Previously, on Felicity: Ben tells Sean that his new paramour is married. Maggie tells Ben she wants to have an affair with him. David tells Felicity he wants a relationship with her. Elena searches high and low for a storyline of her own.
Felicity is on the phone in her room when David knocks on the door. He blew off work to see her, which might be romantic, but also strikes me as irresponsible. But I'm anal like that. Felicity is trying to leave a message for her parents, because she doesn't know where they are. And in Felicity's world, where it's all about her, it's impossible for her parents to leave the house without telling her, I guess. She tells David she thinks her parents are mad at her for not coming home for Thanksgiving, and that she told them she has too much classwork. They don't believe her, probably because no one says "classwork." David asks her if she does have work to do, and Felicity admits that she really doesn't. David asks if she has plans for Thanksgiving, and says, "If you want, we could hang out at my place, get some frozen turkey dinners and have a non-crazy, pressure-free Thanksgiving." Felicity kisses him and they lie down on her bed, revealing her product-placed iBook on the desk. My boyfriend asks me when this show started being sponsored by Apple, since that's the second obvious product placement in two minutes. Felicity tells David to wait a second and she goes and sticks a Post-It on the door, and then returns and prepares to get naked. Predictably, Meghan walks in and tries to tell Felicity something, but Felicity is too busy being outraged that Meghan didn't adhere to the Post-It rule of not barging in. I have to say, that is very college-esque. Every set of roommates has a sign that means "Get lost because I'm getting some." One of my neighbors used to draw a smiley face on the whiteboard on her door, which cracked me up. Anyway, Meghan says, "You finally get a little and now you're like some freaky sexaholic." Felicity can't believe Meghan called her a freak and David tries to calm Felicity down. Meghan says she barged in as "a favor, nympho," and was planning on telling her about what is in the lobby, but since Felicity is being a bitch, she'll let her find out for herself. Cue the knock at the door and enter Felicity's parents.
Felicity is making a tape to Sally in the half-light, as usual. She spends less time in the daylight than Angel, and he's a vampire. Felicity explains that although she loves her parents, she wants them to go home. She's not ready to share that she cut her hair, dropped pre-med and is sleeping with a photographer.
Cut back to the opening scene. Mr. and Mrs. Porter explain that they wanted to surprise Felicity for Thanksgiving. Felicity introduces David who says he's "heard a lot about them." The Porters look puzzled, since they have clearly heard nothing about David. Mr. P asks if David is a student, and he explains that he's a graduate student in photography. Felicity tries to change the subject by bringing Meghan into the conversation. Mrs. P asks Meghan about being an RA, and Meghan says, "The hardest part is making sure you're really helping the kids." Hee! Meghan announces that she has to go start a recycling campaign. Mr. P asks Felicity to pick a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner and then her parents will "get lost so that you can do all the studying..." and he looks at David, "that you said you had to do." Busted! Felicity tells them she has plans with David for Thanksgiving. If my parents flew across the country to see me, and then I told them I had plans with a boyfriend they had never even heard of, they would...well, I don't know what they would do, because I would never do that. Mrs. P invites David along and Felicity tries to let her down easy, but David says he would love to come along
Javier (whee!) asks Ben if he would like to "make a lot...A LOT...of money, well, relatively speaking of course." As he continues to speak, he picks imaginary lint off Ben's shirt. Javier asks Ben if he is staying in town for Thanksgiving, and Ben is. Oh, look -- this episode was directed by Ken Olin. I loved him in thirtysomething and...well, that's about it. ["Kim, you didn't love him later the same evening in NBC's Y2K: The Movie?" -- Wing Chun] Anyway, Javier finishes by saying, "So I will be thanking you, for giving me, Thanksgiving, a little bit of your time, for this charity event." I know that sentence seems nonsensical, but when Javier said it, it made perfect sense. Ben says he was hoping to "kick back." Javier asks him what happened to "a little thing called work ethic." And look, throughout this conversation Ben is actually helping customers! I think that's the first time I've seen him do that! Javier says he is desperate and offers to pay Ben and any friends he can gather double the normal rate, "in cash, over the table," and Javier makes a gesture of passing cash over a table. Ben corrects him, "It's under the table." Javier shrugs and Ben says he will ask his roommates. Javier is all excited and says, "Do you know why I like you?" Ben says no and Javier says, "No, I'm asking." Then they both start cracking up and Javier leaves, and Ben does some more work.
Felicity is at Elena and Knoll's apartment. Felicity admits to Elena that she hasn't told her dad about dropping pre-med. Elena is wearing a sleeveless shirt. I hope their building is having a heating problem, because although we've been having a heat wave in the Northeast, it's hardly sleeveless shirt weather. Felicity says she might not tell her father at all. Knoll gets off the phone and tells them that Ruby won't be back because the lead actress in her movie "pulled her patella." Elena points out that the patella is a bone, and thus cannot be pulled. Even I knew that. Knoll looks confused and upset. Elena invites Felicity and her parents to eat at their apartment for Thanksgiving. Felicity remembers that David is coming too. Knoll points out that if David is having dinner with her parents, it must be serious. Felicity says they're not "serious serious." Felicity says she'll ask them, and leaves. Knoll asks Elena again about the patella thing and then goes to call Ruby back. Then we never hear about this storyline again, but maybe it will come up later in the season.
Julie and Sean are with Ben at Dean and Deluca. Julie suggests doing Thanksgiving dinner after the "thing tomorrow." Ben says he doesn't want to cook. Sean says he will cook, and asks if they knew you could deep fry a turkey. Before Ben or Julie can formulate a response, Javier comes out and says, "Thanks God [sic] you're all here." Javier needs them to sign an agreement. If you're paying someone under the table, is it wise to leave a paper trail? Sean tells Javier he needs an "exclusivity clause" whereby they put Smoothaise on every serving platter. Javier says, "Smooth-who?" Ben fills him in on Sean's condiment concoction. Maggie arrives and tells Javier she'd like to go over the plans for tomorrow. They walk away and Sean asks if this is her party. Ben says he had no idea.
Felicity is at Epstein Bar with her parents. Dad says her college hangout is "sort of a bar." Aren't most college hangouts "sort of a bar"? Felicity says that it's more like a café because there's food. She leaves out that it's also like a café due to the caterwauling performances of female folk singers, such as Julie. Her dad won't leave it alone, saying that it's more like a pub. Felicity starts shoving French fries in her mouth. Her mom says Felicity's hair is "a different look" for her, and she likes it, and also says that David seems nice. Her dad asks how old David is. Felicity answers that David is twenty-five and her dad notes that David is quite a bit older. Are we sure her dad wasn't a math major in college, and not pre-med? Her mom asks how long they have been going out and Felicity says a month. If it sounds like they are giving her the third degree, they kind of are, at least from Felicity's point of view. Her parents probably feel like they're just trying to catch up with her life. It shows how old I am that I am identifying with the parents more than Felicity. Her mom says that Felicity hadn't mentioned David and yet they made Thanksgiving plans, so they seem to be moving pretty fast. Her dad asks if she's keeping up with her studies and Felicity looks stricken and doesn't answer. Finally she blurts out that she dropped pre-med and launches into a long explanation of how she didn't have any time for her art. Her dad asks what is going on, since she made all these changes and didn't tell them. Felicity seals her fate and says, "There are a lot of things about me you guys don't know." Yeah, that'll get her parents off her back. Her mom asks what she means and Felicity tells them to forget it. Felicity stands up and says, "It's overwhelming sitting here and being judged about my life. I mean, this pub and my major and my hair and my relationship with David," and says that she has to go to work and stomps off in slow motion, as the music gets really loud.
Felicity exits the elevator on her floor and runs into Burky telling Meghan to get stuffing without raisins because he hates raisins. Meghan squints and says, "I care." Felicity asks Meghan if she is making dinner and Meghan says she's ordering food because it counts towards her community service requirement. As Meghan leaves, she says, "Your boyfriend is in there again, which is annoying." At least you know where you stand with Meghan. She doesn't pull any punches. ["I agree with Meghan; it is annoying that David's always around." -- Wing Chun] Felicity walks into her room and finds David writing a note. Felicity has to go to work and fills David in on the Thanksgiving plans. David says his mother, who always travels at Thanksgiving, has decided to stay home this year to meet Felicity's parents, but he was going to tell her no. Felicity says to invite her along too. Shouldn't she check with Elena first?
In the Catering Kitchen of Illicit Love, Ben asks Maggie why she is throwing a party where he works. She says she can't cancel now, and plus it was her husband's idea. Ben admits that he met her husband when he ordered a cake for their anniversary. Maggie asks if that's why he hasn't called her. Ben says he can't do this anymore. Maggie is sorry, but her relationship with her husband is complicated. Ben says, "The party will be..." and Maggie finishes it, "weird, but it'll mean a lot for you to be there. I miss you." Ben looks guilty. Get used to it, as it will be his predominant expression this week.
Felicity is at work, and her mom comes in. Javier runs up and hugs Mrs. Porter, and says, "Oh. Ooooh. At last we meet." While still hugging Mrs. P, Javier says, "This is so emotional! For me." Then he tells her that anything she wants is on the house. The whole time this interchange is going on, Felicity is cracking up. Do you think the actors just laugh and laugh when they have scenes with Ian Gomez? Because I would. Felicity apologizes to her mom about Javier, and her mom apologizes for her remarks about David, since it's not her place to say. Mrs. P is looking forward to getting to know David, and she got him a gift. Felicity asks if her dad is furious about the pre-med thing and Mrs. P urges her to talk to her father.
Knoll is throwing a little tantrum because David's mother is coming to their dinner. His reasoning is that "teachers should stay in school. They should not come to my house." Didn't the rest of us learn that teachers have lives outside the classroom in about the fifth grade? Just checking. Elena searches for her storyline while pretending to arrange some flowers and Knoll explains that Prof. Sherman is intimidating. Elena and I both tell Knoll to chill. Elena adds that he needs to go to the store because he is the co-host. Knoll leaves and Elena asks Felicity about David. Felicity tells her that David stopped by twice out of the blue. Elena asks if David is getting more serious than Felicity, and Felicity says she's probably overreacting. Hey, Felicity never overreacts! Oh wait, actually she does it all the freaking time! Elena asks how David is taking the "parent Thanksgiving thing," and Felicity says he's okay with it. Elena points out that a normal guy would be freaked out. Felicity mentions that her mom bought David a gift, and Elena suggests that Felicity use the gift as a barometer of David's intentions. If he is freaked out by the gift, things are cool. If not, Felicity needs to worry.
Julie and Sean are whispering to one another in Dean and Deluca. In the background, Javier is talking to Maggie's husband and pointing out "blue water. It's not really blue -- it's just the bottle." Yes, I recognize my obsessive need to catalog everything Javier says, even if it doesn't apply to the plot. I just love him. Ben sees his roommates whispering and rushes out, telling them he knows what they are talking about and everything will be fine. Projecting much, Ben? Julie and Sean say they were just wondering if they can take the leftover food home. Ben points out Maggie's husband. Julie didn't know that Maggie is married. Ben says he wasn't advertising it. The Husband comes over and introduces himself, then apologizes in advance to all three of them for having to put up with "stuffy, rich people." He also recognizes Ben as the "kid" who sold him the cake for his anniversary. See, now we are supposed to think he's a swell guy, and understand that Ben feels guilty for cuckolding him.
Felicity is mixing something in a bowl and then she tells David she's "ready for the pumpkin." Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Felicity says her parents are "a little too excited" about getting to know him. David doesn't mind -- he likes them. Felicity is increasingly anxious about this, and decides it's time for the test. She brings out the gift. Instead of being freaked out, David says that he got a gift for her parents. Okay, that's a little weird. Thoughtful, but weird. Felicity tells him that he doesn't have to pretend for her sake if her parents are driving him crazy. David says, "How can I not like your parents? They're part of you -- the person I'm falling in love with." If he is always this clingy, I can see why his last girlfriend cheated on him. Also, this plot development is kind of out of nowhere. David was never this lovey-dovey before tonight's episode. Bad writers! Bad! David opens his gift and Felicity just stares at him with her mouth open.
Felicity and Elena are in the grocery store and I think about Sars's piece on grocery stores in New York City and laugh. Elena is saying that she can't believe David used the word "love," and asks Felicity what she said back. Felicity says, "Nothing! I was in shock." Elena continues to search for her storyline on the grocery shelves while pretending to shop. Felicity babbles on and on about herself. At one point, Felicity says that she must have misled David and realizes, "Oh my God! I'm the Ben of this situation." Elena assures her that she is not, but Felicity doesn't believe her. Elena asks her to grab a couple of tomatoes (in a shout-out to Sars, I am sure), while Felicity wonders what she should do. Elena counsels her to talk to David eventually, but right now she should help with the shopping. Felicity says she has to talk to David right away. Elena replies that Felicity will not be talking to David tonight when they have all those people coming over for dinner.
Knoll sets the table to some Motown music. There is a knock at the door and it's Professor Sherman, a.k.a. Annie. Knoll is all uncomfortable and Annie ends up inviting herself in. Felicity's parents arrive and Knoll tells them to put their jackets in the bedroom. Knoll is a terrible host, by the way. He doesn't take their jackets for them, or offer them a drink, or food, or anything. Instead he says, "Felicity and Elena will be here any minute!" and then steps out into the hall to see if they are coming.
At Dean and Deluca, Sean is serving shrimp Smoothaise cocktail. Some guy takes a shrimp, and Sean urges him to "try the sauce." The guy does, and makes a face and puts the shrimp tail back on the platter. Julie appears out of nowhere and hands the guy a glass of water, which he gratefully gulps down. Ben comes up and asks how things are going. Julie says, "Gotta keep moving!" and does. Sean says that he thinks the party-goers' "palates are adjusting to the taste of the Smoothaise." The Husband gives a little speech about how they have reached their fund-raising goal, again to point out that he really is a good guy. Javier asks Ben to go in the back and get more dumplings because "they're a big hit!" Javier tells Sean, "You need to get moving, big boy, because the shrimp need to get to the people and not vice versa." Sean continues to stand there so Javier walks off while making a disgusted noise. Remember the Sean-loves-Julie storyline? What happened to that this week? There are no references to it that I can see. Maggie goes in back where Ben is getting the dumplings.
Ben takes some dumplings out of the oven rather clumsily and is surprised to see Maggie there. He points out that The Husband is right outside, and Maggie asks if he thinks she is going to throw him down right there. ["I'd just like to say that if I were the married woman in this scenario, I wouldn't be asking those kinds of questions, because we'd all know the answer." -- Wing Chun] Well, why else did she come back there, then? Ben says he should be getting back out there, but Maggie says it will be okay if they stay in back for a minute or two. While she says this, she comes very close to Ben and kind of nuzzles him. Just then, Julie walks in and suggests they go back out to the party because The Husband is looking for Maggie. Ben looks guilty some more because The Husband is such a swell guy, and they couldn't possibly be setting the viewers up for a fall, now could they?
Back at the Apartment of Family Gatherings, Felicity's parents are watching Annie Sherman make some sort of demon punch containing vodka, and sherry, and of course raspberry. Knoll is happy to see Elena and Felicity return. As Felicity goes to shut the door behind her, a hand reaches out and pushes it back open -- it's Meghan! Turns out Felicity's mom invited her along. Mrs. P says, "Annie is whipping up quite a punch back there -- it smells like pure alcohol." Annie calls Mrs. P over for a glass and she practically sprints over. Meghan notes, "Mom's gonna get toasted. This is gonna be great." Annie walks up to Felicity and says that David called and he's on his way, and also that she knew David and Felicity would make a great couple. Felicity makes like Ben, and looks guilty. Annie twists the knife, by saying that she hasn't seen David this happy in a long time, and it's like he's come alive again. Gee, do you think we're being set up for a fall once again?
Back at Dean and Deluca, the camera pans by The Husband chatting up some sweet young thing. I'm sure he's just soliciting a donation. ["Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" -- Wing Chun] Ben thanks Julie for her warning and asks if she's mad at him. She says she's not, but that she doesn't want to run interference for him any more tonight. Julie's hair is looking kind of Julia Salinger-esque in this episode. Ben apologizes, then looks at Maggie across the room. Julie follows his gaze and asks if Maggie is worth it. Ben looks at her again; she looks miserable, and he replies that he doesn't know.
Felicity tells Elena that it doesn't feel right keeping her feelings from David. Elena tells her to have some "200 proof punch." Let me take a moment to point out the inappropriateness of these adults serving alcohol to a bunch of minors. I mean, it's not like a glass of wine with dinner. This punch is clearly meant to get you drunk. And they're being served by one of their professors, just to make things more illegal. Not to be completely puritanical, but I find that really wrong. ["I think it is weird that the legal drinking age is twenty-one. You can vote and serve in the armed forces but you can't drink? New York is one crazy state." -- Maggie] ["In fairness, in Canada you can theoretically be the Prime Minister before you can legally drink, but only a year separates those two examples." -- Wing Chun] Mrs. P and Annie make nice about Felicity's artwork. Knoll and Meghan are sitting on the couch, observing it all, and Knoll says he can't believe that Felicity's parents and David's mom are getting along. Meghan asks if somebody's going to fight soon. Felicity comes over and asks Meghan what happened to the dinner she was ordering for their floor. Cut to a shot of Burky and three other kids sitting at an empty table, and Burky yells out, "I'm starving!" Cut back to Meghan giving Felicity a glassy-eyed stare, but not responding.
There's a knock on the door, and Felicity answers it. David enters and Knoll yells from off-screen, "Hey, David's here!" Somebody cut Knoll off, stat. David asks Felicity where to put his coat, and Knoll yells out, "Come in, David. Relax. Your mom's here." Okay, that was funny. Knoll tells Meghan that he likes David and Meghan laughs at him. Felicity and David are in the bedroom and he says he didn't mean to overwhelm her last night, but it's how he feels. Meghan yells, "Are you guy fighting in there? If you are, talk louder." David tells Felicity they can discuss it later.
Maggie is looking out the window and Ben comes up behind her and asks if she's okay. She says, "Not really." Ben invites her to go talk sometime, maybe get coffee or something. The Husband appears and calls Maggie over to meet someone. Maggie introduces Ben and says, "I thought you should meet the person I've been sleeping with." Inappropriate! The Husband tells her she's drunk and that "this is not the place." Maggie asks if he thinks he's the only person allowed to cheat and walks away. See, that was the big fall they were setting up. I thought it was a little anti-climactic myself.
Felicity and her dad are making a salad. Felicity asks if he was surprised that she dropped pre-med. He says he knew she was wavering and that she seems happy with her decision. This man clearly had brain surgery since last season, because he never would have said that before. He goes on to say that he's not thrilled, but he's glad she's happy with her classes and with David, because he likes him. Then he says he talked to David about coming out to Palo Alto for Christmas. Felicity tells her dad she'll be right back, and bails out.
The writers have Elena take the turkey out of the oven, since she clearly doesn't have anything else to do in this episode, except listen to Felicity whine. Knoll drunkenly asks Annie what's in the punch. Annie says she's already told him and Meghan adds, "Twice". Knoll decides he needs to go lie down. David nods to Knoll as he passes, and once he gets by, Knoll sarcastically nods back. That cracked my shit up. Mr. Porter is talking to Elena about pre-med. Felicity goes into the bedroom, not realizing that Knoll is in there until he says hello. Knoll says he came in to escape the "spinning-room sensation" (and I want to tell him that generally lying down just makes it worse) and Felicity says she was "feeling a little spinny" herself. Felicity sits on the bed to Knoll and they start reminiscing about last Thanksgiving, and giggling. Felicity says it feels like yesterday, but Knoll thinks it feels like a million years ago. In case you missed it, last Thanksgiving was the first time Knoll and Felicity kissed. Back in the present, they start kissing and, of course, Annie walks in on them and then walks out.
Everyone is sitting at the dinner table as Knoll comes out, followed a moment later by Felicity. Mrs. P gives a toast as Knoll whispers an apology to Felicity and suggests they discuss it "when the punch wears off, sometime in February." Mrs. Porter compliments Elena's storyline -- I mean, turkey. Meghan asks if she can keep the bones. Mr. Porter says he hopes Felicity gets special treatment in Annie's class since she's dating his son. Annie says curtly, "No special treatment" and everyone gets really quiet. David tries to break the tension by saying, "I'm working on it!" but it falls flat. Suddenly, Annie gets up and whispers to Felicity that she needs to talk to her. Felicity says, "Unh-unh" and shakes her head no, but Annie is clearly not taking no for an answer, so Felicity reluctantly follows her into the other room. Everyone stares after them and Knoll takes a sip of his wine in an effort to be nonchalant.
Okay, imagine this scene happening in rapid succession. Felicity and Annie are in the bedroom. Annie starts giving her a lecture about David's having already had his heart broken once this year, and adds that she hopes Felicity has "the decency to be honest with him and tell him about you and Noel." Of course, David walks in just as she is saying "you and Noel," so he asks about it. Felicity says she had too much punch and she and Knoll had "sort of this little kiss." David echoes, "You kissed Noel?" Just then, Meghan and Elena walk in and Meghan says, "You kissed Noel again?" Mr. P comes in and asks if everything's okay. Meghan tells him that Felicity and Knoll "were making out or something." Mrs. P and Knoll appear, just to make the party complete, and Knoll says that Meghan's assessment is "a misread of the situation." Felicity apologizes to David. Annie jumps in and Mrs. Porter tells her to let them work it out themselves. David says it wasn't like they were married. Annie starts lecturing Felicity and Mr. Porter defends his daughter. Knoll jumps in to say it's his fault. Felicity finally asks for a second alone with David, and everyone leaves. Meghan goes out last, looking gleeful about the fighting. Felicity tells David that she's sorry and that she was going to talk to him later. David says he thought she was over Knoll. Felicity says that she is, and that it's not about Knoll. She tries to explain about last night, and David realizes it "totally freaked [her] out when [he] said the word 'love.'" Felicity says she likes him, and that she assumed they felt the same things. She just broke up with Ben two months ago, and she spent all of last year "following Ben or following Noel," and so like many other hour-long drama heroines before her, Felicity is going to pull a Kelly Taylor and choose herself. David says she could have said something before he made a fool out of himself, and Felicity is sorry some more.
Ben, Julie and Sean eat dinner in their apartment. Julie says the turkey tastes weird, and Sean tells her it's "Tofurkey -- Tofu Turkey." I actually saw some of that at the grocery store the other day! Ben and Julie look like they are thinking of spitting the food out. Sean says the guy promised him it would taste the same, but they could "slather it with Smoothaise." You know what? The Smoothaise joke just officially stopped being funny. Cut it out. Sean observes that he thought tonight went really well, and they all laugh. Sean and Julie try to be supportive of Ben, and then they do a toast to Tofurkey.
Felicity and her parents walk down the street. Felicity says they can say something, and her dad says he needs to get the recipe for that punch. Her mom says she wanted to hit Annie, but that she was worried about the potential impact on Felicity's GPA. Felicity doesn't blame her professor, and she asks her parents to meet her for breakfast. As her dad hails a cab, her mom asks what's going to happen with Knoll. Felicity admits she doesn't know, but she looks pretty happy. Her mom tells her it feels good to be a part of her life, if only for a moment, and they get into the cab. Felicity starts walking down the street in slow motion again, except she really is in the middle of the street, and my boyfriend walks into the room (in regular motion) and asks if she's going to get hit by a bus like that guy last season. Instead, the credits roll.