[7.9/10] Adding up Bob reluctantly but then enthusiastically getting in on a scheme, an ornery cat, and a guest appearance from John Oliver is the way to get this reviewer’s attention. The comedy of Bob trying to talk a cat into training, in the hopes of helping his sister-in-law pay back all the money she’s borrowed, worked quite well. There’s no laughs on the show like Bob having unduly complex conversation with things that can’t possibly talk back to him, and this had that in spades.
The emotional crux of the episode, with Bob understanding that Gail cares more about her cat than money (at least, his money) is a nice beat to end on. And Bob’s back and forth with Ian the Cat Agent (Oliver) got all the great laughs that you’d expect from two comic pros. Louise trying to but in to get rich as Mr. Business’s Manager was amusing, and the entire cat-commercial world was fun too.
The B-story, with Tina, Gene, and eventually Linda revealed as eating dry cat food was weird, but amusing enough. Treating it as an addiction paid some comedic dividends, and the twist that it was a family-wide thing that Linda had been doing for years was a nice place to take the odd subplot.
Overall, it’s a strange but quite funny episode, that gets all the humor it can from cats and taking them too seriously (which I say as a loving cat owner) and running with it.
I love that the B-Plot involved eating cat food and I love that Bob always ends up being fully invested despite himself.
I also don't know why, but I feel like the cat may have been voiced by H. Jon Benjamin.
Shout by hs321BlockedParent2022-01-19T03:53:06Z
loved John Oliver as Ian: “hi bohb” lol