At school, Paxton bumps into his project which makes Ben call him a dumbass. Ben squares up to Paxton, who backs off. Ben’s day zooms by as he attends one class after the other; the only thing he eats is beef jerky. ..
Ben is struggling to keep up with his Latin classes. He’s been putting in long hours studying, but his locker is falling apart and his clothes are starting to wear out. One day, he bends down to pick up a book and feels a sharp pain in his abdomen. Mrs. Grubbs, the teacher, sees him and asks what he’s doing. Ben tells her that he’s taking 10 Latin classes this semester and that he needs to keep up if he wants to be a senior soon. Mrs. Grubbs tells Ben that if he doesn’t drop the classes himself, she will have to drop them for him. ..
After that, Ben spots Paxton and asks him to hand over his college essay which Paxton seems unhappy about. Ben overhears the conversation and seems worried. In class, Mr. Brighton assigns students the task of teaching the lessons to one another as an assignment, in light of his divorce.
Ben, Devi, and Trent team up for the project. Trent intentionally teams up with two of the smartest people in class in order to get an edge on the competition. Ben admits that he’s busy throughout the day and only has time to work on the group project between 1:15 and 2:00 am that night. ..
Ben is worried that if he does not come to Devi’s house after school, she’ll make Trent do his work. Ben agrees to make some modifications to his schedule. Suddenly, he feels the sharp pain in his stomach a second time.
Devi and Trent work on the project after class. Devi is frustrated with Ben because he is making her do too many extra classes. Trent jokes that Devi will never get into Princeton even with 11 ‘Easy A’ classes. Devi retaliates that it would be better than getting a bunch of B’s, something that Ben would be getting if he did not work smartly.
Just then, Devi’s mom walks in yelling at her for keeping the doors locked while she is with the boys. Devi reassures Nalini that Ben and Trent barely register as boys for her and that they were only working on a school project.
Nalini invites everyone to dinner, but Devi declines the offer. Rhyah and Nalini are setting up the table when Devi walks down with her friends. Nalini invites them all to dinner, but Ben states he has six hours of homework.
Ben wonders if Des is his friend Trent from when they were both drunk at a party. Trent remembers Des and asks him if he’s been in medical school. Des recalls that Trent’s party when he was drunk and tells him that he is not.
Ben plans on skipping homework in order to stay back and check what was going on between her and Des. At dinner, Devi subtly confronts Des for not texting her. Ben realizes that Des has left Devi hanging and he starts to pity her. Just then, Rhyah mentions that Des got into Stanford early. Ben is jealous again.
The next day, Ben asks Devi if she likes Des. Devi says she does, wondering why he left her hanging for so long. Ben tells her to stop trying so hard and ask him out if she likes him. In Calculus class, the professor asks them to turn in their essays but Ben does not have one. Turns out, last class when the professor was assigning an assignment, Ben was listening to an audiobook for Literature class. ..
Ben is worried about his grade when he leaves class. He experiences shooting pain in his abdomen and is about to collapse.
Paxton rushes Ben to the hospital after he finds him in the hallway. The doctor tells Ben that his pain is a result of impacted fecal matter in his colon, caused by stress and poor diet. ..
Ben is in surgery and has to wait until he passes gas. Paxton jokes about the situation and Ben is mortified. As they wait, Paxton asks Ben about Devi. They mention how they are both jealous of the life the other lives.
Ben mentioned working so hard to get into college for his dad when Paxton makes him realize that he should do things for himself and not someone else. Ben helps Paxton with his college essay and tells him to use his relationship with his adoptive sister as a subject. That night, Ben is at home resting when his father returns from Arizona.
Ben tells his dad that he’s changing his schedule and won’t be able to get into Columbia. His dad reassures him that it’s okay for him to rest and not stress, even if means he doesn’t get into the University. Hearing this certainly helps ease his stress. ..
The next day, Ben tells Mrs. Grubbs that he will be dropping Calculus and Statistics classes and picking an art elective instead. Mrs. Grubbs is happy and agrees. She then spots Paxton and praises his college essay which makes her tear up. Ben looks at Paxton in appreciation. ..
Ben finds Devi, who tells him that she was going to go out on a date with Des after she asked him out, taking Ben’s advice. Trent meets Ben and thanks him for helping Paxton invite Ben to hang out with the cool gang.
The Episode Review
In this episode, we follow Ben as he works himself up to the point of exhaustion. He has been working on a project for weeks and is just about to finish it, but he is feeling overwhelmed. He has been trying to keep everything under control, but it is hard to do so when his mind is constantly racing.
In this episode, Devi shined as the someone who taught Ben that he was competing with himself now with his overscheduling. Ben finally realized that his goals only mean so much if he is healthy at the end of the day. In this episode, Devi showed Ben that she was there for him when he needed her and that she would always be there for him.
Ben advised Devi to talk to Des despite his crush on her, which seems like he is maturing in more ways than one. I certainly didn’t know I needed Ben and Paxton as friends, but it’s fun to see the two together. How he helps Paxton out shows that Ben is really a good person inherently and he deserves the world. Devi, take notes. ..
