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.