Hey guys! How sweet were last night’s scenes? Just pure sugar, Callum all stressed about the big wedding he’d planned going to pot, and Ben just sorting things out and it turning out that all Callum needs is Ben standing in front of him, marrying him. My heart.
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
As Ben and Phil are watching Bargain Hunt (which I love – so relatable and oddly in character), Callum bursts in, diva mode activated as he stands in front of the TV, waving his arm about in frustration as he reveals that the wedding venue have called to say they’ve gone bust, and because of that the whole thing is cancelled. He is very distressed, and as Ben moves hilariously slowly to sit forward and reassure, Phil gets there first, suggesting they take it as a sign that weddings are nothing but hassle. Not really the sort of thing Callum’s looking to hear. Phil goes on to insist he’d rather go twelve rounds with Mike Tyson than walk down another aisle. Alright Phil, just because your last four marriages failed. Callum’s incredulous at his attempt to make things better – the point is that Callum really really wants to marry Ben, and Phil implying they just bin the whole thing off because it’s hassle has Callum storming right back out the way he came in, unable to even respond to him. I think if he tried he’d have just ended up screaming if I’m honest. Also, major kudos to my friend Erin for spotting that as Callum storms out, someone on the TV is saying ‘which really upset the Queen’ at the exact same time. If that’s a coincidence I’ll eat my wedding hat.
Ben gives Phil a severely unimpressed look (which Phil is obviously oblivious to, turning the volume on the telly up), and he gets up to follow Callum into the kitchen, making a point of closing the livingroom door so it’s just them. He sees Callum is really stressed at the thought of things going wrong and is eager to make things better. He seeks to reassure, telling Callum it’s okay, but Callum’s thinking about all those plans they made just going down the drain. Stuff we were privy to – the guestlist, the seating plan, the caterers – all of it now pointless.
Ben sits down at the table (very clever camera tricks for this one – they look so close!) and tries to impart some optimism, telling Callum they’ll just find somewhere else. But Callum’s in deflated pessimist mode. He can’t see them getting married this year in a place like the one they’d booked, because of the ‘insane’ waiting lists. And he really wants to marry Ben this year, it’s adorable.
Ben jokes that he could send some of ‘the boys’ down to scare some people into cancelling, so they can take their slot – all it would take is one phone call. He’s joking in an attempt to make Callum smile, and Callum seems fully aware of that, as he huffs out a laugh, shaking his head fondly. If anyone was worried that Callum’s had doubts about Ben’s involvement in Kush’s death this whole time, I think that moment was quite reassuring as he didn’t seem to make any connection to it, even though the involvement if there was any would have been similar, ie making a phone call. Up until now, he’s taken Ben at his word and has a handle on what Ben would and wouldn’t do, because he understands and knows him so well – even amongst the suspicious circumstances surrounding Kush’s death which led to him initially asking Ben about it.
Anyway, Callum’s reaction to Ben suggesting he threaten some other couple into cancelling is one of ‘aww, you’re adorable’; he’s less worried about what Ben might do to secure the venue and more worried about the fact that even if he did, that doesn’t solve all their other problems, all the other aspects they’ll have to re-do. Groomzilla Callum is in full flow as he fires out these aspects for Ben to tackle – the guest list for starters. Ben shrugs that off, telling Callum there were a few dead names on there anyway – obviously meaning metaphorically, people they don’t need at the wedding, but it was also an interesting choice of words. One does wonder if it’s foreshadowing that someone on that list is doomed. We do know that there’s one person on that list whose days on the Square are numbered one way or the other…
Ben watches Callum with proper heart eyes as he continues to stress, pointing out that changing the guest list means changing the seating plan. I think Ben is just thinking about the fact that they’re talking about their wedding at all, and how lucky he is that he’s sitting there with his fiancé who’s stressing so much about the little things because he wants it to be perfect (as we’ve said before, so incredibly different to how he was in the run up to his wedding to Whitney). And Ben just wants Callum to be happy. So he tries to get Callum into the mindset that these things don’t matter – brushing off the seating plan as unimportant, the guests can sit where they want, it’s not a primary school.
The food is the next obstacle, and Ben reasons that they can get a deal from Kathy on some battered sausages – another little joke for Callum, which works as he gets another little laugh out of him. But he’s still distressed, and not convinced they can put things back on track. Ben can see that, and the jokes turn into gentle words of comfort; implores Callum to look at him, to breathe – that he’ll sort it. I’m very fond of his use of ‘Cal’ now, especially in this scene. He’s inviting Callum to trust him, leave things with him. And Callum does. With Ben looking at him with that besotted face and promising Callum he’ll be Ben’s husband by the end of the year, how can he not? The heart eyes at the end of these scene were too much. And this is our very first on screen reference to them being husbands too. Love to see it!
With the reference to being husbands by the end of the year, one could assume that the wedding they’d planned was for much later on – and they certainly weren’t anticipating for it to happen within the next month.
That seems to be the implication of our second scene. Ben is working on a car (how often do we see him doing that, actually working in the Arches?!) and Callum pulls up a little stool to sit just outside, leaning against the open car door like he belongs there. Ben’s obviously summoned him, as Callum asks what’s so urgent. He doesn’t seem so surprised to see Ben working so maybe he does work on cars occasionally.
Ben continues working (or maybe he’s just adjusting the rear view mirror and making it look like work) but he’s smiling now, excited but trying not to show it too much. He announces that he has made all of Callum’s dreams come true – addressing Callum by his full name to embellish his declaration. Callum’s very intrigued now, and Ben throws a little smirk at him before looking back to his work as he casually tells him he’s booked them the registry office after snapping up a cancellation. He jokes about Callum’s look of shock – a callback to the previous scene where he suggested scaring people into cancelling, telling Callum to put the face away because there was no intimidation needed. But Callum’s shock is that Ben managed to get them somewhere at all, and he can’t believe their luck. It’s so unbearably cute, him checking Ben is serious and exclaiming that it’s amazing, coming out as a laugh. He’s so happy. Maybe at this time of the year it’s a lot harder to get a slot at the registry office than Ben made it look back in January when he first suggested they nip down there to get married that very day. And any worries Callum had had about Ben’s reasons for wanting marriage were put to bed during their magical engagement episode, so hearing it’s in a registry office doesn’t faze him. I think he’s realised after everything he planned got cancelled, that the only thing that actually matters is that he gets to marry Ben.
Ben mentions that there is a tiny catch, and Callum prepares for the worst, rubbing his forehead as if to try and remove the frownlines because he’s already fried from the stress he’s endured today. The catch is that the slot is in two weeks time, and it’s a sign of how well Ben knows Callum too, because he could foresee Callum worrying about how that’s not enough time to sort out the reception as well (which, unlike the hotel, would have to be in a separate venue.) So he simply interrupts Callum’s little panic and assures him he’s thought of that too – and has managed to book them London’s premiere LGBTQ+ nightspot. (I love Ben adding the ‘Q+’ as an aside – a nice touch regarding community inclusivity!) As he continues to big up this nightspot as the place to be with gourmet food and great vibe, like all the colours of the rainbow, mixed with hipster, mixed with royal sophistication (quite a description), Callum goes from confused to amused as he realises where Ben is referring to – which is, of course, the Prince Albert. Having the reception there is a very good indication that we’ll actually see it – and if we see it, that means it’s going to be eventful.
I think there’s a fair bit of bravado at play here in this scene, with Ben treating the news like it’s no big deal, but also really excited that he’s sorted things so quickly and eager to see Callum’s reaction, but also a little worried that it’s not as perfect as Callum wants it to be. He acknowledges this at the very end, that it’s not everything Callum always wanted – and he looks a little fearful that it’s not good enough as a result. He needn’t worry though, as Callum admits to him that he’s been dreaming of marrying Ben, and when it comes down to it, the surrounding circumstances don’t matter to him. He wants to be Ben’s husband so much that he’d do it in the funeral parlour. I think he wanted the details of the wedding to reflect the big feelings he has about Ben – but what he feels about Ben is also instinctual and raw and something he never expected or prepared for, and what better way to celebrate that than a wedding in a registry office booked for two weeks time and a reception in the local gay bar owned by his mother in law? Seems pretty perfect to me. And Ben of course, plays down Callum’s soppy words by joking that it’s a good thing he mentioned the funeral parlour because that is their reserve option. But there’s no hiding those heart eyes, or his little ‘good’ that’s rough with emotion. It probably would be his second choice though. Imagine a funeral parlour wedding with Stuart officiating. Chaos.
Callum recognises all of Ben’s tells though, appreciates everything he’s done, and can’t wipe the smile off his face. Ben pulls that face he loves to pull, the little wincing face, as he seeks to confirm with Callum that they’re really doing this. Callum confirms – they are getting married. Ben’s little scream of fake (well, mostly fake) terror gets Callum laughing again, and Ben’s laughing too, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Miles away from that other iconic Arches scene in 2019, where Callum was trying to convince the both of them that him marrying Whitney was the most important thing. He wasn’t anywhere near as excited to be someone’s husband back then. That was duty, this is love.
We got the best of both worlds with this, you know. That big wedding Callum was meticulously planning isn’t happening – but we still got all those cute scenes of him planning it; the venue, the guestlist, the seating plan, the caterers. We didn’t have to get all that really, since it was all for nothing, and yet we got that screentime anyway. The whole thing’s got echoes of their engagement, where Ben was planning the perfect proposal, and in the end they made their own rules and did a spontaneous balcony joint proposal, and it was lovely and very them. I’m so excited for the next few weeks!
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