Episode Report Card Maggie: D | 3 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Sophomoric
By Maggie | Season 2 | Episode 1 | Aired on 09.25.1999
Over at Dean & DeLuca, Ben says from behind the counter, "She's movin' in?" Felicity says, "Yeah, she said she's moving in for a while. Sean didn't mention it?" Ben looks away and says, "No, he asked me what I thought about it, but he didn't say he was going to do it." Felicity asks him what he thinks about it and he says he doesn't care. She says that he has to care and he swears to god that he doesn't care. Javier interrupts them to ask Ben to get back to work. They continue to talk about how it doesn't matter that Julie is moving into the loft, but that it is weird, just the same. Ben mentions that there is something he wants to tell Felicity and Javier comes back to say to Ben, "Guess what, love is blind but my customers are not -- well, most of them. So, I need you to earn your wage, okay?" To Felicity he says, "Nice top, I like that" and he walks away. Ben and Felicity make plans to get together that night, and Javier yells at Ben, "Benjameen!"Felicity is back in her room dictating a tape to Sally and telling her that Ben wants to tell her something. She wonders if he wants to break up in one breath and declares that it's likely nothing, in the next breath. She vows not to over-think it, but to just go out and have fun. As if, Felicity. You not over-analysing would be like asking Knoll not to flare his Knollstrils.
So, Elena and Julie are sitting in Epstein Bar and Elena tells Julie that she thinks she is playing with fire. Julie defends herself by saying that she couldn't take the cheerleaders any longer. Elena says that things are going to get ugly (and smugly, if you ask me) if Julie keeps living in the loft. Julie states that Ben and Felicity won't last. Elena agrees but says it'll be because Julie is in the loft. Julie disgustingly licks her fingers as Knoll comes to the table with the news that The Blair Witch Project begins at 10:15. Elena says she won't see that movie, so Knoll suggests seeing This is Spinal Tap, just as Felicity and Ben enter the bar. They come to the table and say hello. Elena remarks, "This isn't awkward," to which Knoll replies, "Oh no, we're all adults, we can handle this." Think again, Double Car Garage, you're about to contradict yourself, with emphasis on the 'dict.' Ben greets Elena especially because he hadn't seen since last year, and Knoll pipes up, "Y'know, you haven't seen me either; how come you don't say hi to me, Ben?" Ben smiles and says hello. Knoll says hello back and Elena suggests that they go to see whichever movie begins in the next two minutes. Felicity and Ben suggest to their shoes that they should be going, but Julie says that they are going. Knoll invites Ben and Felicity to the movies because he's "allowed to invite Felicity and the guy she chose over [him] to the movies." Ben delivers the first great line of the night when he tells Knoll that he "doesn't have to be such a dick about this." Knoll responds, as only he could, "I think this is exactly the amount of dick that I need to be." Elena asks him if this behaviour is an example of the new Knoll, and he tells her to shut up, which causes Julie to tell him to shut up, and then Elena tells him to shut up. Ben wades in with, "Don't be an ass to Elena!" Knoll threatens that he will "kick [Ben's] ass if [he] says another thing to him." In his second great line of the night, Ben says, "You're going to kick my ass? How, using a computer?" I think it would have stung just a little more if he had said, "how, using an iMac?" Don't get me wrong, I wrote this wrap on an iMac, but I'm not a supposed award-winning graphic designer, who creates new fonts on a computer that chugs and has a 15-inch display. The scene devolves into a screaming match with the characters telling each other to relax or grow up. Julie suggests that they transfer to a different college. Ben wants Felicity to leave with him, but she won't go and be chased out by Knoll and Julie. As Ben leaves, Julie comments that "he gets up and goes pretty well, doesn't he." Knoll smirks and Elena tells him that she needs to borrow some money. Knoll then passively-aggressively says, "Oh, who knew that was coming?" Elena calls him on it but by then he has thrown some money on the table is and heading for the door. Julie says, "Well, this blows," as she also throws down some money and she flounces out the door. Elena looks over at Felicity's table and says, "Is this what the rest of the year is gonna be like?" If she is referring to insults being hurled between Ben and Knoll, I say, BRING IT ON!
Once again, Felicity is moping in the half-light of her room when a knock comes on the door. It is Ben, who has come to tell her that thing he wanted to say earlier. They sit together on the bed and before Felicity lets him say it, she says, "Can I say something first?" Ben says, "You usually do." Did Ben become more astute over the summer, or did he just get sassier? Anyway, Felicity rambles on saying that if Ben wants to break up, she wants him to do it without any "stammer[ing] and talk[ing] searchingly." Ben sort of laughs and tells her that he wants to make sure that she knows that Julie's moving in doesn't matter or mean anything and that he's so happy that they're "doing this." He also tells her that he missed her when he was in Mexico. They begin kissing noisily again and drop out of the frame, presumably onto the bed.