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.

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.

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.