Baby Daddy - It Takes a Village Idiot - Review: “Hell’s Kitchen”

Welcome back to another review of ABC Family's Baby Daddy! I feel like this is an episode I've been waiting years to see, so let's get right into it!

The Babysitter’s Club

The episode opens with Riley, Danny, Tucker, and Bonnie waiting at the apartment for Ben to get home from his latest “emergency situation”. We find out that they had been recruited to take care of Emma yet again that night. They’ve had enough and they’re ready to call Ben out on it! They explain that they feel they've done more than Ben has in the past two years to raise Emma, and they aren’t going to take it anymore. Basically, Ben’s whole support system abandons him and I can’t say I really blame them. Right away I could tell this was going to be a fun episode! The past few years have seen Ben get a LOT of help from his friends and family and now we finally get to see him try to step up without them! While Ben is mostly capable of taking care of himself and Emma, it’s funny to see him desperately trying to get everything together in the morning or coordinate a first date with his latest love interest.

Let’s Play a Love Game

This episode also revisits Danny and Riley’s precarious friendship situation. Riley feels that Danny has been treating her differently since everything went down between them and she's searching for a way to get their relationship back to what it used to be. Tucker gives her the idea to just make up a new boyfriend so that her and Danny are "even", both with new love interests, and able to move on. Riley agrees that the problem may just be that Danny feels awkward because he’s dating someone and she isn't, so she creates her new boyfriend "Justin", a fancy doctor. Instead of playing it cool, she blurts out that she has a new boyfriend, which hugely backfires on her when Danny pushes to meet him and wants all of them to hang out/double date. You know, in the beginning I felt like Riley was genuinely doing this to smooth things over with her and Danny but the longer it went on the more I began to suspect that it was mostly about making Danny jealous. Which I’m totally fine with, I just want her to admit it and for it to have more of an effect on him! Because I love jealous Danny and it could be the push he needs to finally make his move! We also find out that Tucker has gotten this "fake boyfriend" idea from his own life. We finally know what happened to Christine and I am not happy. Supposedly, they talked for a couple weeks and then she stopped calling him. He’s been pretending to date her to avoid the questions and having to admit they broke up until he’s ready and can do it on his own terms. At this point in the episode, I’m so disappointed. I really wanted Christine to be more than just a random character that disappears as fast as she arrived and is casually explained away. [Spoiler alert - Obviously, my opinion changed by the end of the episode!]

Meanwhile, Ben is struggling with balancing his personal life and taking care of Emma full-time by himself. He’s exhausted and even falls asleep on his bed with Emma - mid-date! (Side-note: Is Emma not the cutest baby you’ve ever seen?? Her little “Hi!” and wave when Marisa walks in? Too cute!). Realizing he can’t have a proper date with Emma around, Ben calls in a new babysitter to watch her for the night. He shuts the door in her face when he realizes her almost 10 years of experience is basically just her experience being alive - she’s only nine years old! This forces Ben to take Emma with him on the date, however, he manages to find a babysitter very last minute - at the coat check!

Kitchen Nightmares

While everything else has been happening, Bonnie and Danny have been keeping themselves busy with a celebrity cooking class led by one of Bonnie’s favorite chefs, Chef Tommy. He turns out to be a real jerk though. He doesn’t take any woman seriously and is rather insulting. Bonnie is not having any of this, so when the time comes for Chef Tommy to pick the best chef and the person who will assist him in the kitchen for that night’s dinner service, Bonnie switches out her and Danny’s soup. When Chef Tommy tastes Danny’s soup he says it's the best he’s ever had, which Bonnie proudly exclaims is actually her soup. Unfortunately, she can’t prove this and Danny is chosen instead.

Check, please!

This brings us to the awkward “family” dinner. Danny has scored a table at Chef Tommy's restaurant for everyone and it seems like they all have their own drama that they’re bringing along. Tucker and Riley are trapped in their lies over Justin and Christine, both of which are expected to be coming along for dinner but obviously will not be. In another weird, twist of fate (can anyone deny Christine and Tucker are meant to be??) Christine is actually sitting a few seats away with her brother. Tucker assumes the worst before she can explain that she actually lost her phone and was out of town at her grandma’s funeral…oops! Tucker is left broken-hearted, but something tells me that won’t be the last we see of her. Riley, in a desperate attempt to keep the “fake” part of her fake boyfriend under wraps, grabs the first guy she sees and kisses him, causing a big commotion when the coat check girl slaps him for kissing Riley right after they had been making out. Riley has to play the jilted lover or have her lies unravel, so she slaps him too and I have to say it was definitely one of the best moments of the night! Back in the kitchen, everything is falling apart - literally. Danny has dropped all of Chef Tommy's prepared chicken and Tommy is about to call it a night, when Bonnie suggests they use her’s, which she brought along earlier to prove a point. She ends up taking control, saving the day, and showing everyone who’s boss.

The episode ends with Ben realizing it really does take a village and he needs help. It would be impossible to raise Emma without his amazing family and friends, and he just needs to be a bit more appreciative of how much they really do for him. Ben is maturing and it’s really great to see! Everyone is, of course, willing to continue helping out, as they swarm around Emma fighting for who gets to hold her first and saying how much they missed her.

There was a lot that I really loved about this episode. Ben was finally called out for relying so much on everyone else and the other characters were given the opportunity to be appreciated for how much of a vital role they play in this story and Emma’s life. I’m also so happy Christine came back at the end! As you could see, I was very worried they were just going to write her off without another mention. Now I’m much more confident we’ll be seeing more of her this season!

Something I was surprised by last night, was the slightly edgier humor. Usually the jokes on this show are very PC and family friendly but I thought they really pushed the envelope last night (for “Baby Daddy” standards). Some of Chef Tommy’s jokes about housewives, and women, etc. were a bit risky. I think they managed to walk that fine line pretty well though, due in large part to the amazingness that was Bonnie Wheeler. Seriously, look at Bonnie slaying, being the feminist icon that we needed! Never have I had as much respect for her as I’ve had in this episode. With these edgier jokes there are bound to be a few misses and there definitely were. There was nothing too terrible but sometimes they maybe got a bit too ambitious. The line, “my girlfriend’s a model, she’s not really into food,” I thought was getting kind of borderline inappropriate for the network and audience but I guess I’m just being nit-picky. Overall, I thought it was a great episode! The characters and their stories were all intertwined flawlessly and it was filled with the hilarious antics we’ve come to expect from this fantastic show and characters. Like last week, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from last night’s episode. Feel free to add your own favorite line or scene in the comments below!

“Thanks for helping out?! That’s what you say when somebody takes you to the airport, not raises your child for you.” - Tucker

“I can take care of my own kid…wait where is she?” - Ben

“Remember when you said you weren’t going to interfere with my love life?” - Danny
“No, that doesn't sound like me at all.” - Riley

“Danny is completely avoiding me! Do you think that he’s acting weird because I told him that I had feelings for him?” - Riley
“No, you know, it’s probably that you knew he liked you and didn't say anything and then started dating a parade of other guys, but, you know, I'm just guessing.” - Tucker

“My coach always says I do better when I don't think for myself.” - Danny

“Honey, the only thing you have that I don’t is what’s in your pants.” - Bonnie
“I didn't know you saw me take this…” - Danny

“A housewife? You mean a woman who devotes her life to her family, her kids, her home, and putting a meal on the table three times a day, 365 days a year? - Bonnie

“Well, I hope I didn’t cook with too much estrogen.” -Bonnie
“Oh, crap! I didn't put any of that in mine! - Danny

“How much is it to check a baby?” - Ben

“You brought your kid?” - Marisa
“Yeah, she really wanted to come tonight. She’s kind of a foodie.” - Ben

What did you think of last nights episode? Did Ben get what he deserved or was everyone too hard on him? Do you think Tucker and Christine will get back together? Is Danny going to ever allow himself to open up to Riley again? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading and see you next week!

About the Author - Kate Sidwell

Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!

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