ds44

I thought I would start a thread to discuss the third season.
Let's start with the first episode* The Christening


I love this episode. It's funny and it includes one of the sweetest moments for FAB in the whole series. What do you guys think?

Caleon

Thanks for opening the thread. We should actually have one for each season, don't you think?

The best part about this ep, in my opinion, is when Sean is filming Ben and he says that through all the filth in that disgusting apartment, she sees something beautiful. Sean tells him Felicity looks at him through those same eyes. Ben just looks at the camera like "Oh, crap. I'm such an idiot," and then flies out the door. Then he's lighting all those candles and trying to make it work just because he loves her. What a romantic moment! If anything could make that dump look nice, he did in that scene.

The second best part of this ep is their greeting when he walks in the door of the loft toward the beginning of the episode. I love their laughter. It makes me smile just hearing it.

I was surprised that Felicity went for that apt having seen it. I never thought her character would go for "an actual hellhole" like that. Seemed like she'd have more sense about that kind of thing. It did illustrate the very good point that moving in together before you're ready may SEEM romantic, but it's hard work and not as pretty as it sounds at first.

I always wondered what would have happened if they got a NICE place together.

erinw

genki, thanks so much for starting this thread. I was hoping there would be interest in discussing this season since we all have our DVDs now.

Re: The Christening, it is one of my favorite episodes, probably second only to The Aretha Theory. I love the reunion scene between FAB and the bathtub scene is one of the most romantic moments ever. I love how they try to live together, and the comedy in this episode, with the bug, is so much fun to watch. I wish they had done more comedic moments between our FAB because they were so good at it.

I also love this episode because it starts FAB off in a good place. Our couple finally gets to be together and enjoy each other. Even their little argument about the model in the bathtub was fun to watch because you knew they would in no way be able to stay mad at each other. And when Sean tells Ben that Felicity looks at him in those same eyes as she looks at their hellhole apartment, I just love the look on Ben's face. The fact that he lights all those candles just melts my heart every time. And the way he looks at her when she says they have the place one more night. Sigh.

There are a couple things that didn't sit right with me about this episode though. The first being why on earth does Ben look at the model girl the way he does when she comes to the door. That really irks me. Way too much staring in my opinion. Seriously, is it just a guy thing? I'd kick his butt.

Also, on a non-FAB topic, was anyone else really worried about Noel when we didn't see him until practically the end of the episode? I remember thinking he had lost his mind when we saw him as Leon. I don't understand what he was thinking getting with Natalie. The character just seemed to lose it's way here and he never got it back. Any thoughts on this anyone?

Granny

The Christening has always been my favorite Felicity episode. Other episodes had scenes or moments that I love but this episode had it all for me. I think it is just the feel where everyone is in such a good place.

I think I'm one of the few who really liked the documentary filming by Sean. It gave us a good way to find out what everyone had been doing over the summer and also a way to look into their thoughts.

I loved the scene where Sean was asking Ben what he thought of the apartment and he said it was an "actual hell hole". As he was going back and forth between Ben and Felicity and getting their individual reactions was priceless.

The scene with the bug and the fire in the new apartment was one of the funniest scenes in the entire season. It was all done so natural and the reactions of Ben and Felicity were perfect.

I could see Felicity going for that apartment even though it was a mess. She was always a very romantic and impulsive person. It was just another example of her acting without thinking things through.

I thought Ben's reaction to the girl at the door was perfect. It might be a guy thing but it's how all straight guys react. They might not be obvious about it but they all do it. It's the old look but don't touch philosophy.

I liked Leon. I actually wish they had carried out that storyline longer. Here was a guy who was the nerd all through school who was living on the edge for the first time. It put some life into him. I would have liked to have seen him try and balance school with Natalie. Now that would have been something to see.

Back later.

Love, Jan

2Nickels

The Christening is an absolutely wonderful episode.

I just want to quickly comment on a couple of things right now & then will be back tomorrow with more comments.

I totally agree with Jan's statement here. Really why should Ben be any different then any other guy. He can appreciate a beautiful woman but his heart belonged to Felicity so he wouldn't do anything & he even called Sean & told him that he was freaking out when the girl was using the tub because he knew Felicity would be upset. All the other guys on the show would have checked Bridget out as well.

And I am not so sure it is just a "guy thing" I think we women have to admit we admire a hot looking guy when we see one though we may not act on it. And look at in "The Biggest Deal There Is" No one can tell me that Natalie was not totally checking out Ben at D&D when she first met him then Noel when she met him. Meghan even admitted to Felicity in "Sophomoric" that Ben was cute. And I know this wasn't in "Christening" but then Meghan, Elena & Julie were certainly gawking at their male neighbors. Some acted some didn't. That didn't mean Meghan wasn't going to stay loyal to Sean.

I also liked Natalie for Noel. I thought she had a spunk that was good for Noel.

Caleon

Let's put it this way: If a guy like Ben lived upstairs from me and I was dating someone, I'd have had his exact reaction! I mean, he's with someone, but he still has a pulse and Bridget was worth looking at.

I love how he called Sean freaking out. Just another example of the great relationship btw Sean and Ben. Like a big brother thing. That was one of my favorite relationships in the whole show. Ben was always the "little brother" to Sean, and I think Ben needed that.

erinw

I loved reading all the comments. I thank both Jan and Jann for their explanations of Ben's behavior. I can of course see it that way, but it still irritates me a bit. As for Ben and Sean's brotherly relationship, it was also one of my favorite relationships on the show. Ben really needed a big brother and a father figure. And Sean got better and better at telling Ben good advice.

Now, we should move onto The Anti-Natalie Intervention. Anyone want to start off with some thoughts about that episode?

Granny

I had to laugh at the thought of what I would do if Ben were living upstairs from me. I'd be making a dozen trips a day to his door to borrow sugar, flour, whatever I could think of. And I could always pray that he would have to use my bathtub.

I liked the relationship between Ben and Sean too. They were a good match. Sean was older and although he was unconventional he had a lot more life experience than Ben. I did see him as a father figure for Ben.

Love, Jan

erinw

Me, too, Jan!

ds44

I thought I'd continue this thread by talking about this episode. I really liked it because it exposed some of the negative aspects of Felicity. I think she seemed a little to perfect at times. I hated the fact that she intervened in his relationship. so, he was acting erratic. But, what they did was nosy and unsupportive. Not a good friend action. Wouldn't have been better to try and talk to him and find out why he's acting the way he is. I never hated Nathalie. I thought her character was given a raw deal. She never did the things "AVery" and "Lauren" did. She was just a little off the wall. I thought they were all being very judgemental.

Caleon

Jan, you cracked me up. I can see it now. "Excuse me, Ben? I live downstairs from you. Can I borrow a cup of you--I mean, uh, sugar?" Hee hee hee.

Re: The Anti-Natalie Intervention

I detested what they did to Noel's character because it was such a 180 from what they'd already established as his personality. I never figured Noel for a downward-spiral kind of guy.

I did like Natalie. It would have been cool if they'd worked things out and met in the middle. I thought it was really cute when she bought him RAM.

The Idiot

I agree that the way Noel's character was written at the start of season three was all wrong. I don't see how you could write him as a downward spiral type of person either. He was too upright and conventional and while I could see him maybe taking off for a week or so with Natalie, I could not see him taking off for the whole summer, then bailing out on school and then getting married, even if his equilibrium had been upset by the Ruby business. To cap it all, it seemed just to take a brief chat for him to realise what he'd done wrong. It just wasn't good plot development at all.

Granny

I could see Noel as having a downward spiral simply because he always had been this uptight, conventional, control freak. He even talked about it with Ben back in season 2 when they were studying together. With Natalie he had an opportunity to live the life that he always secretly wanted back in high school. For the first time he has a beautiful girl who feeds his ego, cool friends who accept him, and no responsibility. I think that was living the secret dream he had back in high school. But when he got back with his old friends that's when his core values kicked in. I enjoyed the storyline and thought it was pretty well done.

Love, Jan

Nikki K

OMG, my DVDs finally arrived! And I'm so excited!!!
Started watching right away. I'm so saddened by Julie's departure. I really liked though that Felicity cared for her and was truly worried. It just shows how much class the show has, I hate it whenever on other shows characters just disappear and people never ever talk about them anymore though they claimed before that they've been best friends or something.
And actually I agree with everything Jan said about Noel. He was just acting out for once, who can blame him. I'm really surprised that I liked Natalie. Off to watch more Felicity.

Caleon

Lucky you, Nina! I wound up staying up really late on the weekend to finish watching them when I got them.