13x19 Crab-solutely Fabulous

[7.3/10] Look, I’m a fan of pro-wrestling, so I’m an easy mark for this episode. All they have to do is lean into the fun of seeing the whole Belcher family and Teddy jump into the squared circle, matched with the absurdity of crustacean-based stand-offs no less, and I’d be a happy camper. And that's exactly what they did. Yes, there’s a point and an emotional throughline and sort of an arc here. But this is mostly an excuse to enjoy the silliness of Louise, Gene, and Tina dressing up like sea cucumbers and concocting increasingly elaborate shenanigans to entertain the crowd. I’m there for it.

That said, there’s not much of a point to this one beyond that. It feels like they’re building to some lessons about Louise learning to keep things simple and not drag her siblings and other family members (including Uncle Teddy) into her zany schemes. But all we get is one last minute change of heart that feels undermotivated (with a fingers-crossed take-back from Louise anyway) rather than some committed realization from our favorite bunny-eared troublemaker.

I don’t especially mind. Again, this is an episode more focused on the humor of the situation rather than a big swell of emotion. But then why spend so much time building to that idea? It’s kind of a waste.

I did enjoy the B-story about Linda trying to figure the right pursuit to make the subject of her quest to form a new habit. The B-story itself was a little scattered, but there were laughs for each new development. (for whatever reason, I got the biggest kick out of Linda overusing the word “capricious” as part of her vocab word challenge. There’s not much to it, but it tickled my funny bone.

Overall, this isn't the show firing on all cylinders,s but the simple chance to see the Belchers step into the ring, with Louise’s increasingly imaginative and elaborate ideas brought to life, was more than enough for me.