‘Ben and Kate’ episode 6 review: One loony Halloween

So far this season, “Ben and Kate” has remained a solid comedy, even though it at times has not matched the greatness of its pilot. However, the show got an opportunity on Tuesday to air what may have been one of its strongest episodes, a tribute to Halloween that not only utilized the characters to their strengths, but gave all of them plenty to do.

Really, much of the joy in this show comes in how out-of-touch all of these characters are in the world around them. Kate has no idea how to date, Ben has no idea how to show empathy unless he puts himself almost literally into someone else’s shoes, and BJ needs little outside of being the poster child for immoral behavior. None of these characters are functional adults, so to see them confront all of these problems in the middle of a holiday celebration was fun.

The highlight of the whole episode was once again Tommy, Ben’s brilliant friend who tried to will himself into fun by eating some of BJ’s pot-laced candy, only to then be in enough of a loopy state to actually admit what his problem was: he was upset about not being listened to, and that Ben would take off for long periods of time and could back without a care for his life. The guy is funny, and you really do want to root for him to get together with Kate, whose depiction of being overly emotional as a single parent here was perfect.

We’ve heard many criticisms of this show regarding Ben, and to an extent they are right in that he can occasionally be a bit over-the-top. He was great this week, though, as he is always at his best whenever he has a level of childlike buffoonery around him. He’s convinced he is always right even when he rarely is, and the trouble he gets himself in as a result is endearing to watch.

“Ben and Kate” is still probably the funniest new TV show you are not watching, and it is one worth catching up on. We just wish that it came on at a time that was not against “The Voice,” “NCIS,” and the “Dancing with the Stars” results show so it had more of a chance to compete.