Episode Report Card Cate: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Pathetic
By Cate | Season 6 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.13.2002
Ruthie finally decides to go downstairs and check out Ben for herself. Of course, it's possible that she just couldn't take Ronald's company anymore and had to flee her bedroom. She's amply rewarded for the effort of walking down the stairs when she gets to feast on Ben's hunky good looks. She even walks around him to check out his ass. I kid you not. Ruthie's certainly not shy about voicing her thoughts either, as she asks Ben if he's ever been on a fireman's calendar. He says Mary's looking for the keys to her car, since she's going to take him for a drive. "Car"? What car? Don't tell me she still has that expensive sports car she tried to buy last year. If so, how does she make the payments on it? You know, seeing as how she's made no effort even to look for a job. Ruthie leaves before she can "fall in love" with Ben. I guess the director told the guy who plays Ben to act like he thinks this is sweet and cute, rather than creepy and off-putting.
Mary is searching for the car keys. Ruthie comes in and says something about Lucy having taken the car "to pick up guys." That's too depressing to think about, so I'm going to pretend I never heard it. Ruthie moves on to extol Ben's virtues and give Mary some un-asked-for advice about Wilson: "Forget that you ever got engaged. Forget that you never gave him his ring back. Forget that he moved away without telling you where he was going. And forget about finding him." Of course, Ben walks in and catches the latter half of this speech. I can't say I give a shit about Ben and his happiness, but I am happy to see Mary get busted like that. Ben asks to talk to her on the back porch.
Outside, Ben reaches over toward Mary and pulls out the necklace she's been hiding under her shirt. It turns out to be the engagement ring Wilson gave her. ["How Carrie Bradshaw of her." -- Sars] He says, "I thought so. I noticed it at dinner." I assume he means he saw the outline of the ring through her shirt, which means he probably spent most of dinner checking out her rack. Mary employs her trademark phrase: "Let me explain." He's not overly interested in hearing her explanations, though. He says he came to Glenoak to see if she could ever be a part of his life, adding that she's "really beautiful." Note that he doesn't have anything to say about her personality or her conversational skills. She begs him for another chance. He just calls her "beautiful" once more and then leaves. "Whew! That sure was a close call," he must be thinking. Mary stares after him and takes off her ring necklace. Lucy arrives and insultingly half-apologizes for borrowing Mary's car without asking. Mary does something kind, for a change, as she tries to warn Lucy about Ronald by saying, "You might want to take that ring off before you go inside." Lucy insists, "I'm never taking off this ring," as she stomps toward the house.