Review: Bless the Harts “Myrtle Beach Memoirs”

OVERVIEW

After a work accident, Jenny is given some unpaid days off from the restaurant, so she decides to take the family to Myrtle Beach, where she and Violet can participate in a long abandoned pastime: Mini-golf. Meanwhile, in order to get the trip for free, Wayne and Betty sit through a timeshare presentation but are tempted at every turn to buy.

OUR TAKE

As we enter the back half of Bless the Hart’s inaugural season, it does seem more and more like they’re hitting their stride. Last week wasn’t phenomenal or anything, but it did show the ability to spin multiple stories of equal focus. Likewise, this week isn’t exactly much to write home about, but it DOES show considerable signs of improvement, as well as giving ME something I was hoping for last week, which is an episode plot about Jenny and Violet! Alright! We got all the Hart girl combos and we’re only halfway through the season! But being someone who’s already watched this show’s peers through and back, I really couldn’t help but notice that this seemed to take a few unmistakable cues from them.

Specifically American Dad and Bob’s Burgers, mixing the episode where Stan tries to re-bond with Haley at a theme park they both liked (which I know is not even the actually plot of the episode, just the lead-in) and the episode where Linda tries to re-bond with Tina when she’s trying to make a new friend. Only without any of the actual conflict or emotional development that those episodes had because Violet (and her weird light gray eyes that bug me the more I look at them) and Jenny don’t really have much of a conflict to begin with. The most we get is that Jenny can’t quite crack Violet’s semi-sarcasm but Violet doesn’t seem to have much issue with doing this fun thing. That said, I WOULD still love to get more insight into what pre-purple hair Violet was like, if only to color in some of the background of these characters more. Heck, while you’re at it, show us how Jenny met Wayne or what the heck her dad looked like! Or what Violet’s dad looked like! There’s a lot I want to get into!

Still, let it not go unsaid that Bless the Harts is doing a totally…okay job for its first season thus far. Not amazing, not horrible, just…okay. But the GOOD kind of okay that shows potential. There’s definitely more good than bad, even if the character designs are still pretty unnerving and the humor is undercooked. Nothing that can’t be hashed out in the second season, though its not something I’m going to give a total pass just because this is early days. Next week’s episode is Thanksgiving though, so that’s a first! Two holiday episodes really close together!