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As Ben is asked to deal with the consequences of his actions, all efforts are made to protect him and maintain the idea he is worth protecting.
| Directed By | Alik Sakharov |
| Written By | Miki Johnson |
| Aired (Netflix) | 3/27/2020 |
This content contains pertinent spoilers.
The Angry Mother: Helen, Ben, Wendy, Erin, Marty
Ben deciding to let loose on Erin about what Helen does, that marked him for death. You know it, I know it, and when Marty and Wendy hear about it, alongside Ruth, they know it too. But, if you talk to Helen, it isn’t about telling Erin as much as it is being 100% sure he will tell more people. Plus, in organized crime, despite the violence and things people do with and for money, they are conservative, not progressive. So forgiveness due to mental illness and things of that nature, Helen gives no f***s.
Thus, Ben is supposed to lay low at Darlene’s, where he has some chance to be safe. But he decides to leave, and so Marty and Wendy have to finagle a way to get him away from Helen’s crosshairs.
A Losing Battle: Helen, Nelson, Wendy, Ben, Marty, Agent Miller
Using Sam, Marty finds a way to keep Agent Miller around, but he is by no means forgiven. If anything, his attempts to control where she goes and what she does, it only infuriates her more. But, with Ben on the run and Nelson like a hound dog after him, Agent Miller gets put on the back burner. Plus, Helen is getting called by Ben, she is at Wendy and Marty’s house, since hers is now far too lonely with Erin gone, and it is all just a hot mess.
And for a bit, it seemed Wendy, being the dutiful sister, she was going to keep putting up with this hot mess. However, each time Ben spoke to someone about what is happening, it made her question her decision. So, there comes a point where she just leaves Ben at a restaurant to die. Maybe with knowing Nelson was close behind or just thinking, if she left him in the middle of nowhere, he’d figure something out, and she could genuinely say she doesn’t know where he is?
Either way, it seems Wendy is about to lose a brother, and that loss might bring her and Marty closer together.
What Must Also Be Noted
- Gas pump: Where Ben buys yet another phone, and this forces Wendy to realize he just refuses to get it
- Cell phone: When Ben called Helen
- Cadillac Car key: Nelson’s car
- Hair: It’s hard to say as no one had their hair in that specific style. Though, you could say it was Ben getting out of the ward, the cop who came to Wendy’s window, or Ruth (though the hair doesn’t match her curls).
On The Fence
Is It Terrible That Losing Ben Doesn’t Feel As Big As It Should?
Losing Ben doesn’t feel as big as it should. Yet, let’s take note, while mentioned in previous seasons, he has just arrived now. Also, in terms of Ruth, he didn’t establish himself, outside of Wendy’s viewpoint with her, nor did he really open up Ruth as a character. Rather, we got to see what she was like with a boyfriend, and avoided any and all conversation about past potential relationships and her feelings towards sex.
Which, I’ll give you, Ruth opening up to the point of talking about some crush she had or insecurities she deals with, doesn’t sound like Ruth at all. Yet, just throwing a man her way, and bolstering that man’s position by him being Wendy’s brother didn’t do much in the way of favors for Ben.
Think about it, he is so defined by others and has yet to really define himself. He is the crazy uncle, and he lives up to that by streaking in front of the family, and that manic scene he had to start the episode. And while we recognize it is important to show people with mental illnesses, warts and all, there is something about Ben that didn’t seem like an exploration of life with bipolar but using that to make him more interesting and create drama.
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