Another beloved Parks and Rec character. I like and am delighted by the majority of characters on the show, but I adore Leslie and Ben, both separately and together. In other words, yes, there will be a Relationship Spotlight post about these two soon. But for now, let’s just look at Ben (a few Ben-related spoilers.)
Ben doesn’t appear on the show until the very end of the second season, but he’s one of those character additions who fits in so seamlessly you forget he wasn’t a part of the series from the beginning. He (along with Chris) is dispatched from the state budget office when Pawnee is in a financial crisis. While Chris is the chipper good cop ready to approve everything, Ben is the spreadsheet junkie who makes the tough calls and the hard cuts. But that doesn’t mean Ben is the heartless villain Leslie imagines, a la Ebenezer Scrooge or Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life. Rather, he’s exceedingly practical and doesn’t mince words about it – when cities are bankrupt, hard decisions have to be made, and he’s prepared to do it.
And even if he’s not the relentless buzzkill that Leslie makes him out to be, it isn’t long before we start seeing more of him beyond the slightly-mercenary number-cruncher. He has a truly sensational backstory involving a shameful past as an 18-year-old mayor who inadvertently ran his hometown into the ground, and he’s been trying to make up for it ever since, taking an unglamorous but work-intensive job in government to hone his skills and regain his credibility in the hopes of being able to run for office again someday. He works all over the state, traveling from town to town to help insolvent cities get their budgets back in line, and he’s used to a transitory life, not getting attached to anyone he meets. But Parks and Rec is a show with an enormous heart, and it’s only a matter of time before Leslie and co. start to wear down Ben’s defenses.
The more we get to know Ben, the more I love him. He’s fantastically nerdy – the man named his calculator, bless him – and while he spends his early seasons on the show reminding characters like Tom that nerd culture is mainstream now, he doesn’t mess around. On a show full of larger-than-life characters, he frequently serves as the straight man/voice of reason, and that treats us to plenty of wonderful reaction shots. One of my favorite memories of Ben early in the series is when he discovers that a townsperson has handcuffed himself to a chair in Leslie’s office in protest of Pawnee not including the Twilight books in the town’s time capsule. Smacked in the face with this absurd situation, he simply deadpans, “What, again?”
He’s not a player like Tom or a “man’s man” like Ron, but Ben is very self-assured. He knows who he is, and he doesn’t mind. So he takes it when others tease him about being nerdy or liking calzones (Pawnee is relentlessly anti-calzone.) When he gets flustered or overwhelmed, he doesn’t play it off or pretend he’s more confident than he is. He openly admits to being afraid of cops, and roller skates are a turn-on for him. He rolls with the craziness of Pawnee and gets in gear with it, and he appreciates Leslie for who she is.
So
much to love. Ben is a character that could easily feel like a type – the
straight man, the nerd, the practical one – but even though we see a lot of
familiar elements in him, they come together in a way that feels really
specific. Also? Hilarious, delightful, and utterly endearing. Ben Wyatt for the
win!
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