I’ll start off with apologizing about the lateness of my reviews! I will be getting in reviews of all the episodes. I know the show has finished its run with last Friday, and I would like to get these done before Ringer and Supernatural start! It all started with me being a bit behind, and then I went on vacation and fell way behind! I actually saw this particular episode at a very fitting time, because this episode talks about all kinds of memories, good and bad (and some not real), and I was really making some great memories at the time at the Supernatural Vancouver Convention! So, without further ado…
“The Benefit of Forgetting” starts with Ben out walking outside the apartment. He sees on the sidewalk a woman he appears to know and tries to get her attention. As soon as she sees him, she starts running off in the other direction, eventually fleeing in a taxi. Knowing the way Ben is, this didn’t seem too weird to me really, but apparently Ben actually didn’t find anything wrong with this girl! She almost holds his relationship record! One day, she just stopped returning his calls! He decides to confront her, and needs Sarah’s help. This episode also features Fitz’s issues with his mom’s relationship status…and Riley’s newest boyfriend...
Kudos to the writing crew for finding new ways of bringing in simpler, common ideas! By this, I am talking about Fitz’s mom. Fitz grew up with two moms. Now, he is shocked to find out that his mom is now dating a man! Have you ever noticed that when you are dealing with your parents, you seem to revert back to childhood again, and act the way you did say maybe twenty years ago? I know I feel that way sometimes…and that is definitely what is going on with Fitz. We aren’t used to seeing him act all juvenile and territorial. He is used to being the only man in his mom’s life and now she has found another. It is funny juxtaposed next to the little snippets of the horror that was Aaron’s family growing up.
The most alarming thing I have seen in a while, and didn’t know it even was a potential fetish, was Riley’s boyfriend Derek! I wish I was as balanced as Riley seems sometimes, when she says that she doesn’t want to miss out on a great guy just because he has a little kink…But it turns out that weird side is way weirder than even Riley can handle…Derek has a fetish I didn’t even imagine existed in my weirdest dreams…
And of course that is in contrast to Ben, who we know from earlier episodes really doesn’t put up with much of anything--as Sarah says, Ben’s fear of commitment…[and] intimacy issues disguised as pickiness. In this episode, we see more of Ben being a jerk! Here he is lying to the poor girl with no memory about what their dates were like! Well, it of course goes badly in the end for him when he finds out that she has a fiancé who is none too pleased that Ben was taking advantage of her in his absence.
There wasn’t a lot about Sarah in this episode, except that she used up all her e-wishes basically being a “stalker”! But another thing that really sticks out in these episodes is that even though the everyone in the group are friends, Ben and Sarah really do seem like a unit. Ben calls Sarah for the “spying” labeled as “stakeout” of Megan on the jogging trail. He also calls her about how his dates are going with Megan! Again, it seems odd that they are only “friends with benefits” because they do seem well suited to each other…in my opinion at least!
The facial expressions and little gestures continue to be a real comedic addition. When Aaron was ranking on Derek being a nerd for being on LinkedIn, the look that Ben gives shows seemed to say that he too was on LinkedIn and didn’t want to admit it! The more episodes of this show, the more I remember why I am not really a fan of half hour shows…it is difficult to develop ideas completely in such an abridged medium...but it does keep the show on the lighter side so we don’t get too bogged down by their troubles…like they are trying not to allow themselves to get bogged down by their issues…
