Mommie Daughter Disaster

Bob's Burgers, S03E10

Linda was trying too hard to bond with Louise, forcing her to take a mother-daughter seminar against her will.  Louise eventually broke out and escaped to the nearby laser tag place while Linda and the other adults were trapped in a locked room.  Bob also helped Tina get rid of some unwanted leg hair since Linda was too busy to help Tina shave.

I hated how aggressive Linda was being, but I loved Louise's resistance.  I never noticed that the two didn't exactly see eye to eye, but it was made really clear that Louise prefers dealing with her father more than her mother.  I really liked how this has always seemed to get under Linda's skin.  I can't imagine a child not getting frustrated with a mother like that at some point, so this story made a lot of sense to me.

There wasn't much to like in the story, but I was disturbed by the seminar activities.  It was beyond weird that they were feeding kids with tubes tied to their mouths to symbolize the umbilical cord.  That was topped by this "vagisack" the kids were forced to exit out of like they were being born.  I can't imagine that doing anything to a child except traumatizing them.  How was that supposed to bond mother and daughter?  It was ridiculous and made the guy running it lose a lot of credibility.  It was too bad Linda was obsessed with bonding and "winning" as a mother that she didn't see that sooner.  I was happy when it all ended and Louise made Linda chill out a bit.

The whole episode wasn't good, but I did find Bob spending time with Tina to be really cute.  In general, it was just adorable how much the kids like Bob, opposed to Linda.  He's just their big, goofy doll to play with. Particularly, I loved when he and Tina got their legs waxed together and were holding hands.  It was even better when Gene got jealous of the "special treat" Tina had gotten and Bob took them back to the salon to get his legs done too.  Bob is such a pushover with his kids--I like that.  Tina sort of ruined the moment by being Tina-like and thinking that her leg hairs were her friends (it reminded me of her sympathy for that mechanical shark--she'll befriend anything), but it was still good side story.  It even ended well because although Tina expressed her regret for the waxing, Louise was jealous of the good time they all had, and all the kids wanted to go to the salon again and make "regrettable" decisions with dad the next day.  It makes me happy to see that even though Louise bonded with Linda, she still prefers to hang out with Bob.

I guess this episode wasn't terrible, but I didn't like it much.  Anything that has to do with Linda trying too hard to do something that seems impossible (like getting Louise to think she's her best friend) is not one I'm going to like a lot unless it means that Linda learns an amusing lesson.  Luckily, Bob's time with Tina added some value to the overall story, but not so much I could overlook the main story. Still, thank goodness for Tina because I can't imagine watching this show without her.