Noel but by the end I really felt like Felicity didn’t deserve him. Zoe loved him and treated him better. So Noel was the better man who loved her more, but Ben is who she chose and deserved.

Team Ben! I liked Noel well enough but always felt she belonged with Ben. They had a rocky road and their relationship wasn’t perfect but they were soul mates, well at least in my mind.

I liked both guys but I am Team Ben all the way. I believe that she loved them both but what she had/felt with Ben was way more powerful. She changed her entire life and followed him across the country. Crazy for sure but he did not run. He fell for her as well. The stakes were always much higher for Ben/Felicity. The best young love story on TV ever. A close second is Max and Liz from Roswell. I can’t believe they gave both Ben and Max baby mamas.

Team Ben! So often the girl in love triangles ends up with the guy who wants her and not the one she wants. Glad that didn’t happen here and that Felicity got the guy she wanted: Ben.

Umm, Team Neither! Felicity spent too much time pining over Ben to ever have an equal relationship with him, and conversely Noel spent too much time pining over Felicity. It was college, move on. That said, at the time I was more Team Belicity than Team Noelicity.

i liked noel but got turned off when he started acting as if he was entitled to felicity simply because he was the “nice guy”. and felicity was right, he was every long distance girlfriend’s worst nightmare.

ben was flawed for sure and had a lot of growing up to do. so did felicity. but i rooted for them because they loved each other and learned to fight for each other.

She’s an 18 year old (21) girl following her gut and experiencing life and taking risks. She’s not looking for a husband. She wants a thrill and wants to get to know the guy that she finally has the chance to get to know. As she should! Of course Ben. All the way Ben. If she were a woman in her 30s with a different set of needs and priorities looking for a life partner – then of course the “safe” is the way to go. But she isn’t!

The team Noel comments make me wonder if they even remember the show. He had an inferiority complex and it was always about winning for him and convincing himself he was a “good guy” even though he usually acted selfishly.

He *actually* stalked Tyra Bank’s character, he lead Felicity (who he knew was vulnerable) on when he had a girlfriend, he was careless of her feelings and cheated on her with this same ex-girlfriend, and then was straight up cruel when Felicity slept with someone else when she thought they were broken up, and once again cruel after she went on the road trip with Ben and whenever else he didn’t get his way with her. Ben was never cruel or punishing towards Felicity and was the one who loved and valued her for who she was.

I’m concerned about what type of relationships Noel supporters settle for and wonder if they also sympathise with fellow self-proclaimed nice guy Ted Mosby.

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Felicity : Ben or Noel — did she make the right choice?

Are you Team Ben or Team Noel?

With the cast of Felicity reuniting in EW’s annual Reunions issue , it only felt right to talk about the Ben-Felicity-Noel love triangle.

Ben was the reason the show existed. After graduating from high school, Felicity spontanelously decides to drop her Stanford plans, only to follow Ben to the University of New York. Ben constantly proves that he may not be the most thoughtful while the couple date, but Felicity notoriously finds herself going back to him. On the other hand, Noel was the basic guy-next-door who from the start, who proved to be dependable and comforting. They were perfect for each other, almost having too much in common, so of course they couldn’t work.

While Felicity ( SPOILER ALERT! ) eventually chose Ben, we can’t help but wonder if she truly made the right choice. Are you Team Ben or Team Noel? Cast your vote in EW’s poll of notable TV love triangles, ahead.

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Episode list

S4.E1 ∙ The Declaration

S4.E2 ∙ My Best Friend's Wedding

S4.E3 ∙ Your Money or Your Wife

S4.E4 ∙ Miss Conception

S4.E5 ∙ Boooz

S4.E6 ∙ Oops... Noel Did It Again

S4.E7 ∙ The Storm

S4.E8 ∙ The Last Thanksgiving

S4.E9 ∙ Moving On

S4.E10 ∙ Fire

S4.E11 ∙ A Perfect Match

S4.E12 ∙ Future Shock

S4.E13 ∙ Kiss and Tell

S4.E14 ∙ Raising Arizona

S4.E15 ∙ The Paper Chase

S4.E16 ∙ Ben Don't Leave

S4.E17 ∙ The Graduate

S4.E18 ∙ Time Will Tell

S4.E19 ∙ The Power of the Ex

S4.E20 ∙ Spin the Bottle

S4.E21 ∙ Felicity Interrupted

S4.E22 ∙ Back to the Future

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Felicity and Ben just got back together

IT WAS ALWAYS BEN.

On Tuesday, Felicity — aka Keri Russell — finally got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And who was there to support her? Ben. The one she dropped out of Stanford for. Scott Speedman, if you want to be technical about it.

Who skipped this momentous day? Scott Foley. Which means Noel is officially not the last man standing.

And if you're wondering, yes, J.J. Abrams, co-creator of Felicity and future Star Wars master, was also in attendance. So was Russell's real-life partner and The Americans co-star, Matthew Rhys.

This concludes our trip back to 2002.

Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Felicity

In the pantheon of late '90s to early aughts teen dramas, "Felicity" holds its own against shows like " Dawson's Creek " and " Buffy the Vampire Slayer ." Created by J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, "Felicity" follows the story of a recent high school graduate who abandons her plans to attend Stanford and instead follows a boy she has a crush on across the country to the University of New York (an NYU stand-in). Keri Russell took the lead, and her signature curly hair, hesitant and awkward attitude, yet adorable likability made the show a hit. Fans tuned in to see whether Felicity would get together with her crush, the California swimmer Ben, or the geeky resident advisor Noel. 

A cast of supporting characters rounded out the show, with musicians, brainiacs, bosses, best friends, and weird roommates making "Felicity" a well-cast series. The show ran for four seasons from 1998 through 2002, so it's been a good long while since "Felicity" came to an end. But pretty much everyone has remained in show business since then. Here's what happened to the cast, what they've been up to, and what else you've definitely seen them in.

Keri Russell (Felicity Porter)

Kerri Russell played the title character of "Felicity," a smart yet rather sheltered girl from California who makes her way east to New York City. It was a good move for Felicity, since anyone could tell within the first few episodes that she needed to get away from her controlling dad and Stepford-like mom. Russell's awkward charm was perfect for the character, and watching her grow over four years of college was the backbone of the series.

It's a little silly to ask where Russell is now, considering she spent the last few years on one of the best televisions dramas of the decade. Russell co-starred in FX's "The Americans," in which she played an undercover Russian spy living in America in the 1980s. Russell was nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globes for the role. A former child actor who started her career at the age of 15 when she joined the cast of "The All New Mickey Mouse Club," Russell has also acted in a number of movies since "Felicity," including "Mission: Impossible III," "Waitress," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," and "Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker." More recent projects include the Apple TV Plus anthology series "Extrapolations" and the Netflix political drama "The Diplomat."

Scott Speedman (Ben Covington)

Being a "Felicity" fan meant you were either Team Noel or Team Ben. At first, Felicity herself was Team Ben. After all, she gave up her Stanford pre-med plans to follow this guy across the country — a guy, by the way, who she'd never really spoken to but wrote a lovely goodbye note in her yearbook. Ben was a bit of trouble, though. His bouts with addiction, fights, failing grades, and cheating made him not the best boyfriend. Team Noel fans are still wondering why Felicity ended up with Ben at the series' end.

After "Felicity," Speedman jumped right into one the biggest movies of the early aughts: the vampire werewolf action horror "Underworld," with Kate Beckinsale. Speedman returned for "Underworld: Evolution" and has  gravitated toward more indie horror in the years since, including the films "Out of the Dark," "The Moth Diaries," and "The Strangers." Speedman has also returned to television in recent years, with roles in the "Last Resort," with Andre Braugher, TNT's "Animal Kingdom," Netflix's "You," and as Dr. Nick Marsh on "Grey's Anatomy." Speedman can also be seen in David Cronenberg's sci-fi film "Crimes of the Future," with Kristen Stewart, Léa Seydoux, and Viggo Mortensen. 

Scott Foley (Noel Crane)

If you weren't a Ben fan, you were most likely on Team Noel. Felicity's resident advisor was one year older than her when they met, but they quickly became good friends and eventually started dating. The entire four-year run of "Felicity" practically came down to her choice between Ben and Noel, among a zillion other choices, like art or med school. Juxtaposed against pretty boy California jock Ben, Noel was a geeky east coast nice guy whose personality often clashed with Ben's. But Noel's short-lived relationship with Felicity reverberates throughout the rest of the series, with Noel making poorer and poorer choices over the next four years.

Much like Speedman and Russell, Foley has maintained a steady career in both film and television since the end of "Felicity." Foley starred in "The Unit" (funny enough also with Andre Braugher), and had stints on "Scrubs," "Cougar Town," "Grey's Anatomy", and "True Blood." He spent a good portion of another drama as "the other man" on ABC's "Scandal" where he played Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) secondary love interest, secret agent Jake Ballard. His more recent television outings, "Whiskey Cavalier" and "The Big Leap," were less successful, only lasting one season each. Foley also directs, having helmed an episode of "Felicity" as well as going behind the camera for "The Unit" and "Scandal." His first feature, "Let's Kill Ward's Wife," came out in 2015.

Tangi Miller (Elena Tyler)

When Felicity gets to the University of New York, she makes a few good friends — including fellow pre-med student Elena, a super smart brainiac whose determination to become a doctor is the most important thing in her life. Elena is a genius but has bad luck in her relationships, including a cheating boyfriend named Blair, an affair with a professor, and a struggle with her most serious boyfriend, Tracy, and his desire to stay a virgin until marriage. Elena dies in a car accident in Season 4, which is a major bummer considering she had so much potential. She returns during Felicity's bizarre time travel sequence in the final season, but fans are divided on those episodes.

Tangi Miller has had more of a behind-the-scenes career since "Felicity" ended. In front of the camera, she's appeared in a few episodes of television, including "The Twilight Zone," "The Shield," and "Cold Case," as well as films like "Madea's Family Reunion" and "My Girlfriend's Back." She's also started directing, helming 2016's "Diva Diaries." But Miller has an extensive producing resume, as well as non-entertainment-related pursuits , which may be why we don't see her onscreen as much. 

Amy Jo Johnson (Julie Emrick)

Julie quickly becomes Felicity's first BFF when she gets to college, but Julie's interest in Ben and their subsequent relationship gets between the two friends a number of times throughout the series. Julie also experiences a traumatizing date rape, and is put through the wringer with her birth mom in the early seasons of the show. 

Johnson left "Felicity" in the first half of Season 3 and popped up again as a recurring guest in Season 4. Any millennial could tell you that before she was Felicity's bestie she was the original Pink Ranger on "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." But where did Johnson go after "Felicity"? After the WB teen drama wrapped, Johnson mostly stuck with TV, with roles on "The Division," "What About Brian," "Wildfire," "Flashpoint," and "Covert Affairs." She also has an extensive music career, having released multiple albums since 2001, and she's directed a number of short films. Her feature directorial debut was 2017's "The Space Between." More recently, she directed "Tammy's Always Dying," starring Felicity Huffman. 

Amanda Foreman (Meghan Rotundi)

When Felicity finally meets her freshman dorm roommate Meghan in the early episodes of the series, she's caught off guard. Meghan is rude, ignores Felicity, and threatens her to stay away from her "box." The gothy punk spends her nights out clubbing and generally only gets along with her fellow weirdos. But Meghan and Felicity actually manage to form a lasting friendship, and Meghan is a figure in Felicity's life throughout the series ... especially when it comes to performing spells. 

Amanda Foreman is a J.J. Abrams staple who's popped up in numerous Abrams projects in the years since "Felicity." She hopped aboard his next series, "Alias," as Carrie Bowman for a few seasons and then appeared alongside "Felicity" co-star Amy Jo Johnson in "What About Brian." In the film world, Foreman has appeared in "Star Trek" and "Star Trek Into Darkness" as well as "Super 8." She also has a bunch of non-Abrams projects on her resume, like long stints on "Private Practice," "Parenthood," and "Awkward."

Greg Grunberg (Sean Blumberg)

In hindsight, it was a little weird that Sean Blumberg was hanging out with a bunch of college students. The 20-something Sean was Ben's roommate in an off-campus apartment, but he quickly worked himself into the lives of the main gang of Felicity's friends and the other students at UNY. An inventor at heart, Sean often came up with what he though were brilliant products ideas that actually sounded awful. For example: Smoothaise, a condiment with unknown ingredients, cereal with milk built in (just add water!), and cologne that smells like cheese. 

Sean was played by frequent Abrams foil Greg Grunberg. Childhood friends with Abrams, you can probably guess where Grunberg's career went next. He played Eric Weiss on "Alias," played the pilot in the pilot of "Lost," and then went on to star as Matt Parkman on "Heroes" and "Heroes Reborn." In the film arena he's appeared in the "Star Wars" franchise in "The Force Awakens" and "The Rise of Skywalker." Grunberg is good with all things geeky, including doing voice work for other "Star Wars" and comics-based animated series, a cameo in "Star Trek Beyond," and a late night talk show with Kevin Smith as well as game shows. Much like Sean Blumberg, Greg Grunberg is a man of many talents.

Ian Gomez (Javier Clemente Quintata)

Javier, Felicity's boss at the coffee shop Dean & DeLuca, became one of her very best friends over the course of "Felicity." Hailing from Spain with a thick accent, Javier was sassy, outgoing, and urged Felicity and Ben to confront their feelings as much as their demons, and make the best of themselves. During the series, Javier married the love of his life, Samuel, and eventually went back to school himself. 

Played by Ian Gomez, Javier was a truly lovable character on all four seasons of the show. You might also recognize Gomez from his role on "The Drew Carey Show," which ran during some of the same years as "Felicity." But since then, Gomez has had roles on "Jake in Progress," "Cougar Town," "Supergirl," and Apple TV Plus' "Physical" and "The Morning Show" as well as Freeform's "Single Drunk Female." Gomez was married to writer and director Nia Vardalos for 23 years and it's said their wedding was partly the basis for the hit indie comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." 

Rob Benedict (Richard Coad)

Richard Coad was a classmate of Felicity, Ben, and the rest of the gang whose blunt criticisms and nasty attitude made him out to be a foil for most of the show. He seemed determined to annoy Noel the most and even get him in trouble for dating Felicity, since he was an RA and it was against the rules. He teamed up with Sean to make a documentary about the gang, which provided for some interesting cinema verité-type episodes. But Richard faded into the background toward the end of the series. 

Ever the funny sidekick type, Rob Benedict has tons of shows and movies on his resume. He was on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Birds of Prey," "Supernatural," "Bosch," "Lucifer," "Alias," 'Monk," and practically every crime procedural you can name. Benedicts sticks mostly in the television realm, though he has appeared in some movies, probably the most famous of which is his role alongside Ryan Reynolds in "Waiting."

Donald Faison (Tracy)

Tracy popped up in the later half of "Felicity" as Elena's boyfriend. Elena had bad luck in love, even had an affair with a professor, so fans were kind of rooting for her to find a nice stable relationship. Tracy was kind of that, though things didn't really work out. See, Tracy was super religious, and wanted to stay a virgin until he got married. That then led to an ill-advised engagement with Elena, though thankfully they never did end up getting married.

Today, everyone knows Donald Faison. After "Felicity," his biggest role has got to be as Dr. Christopher Tur on "Scrubs." That series took up a decade of Faison's career, but he still also had time for shows like TV Land's "The Exes" or Showtime's "Ray Donovan." Faison has also done a lot of voice work for animated series such as "Clone High," "The Boondocks," and "American Dad!" His voice acting work makes up the majority of his career these days, with gigs on everything from "Star Wars" animated series to Disney shows like "Vampirina" and the long-lived "Robot Chicken."

Sarah-Jane Potts (Molly)

In Season 3, with Amy Jo Johnson's Julie going in and out of the cast, "Felicity" added another girl to the gang with new roommate Molly. Molly seemed sweet, with her hippie bohemian style and English accent, but she harbored many secrets. A drug problem and an abusive boyfriend came into play, which ultimately drove Molly back to England.

Sarah-Jane Potts has had a relatively low-key career in the US since "Felicity" came to an end. She has done some guest spots on shows like "NYPD Blue," "American Dreams," and the 2003 comedy "National Lampoon's Barely Legal." Her bigger career is in the UK, where she's starred in a number of medical dramas and soap operas. British shows like "Sugar Rush," "Casualty," "Waterloo Road," and "Holby City" is where Potts really shined — though she's also appeared on Netflix recently in the teen hockey/figure skating drama "Zero Chill." 

Amy Smart (Ruby)

When things with Felicity don't seem to be working out, Noel does actually find a nice, steady girlfriend for a little while. In Season 2, Ruby is one of Felicity's freshman advisees. Like Noel, Felicity became an RA, and as luck would have it, Noel meets Ruby through Felicity. But Ruby is an aspiring actor who moves to Los Angeles for a movie shoot and comes back pregnant after having an affair with someone famous, thus ending her relationship with Noel.

Ruby was played by Amy Smart, who practically leaped into the world of new millennium teen comedies right after her stint on "Felicity." She co-starred in "Varsity Blues," "Road Trip," "The Butterfly Effect" with Ashton Kutcher, and "Just Friends" with Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris. She had long gigs on "Scrubs," "Shameless," and "Justified," and these days co-stars in the CW's "Stargirl" series based on the DC Comics character.

Jennifer Garner (Hannah Bibb)

Speaking of Noel's girlfriends, Hannah is the O.G. It's only when Felicity and Noel start to kind of flirt and get together that she finds out he has a long-term and long-distance girlfriend named Hannah who is at another school studying to be a composer. In terms of "Felicity" guest stars, Hannah doesn't really make a dent, only appearing in a few episodes in Season 1 and making a nice return in Season 4. But the actor who plays Hannah is probably one of the more famous "Felicity" alums: Jennifer Garner.

As we all know, Garner hit it big shortly after her stint on "Felicity" by starring in J.J. Abrams' next series, the spy thriller "Alias." Garner played Agent Sydney Bristow for five seasons on "Alias," earning SAG Awards, Golden Globes, and Emmy nominations. She solidified her comedy chops with the 2003 rom-com "13 Going on 30," which, if you ask any millennial girl, is still a classic. Once married to "Felicity" co-star Scott Foley, Garner is also probably famous for her marriage to Ben Affleck, whom she met while playing Elektra in the comic book movie "Daredevil." Long story short, Garner has had an impressively varied career. Some of her most acclaimed projects include "Juno," "Dallas Buyers Club, "Love, Simon," and more recently the Netflix movie "The Adam Project."

Janeane Garofalo (Sally Reardon)

The last cast member we're checking in on is one whose face you don't even see on "Felicity." You see, at the start of "Felicity," the titular character starts out every episode with letters to her old friend and tutor, Sally. She records cassette tapes that she then sends to her more experienced and worldly friend, and then gets tapes back offering some wise advise. The voice on those tapes was that of Janeane Garofalo.

Another name you probably don't need an introduction to, Garofalo has been a standup comedian and actor for years. She worked on sketch comedy series such as "The Ben Stiller Show," "The Larry Sanders Show," and "Saturday Night Live," and her biggest movies include "Wet Hot American Summer," "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion," "Mystery Men," and "Reality Bites." After "Felicity," she also had recurring roles on "The West Wing," "24," and "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior." Lately, Garofalo has done work on the TV shows "Younger" and "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later," among other voice acting work. 

Sally was only heard in 14 episodes of 'Felicity," and she was phased out pretty much altogether after Season 2. The show was just a blip in Garofalo's extensive resume, but a memorable one nonetheless.

'Felicity’s Time-Travel Twist Is Better Than You Remember

This is a J.J. Abrams show, so maybe we shouldn't be too surprised Keri Russell ended up traveling through time.

The Big Picture

• Felicity remains a significant part of popular culture, even years after its original airing, with its relatable characters and realistic storylines.
• The show's creative plot twists, including a black-and-white episode and Felicity time traveling back to her college years, kept viewers engaged and intrigued.
• Despite its fantasy elements, Felicity resonated with audiences as an aspirational portrayal of the college experience, prompting viewers to question and reflect on their own lives.

It comes as no surprise that The WB’s college drama Felicity remains as present in popular culture now as it was when it first debuted. Despite only airing for four seasons, the show's impact has been as far-reaching as it was captivating. Even Modern Family ’s Phil Dunphy ( Ty Burrell ) admitted that if he could time travel back to the '90s , he would tell Felicity Porter ( Keri Russell ) not to cut her hair. Indeed, Felicity quickly became ingrained in our cultural consciousness during its first season in 1998, following a recent high-school graduate as she decides on a whim to change all of her college plans to follow a boy from high school she barely knew , Ben Covington ( Scott Speedman ), to New York City.

From a critical point of view, it was less about a girl blindly following a cute boy who spoke to her once across the country for no reason (although it was a little bit of that, and I would have totally done the same for 1998 Scott Speedman) and more that his comment written in her yearbook unlocked an urge for her to finally become someone else other than who she’s been . Or, as the theme song from the series’ final two seasons put it, a new version of you. “I came here because of Ben, but I’m staying because of me.” That’s what sold the series beyond the wide-eyed ingénue with the dreamy gold curls with two irresistibly charming guys suddenly fawning over her set against the backdrop of a just pre-9/11 Manhattan.

A young girl, fresh out of high school, follows her high school crush to college to be near him.

'Felicity' Had Several Creative Plot Twists

Sadly, Felicity didn’t always maintain the promise of its inaugural season, which in a way felt like an allegory for the college experience and/or young adult life , where nothing feels certain and everything can go wrong. Or it was merely representative of a writer’s room that didn’t exactly know where they wanted the storyline to go at any given moment. That’s most likely how we ended up with a Twilight Zone -inspired episode shot entirely in black-and-white, Eddie Cahill playing a homicidal drug dealer, and most infamously, Felicity cutting off all her curls for the sake of a change at the beginning of the second season.

Second in line to the main character’s haircut as the most hated plot twist (if you can even justify a haircut as such) on Felicity was the way in which the creators chose to end the series after its fourth season in 2002. At the time, the series was marketed in the form of American college years; therefore, it only made sense that Felicity would conclude after “Senior Year.” It also would have been cancelled anyway thanks to a gradual decrease in quality, but that’s neither here nor there. What is here is that, after a well-deserved and mostly satisfying conclusion to the series’ storyline in the season’s 17th episode, its remaining six episodes were dedicated to another creative turn: Felicity travels back in time .

Did Felicity Really Travel Back in Time?

On paper, it sounds ludicrous. Despite its one questionable experimentation with a sci-fi fantasy , Felicity did not fall into that genre. It was a dreamy ‘90s teen drama with an acceptable if not a bit excessive amount of yearning and emotion. So did Felicity Porter really time travel at the end of her final season? Turns out she did: A year after their graduation, Felicity discovers Ben has been cheating on her. Back in New York for Noel’s ( Scott Foley ) wedding, she wonders what life would have looked like if she’d chosen Noel over Ben. Thus, her friend Meghan (Amanda Foreman) puts a spell on her that effectively sends her back to the beginning of Season 4, having just slept with Noel on a rooftop .

Keri Russell Tells Us About Her Messy Character in 'The Diplomat,' Complicated Relationships, and the Absurdity of Politics

What follows is a dilemma of the highest post-graduate regard: Does she just go with it and repeat her senior year dating Noel so that everything will one day work out? Before she can answer that question, she begins to realize that just the action of traveling back in time begins to mess with the order of events as she knows it. So when she tells Noel and Ben that she has time traveled from the future, she ends up in a psych ward — until she predicts something to Ben, and he realizes she has to be telling the truth . Then Noel winds up killed in a fire that he and Felicity escaped earlier in the year. In order for the nightmare to end, she must visit the man who wrote the spell that Meghan performed so that he can reverse it. In order to do that, she must recount her entire college history to him, with the help of keepsakes from different life events.

What started as a last attempt to make a dying show’s storytelling interesting for a few more episodes ends up being one of the most creative plot twists I've ever watched on television . Felicity ’s series finale, which follows the character as she tells the spell’s creator the story of her college years, serves as an effective reminder to all the things that the series got right: young, relatable characters in realistic (for the most part) storylines. I’m personally convinced that the three-way chemistry between Russell, Speedman, and Foley was what kept Felicity alive .

Was 'Felicity' Actually a Fantasy Series?

Although the series was technically not a fantasy, it also kind of was: I watched it for the first time during my own turbulent college years, attempting to manifest something out of its magical premise for myself. I can’t help but believe that was the basis of Felicity ’s appeal, as an aspirational portrayal of the American college experience that could have only existed on The WB between 1998 and 2002. Instead of merely ending the series with Ben and Felicity graduating, going on to the same grad school, and living happily ever after, show creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves dared to ask, “But what if this happened instead?” It’s a question all of us in that stage of life have asked ourselves from one time or another, in one situation or another.

It’s also easy to understand the controversy that surrounded Felicity’s time travel , given that those ambitious last six episodes would have aired from one week to the next, and not consumed all in one afternoon on a binge under a blanket in a moment of my own post-university depression. What would have read as bonkers in 2002 might have had a different landing in the streaming age, without having to wait a week in between explanations. It just contributes to the case for reviving the genre of WB series like Felicity for a new generation, maybe in the form of a PG-13 version of Euphoria . One way or another, stories like Felicity’s matter , no matter how overemotional or privileged, and it’s time to start finding new ways to tell them.

Felicity is available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.

Watch on Hulu

Felicity and Noel

• Edit source
• View history
• 3.1 Season 1
• 5.2 Screenshots
• 6 Notes and references

Noel sees Felicity for the first time talking on the phone with her parents in her room, when he comes to introduce himself as the RA, and is instantly mesmerised. [1] They start a flirtation, where Noel is dismayed at Felicity's infatuation with Ben. Eventually Noel kisses Felicity, after which he tells her that he actually has a girlfriend. Felicity is mad at him but they make up and agree to be friends, despite harbouring feelings for each other. [2] This culminates when Hanna visits at Thanksgiving. Noel and Hanna break up and he starts a relationship with Felicity. [3] They're happy together, but when an old friend of Felicity visits New York and awakens her latent passion for art, things change. Felicity delves into the art scene at university, while Noel promises to help Hanna with her music. Felicity gets jealous but tries to be understanding, until she starts to feel like she might be losing Noel. When he leaves with Hanna, Felicity goes to the art studio and ends up spontaneously sleeping with one of the art students, Eli. [4] After the fact, Noel and Felicity can't get past hurting each other and break up. [5] Despite being hurt, they admit that they love each other [6] and want each other back. They get back together briefly, but then Ben kisses Felicity and she finds herself torn between the boys.

Felicity dreams of being with Noel

She chooses to go on a road trip with Ben for the summer, breaking Noel's heart and her own as he doesn't want anything to do with her. Despite his anger, they tentatively try to find their way back to being in each other's lives and Felicity apologises for how she hurt him. They are also, once again, drawn to each other in spite of themselves, and get jealous when both start dating other people. When Noel gets drunk at Thanksgiving, they kiss and are caught by their arts professor, who happens to be the mother of the guy Felicity is dating, who is also there, along with Felicity's parents. Despite the awkwardness that ensues in class, Felicity and Noel realise they want to be together. But Felicity decides not to pursue her feelings when she sees how upset Ruby is. Noel stays with Ruby, who soon gets pregnant, leaving him occupied with a very serious situation. He eventually learns that he's not the father and Ruby cheated on him, although he still decides to be there for her as a friend. Meanwhile, Felicity starts seeing a pre-med student at the clinic where she works off her community service, but is eventually courted by Ben and gets back together with him at the end of her sophomore year, while Noel finishes his junior year lost and confused, eventually disappearing with Javier's cousin, Natalie.

Noel doesn't return for the start of his senior year, leaving everyone very worried, especially Felicity. When they find out that he goes by an alias - Leon - and married Natalie, they're all shocked. Despite trying to help Noel, they host an intervention and Noel is furious. Felicity goes after him and they manage to talk. He confesses to her that his junior year was a blur. That Ruby was a distracting for him from his and Felicity's break-up, and then suddenly he found himself lost. Noel decides to end the marriage and comes back to school, while Felicity is all in on her relationship with Ben, which is very unstable. Despite being back at school Noel still feels lost and when he collaborates on an animation project with Felicity, her mother realises that Noel is in love with her. Felicity rejects the notion, but is shocked to learn that it's true, which Ben also points out after finding the break-up kit that Noel made for her. It culminates in Noel kissing Felicity when they TP the school together, but she rejects him. He finds himself unable to be friends with her, which devastates Felicity. They do, however, end up being the only ones left in the city for the summer.

After spending practically every day of the entire summer together and being totally in sync, Felicity and Ben have issues as he returns laser-focused on pre-med and becoming a doctor, while Felicity is lost and unsure about her future. Noel and Felicity getting so close results in them having sex together for the first time, on the roof of The Loft. Afterwards, Felicity rejects Noel once again, saying she wants to be with Ben, and tries to continue that relationship without revealing that she cheated. Noel accidentally tells Ben, and Ben breaks up with Felicity. Meanwhile, Noel has become depressed, which culminates in him bailing on Thanksgiving with his brother and getting arrested for solicitation after going home with a woman at a bar who robs him. Noel agrees to start therapy and gradually tries to put his life back together, although it's hard. He finds work at a graphics design company, where he meets Zoe Webb , whom he starts seeing. Felicity, meanwhile, goes back and forth with Ben, who ends up having a child with is father's ex-girlfriend, and eventually stays with Ben in California.

Felicity regrets not choosing Noel

In the epilogue, Ben cheats on Felicity and when she attends Noel's wedding to Zoe she feels like she made the wrong choice. Meghan casts a spell that sends Felicity back to the start of her senior year, on that rooftop with Noel. She immediately decides that she wants to be with Noel, who is confused and surprised, but happy that she chooses him. Felicity altering events in the past, however, leads to Noel dying in the fire at the university, and Felicity seeks out the author of Meghan's book to travel back to the present. Eventually she is succesful, or so she thinks - it turns out to all have been a dream, as Felicity got a fever and her friends worried about her. Ben shows up at the wedding and Felicity reluctantly takes him back.

Season 1 [ ]

• At the 2018 ATX Felicity 20th anniversary panel, Scott Foley didn't remember that Noel died in the time travel episodes, leading him to joke that Felicity ended up with Ben only because Noel dies.

Screenshots [ ]

Notes and references [ ]

• ↑ Pilot (101)
• ↑ Boggled (104)
• ↑ Thanksgiving (109)
• ↑ The Fugue
• ↑ Assassins (117)
• ↑ Docuventary (118)
• 1 Noel Crane
• 2 Ben Covington
• 3 Julie Emrick

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The Great Felicity Reckoning

Against all odds, the 25-year-old tv show has barged its way back into the public eye..

We saw it happen with Suits last year: A fairly undistinguished old TV show was plucked from obscurity and transformed, through the power of placement on a streaming service’s homepage, into a cultural phenomenon. Now that we know that this can happen at any time, to any unsuspecting show, I want to put something out into the world: I strongly believe that Felicity should get Suits ’d next.

You might contend that a 25-year-old show about a girl with a huge mane of curly hair (Keri Russell in the titular role) who follows her crush to college is a pretty random candidate for a Suits ’ing. I would only counter that so was Suits itself before that happened. (My colleague Sam Adams might argue that it wasn’t all that random , but let’s not get bogged down in the details.) Following a guy to college is a wacky premise, one that shows like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would later riff on, but one of Felicity ’s achievements is how grounded and realistic it managed to be in spite of that—even as its main character consistently made terrible decisions. Created by J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves and currently streaming on Hulu, the show follows sensitive, impulsive Felicity during her time at an New York University–esque college, where the mundane struggles of studying and living with roommates intersect with larger questions of identity and, especially, love. That crush from the beginning of the series eventually formed one of the greatest TV love triangles of all time: Handsome, aloof Ben (Scott Speedman) vs. nerdy, gentle Noel (Scott Foley). It was the Jacob vs. Edward of its day.

I’ve had Felicity on my mind lately because the website and podcast network the Ringer, along with Abrams’ Bad Robot Audio and Spotify, recently launched Dear Felicity , a podcast looking back on the show—it’s co-hosted by two former cast members and features commentary from the rest of the cast and creative team. This genre of podcast, wherein someone involved with a TV show rewatches it episode by episode, sharing their thoughts along the way, has been a popular format for a few years now. I usually stay away from it; I love Gilmore Girls , but I don’t feel the need to hear the actor who played Luke dissect every single episode of it. So it surprised me to realize that I very much did want to hear Russell, Abrams, et al. dissect every single episode of Felicity .

Part of that is about saturation. Gilmore Girls has never left the zeitgeist, and its Netflix revival a few years ago only further solidified its place there. Felicity , by contrast, feels slightly forgotten, which means the timing is ripe, perhaps even felicitous, for a large-scale discovery and rediscovery. “ Felicity is a beloved show, but as we say on the pod, it was smaller compared to some of the other shows at the time,” Juliet Litman, a co-host of Dear Felicity and Ringer podcast regular, told me.

Despite being a huge Felicity fan who watched the show in its original run as a preteen and teenager, Litman was initially skeptical of my position that Felicity ought to be the next Suits . Compared with Felicity’s soft focus on friendship and matters of the heart as they play out over time, “ Suits is fast-paced,” she said. “ Suits almost has an element of Aaron Sorkin to it, in the walk-and-talks that they do around the office. There’s a slickness to it that Felicity definitely doesn’t have.” OK, so maybe Suits has a little more mass appeal than Felicity . Maybe Suits also has the hook of starring a future member of the British royal family. (Though I would add that Felicity has going for it early appearances from stars like John Cho, Taraji P. Henson, and Jennifer Garner!) Still, obviously there’s room for all kinds of shows, and Litman didn’t entirely reject my vision of a Felicity revival. “I feel like the comp here, actually, is Friends ,” she said. I’ll take that—another show that famously went through a streaming renaissance! Though Felicity has “lot of the same limitations” that Friends has, she noted, “it fills a similar niche of a friend group in New York, but it’s not actually shot in New York. I feel like it’s actually the drama B-side to the comedy that is Friends .” As I’ve been saying!

Litman saw some other things about the show that might speak to young people today too, starting with the characters’ clothes. “I think of the fashion, of Felicity and Meghan [Felicity’s roommate] in particular: The way that they dress is so much like how people dress now. The sort of baggy clothes, the sweaters—it’s kind of the more feminine grunge look.”

When Felicity was airing, critics liked to point out that its characters didn’t sound like teenagers, but Litman said she thinks that in the years since, the rest of the world has caught up to them. “Emoting is a big part of the TV landscape in 2024, and I think that some of the teen soaps that were on the WB were kind of early to that,” she said. “Part of what made them different was how they used language. This was particularly true of Dawson’s Creek , but it’s really true of the character of Felicity and the character of Noel. The way they communicate about themselves at the time maybe felt hyperreal, but now I think it’s more similar to how people communicate.” When—slight spoiler alert—Noel explains to Felicity that he kissed her because he missed his girlfriend, I couldn’t help but think of how people today use “therapy-speak” to justify all manner of missteps.

Also in the realm of communication, consider the show’s voice-over narration: It’s, somewhat improbably, supposed to come from the tapes Felicity is seen recording to keep in touch with her French tutor (voiced by Janeane Garofalo, who has yet to show up in the podcast, but one can hope). As strange as it seemed then, “that sort of presages so much of how people communicate now, between podcasts and voice memos,” Litman said. “I send voice memos to my friends all the time.” It makes the idea of listening to a podcast about Felicity all the more appropriate.

I’ve read that one reason some Gen Z–ers like older shows is that they help them imagine a life before the anxieties of social media, and Felicity definitely fits that bill. I’ve also observed that when people are looking for an older show to pick up, they’re often hoping for something with a lot of episodes to get lost in, as with Suits or Friends . Felicity ’s got more than 80, and they neatly cover all four years of college. College, too, feels as if it should be a draw, considering how few shows are set during those years at all, never mind how few shows are intentionally set during that time, rather than following their high school characters there and it never quite being the same. (Again, I’m thinking of Gilmore Girls here.) Both Litman and Christina Choi, an executive producer on Dear Felicity and Bad Robot Audio’s head of podcasts, cited The Sex Lives of College Girls as another great show that’s set on a college campus, but its current two seasons of 10 episodes each wouldn’t last anyone more than a weekend of sustained bingeing. As Choi said, “There’s something about the longer episode count that really brings people in. I actually just finished watching Fallout , which is that new Amazon show, and you’re basically with the characters for, like, maybe eight hours. That’s it. If you’re watching something like Felicity or like a Dawson’s Creek or The O.C. , there are so many more episodes to kind of dig into and spend time with characters and feel like you really know them.”

The Ringer is known for its coverage of sports and intellectual property–driven media, so focusing on a show about a college girl is slightly out of character for the network—is Bill Simmons a big Felicity guy?—but Litman, who is also the Ringer’s head of production, said she wanted to bring a similarly fan-driven perspective to different material. “I think it feels pretty in line with what some of my colleagues do on the The Ringer-Verse and The Watch and our coverage of House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones . Even though it’s not necessarily in the same Venn diagram of content, it is, I think, the same approach.” I’m immensely in favor of this because I’ve long thought society should have the same reverence for hourlong dramas watched primarily by women as it has for superhero movies, but it’s also worth noting that, á la Madame Web, I.P. connects them all: Felicity creators Abrams and Reeves both went on to helm major franchises like Star Wars and Batman . Just saying, can you really call yourself a fanboy if you haven’t explored Abrams’ full origin story? At the least, Felicity has a very cool Twilight Zone –inspired episode and, at the end of the series, believe it or not, a time travel arc that should interest sci-fi/comic-book nerds.

It’s not too late to catch up: The podcast is about to wrap up its coverage of Season 1. Its format actually deviates slightly from most rewatch podcasts in that each pod episode covers several TV episodes. I was on the fence about this, wondering if it might feel as if the hosts were fast-forwarding through the series, but ultimately, this approach makes the show less daunting, especially for anyone who’s slightly allergic to rewatch podcasts. One of Litman’s favorite revelations so far came in a recent episode that featured an interview with Gina Prince-Bythewood, who was a writer on Felicity before going on to enjoy a successful career as a director of films like Love & Basketball and The Woman King . She revealed that the letter a character named Julie, who is adopted, writes to her birth mother on the show was, verbatim, a letter Prince-Bythewood wrote to her own birth mother in real life. And very soon, Dear Felicity will get to the episode when Felicity gets a certain infamous haircut, a Season 2 event that Litman called a “transcendent moment” in popular culture. It truly was—you had to be there. Except, thanks to Dear Felicity and the magic of streaming TV, it’s OK if you weren’t.