I’ve been looking forward to this episode for weeks. As soon as I read the description, I knew it would just be one of those great, classic episodes of Baby Daddy. There was romance, there were laughs, there was something for everybody!
It’s poker night this week and the episode opens with our boys, Tucker, Ben, and Danny reminiscing about their friend, Dave, around the poker table. With the way they’re talking, you'd think he died - but no, he’s just getting married! This leaves one vacant spot at the table and Bonnie has got her eyes on it! They refuse to let her join because I don’t know…I guess because she’s Bonnie?
The next morning, Ben runs into Riley and Ross leaving her apartment. Ben awkwardly calls Ross, Mr. Perrin, and it’s hilarious! But really, he does look old enough to be her father and I’m all for getting Ross out of the way - by any means necessary (as long as Ben only succeeds in getting rid of him, not winning Riley over)! Ben spills the beans about their traditional family game night plans and invites Ross to come along. Riley is not happy about this because she’s worried hanging out with everyone will cause him to act less like his mature self and more like an immature young guy - so basically Ben, Tucker, and Danny. This gives Ben, who is totally not over her, an idea. If Ben gets Ross to act like enough of an immature idiot, she’ll dump him for being too much like how Ben used to act. Things end up going exactly as Riley feared and before she knows it, Ross is participating in poker night. She confronts the guys about how they’re stealing Ross and turning him into one of them and she calls a Wheeler War, which is apparently some huge deal and their way of settling any family disputes. As we see later, Wheeler Wars look like so much fun! I wish my family settled things that way…
Riley and Ben are, of course, playing for Ross, but he can’t know that so the cover is Bonnie playing for her right to join poker night. If Riley wins, she gets Ross and if Ben wins, he gets him. Riley is on the opposite team so she asks Ross to throw the first round so her team can win, therefore getting her one step closer to taking back Ross. However, meanwhile, on the other side of things, Ben is scheming by asking Danny, whose on Riley’s team, to do the same thing. This way Ben would win, allowing him to continue his master plan of getting Riley to dump Ross because of immature behavior. Complicated enough for you?? This first event is an ordeal because Danny and Ross are both trying to lose. Soon after, Ben see’s how much this event means to Riley and how competitive she gets and he changes strategy. Already sensing that Ross is a bit freaked out by her intensity, Ben decides to try to get Riley as competitive as possible. He must bring back an old traditional event - “The Great Skate”. This event turns Riley into the Hulk of competitiveness - literally and figuratively (supposedly she flipped over a Volkswagen last time they played lol!).
Riley is dreading this because she knows how she gets and doesn't want to scare off Ross. Tucker is going against her and as a two-time All-State champion roller dancer, he’s skating to win. However, Riley wins, and as promised she goes crazy both during and after the victory. I don’t know what I was expecting but this was better than anything I had envisioned. It was by far one of the funniest moments of this show in a while! With that win, Riley, Danny, and Bonnie win the Wheeler War, meaning Riley gets to take back Ross, Bonnie gets her spot at the poker table, and Tucker gets a trip to the hospital!
This episode was highly focused on Ben and his inability to get over Riley. The love triangle is blatantly explored, which is interesting because it made me realize they’ve really only been looking at each relationship separately recently. It’s always been a focus on Danny/Riley or Ben/Riley but very little crossover - until tonight. Ben still doesn’t know the extent of the situation with Danny and Riley, and the way he talks about it seems like he’s either the most insensitive person in the world or he really is clueless about even the basics of the situation. I was under the impression that he knew something was going on there, whether it was reciprocated feelings or not. Either way, I actually really liked the fact that Ben and Danny were talking about Riley. Even though they weren’t totally open about things (or at least Danny wasn’t), it got them on the same page and put everything out in the open. Plus, it provided some hilarious moments of Danny breaking glasses and spilling things at the mention of him and Riley. Clearly he’s still in love with her!
As much as I hate the never-ending Ben/Riley storyline, I can live with it as long as Danny and Riley make some progress too. This episode was full of little Danny and Riley moments that had me going crazy and smiling from ear to ear. Even though it may seem like they didn’t make much progress, at least they discussed things more than they have so far and we have confirmation that after weeks of indifference from Danny, he does still care! His feelings are still there! It seems like any day now they might be ready to actually talk about what happened and where they stand and I can’t wait!
Honestly, the episode started out weak and then really hit it’s stride towards the middle. It’s probably one of my favorites of the season so far. I always laugh during Baby Daddy but it’s been a while since I had a really good laugh - a hard-to-breathe, can’t stop kind of laugh, and I got that with this episode. Not only that, but I love these episodes where everyone is all together. This cast has such great chemistry, I always think it’s a shame to waste it on totally separate storylines so I was happy to see everyone participating together. As always, here are some of my favorite quotes from “Wheeler War”. Feel free to add yours in the comments as well!
“Oh my God! My bad! I just looked up and I thought I saw your dad for a minute.” - Ben
“What better way to get rid of somebody than to make them more like me?!” - Ben
“He’s a lot better than the last guy you dated.” - Bonnie
“That was me, Mom.” - Ben
“Again, I really like Ross.” - Bonnie
“I only lost once. God, I really only wanted one kid.” - Bonnie
“I actually wanted a little sister. We kinda both lost that year.” - Danny
“So, it looks like it’s Team Bucker-Ross vs. Team Bo-Riny.” - Ben
“Wait, are we gonna get t-shirts with that name on it? Because I won’t wear that.” - Tucker
“What if she wants to be with someone else? What if someone else wants to be with her?” - Danny
“Oh, never mind me, you know. I’ll just heal out here!” - Tucker
“What the hell? You were supposed to throw the game!” - Ben
“I tried! I stopped to tie my shoes twice.” - Danny
“Don’t you want to win Riley’s heart fair and square? I know I do - would.” - Danny
“Well, I’m just glad I'm not in the middle of this.” - Ross
“Sorry, I get a little carried away sometimes.” - Riley
“If that was a little, I’d hate to see a lot.” - Ross
“I even have a signature move named after me. The ‘Tuck and Duck’” - Tucker
“I was actually only two-time All-State. I don’t know why I lied.” - Tucker
“Oh Honey, you look so cute!” - Ross
“Hit the deck or die, boss man!” - Riley
What did you think of this week’s episode? Would you want to participate in a Wheeler War? Which characters would you pick to be on your team? 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!
