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.
It has been awhile since Bob's Burgers decided to tackle something like the anthology episode. While they aren't always necessarily the strongest of episodes, they do allow for some more creative and out there ideas. Last time saw "The Frond Files" produce one of the trippiest and most enjoyable explorations of the Belcher kids' minds. In this case, it's more of the same with even further out there in terms of weirdness concept that sees the kids produce stories to get Gayle (Megan Mullally) to allow them to go to a concert and potentially meet Scott Bakula. The episode itself isn't bad, but it's a little too familiar to ever truly be interesting.
After an incident at the grocery store, Linda (John Roberts) decides to ground the children. Things are looking bad until Gayle shows up with an appetizing offer. She wants to go to a concert, but her date canceled at the last minute. This results in the three kids getting the chance to fight for the plus one spot. This means that everyone gets to write a story and put to the test who Gayle loves best. After a brief session, she gets to hear all three of their stories, which are varied and fantastical in nature.
Gene (Eugene Mirman) tells a story of musicians who get abandoned by their partners. They are country performers who end up meeting at a bar and perform at a contest. When they win with a snake stuck in Gayle's guitar, they hit it off and become successful. She meets Scott Bakula in the letter O of the Hollywood sign.
Tina (Dan Mintz) writes a tale of four sisters who aren't allowed to marry until the olds, played by Gayle, gets married. When things backfire and she faints when being suited up with a suitor, they decide to try something more drastic. They go to a dance where everyone is doing butt dances. This goes over well until Bob (Jon Benjamin) outside of the story tells Tina to stop telling stories about butts.
Louise (Kristen Schaal) gives a story that is a play on Game of Thrones where Gayle is a cat woman who has flying cats and various other feline-related creatures. She is forced to fight against an opposing team, played by Linda. With Louise in tow, they fight and Gayle eventually wins as well as having Scott Bakula somehow shoehorned into the plot. In the real world, Bob questions if Louise actually ever watched Game of Thrones, which she readily denies.
Gayle ends up having her date show up. This works out, though leaves a question as to why the kids were grounded. It turns out that they are because of an incident in which they tried to make her laugh at the grocery store. In a moment of clumsiness, she fell into a display of tampons and farted. She realizes the point of the joke and decides to unground the kids.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Usually these episodes are good for a chuckle, but I found that this one was oddly flat. It was, as Tina would say, non-canonical. There isn't really much to dissect in this particular episode that hasn't already been explored better in the past. Gene seems to be growing into a frustrated artist who isn't even performing anymore. When was the last time that there was an episode centered around him performing songs? I really miss that and feel like more than any other character, he feels often too secondary during this season. He may occasionally get to allow his song credit to fly, but he manages to churn out a whole set of songs that aren't necessarily as infectious or enjoyable. At best, they say that country music is bad.
I don't really know that there's much else to comment on the other two. Tina is obsessed with butts and Louise is into grandeur. I must admit that the latter of these two is especially odd because I am not a Game of Thrones person nor have I seen an entire episode. I cannot comment on the iconography accuracy. I feel like there's something that's a little isolating about the episode as a result and I don't exactly know what's so funny about it. Yes, Gayle is attracted to cat culture, but I don't feel like any of the humor worked in this case. She is living in a world populated by cats and the jokes are in the ridiculous names. Yes, Louise isn't the best at naming characters, but the rest is very straightforward in a way that doesn't really add much to the overall episode.
Even Tina's love of butts feels sidetracked by a story that is trying to be more creative than it actually is. I will admit that the episode's biggest strength lies in the artistic design of each segment. They are both inventive and fun to look at in ways that are rather interesting. Even if none of them are particularly interesting, to repurpose the entire family in these different roles is a little bit inspired in ways that I am glad to see play out.
I don't know if this is more reflective of me not being a big Gayle fan, but there wasn't much of enjoyment out of this episode. There were three stories meant to pander to one character, who is arguably too kooky for a regular episode. It makes sense why it would happen, but the only real payoff came when they revealed why the kids were grounded in the first place. Otherwise, it was a lot of abstract humor that didn't necessarily add to the context nor deepened the characters in any meaningful way. It is enjoyable from a creative standpoint, but it overall feels like the weakest episode of an otherwise strong season so far.
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