Quick Thoughts: BEN AND KATE, "21st Birthday"

Seriously, I do not understand why more people are not watching Ben and Kate because "21st Birthday" was so good.

By far the best part of the entire episode was the swerve at the end when we learned that Kate's past birthdays were not spent sad and alone because she had Maddie, and it was a nice cherry on top (see what I did there) when we saw the entire group at the ice cream shoppe. Just warm, fuzzy feelings all over.

The rest of the episode was solid as well. It was refreshing to see the four adults split into different pairings with Ben and BJ on a mission to steal a tree from his ex, and Kate and Tommy reflecting on what could have been. I will say that the former was a bit much, especially when BJ tried to talk up Ben, but I can let it slide. On the other had, Kate and Tommy were just cute, although I don't think I want to see either of these "couples" come to life any time soon.

If I had to pick a flaw, I'd go with Kate's friend Molly who was just conjured up to play the wild child to our heroine's calmer new role and she was too one-dimensional. Also, BJ's jealousy was so telegraphed that it fell flat, but I do have to admit that this plotline was better executed than what How I Met Your Mother tried to pull off earlier this week.

I'm still psyched that FOX ordered a few more episodes of Ben and Kate, but it's just too bad that the ratings are pretty much demanding that it be canceled at the end of the season which will be a bummer. Maybe a miracle could happen and the network could stand by it like it did with Raising Hope, but I won't be holding my breath.