[7.3/10] I forget how gross Bob’s Burgers could be in its early days. It’s not like the show totally shed that in its later years. There’s an entire episode about Louise pooping down the line. But between the coughs and pukes at the hospital, to all the blood spurting on people, you remember that the series started with more of an Adult Swim sensibility than it would eventually develop. Not a complaint necessarily -- just an observation.
I enjoyed the plot where Linda ferries Bob to the hospital to get the cut in his “finger crotch” stitched up. Bob fainting at the mildest sight of blood is still a good running bit. (We still say “Wobbly Bobbly” in the Bloom household.) And I got a big kick out of Bob’s understandable reluctance to go with the incompetent first-time doctor, Linda’s blithe encouragement of the young lad, and the poor Belcher patriarch waking up with both his arms shaved and a giant wrap around his whole hand.
The B-story of the kids operating an underground casino (that, as noted by Mr. Fischoeder, is literally underground) is a lot of fun too. Tina has the least to do, but her ineffectual attempts to babysit and really committing to the role of waitress are both low-key comic highlights. Gene gradually recreating a fractured version of Dreamgirls with the “Cutie Patooties” is another good series of laughs. (For whatever reason, we’ve also adopted his “Girls Being Girls” song as an amusing reference and refrain for pop music that is, shall we say, slight.)
Louise is the anchor though. Her stepping into the role of wheeling-and-dealing but also menacing casino boss is a ton of fun. (Her threats to Andy and Ollie are scary but hilarious -- scarilarious?) Her meeting her match when Mr. Fischoeder comes to play leads to more lunacy, and I particularly like the way the two plots come together, with Bob breaking his stitches to beat the seemingly unstoppable Fischoeder at rock-paper-scissors.
All-in-all, this one is definitely grosser and shaggier than the show would become once it honed its voice and style a little bit, but there’s still a lot to like in these earlier, rougher outings.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-02-09T04:19:09Z
[7.3/10] I forget how gross Bob’s Burgers could be in its early days. It’s not like the show totally shed that in its later years. There’s an entire episode about Louise pooping down the line. But between the coughs and pukes at the hospital, to all the blood spurting on people, you remember that the series started with more of an Adult Swim sensibility than it would eventually develop. Not a complaint necessarily -- just an observation.
I enjoyed the plot where Linda ferries Bob to the hospital to get the cut in his “finger crotch” stitched up. Bob fainting at the mildest sight of blood is still a good running bit. (We still say “Wobbly Bobbly” in the Bloom household.) And I got a big kick out of Bob’s understandable reluctance to go with the incompetent first-time doctor, Linda’s blithe encouragement of the young lad, and the poor Belcher patriarch waking up with both his arms shaved and a giant wrap around his whole hand.
The B-story of the kids operating an underground casino (that, as noted by Mr. Fischoeder, is literally underground) is a lot of fun too. Tina has the least to do, but her ineffectual attempts to babysit and really committing to the role of waitress are both low-key comic highlights. Gene gradually recreating a fractured version of Dreamgirls with the “Cutie Patooties” is another good series of laughs. (For whatever reason, we’ve also adopted his “Girls Being Girls” song as an amusing reference and refrain for pop music that is, shall we say, slight.)
Louise is the anchor though. Her stepping into the role of wheeling-and-dealing but also menacing casino boss is a ton of fun. (Her threats to Andy and Ollie are scary but hilarious -- scarilarious?) Her meeting her match when Mr. Fischoeder comes to play leads to more lunacy, and I particularly like the way the two plots come together, with Bob breaking his stitches to beat the seemingly unstoppable Fischoeder at rock-paper-scissors.
All-in-all, this one is definitely grosser and shaggier than the show would become once it honed its voice and style a little bit, but there’s still a lot to like in these earlier, rougher outings.