Bless This Mess Review: In Hot Water (Season 1 Episode 5)
Bless This Mess Season 1 Episode 5 “In Hot Water,” continues to attack the cliche of in-laws overstepping their boundaries. This is something they made light of since the first episode, but are now getting down to the meat of it.
Since marriage began, mothers-in-law and husbands haven’t seen eye to eye. It also boils over into fathers-in-law and wives, but I think women are overall better at hiding their disdain.
This really stems from two different families with two different sets of morals, trying to cram everything together without context and communication. We all want what is best for our families, and don’t want anyone to get in the way of their happiness.
Rio’s mother, Donna, sees her daughter and husband struggling without a hot water heater. She sees this as an easy fix that she can do without much effort. After all, Donna has to feel a little useless without Rio nearby, so this is a perfect way for her to help from afar.
Donna oftentimes comes off as overbearing, but she only really wants to continue to be a part of Rio’s life. Parents to adult children typically have a hard time letting go, it is normal to not know the boundaries — especially when the child is a newlywed.
Mike finds her constant interference disrespectful.
Speaking as a man, we like to be useful. Men need to be needed. If we are not needed, we often feel like there isn’t any point in us being around — causing us to search for an exit.
Mike thinks he found this exit in moving to Nebraska — far away from Donna — but things don’t work out that easily.
If you didn’t notice the connection here, basically the problem at its core is the feeling of uselessness. Obviously, no one likes to feel useless. We will go out of our way to avoid that feeling and anyone who makes us feel that way.
When someone makes us feel useless, we can react in a couple of different ways. One is distancing ourselves, and another is lashing out. Mike goes for broke and does both.
Unfortunately, this leaves poor Rio stuck in the middle. There is never a good time to make your spouse choose between you and their family. In the end, everyone loses.
When everyone loses, there is little positive that can come out of the situation. Hurt feelings channel themselves into walls built for defense. Once those walls are built, it takes a hell of a lot of time to penetrate them.
Rio: You are the two people I love most in the world. Shut up and figure it out!
The best thing to do in these situations is to find common ground. Mike and Donna are able to do this for a brief second towards the end of the episode, by communicating their true feelings for each other. Of course, this won’t be the end of all their petty spats, but the beginning of mutual respect between the two.
As this show continues to convey to us, respect and communication can go a long way in building bridges between people. Universally this is what people want — generally speaking. You don’t have to like me, but at least hear me out and respect my opinion.
In typical Bless This Mess fashion, this spreads over into other parts of the cast, giving us a heartwarming moment between Constance and Beau. Their reminiscing about Morris is an unexpected, but welcome addition to the storyline.
On a side note, I’m glad that characters have started to mingle more outside of interaction with Mike and Rio. It gives us more depth to the characters and forms a more fully realized world.
Dispersed throughout the underlying story of the episode, Constance and Rudy have their usual awkward moments of screentime. They continue exploring their feelings for each other, without letting the other one know about it. I love these scenes and the fact that they never detract from the main point of the episode.
Their scenes together can actually be seen as a metaphor for the entire show. Two individuals exploring parts unknown, learning to communicate in new ways, all while discovering new things about themselves.
It is rare for a sitcom to be written this well. Heck, there are many dramas on television these days that aren’t able to fit things together this neatly. Yet at the same time, it all seems so seamless and unforced.
I didn’t really expect much more than a few chuckles when I decided to review Bless This Mess, but every week I am surprised by what I am able to take away from it. Each time I turn on a new episode, I think this is going to be the week where they decide to start phoning it in and just do what everyone else is doing.
I’m glad that I’ve been proven wrong thus far into the game. Hopefully, things will continue like this for the rest of the season and well into the next. Yes — we were picked up for Season 2!
What did you think of this episode of Bless This Mess? Do you enjoy how everything seems to tie together? 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: In Hot Water (Season 1 Episode 5)”
what is the name of the red satin weighted blanket in this episode. Where can I buy one? Thank you
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