Thursday, November 22, 2012

What I’m Watching: Ben and Kate (Thanksgiving Episode #2)


Ben and Kate: Season 1, Episode 8 “Reunion” (B+)

It’s no surprise that this hometown show would feature a Thanksgiving high school reunion which would directly involve Ben, Kate, and Tommy. Kate’s long-standing anger at her role competitor who nicknamed her “Junk Face” was entertaining, as was Will’s enthusiasm for having her compete, abruptly suggesting a sing-off as if it was the logical solution to any problem. Tommy’s grand entrance on roller skates was perfectly timed to create another “Junk Face” situation that was funny but didn’t take too much focus from the rest of the episode. That was devoted to the sham marriage between Ben and BJ, which makes sense on a lot of levels. Ben’s concern at her finding out and subsequent overwhelming desire to tell her was amusing, and I like that it all came out because BJ felt the need to call Kate a sister, prompting her to suspect that something was up. Ben’s reaction to BJ’s matter-of-fact explanation that it wasn’t actually a green card marriage was priceless, and BJ does a marvelous job of revealing life-altering facts like her Texas birthplace in completely casual ways. Maddie had a fun role in the events of the episode as well, most memorably in her suggestion to Tommy that he lose the afro. I enjoyed his deep concern with making a big entrance, something that I might have expected Ben to be equally invested in if he weren’t already so popular and he had less on his mind than revealing to his sister that he was married to her best friend.

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