Bless This Mess Review: Knuckles (Season 2 Episode 16)

Bless This Mess Season 2 Episode 16, “Knuckles,” centers around unintentional insults and how we deal with them. To be honest, this subject hits home for me quite hard.

When Mike and Rio get invited on a camping trip with Kay and Beau, Mike brings out a large box of odds and ends to sort through. He hopes some of the things in the box can bring them entertainment while sitting around the campfire.

As Mike picks things out piece by piece, he makes a somewhat random statement about how he used to start so many things and never got around to finishing them. Listening intently, Rio agrees with him with one small exception — she claims he never finishes anything.

I am very much like Mike in this situation. I can belittle and make fun of myself all day long without batting an eyelash. I can’t draw, sing, and even put on a few pounds recently.

See, coming out of my mouth, it means so little. Yadda, yadda, yadda, I’m less than perfect.

Hearing a tone of agreement and raising it a notch is what becomes the killer. 

Typically when we insult ourselves in front of other people, it is either to get a laugh or a compliment. I’m sure Mike is thinking in the back of his head that Rio will chime in any moment and put out the emotional fire he creates for himself. Instead, Rio pours a bit of lighter fluid on it.

When these emotional fires get out of hand, we tend to spread them everywhere we go. We want to burn everything in our path, or at least let those close to us feel the heat.

Mike does this by stomping around for a while, obviously in a pouty mood. Again, this is me, just ask my wife.

I bang plates, sigh loudly, and exaggerate my motions — just to signify everything is not okay in La La Land. 

It is hilarious to see Mike do this because when you do it yourself, it is nearly impossible to see how ridiculous you appear. It looks like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Let me keep that in mind for next time.

Mike does all these things, yet still manages to one-up me by actually setting out to finish some of the things he hasn’t completed at an earlier date. While this is a positive outcome, it isn’t for the right reasons.

Mike is aiming for spite here. His intentions to prove Rio wrong power him throughout the day, allowing him to put up a tent, crochet a scarf, and even set out on a fishing expedition.

The power of anger can be life-altering, just don’t let it alter you in the wrong way.

Rio, seeing that she accidentally lit some sort of fuse inside of Mike, does her best to stomp on the wick — but to no avail. This isn’t something a few nice words can smooth out because there is an amount of truth in it. To be frank, nothing hurts like the truth.

As Rio discusses the situation with Kay and Beau, she insists that establishing a simple line of communication with Mike will mend fences and save the rest of the weekend. Beau knows that it isn’t that easy to fix a man’s pride — duct tape may fix a lot of things, but it won’t fix that.

Still, Rio goes down to the lake and tries to coax Mike into forgiving her. 

She says the right things and gives her best effort, yet only makes the tiniest of dents in the situation. 

The positives she tries to focus on are quickly knocked down by Mike with very little effort. Mike feels the truth is exposed, and he doesn’t want to cover it up too quickly.

His lack of skills in the fishing department only seems to put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence.

Usually, we like to be right, and we want kudos from everybody when we are.

Oh, Charles, you are so smart! Only you could have figured out a complex riddle like that all by yourself! Bravo!

But when we are right about the wrong things, it takes a hell of a lot to overcome it — mentally and physically.

Realizing that only time and effort will work this problem out, Rio vows to stick by his side until he catches one damn fish. This proves to be more difficult than initially intended.

Rio: When people tell me about my character flaws I genuinely appreciate it.

A night on the lake still gives Mike zero results. Looking to end this thing at a more accelerated pace, Rio concocts either a fool-proof or foolish plan, depending on how you want to angle it.

When Mike catches her in the act, Rio tries to play it off in an attempt to protect his feelings.

This is common in most couples. We often try to guide each other down a certain path, moving obstacles in and out of view to make the final destination seem natural when it is actually handcrafted.

When the blinders come off and we are exposed as frauds, there are so many different ways we react. Lashing out and lying are just a few.

After a minute or two, Rio comes clean and hashes it all out with Mike.

They have a meaningful conversation, setting aside lies and sugarcoated facts — focusing on the truth.

The truth is Mike oftentimes gives up before hitting the finish line, but he hasn’t given up on the most important thing — his marriage to Rio.

Going back to the statement I made before, this all boils down to the result of an unintended insult. Jokes are made, things implied, and before you know it, someone’s feelings are hurt. 

Emotions are tricky like that. We think because everyone has feelings and emotions they are all the same, but the reality is that every single person feels differently about nearly every situation. 

Our environment and upbringing factor into how we react to any given situation. If Sally comes from a household of domestic abuse, she is going to take something different out of a situation than Billy, who was brought up in a warm and caring environment.

It is just basic math.

Unfortunately, Rio doesn’t do her math ahead of time. She assumes since she likes it when people bring her character flaws up to her, Mike will feel the same way. When he doesn’t, the two get into a messy situation that spreads quickly.

In the end, they learn a lesson about themselves and each other. This, in turn, provides the means to create bridges instead of barriers. Closing the gap instead of broadening it.

The question remains, does the end justify the means? In this case, I believe it does. 

Sure there is bickering and zany antics aplenty, but the only real meaningful part of the scenario is the takeaway.

Divorce over irreconcilable differences is never discussed — so I call that a win.

Okay, maybe that is a little too dramatic to base a battle over, but you get the point.

Nothing is said that can’t be taken back, and the couple is stronger because of what happened. 

A fight that causes learning always outweighs a fight that causes only turmoil. And that is a plain fact.

What did you think of this episode of Bless This Mess?  Are you more like Mike or Rio in this episode? 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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