S01.E06: ... been the loneliest boy in the world

[paulvdb]

Quote

 

With absentee parents, a shallow girlfriend and no one to hang out with, Ben Gross is lonelier than ever, until an unlikely invitation offers some hope.

 

 

[twoods]

I’m glad we got this episode so we can see why Ben acts the way he does. I admit that I started to cry when he was crying at Devi’s mom’s office. And him and Devi bonding in the kitchen was also nice.

[shapeshifter]

I found Ben's life pretty unbelievable, but I just went with it because the show is so well done.

[dubbel zout]

I think it's slightly exaggerated, but I don't find his parents' benign neglect (or maybe not so benign) unrealistic. His mother is a self-involved horror show, and his dad is a workaholic who's got his own problems. It's a miracle Ben isn't more of a douche.

When he cried in the chair, I got a little teary, too. That the simple act of having a family dinner was unknown to him was heartbreaking. Family dinners are their own landmine, of course, but this isn't that kind of show.

[truthaboutluv]

Devi's mom is one of my favorite characters on the show. Her and Devi's arguments are always hilarious. 

[tennisgurl]

Poor Ben, his life just seems so sad and empty. His dad works all the time,his mom is too self involved to be a mom (and is one of the people that mistake self care for self absorption) he has no real friends, and his girlfriend clearly doesent actually like him. I get a lot more about why Ben acts the way he does I think. Its nice to see Devi and Ben bonding, that was really sweet. Ben crying at the very idea of a family dinner because it had been so long since he had one was just so sad, maybe he can come to Devis house more? Even if he needs to drink extra water. 

Andy Samberg is an absolute treasure. "His dads my lawyer and I owe him a favor." 

[Paloma]

I'm in the minority here because I didn't really need a whole episode devoted to the poor little rich boy. The writers could have given us some insight into his feelings in the same way they have done with Fabiola and Eleanor, showing a few short scenes of them dealing with family issues. They are much more interesting to me (especially Fabiola) than Ben, and I wonder why he gets the whole-episode, separate narrator treatment. I hope they did not do this as a way of leading up to Ben and Devi becoming a couple.

Also, Andy Samberg's narration seemed boring to me. Maybe I would have appreciated it more if I were a fan, but what little I've seen him in has not interested me. I was worried that he would be narrating future episodes so was glad when he handed it back to McEnroe at the end.

[Enginerd]

I don't care about Ben all that much, but I thought the scenes were funny but also sad.

I'd like an episode focused on Kamala's point of view. Get a little more in depth than beautiful nerd who doesn't want to be married off. We've already seen that there's more to her, but I think a more focused look at her past and her psyche and what she really thinks about everything would be interesting. And on the same note, Nalini's earlier years, before she got married. She's so much like Devi, it's hard to believe she was quite the demure dutiful daughter she claims to have been, who did nothing but care for granny and learn to cook or whatever. What was she really like, and what led her to the life she leads now?

[methodwriter85]

I thought the pizza parlour scene with the pedo 50-year old was hilarious. As an 30-something gay guy who worked in retail I often have male teenaged co-workers that I will talk to at work, but I will absolutely not talk to outside of work because I don't want to perpetuate that "predatory older gay man"/chicken queen stereotype. I also made the mistake of having sex with a 39-year old man when I was 15 that I met online, so a lot about that scene and how skeevy the guys are that try to hook up with teenagers rang true to me. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by methodwriter85

[bettername2come]

Ben’s episode was nice. I liked that he didn’t rat out Devi, but he’s done that twice so I really think she owes him one. Weirdly, I barely noticed the difference between Samberg and McEnroe. The voiceovers on this show remind me of The Goldbergs. And I’m realizing Ben reminds me of David Henrie.

For a second I thought Ben was going to unexpectedly just have a nice dinner but no, teenagers should never meet strangers from the internet.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

No surprise that Shira sucks and that Ben is a poor little rich boy whose only company is his housekeeper.

I really felt for him when he decided to give the Rick & Morty guy a chance only to have him get creepy within two seconds ("It's only weird if you make it weird!"). His first instinct to leave when he saw it was some 50 year old guy was correct!

I agree that we didn't need an entire episode devoted to Ben just to understand why he is the way he is. We could have gotten the same information with just a few short scenes. I would have much rather had an entire episode on Fabiola, Eleanor, Nalini, or Kamala. Hell, I'd rather have an entire episode about Paxton who we know very little about (he swims, he has a sister who was adopted, and he's hot).

[Mabinogia]

31 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

he swims, he has a sister who was adopted, and he's hot

Which is basically all Devi knows about him too, so it makes sense.

I do agree, I'd like eps for her closest friends though. Maybe next season. 

I think they did Ben's full ep because they wanted him to go from her arch enemy to someone with more layers, the way he became for Devi. I didn't mind it because I quite like him. Nothing we saw was a revelation, I pretty much figured the girlfriend was using him for his money, that his parents were going to end up being absentee (this is a tv show, of course the richest kid in school is also the saddest because his parents are never around). It was sad to see him being so desperate for some human connection that he second guessed his first instinct with Rick and Morty guy though. 

[Scarlett45]

On 5/17/2020 at 12:08 PM, tennisgurl said:

Poor Ben, his life just seems so sad and empty. His dad works all the time,his mom is too self involved to be a mom (and is one of the people that mistake self care for self absorption) he has no real friends, and his girlfriend clearly doesent actually like him. I get a lot more about why Ben acts the way he does I think. Its nice to see Devi and Ben bonding, that was really sweet. Ben crying at the very idea of a family dinner because it had been so long since he had one was just so sad, maybe he can come to Devis house more? Even if he needs to drink extra water. 

Andy Samberg is an absolute treasure. "His dads my lawyer and I owe him a favor." 

I know. His housekeeper seemed to care about him, but likely gets off from work at dinner time- she did explicitly offer to keep him company, she knows. 

On 5/30/2020 at 11:49 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I really felt for him when he decided to give the Rick & Morty guy a chance only to have him get creepy within two seconds ("It's only weird if you make it weird!"). His first instinct to leave when he saw it was some 50 year old guy was correct!

Yes, that was weird yet realistic. 

On 5/21/2020 at 9:11 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I thought the pizza parlour scene with the pedo 50-year old was hilarious. As an 30-something gay guy who worked in retail I often have male teenaged co-workers that I will talk to at work, but I will absolutely not talk to outside of work because I don't want to perpetuate that "predatory older gay man"/chicken queen stereotype. I also made the mistake of having sex with a 39-year old man when I was 15 that I met online, so a lot about that scene and how skeevy the guys are that try to hook up with teenagers rang true to me. 

Omg that’s awful! I’m so sorry. 
 

Adults and teens can be friendly, but there have to be STRONG boundaries. Also on those types of forums (like here) regular posters who DM and live in the same city know each other’s ages. A 50 something man asking a teenager to meet up randomly is WEIRD.