Old Favorite Revisited: Felicity

When I was in junior high and high school, I watched most of the WB's evening line up - Buffy, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Roswell, Angel, Smallville (only the first two or three seasons), Charmed (consistently for the first three or four). Since then I have bought the entire collection of Buffy and Angel as well as the first season of Roswell, which wasn't quite as good as I remembered. While I always wanted to buy Felicity, I could never bring myself to do it because I wasn't willing to spend $50 per season, and they never seemed to go on sale. Well, they finally did, so I ordered the first two seasons (when I went back to order the third, I saw that it was available for preorder so I guess the reason they finally went on sale is because they're rereleasing them, kind of like My So-Called Life).

I've been watching Felicity every night for the past week or two (it takes so much longer to watch a whole season of television when I have a normal work schedule!), and it was just as good as I remembered. It's not quite as quotable as Buffy but it is intelligent, and interesting, and while some of the things the characters do seem completely age-inappropriate, other things are actually rather fitting. Also, Felicity is just such a relatable character in ways: she overanalyzes everything, and feels the need to discuss everything. As soon as she gets an idea in her head, she will head over to the person's room/apartment to discuss it, even if it might seem completely out of the blue, and they don't understand where she's coming from. In the very first episode, she ends up at Ben's and stands in the doorway yelling at him and arguing with him. The scene seemed quite familiar.

In other ways, it's almost depressing to watch because while it is well-written and it all makes sense within the context of the show, it's just not like real life at all. Guys don't break up with you and then five or six months later realize what a huge mistake it all was and make a grand romantic gesture to win you back. While there is so much more to the show, in simplest terms, it's almost just the love story of Ben and Felicity despite all the other men and women they date over the years. Somehow, they always end up back together after growing apart or separating for whatever reasons. And it's sweet and romantic, but it's not like there really is such a thing as soul mates, or meant to be. I can definitely see where watching this while younger could have somehow screwed up my ideas and perceptions about relationships. I wonder if this has anything to do with why it takes me so long to let go of things. Or did I simply like the show because it confirmed preconceived notions I already had way before then? Oh joy, it's like the chicken and the egg. Eh.