[7.1/10] A mild but perfectly amiable outing for the show. This one felt a bit like a bottle episode, since it mostly took place at the restaurant and was a more talky installment. There wasn’t much of a story, but the episode did well with what it had.
In particular, this was a good one for one-liners. Linda’s bit about quietly judging her husband’s earlier statement, Bob’s bit about thinking smarter thoughts with his “same brain,” and Gene blithely asking, “How much ocean can there be?” all got laughs out of me.
But the bit with the rower ready to quit his epic quest didn’t do much for me, even with Rhys Darby voicing him. It was cute, but the parallel between Linda not wanting Gene to quit his origami class, while Bob initially wants to let Gene quit but not let his new rowboat idol do the same, was too apparent too early without any major wrinkles.
Bob ending up having to row the boat himself is a decent set piece, especially since his banter with Gene is good. And I like the lesson, however trite, that you don’t want to let yourself get in the habit of quitting things because many of the best things in life are also some of the most challenging. The closing mini-scene where he pins a clipping of the rower’s accomplishment next to a frog from Gene’s origami class and a nice local newspaper clipping from the rower’s visit to the restaurant is a wholesome note to end on.
On the whole, this one feels a bit threadbare, but it’s pleasant enough the whole way through, with a few particularly good one-liners to mark it as worth revisiting.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-02-21T06:40:31Z
[7.1/10] A mild but perfectly amiable outing for the show. This one felt a bit like a bottle episode, since it mostly took place at the restaurant and was a more talky installment. There wasn’t much of a story, but the episode did well with what it had.
In particular, this was a good one for one-liners. Linda’s bit about quietly judging her husband’s earlier statement, Bob’s bit about thinking smarter thoughts with his “same brain,” and Gene blithely asking, “How much ocean can there be?” all got laughs out of me.
But the bit with the rower ready to quit his epic quest didn’t do much for me, even with Rhys Darby voicing him. It was cute, but the parallel between Linda not wanting Gene to quit his origami class, while Bob initially wants to let Gene quit but not let his new rowboat idol do the same, was too apparent too early without any major wrinkles.
Bob ending up having to row the boat himself is a decent set piece, especially since his banter with Gene is good. And I like the lesson, however trite, that you don’t want to let yourself get in the habit of quitting things because many of the best things in life are also some of the most challenging. The closing mini-scene where he pins a clipping of the rower’s accomplishment next to a frog from Gene’s origami class and a nice local newspaper clipping from the rower’s visit to the restaurant is a wholesome note to end on.
On the whole, this one feels a bit threadbare, but it’s pleasant enough the whole way through, with a few particularly good one-liners to mark it as worth revisiting.