Ben and Kate – “Girl Problems”

Season One, Episode Twelve

Grade: B+

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After a small bump in the road with last week’s episode, we return with the Ben and Kate charm that we all love. It’s nice to see that Tommy pushed his way to the front of the pack during “Girl Problems” as him and Lila are now dating. The whole Tommy and Kate thing was never going to work, but I admit that it was weird seeing Tommy so animated with Lila from his typical serious-face, creeper look.

After the weird interaction between the new couple and Kate, BJ suggests that it was because Tommy has been in love with Kate for ten years. Like the sweet, innocent (and naive) person Kate is, she attempts to smooth things over with Lila by hanging out with her, only to spill the beans about Tommy that Lila did not know about. Though this wasn’t surprising, the pay-off was great as Kate is best when she is completely awkward. Oh how I love Dakota Johnson.

Meanwhile, Ben is trying to get his idea of Rail Mall off the ground. He meets a businesswoman named Vera and they both agree that with her savvy and his people skills, they would make a great team. What she really meant to say was they’d make a great team in bed, which Ben doesn’t mind but he still wants his Rail Mall idea to get a jump-start. This was basically a throw-away story that provided with some decent laughs, but nothing more than to fill Ben’s part of the episode.

What was hilarious and surprising was BJ’s role through everything. She played the chaperone, giving advice to Kate and Ben and while she was wrong about Kate’s situation, she called Ben out that Vera was just trying to get into his “business.” Plus, when BJ gave Ben some business advice his jaw dropped while confessing he always thought BJ was really stupid. Oh, and BJ’s Southern accent was great.

In the end, Kate made things right between Tommy and Lila, but I hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to see less of Tommy. While he hasn’t brought anything significant to the chemistry of the group, I feel there is still potential for his character. Echo Kellum has some really good comedic timing and whenever he interacts with Nat Faxon, it’s a laugh riot. Let me conclude this post by saying I laughed the hardest at the end of the episode when BJ was talking to Kate about Winnie, her min-pin (miniature pincher).