PSA - Explanation of what the two ladies on the phone are talking about in this episode:
[9.5/10] This episode is just so hilarious from top to bottom. The show delivers a great and loony conflict with Louise squaring off against her Edison-loving substitute science teacher over whether ol’ Tom was a master or a menace. It involves elementary school vendettas, reimaginationactments, musical theatre, spice-based inventions, and even the threat of death! There’s so many highs and hahs throughout the whole thing that it stands out as one of the show’s best outings.
I think my favorite part of it is that there’s something funny for damn near everyone in the cast to do. Louise is at her most determined and insane, while still scheming, which is a great recipe for the show. Gene gets the chance to bust out of his musical rut and “Electric Love” is one of the show’s best songs, which is saying something. Tina’s devotion to going method with Topsy and yearning to tell the elephant’s story despite the threat of electrocution is that weird sort of trademark Tina fixation that I love. Plus, Bob and Linda’s science fair skirmish over whose spice container invention is better is the kind of low stakes goofballery that I love.
The same goes for all the secondary characters. What We Do in the Shadows’s Mark Prosch is outstanding as the Edison enthusiast who’s over-the-top antagonistic to Louise. The hinting, passive-aggressive librarian who gives Louise the idea is a hoot. Mr. Fischoeder’s take on “the theater” is a delight. Aunt Gale’s cat-related sadness and overenthusiasm is worth a laugh. And the biggest laughs in the whole episode may come from Teddy’s overelaborate cover story about being a decorated physician.
There’s just so many great little moving parts throughout all this, and they all come together in the climactic science fair presentation. There’s genuine suspense and even some impressive animation when Tina stands under the Van de Graaff generator, and Louise’s victory is pretty darn sweet.
Overall, this stands out as one of the brightest gems in Bob’s Burgers’s early output, with a great song, fantastic bits for everyone on screen, and a Louise plot for the ages.
7.5/10. Pretty good episode. Not a lot of outright laughs, but a number of moments where I thought, "that was a clever gag." I got a particular kick out of how the boys and the anti-PC resistance force would get distracted by the pop-up ads and end up far afield of what they were intending to do.
It feels premature to judge this episode, since it mostly seems to be building to the season finale rather than working as a standalone episode. Still, I enjoyed a lot of the things it set up, like the creepy yet oddly compelling monotone of Leslie as she manipulates Jimmy, or the tensions between Stan and Kyle (them calling each other "Cartman" as an insult, with Cartman himself saying "that's low" was the funniest part of the episode), or the missing PC guys. The news anchors and their standard newsman delivery throughout everything was amusing. Plus they're tying a lot of the things set up in earlier episode (Jenner again, charity donations, Barbrady shooting people) together here.
If there was the hint of a clear message behind it so far (beyond the distraction power of ads) it's the hypocrisy of Randy having essentially organized the gentrification of South Park and then complaining when it prices him out. It's the kind of "it's all well and good until it affects me" kind of thinking that Matt & Trey loathe. But otherwise, a lot of how this episode ultimately comes off will have a lot to do with how things go next week, since so much of it seems pointed in that direction. I'm very interested to see how the folks behind the show will tie a bow on this season's shot at longer form storytelling.
[8.0/10] Oh man, it’s striking how much raunchier the show was back in its early days, and how much more either the creators or the network expected it to be a contemporary of Family Guy. There’s nothing so risque here, but Gene’s fantasy sequence about Robot College, or Linda hinting to Bob what she’ll do to him if he survives feels a little closer to the Adult Swim vibe than the more wholesome (if still nicely weird) show that Bob’s Burgers would become.
That said, it doesn't hurt this episode one bit. Having H. Jon Benjamin and Bill Hader play off of one another as Bob and Mickey is a treat every time. The way that Bob tries to protect everyone in the bank robbery across from his restaurant, coaxes Mickey through getting out with some dignity and without hurting anyone, and you know, tries to drum up a little publicity for his restaurant in the meantime is all great stuff. There’s the low-intensity throughline of Bob trying to get his loans resctructured, but for the most part, this one is built on the bank robber setup and manages to create a lot of great comedy from it.
Everything from Sgt. Bosco’s stern but incompetent hostage negotiation, to Louise trying to interview Mickey for her “person I admire” essay, to the whole family trying to stop Bob before he goes to deliver the burgers to an active bankrobbery are all great fodder for laughs. Little details like Gene admiring the robot pizza delivery guy and then using his RC car, or the news anchor mentioning “fish rocket” burgers in a well set-up gag bring the humor.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable early season episode, that feels looser and a little dirtier than the show does today, but still endears you to the Belchers and their odd little world.
[8.2/10] I like both parts of this episode. On the one hand, I like Stan’s goth phase and break-up angst. It captures the silly but sincere sense of being overwhelmed by pain as a teenager well, as well as the amusing games of telephone that kids place with one another in these circumstances. There’s also a pretty nice takedown of middle class kids acting grim and declaring that life is meaningless in high school (not that this could ever have applied to me or anything). The combination of the goth kids reflexive disdain and reduction of everything to Justin/Britney wannabes, while at the same time declaring that all true non-conformists must do as they do, is pitch perfect. (I got a particular kick out of the one goth kid’s declaration that he would never go live in a third world country with “all the conformists” as an implicit critique of that privilege.)
And I like Butters’s half of the episode too. Sure, pointing out the mercenary nature of breastaurants makes for an easy target, but there is some juice to pointing out the crappiness of weaponizing and commoditizing affection like that, for all sides. There’s also some sad humor to Butters’s naive sincerity to the whole thing, and how adorable he is when trying to act like a good boyfriend.
I particularly love the two stories coming together. Butters is heartbroken (though kind of over nothing), but doesn't let it ruin his lust for life. It’s a little simplistic, but he recognizes that his pain if a reflection of having meaningful feelings and experiences, which makes him feel human and alive. It’s enough to snap Stan out of his funk in one of the show’s more poignant moments.
Overall, this is definitely the show pitching its fastball, with two amusing stories and a rare bit of heart to boot.
