Hannah Montana Forever – ‘Sweet Home, Hannah Montana’ Recap
I need to clear the air about one thing before I begin. By no means is this review written by a 40-something year old guy who lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment above his parent’s garage. I’m actually a father of five — four of them girls and three of them being of ‘Hannah Montana’ age. Needless to say, I probably know more about the show than the producers do.
With that out of the way, we now present the fourth and last season premiere of ‘Hannah Montana;’ now titled Hannah Montana Forever. Seems like an ironic title since the theme of this season will be Miley’s decision to continue her dual role as Hannah Montana or chuck it all for a normal life and more mature movie roles. Perhaps the title should’ve ended with a question mark to signify this change.
Although, in this week’s episode there wasn’t too much thinking done about her future. If anything, this was a typical ‘Hannah Montana’ plot line. Taking place a few minutes after the season three finale, Hannah, Lilly and Jackson gush over the new ranch and its features. That is, until Hannah discovers her father transported her old room from Tennessee to Los Angeles. Very nice, except for the bunk bed, pink paint, singing dressers and Rainbow Piggy.
From there, the situation moves into typical Lucy-Ethel territory as Miley tries to find a way to tell her dad that she utterly hates the room. Finding a flashing-light jacket at the prize counter where Lilly now works, one similar to a jacket Robby once wore, she attempts to find a way to obtain the 50,000 prize tickets needed to claim it. After fighting, once again, with a younger child who actually has the 50,000 tickets, she literally ends up pulling Hannah Montana out of her purse to convince the little girl to give her what she wants.
I’ve always found this particular Miley a bit disconcerting for a show whose audience is mainly tweens and teens (and 40-something reviewers). On many occasions, Miley has used Hannah as a means to get her way; whether it be obtaining a driver’s license or tricking a 10-year-girl out of her prize tickets. While this sometimes leads to dire consequences, in many instances she’s rewarded. As a parent it gives the impression that the show is telling its fans that tricking others for something they want is okay. Perhaps too much over-thinking for a sitcom? Possibly.
The sub-plot of the premiere featured Jackson’s continued attempts to nab a girlfriend. This time around it was a new neighbor whose cousin TJ (played by Angus T. Jones of ‘Two and a Half Men‘) said the first thing that came to his mind — and it wasn’t always flattering. Surprisingly, the role of TJ was similar to Angus’ Jake Harper on ‘Men’ — minus the vulgarity, of course. Here’s hoping Jackson finally gets that steady girlfriend.
Beside the ranch, there were other new things about the fourth series premiere. Though the opening credit animation was from last season, it did feature new clips from the fourth season as well as some new looks for Hannah. Gone are the retro 80s fashions of last season. In it’s place are sleeker, more mature costumes that enhance the singer’s new near-adult role. Also new is Lilly’s job at the pier. With the beach house gone and the family six miles away from Rico’s, the pier looks to be the new exterior hangout for Hannah and the gang. And, though it may sound suspicious, I can see Rico’s opening up a branch at the pier any day now.
There was only one thing missing from the season premiere and that was Mitchell Musso, who plays Oliver. Other than a few episodes, Musso will not be a regular on the show’s last season — as seen by his omission in the opening credits. It’s not that he was kicked off the show. Rather, he’s currently working on the new comedy series ‘Pair of Kings,’ which should be premiering on DisneyXD later this year.
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