When they were first introduced to the cast of Parks and Recreation, Ben and Chris (played by Adam Scott and Rob Lowe, respectively) were like a breath of fresh air. Here were two men who seemed to be genuinely fond of one another and who also worked well as partners in government.
Beneath the surface, however, there are troubling signs that the two of them weren’t really very good friends at all, and that they were little more than acquaintances who worked together.
One of Chris’s key personality traits is his relentless (and sometimes downright irritating) positivity. He seems constitutionally incapable of delivering bad news in a way that actually reads as bad news to its recipient. Remember that time that he broke up with Anne and she didn’t know it? Due to his inability to deliver on that end, he tends to use Ben as a shield when something less than motivating needs to be communicated. It’s convenient for him, but it doesn’t say much for their friendship.
Chris, like so many other characters in Parks and Rec, seems unable to keep himself from his worst excesses. In fact, he often has to rely on other people to tell him when he’s being more than a little ridiculous. Strangely enough, despite the fact that they’re supposedly friends, it usually isn’t Ben that Chris turns to in times like this, but usually someone like Ron or Leslie. Doesn’t say much for their emotional bond, does it?
One of Chris’s most ruthless actions was when he had Ben and Leslie investigated as a result of their illicit relationship, endangering both of their jobs and their reputations. While you can’t blame Chris for wanting to make sure that city government runs as efficiently as possible, he does seem to take things to a bit of an extreme in this case.
It doesn’t say much for their friendship considering Chris couldn’t even trust Ben to not let his relationship get in the way of his job.
If Chris was always willing to use Ben to deliver bad news to the government employees of Indiana, then on the flip side Ben was always willing to use Chris to find people whom he could use to exorcise demons - mostly those lingering as a result of his failed mayorship and the Ice Town fiasco. It’s an unfortunate sort of symbiotic relationship, one in which each party seems to view the other in terms of what they can provide, rather than embracing a closer, more emotional bond with one another.
One of Ben’s lasting traumas is his ill-fated effort known as Ice Town, which bankrupted his hometown and led to his everlasting shame. It would ultimately fall to Leslie to help him exorcise those demons, and you can’t help but wonder why Chris, if he was such a good friend of Ben’s, didn’t do more to help him with that effort himself. Clearly, he felt that it was more important that Ben dealt with it on his own.
Anyone who has seen even a single episode of Parks and Rec with Chris in it knows that he’s a bit obsessive about his body and what he puts into it. When at a party, Chris accidentally drinks full-fat eggnog, Ben seems to take more than a little bit of pleasure in informing Chris of that fact.
It’s a small incident, sure, but it also seems to suggest that there’s a bit of a competitive edge to their friendship that always lurks beneath the surface.
The end result of Chris’s pursuit of Leslie and Ben’s relationship was Ben’s decision to quit so that he wouldn’t be a drag or distraction for Leslie. While Chris does eventually visit Chris to check in on him, the fact that he doesn’t do so for quite some time (as evidenced by the fact that Ben has had time to create what turns out to be a very short claymation scene while slumming around in his beloved 90s era Letters to Cleo shirt) indicates that, unfortunately, Ben just hasn’t been that high on Chris’s priorities.
Arguably one of the most significant signs that Ben and Chris aren’t really friends is when Chris decides to leave Pawnee to move to Michigan with Ann. Sure, it’s an understandable move in some ways. He was never really a good fit for Pawnee, anyway. But still, what kind of a friend leaves behind an adorable man like Ben to live in Michigan? Especially for Ann, who spent most of the time not wanting to be with him.
Despite the fact that Chris and Ben have supposedly been friends for quite a while, we rarely (if ever) see them talking about things that don’t directly involve their work auditing the Pawnee government. This is a rather strange phenomenon for two people who have spent as much time together as they have, and it strongly suggests that they may, in fact, be more acquaintances (or, as Ron would term it, "work proximity associates") than actual friends with lots of things in common. One of the few times we seem them acting truly chummy is during the group bachelor party when everyone was included.
Just as we rarely see them bonding over anything that isn’t related to their work auditing the Pawnee government, we also don’t really get to see them remembering their shared times together. Normally, when two people are friends, there are at least some indications that they’ve spent time together and formed some joint memories. That’s just not the case with Ben and Chris, and you can’t help thinking that that’s not a good sign for their friendship.
