Exposing Edison's Elephant

Bob's Burgers, S03E16

Louise's new science teacher and head of the science fair refused to let Louise use her recycled volcano as a project and forced her to do a new presentation about Thomas Edison.  Thanks to some hints from the librarian, Louise learned about a controversial experiment that Edison conducted that she could use in her project to crush her teacher's pride in Edison.  Bob and Linda also argued about who made the better spice-related invention.

There's nothing more I like than Louise scheming to get back at someone, eseicially if they are an authority figure.  Once I saw Dinkler crush her volcano, I knew that Louise would stop at nothing to teach him that you just don't do that to her without paying the price.  I liked how hard Louise pushed to expose Edison's cruelty to animals, even while endangering her own sister.

I particularly liked that the librarian first suggested that Louise look up Topsy, but he kept being really secretive about it.  He would whisper things to her that contradicted what he said in his normal voice.  He sounded really crazy and made it seem like the Topsy incident was this big conspiracy that only Louise could expose.  However, when Louise later accused him of being responsible for her trying to speak out about Topsy, the librarian wouldn't help her escape the principal's room and said that he was blameless because he always tells people about Topsy.  I don't know what his real reason was for wanting to lead her to that topic, but I liked that he got her riled up yet kept himself on the sidelines from all the trouble.

I think the best part was when Louise finally escaped and got Teddy to set up the sparks again during the musical performance Gene and Tina were doing.  Although Tina had been freaked out that the yoga mat melted the first time they did this, she still went through it.  She had me fooled too when she was knocked out on the floor after the lights came back on.  I liked that everyone was worried about her, even Louise who had been too blinded by her revenge to notice that she had nearly killed her sister.  Tina turned out to be just be acting very well, and Mr. Dinkler was indeed crushed by performance of Topsy being killed by Edison's experiment.  He spent the rest of the night crying in the bathroom--mission accomplished.  Also, I liked when Bob told Teddy that he nearly killed Tina and Teddy casually apologized for that.  It shows that Louise was just thinking of destroying Dinkler if she thought asking a screw-up like Teddy to handle the electrical aspects of her project was a good idea.  He could have killed all of them.

One other thing I liked was when Bob was watching Gene and Tina sing.  He noticed right away that it was Mr. Fischoeder and Gayle's voice coming out of their mouths.  He was the only one distracted by that.  It did look sort of weird seeing Gene and Tina prancing around with a different voice coming out of their mouths.  I was glad that Bob mentioned that.

As far as the "spiceps" and "spice rack" inventions, I agreed with Gene who said that they both looked ridiculous.  It's weird that Linda thought she could improve on Bob's creation instead of just trying to discourage him from talking about it in the first place.  Making her own version of his thing only made Bob more convincned that he needed to prove that his idea was good.  It was really childish that they both took their inventions to the fair and set them up along with the other kids.  I don't know how that was even allowed, but with Dinkler in charge, he was probably mostly concerned with shutting Louise down.  The craziest thing is that either Bob or Linda's invention won the science fair.  I don't really care which one it was, but that must have been some kind of horribly low-caliber fair if that was the best project.  I mean, second place was Andie and Ollie's counting of hairs on the head--what?  It's not unreasonable that two middle-aged people could have become the winners, I guess.

This was a pretty good episode.  It's always good to see Louise going after someone for revenge.  She's really good about becoming obsessed with making someone pay and making sure that the payback has enough sting to it to make her oppressor regret crossing her.  The funniest thing is that the librarian convinced her to do the Topsy expose, yet he refused to take any blame in all the trouble that Louise had caused.  It was great to see her take down Dinkler, even if Tina was in a little danger.  All of her scheming and Teddy's shoddy electrical work made the story interesting from beginning to end.  The spiceps and spice rack weren't that interesting, though, but it's strange that one of them was able to win the science fair.  It really shows that Louise and the others go to a rather stupid school.

Best Friend Toilet

Bob's Burgers, S03E15

Gene, after losing his chance to care for a flour baby, happened upon a super-intelligent toilet and befriended it as he began to care for it.  Their friendship was compromised when a dangerous man started stalking Gene, wanting to take the toilet back.  Bob also found that while wearing a suit he had gotten from the funeral home, he was more popular and attractive than he ever was without it.

Gene taking care of a bag of flour was doomed from the start.  An egg would have just been impossible--he has the grace and delicacy of an a drunken ox.  Now, Gene and a toilet are about the best match I could think of, without considered something imaginary.  It having the ability to speak and do things like play music is just a bonus.  It felt very natural for Gene to be out in the middle of the woods talking to a toilet like it was some random kid he had just met.  The only thing I thought was weird was that the toilet was able to work fine without being hooked into anything.  I mean, it was charged and all, but how would one actually use it to relieve fluids?  Where would those go if flushed?  I don't know.  I kept wondering about that the whole the time.  Good thing Gene never used it to pee.

I thought Gene assembling his friends and family to help the toilet escape Max Flush was pretty cute.  It was a nice parody of E.T.  It was definitely thinking outside of the box by replacing the alien with a toilet.  I haven't seen that version yet, so it helped keep my interest throughout.  I also liked how the kids managed to lure Max away with one of their friends dressed as Gene and by leaving a decoy on the ferry.  Those kids are good.  They would have been rid of the guy for good if he hadn't been able to swim back to shore.  You would think that Max would have caught up to them sooner, but they are damn smart.  I like when they band together to do some kind of operation, like when they were selling peeks at the nude beach.  They need to do more projects that involve the kids plus their friends.

It was almost sad when Gene had to part with his new best friend, and when he told it that he loved it, the toilet kept saying "Vomit now."  No matter if you felt a twinge of sentiment for the bond Gene seemed to have formed with the toilet, you couldn't possibly not find the tiniest bit in humor in their final exchange.  It was almost as if the toilet wanted to vomit from Gene getting overly emotional at the end.  I'm glad it happened as it did with Gene yelling futiley to express his feelings and the toilet just thinking he needed to toss his cookies.

I liked Bob's story as much as I did Gene's--that was a pleasant surprise.  Bob isn't the most respected or good-looking guy around, so to see him have people nearly treating him like a celebrity because of a suit was bizarre, but an entertaining story.  It was amazing that he was being given free drinks and women were flirting with him.  The same guy who looks like a hairy bowling pin.  I thought Linda might spoil his fun, but she seemed just as dazzled by Bob in his suit as strangers were.  I felt sadder when he had to part with the suit more than Gene had to with the toilet.  I mean, that suit really improved his life.  It's a shame that police officer recognized the suit--Bob deserved to live in the glory of his clothing a little longer.  I think it's the best thing that's happened to him in a long time.

There was also a line earlier in the story that I liked.  Louise had an amusing reaction to his suit:

Wow, Don Draper's kinda fat this season.

Suggesting that Bob even looks like a fatter version of Don Draper is a pretty damn good compliment.  I mean, Louise isn't known to say very nice things in general, so that's as about as good as he's gonna get.

I liked this episode.  It was one of those rare ones where I wasn't irritated at anyone and the story wasn't centered around events of bad luck.  Gene having a best friend that was a toilet was a surprisingly good match, considering how unusual Gene is.  It was also one of the better E.T. spoofs that I've seen in a while.  I wish that Bob had a little more time with his suit, though.  He's never going to get the money or success to be as respectable and beloved as he was on his own, so it feels like that was his one opportunity to shine.  But I guess since Gene had to say goodbye to something he loved, it was only fair that Bob would have to do the same.

Ya'll All Need Part-Time Jobs

Bob's Burgers, S03E14

Linda took a job at a grocery store to help the family with finances, but Bob failed to encourage her and show that Linda was crucial to the restaurant.  She started off part-time, but when Bob gave her a bad employee review, she took the full-time job as shift manager. Tina also met a mysterious boy in the dairy fridge and used his band-aid to find him when the two parted without exchanging information.

I can't believe that with the way that Linda has to bounce so many checks with their debtors that Bob thinks that they hadn't gotten to the point where they needed another income from another job.  Seriously?  They should have had Linda (hell, even the kids selling newspapers or something) working a long time ago.  I think that Bob was just too proud to admit that his restaurant simply doesn't do well enough to keep his family afloat.  After all, he has a wife and three children to support.  It's no time to be prideful.

Anyway, Bob could have had Linda back at the restaurant sooner if he only realized how much Linda does for his business.  One of the most interesting things she does is keep the restaurant at the perfect temperature.  I think that Teddy was overreacting when Bob was adjusting wrong, but he definitely doesn't have the thermostat finesse that his wife has.

Speaking of Teddy, the only part of this story that was really funny was when Bob had to close his restaurant down because of lack of meat and electricity and Teddy refused to leave.  Bob was treating him like a cat and shouting at him to go, and Teddy just wouldn't leave.  What the hell does Teddy even do?  He always seems to have time to lounge about Bob's restaurant all day with unwanted and dubious advice.

One other thing that was sort of funny was when Linda told the customers that she didn't like them.  One guy commented that of course he could hear her because she was on a microphone.  I liked that Louise sort of made that guy feel bad for making her mother look a little dumb:

[Louise] She told me that she hates you the most.
[Customer] Whaaat?

It was sort of sad that Linda thought she was showing Bob a lesson by leaving the restaurant to himself (which she was), but she ended up showing that she is not management material.  She usually manages her own kids, who have good reasons to listen to her orders, unlike employees who will use any old excuse to get out of work.  I can't believe that she actually gave everyone the day off and was left alone in the store.  It was strange to me that people didn't start rioting and leaving with free stuff sooner than they had.  I feel a little bad for the boss who had to come back and find his store in ruins, thanks to Linda.  Bob couldn't run his restaurant too well without Linda, but he didn't exactly destroy the business.  Linda probably put Fresh Feed out of business.

Tina's story was so weird.  Not surprising, but still.  That was completely gross that she kept that kid's band-aid and was using it like a glass slipper on some random kids that showed up to the restaurant.  And who the hell are these kids who were enticed by that flyer she put up?  I can't believe that she got that many people in the first place.  Must be nothing else going on in that town.

I guess her nasty efforts were fruitful, though.  She met the boy again, learned his name, and got a kiss.  I don't know if it will develop any further than the dairy aisle, but since it's Tina, who cares?  That's a victory for her no matter how she got there.

This episode wasn't too bad.  It was sort of nice to see Linda out of the restaurant for a change.  It showed that there is a worse place to work than Bob's restaurant.  This story also showed that Bob would be shut down in a second if he didn't have Linda handling the banks and such.  He really is thick-headed sometimes.  Tina's band-aid version of Cinderella was a little gross, but at least it had a cute ending.  Tina could use a boy in her life to concentrate all of her weird affections on.

Finding The Love Tester

Bob's Burger, S03E13

Bob took the kids with him to find a better Valentine's Day present for Linda.  It became sort of a wild goose chase when they had to find an old love tester at a restaurant in town, but didn't know which one it was.  Linda also held a speed dating session at the restaurant, hoping to help Teddy or Mort find love for Valentine's.

One of the best things about this story was that the kids kept manipulating Bob into taking them along for the shopping so they could help him get the perfect gift.  Bob is such a softie.  I don't think his kids are impossibly smart, but they are definitely smarter than Bob at times.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they just didn't want to go to school.  I thought Bob would eventually put his foot down and take the kids home, but he kept getting swept away by the "adventure" and their reasons why he didn't have time to take their to school.

Another thing that I liked was when Bob was recalling the story of his "first" Valentine's with Linda.  He kept messing up the story details, making it confusing before it even started.  It was funny when Gene accurately told Bob that he was the worst storyteller.  Indeed, since the story wasn't about Linda in the first place.  I'd cut him some slack, though, because with the shitty life he's living, he probably can't even remember when his life wasn't ruled by his crazy-ass family.

Finally, I liked that despite Bob had wasted money on a gift from a memory that wasn't about Linda, Linda thought the whole thing was romantic.  She may drive me crazy with her voice and personality, but at least she loves and understands Bob.  He surely wouldn't have gone that far and let his kids play hooky if he didn't think it was going to sweep Linda off her feet.  Since I usually feel like Bob's efforts are under-appreciated, it was a nice change to see that Linda didn't do the obvious and freak out about him mistaking an old girlfriend for her.

The worst thing about this story was that it involved Hugo, and he was being his usual dick self.  He outdid himself by not just refusing to tell Bob which restaurant the love tester was at, but also by selling it to Bob for 5 times what Hugo had paid.  I really hate him.  I wish that he hadn't found out that Bob wasted his money on the thing too.  It makes Hugo's victory over him all the better for him.  But I guess that Bob's the real winner because his gift was a hit, and unlike Hugo, Bob has Linda by his side.  Still, I wish there was something bigger to shove back in Hugo's face.  I hate how he keeps popping up at the worst time to make Bob's day unnecessarily worse.

I didn't really care for Linda's story.  It was annoying that she was using her voice as a buzzer instead of a real one.  It is funny that her voice is more grating than a buzzer, though.  I sort of liked that when Bosco was ruining the romantic flow of Linda's dating service, she got cuffed for taking his gun and waving it around.  She tried to do something good and got punished for it, basically.  I was a little satisfied by that outcome, even if Linda was set free.  Linda's idea of speed dating was just weird, and it needed to be stopped one way or another.

This episode wasn't too bad.  It was sort of interesting to see Bob and the kids trun around town for something as odd as a lover tester, but I hated that their main obstacle in getting it was freaking Hugo.  It all worked out in the end, so I can't complain too much.  Since Linda's speed dating attempt was pretty much a failure (even if Teddy did get a number), it was good enough that Lina managed get a romantic surprise from Bob.  It was long overdue with all those cheesy hearts Bob kept giving her.

Tina's Poop Scoop

Bob's Burgers, S03E12

Tina started reporting about a serial pooper at school in her own newscast when the school news channel pushed her to the background as just a juice server.  Gene also started dressing and acting like Bob when he saw that Bob once looked like Gene at his age.

I was reminded in this episode how much I hate Tammy. Not only is she dressing a little too flashy for her age, but she's the type of girl who doesn't want anyone to shine except herself.  I don't know if the teacher would have given Tina the position of anchor if Tammy hadn't sabotaged her (since Tina isn't naturally filled with energy and celebrity appeal), but she might have been taken seriously instead of being looked upon as a burden.

I admired that Tina went after a real story, even though no one wanted to listen to her at first.  She was genuinely interested in journalism and informing the student body about important events happening in their school. It's just lucky that it turned out to be something so disgusting and grabbing like someone going around the school dropping dukes wherever they felt like.  I was really happy that Tina's reporting was making her popular enough that the news crew who had shunned her was jealous enough to try to frame her.

I don't know if Zeke has always had a thing for Tina or if he's just a nice enough kid to poop in public for her sake.  Either way, it was sweet that someone else was on her side.  Of course, Louise was one of her biggest supporters and even tried to get a little payback on Tammy at the end.  That was one of my favorite parts when Louise pushed Tammy toward the poop.  That would have been a really awesome ending, but unfortunately Louise hadn't pushed her quite enough.  Damn.  Still, I loved that Louise tried.

It was also sort of sad and cute that Tina had such a repertoire with the school janitor.  Like, she is by no means overflowing with friends, so it's not that surprising that she would befriend a staff member.  Still, I wish that she had someone around her age that would laugh at one of her jokes even if that person didn't understand it.  Tina has a lot to offer as a friend, and it would be nice if more people noticed that.

As far as Gene was concerned, he was being his typical pain-in-the-butt self.  I felt like I could feel Bob's anger with Gene imitating him in a way that wasn't cute at all.  Of course, the rest of the family indulged him and made the whole thing much worse than it had to be.  All Gene was doing, really, was insulting his father 24-7, and he looked sort of like an asshole doing that.  At one point Gene said that the family was terrible, but he still loved them in what he assumed was a Bob-like fashion.  Although Bob was mad he said that, I gotta agree that the family is terrible, but Bob does still love them all the same.  I mean, he'd be terrible himself if he didn't love his own family (since it's not like they are murderers or spitting in his face), but I often think that Bob would be so better off if he ran off one day (not unlike Archer in that episode--the real Bob himself could use a spa day).  Bob's just lucky that Gene doesn't stick to one annoying thing forever and can be distracted enough by poop to stop playing his father like a fool.  And I'm lucky, too, because I couldn't stand to watch it much longer.

This episode wasn't bad.  It made me like Tina a lot more and remind me of the many characters on this show who I wish would fall into a hole in the center of the Earth.  Really, the writers are geniuses at creating characters who are so irritating.  However, even though I generally like the shenanigans that the kids get into, I have to say that they can be pretty irritating themselves.  This is particularly true of Gene, who takes his jokes on further than is necessary or funny.  I'd love to see an episode once where him constantly making fun of his father brings him more unpleasant consequences.  Sometimes someone needs to slap some sense into that boy.

Archer Does Bob's Burgers

Archer, S04E01

The team at ISIS found Archer, but due to his memory loss, they tried to gradually remind himself of his spy life by staging a fake attack on his life.  When the fake attack turned into a real attack by the KBG agents after Archer, Lana and Archer had to work together to hold them off.

It feels like it's been forever since the season finale.  I didn't remember at all where we had left off, so I didn't know what to expect.  However, I was absolutely thrilled when I saw it started at Bob's Burger shop.  Freaking awesome!  I mean, I don't like that show so much, but to see that Archer was going to parody it when Archer is voiced by the same guy as Bob (H. Jon Benjamin is such a good actor), was amazing!  Archer had this mustache that oddly suited him as he flipped burgers in Bob's outfit and was talking to Louise, Gene, and Tina drawn in this show's style.  It got even better when Linda popped up and she was the same voice as from Bob's Burgers.  The kids didn't talk at all, but I sort of liked that (because you know those kids have never been quiet for that long in their whole lives).  I absolutely loved the way the were drawn too--the art style on Archer is really pleasing to the eye, so it was interesting to see Linda actually attractive.  Like, in this universe, I could see how Archer might marry her even with three kids attached.  Haha.  Another thing that was funny was that he was talking about the kids and he couldn't remember Tina's name.  That was on point.

I think I forgot how violent this show is.  It has to have been a while.  Watching Archer as Bob murder four guys with a spatula and coffee pot was great.  It made me think if they did this on Bob's Burgers, I might like it tons more than I do right now.  I just wonder since Archer did marry Linda is he just going to leave her forever or is he going to stay with her (at least on paper?).  Probably not, now that I think about Archer.  He's not the type to do the decent thing.  Unless he was just thinking about their safety in general because Archer is a magnet for death and destruction.  Oh, and it was funny how after Archer had killed all those guys you saw a slight smile on Louise's face.  Now that is really like her character--the real Louise would have been praising Archer up and down and asking him to teach her those moves.

I was so impressed by the beginning that I didn't really care too much what happened in the rest of the episode.  I sort of hoped that Archer wouldn't remember because he's an asshole.  Not that he wasn't a bit of a jerk as Bob, but he wasn't as bad.  But I couldn't imagine how the show would work with him continuing to think he needed to go shopping for cheese and stuff.

The only thing I liked was that Barry was shown.  I forgot how much I like him.  He's freaking crazy and apparently still stalking Archer from outer space.  Damn, when he gets down finally, Archer's going to get his ass kicked again.  Hopefully, they'll realize that Barry is monitoring their movements before it's too late.

Um, got to say I loved this episode because of the parody.  I watched it for a second time and I was still laughing and enjoying the cross-over.  I think this was really necessary to get me invested in the show again because I'm still having trouble remember what happened last season.  But right now if they keep doing cool surprises like they did in this premiere, I think I can still go along with this show no matter if I'm not quite up to speed yet.

Worse Than Hugo

Bob's Burgers, S03E11

Bob thought he had it made when Hugo quit his job to join the nudist community on the new nude beach until the new health inspector was threatening to shut him down unless he let him play his terrible music at his restaurant.  Louise, Tina, Gene, and Darryl worked together to sell kids from school looks at the nude beach from afar.

Once I saw that Hugo was going to be in this episode, I was ready to be really annoyed throughout.  Instead, I was happy to see Hugo get off Bob's ass and go find a new hobby besides nitpicking on Bob's restaurant.  Unfortunately, they only hire crazy people to work at the health department, I guess.  Tommy, with his horrible and sexual songs and pockets full of bagged rat crap was far worse than Hugo ever could be.  Sure Hugo needs to be punched in the face for making Bob take a seminar on how to clean his hands (count to a thousand while washing your hands?? Ridiculous!), but at least he didn't blackmail Bob.  It made me realize that Hugo is an ass, but at least he's an ass who respects the job he's doing.  In that respect, I guess I can't hate him as much anymore.  I still hate any story where he's going to keep coming around--he just won't get over his rivalry with Bob.

I did like that Tommy was played by Fred Armisen.  When he was singing those gross songs, it was slightly funnier in his voice than if it had been someone I didn't recognize.  However, I think that Fred's expressions and body language are a big part of his comedic genius, so as just a voice he wasn't as half as funny as he would have been.  But this is a cartoon, so what can you do?

Another thing that I liked was when Mort come to the restaurant, opened the door and heard Tommy for like a second, and then immediately closed the door and walked away.  I loved that he was that terrible that someone didn't even need to listen to him long enough to understand what the hell he was singing about.

I hated that there was a nude beach in this story because Bob got naked--eww!  I could overlook his weird-shaped body if he wasn't so damn hairy everywhere!  It made it worse that he was doing a bunch of different kind of events that were awkward to do like the human wheel barrel.   I guess it really shows how much Bob wanted to stay in business and get rid of Tommy if he was willing to push a guy around while having a close up view of his business like that.  The naked sumo match between him and Hugo was equally disgusting.  It was a good place for Bob to lose and throw in the towel.  No one should have to have that guy naked on top of them.

As for the kids, there's not much to say about their peeking business.  It's just nice that they didn't get in trouble for it and were able to keep kids interested in looking despite that all the people at the beach were old people that they initially didn't want to see.  It was also cool to have Aziz Ansari back on the show as Darryl, even if he didn't have a crucial part.  It lets me know that he can possibly pop up again for an additional appearance down the road.  I like the idea of him contributing to the shenanigans of Louise and company.

I would say that this episode was good in showing a different side of Hugo, but that side was his bare behind and I could live not seeing that again.  That goes double for Bob and his hairy ass.  The best thing about this episode was that there was minimum Linda.  There were a couple of guest stars, but they didn't really enhance the story that much.  However, I am hopeful now that we've seen Darryl for the second time that he'll be joining the kids again soon.  Any excuse to throw Aziz into the mix sounds good to me.

Yes, Chris Is An Idiot

Family Guy, S11E09

Chris caught Peter and Lois talking about how dumb he was, and they tried to rebuild his self-esteem by sending him to a camp.  Chris picked Space Camp, which was mistakenly put in his brochures to choose from, and he quickly found out that he was miserable there.  The family came to bring him home and got trapped in space when they toured an active space shuttle before leaving.

 Chris being dumb is nothing new.  There's been many episodes about him struggling in school and such, but this time he just got sent away to camp.  Even though he went to Space Camp, it still wasn't very interesting, overall.  I mean, it didn't even help that the family got sent into space by mistake.  That part just seemed really unlikely and too much of a stretch for me (which is saying a lot because Peter sent himself up into space at one point when he got free gasoline).  But I realize that their problem was just an excuse to show that Chris had learned something and wasn't as dumb as dirt.  That's all well and good, but it didn't do much for me in the comedy department.

The jokes didn't have much impact on me, but there were a few that stood out to me.  The first was the one about Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I did like that he remarked that he was writing stuff to ruin the ninth grade for everyone.  I'm pretty sure anyone who completed high school could relate to that.

The second was when Chris called from Space Camp and wanted to come home and Peter also called.  Apparently Stewie was bullying him at the gym.  I didn't expect it to be his own son, so that joke wasn't too bad either.

The last I thought that was semi-funny was when Peter was being passive-aggressive about his annoyance to come pick Chris up at camp:

We spent thousands of dollars to send you here and made two trips to Florida in four days.  I'm glad we had you.

Usually I don't like when Peter's being a backhanded asshole, but in this situation it worked.  I think because I can sort of imagine a lot of parents who think this sort of thing when they agree to retrieve their kids from camps and whatnot.  Personally, I would make his ass stay.  Or at least say something worse than Peter to make Chris feel bad about it.  Haha.

They poked some fun at two things that I approved of.  One was Bob's Burgers.  They were horrified that the picture of Bob was turned in for Chris's art project.  Sometimes I forget that they're on the same network because the shows are so different.  But it's nice that Family Guy can get around to mocking all of the cartoons on FOX and not just The Simpsons.  The second that they mocked was Russell Brand.  Can't stand his ass, and they made his success seem dependent on simply an accent rather than his talents.  Even if they were just kidding, I agree with that.

There were also some racist jokes that I didn't care for.  The one about not being the black guy to stay alive wasn't too bad, but I think the one about the Chinese guy in the Japanese company was as bad as I was hoping it wouldn't be.  Really?  We have to show a guy with the hat, the teeth, and the water buffalo?  But I guess if they want to make sure that it's seen as a joke, they needed to go a little over the top.  Still, it would have been nice for them to do the opposite of what I was thinking they would do.  

Last, I just wanted to say it was kinda gross that Chris wanted to watch Peter and Lois have sex.  Uh, eww!  Even if he was curious, it's so freaking creepy.  And he was being obvious about it by listening by the door (which they should have closed if they were going to bad mouth any of their kids--they should know by now that they don't have any privacy with kids floating around).

I didn't care for this episode too much.  The jokes weren't that great and it focused too much on Chris.  He's not particularly boring, but we have seen a few stories already about him being an idiot and proving that he's probably not as bad as at least his father.  I'm just thankful it wasn't a Meg episode--the last one made me content not to see anything about her for a good while.

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.

Mannequin Love

Bob's Burgers, S03E09

Bob was left a storage unit from a deceased relative and found a man named Chet living there.  The family took him in until Christmas and got a lot of business thanks to Chet's talent for making eye-catching window displays.  The family was forced to help find Chet's mannequin wife when Bob refused to believe's Chet's story about being a mannequin and the town was expecting a final Christmas Eve display.

First of all, I was really reminded in this story about how broke Bob is.  He couldn't even afford to give Tina a dry-erase board, the most financially feasible of his kids' Christmas requests.  I think sometimes I forget how poor they are until something like this makes it obvious.  In the end when the kids were happy to get things like exit signs and shoe sizers, you can really see how they are low on funds but imaginative enough to appreciate such meager gifts.  The family may be annoying, but at least they're not spoiled.  After all, they gave up their Christmas money so a crazy man could have his "wife" back.

Second, I'm glad that Bob at least didn't believe Chet's story.  It would be cool if he was an actual mannequin (and possibly explain why he is so good at creating displays), but people just tend to be insane in the town where Bob lives.  I sort of wished that there would have been some good evidence to prove that Chet was just crazy, so that Bob wouldn't look like a jerk.  I mean, why does he have to humor the guy?  Yes, he was helping their business tremendously, but surely that kind of behavior has to be destructive.  Bob was trying to help him, as Chet had helped Bob.

Third, I sort of liked Chet's displays for some reason.  I guess it was because the kids got involved and were forced to freeze-frame in a holiday-themed pictures.  My favorite was when they were elves.  I guess the kids just looked cute.  Then again, when Chet was depressed about Nadine and made this horrific scene of a disemboweled snowman and reindeer below an elf that had hung itself, I really loved it too.  I don't know if I could technically call it a display since they never used that one.  Still, as sick as it was, it was pretty good.  Especially the ketchup bottle squirting to make it look like blood coming out of the snowman's neck.  My least favorite was the nativity scene because it turned out to be a "love-triangle" fight and a make-out session with a head.  The latter was especially gross.  I don't mind if the guy wants to love an inanimate object, but no one should have to watch him actually kiss it.  I mean, it's a little funny he was doing that while dressed as Joseph and the mannequin dressed as Mary, but not more so than it was gross.

My favorite joke in this story was when Chet kept pointing out that Bob and Linda were loud whisperers.  They also needed to back up a bit if they were going to talk to someone because both times Chet mentioned this, they weren't that far from him.  I also thought it was sort of funny when Bob was yelling at the kids to stay when Linda tried to make them go so she could scold Bob for hurting Chet's feelings.  Linda won in the end, but the kids were at odds at which parent they should listen to for a while.  Plus, I just like H. Jon Benjamin yelling sometimes.

I would say I liked this episode, but I think I was mostly annoyed that Bob was treated as heartless because he wouldn't believe a ridiculous story.  Still, I liked the displays Chet made and the fact that the kids showed that they could be selfless to help someone.  If anything else, at least this episode was different.  You don't see many Christmas stories about mannequins, I guess.

Even Gene Could Do Better

Bob's Burgers, S03E08

Gene ended up dating a girl that he didn't particularly like because he didn't know how to reject her.  When Gene finally had enough of dating her, he lost his resolve to breakup with her when he found out her father owned a bunch of audio equipment he allowed Gene to use at his leisure.  Linda also went on a strict diet that made her super-hungry all the time.

Sometimes it's good to be reminded that Gene and the others aren't the most annoying kids in this show.  They did a great job with Courtney's character because I couldn't stand her ass.  Her voice, her snorting, and especially that disgusting habit of sucking on her necklace--she was repugnant.  Even someone like Gene who is kind of disgusting and irritating couldn't hold a candle to Courtney.  She was the girlfriend from hell.  She was also really freaking clingy--I can't stand that.  It was pretty funny that even Bob agreed to drive Gene away because he hated her.  I felt as mad as Louise that Gene was letting his love of gear get in the way of a really sensible decision to cut her off.

I don't know if wanting unlimited access to Courtney's father's stuff was worth hanging out with her for even another second.  Sure, it was heaven for Gene, but he also had to endure hell with Courtney.  I don't think it was a fair trade off.  Luckily, he didn't take too long to find that out for himself.

It's kind of wrong of me to say, but I sort of wished Courtney had died in that hospital for real.  Yeah, Gene was being a jerk for leading her on and embarrassing her at her own birthday party, but that bitch was over the top annoying!  And she literally cornered him into going out with her.  There was no way he could have said no without looking like an asshole.  And in the end he still looked like one, so I guess it's one of those damned if you do and damned if you don't situations.

It was messed up how Courtney's father stole Gene's song six months later.  Really?  It's not like he broke Courtney's heart (that bitch already had the next boyfriend in mind once Gene dumped her)--that wasn't right.  But I guess it does teach Gene to not so carelessly give away his "genius" works for anyone to just steal.

Linda's diet was ridiculous.  It made a good point about those crazy fad diets where you can only eat a certain thing.  I don't know why anyone would do one of those when they make the person unsatisfied and have little success of working.  Even if they do work, you'd gain that weight back the second you stopped eating skins or whatever the flavor of the month food was.  I'm glad that Linda sort of came to her senses.  She had to have a horny old man tell her she looked good (because Bob's opinions never matter) before she allowed herself to chase after mashed potatoes again.  Her story in general was just like a fly buzzing around your ear and not very interesting.

This wasn't one of my favorites, just because I've had enough of Courtney.  I just wouldn't want to watch her again sucking on her damn necklace or opening her big mouth.  The story did give me some perspective on how I see Gene, though.  He's not that bad when I think about Courtney.  Linda, as usual, fails to bring a good story that's mainly about her acting crazy.  I doubt I'll see the day when one of her stories is entertaining.

Tina Needs To Chill Out

Bob's Burgers, S03E07

Bob made Tina lie about a car accident that she had caused so they wouldn't have to pay more insurance, but Tina's inability to live with the lie made the situation difficult.  When they finally decided to come clean, their insurance adjuster turned out to be a crook who wanted Bob to help him commit insurance fraud.  Mort also offered to drive Bob and his family around while Bob's car was in the shop.

It's nice that Tina has such a big conscience, but she is freaking ridiculous.  Essentially, Bob was the one at fault for letting someone as uncoordinated as Tina drive even in a near empty parking lot, so she shouldn't have felt so much guilt for him lying and taking the blame.  Burning down someone's house, on the other hand, is another story--I wouldn't feel great about lying about that.  Still, I wanted Bob to like tape her mouth up or something because she kept acting like her heart was going to explode if the truth didn't come out.

I can understand why Bob didn't want Linda to know what was going on because she is such a loudmouth!  I really hate that about her.  I hate it even more because she doesn't do it out of spite, but it's almost a natural thing she does without thinking.  And she finds it funny and doesn't take much remorse to the fact that she embarrasses Bob.  Hearing her sing that "diarrhea song," made me want to slap her.  Ugh.  And then they had her singing an extended version at the end.  I just hate hearing her sing (or talk, really, haha).

Chase was a scumbag, of course, but I still sort of liked him.  Maybe it was because before I knew he was doing insurance fraud, he just seemed like an agreeable guy who could believe the stupid story that Tina made up or could forgive Tina for burning down his house.  He really didn't do anything of these things, but still he wasn't that much of a jerk (especially to a lot of the regulars on the show that Bob deals with).  Sure he blackmailed Bob, but he was going to share the money with him.  And if Bob hadn't tried to lie in the first place, Chase probably wouldn't have taken Bob in as his partner in crime at all.

I didn't think they would be able to get rid of Chase, but it was nice that it was Tina who managed to outsmart him by recording his plan for the crimes.  It seemed only fitting that Tina should solve the problem when it was sort of her fault.  I mean, even a screw-up like her should have been able to avoid one car in that whole, big space she was driving.  And even though she barely caused any damage, it was her nagging that made Bob have to leave a note and eventually get insurance involved.  It was really the least she could do.

The little story about Mort wasn't that interesting.  Louise and Gene were driving him crazy, and Mort was feeling taken advantage of, even though he was the one dumb enough to offer his services.  It was good that it didn't turn into something dramatic, thanks to Bob and the others leaving him a gift basket.  There was enough drama going on with the insurance fraud thing.

I guess this was sort of a good episode.  I stayed interested because I worried that Tina was going to blow Bob's cover, and there was a nice twist with Chase being the one trying to cheat the system.  I hope we don't soon see Tina in this kind of situation again--she is the worst person to collaborate with on a lie.  I'd rather her stick to what's she best at:  being creepy and awkward.

Never Let Fischoeder In

Bob's Burgers, S03E06

Bob convinced Mr. Fischoeder to buy a mechanical shark from an old movie to use as an attraction at his park.  After the kids knocked over the shark, letting it loose to rampage on the streets, Bob took responsibility to stop it before it destroyed the town.

There were two things that really annoyed me with this story.  The first was Mr. Fischoeder.  I'm starting to think that whenever he appears that means there is going to be trouble for Bob in the disguise of something profitable.  Bob could have gotten some good publicity for his restaurant, being the person behind the idea for the shark attraction, but of course, Mr. Fischoeder (I'm gonna call him Mr. F out of convenience) barely even let him have that.  Then he just threw him under the bus as the one responsible for the shark going around town breaking things.  Technically, Bob's kids did knock the thing over, but it wasn't Bob who didn't make sure that there was someone to properly operate the thing.  Man, Mr. F is such an asshole.  The other asshole was Hugo.  Wow.  While offering no solutions to put an end to the shark, he was full of criticisms.  I really wanted him to shut up or get "eaten" by the shark.  Nothing worse than someone wanting to complain about an issue but not wanting to help make it any better.  Plus, his voice just makes it worse (although I enjoyed that voice in Home Movies).

The only thing I could say that I liked about this story was near the beginning when Bob was trying to remove a bike that had been parked on the street too long.  The owner didn't appreciate Bob doing so and tried to prove his point of ownership through showing his ass as a receipt:

[Bob] That's not a receipt.
[Louise] Where do you shop??

That was about the only good thing I found in this episode.  I sort of appreciated the fact that they were sort of spoofing Jaws, but it wasn't as if this was a really good spoof or anything.  It was just an obvious one.

Not a terrible story, but far from one of my favorites.  I'm really starting to hate Mr. F and am over seeing him for a while.  Hugo isn't someone I want to see very often either, but at least he's more of an irritating fly that won't go away rather than a wolf in sheep's clothing (Mr. F really "f's" Bob over when he gets involved with him).  I didn't mind the spoofing, but I didn't think it was the best parody of Jaws that I've ever seen.

Thanksgiving Whores

Bob's Burgers, S03E05

Bob and his family agreed to pretend to be a cook and part of the Fischoeder family in exchange for five months free rent.  Although the charade was going well, Bob began to ruin it when he was angry that his family failed to spend any time with him doing the Thanksgiving traditions that he looked forward to every year.

What I was reminded of most in the episode was how much that Bob really treasures moments with his family, even if he likes to do cheesy things that his family doesn't care for.  I can understand completely why they would jump at the idea of getting free rent just for acting (because let's face it--this family loves to play characters and doesn't need much convincing to do so), but I couldn't help but feel like Linda and the kids were complete jerks in this story.  The kids were halfway motivated to ignore their dad because Fischoeder had bribed them with a Chuck E. Cheese like prize system based on how well they displayed their phony love, but I still couldn't forgive them.  I guess it was because Bob was acting so crazy getting drunk off absinthe and befriending the turkey he was cooking and looked really pathetic by himself.  Just felt bad for him and thought about how he has such an exhausting family to deal with.  It's funny that I still consider him the one who's most in touch with reality when he was the one mourning the death of cooked turkey that had been shot.

There isn't much else I responded to in this episode except Lina's horrible Thanksgiving song.  Her terrible voice only intensified the horrible lyrics.  It was really weird that when she was trying to sing it at the dinner table that all the kids decided that it would be a great time to do their individual dances of love for their fake father.  Why?  I mean, Bob was on the table trying to compete with Fishoeder to make a speech, Linda was destroying eardrums with her song, and the kids thought that was the best time to dance?  I don't know.  I guess it just shows, as usual, that this family is just crazy and that when one person gets out of control, it encourages the others to follow suit.  It was a little painful to watch and not too funny.

I did slightly like, though, when the family gathered around Bob when they thought he might be shot.  They regretted acting like rent/prize whores and ended the whole fake family thing.  At least when things get to the matter of life and death, they can put aside their greed or whatever and focus on what's important.  If they hadn't, I seriously would have been pissed.  They need to treat Bob a little better.  They way they just screw him over sometimes isn't too funny.

I think the concept of this story was pretty good.  I just wish I could have enjoyed Bob being neglected more (which could have been achieved by his absinthe illusions being funnier and less sad) and found the rest of the family funnier.  However, I will say that this was a pretty good Thanksgiving story that managed to not hit your head over with the holiday and focus more on the eccentricities of Bob's family and his landlord (and the weirdo women Fishoeder likes to date).  I think maybe I'll like the episode a little more if I watch it again.  It was just watching it that first time I just couldn't help focus on the selfishness of Linda and the kids.

Held Hostage On A Cruise

Bob's Burgers, S03E04

Bob was invited to be a guest chef on a cruise boat, but declined.  The captain tricked him into agreeing to a single night that led to Bob and his family being trapped on the boat at sea.  While Bob battled the captain for his freedom, his family enjoyed their time on the boat with their own individual interests.

This was an episode full of creepy things.  I enjoyed it a lot not because it was funny but just because of the premise.  Bob got kidnapped with his family on a cruise and seemed to be the only one concerned about it.  His family was especially oblivious to the situation, only enjoying the benefits.  Linda and Louise weren't too insane with how they spent their time, but the other two were really creepy.  Tina, who kept wanting to be massaged by a cute guy, was no surprise, but Gene falling in love with a non-human puppet was hard to overlook.  That was on the same level creepy as some captain keeping Bob hostage because he wanted to eat his burgers all the time.

 Captain Flarty, although a sicko and clearly insane, was pretty funny because he was voiced by Jeffrey Tambor.  I've always thought he was a strange guy in a good way, so to have him on the show was very welcomed.  It was really funny when Bob had asked Louise to help him distract Flarty and his men from finding him, but she instead managed to lead them right to him.  I just generally enjoyed Bob running around the ship trying to escape, even though there were few places to hide (and of course, while he was being locked up and running around his family didn't take any mind).  It's a good thing that Bob finally managed to get Duvall to speak up about the insanity going on behind the scenes because Bob really looked like he was going to be on that boat for the Puerto Rico trip and beyond.

Gene's fascination with that manatee was so freaking wrong.  More than that, the guy working the puppet was such a weirdo.  I don't care if he was trying to scam Gene out of some money--what kind of guy tries to flirt with a little boy using a puppet?  It's not a crime, but it's definitely in the gray area of being appropriate.  The puppeteer was voiced by Paul F. Tompkins, who is no stranger to being a bit of a creeper.  So his character was very believable as a creepy scumbag.  I had hoped once Gene learned that he was being fooled that he might forget about his "love affair" with the inanimate object, but he kept the eye and was making a hand be a puppet.  Ugh.   I wish he had just thrown that away.  It's very rare that someone can steal the spotlight from Tina for making me cringe and feel all together uncomfortable, but Gene's behavior won hands down.  Since I'm already used to Tina, I'll take her any day over anyone else exceeding her "normal" activities.

I still don't think this show is that funny, but it has some stories that are pretty good.  This one is almost on par with the previous episode where the kids were working on a weed farm.  I really liked seeing Bob be the only voice of reason, while everyone else was choosing to live in denial.  Usually Bob freaking out while everyone ignores him is frustrating, but this story made his tendency to overreact work well.  I hope they do more stories that work out this way because it's a lot more interesting than their usual ones.

Working Irony

Bob's Burgers, S03E03

Bob realized that his childhood was terrible because he was always working and fired his kids to help them not have the same experience.  Bob hired Mickey, fresh out of jail, to replace them.  The kids failed at having summer fun and got a job unknowingly at a weed farm.

I was surprised that I recognized Bill Hader's voice in this episode, but failed to notice Nick Offerman's.  I'm so used to him talking in that stiff Ron Swanson voice that any other inflection he uses totally throws me off!  I doubt I would have noticed Megan Mullally (although I wondered about her character because she obviously had a good singing voice), but I'm disappointed I didn't pick up on Nick at all.  But still, it was nice to have these guys on the show.  Hader just sounds like someone up to something sketchy so he's a perfect fit for Mickey (who I don't remember if he was actually in earlier episodes).

I wasn't that surprised that Bob didn't have a great childhood.  He does seem a little stiff, but it might explain why he sometimes has some childlike tendencies from time to time (like how he got obsessed with that video game, even if that was partially out of spite).  He never really got time to be a kid, which was evident with his soap dog and spatula plane.   But I thought it was sweet of him to worry about his own kids being warped and giving the opportunity to have fun during their summer.

It's ironic in a good funny way that Louise and the others could not for the life of them figure out how to have fun without working in their dad's restaurant.  Bob thought he was rewarding them, but in fact, they were tortured by the pressure of having fun.  I mean, when they can't even jump rope without an accident, they are doomed.  It's really strange to me because they seem like they could find fun in the most bizarre ways without having being told to do so.  So I was shocked that they stumbled.  But it doesn't surprise me they were able to find an illegal job to replace their other job in no time.  I have to keep reminding myself they are little kids and wouldn't catch on that they were drug mules.  That twist also worked for me.

I also liked when Bob was missing his kids being around the restaurant.  He always seems to be stressed out by their shenanigans, but in reality he really depends on them in his business for support and entertainment.  I liked that he gave Louise credit for coming up with the better names for the burgers, even if they pushed the envelope.  It was nice to see that firing his kids wasn't just hard on them, but Bob as well.

This was a pretty good episode.  I wish it were longer, though.  I would have loved to see more of their drug deliveries before they got busted.  Or see what happened to the kids after the DEA busted the weed farm.  I enjoyed the guest stars, even if I didn't notice who they were at first.  I feel like this story almost made me understand why this show is kinda popular.

Maybe My Favorite One Yet

Bob's Burgers, S03E02

 

 

Teddy threw a Halloween party and kept all of his guests there to find out which of them killed his pet guinea pig.  The kids went trick-or-treating for the first time by themselves and went out to King's Head island in search of better candy.  They got their wish, but were in danger of being pranked by the local high school kids.

I didn't care much for the story about Teddy and his "murder mystery" party.  It was basically just him being stupid and Bob trying to lie himself out of a bad situation, but eventually coming clean.  I guess if I had to say something that was slightly amusing, it would be that Teddy was really harsh on the mailman with uneven legs and called him "Wobbles" at one point.

I liked the experience that the kids had in King's Head.  Not only did they get to enjoy having full-sized candy bars over there, but unlike their parents, the kids over there could recognize what their costumes were.  Edward Scissorshands is a pretty cool costume, by the way, and Gene's Queen Latifah U.N.I.T.Y. days costums also gets some props.  Then I just liked that things took a turn for the worst (as I would assume because these kids can't stay away from trouble) when the teenagers came out for Hell Hunt.  It was funny that they were known for throwing balloons filled with pee at the younger kids, among other unpleasant things.  I'm a little surprised that Tina stopped Gene and Louise when they had an opportunity to make a clean getaway and was more surprised that they didn't end up getting drenched in pee balloons because of her conscience getting in the way.  Luckily, these kids were sort of smart enough to lure the dumb boys away with a phony text from a girl.  Actually, I should say that Louise was the smart one until she took it too far.  But I'm sort of glad she did because putting hot sauce in kids' underwear is great idea.  Too bad only one of the boys was wearing underwear.  They were also lucky that when their prank on the teenagers was discovered that the friends they had saved came to save them.  Full circle.  Nicely done.

This wasn't a bad episode, and I usually think the opposite when watching the show.  I'm nowhere near love or anything (I can't see that happening), but I guess even this show can surprise me sometimes.

The Bunny Ears War

Bob's Burgers, S03E01

 Louise battled with a teenager who stole her bunny ears hat.  The family was granted a favor from a group of bikers who visited Bob's restaurant after the funeral of their leader.

I think it was wise of them to start of the new season with a story about Louise, who tends to have the better stories.  I didn't love this story, but I did like seeing Louise a little unhinged and fighting with an older boy who she was beating at his own game until he took her hat.  I was just surprised that Louise didn't do anything physical to him while she was stalking him to get her hat back.  I would have at least expected her to take a bat to his knees or something.  She may be small, but she is quite vicious.  So to see her struggle to get it back seemed unlikely to me.  I mean, she's been known to do crazier things.  I suppose her thinking that she could get the bikers to cut off the boys ears falls within the more likely range.  But still.  Louise is just a little girl but I expected more of her nonetheless.

There's not much more to say than it was a sort of stupid resolution at the end with Mudflap giving birth and making the two quarreling families and the biker gang make up with each other.  I was pretty happy that Louise booed Bob for saying that they should all work to be better neighbors.  Ugh.  I would have rather seen that stupid teenager's parents get beat down! What a rip.

Well, I don't expect to like this show any better this year.  It still is a wonder that so many people like it.  Maybe its comedy is over my head or maybe the characters are too endearing to the majority of people.  I just don't get it, but I'll still watch because it's something to look at before the Seth MacFarlane hour starts.

Not Too Keen On Gene

Bob's Burger, S02E09

Bob got a spot on a cooking segment on a talk show, but the real appeal of the show was not Bob's culinary skills but Gene's goofing off while he dawned a Sasquatch mask.  The two soon battled against each other, with Louise's help, for a larger piece of the fame.  Eventually Linda's inappropriate exposure brought an end to their fight before it escalated any further.  A boy named Nathan was also stalking the host of the show and dated Tina briefly to get closer to his target.

I don't think that Gene is too annoying usually, but when he was wearing a Sasquatch mask it really amped up his middle-child neediness for attention.  His latest attempt to get someone to notice him might have passed by like his other uninteresting stunts, but thanks to Chuck and Pam's show, Gene became a local celebrity and continued acting like a hamburger version of the damn Cookie Monster or something.  I wouldn't have minded Gene cutting up if it seemed like he was adding to his father's image instead of making him merely a subject for Gene to humiliate.  So for a while, I enjoyed that Bob was getting revenge by making Gene eating things like kitty litter and hair burgers, but Bob was getting his fair share of pranks in return, so it quickly became meaningless.  I usually don't say this but thank goodness for Linda who pulled out her boobs.  Their stupid brawl would have become a show within itself if she hadn't.  Gene and Bob are much better when they are fooling around in the kitchen rather than on some TV show.

The best thing about this story was also the creepiest.  From the moment Nathan started talking to Tina, I felt like I was seeing her male twin.  It was obvious that he was after Pam, but I didn't think he was the crazy, scheming type of stalker.  Which is why I didn't think he would ask Tina out, especially because she (even though she is so bizarre) was so creeped out by Nathan moaning like a weirdo.  It was funny to see that Tina is not desperate enough to date a boy like him long enough to be used.  This is one of the reasons I like Tina because she's aware of her value, even if others' can't see it.  However, the only thing that Nathan saw in her was that she was someone who had access to Pam, and when she wouldn't help him get close enough to "lick her hair," he decided he would dress up like Tina.  That was disgusting for some reason, even though he could easily pass for her (since I believe that most people don't watch Tina close enough to know exactly how she looks).  I liked that after Tina found out and took Nathan down, both she and Nathan were removed from the show's set by security.  Nathan was unbalanced, but at least he made the episode a tad bit funnier.

This episode didn't make me a fan of a Gene-centered story, but I'm willing to see another one before I write him off because perhaps he can be a little more entertaining when he's not acting like an animal.  I'm starting to think it will become a pattern that a Tina side story will strengthen many of the weaker main stories.  This time, it definitely did, and I'm sure that it will happen again.  I wonder if next time they might do a Louise-centered story.  Although I don't find her as interesting as Tina, I think that would be a much better story than what was shown this past Sunday.

Tina Gone Wild

Bob's Burgers, S02E08

Tina became friends with a new girl named Tammy who began to have a negative influence on Tina.  Tina just wanted to get closer to Jimmy Jr., but Tammy was blackmailing her with Tina's erotic stories about their classmates and forcing Tina to hang out with her while breaking school and home rules.  Tina ended Tammy's terror by beating her to the punch and reading her stories to the whole school herself.  She was ridiculed only until Tammy stole the spotlight through her uncontrollable farts.  Bob also was obsessed with patty cake after seeing a Cake performance with Linda.

I don't know if I've ever watched someone be so unnervingly awkward doing their puberty.  Her stories of grabbing butts is just so uncomfortable to see.  I mean, I guess it's better than something truly erotic and nasty, but finding out that Tina has tons of stories written in this fashion is unsettling.  But I'm impressed by the way Tina could express herself creatively and didn't find anything wrong with her works until Tammy made her think that if Jimmy ever found out about it, he'd never speak to her again.  Leave it to another kid to undermine a person of an unique style or mind and make them feel like a freak.  But I'm glad that in the end, Tina did things her way and didn't turn into a Tammy clone.

As much as Tina makes me cringe, I would have hated to see someone like Tammy change her and take away what makes her special.  At first I thought Tammy would make Tina less of a pushover and build her confidence with Jimmy Jr, but she soon revealed that she didn't care about what was good for Tina at all and would have kept pushing her to steal bottles of margarita mix and cut class until Tina was a delinquent whore that Jimmy would probably hate.  Even though Tina was laughed at by the other students, at least Jimmy thought her stories about everyone she knew touching each others' butts was cool.  I was happy to see it wasn't a makeover or wild parties with fake highs from cocktail mixes that made Jimmy pay a little more attention to Tina. 

The part that was the funniest for me was the tension between Linda and Tina as she started to change.  She kept throwing random slang at her that Linda took offense to, but didn't understand what it meant.  I didn't know either what a "boob punch" was, but I loved Tina calling her mother that and Linda getting mad about it.  I think I may use that on someone and see if I can get such a rise out of them.

I quite liked this episode because it focused on how Tina handled peer pressure and maintained her individuality.  I don't know if she'll ever get together with Jimmy Jr., but I hope that no matter what happens that she won't try to change herself too much to impress him.  Her eccentric personality is one of the top reasons I continue to watch this show, after all.