Ben Tickle (Benster) is a first-year student at the Academy who gets moved up to second year and becomes friends with Christian and Sammy. He is first seen in the Season 2 episode "Dream Life" (2x02), as one of the students who comes to the underground hip hop class taught by Christian. In the episode "Faux Pas De Deux" (2x03), he is officially introduced to the second year class, and Sammy gets stuck showing him around. Though he initially comes on too strong--inviting himself into the group (as the "Benster") and throwing himself his own "Welcome to Second Year" party--he turns out to be a fun addition.
Ben is portrayed as a very outgoing, goofy, happy-go-lucky guy, capable of cheering up anyone. He is also shown to be a caring and loyal pas de deux partner and friend to Tara, as Saskia continues to attack and sabotage her. He tells Kat that most girls don't like him because they say he's annoying.
Character History
In "Faux Pas De Deux," Christian, Sammy, and Tara are put off by Ben's tendency to say the first thing that comes into his mind... no matter how blunt or insensitive it sounds. After Sammy explains to him that using the word "gay" with a derogatory connotation is offensive, he makes Sammy and Christian a batch of rainbow cupcakes to apologize, thinking they are a homosexual couple.
In "Faux Pas De Deux," Abigail complains to Grace that Tara has the best pas de deux partner (Christian), so Grace talks to her godmother, Miss Raine, and gets her to rearrange the couples: Abigail and Christian, Grace and Sammy, and Tara and Ben. Though Tara and Ben get off to a rocky start, the episode "Connectivity" (2x08) shows them becoming friends and working well together on their contemporary pas de deux. Ben finds Tara a four-leaf clover (stuck together with chewing gum), and Tara gets Ben to start wearing deodorant. In "The Break" (1x09), Ben joins Christian and Sammy on their boys night out to celebrate the end of exams. He pretends to have a tattoo to impress Kat, but she tells him she has feelings for someone else. In "Breaking Pointe" (2x12), Ben is concerned for Tara when Saskia pushes her too far and breaks her back on purpose. Although Ben is shown to have a crush on Kat at first, he ends up truly falling for Tara.
After getting expelled from the Academy for seeing an outside doctor about her back, Tara runs into Ben while waiting for her doctor's appointment in "Rescue Mission" (2x14). He introduces her to the kids he volunteers with in the children's ward and gets her to help out with their pageant "Space Rescue Mission," distracting her from thinking about Kat and Christian. Though Tara doesn't want to be around dancing at first, thinking that her dream is over because of her back, Ben tells her not to give up. He is the only one who knows that Saskia broke Tara's back, and he encourages her to plead her case and fight to return to the Academy. Throughout the episode, Tara sees a new side to Ben, and they grow closer as he helps her realize that feeling angry and withdrawing from the world won't do her any good. While watching the pageant, Tara starts talking to the nurse sitting next to her and discovers that Ben was the woman's first patient. Ben had cancer as a child, which contributes to his live-in-the-moment attitude. In "Origins" (2x16), Tara tells Ben to use his childhood struggle with cancer in a dance piece describing who he is and the experiences that shaped him. According to upcoming episode descriptions Ben's cancer may come back at some point during the season.
In 'The Nationals', Ben kisses Tara in order to prove to her he's not 'harmless' like she described him to be. He later tells her that the kiss meant nothing and it was just to prove to her but towards the end of the episode, it is evident he has at least some form of feelings for Tara.
The episode description for "Love It or Fight It" (2x23) says that Ben will try to impress Tara with his performance in "Peter Pan," to show her he's a leading man: "Ben spares no effort to win Tara, ultimately overcoming her insecure claim that he's just chasing what he can't have anymore."
Quotes
- "Have you always walked funny or did ballet make you that way?"