[7.4/10] Oof. As someone who’s gone on multiple questionable cabin “getaways”, this one hit close to home. Everything from the paltry accommodations, to the pests lurking around the woods, to the boredom are right on point. But Linda’s sympathetic too in her wanting to keep up with the Joneses. She wants her family to have a real vacation and the added closeness that comes with it, so even as she’s making her husband and kids trudge through this forced march, you feel for her because of why she wants to try to get them away from it all.
The show finds good humor in their resistance to it all. The kids conspiring to bring a portable television provides plenty of laughs. The only thing better is Bob’s reluctantly giving into their skullduggery, since he wants to be supportive of Linda but is as exhausted by this as they are. It’s not Bob’s best look, but his half-hearted attempts to justify his enabling the kids is a solid laugh.
The way out is good too. I like Linda resolving to make it to the floating platform in the middle of the lake -- so as to nab at least one piece of her dream for the trip -- only to find herself stranded and hallucinating. The scene where she gets advice from a mother bug about how her ecosystem is just as valid and nurturing as the ones forged by moms who take their families on real vacations is a good message. The fact that the rest of the Belchers spring into action to rescue her via canoe, despite their objections to the whole thing, is a sweet way to finish.
Otherwise, my favorite comic bit in the whole thing was Teddy discovering that they’ve left, getting upset and throwing in his key to their place, only to have thwarted himself when he finds a second note instructing him to use the key to get a burger out of their fridge. It’s fun theatrics from Teddy, thoughtfulness from the Belchers, and a nice bit of poor Teddy being hoisted by his own petard.
All-in-all, a fun end-of-summer episode of the show that brings home real life bad vacation experiences with a quality Linda story.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-11-29T02:01:25Z
[7.4/10] Oof. As someone who’s gone on multiple questionable cabin “getaways”, this one hit close to home. Everything from the paltry accommodations, to the pests lurking around the woods, to the boredom are right on point. But Linda’s sympathetic too in her wanting to keep up with the Joneses. She wants her family to have a real vacation and the added closeness that comes with it, so even as she’s making her husband and kids trudge through this forced march, you feel for her because of why she wants to try to get them away from it all.
The show finds good humor in their resistance to it all. The kids conspiring to bring a portable television provides plenty of laughs. The only thing better is Bob’s reluctantly giving into their skullduggery, since he wants to be supportive of Linda but is as exhausted by this as they are. It’s not Bob’s best look, but his half-hearted attempts to justify his enabling the kids is a solid laugh.
The way out is good too. I like Linda resolving to make it to the floating platform in the middle of the lake -- so as to nab at least one piece of her dream for the trip -- only to find herself stranded and hallucinating. The scene where she gets advice from a mother bug about how her ecosystem is just as valid and nurturing as the ones forged by moms who take their families on real vacations is a good message. The fact that the rest of the Belchers spring into action to rescue her via canoe, despite their objections to the whole thing, is a sweet way to finish.
Otherwise, my favorite comic bit in the whole thing was Teddy discovering that they’ve left, getting upset and throwing in his key to their place, only to have thwarted himself when he finds a second note instructing him to use the key to get a burger out of their fridge. It’s fun theatrics from Teddy, thoughtfulness from the Belchers, and a nice bit of poor Teddy being hoisted by his own petard.
All-in-all, a fun end-of-summer episode of the show that brings home real life bad vacation experiences with a quality Linda story.