Review: Bless the Harts “Haul Force One”

Overview:

Heat Wave Dick has the town of Greenpoint hiding from the sun. For Wayne, that means catching some of that sweet movie theatre air conditioning. But, to his surprise, he discovers that his own truck is a movie star. It isn’t soon after that Wayne is offered an obscene amount of money for his pride-and-joy, which he uses to buy the latest top-of-the-line truck. But, unfortunately, he isn’t meant to have anything so fancy.

Meanwhile, Jenny and Brenda’s long friendship is being tested when Jenny realizes that Brenda has been a drain on her. Unsure what to do, Jenny confides in her boss Louise, which results in Brenda getting fired. Now, all Jenny wants is her best friend back.

Our Take:

Bless the Harts is on the cusp of its final new episode after being cancelled. For the most part, we assume that the show will not be missed, especially as Fox continues to release hit animated shows like Duncanville, The Great North, and the soon coming Housebroken. But even as Bless the Harts fades away, we realize that the show was not a complete failure. Sometimes the series shows a spark of what could have been.

This freshest episode is an assortment of elements that showcase the shows potential and everything that went wrong. Though the most frustrating part of these final few episodes is the number of new directions, the series was looking at taking.

Just two episodes ago, Wayne’s best friend, Trevor, made an appearance and has since become a regular cast member. Last weekend, Betty received a brand-new love interest. And this week, it is followed up with Violet discovering a potential new suitor.

The new additions are too-little-too-late. And showcases, even more, that the series struggled to identify itself from day one. Season one struggled to find its audience, and the growing pains made the sophomore year that much more unbearable. We should count ourselves lucky that the show is being put out of its misery before creating an even bigger mess next year.

On the other hand, there are pieces of the show that could have made it a bright star on the Sunday night Animation Domination lineup. This episode, in particular, had a lot of fun with its heatwave theme. Instead of focusing on the family drama, the connecting weather theme helped give the episode some depth and freedom to explore. And it paid off in a big way with background jokes and cutscenes involving more than the titular characters.

Unfortunately, the series continues to try too hard, resulting in some unoriginal and predictable storytelling. If the show could let go of putting so much attention on the family drama and enjoy more of the lightheartedness that an animated sitcom should have, the audience would have much more to enjoy. As it is, Bless the Harts puts all of its eggs in a basket that is the least enjoyable part of other animated shows.  

This could have been one of the stronger episodes of the season. There is just too much going on with the injection of characters old and new. 

There were some laughable moments, but the series continues to carry the same primetime sitcom drama tone that has put us to sleep for most of its run. However, it’s clear that these glimmers of hope were fading fast, and the Fox execs made the right call with Bless the Harts.