[9.5/10] Oh my god, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard at an episode of television. There’s so much great shtick in this one: Bob trying to keep the kids delayed and distracted, Linda trying frantically to extend the big lie, Gail being Gail. It’s all pure gold! I swear to god, when Bob wanted to do anything to avoid his kids’ line of questioning, to the point of declaring that he loves the first song he finds on the radio and insisting everyone sing along, only to discover that it’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” had both me and my wife just dying of laughter. And that’s just the peak of an extremely funny episode.
But I also like the message in this one. It comes down to a principle of being honest with your kids, not being afraid that they’re too little to handle the truth, and trusting that they can be mature enough to take it lest they turn out fragile and sheltered like...well...Gail. Bob and Linda freaking out about having given away their kids’ favorite (albeit unwieldy) toy, frantically trying to cover it up, only to see the kids respond in a surprisingly mature fashion to both the original sin and efforts to deceive them, ends up telling a strong emotional story.
That said, it’s also bonkers as all get out. The very concept of a gigantic “wheelie mammoth” stuffed animal on roller skates is weird to begin with. From there, Bob and Linda’s increasingly ridiculous lies to distract their kids and “make the lie” real by trying to give the toy away to actual orphans at a roller rink just escalates the absurdity to higher and higher levels.
It works beautifully! I love Louise figuring out what happened and resolving with her sibs to mess with her parents right back. I love Linda’s dogged commitment to making this work, whether it means lugging Tina away from the mammoth at the flea market or trying to play Gail’s confession off as a prank. I also love Gail here, as usual! Her bits of using a turtleneck as pants and waving to Bob in a passing car when she’s supposed to be trying to be stealthy is just tops.
Still, this is a particularly good Bob episode for comedy. His failure to understand fixed costs versus variable costs when trading burgers for the mammoth is low-key uproarious. I laughed like hell at his constant refrain of “Who wants ice cream?” And his fumbling attempts to distract the kids, like claiming he saw roadside trees in a movie, are amusingly inept.
On the whole, it’s just as well-built dervish of comic insanity, built on top of an unexpectedly effective tale of Bob and Linda trusting their kids with the truth. This is Bob’s Burgers at its best.
Shout by vernyBlockedParent2021-08-30T02:53:50Z
how do they sleep at night? lying down? on their lies!?