Anyway, Ally has this cute ex-boyfriend named Billy. I knew I had seen him somewhere before, so I went to my trusty friend, IMDb, and searched Gil Bellows. Turns out that he was Tommy in The Shawshank Redemption! I thought that was crazy cool since I love that movie, love his character, and that movie is currently #1 on the IMDb Top 250. After I found that out, I became very invested in Billy, even though he wasn't on it back when I watched all those years ago.
My piqued interest in Billy made something glaringly obvious to me. He is Andy Trudeau. For those of you who didn't have a crazy obsession with the early seasons of Charmed, Andy Trudeau was a detective who sometimes dated Prue in first season. I have come up with a list of all of the ways that Andy and Billy are exactly the same person. Even though they really have different looks.
- The History: Both Billy and Andy dated the main characters on their shows from the times they were young children. First kisses, first sex, first everything. I think they met around the time they were like 4. You could make the same argument for Cory and Topanga, but I swear it's different.
- The Name: A lot of boys use the cutesy ending with a y names when they are younger, but give them up around puberty. I went to elementary school with boys named Robbie, Joey, Teddy, etc, but around high school, they became Rob, Joe, Ted. All those older versions of their names. It makes sense that Ally and Prue would call Billy and Andy by their cutesy names, but they aren't the only ones. Everyone calls them Billy and Andy. No Bills or Andrews.
- The Unrequited Love: Ally and Billy broke up because he left her to go to law school in a different part of the country. Prue and Andy broke up because they left for college and it just made sense. When their paths crossed again about 10 years later (this applies to both plotlines), the feelings flared up again. Prue and Andy tried a relationship, but it didn't seem to work. Ally found out that Billy was now married, so that didn't really work either. In both situations, the couples were still totally in love, but unable to be together.
- The Friendship: Because the couple doesn't really work, both sets decide to forge a meaningful friendship. They rely on each other for guidance, support, and companionship. Sometimes the whole romance thing arises again, but they try to suppress it.
- The Untimely Death: Okay, so since I only just started second season of Ally McBeal, Billy is still alive and well, but he wasn't around during my Robert Downey Jr. days, so I know he didn't turn out well. Somehow I found out that he dies around the end of second or third season. Not exactly sure how. I do know how Andy died though. Season 1 finale- Andy died over and over again and Prue could do nothing to stop it. The deaths leave both women free to fall in love with new romantic prospects, without giving them the Mr. Big Problem, yet leave them heartbroken because their first, and maybe ultimate loves are gone.
Now seriously, tell me that those are not the same two characters. Now I know that Billy has a good sense of humor and Andy seems like he has a wedgie, but that's understandable considering their perspective women (Ally is a nutjob and Prue is sort of mean and always serious). But despite the personality differences, both men serve the shows the exact same purpose. To show that the women are capable of true love.
The 90s really did wonders for tv.
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