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.
After yet another momentary hiatus, Bob's Burgers is back and this time it plans to keep you in track. Well, Tina (Dan Mintz) wants you to behave. With the first episode of the year, the show tackles hall monitoring like it has never been done before. There's a whole lot of rules and regulations that make for an ingenious parody of cop shows. It may not be one of the strongest, but whenever there's a moment for Tina to get some power, it always leads to at least some interesting things.
The episode opens with news that Tina is about to get a promotion at school. She is being promoted to a Hall Manatee. What does this mean? Well, there's three forms of thought when discussing the subject, none of which are explored. Instead, Tina gets the honor and decides to chaperon Regular Sized Rudie (Brian Huskey), who is a beginner and needs help. Along the way, Tina gives out tickets, including to her own family.
The controversy sparks when Mr. Frond (David Herman) asks her to take Zeke (Bobby Tisdale) to the office for disrupting a teacher's schedule. Everything is going fine until Zeke asks to use the bathroom, at which point he escapes. Mr. Frond's phone becomes wet and he unsuccessfully tries to dry it in a bag of rice. With help from Rudie, Tina tracks down Zeke and takes him to the office. This isn't without some problems. Zeke admits that his grandmother is going in for surgery and he wants to visit her. However, when Mr. Frond spots them, he cuts any altered plan out of the question.
Meanwhile, Linda (John Roberts) asks Bob (Jon Benjamin) to learn a craft. This results in him going to an art annex and learning how to draw. The one catch is that he has to draw a really old woman. He manages to learn the craft, but ends up with a very disturbing picture of a naked old woman that is now hanging at Bob's Burgers.
With the help of Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal), they manage to sneak Zeke out of the school and get him to his grandmother's nursing home for a visit. Mr. Frond, who doesn't believe that Zeke would do such a thing, tags along. He quickly becomes made a fool when Zeke puts on a show that proves that he was doing what he said he was doing. After getting a demotion earlier, Tina gets her Hall Manatee position back and everyone is happy.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
If the show has one dynamic that continues to work, it is the idea of giving Tina power. While she may seem like the naive, submissive type who simply moans her way through situations, she still proves that she is capable of so much more when given the chance. To her, the honor of being a Hall Manatee at Waggstaff is beyond most other duties she has had before. She has been a journalist and has even catered a bar mitzvah. Today, she takes the law into her own hands in order to not only hold up the code of the school, but do justice for those wrongly accused.
If there has been one thing that I don't like about Bob's Burgers, it is that the supporting characters can be a little obnoxious. I have felt this way strongly about Zeke in the past. I get that these are supposed to be sometimes questionable characters, but the insistence that the show makes that Tina ends up with Zeke is a little baffling. He is too repulsive. However, he manages to work in this episode by simply being wrongfully accused. Admittedly, his final gloating moment that ends the episode is a little much, but it is within the character's style to do so.
In fact, I find it overall an interesting take on Tina being a potential cop. I don't have a lot of expertise on what specific stories they cribbed from, but I do easily see this as a cop parody. It is a genre that I don't feel like the show has used all that much. When it pulls it out, it enters a weird, childish landscape that is full of great moments and a reinvented sense of journalism. In this case, the whole story works as kids just being kids and sticking together no matter what. There's so much charm to the episode that despite being a rather conventional story with an unnecessary b-plot, it manages to bring the laughs.
Who knows what Tina will be involved with next. However, she seems to bring some of the best central episodes in recent seasons of the series. In fact, the general vibe of the series' recent episodes seems to be shifting towards family dynamics and how they work together to solve problems. Yes, they technically are more conceptual, but it seems like the show has realized the formula that has worked in getting the characters to interact in an engaging way and has made the episodes, no matter how conventional, work. With each taking turns as leaders, I get a strong sense that the show has a sense of longevity, at least until it runs out of ways to mix up the Belcher family's roles.
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