BLESS THIS MESS Recap: 459

Bless This Mess has thankfully been turned from a Summer show to a Fall show which means we are back with season two already! Yee Haw!

In the Season 2 premiere, Mike and Rio host the big event of college football season: the town’s Huskers kickoff party. But no one in Bucksnort believes they can pull it off. They might be right when Rio loses Portia, the pig that’s been selected for the lucky pig race. Beau and Kay frantically try to hide the fact that they’ve split up, with mixed results.

Melissa’s Thoughts

My love for this show surprised me. Leah talked about it enough that I decided to give it a try, but I didn’t have high hopes. See, I live in Kansas. I’m not quite as rural as Bucksnort, Nebraska, but I’d only have to drive 10 minutes to find the equivalent. And as a Kansas native, I’ve been burned many, many times by how folks like me are portrayed in the media. 

So imagine my surprise when I fell in love with a show about hipsters from the big city moving to a farm in rural Nebraska. I don’t know how co-creator/producer/star Lake Bell did it, but she found exactly the right tone for this story. The series revels in quirky characters and pitting the city slickers against the country bumpkins, but through a lens of mutual respect and a sense of wonder and openness that is refreshing and joyful. 

Anyway. About this week’s episode – it was delightful. I loved everything about it, even though I’m genetically predisposed to hate the Huskers because Kansas. 

Leah’s Thoughts
There is just so much to love about this show. The Sheriff and Rudy. Their budding relationship is fantastic. It cracks me up and makes me say “ahhh” at the same time. Never thought anyone would ask Jacob for relationship advice. Mike and Rio working so hard to fit into the town finally paid off – they changed the population sign to add 2 more! Their constant struggle to find out how to make Bucksnort their home in a way that doesn’t take away from who they are is great to watch. Oh and Lennon Parham – I love everything about her. So many lines are funny without being overtly hilarious – I love that.

Parting Thoughts
I never thought about Dax Shepard one way or another – until he and Kristen Bell started dating. I love Kristen Bell – we actually call it the Kristen Bell Effect. If she likes something/someone we absolutely automatically like it. The point is – if it weren’t for Kristen Bell being so awesome I wouldn’t have ever given this show a try and Dax Shepard shirtless and covered in grease is most certainly a highlight.

Bless This Mess airs Tuesday 8:30/7:30c on ABC