Bless This Mess Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)
Bless This Mess Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot,” is pretty much what you would expect from a first look into a new world involving newlyweds as fish out of water.
The plot here isn’t really actually all that “new” per se. The first thought that comes to my mind when hearing the premise, is 1991’s City Slickers. Fortunately that movie was rather funny itself, so instead of deterring me from the show, it makes me a tad more interested.
As Mike and Rio tell their friends, family, and bosses they are moving to Nebraska, they of course get all the negative feedback one can imagine. Sadly, most of the opinions their peers share make sense.
Farming is not an easy job that should be taken up on a whim. It is definitely one profession I would never want to step into. Seriously, they get like zero vacation days!
Mike making the decision to take this leap makes sense to me. A young, brash journalist making a life-altering move, doesn’t seem all that unlikely. It almost seems to go hand-in-hand.
Add into the equation the future of magazines being so hazy now — throws fuel on the fire.
Rio quitting her job as a therapist, however, doesn’t sit as well with me.
Counselors, psychiatrists, and people in other similar fields are known to be well-versed in reason and analyzing situations. I understand that nobody is perfect and always makes the right decision — but one would think that Rio would sit down with Mike and really think this whole thing through.
Mike: When was the last time you frolicked?
I mean come on, these two don’t even bother to check out the farm before packing their bags and cutting all ties. It would make more sense if they took a week’s vacation to Nebraska to scope out everything and see what they are dealing with.
Sure it wouldn’t be as funny of a setup, but I’m just thinking rationally here. I guess that is my problem though — I judge sitcoms a bit too harshly.
My big thing is always character development and backstory. Usually both go on the wayside to gain a laugh or two in these types of shows.
A large amount of the time, huge portions of the plot are not thought out ahead of time, and we get storylines that are forced together or dropped completely.
How often does someone break a bone or buy a dog in an episode, just to have it never mentioned again? The answer is a lot.
It is hard to say at this point if this show will fall into the same trope or not. I will say that the hole in the floor seemed to magically disappear suddenly — just to focus on the hole in the roof.
So far, the narrative seems to be tight enough for a sitcom, though it just seems a little rushed.
It actually reminds me of a made for television movie on speed. This isn’t necessarily a horrible thing by the way. The writers seem to squeeze just enough emotion out of the characters that it seems to actually work.
It would just work better, if there were an added ten minutes to the show. Giving us more time to process things, instead of jumping scene to scene so quickly. I actually took a second to pause the show, so that I could take notes to keep the facts straight.
We get the lovable main couple, and we get the quirky “b” characters like Rudy. We even get a story that keeps us interested enough to tune in next week. What we don’t get though, are many surprises.
Nearly every scene is hinted at by the preview trailer.
Hole in roof? Check. Random cow? Check. Storm? Check.
I feel there is only one real surprise in the entire episode — Mike’s reveal to Rio about why he really wanted to move.
I don’t see it coming, and I guess that is why it works so well. Again, I could go back to explain how Rio’s career choice means she should have known something was up the entire time, but I’ll try to hold back.
As of now, this show seems that it will fit nicely into my weekly scheduled viewing. Something lighthearted, but not too off the wall like Brooklyn 99 or Two and a Half Men. A show the family can enjoy together and have a good laugh — without having to do much thinking.
On a side note, it will be a missed opportunity if Rio’s mother doesn’t make a surprise visit to Nebraska sometime very soon — causing all the necessary hi-jinks.
What did you think of this episode of Bless This Mess? Will you be tuning in for the next episode? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Bless This Mess airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.
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Charles E Henning
Charles E. Henning lives in a quaint town of Illinois with his ever-loving wife since 1998. He is new to writing reviews, but has over thirty years of fictitious writing for his own personal fulfillment. His interests range from science fiction to character-based dramas, but he is a sucker for anyone in a cape.
One thought on “Bless This Mess Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)”
i dont like the show prime time family viewing and you have these idiots talking about going at it why could you not keep it clean watched the first one and then thought maybe i should try one more i could not wait for this show to come on looked like it would be funny its gross and nasty makes no sense were done
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