14x07 The (Raccoon) King and I

[7.4/10] A fun episode! I enjoyed the attempts to rescue Little King Trashmouth. He’s been one of my favorite little tertiary characters in Bob’s Burgers (or at least, Linda’s anthropomorphization of him has been.) There’s a good story engine here, as Linda calls animal control in the hopes that they’ll help the injured raccoon, only to fret once Teddy explains the situation that they’ll put him down, and it’ll be her fault. Linda being anxious but resourceful is always a good beat for the show, and I love Teddy and Tina as her seconds (especially Tina’s “I won the lottery!” distraction that Teddy takes seriously).

There’s some good gags about Linda overestimating the friendliness of the raccoon, and Little King Trashmouth’s racoon reunion (racoonion?) with his “husband” Gary is a hoot.

I also enjoy the B-story where Gene and Louise sold tickets to watch the block party concert, only to find that their view is obstructed. Their attempts to keep their pals into the music despite the obstruction, and the duo successfully getting Rudy and company even more captivated by the mundane internecine drama of the crew makes for a great Tom Sawyer-style escapade.

But my favorite of the three stories is the C-plot, where Bob chats with the manager of the 1970s band playing the block party. I love the parallel between this band playing the same lone hit over and over again for decades and being ground down by it, and Bob imagining himself flipping the same burger long into his golden years. There’s a very relatable sense of worrying about the workaday grind, accentuated by seeing a group you idolized when you were young be consigned to a fate you fear.

I love the resolution too. Without pretending everything’s okay, there’s an acknowledgment that there’s still precious moments of joy amid it all, and that’s enough for Bob. It’s a lovely uplifting note to end on.

Overall, a good episode with fun stuff to do for the whole crew.