Thursday and Friday gave us a few Ben scenes after our Tuesday Callum scenes – and I have quite enjoyed seeing them interact with different people this week – even if one of those people was Peter! Maybe it’s the result of only having one director for the week, with a bit more opportunity to mix.
Screencaps for the 5th can be found here and for the 6th here.
Before we get onto the Peter and Ben scene, I have to mention a scene earlier on in this episode where Mick reveals how he found out Nancy and Frankie spent the night in a police cell – because Ben had told Kim, who told him. I find the idea of Ben gossiping to Kim really amusing. There’s no way Callum wasn’t going to inform Ben that he had Frankie in a cell refusing to leave even though they had nothing on her – and the story must have amused Ben too for him to then tell Kim of all people about it, who would then go on to tell Mick.
Anyway, cut to the cafe, where Ben has just entered, speaking to Lola on the phone (that implant bluetooth feature definitely looks like a permanent staple, which is great!) Sounds like Ben has been asked to take Lexi to her swimming lesson and Lola is having a go at him because he’s refusing to, which Ben thinks is unfair considering she’s the one changing the plans. He tries to put his foot down, but it seems that Lola then hangs up on him. Peter, who’s been eavesdropping from his seat the whole time, jokingly asks if there’s trouble in paradise – which is exactly the kind of random heteronormative nonsense that’s to be expected of him.
Ben knows it too, and at first he plans on just throwing him a withering look and then letting the matter drop, but he suddenly gets an idea just as Peter is leaving, so he stops him (before his idea is even fully formed). He feigns nonchalance as he asks if Peter has seen much of Lola recently; and the answer is no, but why does Ben want to know?
Ben shrugs and says he thought they were mates – and what I really love about this scene is the way Ben keeps rubbing his nose, a classic tell tale sign that someone is lying. Whether that’s because Max just happened to have an itchy nose, or whether he did it on purpose because as an actor he knows it conveys dishonesty (and if you watched his session with iampro you’d know that’s exactly the kind of thing he would consider), it really works for the scene. Because Ben knows perfectly well that Peter and Lola are not mates, but he’s trying to inflate the relationship to Peter so Peter then feels compelled to try and speak to her, on the off chance that having more than one person on her case will mean Lola will back down, I’m guessing.
He goes on to ask whether Peter even cares that Lola’s running herself ragged around the hospital every day when Isaac won’t even see her. Honestly? He probably doesn’t – so he turns it around on Ben and asks him why he’s so bothered. Ben dismisses the idea that he is – saying if she wants to waste her time chasing after a guy who’s dumped her, that’s on her. But, he goes on, if it’s affecting his Lexi then it’s a different story. See, I think it started off as being about Lola and how Ben thinks she’s hanging onto a relationship that’s ended and causing herself more pain; but he can’t just admit defeat against her stubbornness because Lexi’s now starting to miss out because of it. Although, as we see later, it does circle back to Lola as well.
Still, this new angle Ben is going for with Peter is trying to squeeze some empathy out of him, which is apparently like trying to get blood out of a stone. Still, Ben tries by reminding Peter that he’s a dad, so he should get it. And Peter straightens himself up and schools his face into serious mode as he nods and agrees; yes, he totally gets it. He doesn’t sound very convincing, but clearly he wants Ben to think he gets it in any case.
Then Ben moves onto trying to gently suggest Peter talk with Lola (accompanied by another little nose rub). He’s immediately met with protest as Peter laughs at the mere thought of it, even though Ben tries boosting his ego by insisting he’d be talking sense. Peter is not convinced at all that Lola is going to listen to him – but Ben recalls that he’s been quite persuasive with Lola in the past; presumably referring to their hook up last year, which he did not take well at the time. The laugh Ben gives out feels completely passive aggressive to me; like he’s able to convey his disdain under the guise of bigging Peter up and trying to build a little rapport so that he’ll listen to Ben.
He goes on to tell Peter that Lola respects him, more than she respects Ben, especially when Ben’s wading in with his size tens – a reference to big feet, as obviously the bigger the feet, the bigger the mess one makes when they are doing said wading. Ben can barely conceal his chuckles during this line, as he knows Lola respecting Peter is complete rubbish and he’s amusing himself that he’s laying it on so thick. But then he remembers that he’s trying to get Peter to take him seriously and he schools his face as he waits for Peter to respond.
And like magic, Peter starts to wonder if maybe Ben is right, going on to say with a smug grin that Lola probably will listen to him – with a little nod of encouragement from Ben who’s trying to fight his smile. His second little nod where he’s scrunching up his face in a patronising way got a real chuckle out of me – it’s dripping with mockery. But Peter is preoccupied with his new mission, which is to talk to Lola, and informs Ben that he’s on it, making a quick exit.
It’s mission accomplished, and Ben’s expression after he leaves is just perfect – the frozen smile, the little head shake, the eyebrow raise – like he can’t believe that just worked, that it was almost too easy. He obviously feels there’s no point in him trying to talk to Lola again, so he saw the opportunity to manipulate Peter into trying instead and took it.
Friday continues the same day as Thursday, with Lexi and Ben out in the Square, returning from the swimming lesson. Looks like he had no choice but to take her after all. Lexi runs ahead of Ben, turning back to tease him about being a slowcoach – which would have been enough of a jibe to just leave there. But then Lexi goes on to comment that Ben needs to go on a diet. Which, although there’s lack of malice on Lexi’s part obviously, contributes to what is now a definite pattern of comments related to Ben’s weight. I actually think the fact that it’s Lexi makes it worse – they say a child speaks their mind, so to put those words in Lexi’s mouth, without malice being the motivation, brings with it an extra sting. And for what? When the comments were happening around the time of Callum’s PTSD flare-up, I figured they were there to contribute to Ben’s low self esteem, in thinking Callum had gone off him. But it turns out they never went anywhere with that, and now this comment has popped up when Ballum are in a decent place with each other. So it makes you wonder why they’ve done it – particularly whilst they’re doing a story elsewhere about the dangers of diet pills and obsessing over looks because of comments others have made. It’s always very sketchy territory when a character’s appearance is commented on, because there’s an actor behind it, with the same body. So if they’re not doing this for a commentary on how these comments are wrong and damaging, then it’s several writers thinking it’s appropriate to insert these kinds of insidious comments in the scripts for no other reason than to amuse themselves, and not realising that it contributes to people thinking it’s okay to say similar things to (and about) real people – which, I hate to say it, actually has been happening. And that is something that doesn’t quite bear thinking about.
Ben’s mock outrage at the comment is cut short by Lola’s arrival, as she approaches to express her regret at missing Lexi’s swimming session. Lexi shrugs and tells her it’s okay as Ben filmed it. Ben shares that she was the fastest in the class, leaving the boys in the shallow end, and Lola conveys her delight to Lexi, ensuring she knows that her mum is impressed. Lola promises to be there in person next time, and then Ben sends Lexi on so he can talk to Lola without her hearing.
He turns to her and asks if he saw him – ‘him’ being Isaac of course. I think he knows the answer but wants Lola to say it, that she missed Lexi’s lesson only to not be allowed in to visit once more. I think it just frustrates him. When she tells him it’s none of his business, he responds that it is if it’s affecting Lexi. And I think it’s more that he’s becoming worried that this will continue, as Isaac not seeing her hasn’t deterred Lola and although Lexi doesn’t seem too affected by it now, she might if it goes on.
Ben tries to break through that stubbornness with a comment about how Lola’s missing Lexi growing up, something that he must have known would get Lola’s back up. It did of course, and I’m glad Lola clapped back to point out the hypocrisy. Only I think Ben’s all too aware of his own absence in Lexi’s life, which I’m sure he regrets – and he doesn’t want Lola to have those same regrets. As I said earlier, I think this does circle back to Lola, and Ben being concerned for her just as much as for Lexi – but Lexi gives him the leverage he hopes is enough to get through to Lola, as I think he worries that Lola is prolonging the heartache by refusing to accept that Isaac doesn’t want to see her.
He tells Lola that looking at a couple of pictures on a phone isn’t being there for her, and she should remember that. There’s certainly a bit of tough love going on here, as he doesn’t think what’s happening now is good for Lexi or Lola. And although I am glad he hasn’t expressed the same bigoted views as his dad has regarding Isaac, the truth is that Ben has no reason to care about him. Which is just who Ben is – loyal and protective of his family and an asshole to everyone else. He heard Isaac dumped Lola and has taken that decision at face value, and he sees no reason why Lola should still be hanging around him, especially if it’s causing her stress.
Later on, Ben’s in the Vic having a pint by himself when his attention is drawn to Mick and Frankie, who’s assuring her dad that she hasn’t had a row with Nancy, she’s just with a friend (also, Frankie going to Manchester? Hope she’s not away for long!)
However, Ben pipes up to say that he just saw Nancy talking to Zack – I guess he was possibly lurking in the Albert during that earlier scene with them, or perhaps walked past the window.
Frankie furiously gestures at Ben to stop talking – she brought Nancy and Zack together because of the way Nancy talked about him in Tuesday’s episode, but she doesn’t want Mick to know about it – he’s just a bit averse to the idea as he knows about his role in the car hitting Nancy. When Ben clocks Frankie, he realises he’s put his foot in it and tries to rescue it by clarifying that it looked like they were arguing – not very convincingly, I must say.
When Mick starts to get angry at the thought of Zack sniffing around Nancy (especially after he warned him off), Frankie tries to suggest that maybe Nancy was having a go at him, because she can’t stand him. Ben follows her lead and backs her up, insisting that Nancy did indeed look proper angry, to the point where he fears Zack won’t have an undercarriage left because Nancy will have ripped it off; perhaps just slightly overselling it. But it appeases Mick to think Nancy’s been giving Zack what he deserves, and he walks off, leaving Frankie to wince at Ben. And no wonder because Ben is glaring at her and shaking his head, thumping his pint down to hiss at her that she’s the worst liar ever. Which isn’t exactly true – he’s married to the worst liar ever. Still, I guess that makes him qualified to point them out. Frankie just seems relieved to have avoided a crisis and grins in response.
Ben then gathers that because Frankie’s concealing Nancy and Zack talking to each other from Mick, who clearly doesn’t approve, it means she’s been playing Cupid (with a nice little sign to go with it). He warns her to be careful and makes a reference to Zack’s dad – who is of course Gavin – and suggests there’ll be trouble if he’s anything like him. Sounds to me like he hasn’t properly met Zack, despite knowing about him. Maybe we’ll still get a scene between them at some point where they discuss being brought up by Gavin and the pain he caused. At least this line from Ben acknowledges that potential connection. And it also implies that Frankie knows about Gavin too, if not from Ben then from Zack. She knows enough to insist that Zack is not like his dad.
But even if he’s not, as Ben points out, there is still the issue of Mick’s hostility towards Zack, and if Frankie’s setting Nancy up with someone that Mick is so strongly against, it’s not going to end well. And although Ben doesn’t know the reason that Mick dislikes Zack so much, Frankie does. And it gives her a bit of food for thought; she thinks she’s doing the right thing for her sister but the hit and run thing is yet to come out – and Frankie is new here, she doesn’t realise that these things always come out in the end.
So there you have it. Bit of mixed bag this week, that’s for sure.
Jenn's Ballum Blog 