Bob's Burgers

The timing of the line delivery felt very naturalistic and "right" this episode. Comedic line timing is hard. But the stuff with Teddy and Bob on the phone in the first half landed perfectly. Not an easy task.

I thought Bob using the sheet metal to hide behind a second panel was clever.

I thought the beefhemoth was dumb.

Weird math problem at the beginning.

I like how the song and the aftershave tied into how Bob found Teddy.

Good concept, strong execution, well-timed dialogue. Solid episode all around. 4 stars.

It's not like this is a bad show, but I guess because The Great North has been having such a terrible year, I forgot how great it is since it's been off the air for a few weeks.

Didn't start off on a GREAT note, with Gene jiggling his stomach. I really cannot overstate how much I loathe Gene. What kills me is the writers don't seem to understand why I do, and keep having him say and do gross and pervy things as if it's funny instead of revolting.

But the episode picked up soon enough. Honestly, although I liked the resolution of the treasure hunt with Mr. Fischoeder, much of it was hit or miss. Or at least the parts that didn't have Logan and his mom. I love his whispering to her conspiratorially, and her asking him if he brushed his teeth.

Louise and Linda had their moments. It's on-brand Linda gets distracted by being sad about dead pigeons.

The Bubble Master is played by Gotham's David Zayas. He has SUCH a great voice, he should do more cartoons.

The wharf performers were all great. It shouldn't be impressive because it's animation, and the creators can literally show us anything they want. But the demonstrations were impressive because the producers painstakingly made them feel real-world credible. A cartoon doing that? No big deal. A real person? I'd be wowed. The show was smart enough to animate the routines as if they were real people. Which is one of the values of the show. Ironically, back in the early days of The Simpsons, that show had a real affinity for realism too. One of the best notes I ever heard about early Simpsons is that Santa's Little Helper was the first dog ever in animation that moved and acted like a real dog. And it's sort of sad to see The Simpsons stepped away from that stuff a bit, and got notably wackier, but this show is sort of following in that part of The Simpsons' footsteps.

But Matt, what about King Of The Hill? Aren't you gonna give that credit for realism? Not really. Simply because the entire thing would play the same both live-action and animated. That's not an actual unique talent / animation conceit. It frankly strikes me as kind of boring. Bob's Burgers doing stuff like this though? I'll take it.

Louise hanging up the reward money as a trophy shows she understands its actual value. And she appreciates it. I love that Fischoeder actually takes the money for the replacement keys and their flair, but let's be real. He's just being passive-aggressive to get Louise's goat. If he actually wanted to screw her he'd bill the family for the part of the pier she broke. The bit of charging Louise 33 dollars for new locks and keys is done simply because Fischoeder is enjoying himself.

Also, I would not be surprised if he knew Louise was never gonna spend that money, and would cherish it instead. Why give her the full fifty then? Why indeed.

I love the joke of the four people wanting to split the burger four ways. And I laughed when Gene suggested five because he could have some. I mentioned I HATE Gene. The fact that he sometimes makes me laugh makes me hate him even more deep down.

Off to watch the current mess that is The Great North: Season 2. If it's as great as this, I'll surprised. And no lie. Happy. 4 1/2 stars.

When I read the episode's premise I was like "This is either gonna be awesome or Megasuck. There will be no in-between."

It was awesome. I LOVE Sam. He is such a realistic and relatable character. And it's still a good night for Tina and I love the episode ending with Jimmy Junior putting his head on her shoulder. No, he isn't good enough for her. But he's there, and he's good enough for now. It felt very real and as if these were real kids.

The stuff with the pallets was less successful, but it wasn't without its charms. I think the biggest complaint I can level against it is that the ending was no kind of twist. It was an inevitability, which I personally find a narrative failing. At least for this.

It was a shockingly awesome episode though. It had the potential to be awful, and did way better than it had any right to. 4 1/2 stars.

What a sweet ending. I love this show.

Rudy's dad is the cutest and I love their talk at the end.

I also love that Louise gets Rachel on-board the cheating plan just by being honest about why she wants to do it. And her telling Rudy why they shouldn't after all is why the characters feel so real to me. Not every episode. But enough of the time that the show still matters.

I thought it was great. 5 stars.

I found this more than a little annoying. About the best thing that can be said is I laughed hard at the part of Bob telling Linda he could see by her face he should have asked more questions. On some level Bob Belcher is probably the best male TV parent. And paradoxically, he's also one of the worst. He relates to his kids better than any other TV dad. And gets steamrolled by them way too often.

I think the thing that bothered me is the moral that the kids thought Gayle was tough. Maybe Louise was right that a good audience tape could make the outtakes for the show. But she was stupid for not just thinking Gayle would be picked, but that she'd win the million. I'm tired of all of the dangerous things on this show occurring solely because Louise is stupid and values dumb things.

The moral is the kids think Gayle is strong? The series has spent over a dozen seasons proving how pathetic, weak, and needy Gayle is. It's not a remotely believable message that the kids think she is tough. Maybe the show thought they had been punching down the character enough, and needed to show some good points. But if you beat down a character hard enough for a long enough period of time, saying the character possesses strength is not believable.

It's ironic but I always buy it when Family Guy shows feats of physical and character strength with Meg. This show doing it with Gayle doesn't work. Why? Because one of the major messages of Meg's abuse by the family is that it's actually undeserved, the entire family is actually everything they accuse Meg of being, and they pick on her instead of having to face that. On Bob's Burgers the viewer sees all of the needy and stupid things Gayle says and does, so Bob thinking so little of her, and Linda being so protective of her is completely understandable instead. Trying to empower that specific type of character simply does NOT work.

The whole thing with Bob and the meatgrinder was stupid too. It was stupid to make it a subplot, and stupid to have Bob bring back the electric meatgrinder to the store. One of the things I don't like about the show is it sometimes tries to show Bob has an obsession with beef to rival Hank Hill's obsession with propane. I think Hank is an insane, stupid, and mostly detestable character. I don't find that aspect of him endearing, and hate it whenever the show apes the same thing with Bob. It sucks.

Bob and Linda are a good couple because she realizes he's right about her rage driving and let's him drive. That's cool.

I didn't like the episode except for Bob realizing he stepped in it just based on Linda's expression. 1 1/2 stars.

"Still got it," is probably one of the best last lines of this show ever.

Man, I like Vincent. I was hoping he was innocent, but him being guilty and getting away with it instead is pretty fun.

I also like that Bosco likes playing with the kids.

Gene is Vincent's least favorite because they've actually met.

Man, the amount of times Teddy's appearances have become a huge wrinkle on the show is why it's good they made Larry Murphy a series regular early on.

Really good week. 4 1/2 stars.

Mr. Frond is a good reminder that almost all of the adults on this show outside of Bob, Teddy, and SOMETIMES Linda, are pure monsters.

That was a PAINFUL reminder of that. The dude plain sucks. Seeing Louise and Tina fuck him up was VERY gratifying.

The stuff with Bob and Linda and Teddy with the scary movie tellings was funny, but the thing is, I often feel like the show makes Teddy TOO stupid. At some point a real person would have known he was being jived. I get it's a comedy, but it's not like the show isn't realistic in other areas.

The final Chuck and Pam segment was divine. Chuck sucks and so do the rest of the adults.

Funny episode. 3 1/2 stars.

I love Ramona. I see why Bob dug her.

Interestingly, I also loved Evelyn. I was unsurprised she WANTED to retire (saving the theater was really something Bob should have run by her first) but I love how to prove her point she asks Bob when the last time he was actually here. Be honest. Yeah, it's time to close. Good memories though. Until we figure out a way to monetize them, they're yours.

Gene and Louise candy stuff started out fun, and then we got to the farty blanket, and I remember why I hate Gene, and why he ruins everything.

Tina's suggestion to Linda to be honest and apologize is so obvious Linda seems like a bigger dumbass than usual that it never occurs to her.

Teddy's mom ate a Gummi and now she's out. They don't say what kind of Gummi, but the implication is clear.

I liked the stuff with Bob. Not so much the stuff with either Linda or the kids. 3 1/2 stars.

What a great ending with Bob and the family smelling his hair. It's both weird and sweet and the episode allows it to be both.

Usually as far as Louise's obsessions go, I am usually annoyed. But her stealth prank was the correct idea, and I'm disappointed the one time she backs down from an idea, it's actually decent, and she does it to indulge an idiot like Jimmy Junior.

The series shows over and over again that Linda is an extremely low-class woman, even by the standards of the rest of her peer group. Her filching half-empty bottles of shampoo from a funeral home's dumpster demonstrates this quite effectively. In case the "Boobity boobity boobity" chants left you unclear on the concept.

I thought Teddy wanting to help Kathleen was as sweet as Linda thought it was. And I'm glad she fixed it because if she hadn't been it would have been entirely her fault. Linda spent the entire episode pretty much being a menace.

Pretty good week. The ending was weird and special. 3 1/2 stars.

I thought that was pretty cool. I think what I appreciated most about it is that I dislike Gene personally. I think he's gross. It was a very good and necessary idea for the show to play his simple nature as reflexive kindness. As gross as he is, there is no meanness to him. And considering I usually hate the character, that is a good thing to remind the audience.

I thought Miss Bisselbend was a pretty good sport. Were I in her place I never would have gone along with it. But she may be a sub who does nothing but show movies, but at least she nurtures Louise's creativity. And Louise being so impressed with the murder dollhouse pictures suggests she had a kindred spirit there anyways.

I don't like Gene. That won't change. But it is essential for the show to occasionally show his good points. Hell, I wish they'd do that more often. 4 stars.

I thought it was great. It's one of those episodes you just aren't sold on at the outset (some of the premises on this show are TOO weird) but it did everything right and built to the end reveal perfectly. This will never be confused for paintball on Community. But I thought it was a lot more psychologically rewarding. Louise stressing strategy is why the idea was interesting and unlike Greendale paintball, which despite being awesome, is a free-for-all madhouse in contrast. Sam being the Big Cheese and him and Tina being the last ones standing shows a little more cunning than the Paintball action sequences.

Linda's subplot is annoying because Linda is always randomly bad at things in ways no non-stupid person would be bad at them. It's supposed to be funny, but it's annoying. They do this exact shtick with Gayle but for some reason whenever they make LINDA the worst its ten times more annoying. If even Teddy is better at this than she is, there's truly something wrong with her.

Do you know what's interesting about this cheese thing? It's basically based on the honor system. It's interesting all the kids play by the rules and take them seriously, and nobody ever tries to cheat.

It's the Tina stuff that made the episode. I won't penalize it for the Linda stuff too harshly. 4 1/2 stars.

The butt song was actually good. Shocker.

I love Fishoeder and the Princess singing Opposites Attract on a piano and harp. I believe Kevin Kline is a good singer so his bad performance was actually a hard thing to do.

I love Louise passing around the bongo at the end to collect donations. There's your solution.

Jimmy's reaction to Ollie and Andy's performance was priceless.

I thought it was a really good episode. 4 stars.