What I’m Watching: Ben and Kate

Ben and Kate: Season 1, Episode 12 “Girl Problems” (B+)

It’s hard to describe the level of awkwardness that Kate possesses when she is trying to seem cool. I was thrilled when Tommy ran into Brittany Snow’s Lila walking her dog, and I’m excited to see her become a part of the regular plotline. Kate’s overenthusiastic attempts to befriend her were unfortunate enough, and blabbing about Tommy having been in love with her for ten years really sealed the deal. AS always, however, this show is immensely charming, and having Kate hide behind the mailman with Tommy deemed too tall to do the same was sweet, and I hope that Lila sticks around for a while. She’s certainly a more endearing fit than Ben’s new sexual partner, Vera, who is portrayed by Melinda McGraw, who had a superb role on the second season of “Mad Men” as promiscuous housewife Bobbie Barrett. Ben does love lofts, though, and so maybe Rail Mail will have to take a backseat to the electronic version that she pitched which maintains few to none of his original ideas. I like that BJ interfered and posed as a Southerner to try to protect Ben, and it’s fun to see her actually care about something and invest time and energy in trying to get it accomplished, a rare occurrence. Hearing about her dog is very disconcerting, given that we see just how irresponsible she is in every other aspect of her life, which doesn’t bode well for the poor, possibly fictional pet with a truly odd, unusual background.