Marissa Benson

"No, I'm just ironing Freddie's underwear."

- Mrs. Benson to a person on the phone.

Marissa Benson is Freddie Benson's mother. She is shown to be nosy, aware of everything, overprotective, aggressive, and borderline psychotic. Beneath all of this, she is nonetheless a devoted and caring mother (see Maddie page for their mother/son relationship). She would go to great lengths to protect Freddie from anything and everything that might be even remotely dangerous to him. This decreases after iMove Out, in which she promises never to embarrass Freddie again (including unblocking all of the channels on his TV), Freddie threatening that he would move out again. Despite that, she is still somewhat overprotective of him, as seen in iBeat the Heat and iPsycho. Marissa is an anti-hero throughout the series, due to her overprotective, cautious, and sometimes selfish personality, she at times is shown to be kind and gentle (such as when she cares for Lewbert when he is hurt in iHurt Lewbert). It is currently unknown what happened to Freddie's father, so it is believed he is either dead or divorced with Marissa. It was revealed in iFence that Marissa's side of the family is the Bensons, so the last name of Freddie's father is currently unknown. Although it is mentioned on iCarly.com that Freddie's dad's name was Leonard, he could have left Marissa because she is too caressing. It is also said that Mrs. Benson gives Freddie an $8 monthly allowance because she thinks if she gives Freddie more he will buy a bus ticket and leave her. According to Freddie, this is "not really [stupid]", possibly indicating that Freddie's dad bought a bus ticket and left her, uncertainly though.

Characteristics
She regularly gives her son tick baths, and possesses an industrial sized first aid kit. According to iMove Out, she was pregnant with Freddie for 11 months to "make sure that he was done."

In iFence, Mrs. Benson becomes particularly upset when Freddie takes up fencing. It turns out she comes from a long line of fencers and she, herself, once took up the sport because her father made her, (he'd been a part of       The Fencin' Bensons), and became addicted to it. She initially objected to Freddie fencing, but eventually relented, later revealing that she is herself a skilled double-sword fencer.

Her relationship with Carly Shay and Sam Puckett is one of general tolerance. She agreed to allow Freddie, and the girls, to go to Japan to collect their iWeb Award only if she came along, (iGo to Japan). Although she generally seems to like Carly and even implied she would like her to be Freddie´s girlfriend in iWill Date Freddie, she became hostile towards her when Carly supported Freddie's fencing, and then later again after Freddie was hurt from saving Carly's life in iSaved Your Life when she caught them kissing she angrily screamed, "What the yuck?!" Just before the kissing she said to Carly, referring to Freddie hit by the taco truck, "It should have been you!" This proves that Mrs. Benson is different from other parents because most parents would be sad that their child's in pain yet proud that he/she made a heroic move saving a life, as opposed to Mrs. Benson, who's instead upset that Freddie's in pain and angry at Carly because she thinks Carly caused the accident. She doesn't approve of Carly as much and also in iBeat the Heat, as she calls Carly a "dummy." She seems to blame Carly for causing her son's injury, although this makes no sense since Freddie saved her life voluntarily.

As for Spencer Shay, her attitude towards him varies from general annoyance and disgust, to treating him in an almost motherly way (in several episodes she's seen ordering Spencer about).



In iChristmas, Carly experiences an alternate reality in which Spencer and Mrs. Benson had fallen in love and were engaged to be married. Since Carly wishing that Spencer was normal caused this alternate reality, Marissa therefore must like normal people.

In iHurt Lewbert, she found herself taking care of injured doorman Lewbert Sline, and sparks of romance flew between the two until Freddie, horrified at the prospect of Lewbert being his mother's boyfriend, orchestrated an accident that caused her mothering instinct to kick in. She is now hostile towards Lewbert, as shown in iBeat the Heat.

Although her occupation is unknown, it has been revealed by Dan Schneider that she sometimes occasionally works as a part-time nurse.

It is very strange that she seems (especially in iSaved Your Life) to dislike Carly (although she likes Carly in some episodes) because she "hurt" Freddie (who rescued her), but doesn't show any hate towards Sam, who hurts her son frequently. It's possible she is unaware of Sam's treatment of Freddie - he may never have told her about it, and Sam has never bullied him in front of her. It may also be because Freddie had a crush on Carly, and she sees Carly as someone who takes Freddie's attention away from her. In iMove Out, she mentions that Carly got Freddie interested in girls, causing his "boy chemistry to be out of wack."

Ever since iSaved Your Life, Mrs. Benson has shown a dislike towards Carly. Examples are in iBeat the Heat and iSam's Mom as she rudely calls Carly "dummy" or "dumbo." She is also sometimes rude to Spencer, as in iFind Lewbert's Lost Love when she called him stupid.

In iStill Psycho and iToe Fat Cakes, Mrs. Benson is shown to be very neurotic and suffers from Mysophobia (fear of germs) as proven by when she admits to Carly she bathes in her sweatshirt and that she uses hand-sanitizer and a tissue to open her own apartment door.



Relationships

 * Freddie's father: Leonard Benson (according to iCarly.com) Unknown Dates.
 * Lewbert Sline (2008) (iHurt Lewbert)
 * Spencer Shay (her fiancé - alternate reality in iChristmas) (2008)

Family

 * Kelsy and Jeremiah Benson (parents)
 * Freddie's dad (husband)
 * Freddie Benson (son)
 * Stephanie (niece)
 * Amanda (niece)
 * Lara (sister)
 * Jennifer (possible sister or sister-in-law)
 * Yolanda and Harry (grandparents)
 * Susan (sister)

Quotes

 *  Lewbert:  Thank you.  Mrs. Benson : Please, call me Marissa.  Lewbert : Marissa? That's a pretty name!  Marissa : Thanks. It's French. It means honeysuckle.  Lewbert:  Oh, I like honeysuckle. (iHurt Lewbert)
 *  Freddie : Mom, I'm not allergic to flowers. Marissa: And you weren't allergic to Mexican food trucks, but look at you now! (iSaved Your Life)
 * (After Freddie asks where she got an antibacterial spray) At sprayyourchildren.com! (iSaved Your Life)
 * And teenage girls are like maniacs what with their bubbling hormones and all that R&B music they listen to! (iSaved Your Life)
 * It should've been you! (to Carly, believing she caused Freddie's accident.) (iSaved Your Life)
 * Posie di posie do, I don't want posies in my house! (iSaved Your Life)
 * I wanted to make sure you were done! (iMove Out) Mrsbensonointment.jpg
 * Leave your shoes in the hall. (iSaved Your Life)
 * Wet and sticky is very icky. Sticky and wet makes Mommy upset. (iHurt Lewbert)
 * You're the one who got Freddie interested in girls, and ever since then his boy chemistry's been all out of whack! (to Carly, in iMove Out)
 * Okay, but caution! The tip is pointy. (iCarly Saves TV)
 * In your underpants. You don't have your name sewn into your underpants. (to Spencer) (iCarly Saves TV)
 * What the YUCK?! (iSaved Your Life)
 * When temperatures get too high, the elderly will start to die! (iBeat the Heat)
 * Freddie!  Freddie : They're just scissors! (iTwins)
 * (calling 911) I need to report my missing little boy... He's 15...Well, that's little to me! (iMove Out)
 * I spent 3 weeks making it for you. Freddie: All right, Mom, I'll wear it! God! (Seen dressed as witch) (iScream on Halloween)
 * Freddie, I need home to take bubble bath. SPENCER! (Chasing him down the hall)
 * "When a big boy eats his vegetables"- Freddie: Don't sing the song!
 * No, I'm just ironing Freddie's underwear (to a person on the phone) (iToe Fat Cakes )

Quotes about Marissa

 * I gotta get home before my mom has a panic attack.  Freddie 
 * I need to go home so my mom can spray me again...  Freddie 
 * Your mom only gives you $8 a month?  Freddie:  She's afraid if she gives me more, I'll buy a bus ticket and leave her.
 * She thinks I'll choke on pills, so she pounds them with a mallet then puts them in the fruit sauce.  Spencer:  Fruit sauce?  Freddie:  She thinks I might choke on fruit, so she pounds them-  Spencer:  It's none of my business.
 *  Sam:  Freddie hates you. Freddie: I do not "hate" her.

Trivia

 * In iMove Out, she promises to Freddie that she will not overprotect him ever again, but in further episodes she breaks her promise.
 * She shows some interest in sculpting because Freddie talks about her going to pottery classes at "Color Me Pot". (iFence)
 * Mrs. Benson slapped Lewbert so hard that she popped his wart, this is one of many times something hurt Lewbert's wart. (iBeat the Heat)
 * She is a skilled fencer, because she was forced to fence by her parents. Despite this, she hates fencing and tried to stop Freddie from fencing. (iFence)
 * She used to drive a Prius until Spencer stole its battery to power a helmet. (iGo To Japan)
 * Sometimes she likes to make rhyming sentences, usually to make Freddie do something he doesn't want to, i.e. eat mushrooms or sit up straight (iHurt Lewbert, iWill Date Freddie, iMove Out, and iBeat the Heat)
 * It's possible that Mrs. Benson is divorced or her husband is dead, seeing as her husband is never shown or heard. Some hints are in iChristmas were she and Spencer are engaged. Another hint is in iHurt Lewbert where she had a little relationship with Lewbert, only for that to end when Lewbert shows his inner self when Freddie gets hurt by falling the stair. Also, in iHurt Lewbert, Carly and Sam joke that, if Marissa and Lewbert continued dating, they would be married and that Lewbert might become Freddie's step-father.
 * A possible reason she could be divorced is that her husband couldn't stand her anymore and left her and Freddie.
 * Another possibility is that Mrs. Benson never had a husband. In iFence we find out she comes from a long line of circus fencers, called The Fencin' Bensons. This implies that her maiden name is Benson. Given that Freddie is also a Benson, it's possible that Mrs. Benson and Freddie's father never married. (Other possibilities do exist, of course.)
 * Marissa was born on July 8, 1966.
 * Marissa means "of the sea", but she thinks it means "honeysuckle" (iHurt Lewbert).
 * Marissa has shown some signs of mental instability, such as screaming loudly and ripping her clothing at the first sign of discord in her life, such as disobedience from Freddie. She also seems to fall into mental disarray at the sight of uncleanliness, regarding things in a childlike manner or convulsing in panic.
 * Marissa's overprotection by her son has paid off in iStill Psycho.
 * She appears again in Sam and Cat