Review: Bless the Harts “Pound Pinchers”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

While Betty and Brenda crash a weight loss program for compliments and end up turning it into a stand up comedy act, Jenny takes on a night shift at her job to prove to Wayne that it’s not dangerous only to end up being robbed by a lady she ends up bonding with.

OUR TAKE

Season 2 rolls on for the rest of the fall with a…Betty and Brenda episode? Well, that certainly wasn’t a combination I was expecting, but it does kinda work. Brenda is often just portrayed as Jenny’s friend and sidekick so it’s neat to see her pair up with other characters and see how that chemistry meshes. In this case, Betty has had a consistent issue with how her age is impacting her looks and self-esteem, while Brenda is shown to be boundless in her own self-esteem, leading to a pretty strong duo who like causing trouble where people are just trying to find themselves again. It’s not the greatest dynamic ever or anything, but it’s neat to see how match ups of certain characters work for the comedy, so maybe we’ll get more of that as the season goes on. Perhaps pair her up with Wayne and see how they bond over something besides their mutual bond with Jenny or even do something with her and Violet. Then again, they seem to not really know what to do with Violet, which makes me curious what her next focus episode will be about.

Though the main plot of the episode, despite the title, is Jenny being stubborn again to prove that she can handle a night shift only after Wayne doubts that she can. Jenny’s insistence that she can do things on her own and aversion to asking for help from others has been a consistent character trait, as well as one of the many things that sets her apart from most of her main character parent peers on the block. Peter and Homer are often very quick to ask for help in a situation they can’t really handle, though Bob has a tendency to go a bit overboard when he thinks he’s on his own. Jenny is right in the middle, having a bit of a chip on her shoulder likely due to the loss of her father and her need to be independent instead of settling with Violet’s rich baby daddy. But we also get to see how she can still make a connection with someone even as they’re robbing her, as seen when she bonds with said robber as she’s leaving. That leaves an interesting spin on things for the episode, and maybe we’ll see that robber again down the line even now that the night shift is done with.