Felicia Tilman
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I'm not worried, Edie. Martha and I have a very intense bond. We were connected at the most primal level and, a few days ago, I felt this sensation in my soul. That's when it first dawned on me that something had happened to my sister, and when she didn't arrive at my home as scheduled, well...that's when I knew she was dead."
Felicia Tilman shares a striking character trait with her sister, Martha Huber, in that they both possess the ability to say the nastiest things about other people with the most cheerful smile.
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[edit] Season One
Felicia Tilman first arrives on Wisteria Lane in the 11th episode of the first season entitled Move On. She has arrived to aid with the search for her sister Martha Huber, who has gone missing, but as Felicia informs Edie Britt upon her arrival, she knows psychically that her sister Martha has been murdered and the only reason she has come the Wisteria Lane is to discover who is behind her sister's murder.
Although she addressed as Mrs. Tilman several times by Zach Young and Mike Delfino, we assume that she is Miss Tilman as no husband is ever seen or mentioned throughout her time on Wisteria Lane. Once she has moved into her sister's house, we learn that Felicia hated Martha but nonetheless, she didn't think that she truly deserved to die the way she did.
Whilst sorting through Martha's possessions, Felicia finds Martha's journals which according to her, "records every mundane detail of Martha's life and everyone else's for that matter". These journals were the final key to the puzzle that Felicia needed to find out why her sister was murdered. She read the journals and discovered that Martha was blackmailing Paul and Mary Alice Young because they had bought a baby named Dana from a drug addict (Deirdre Taylor) and then moved to Fairview and changed the baby's name to Zach. Felicia then realized that it was Paul Young who had murdered his sister as he had obviously found out that Martha was blackmailing him and wanted her to keep quiet about his secret and the only way of ensuring her silence was by killing her. During her stay on Wisteria Lane, Felicia grew close to Zach Young and he made regular visits to her home. Felicia then notices that Zach has stopped arriving at her house, so she waited until Paul left and then entered the Young house; only to find that Paul has heavily drugged Zach with tranquilizers. She manages to get Zach back over to her own house and when Paul arrives after finding that she has stolen Zach from him, Felicia shows him a copy of the diary and tells him that she knows about his and Mary Alice's past life. Felicia tells Paul to get out of town for good or she will expose both Zach's true identity and the fact that he murdered Martha. Paul agrees to go but Felicia then informs him that Zach shall be staying with her from now on and that Paul has to leave town alone. Once Paul has departed, Felicia lies to Zach and says that Paul has left town only for a few weeks and so he shall be staying with her temporarily until Paul returns. Frustrated by this, Zach eventually storms out of Felicia's house and back to his own with Felicia in pursuit of him. She follows him up to his old bedroom where she tells him that she wants to help him shoulder the burden, but he lashes out at her calling her a freak demanding that he be left by himself until his dad arrives back. She then informs him of the truth that his dad isn't planning on coming back and tells him to get his things as they are going home together to her house. As Felicia exits the room and heads for the stairs, Zach notices a hockey stick by his bedroom door, he grabs it, follows Felicia and screams "What did you do to my dad?" before striking her with the stick resulting in her falling down the stairs. As the camera cuts away from the scene, we do not know what happened next, but it is assumed that Felicia told Zach that Mike Delfino had planned to kill Paul as Zach then turns up at Mike's house with the intension to kill him. Later that day, Felicia's body is discovered and she is taken away in an ambulance in a critical condition. Her fate at the end of season one is left uncertain.
[edit] Season Two
In season two, Felicia has been discharged from the hospital, but is still badly bruised and wearing a neck brace. Mike Delfino goes to visit Felicia to see if she knows where Zach Young is, as he has recently disappeared after failing to murder Mike. Felicia sarcastically remarks that she just doesn't stay in touch with Zach like she used to after he threw her down the stairs. Mike then notices several suitcases in Felicia's house and when he enquires about then she informs him she is going back to Utah for a few months to recuperate. Mike then informs her that Paul Young is still alive as he couldn't go through with killing him to which she replies "I know it sounds negative but, you really should have killed him."
Felicia returns to Wisteria Lane a few months later as the nurse to Noah Taylor (Zach Young's legitimate grandfather). Over a few weeks she cautiously watches out for any suspicious signs relating to Zach or Paul and eventually she discovers that Noah has received a letter which informs him that he has a grandchild. As Noah finds out that Paul Young is responsible for the death of his daughter Deirdre (who is the drug addict that sold Zach to the Youngs), he demands (much to Felicia's pleasure) that Paul be killed. Noah instructs Paul to be arrested and then killed in the back of an armoured truck. As both Felicia and Mike converge on the Young house to comfort Zach after hearing the news that Paul has been killed, Paul himself walks through the front door (much to Felicia's horror and astonishment). Angered at his survival, Felicia pays a visit to Mike a few days later and tells him that she doesn't think peoples memories are what they used to be and that many have forgotten that Felicia had told them that Paul murdered Martha. She reminds Mike that he was going to kill Paul for her once before as Deirdre was formally Mike's girlfriend and he was angered at her murder at the hands of Paul. Felicia asks him to kill Paul, but Mike tells her that he has let go of his rage to which she replies ominously that she has not. Felicia thinks of a way to remind everyone that Paul Young murdered her sister and finds the perfect opportunity later that day at Edie Britt's engagement party. Whilst opening gifts at her party, Edie opens Felicia's present to find a set of dentures which belonged to Felicia's late sister Martha Huber. When Edie looks stunned Felicia informs her that "I know it's an unconventional gift for an engagement party, but you and Martha were such close friends, Edie. I wanted you to have something truly personal to remember her by since she left us so abruptly. You know, when Paul Young strangled her, crushed her windpipe, and buried her alive next to a garbage-strewn hiking trail." Edie then takes away Felicia's champagne saying that she has had quite enough to Felicia states "I do apologize if I've offended anyone, but while you all are chit-chatting and eating these yummy hors d'oeuvres, just remember you're in the company of a murderer." Paul who is present at the party looks awkward and embarrassed and decides to leave whilst Felicia sits smiling knowing that she has finally refreshed everyone's memories.
Knowing that she can no longer rely on other people to kill Paul Young, Felicia decides to take matters into her own hands. Whilst leaving his house to go to a drug store, Paul trips badly on his front steps. It turns out his front steps have been greased with shortening. A cheerful Felicia, who's baking cookies, pops out to check on him and informs him that shortening is the last thing he wants on his front porch as it is meant for baking. Next, Paul and Zach are having a cookout when Paul lights the grill to find the lighter fluid has been replaced with gasoline, resulting in a fire that shoots up in Paul's face. Over the fence Felicia can be seen smiling at them and giving a cheerful wave. Later, Paul wakes up to find his house has been covered in an exterminator's tent. Angrily, he goes out, only to find Felicia merrily apologizing for giving the wrong address to the exterminator. Then she asks Paul quietly so only he can hear, if he was going to blow his brains out like Mary Alice did. Paul grabs her by the throat, but is held back by the exterminators and Felicia then tells everyone to look at how unstable Paul Young happens to be.
[edit] The Final Act
Felicia Tilman then plans her final act of revenge against Paul Young. After sneaking into his home through the backdoor, Felicia searches, locates and steals the spare key to Paul's house. When she hears Paul approaching the kitchen, Felicia hurriedly grabs a bag of flour from one of the kitchen cupboards and heads towards the back door as he enters. She tells him that she was shouting at the back door for ages and that she needs to borrow flour to make Paul and Zach cookies. Upon discovering her in his kitchen, Paul instructs Zach to throw out all of their food as Felicia may have tried to poison them both. Felicia then calls the police from her home and reports that her neighbor Paul Young has been threatening her. Whilst phoning the police, she is in the process of pumping large quantities of her own blood from her body. The police inform Felicia that no action can be taken against Paul by just making threats, to which she replies that she will just have to deal with the problem herself. That following evening, Paul walks into his kitchen only to slip and discover blood on the floor and on the kitchen walls. Paul then follows the trail of smeared blood on the floor to the garage where the door is ajar. The police quickly come upon the scene and place Paul in handcuffs when they discover two of Felicia's fingers in the trunk of his car. Whilst Paul is escorted to prison, Felicia escapes to the mountains and retreats to a log cabin where she checks in under the alias of her dead sister "Mrs. Martha Huber". When the clerk of the cabin lodge hands her the keys to her cabin she accidentally drops them and when he replaces them in her hand she smiles broadly and says that "Sometimes I'm just all thumbs" whilst rubbing the keys with the remaining fingers of her left hand and experiencing the great satisfaction of finally avenging her sister's murder.
[edit] Trivia
- Desperate Housewives has now entered its sixth season and Felicia Tilman hasn't been seen since her season two departure. It should be noted that her old house 4350 Wisteria Lane, has passed out of her possession as Bree Van De Kamp purchased it for her son Andrew and his fiance.
- Series creator Marc Cherry has hinted that Felicia may return during season six although it is unknown as to why she would return. However, in the "Ask Desperate Housewives" Marc Cherry did with Orson Hodge, he was asked "Will it ever be revealed that Paul Young did not murder Felicia Tilman?" Marc Cherry's reply was, "Yes." This could be a possible reason for Felicia to return.
[edit] Notable Relatives
[edit] Blood Relatives
Mother: Millicent Tilman
Siblings: Martha Huber (deceased)
