Review: Bless the Harts “Dead Mall”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Harts, Wayne, Brenda, and Violet’s friend David decide to search an old mall shortly before it’s set to be demolished, but find someone living there, Stacy, who apparently knows Jenny and Brenda from when the mall was open. Soon it becomes clear that she is about as mentally stable as someone living in a dead mall would be, which is to say not very.

OUR TAKE

Fox Animation gets to have their slightly overdue Halloween night, which got pre-empted by some sports for the past couple weeks, though these episodes actually aired on time in Canada so that allowed me to watch them then! Anyway, I remember earlier this year when Duncanville had its main parental characters going to a bar for retired 80’s characters, which made me think that the writers for that show were probably not with the times that well, as people who looked fondly at the 80’s wouldn’t really be those characters’ ages by now. So I figured what would be the bolder take is if they went 90’s instead to really hit the people in the next age bracket over that they had really aged that much (which The Jellies actually did for their first episode, come to think of it). Bless the Harts decided to go a step further and go for the 2000’s era which, get this, was TWENTY YEARS AGO NOW. You feel that existential dread that just gripped your heart after reading that? That’s true fear. Also the fact that discussing the topic of dying malls for a Halloween episode is not something I’ve seen before, so this show is definitely taking some less traveled steps for this year, which is a relief since the first Halloween episode they did felt so low energy. Every dig on the decade feels just as much as affectionate ribbing as it does play into the real fear that several years can instantly pass you by without you knowing.

From Nelly Furtado to CW soap operas to bedazzled phones and even bookstores, this episode puts the fear of god in me that everything I enjoy or take for granted in this world will eventually fade and die, exemplified through Kristen Schaal doing an impressive guest spot as Stacy with a performance that kind of makes me think of what an adult Mabel would be like, inadvertently fitting the theme here. Wayne’s fear of mannequins also ends up landing pretty well as a running gag that gets plenty of pay off, and all the twists regarding it end up making sense. And of course the topic of malls dying is becoming increasingly topical as shopping continues to move online, leaving physical retail stores to slowly die off. But like all good horror stories, there is a lesson to be learned: just because your cherished places will eventually closed down, you can still cherish the good times from them and take their lessons to become a better person than you were. But dammit, I don’t care if Arden Fair Mall lost Toys R Us and its movie theater and now Cheesecake Factory! JUST DON’T TOUCH THE BARNES AND NOBLE. IT’S ALL I HAVE LEFT IN THIS CRAZY WORLD!