Bob's Burgers

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.

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.