Episode Report Card Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Slump (2)
By Kim | Season 2 | Episode 12 | Aired on 02.05.2000
Felicity tells Sally that she's lucky because if her parents had to break up, it's the best possible time for her right now. We see a shot of Felicity in French class, and after the professor dismisses the class, she just sits there looking kind of stunned. Her words to Sally contradict what we see, as she says that if it happened years ago, when Sally was tutoring her, she would have "lost [her] mind" and "obsessed over it." We see Felicity at Epstein Bar with Knoll, Julie, and Elena, not joining in the conversation and looking upset, as the voice-over says, "It doesn't affect me" and "my everyday life is basically the same." We see Felicity handing coffee to a customer with a blank look on her face. Hey, do you think Felicity is saying that this is not affecting her, but really it is? Because I didn't quite get that from the FIVE HUNDRED examples they just gave. Move on.
At work, Ben says, "Screw Toni Pavone," and adds that he thinks the alcohol counseling is "stupid" and Toni "smells like old cigarettes." Felicity says he has to go to the counseling, but Ben insists that "college is an option." While that is true in the strictest sense of the word, in this day and age college is only an option if Ben wants to work at Dean and Deluca the rest of his life. Come on, people, do you really expect him to survive by his wits? He'd last what, a day? Two, tops? Felicity asks if Ben is leaving and he says that he is thinking about it. Mr. Porter comes into the shop and asks Felicity whether "Italian sounds good for tonight." Felicity says it doesn't matter, and is clearly upset to see her father. Mr. Porter says he'll choose a place. Felicity asks what time her mom gets in, and Mr. Porter says 5:00. Felicity offers him coffee, which he accepts, so she turns around to get it. Ben is watching her, and she looks over at him. She's still upset.
Knoll is teaching class, and he has improved about a hundred-fold since last we saw him in TA mode. He actually looks up once in a while, and seems much more at ease. He is teaching about a philosophy that said "women have the ability to reason," which I think might be important in light of later storyline events. He dismisses the class and then walks up to Ruby, who is gathering her things. She tells him what a great job he did, and how much he has improved. Knoll tells her he saw the "Hi, Noel!" I get really confused for a minute, but finally figure out that apparently they took an anonymous exam, and Ruby wrote "Hi, Noel!" in her exam booklet, so Knoll knew which one was hers, which kind of defeats the purpose. Knoll reminds Ruby that she asked him not to give her special treatment. Ruby gets all offended, and wonders if Knoll thinks she wrote the message to get a better grade. Knoll says that now when he is grading it, it's not just a test, it's his girlfriend's test. Ruby says, "That's easy to fix," and stomps on outta there. While Knoll has a point, he could've approached her a little differently there. But really, is Ruby in the third grade? Why would she write "Hi, Noel"? Am I the only one who imagines that she dotted the I with a little heart? Perhaps, she included a smiley face?