Sir Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt KBE is a fictional character portrayed by Adam Scott in the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. He first appears in the show's second season as a state auditor who comes to Pawnee to evaluate its funds alongside Chris Traeger. Initially portrayed as a serious and pragmatic budget specialist, Ben gradually becomes more sympathetic to the town and develops into an integral member of the community.
Despite initially angering series protagonist Leslie Knope with his budget-cut recommendations, Ben begins dating her in the season 3 episode "Road Trip." Their relationship forms a central storyline in the series; the two get married in the season 5 episode "Leslie and Ben" and have triplets in season 6. In the season finale, it is implied that either he or Leslie eventually becomes the President of the United States; Leslie taking office would make him the First Gentleman.
As a character, Ben is known for his dry wit, affinity for calzones, and creation of the fictional board game "Cones of Dunshire." His role as the humiliated former mayor trying to make a career in government was one of the original concepts for the series, but was abandoned in favor of building the show around Leslie Knope's character. Adam Scott's portrayal of Ben has been positively received by critics, with praise given for Ben's ability to act as both a straight man and a comedic force.
Character biography Originally from Partridge, Minnesota, Ben was elected mayor of the town at age 18 after leading what he describes as an "anti-establishment voter rebellion." However, his lack of experience led him to run the town's finances into the ground, largely due to the construction of a winter-sports complex he named "Ice Town," which was never completed. He was then impeached after two months in office. His time as mayor bankrupted the town, caused its unemployment rate to hit 30%, and led to the newspaper headline "Ice Town Costs Ice Clown His Town Crown."
Ben attended Carleton College, where he was the host and DJ for a swing-music college radio show called Zoot Suit Wyatt, a reference to the swing revival album Zoot Suit Riot (1997). After becoming an accountant, he and Chris Traeger assumed the nicknames Butch Count-sidy and the Sum-dance Kid, with the names referencing the outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as well as being accounting puns.
Ben's seriousness and intent to cut spending initially puts him at odds with the Pawnee government, particularly Leslie Knope. Though he warms to the town and becomes a major member of its community, he remains mystified by some of its quirks, such as Pawnee's universal affection for miniature horse Li'l Sebastian.
Ben is known for his "nerdy" interests and references to franchises such as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and Game of Thrones; fellow Pawnee government employee Tom Haverford routinely teases him for this. Ben's love for calzones is a running joke throughout the series, to the point that he envisions a restaurant named "The Low-Cal Calzone Zone." During a period between jobs in season 6, Ben creates a board game called The Cones of Dunshire, which is noted for its extremely complex set of rules. A real board game based on Ben's creation was created by Mayfair Games.
Season two When Ben comes to Pawnee, he immediately clashes with Leslie, who is appalled by his unsentimental attitude towards firing people and his penchant for slashing her department's budget. However, when he asks her out for a beer, they begin to show respect for one another. He shares his past as the mayor of Partridge, and that he became a state auditor to prove that he can be responsible and eventually run for office again. Their new friendship turns sour when Ben and Chris reveal that the town is virtually out of funds and the government will have to be shut down until further notice.
Despite the seriousness of the problems, Chris presents the situation in an extremely positive light and tries to make all of the city-hall employees around him happy, leaving the hard decisions and delivery of bad news up to Ben; this makes Chris the good cop and Ben the bad cop in the partnership. Chris and Ben form a budget task force, consisting of several government employees, including Ron. When Ron accidentally reveals that Leslie was trying to set up an annual children's concert on Lot 48 behind Ann's house that was supposed to be canceled, Ben tries to shut it down. However, after seeing the effort Leslie put into it, which included having the equipment donated from local vendors, he pays the entertainer Freddy Spaghetti to come back after he booked another event, getting back on Leslie's good side. Ben is also surprised, but quietly pleased, when Ron authorizes Leslie to take his place on the budget task force.
Season three When the government shutdown ends, Ben informs the department that, due to the shoestring budget, they will only be on maintenance for the time being. Ben suspects that Leslie is trying to have Ann convince Chris to distribute more funds to the department, and he confirms his suspicions when he crashes their date at the same time Leslie crashes it, but Ben decides to let it play out. While at a gay club, Ben mentions the failure of the Ice Town project, showing that he used to be just as ambitious as Leslie, but Leslie gives him credit for trying. Ben listens to Leslie's presentation regarding the Pawnee Harvest Festival idea that will allow them to do their jobs properly and bring funds into the department. When Ben asks what will happen if it does not bring in funds, Leslie says they can shut down the department, and Ben allows them to go forth with the festival.
Ben assists Leslie with the festival preparations, and he is thoroughly impressed when she gives a flawless presentation despite being stricken with the flu. When Leslie and Ben try to ask the police force to handle security for the festival, Ben is shown not to have very strong social skills, although in this case it could be attributed to the fact that he does not understand Pawnee as well as Leslie does. He and Leslie continue to build a strong friendship over their development of the Harvest Festival, and it is implied that he has developed an attraction to her when he asks the police chief about her relationship with Dave. He also becomes better friends with Tom, supporting him when he is rejected by a cologne magnate, although Tom does his fair share of ribbing Ben.
While doing the media blitz for the festival, he is continuously asked about his disastrous tenure as mayor of Partridge. After freezing up at the majority of questions asked, he goes on a furious tirade at a later interview, prompting businesses to pull their sponsorships at the festival and putting the parks department in jeopardy. At the last interview at Pawnee Today, Ben finally stands his ground, stating that everyone does stupid things when they were teenagers and that he has since saved at least five cities from bankruptcy as an auditor. During the festival itself, a series of catastrophes leads Ben to feel that he is cursed and leave the festival, returning later to admit that he is not over his past. Leslie assures him that he is as responsible for the festival's success as she is, and she has the local Native American chief Ken Hotate perform a fake ceremony to remove his "curse."
Following the conclusion of the festival, Chris is installed as interim city manager of Pawnee and offers Ben a job as assistant city manager, which he eventually accepts. It is implied that he made the decision to be closer to Leslie and that they are mutually attracted to each other, but a new policy of Chris's forbids city employees to date each other, halting a potential relationship between the two.
Since he is staying in Pawnee permanently, Ben decides to move out of the motel where he has been living. Andy and April offer him a spare room in their house, given that their previous roommate moved out and left the house to them. Although the two have been living by themselves for only a week, the house is a complete mess, with no everyday items like plates or utensils available. Ben decides to teach a reluctant Andy and April how to properly live like adults.Jerry's Painting
In "Road Trip", Ben and Leslie are sent to Indianapolis to state their case for Pawnee to host the State Little League Championship. They are successful, and they go out for a celebratory dinner. There, Ben tells Leslie that he likes her romantically, and Leslie confirms that she likes him, too, but Chris decides to crash their dinner, preventing them from addressing their feelings. At the end of the episode, Leslie approaches Ben to hand him receipts, and he kisses her.
In "The Bubble", Leslie and Ben are officially dating but are keeping their relationship a secret due to Chris's no-dating policy. They are enjoying what Leslie calls "the bubble", meaning the beginning of a relationship when everything is simple and fun. However, it is suddenly threatened when Ben has a meeting with Leslie's mother, Marlene, who wants Ben to approve the purchase of four new school buses despite a difficult budget season. Afraid of ruining the bubble, Leslie initially tells Ben that she is not related to Marlene. Right before Ben's meeting, however, Leslie admits Marlene is her mother, making him nervous and causing him to capitulate to all of her demands during the meeting, which makes Marlene consider Ben weak. Leslie trains Ben for his next meeting with her mother. He impresses Marlene so much with his tough negotiation skills that she becomes flirtatious with him. An uncomfortable Ben tells Leslie that they should tell Marlene about their relationship, but Leslie does not want to lose the bubble. Fed up, Ben storms into Marlene's office and tells her that he is dating her daughter and asks her to keep it a secret. Marlene laughs off the situation and tells Leslie that she approves of Ben.
In the season finale "Li'l Sebastian", Leslie and Ben continue their romance, but they are struggling to keep it secret. Ron soon finds out and warns them that, if Chris learns about it, he will fire them. As the city prepares for the memorial service for Li'l Sebastian, Pawnee's beloved celebrity miniature horse, Leslie and Ben are caught making out by a maintenance worker, so they send him home in exchange for his silence. Unfortunately, the worker had the propane for Li'l Sebastian's memorial flame, which results in ongoing problems that Leslie and Ben struggle to fix throughout the night. Although the memorial turned out to be a success, things get even more complicated later when Leslie is approached by scouts looking for potential candidates for elected office. They believe that she would be a good candidate for upcoming city-council seats, or possibly the mayoral position. With the expected increased media attention on her personal life, the scouts ask whether Leslie has any secret scandals of which they should know. She denies this, thus omitting her secret relationship with Ben.Li'l Sebastian
Season four Though their relationship had become rather serious, Ben and Leslie are forced to break up to avoid a scandal that could derail Leslie's city-council candidacy. Ben understands, giving Leslie a "Knope 2012" button he had made. He then starts helping Tom run his business, Entertainment 720, where he is shocked at how much money Tom spends without getting any revenue. He also helps Tom charm Joan Callamezzo to try to get her book club to include Leslie's new book, but Joan gets drunk and hits on them. He and Leslie end up sharing lovelorn looks with each other. Ben is dragged along to Tom and Donna's "Treat Yo Self", where he treats himself to a Batman costume and a good cry over his breakup with Leslie.