Episode Report Card Kim: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Remember When
By Kim | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Aired on 09.28.1998
The show opens with a black screen, and then the word "Felicity" appears in white script. We hear a siren wailing in the background, and other street noises, as we see the silhouette of a young woman seated on a bed looking out the window. Close-up on a very young-looking Keri Russell, who takes a deep breath, pauses, and then says, "Dear Sally." Hey, that's cool that the show started out that way, and they have kept the continuity by starting many of the episodes the same way. Oh, by the way, I'm not pretending like we haven't all seen these people before, and don't know what's going to happen, because come on. Felicity continues, "You should probably be sitting down for this." Cue the Snuffy Walden background music, which invokes My So-Called Life flashbacks. "First of all, everything was fine. I mean, you know, on paper. High school was going exactly as it was supposed to." Cut to a high-school graduation scene, while Felicity continues in voice-over. "I mean, in three months, I'd be at Stanford, pre-med. Then in four years, Stanford Med School. Then I'd start my residency at one of the Stanford hospitals. My dad was thrilled." Some anonymous guy receives his diploma and shakes the principal's hand. Felicity mentions that her dad has had her life planned out for her since she was "pretty much a zygote," as we see her edging forward in the line of graduates, wearing her cap and gown, and looking apprehensive. There are a couple of shots of her fellow graduates smiling and laughing as Felicity continues, "I was surrounded by people actually looking forward to their lives." Ooh, trivia alert! The announcer calls out "Benjamin Stephen Covington," so now we know Ben's middle name! We see Ben grinning and walking across the stage in slow motion as Felicity tries to get a peek while waiting in line. Close-up on Ben getting his diploma and doing the tassel switchover thing with kind of a dorky smirk on his face. I don't know what kind of wacky order this school uses, because next up is "Felicity Elizabeth Porter, graduates with honors." We get a shot of Felicity's parents in the audience, and Mrs. Porter has a video camera. But I guess we wouldn't know they are her parents at this point, right? Her parents stand up and her dad practically has an orgasm as Felicity is handed her diploma. The voice-over continues, "My parents' reaction was typically understated," as we see the Porters giggling and taking pictures and generally making spectacles of themselves. Felicity does the tassel thing and gives one last backward glance to her parents before leaving the stage. So, it's been subtly established that Felicity's parents are overbearing. Well, except for the part about "subtly."