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By Jason Bailey
J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves had only collaborated once — for the 1996 movie “The Pallbearer” — when they sold “Felicity” to the WB network 20 years ago this weekend. It wound up an outlier in their careers, which went on to include genre series like “Alias” and “Lost”; scary movies like “Cloverfield” and “Let Me In”; and big-screen reboots of “Star Wars” and “Planet of the Apes.” “Felicity,” by contrast, was a modest, character-driven TV drama about an introverted high school student (Keri Russell) who follows her dream guy, Ben (Scott Speedman), to college in New York City.
The show sounded like the stuff of soapy teen melodrama, but it rarely was, thanks to the intelligent writing and first-rate ensemble. It is a densely plotted, serialized show that rewards close and comprehensive viewing, but if you don’t have time to watch all 84 episodes on Hulu, these 10 will give you the general idea.
‘Pilot’ (Season 1, Episode 1)
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One of the most striking (if, in hindsight, unsurprising) qualities of the pilot episode is how much it looks like a movie — a great little 45-minute film about breaking away and taking a chance. It is so elegantly done that it makes the show’s nutty premise seem not only credible, but emotionally logical. Speedman is perfect as the object of Felicity’s affection, displaying easy-breezy charisma and also the self-awareness and complexity that gives the character its depth; Scott Foley is immediately charming as Noel, the nice-guy resident assistant who completes the show’s romantic triangle. Many shows struggle to find their voice in the first season, but this series’s aesthetics are firmly in place from the jump: evocative slow-motion photography, thoughtful voice-over, silhouetted compositions and well-curated music. (Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” is so well used, you almost forget it was in “Say Anything.”)
‘Thanksgiving’ (Season 1, Episode 9)
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Things get complicated in the rapidly developing relationship between Noel and Felicity, when Noel’s long-distance girlfriend comes to New York for Thanksgiving break. That girlfriend was played by Jennifer Garner, who later starred in “Alias” for Abrams, and we’re treated to two enjoyable scenes in the dormitory bathroom between her and Russell, two future TV super spies. But the romantic elements aren’t what make “Thanksgiving” so special, it’s the way the writer Andrea Newman orchestrates the changed plans, missed connections and emotional emergencies that create a makeshift holiday dinner of friends, roommates, and exes. “One minute you’re standing in this new city with nothing but your suitcase,” Sally notes, in the final voice-over, “but then you look around and suddenly you realize: You’re surrounded by family.”
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