[7.6/10] Superb start to the season! Bob’s Burgers has a bit of a formula now, but it’s one that works, so I’m not knocking it.
The A-story sees the kids off on an adventure, while the B-story sees Bob, Linda, and their friends deal with some low-stakes weirdness back at the restaurant. Both plots have their share of looniness, but end in a sweet place of catharsis and mutual understanding. We’ve seen this sort of thing plenty of times before, but it keeps working on me.
The A-story sees good ol’ Millie roping Louise into a zany scheme. She wants Louise to infiltrate a “pixie princess party” that Millie’s been kicked out of for, shall we say, overenthusiasm. Louise isn’t inclined to help, but Millie gave her a Pokemon card (more or less) and threatens to take it back if Louise won’t cooperate.
It’s a good bit. Louise’s disgust at all the princess party business is a big laugh, and Tina and Gene make for a great Greek gag chorus in their comments on the proceedings. Millie’s increasingly unhinged obsession with Louise is a dark laugh. And I like Louise trying to short circuit the three hour event by retrieving the cache of wands Millie wants, and the way things go further and further sideways from there.
But I particularly like the moral. The throughline is Louis not liking girly girl stuff, and so being convinced that people who do are brainwashed. She tries to get the little girls who are into it (including Millie) to cast off their wands and rejects it. But Tina, who loved the same stuff once upon a time, gives her little sister a good message. 1. There’s nothing wrong with you for not liking girly girl stuff, and 2. There’s nothing wrong with other girls liking it either. Everyone just is who they are and likes what they like, and that’s okay. It’s a strong idea, in keeping with the show’s inclusive spirit.
I like the follow-up too. Louise takes her sister's words to heart, and falls on the sword for the wand theft, allowing the other girls to continue pixie-participating, and even getting Millie reinstated. It’s a nice way to dramatize Louise internalizing what Tina said. And her reassuring an insecure Tina that, even if Louise isn’t into girly stuff, she thinks that Tina’s “face holes” are in the best places and that if she’s not beautiful Louise doesn’t know what is, is incredibly sweet.
The B-story’s a lot of fun too. Linda accidentally getting a floral arrangement that reminds her of a deceased childhood dog is the right kind of weirdo subplot for Bob’s Burgers to do. There’s a lot of great black comedy to be had from Linda obsessing over it and Bob, Teddy, and Mort getting increasingly concerned at how much worse the story of Linda’s childhood pup gets with each retelling and how deep she’s getting into this. The resolution, with Linda processing her grief through the bouquet in a cathartic way, is a nice beat to end on.
Overall, this one hits some familiar Bob’s Burgers notes and tropes, but you know what, I like those tropes! So no complaints here.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-11-11T02:38:49Z
[7.6/10] Superb start to the season! Bob’s Burgers has a bit of a formula now, but it’s one that works, so I’m not knocking it.
The A-story sees the kids off on an adventure, while the B-story sees Bob, Linda, and their friends deal with some low-stakes weirdness back at the restaurant. Both plots have their share of looniness, but end in a sweet place of catharsis and mutual understanding. We’ve seen this sort of thing plenty of times before, but it keeps working on me.
The A-story sees good ol’ Millie roping Louise into a zany scheme. She wants Louise to infiltrate a “pixie princess party” that Millie’s been kicked out of for, shall we say, overenthusiasm. Louise isn’t inclined to help, but Millie gave her a Pokemon card (more or less) and threatens to take it back if Louise won’t cooperate.
It’s a good bit. Louise’s disgust at all the princess party business is a big laugh, and Tina and Gene make for a great Greek gag chorus in their comments on the proceedings. Millie’s increasingly unhinged obsession with Louise is a dark laugh. And I like Louise trying to short circuit the three hour event by retrieving the cache of wands Millie wants, and the way things go further and further sideways from there.
But I particularly like the moral. The throughline is Louis not liking girly girl stuff, and so being convinced that people who do are brainwashed. She tries to get the little girls who are into it (including Millie) to cast off their wands and rejects it. But Tina, who loved the same stuff once upon a time, gives her little sister a good message. 1. There’s nothing wrong with you for not liking girly girl stuff, and 2. There’s nothing wrong with other girls liking it either. Everyone just is who they are and likes what they like, and that’s okay. It’s a strong idea, in keeping with the show’s inclusive spirit.
I like the follow-up too. Louise takes her sister's words to heart, and falls on the sword for the wand theft, allowing the other girls to continue pixie-participating, and even getting Millie reinstated. It’s a nice way to dramatize Louise internalizing what Tina said. And her reassuring an insecure Tina that, even if Louise isn’t into girly stuff, she thinks that Tina’s “face holes” are in the best places and that if she’s not beautiful Louise doesn’t know what is, is incredibly sweet.
The B-story’s a lot of fun too. Linda accidentally getting a floral arrangement that reminds her of a deceased childhood dog is the right kind of weirdo subplot for Bob’s Burgers to do. There’s a lot of great black comedy to be had from Linda obsessing over it and Bob, Teddy, and Mort getting increasingly concerned at how much worse the story of Linda’s childhood pup gets with each retelling and how deep she’s getting into this. The resolution, with Linda processing her grief through the bouquet in a cathartic way, is a nice beat to end on.
Overall, this one hits some familiar Bob’s Burgers notes and tropes, but you know what, I like those tropes! So no complaints here.