Bless This Mess Review: Goose Glazing Time (Season 2 Episode 9)

It’s Christmastime in Bucksnort, and our gifts are laughs and lessons. 

Bless This Mess Season 2 Episode 9, “Goose Glazing Time,” places Mike and Rio in the background, while focusing on their friends and neighbors instead. The episode still comes off strong though.

Beau informs Mike and Rio that he intends to spend the day with his wife and son, celebrating a traditional Christmas as family. I figure almost immediately that this is going to be a disaster. That is a typical Christmas episode after all.

The main character has the best of intentions for the holiday — planning out every nook and cranny to the minute. Then everything goes wrong the second guests start arriving.

Bless This Mess throws me for a loop by tossing that trope out the window. 

Beau comes home to his wife and is nothing less than charming. He shows her that he is a changed man by not only helping her out throughout the day, but also complimenting her wholeheartedly. Beau shows a completely different side of himself that surprises everyone — including me.

The beauty of it is that Beau never seems out of character for it. He is open and honest, but still a little rough around the edges. 

The softer side of Beau is very becoming, adding a thick layer of development to the character. This is rarely seen in a sitcom — especially this early on. 

Kay can’t help but see this change in the man that she still clearly loves. It is pretty obvious, and she would be blind not to see it.

This is what we all need to add to our relationships — effort. 

Effort dies out after years of being together. We become comfortable and inconsiderate to each other, figuring that this is the way life is — just deal with it.

The truth is, this isn’t the way life has to be. Love doesn’t have to settle for less, and in fact, shouldn’t!

When someone shows an effort to change or evolve in a relationship, it screams love. Any tiny notion that factors in tells the other person that you want to make this work, no matter how hard it is.

That at its core is all we want, to know someone cares enough to fight for us. 

In a world where we often feel meaningless and worthless, we just want to feel important to someone. When we don’t feel important to the ones we love most, we seek that acceptance somewhere else. This is what leads to affairs, workaholics, and drug abuse.

Beau: Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

When Beau makes his efforts towards Kay, the barrier between them comes down temporarily, leading them to connect physically on the spot. 

I have a love/hate situation with this resolution. It is nice to see the two reconnect with their basic desires unleashed upon each other, but in a way, it feels like Beau is being “rewarded” for good behavior.

If not paying close enough attention, this can be seen as manipulative. While being nice to your partner may very well lead to sex, it shouldn’t be the reason why you are nice.  I don’t believe this is what the writers were trying to convey, but the logic can certainly be twisted that way.

Effort begets effort, just like love begets love — plain and simple. 

On the other side of the episode, we have Rudy and Constance being torn apart by Constance’s mother who comes by for a surprise visit.

All mothers want what’s best for their children, that is especially true when it comes to love. After getting her own surprise from Rudy, Constance’s mother begins berating Rudy with questions. 

These aren’t the normal “get to know you” questions she should be asking, but instead are prying questions that are honestly none of her business. Caught up in the moment, Constance makes up a little white lie to meet her mother’s approval.

Constance and Rudy quickly find out that there is no such thing as a little white lie when things avalanche into a big pile of deception, leading to a departure to Mike and Rio’s house. 

This is a lesson in itself. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Constance’s mother had no right to pry into Rudy’s financial stability. Unfortunately, Rudy and Constance make a bad situation worse by telling her exactly what she wants to hear. 

Things get hilarious pretty quickly as Rudy tells Constance that Mike and Rio’s farm is actually his farm. It is great how he gives Mike and Rio a backstory that mirrors his own in every way.

I can’t believe that Mike and Rio go along with it for so long — especially when he treats them like literal slaves. Rudy goes all out to sell this lie,  which shows an effort of love for Constance reflecting back to the Bowmens.

Except that Rudy gets it all wrong. Misplaced effort can still speak love, but that doesn’t make wrong actions right. 

Throughout the antics, Rudy digs himself deeper and deeper until Mike is caught stealing a leg off of the Christmas goose. The way Constance’s mother talks down to Mike when she believes he is stealing is downright despicable. 

Her words hit home for Rudy, making him feel useless and unworthy for Constance. Mike swoops in to save the day by telling her that belongings don’t make the person. 

Mike had all the power to destroy the lie right then and there. Like a good friend, he chose not to. He understood that if he dispelled the deception, little good would come from it.

Instead, he corners Constance and convinces her that facing up to her mother and confessing is the right thing to do. Good friends know our hearts and what is best for us. Mike uses Constance’s own strength to get her back on track.

Eventually taking the much-needed advice, Constance gives her wisdom with a dose of feminism that I can easily get behind. 

She simply speaks the truth.

Constance is well off on her own and doesn’t need any man to support her. The only thing she needs from Rudy is his love. 

Wow, the truth in that is astounding. You can be the wealthiest person in the world, but if you don’t have love you may very well feel poor. And you can not have a penny to your name, but be rich in your family’s love. 

At the end of the day that is what people will remember about you. Not your money or possessions, but how you made them feel.

If you made them feel loved then they will remember you fondly — and not what you had in your wallet. 

All these truths hit home, giving us a special warm holiday cheer as Mike and Rio cancel their isolated holiday and join their neighbors for Christmas dinner. They all realize in unison that Mike and Rio are now part of their family known as Bucksnort.

While I don’t shed a tear as the credits roll, I feel satisfied with the happy ending. It makes me feel all is right in Bucksnort and the rest of the world — at least for the night.

What did you think of this episode of  Bless This Mess? Did it put you in the Christmas spirit? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Bless This Mess airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.

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