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.
For the past few weeks, I have been fantasizing the possibilities of the Belcher children finally entering the dating world. It didn't take long for that wish to be fulfilled. However, instead of the kids courting a partner, the tables have turned and answered the question of what exactly could be worse than the fantasies of dating mammals. The answer is not too surprising, but just another brilliant aspect to what makes Bob's Burgers one of the best shows on TV.
The episode begins with the Belcher kids arriving at Wagstaff School for another day. As they wait to enter the building, Courtney (David Wain) and her friends (voiced by Kulap Vilaysack) approach Gene (Eugene Mirman) to talk about a few things. Of course, he is weirded out by her because she sucks too much on her necklace and has a congenital heart defect. When the bell rings, Gene decides to segue with a joke "and now we must get our congenitals to class."
Meanwhile, Linda (John Roberts) is at Bob's Burgers taking care of the place. Suddenly, Gretchen (Larry Murphy) comes in and begins talking about her recent weight loss. The deal is that she can only eat fruit and vegetable skins. This leads Linda to consider possibly losing weight. Teddy (Murphy) tries to stop her, claiming that skinny people aren't skinny because they eat well, but because they are on methamphetamine.
Rumors spread around school that someone like-likes Gene. It starts in the cafeteria and slowly makes its way around the school. This gets Tina (Dan Mintz) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) to start trying to pin point who is the culprit with an elaborate chart. When they discover that it is Courtney, it is almost too late. Their quest for Gene to note date someone that they opposed has already happened. Courtney forcefully convinces Gene to date her and suddenly it begins Gene's quest to break up with her, which is odd because she is creepy and sings Grease songs.
At Bob's Burgers, the kids try and force Eugene to go to another school under the female identity Eugenia. Bob (Jon Benjamin) picks up on this and decides to interfere. He believes that Gene would not be a jerk by breaking up with her. Everyone is insistent, even though Gene doesn't know how. The next day, Bob is driving them to the movies, and Courtney is being annoying as she kicks the back of Bob's seat. He tries to get Gene out of the situation, but Courtney drags him in. That night, he spends three hours with Louise and Tina trying to put together the perfect alibi.
When he thinks that he has it, he goes to Courtney's house, where he meets her father, Doug (John Michael Higgins). He lets Gene into his house and suddenly he is taken aback by everything that he sees. Considered gear heaven, there is an entire room set up with musical equipment and computers that send him into a fever dream of flying in heaven by Moby. Gene convinces himself that he can now accept all of Courtney's flaws as long as he can hang out with Doug's equipment and record jingles of his own. He also tries to use Doug's career as a jingle writer as an excuse to get a record deal.
After being invited to Courtney's party, the family meets at Bob's Burgers. Linda is almost passed out and delusional from the lack of eating. Mort (Andy Kindler) is just watching everything go down until Gene writes a jingle about the mortuary. Gene's big plan is to woo Courtney into loving him with a romantic jingle. Tina and Louise try to write one, but it lacks alliteration and quickly falls apart.
At Courtney's party, everyone is gathered by a stage to celebrate the event. Gene joins Courtney onstage and begins to play his jingle. This goes well until Courtney decides to butt in and duet. Gene ends up cursing her out and wishing that she was dead. This causes her to fall down from a heart attack. At the hospital, Gene visits her to try and fix everything up. He only makes things worse and her heart monitor flat lines. At this point, Doug comes out of hiding and reveals that the whole thing was a jinx. Still, there's no chance in gear hell that Gene can go back to gear heaven. He however is allowed to keep the bedpan. Linda also gives up on her stupid diet, realizing that she hasn't lost much weight.
The episode ends a few months later, Gene is watching TV and he notices that the song he played is in a commercial. This drives him crazy.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This was not quite the love story that I had in mind. However, that is what makes this show great. Romance was forced upon Gene in a way that he wasn't interested in, and the results were catastrophic. Because of a growing connection to her father, the relationship was created on a shallow lie. It is genius how this show is starting to put emotional layers on very simple premises. It works itself into an entertaining hole and spends the last half of the episode amusingly working itself out. It also helps that they are on a roll with the supporting cast and their use of music has only gotten more excessive. I also must admit, Doug's "Bun" jingle that goes over the closing credits WILL be stuck in your head. I guarantee.
I also love the idea of Tina and Louise bonding over the disapproval of Gene's girlfriend. While I feel like the Belcher kids have always had a complicated relationship, I still feel like there is more room for one on one growth. It is also great, because they haven't made issues with Louise being able to see a relationship as something more than a pubescent act. In fact, I would argue this whole episode would have been better had Tina and Louise had more time to talk things out and had awkward revenge talk, as shown in the beginning of this episode.
It is also weird to think that there could be a weirder character in this universe other than the Belcher kids. Courtney is annoying, kind of grotesque, and too clingy. She has some sense of realism written into her, but she is still taking the bizarre relationships of this show to another level. It is also great because Doug, who seems to be so passionate about his job, is an entertaining conundrum that would keep this episode from falling apart. In fact, in an alternate universe, I kind of wish Courtney stuck around so that Gene and Doug could do a spin-off show just about the jingle writing business.
But like most things, it has to fall apart. I also hope that this isn't the end of our exploration into the children's relationships. It may have been an awkward start, but a great one nonetheless. Who knows what would happen if Tina ended up having a whole episode dedicated to her dating life, or if Louise finally gave into boys. There's infinite untapped possibilities here.
I also just love the quick reveal at the end that Courtney did not die, and that this was all to screw over Gene. The cutaway to a few months later was only the icing on the cake.
I just feel like Linda's story was pointless and only used for filler. There was nothing wrong with it, but it served no purpose to the overall narrative and was mostly used for sight gags. I guess that the show needed padding, though I still think Tina and Louise could have filled it out a little better. Also, Bob seemed to be in the back for most of the episode, only providing advice. There is nothing wrong with that, as he has gotten some of the juicier episodes this season. It's just that sometimes the supporting story needs to be there to make the whole episode good, as proven in "the Deepening."
Overall, another strong episode, and a strong case for why there needs to be more jingles in the show. The whole "Bun" routine will get stuck in your head, and you won't be able to think any differently. I also enjoy the continued exploration into these character's psyche and that we're getting closer and closer to seeing why these characters have been so flawed since day one.
Also check out more of my work at http://nerdseyeviewpodcast.blogspot.com/ where I have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.
Comments
Post a Comment