Season 1 & 2
In the beginning he was mentioned but not shown. Emily tells Maya about her boyfriend Ben and how he's a swimmer like her.
1. While walking Maya home from school Emily mentions “Practice doesn’t start till 4,” and she and Maya manage a slight kiss. Back at school, Emily opens her gym locker and retrieves a note.
“Hey Em! I’ve been replaced you’ve found another friend to kiss!”
Emily believes this is Alison because Alison is the only one that knew she secretly liked girls, but what if it was her boyfriend saw her kiss a girl? Remember secrets are made to be broken and Ben could've easily saw Emily and Maya together that day.
2. Ben knew that Maya was staying the night at Emily’s house because she told him at school that day, his response “What kind of jammies does the new girl wear?” Later that night when Emily got comfortable she receives a text.
"Did you get a goodnight kiss? Here's one from me."
Again, this could be something that her boyfriend would ask but signs it anonymous because he doesn’t want her to know that he knows she’s into girls.
3. The next day Ben teases with Maya, “Did you girls get much sleep? I know I wouldn’t have.” He even tells Maya, “You don’t strike me as a good girl.” He talks to Maya as if he knows something about her or he can tell that she’s bi.
4. Later that day at school he sneaks into the girls locker room and tries to get him some, but luckily Toby was there to save Emily from the perv.
5. That night at Noel Kahn's party, he shows up with a black eye and bruised face, somewhat happy to see that Emily showed up. When she shuts him down she could’ve easily sparked a wire that pissed him off. I mean honestly, who shows up to a party with a bruised face pretending he didn’t get his @ss kicked at school earlier that day? Psycho boyfriend's that’s who.
You can see his demeanor changes as he looks like Two-Face. So now he’s pissed and when he sees Emily and Maya head to the photo booth he follows and wait for the pictures to come out, snatches them and heads home. This is the start of an obsession with Emily and possibly any female friend she acquires afterward.
7.You think he’s done, no sir. Emily has to pay for what she’s done. He then tampers with her muscle cream to get her kicked off the swim team. Imagine how he feels right now, he had one of the hottest girls in school, he never ‘hit-it’ and now she’s a lesbian, meaning he has to compete with her. Ben must feel awful in his own little sick perverted way.
He’s happy he can now say that he’s touched Em "below the equator" (Alison's quote) and boasts about having his hands around her neck. Look at me now?
Round up on the Ben theory:
- He referred to her as Em (1.03 To Kill a Mocking Girl)
- He sneaks into girls locker rooms without being noticed. (1.03)
- He’s a sexual predator (1.03)
- His friends probably teased him about his ex girlfriend being a lesbian and he never got ‘any’.
- He’s gained hatred towards Emily and possibly her girlfriends.
- He makes the perfect A-Team member for Emily.
Could he be the “shim” dressed as the Queen of Hearts, we’re hoping so, Lucas wouldn’t be a shock to us but the bad@ss, psycho ex, stalker would be.