thanks for handling that
Oh, thank you so much for doing that.The Intern · 2015 — Chapter 15 of 18 · 2'07" · B1
Ben Comes Back Flushed, Explained: bowl of mush
What passes for small talk about a kid and a San Francisco trip turns into a health check: his face is red, his answers are short, and one coworker deadpans "You seem to be slightly malfunctioning." He insists he's fine, then admits something much softer.
What happens
Someone walks back into the office and is asked how it went before tomorrow's San Francisco trip comes up. His face is flushed and his answers are clipped, so the people around him keep asking whether he's all right. He brushes it off, and later says people my age get tired sometimes.
Listen for
how did it goexcited aboutflushedslightly malfunctioning
00:00 / 02:07Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
bowl of mush
a hopeless softie
After all the deflecting, Ben finally names it: tough outside, a bowl of mush inside, self-mocking and sincere at once.
Show me one dog video and I'm a bowl of mush for the rest of the day.
Also in this scene
- how did it go
how did it turn out
- excited about
looking forward to something
- flushed
red in the face from heat or effort
- slightly malfunctioning
you look like you're glitching
- we're good here
we're done here, that's enough
Everything marked in this scene
26 notes across 52 lines
Let 'Are you' run together and land the weight on 'okay'.
- Are you okay? - Yeah.measure it once a day take means measure here; it refers to blood pressure
I take it every day.not look like your usual self
You don't look like you. You're all flushed.Keep the t in 'don't' light and slide straight into 'look like you'.
You don't look like you. You're all flushed.how about you go and...
Why don't you go see Fiona, the masseuse, And just chill a little.relax, take it easy — Everyday talk among colleagues and friends, not for written reports.
Why don't you go see Fiona, the masseuse, And just chill a little.appear to be
You seem to be slightly malfunctioning.Do not give 'to' its own beat; it barely surfaces between 'seem' and 'be'.
You seem to be slightly malfunctioning.plenty of work to get through
Got a lot of work to do.ellipsis: The subject and auxiliary are dropped, leaving a clipped spoken version of 'I've got a lot of work to do'.
Got a lot of work to do.no problem, everything's fine spoken as a brush-off while he visibly is not fine
It's all good.crazy — Fine among friends, too blunt for work or elders.
Oh, my god, you're all nuts.completely fine — Spoken shorthand for 'absolutely fine', keep it casual.
I'm 100%. Let's move on, kids.make someone work too much
if I am giving you too much to do or working you too hard, Please do not feel that you have to go with me to San Francisco.think you are obliged to do something
if I am giving you too much to do or working you too hard, Please do not feel that you have to go with me to San Francisco.conditional clause: The if-clause sets a condition, and the negative imperative that follows offers a way out rather than a command.
if I am giving you too much to do or working you too hard, Please do not feel that you have to go with me to San Francisco.people of my age group
Jules, people my age get tired sometimes.postmodifier: The phrase sits right after the noun instead of a full relative clause: people who are my age.
Jules, people my age get tired sometimes.perfect with since: The perfect plus since stretches the missing look from the moment he arrived right up to now.
That's why you haven't looked at me once since I came over here?recover a little
Like, if you don't feel better tonight or late...only making a point a softener before disagreement, not a literal statement
I'm just saying I can go by myself, okay?that's not how people see me
People don't think that about me.Hit 'am' hard at the end; the words before it almost blur together.
I don't look it, but I am.relative clause: The that-clause pins the description on 'man stuff', and fronting the whole phrase sets up the turn that follows.
- Under all this man stuff that you so admire... - Mm-Hmm.amount to no more than this
That's what 24 hours of crazy comes to?Ben Comes Back Flushed, explained
What's really going on
The talk starts as small talk: how it went with the kid, then the San Francisco trip, and under both of them is a flushed face everyone can see. "You seem to be slightly malfunctioning" is affection dressed as a tech joke, the office way of saying we noticed and we're worried. The deflection is just as coded: "people my age get tired sometimes" turns a health question into an age question, which is far easier to answer. Then the register drops. Under all the man stuff, someone says, "I'm just a big bowl of mush," and the reply, "That's what 24 hours of crazy comes to?", treats the confession as an anticlimax rather than a revelation.
Theme
GenerationsAge becomes the polite excuse for a body that isn't cooperating, and the people around him aren't buying it.
IdentityThe confession sets the tough man stuff he is admired for against the soft, shapeless thing he says is underneath.
Listen for
- Are you okay — Let 'Are you' run together and land the weight on 'okay'.
- don't look like you — Keep the t in 'don't' light and slide straight into 'look like you'.
- seem to be — Do not give 'to' its own beat; it barely surfaces between 'seem' and 'be'.
- but I am — Hit 'am' hard at the end; the words before it almost blur together.
You don't look like you. You're all flushed.A plain observation: your face is red and you don't look like your usual self. It's noticing, not diagnosing.
You seem to be slightly malfunctioning.A joke that treats a person like a machine with a glitch. "Slightly" softens it, but the worry under it is real.
Jules, people my age get tired sometimes.An excuse that uses age to explain the symptoms and moves the talk away from whatever is actually going on.
...I'm just a big bowl of mush.Under the sturdy, manly surface, he's saying he is soft-hearted and easily moved.
That's what 24 hours of crazy comes to?A dry reaction: after a whole day of drama, the big reveal is only that he's sensitive.
Questions about this scene
Why does everyone keep asking if he's okay?
Because of what they see. One line is "You don't look like you. You're all flushed," and someone else asks, "Are you sure you're okay?" The questions follow his face, not anything he says.
Is he actually sick in this scene?
The scene never confirms it. He answers "I'm 100%" and later puts it down to age with "people my age get tired sometimes." Whatever is wrong stays unspoken.
What does "big bowl of mush" mean here?
A soft-hearted person. He sets it against "all this man stuff that you so admire," so the point is that the tough exterior hides someone easily moved.
Why does she offer to go to San Francisco alone?
She doesn't want him to feel obligated. The offer comes with "if I am giving you too much to do or working you too hard," so she frames the trip as something he can skip rather than a test of loyalty.
The Intern · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 16pull offBenjamin Opens Up About His Marriage
Chapter 1gave me the drillBen Meets His New Boss
Chapter 2make the trains run on timeJules Is Told to Consider a CEO
Chapter 3goes without sayingBen Confronts the Drinking Driver
Chapter 4me timeTwo Parents Keep Dozing Off
Chapter 5slammedBen Arrives at Jules's House
Chapter 6stay-at-home dadJules Gets the Guacamole Assignment
Chapter 7force of habitBen's Old Factory Reveal
Chapter 8brownnoseIntern Sets Up Facebook Profile
Chapter 9jumped the gunBen Gets His Job Back
Chapter 10I happen to thinkBecky Breaks Down at Work
Chapter 11little does ... knowJules's Team Plans a Break-In
Chapter 12no such thing asFake Alarm at Jules's Mom's House
Chapter 13above and beyondCoworkers Toast After a Heist
Chapter 14glass ceilingBen Takes Paige to a Birthday Party
Watching · Chapter 15bowl of mushBen Comes Back Flushed
Chapter 16pull offBenjamin Opens Up About His Marriage
Chapter 17take the rapA Wife Reveals Her Husband's Affair
Chapter 18add upBen Talks Jules Out of Giving UpChapter 15 of 18 · about 10 min to go