Review: Bless the Harts “Hoot ‘N Haw”

 

 

Overview:

Wayne just discovered that his property is a lot larger than he thought it was. But before he can figure out what to do with the extra yard space, his mee-maw moves her trailer in. The next thing they know, the entire extended Edwards family have taken over.

While Wayne does his best to maintain damage control, Jenny gets to the bottom of why mee-maw moved in. Though when she tries to fix things with mee-maw’s boyfriend, she makes things much worse.  

 

Our Take:

Time is running short for Bless the Harts as the final few episodes of the series are released. This means that there are only a few more chances to impress fans before the collection falls into the ether of forgotten television shows. More than a few adult animated sitcoms have recovered from cancellation including Futurama and Family Guy. Although, if Bless the Harts hopes to follow suit, they will have to build a cult following with the content they have available.  

There have been a few solid episodes of Bless the Harts that we’re deserving of their spot on the Animation Domination lineup. Unfortunately, inconsistency has been a significant theme throughout the second season. This latest episode is a microcosm of the ups and downs of the series throughout its run.

The story kicks off with a paradoxical history lesson of skunk town, which happened to occur where Wayne’s home stands today. But the original town had to make treaties and fight wars with the already established community of skunks. And the show delivers this background in fun flashbacks and imagery of man vs skunk.

Unfortunately, the promising introduction is swiftly set aside for a more personable story involving Wayne’s embarrassment of his family. Since we have yet to meet any of the Edwards clan, there is a lot to establish. And getting the plot through to the next act slows things down.

Thankfully, when the Edwards crew does move onto Wayne’s yard, the episode finds good pace. There are plenty of humorous moments as the Harts clash with the in-laws. Significantly when Betty drops her judgement and quickly becomes another hick lost in the foray.

Though, once again, there is not much pay-off for the excitement. The story takes another turn to focus on the broken relationship between Mee-Maw and her boyfriend – and by association, Wayne’s anxiety with his roots.

The episode continued to show potential to be something fun and exciting. But it kept on steering us back to predictable and cliche sitcom storytelling. An episode about a war with skunks would have been a better way to spend half an hour. Or, seeing these country folks tear up the Hart home until someone lost their shit would have been more entertaining. Better yet, we should have seen the Edwards fight it out with the rodents. Instead, we get to see Wayne remedy a relationship with his mother that we didn’t know was broken.

This episode is definitive for what Bless the Harts has been. So much potential, possibility, and hype, only for the show to go down the derivative rabbit hole. The side stories that are meant to add humour are the most exciting parts of the series. Nobody has asked for an animated comedy with the heart and morals of a ninety’s after-school special. We would much rather watch these characters go through ridiculous adventures and laugh at how fragile their relationships are.