Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can pretty much change your life forever.
- Felicity
Background
Felicity was a television program that ran on The WB for four seasons (1998-2002) in the United States. The series centered around Felicity Porter (portrayed by Keri Russell) and her four year tenure as a student at NYU. The show received strong critical acclaim and had a small but fervent fanbase, but never reached a large viewing audience.
Major Characters
Felicity Porter is the central character of the series. The series follows her four year stint at NYU, which she has chosen to attend mostly to follow Ben Covington (see below), who she had a four year crush on throughout high school. However, during almost the entire series, she is in the middle of a love triangle between herself, Ben, and Noel Crane. Her passion is drawing and fine art, and she comes off as a down-to-earth and sensible person who took one large leap of faith.
Ben Covington wrote a mysterious note in Felicity's yearbook after their high school graduation, which made Felicity decide to follow him to NYU. He's probably best described as an "intelligent jock," which means he's athletic, popular, and rather smart.
Noel Crane is Felicity's other interest. He's not the "big man on campus" type that Ben is; instead, he's into Photoshop and graphical design. He comes off as a nicer person than Ben, but the question is whether or not that leads to an attraction between him and Felicity.
Elena Tyler grew up in a poor neighborhood and came to NYU extremely determined to make something of herself. She becomes a close friend to Felicity, and the series somewhat follows Elena's path as well, through an affair with a professor and her virginal fiance.
Meghan Rotundi Blumberg is Felicity's pushy, demanding, and often mean roommate. She dabbles in witchcraft (which plays a role in the final season) and winds up marrying Sean (see below).
Sean Blumberg pretends to be a graduate student early in the show, but it is later revealed that he never went to college. He spends most of his time trying to peddle his documentary series, and eventually falls in love with and marries Meghan.
Richard Coad was probably the closest thing the show had to comic relief. He is a close friend of Noel and spends much of his time coming up with "get rich quick" schemes, such as a barbecue inside of his apartment and a hand-modeling agency.
Javier Quintana is the openly gay owner of the coffeeshop where Felicity works. He eventually becomes one of Felicity's closest friends, and it is later revealed that Noel was once married to one of his cousins.
Plot Summary
The first season (i.e. freshman year) mostly revolves around Noel and Felicity's growing relationship, his jealousy of Ben, and Ben's dating circles. However, near the end of the season, Noel and Felicity run into troubles, and that drives Felicity towards Ben. Beyond this, much of the season is spent introducing the remaining characters, described above.
The sophomore year (or second season) starts off with Felicity choosing Ben, but by the third episode, she already feels as though she made a big mistake. She winds up drifting around, dating a professor's son and seemingly getting a bit closer to both Noel and Ben for most of the season. By the end of the season, Noel and Ben wind up being somewhat friendly, and Felicity winds up with Ben, telling him she loves him as the season ends.
The junior year (or third season) starts off with Noel getting married in Berlin. About midway through the season, Noel's marriage dissolves as he realizes he still loves Felicity, and tells her this. This doesn't stop her and Ben from spending the whole season as a couple, though.
The senior year, though, starts with distance between Ben and Felicity, and she slowly finds herself falling for Noel again. The second half of the season revolves around a strange subplot where Felicity goes back in time to tell Noel that she loves him, but at the end of the series... well, watch for yourself.
What Was The Appeal Of Felicity?
The show's appeal was that it largely revolved around truly down-to-earth people. Most of the characters seemed truly authentic, which is rather rare on modern television. In addition, the show was very well-written, leading some people to sympathize with one character, while others may sympathize with another.
Current Availability
The first season of the series is available on DVD for less than $50 in most outlets. It's worth picking up if this series sounds interesting at all to you. Future seasons are set to be released throughout 2003.
Cast Summary (alphabetical by character's last name)
Sean Blumberg, portrayed by Greg Grunberg
Meghan Rotundi Blumberg, portrayed by Amanda Foreman
Richard Coad, portrayed by Robert Benedict
Andrew Covington, portrayed by John Ritter
Ben Covington, portrayed by Scott Speedman
Noel Crane, portrayed by Scott Foley
Julie Emrick, portrayed by Amy Jo Johnson
Trevor O'Donnell, portrayed by Christopher Gorham
Barbara Porter, portrayed by Eve Gordon
Edward Porter, portrayed by Erich Anderson
Felicity Porter, portrayed by Keri Russell
Javier Quintana, portrayed by Ian Gomez
Elena Tyler, portrayed by Tangi Miller
Sean Blumberg, portrayed by Greg Grunberg
Megan Blumberg, portrayed by Amanda Foreman