Ben and Kate: Ben Tries New Careers

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

If Will and Kate are neighbors, how do their children go to the same school? We know that Kate lied and then got a waiver to have Maddie in the elementary school she goes to, but what's the situation with Will's child? That nitpick aside, I found Ben's jumping from wine merchant to golf-ball-poacher in this pair of episodes to be problematic. One on hand, it shows just how immature Ben is and how his life could go anywhere at any moment. On the other, it's a bit annoying and makes you wonder how long he'll be a gimmicky character with no steady income. I mean, who really thinks that RailMall will take off? When's the last time you even bothered to flip through SkyMall? On that note, I'd like to hear more about how Kate pays for that house on a waitress's salary. I mean, we all know it's only a matter of time (if the show lasts) until Kate decides to go back to school... she's just that "type." No?

Ben and Kate "Career Day" (S01E06): Kate flirts with the neighbor she met on Halloween and hits a car while parallel parking. [are you serious??] She tells Ben not to snoop on Will, a social worker for at-risk youth, but he does the opposite... first he talks to him at Maddie's school, then invites him over for dinner, calling it a neighborhood barbecue. [hahaha! loved Kate's purple dress, though!] Will and Kate decide to go on an actual date, and Kate admits that she spooks easily. When Ben finds out that Will left his wife a year ago, he barges over and confronts him about it, so we learn that the issues was Will's wife never put their daughter first. [kinda corny.]

Ben wants to go to Maddie's school for career day, but she doesn't think he has a career. So, Ben and Tommy talk about potential careers and think that maybe Ben could be a wine merchant, as he once dated a French woman who sent him a bunch of bottles. [and he buried them underground? what?? I did laugh pretty hard about "the quickie world of meteorology."] Tommy offers to play the race card to get them into a local restaurant, but Ben wants to wait it out, and they decide to sell wine door-to-door. [perhaps even crazier...]

Cr: Jennifer Clasen/FOX

They also host a tasting at Ben's house, complete with winesicles. [yeah, I wanna try those...] In the end, Ben goes to Maddie's class to talk about how he still doesn't know what he wants his career to be - trying is what matters! But, he also throws in some lines about not going to college and partying in Europe and loses the kids. [of course.] 

Ben and Kate "Guitar Face" (S01E08): [haha on Ben teaching Maddie "milk pong" to get her to drink milk.] BJ is upset that Kate doesn't pay that much attention to her anymore, so when she goes to find Will's wife at a support group (to tell her to come watch Will's band), she winds up staying, upset over how Kate spends all of her time with Maddie and Will. BJ (going by "Penny" in the group) even thinks that she could have a career in counseling.

Oh, yeah, the band. Will is in a ZZ Top cover band and invites Kate to see him play. Kate freaks out, and at the concert realizes that Will makes his "sex face" when playing the guitar. [anyone else flashback to how Friends' Monica makes sex noises when she gets massaged?] She couldn't stop laughing so she has to tell him, and he decides not to speak to her. [awww.] Problematically, Kate tells the others about it and they're joking around when Will walks in, making it even more difficult for him to accept her apology, but once she offers to go on-stage and make faces while the band plays, they're reconciled. [odd.]

Tommy gets Ben a job at the country club, working a snack cart. [Ben has Maddie stick her hand in the garbage disposal to look for his keys?? yikes!] His angle is to pitch golfers his start-up ideas, but he quickly jumps ship to the newest money-making idea, diving for golf balls in the lake! [RailMall?? also, remember the episode of Yes, Dear where Jimmy does the golf ball thing and immediately realizes it's a going-nowhere idea?] Tommy asks Ben not to poach the balls but he does it anyway, getting them both fired. Tommy puts Ben "in the penalty box," and Ben decides to let Tommy drive a bucket of balls at him. After the first, Ben's down and the manager comes over... the smooth-talking Fox gets them their jobs back AND an investor in RailMall. [1, 2, 3, unrealistic!]