Welcome to TV Recap, in which we look at modern shows and analyze them on an episode-to-episode basis. This one focuses on the cartoon sitcom Bob's Burgers, a very funny show that is capable of rivaling old school Simpsons in terms of irreverent humor and off the wall zaniness. With a cast of modern alternative comedian heroes, the story follows the Belchers as they run a burger joint. Join me as I take part in dissecting the show in its first full season. Check back on Tuesdays for the next exciting installment.
A few months ago, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and star Bob Odenkirk began spreading rumors of a spin-off of the show starring Odenkirk as his Saul Goodman character: a shifty lawyer who will get you off. For the most part, that is what I thought of when it came to this week's episode of Bob's Burgers in which Odenkirk stars as another shifty character who just can't help but take things to their most extreme. In fact, if the Saul Goodman spin-off show is anywhere near as brilliant as this episode (which can be considered a mock presentation of that series), then bring it on, and take the Belchers with you just for luck.
The episode begins in an interesting manner. Bob (Jon Benjamin) and Tina (Dan Mintz) are buying a bulk item of dispenser napkins, which happen to be on sale for a very reasonable price. As they are leaving, Bob notices that the parking lot is empty and decides to let Tina drive around. Tina freaks out and ends up driving into the only other parked car in a very slow, easily avoidable way. They end up walking back to Bob's Burgers, as their car is now in the shop.
There, Linda (John Roberts) questions them on why they walked home. They reveal that the car got wrecked by running into a parked car. However, Bob takes the blame for everything and it causes Tina to groan and wonder why she can't tell the truth. Louise (Kristen Schaal) and Gene (Eugene Mirman) make fun of Bob, who they claim smells a little like wine. To make matters worse, Jimmy Pesto (Jay Johnston) comes over and claims that the car that he hit was his, which only annoys Bob more.
Eventually, an insurance adjuster named Chase (Odenkirk) shows up to get the story. At this point, it has been adjusted as followed. Bob was driving the car when suddenly he noticed that a butterfly was in the car. He was swatting it, not paying attention to the road. A cormorant flew into the car, chasing the butterfly, and caused them to drive into a parked car. As ridiculous as this sounds, Chase just accepts it and decides to have Bob cater his barbecue with his kids, which he claims is destiny.
All of this time, Tina is freaking out. She worries that she is going to hell. Or jail. Or hell jail. She bothers Bob in the middle of the night constantly, wondering when she can finally tell the truth. All of this time, Gene is recording their conversations on his player piano and annoying Bob by playing back snippets. Of course, Tina also panics by just groaning a lot.
Since the car is in the shop, Mort (Andy Kindler) suggests driving them around in his funeral car. When driving Louise and Gene, they begin to notice that the car doesn't have a bathroom. Also, two police motorcycles are following them and a procession of cars. Mort is claiming that he is taking care of a funeral along with driving the two around. However, Gene cannot help but moon the police officers, which causes Mort to be apologetic.
When Mort drives the Belcher family to Chase's barbecue, he demands that Bob chips in for gas, as it is an hour back to his house. He also decides to take a nap in the back of the hearse, which causes Louise to make fun of him for having a weird sense of humor. This causes Mort to just be aggravated for most of the episode about why he is such a nice guy.
At the barbecue, Tina continues to freak out and spends time helping Bob cook burgers. Linda is over talking to people about what she considers the butterfly effect: Bob sees a butterfly and crashes a car. This annoys Bob and tells her to not share these stories. It is later discovered that Linda is not good at keeping secrets, as she once embarrassed Bob by talking at great length about his diarrhea.
Suddenly, the grill that Tina is by catches on fire and soon the whole house goes down in flames. Tina considers herself to be bad luck and only gets more self loathing. She considers herself a fire starter and a jinx.It is at this point that they decide to tell Chase that they lied about the car accident. Chase states that he knew, claiming that this was all in measure of helping each other out. His house insurance was double its worth and wanted to collect money in a way that seemed logical. He thought that they were in on his scheme and now traps them into a web that they can't escape. Now they have to flood their basement to get more money.
They do so, faking the kids drowning as well. Bob and Linda try and figure out a way out of this, but it proves to be impossible. They are in too deep. Suddenly, as they are wrapping things up, Chase is talking to the Belchers about the scam in great detail. As he storms out, Tina reveals that she recorded the conversation on Gene's player piano. This almost clears them entirely and causes the police to take Gene's piano and try to find the message among fart noise sound effects.
The family ends in a relieved state of happiness. However, Louise is upset that Tina got to wreck a car and she didn't do anything. Bob promises her that she can destroy a plate. This leads Gene and Linda to do so, claiming that they never liked them. The episode ends with Bob freaking out over the repetitive gesture.
Rating: 4 out of 5
When the episode began, I thought that the show was going to pull a Rashomon of sorts. I don't know how, as there is only two people, but it seemed like a decent idea. When introducing butterflies and cormorants, that only made more sense. However, I liked where the episode went instead. By having the antagonist of the episode be played by Bob Odenkirk, it already was playing off of a character that he created for Breaking Bad. It wasn't Saul Goodman, but it very well could have been, provided that he was shifty and was trying to get meth heads off.
If you are a fan of Tina, this is the episode that you have been waiting for. Where she has floated from episode to episode having to deal with everyone else, she becomes the central character for most of this episode. If you find her awkward groans and paranoid illogical skills, then this episode is hilarious. The hell jail scene alone is a glimpse into something amazing about how Tina sees herself. Also, this is an interesting point when Bob's Burgers tries to maintain morals and why telling the truth is significant. It is slowly becoming a family dynamic in a very endearing way.
I also like that the show is clever in when they decide to use Gene's player piano. Basically, it comes and goes throughout the series. When it pops up here, it may seem random, but the payoff is worth it. Also, just the extensive gag at the end of the police playing around with the fart noise buttons until they find the messages is excellent. This show really knows how to do lowbrow humor without dumbing things down too much. This is a smart show, and the twist at the end is all it takes to prove it.
I cannot say enough about Odenkirk's guest starring role. Just the whole idea that one lie leads to another is done in such a metaphorical way and based off of the shiftiness of others that it builds Odenkirk's parody of Saul Goodman to another level. The emotional turmoil that causes Tina to panic only works because Odenkirk's confidence exudes off of the screen. In fact, I believe that if you put Saul Goodman in this role, this could very well be that Breaking Bad spin-off that was rumored about this summer. You know what, I think this makes a strong case for the series, and the fact that it is also an excellent Bob's Burgers episode only makes it more of an awesome idea.
This show is slowly become the complex family comedy that I want it to be, and I am glad that they are getting intimate with the children characters now. We knew Tina before, but now I feel like we know her on a more personal level (or at least to the point that the show wants us to know). Mix in some satire, heart, and mooning police officers, and this very well may be proof that while the show is just now finding its voice, it may be the best cartoon in a few years.
And here is an oldie but a goodie that if you haven't seen, you should. It sums up how I feel about this week's episode:
Also check out more of my work at http://nerdseyeviewpodcast.blogspot.com/ where I have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.
The episode begins in an interesting manner. Bob (Jon Benjamin) and Tina (Dan Mintz) are buying a bulk item of dispenser napkins, which happen to be on sale for a very reasonable price. As they are leaving, Bob notices that the parking lot is empty and decides to let Tina drive around. Tina freaks out and ends up driving into the only other parked car in a very slow, easily avoidable way. They end up walking back to Bob's Burgers, as their car is now in the shop.
There, Linda (John Roberts) questions them on why they walked home. They reveal that the car got wrecked by running into a parked car. However, Bob takes the blame for everything and it causes Tina to groan and wonder why she can't tell the truth. Louise (Kristen Schaal) and Gene (Eugene Mirman) make fun of Bob, who they claim smells a little like wine. To make matters worse, Jimmy Pesto (Jay Johnston) comes over and claims that the car that he hit was his, which only annoys Bob more.
Eventually, an insurance adjuster named Chase (Odenkirk) shows up to get the story. At this point, it has been adjusted as followed. Bob was driving the car when suddenly he noticed that a butterfly was in the car. He was swatting it, not paying attention to the road. A cormorant flew into the car, chasing the butterfly, and caused them to drive into a parked car. As ridiculous as this sounds, Chase just accepts it and decides to have Bob cater his barbecue with his kids, which he claims is destiny.
All of this time, Tina is freaking out. She worries that she is going to hell. Or jail. Or hell jail. She bothers Bob in the middle of the night constantly, wondering when she can finally tell the truth. All of this time, Gene is recording their conversations on his player piano and annoying Bob by playing back snippets. Of course, Tina also panics by just groaning a lot.
Since the car is in the shop, Mort (Andy Kindler) suggests driving them around in his funeral car. When driving Louise and Gene, they begin to notice that the car doesn't have a bathroom. Also, two police motorcycles are following them and a procession of cars. Mort is claiming that he is taking care of a funeral along with driving the two around. However, Gene cannot help but moon the police officers, which causes Mort to be apologetic. When Mort drives the Belcher family to Chase's barbecue, he demands that Bob chips in for gas, as it is an hour back to his house. He also decides to take a nap in the back of the hearse, which causes Louise to make fun of him for having a weird sense of humor. This causes Mort to just be aggravated for most of the episode about why he is such a nice guy.
At the barbecue, Tina continues to freak out and spends time helping Bob cook burgers. Linda is over talking to people about what she considers the butterfly effect: Bob sees a butterfly and crashes a car. This annoys Bob and tells her to not share these stories. It is later discovered that Linda is not good at keeping secrets, as she once embarrassed Bob by talking at great length about his diarrhea.
Suddenly, the grill that Tina is by catches on fire and soon the whole house goes down in flames. Tina considers herself to be bad luck and only gets more self loathing. She considers herself a fire starter and a jinx.It is at this point that they decide to tell Chase that they lied about the car accident. Chase states that he knew, claiming that this was all in measure of helping each other out. His house insurance was double its worth and wanted to collect money in a way that seemed logical. He thought that they were in on his scheme and now traps them into a web that they can't escape. Now they have to flood their basement to get more money.
They do so, faking the kids drowning as well. Bob and Linda try and figure out a way out of this, but it proves to be impossible. They are in too deep. Suddenly, as they are wrapping things up, Chase is talking to the Belchers about the scam in great detail. As he storms out, Tina reveals that she recorded the conversation on Gene's player piano. This almost clears them entirely and causes the police to take Gene's piano and try to find the message among fart noise sound effects.
The family ends in a relieved state of happiness. However, Louise is upset that Tina got to wreck a car and she didn't do anything. Bob promises her that she can destroy a plate. This leads Gene and Linda to do so, claiming that they never liked them. The episode ends with Bob freaking out over the repetitive gesture.
Rating: 4 out of 5
When the episode began, I thought that the show was going to pull a Rashomon of sorts. I don't know how, as there is only two people, but it seemed like a decent idea. When introducing butterflies and cormorants, that only made more sense. However, I liked where the episode went instead. By having the antagonist of the episode be played by Bob Odenkirk, it already was playing off of a character that he created for Breaking Bad. It wasn't Saul Goodman, but it very well could have been, provided that he was shifty and was trying to get meth heads off.
If you are a fan of Tina, this is the episode that you have been waiting for. Where she has floated from episode to episode having to deal with everyone else, she becomes the central character for most of this episode. If you find her awkward groans and paranoid illogical skills, then this episode is hilarious. The hell jail scene alone is a glimpse into something amazing about how Tina sees herself. Also, this is an interesting point when Bob's Burgers tries to maintain morals and why telling the truth is significant. It is slowly becoming a family dynamic in a very endearing way.
I also like that the show is clever in when they decide to use Gene's player piano. Basically, it comes and goes throughout the series. When it pops up here, it may seem random, but the payoff is worth it. Also, just the extensive gag at the end of the police playing around with the fart noise buttons until they find the messages is excellent. This show really knows how to do lowbrow humor without dumbing things down too much. This is a smart show, and the twist at the end is all it takes to prove it.
I cannot say enough about Odenkirk's guest starring role. Just the whole idea that one lie leads to another is done in such a metaphorical way and based off of the shiftiness of others that it builds Odenkirk's parody of Saul Goodman to another level. The emotional turmoil that causes Tina to panic only works because Odenkirk's confidence exudes off of the screen. In fact, I believe that if you put Saul Goodman in this role, this could very well be that Breaking Bad spin-off that was rumored about this summer. You know what, I think this makes a strong case for the series, and the fact that it is also an excellent Bob's Burgers episode only makes it more of an awesome idea.
This show is slowly become the complex family comedy that I want it to be, and I am glad that they are getting intimate with the children characters now. We knew Tina before, but now I feel like we know her on a more personal level (or at least to the point that the show wants us to know). Mix in some satire, heart, and mooning police officers, and this very well may be proof that while the show is just now finding its voice, it may be the best cartoon in a few years.
And here is an oldie but a goodie that if you haven't seen, you should. It sums up how I feel about this week's episode:
Also check out more of my work at http://nerdseyeviewpodcast.blogspot.com/ where I have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.
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