Friends with Benefits Episode 1.09 The Benefit of Being Shallow

Ben begins dating Kat and says that she is perfect. But his friends insist there must be something wrong with her, and Ben caves and admits he was really bothered by Kat's hat on the date. Meanwhile, Sara begins dating Todd, a blind man she runs into on the street.

Aaron starts dating Claire, an older woman who lives in his building. Meanwhile, Ben still cannot get over the fact that Kat keeps wearing a hat for all their dates. Sara realizes that since Todd is blind he will never tell her she's pretty. Ben and Sara get competitive over who is more "shallow" in their relationships.

Ben goes on another date with Kat on the windiest day in Chicago, realizing that, even in the windiest conditions, Kat won't remove her hat. Sara also goes on another date with Todd and tries to subtly get Todd to compliment her looks, even though he can't see her.

Aaron brings Claire back to his apartment and they end up spending the night together. The next morning, Fitz introduces Aaron to Hope, a girl who just moved into their building and whom he just started seeing. Claire walks in, and it turns out Claire is Hope's mother!

Fitz tries to get Aaron to vouch for him in front of Claire, so he can take his relationship with Hope to the next level. Aaron, knowing how Fitz treats women, doesn't want to vouch for Fitz because he doesn't want to mess things up with Claire. Fitz convinces him, saying if Aaron were a true friend, he would support Fitz.

Riley and Sara get catcalls from construction workers, and Sara likes the attention. She tells Riley that she misses being told she's pretty; she plans to keep dating Todd, so she gets inner appreciation from Todd and outer appearance appreciation from random strangers who aren't blind. Later, Ben tries to convince Riley to steal Kat's hats because he can't stand them anymore. Riley tells him of a similar situation that she was in once, which gives Ben the idea that he should just tell her to take off her hat.

Aaron vouches for Fitz, but Claire tells him the woman Fitz and he need to impress is the "Barometer," otherwise known as Claire's mother, Hazel. Claire invites Aaron and Fitz to dinner that night with Hazel.

Riley comes back to the apartment to find Sara in sweats and eating pizza when she has a date with Todd that evening. Sara tells Riley that Todd's blindness has liberated her and that she's going to stop focusing on her outer appearance and instead, focus more on her inner self.

Ben convinces Kat to take off her hat, but it turns out Kat wore hats to cover up a large birthmark on her forehead. Meanwhile, Fitz and Aaron are at dinner with Hazel. Fitz succeeds in impressing Hazel.

Ben and Kat begin to kiss, but Ben cannot ignore her birthmark. He tries to distract himself from the birthmark by dimming the light and playing music. He ends up telling her he can't do it and even suggests plastic surgery, causing Kat to put on her hat and leave.

Sara and Todd end up in her bed, but Todd stops and calls Sara a "braille-banger." Even though Todd is blind, he can tell Sara didn't take care of her physical appearance for the date. Sara tells Todd she thought he was different, but Todd tells her that blind people can be shallow too.

Late at night, Aaron goes to get some water and runs into Hazel, who has spent the night with Fitz. Claire runs into the room and, seeing her mother, gets angry at the situation. Aaron, despite Claire's anger, still vouches for Fitz as a friend. Claire, disgusted by the situation, ends the relationship between her and Aaron.

Ben and Sara, having ended things with their respective dates, end up in bed together. They reconcile and realize they like their "friends with benefits" relationship because they don't judge each other's bad sides.