Is it better to be prepared or to wing it when problems arise? That was the issue tackled by Episode 5, "Emergency Kit," on "Ben and Kate."
The story begins as Kate's daughter, Maddie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) gets a small cut on her forehead causing Ben (Nate Faxon) to call Kate (Dakota Johnson) in a panic. She expresses her concern that he's not capable of handling emergency situations. Privately, she asks his best friend, Tommy (Echo Kellum), to check up on Ben while she's at work.
Meanwhile, Ben has resumed dating his "crazy ex-girlfriend," Louise. She shows up while he's babysitting. He tells her it's not a good time, but she gains entrance by claiming that she just wants to pick up her sweatshirt. Tommy enters at that moment and pretends to discover the granola bar he's eating has nuts in it, and he fakes an allergic reaction. Ben starts to call 911, but only after Maddie prompts him.
At this moment, Louise reappears wearing nothing but her sweatshirt and announces that she's just installed a web cam. Tommy, who knows that Kate disapproves of Louise, gives Ben a stern look. Nevertheless, he agrees to help teach Kate a lesson on emergency preparation.
In a subplot, Kate's friend and coworker BJ (Lucy Punch) is going on a date with a guy named Buddy (Rob Corddry) and reluctantly agrees to follows Kate's advice not to sleep with him on the first date. The two are a match made in heaven -- both proud of their efforts to scam restaurants into comping their meals.
Ben's emergency preparation "lesson" turns out to be convincing her there's a zombie invasion afoot. Part of his plan is to turn out the electricity, but he does it by yanking random wires out of the circuit box. When she sees through his lies, he's unable to turn the power back on.
Lucy drops by, saying that she'd fought her compulsion to invite Buddy back to her place by having him drop her at Ben and Kate's. Despite him showing up and trying to win her over, she stands firm.
Ironically, crazy stalker-girlfriend Louise, who'd showed up uninvited, knows how to fix electricity: "Of course I'm good with electricity. I'm an Aquarius. And I was a lesbian for two years." She and BJ exchange warm glances, hinting they'd once had a romance.
Ben won't admit defeat: "Is this the worst emergency drill ever? The jury's still out."
Kate retorts, "No, the jury's in, and it's unanimous."
A true emergency arrives as they discover Maddie is missing. It turns out she was hiding from the zombies in the attic. Since the ladder is broken, the siblings have to talk her into jumping into their arms. Their words to her show what they've gained from the episode: Kate assuring her that you can't be prepared for everything, and Ben admits that a little preparation is good.
