Establishing chemistry is the most important thing about a pilot episode – something too many comedies forget when trying to set up high-concept plots or an attention-grabbing joke to bring in viewers for a second episode. Ben and Kate avoids this through most of its first episode with a relaxed, familiar sense of its characters, and a somewhat cheesy, but still heart warming story to open the show.
Ben and Kate are brother and sister, two adults living in California and navigating the adult world we’re all so confounded by. Ben is a free-wheeling spirit whose immaturity and bull-in-a-china-shop personality always make his visits interesting for Kate and her daughter Maddie. The pilot is essentially two family rom-coms in one: Ben helps Kate get out of a crappy relationship before she takes a big leap, and Kate helps Ben crash a wedding of the girl he “exclusively refers to as Mrs. Ben Fox.”
The plot is never really an issue until the final third, where Ben and Kate both give character-defining Big Speeches – capped off with Kate’s overwrought defense of Ben’s character: “I’d choose Ben Fox.” And while its very predictable from the outset, the chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Nat Faxon as Kate and Ben are terrific. Their relationship is one we can both feel familiar with – having relatives who don’t knock on the door and involve themselves in your lives is a common thing – but can still provide fun emotional moments, like the ending where Ben and Kate climb under table (like they did as kids) and reminisce about being kids and life mistakes.
I also think it’s worth noting how the writers don’t try and force certain character traits on the female leads. Kate is a busy single mother, one who’s out of touch with the latest fashions (rocking a fanny pack in multiple scenes), but not the “strung out, too over stressed to enjoy anything” kind of young mother we’re used to seeing on TV. She’s not bitter about the hand life gave her, and her willingness to embrace new opportunities with a nervous excitement (“Back in high school, I used to crush ass to left, right and center”) is refreshing, even when the plot takes the typical ‘turn the new boyfriend into an instant asshole’ path near the end.
More so, I’ve grown quite annoyed with the “quirky, cute, super intelligent and aware” child, a line I think Maddie’s character walks well, without becoming too much of another young child clone. This could change in future episodes, but it’s nice to see the writers not feel the pressure to stick Maddie into a box as a character – a sentiment that extends to BJ, the British bartender who is clearly the wild counterpart to Kate’s level-headed nature, but never falls into annoying caricature or punching bag for whore jokes. She’s sharp, and while’s she goofy when it comes to being sex (“Make sure to put things in your mouth”), Lucy Punch’s experience in the comedic medium shows in her confidence and ability to keep the character from being a caricature.
The ending suffers from the expected Pilot Ending Syndrome, where characters stand up for each other and make big statements about who they are and where they are going. Ben’s on a path to maturity, while Kate’s going to need his lighter side for her to recapture some of the excitement of her youth, as she re-enters the dating world for the first time since Maddie’s birth. It’s not the funniest or smartest of pilots, but the confidence of the script, and the chemistry of the main characters have me intrigued to see what kind of stories are in store in the show’s first season.
Grade: B-
Other thoughts/observations:
– Tommy’s character needs to be toned down. His obsession with Kate will grow tired and creepy quickly, and I think it’s something the show should move away from quickly.
– the theme of accepting the idiosyncracies of family members is a well tread one, and Ben and Kate‘s ending is one plucked from endless other comedies and dramas with the same things. That being said, the family meeting under the table still works as a warm family moment to close the episode.
– the two big physical gags play suprisingly well: having Ben be the one who struggles with driving (rather than Kate) is a nice touch, and the sweater removing scene doesn’t carry on long enough for it to become a tired bit.
– Opening with flashbacks within flashbacks? I’m curious how other people felt about the show’s opening, which felt like an unnatural way to open a show.
What did you think of the Ben and Kate pilot? Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below! I don’t think I’ll write about the show on a week to week basis, but I’ll check in periodically to share my thoughts about notable episodes of the show through the season.
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I had three real laughs before the first commercial which got me into it, and I found it consistently funny through the whole episode. It’s not changing the sitcom game like Community or Louie, but it is funny enough to keep watching until it isn’t.