Let’s start with this. I loooooved the B-story. I cannot think of another show that’s made such an epic quest out of rescuing a ball of putrid wax out of somebody’s ear. It’s the kind of strange, mundane thing that Bob’s Burgers is nigh-miraculously able to turn into a series of hilarious bits. Bob’s peculiar ear-touch phobia, Linda’s obsession and vague arousal by it, and the rest of the group’s interest and excitement over it is a laugh-riot. It’s a great Bob/Linda bit, showing their weird bond through run-of-the-mill peculiarities.
But I like the A-story too, which features Tina suffering from insomnia after dreaming that she’s being haunted by her science class fetal big. For one thing, the haunting sequences are legitimately pretty scary! Part of that is the classic horror homages, but part of it is just the way the show commits to the spookiness of a floating, menacing little oinker. The dream-within-a-dream conceits offer some nice surprises, and in an episode that already has Bob’s ear wax as a major story, the organ-related sequences are disturbingly gross.
I like the cause of Tina’s phobia too. The idea that she’s kind at heart but gave into peer pressure is a relatable story, told in a very Tina-y way. Her speaking up for the pig to her friends is a strange solution to her haunting problem, but one that feels true to the character.
The laughs were also out in full force with this one. Jocelyn’s line that “I read that skeletons are inside all of us everyday” absolutely had me in stitches.
Overall, this is one of Bob’s Burgers’s more bizarre Halloween outings, but that’s not necessarily a knock against the episode!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2019-11-06T18:46:13Z
[7.6/10] What a weird episode, but in a good way?
Let’s start with this. I loooooved the B-story. I cannot think of another show that’s made such an epic quest out of rescuing a ball of putrid wax out of somebody’s ear. It’s the kind of strange, mundane thing that Bob’s Burgers is nigh-miraculously able to turn into a series of hilarious bits. Bob’s peculiar ear-touch phobia, Linda’s obsession and vague arousal by it, and the rest of the group’s interest and excitement over it is a laugh-riot. It’s a great Bob/Linda bit, showing their weird bond through run-of-the-mill peculiarities.
But I like the A-story too, which features Tina suffering from insomnia after dreaming that she’s being haunted by her science class fetal big. For one thing, the haunting sequences are legitimately pretty scary! Part of that is the classic horror homages, but part of it is just the way the show commits to the spookiness of a floating, menacing little oinker. The dream-within-a-dream conceits offer some nice surprises, and in an episode that already has Bob’s ear wax as a major story, the organ-related sequences are disturbingly gross.
I like the cause of Tina’s phobia too. The idea that she’s kind at heart but gave into peer pressure is a relatable story, told in a very Tina-y way. Her speaking up for the pig to her friends is a strange solution to her haunting problem, but one that feels true to the character.
The laughs were also out in full force with this one. Jocelyn’s line that “I read that skeletons are inside all of us everyday” absolutely had me in stitches.
Overall, this is one of Bob’s Burgers’s more bizarre Halloween outings, but that’s not necessarily a knock against the episode!