Friends With Benefits - Episode 1.01 - Pilot - Review

Well, first off, this isn’t my regular kind of show. I’m not a fan of half hour comedies generally, but when I found out that Ryan Hansen and Danneel Harris Ackles were starring in this one, I had to give it a try. Hansen is probably best known for his portrayal of Dick Casablancas on Veronica Mars. Ackles is probably best known for her portrayal of recurring character Rachel Gatina on One Tree Hill. The show centers around a few late twenty-something friends trying to navigate their way through the tough and sometimes downright impossible dating scene. Things don’t seem to be going well, and one day a few weeks before, two of them, Sara, played by Ackles, and Ben, played by Hansen, wind up hooking up. And they just keep on going with that…friends only, but hooking up…hence friends with benefits.

All in all, I have to say that I found both Sara and Ben very likable as characters. Sara has recently graduated from medical school and is now a doctor. She is ready for the house in suburbia with the white picket fence, and joint bank accounts. Because of this, she seems to not be very choosy about men, and has lots of dates that unfortunately don’t go anywhere. Honestly, rightfully so, because she really has gone out with some scary individuals…Ben has never had a serious girlfriend, and in fact his family all seems to think he was going to “die alone”. Ben always seems to find something wrong with everyone. Where Sara needs to learn to be a bit choosy, Ben needs to learn how to be a lot less choosy.

The situations are great, and the craziness literally had me laughing out loud. It was funny that right in the beginning as Ben and Sara finish having sex, they start talking about the date Sara had earlier in the evening that ended with her paying. The bit about Ben getting into Sara’s jeans was hysterical. In fact, I greatly appreciated both Ackles’s and Hansen’s comedic timing throughout the entire episode. I could definitely relate to Sara’s awkwardness!

The other characters, Riley, the female bartender morally casual friend was a very cool character, as is their friend Aaron, who is attempting to have a meaningful relationship with someone who turns out is not so interested in that….

The one thing that shocked me regarding the set up is just how much Sara seems to want a relationship. She is definitely not the ideal person to have a “friend with benefits” considering she wants the whole package. At the end of the pilot Sara and Ben consider whether their “benefits” friendship is hindering their ability to find actual partners. It just seems that with that already established, I wonder where the show could have gone if it had survived the NBC axings and was going to have another season. In the episode, Sara mentions that she tried relationships a couple times in med school and it just didn’t work out. I understand that completely—although I didn’t go to med school, I did go to law school and while working full time, so I know what it is like to not have the time to put into a relationship as well. To me, the time IN school would have been the ideal time to start up this kind of arrangement…but the arrangement doesn’t start for Sara and Ben until AFTER school. I am sure they will work the horrible timing of the relationship into the comedy!

I must say that I like that NBC has decided to show episodes back to back, giving it a full hour feel. This review was just on the first ep though, I will write up a separate one for the second ep! Let me know what you think of the show and if you will be tuning in this Friday!