Remembering and Obsessing Over “Felicity” Part II: The Power of Elena

A couple of weeks ago, I was on a prolonged Felicity binge (See: Remembering and Obsessing Over “Felicity” (Part I). My obsession has since then passed, but that does not compromise the relevance and value of J.J. Abrams‘s opus to college life.

There isn’t one day in my life where a component of Felicity DOESN’T cross my mind. Lately, I’ve been wanting an Elena Tyler in my life.

Elena, is Felicity’s lab partner-turned-BFF/roommate. In the normal TV archetype world, Elena (played by Tangi Miller) would be the predictable sassy black friend. Actually, she is sassy, but she is more than just a side dish in the show. She is a blunt voice of reason that helps align Felicity’s over-thoughtfulness.

With Felicity, she keeps it real. She does not hold back. She is a real friend and doesn’t dilly-dally around the most logical choices in life. For instance, in the episode titled “Gimme an O!” she is straight-forward with Felicity when she plans on having sex with Noel. Instead of being all romantic about the ordeal, she is an aggressive Oracle, telling Felicity to “be the ball” and just attack the act of sex without any frills. Later, when Felicity bangs Eli while her and Noel are on a break, she stays loyal to Felicity even though her actions were morally questionable. In both cases, Elena is a true and honest friend.

She tells Felicity when she is being stupid (which is often) and when she needs to calm down (which is more than often). She is fearless and her brand of tough love is ingestible and non-bitchy which is balance that is hard to accomplish.

The thing about Elena is that she is a friend I wish I had. Granted, I love my friends to death, they are oftentimes scared to put the slightest crack in my fragile ego or deflate my semi-flaccid self-esteem. Although I appreciate it, sometimes I wish they were more like Elena. Sometimes I wish they would tell me what I don’t want to hear. I wish they would tell me I am a moron or that I am just over-thinking things and slicing my problems so small that it makes them nearly impossible to dissect. Elena would tell me how it is whilst studying for finals using her mysterious M&M/stopwatch technique.

In the great scheme of pop culture personalities, Elena is kind of like a female Ari Gold — except she’s a woman…and she’s not a Hollywood super-agent…and she doesn’t have clever insults. As an independent, strong-willed, super-confident med student, she knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She pushes people in the direction they know they want to go, but don’t have the balls to do so. She is a pool of unbiased and logical advice that you have no choice but to take. What makes her even better is that she is selfless and puts other people’s problems ahead of her own insecurities.

She helped Felicity get over Ben…and Noel…and Ben again. She was really bold and had an affair with Prince Humperdinck/Jerry Dandrige. She whipped Noel into shape when they were roommates (before and after he was Leon). She punched the shit out of Blair when she found out he was jeepin’ behind her back with her best friend. She took a gunshot from a meth-head. She kicked the shit out of Richard. She wasn’t scared to snap at Megan before her almost-wedding to Tracy.

Oh Elena. I wish you could be my life coach.