10/14

Not sure for how long though, but it’s back baby!!! Watching it now as we speak. For reference I only have the Hulu no ads plan, no add ons.

I was at a record store wondering if I should buy the Bob's Burgers Volume 2 limited edition (which I did not,) when I was looking at the characters on the side. I then saw this unfamiliar character, so I took a picture. A few weeks later I was rewatching an episode where they show a drawing of Pocket Sized Rudy, which looks identical to the one on this record.

Mines gotta be this it’s so quick it makes my gut hurt every time

Watching since beginning and have rewatched constantly. I just realized Mort’s name and relationship to his profession. Wow am I slow.

Im going through all the seasons again, and for the most part, like 99% of the episodes i really love and routinely laugh my ass off. But every so often there is an episode that really irritates me, and the theme usually seems to be when Bobs gets seemingly overlooked by his family.

Also to preface this, i have been through a few other posts where people point out the glaringly obvious fact that they all work to make his dream come true, even though the only real worker is Linda. I acknowledge that essentially his family is destined to sacrifice a lot of their own lives to help make his business work. Yet i think its still important to remember that the business is the families sole source of income, and that any money they have in excess, they usually end up spending on the kids anyway. Should also point out that when Linda got a job at Fresh Feed, it was pretty clear she couldnt really handle working anywhere else, and her overly familiar attitude and bizarre service repartie with people seems to only be tolerated under the auspice of Bobs Burgers.

From what we know about Bob and Linda pre marriage and kids, Bob was pretty clear on what he wanted to do, whilst Linda didnt really have any equally important ambitions. Not saying she doesnt, but it hasnt been revealed, and her personality and behaviour suggest she is really just happy to be a supporting player to everyone and doesnt want to be center stage all the time, sometimes she does, but mostly not. Lindas greatest joys seems to be derived from the happiness and growth of her kids, which is great. It is also equally entertaining yet understandably frustrating, that the whole premise of the show is predicated on the fact that the family has to be just scrapping by financially, as that trope is the motivator for so many quirky adventures and personal hijinks that highlight their eccentricities. This is of course why so many people find the Tiki episode as well as the Wharf Condo episode so frustrating, as Bob is also totally capable of immense self sabotage that keeps the family grounded in their desperation. Ive seen some people point out that his business incompetence translates to parental neglect regarding the children, as they are expected to fulfil the tacit agreements laid forth by the restaurants financial necessities, such as that the kids work for free / very low money, now, as well as when they grow up and Bob and Linda retire. However, the kids dont seem to be that infringed as they are all constantly having adventures on their own and exploring new hobbies, simultaneously while messing about in the restaurant that they actually like a lot of the time, so it doesnt seem like they are being limited in any material way, especially since Gene and Louise have no interest academically whatsoever. Its not restricting their education to a degree that would have them be limited, in contrast the opposite is true. The reality of the business has made each of the kids significant more socially and emotionally mature than most of the other kids, and provides them access to a range of characters that often give them life advice and opportunities.

Ive also read that because of bobs unwillingness to make meaningful change in the business, it will continue to flounder and struggle, meaning the family is stuck in an endless cycle of symbiotic support, and sacrificing what could be their own ambitions outside the restaurant. Whilst i agree to a point, it doesn't really seem like Linda or the kids want to be separate from it. The episode where Bob is the chaperone on the field trip and we find out Louise idolised him and that hes her hero whilst inadvertently admitting she would take over the business when bob is gone is indicative that she likes the business to a degree, but really respects and loves her dad . Louise is a hustler, and a grifter by her nature, but she loves her family and wants them to be a part of whatever enterprise she engages in. So it doesnt seem like the family business is limiting her in any way. Gene is a creative free spirit and really just wants an audience for all his ideas and thoughts, and he gets that all the time from the family and the restaurant. It doesnt seem like hes that interested in the business operation, but he wants to be with his family and show them his creative output through music and outfits etc. Tina is the hardest one to pin down, she seems to be motivated by her fan fiction, boys, boy bands, horses, and Jimmy jr, like regular teenage pursuits (sort of). She also seems to have a wide range of extra curricular activities she engages with and sometimes that the family pays for, camp, parties, thundergirls etc. Her age does seem to burden her with some more responsibilities regarding Gene and Louise as well as the restaurant, but she also has such a nonchalance about working and spends an equal amount of time not really helping the business but just having fun, and mucking about with Gene and Louise. In fact Tina several times is really a detriment to the business and her lack of social graces and high level of moral fibre sometimes make it hard for her to connect with people and for the family to get away with anything.

I feel like that overall, if the kids didnt want to be there, they wouldn't, and if anything they love all hanging out together and deliberately trying to irritate their parents. They dont really seem to be impacted by their "responsibilities" at the restaurant (not that they ever actually work anyways), and working there seems to have given them an edge that most of the other kids in the show dont have. Regarding Linda, she loves her role as den mother, to everyone. This includes her sister and Teddy and Mort and whomever else is in her orbit, she likes being able to help people, and really just wants to be involved. It does not seem in anyway that she is restricted by the business, as she tried working elsewhere and hated it, as well as the few times she could work alone in the restaurant, she didnt want to, she wanted to be with her family. So with that long digression, to the episode in question.

The episode with the candy cane truck has always made me silently grit my teeth, but on a further rewatch i found myself actively skipping parts as it was just so frustrating to watch. I think its because everyone in the episode seems to be actively trying to make this errand as annoying as possible for Bob, which is usually the MO of the kids but this time it just seemed excessive. The fact that not one, but two trees were bought and died prior to christmas, forcing Bob and the family having to go out on Christmas eve to find a new one. Which is Lindas fault, and she often seems to be a focal point of pointless spending but having to buy three christmas trees because you starting celebrating 2 months earlier is ridiculous. So Bob has to drive around, at night, on snowing roads, to go buy the last remaining christmas trees hours away the night before christmas, assuming that they worked until the evening. A quick aside is why the kids even came for the journey, i mean i get the episode needed to have them all in it, but i would have loved to have seen the kids prepping to capture Santa and having them accidentally ensnare teddy instead. Back to the episode, Bob is criticised by Linda for suggesting they should go without another tree, and guilted into going by her, as well as making it clear throughout the episode how negative Bob was being, which wasnt negativity, but legitimate concern about driving at night, on snowy roads, after work, to get a third tree due to Lindas poor planning. The kids starting to tickle and distract Bob while hes driving causing the car drift around the road, which on first watch was funny in isolation but less so later on when they all heavily criticise Bob for being run off the road by the truck. So they are happy to nearly crash the car when its their own fault, but not when Bob is forced off the road by some dangerous assailant they provoked into pursing them. The kids also being the initial cause of the truck driver being aggravated is adding insult to injury, they seem to forget why the truck driver would be angry at them in the first place. This is compounded by Linda excessively beeping the horn, which again, they all seem to forget is piece of behaviour that would aggravate the driver. This moment is also odd as the truck driver in that scene would have been able to see Linda shaking her first and yelling, but not be able to see bob, so not sure why he wasnt angrier at Linda when they have their final confrontation.

When bob overtakes the truck narrowly missing the plow, he makes it clear that the truck is pursuing them, which they would see and id see a second prior to spinning off the road, yet Linda calls it "tailgating" and suggests bob was somehow driving dangerously for no reason, i mean thats technically true but when a vehicle that outweighs your car by 10 fold and is rapidly forcing you drive at high speeds on dark icy roads is not quite the same as a regular car following closely behind you. The kids make a comment about it and seem surprised by whats happened even though minutes prior they where actively trying to make bob drift around the road. Linda then uses that very incident to justify waiting around in the diner for the dutch baby despite the fact that it it must be getting pretty late, and is snowing. Following right behind that is when Linda and Tina agreeing that Bob hit the waitress with his hands when the cop wasnt taking his complaint seriously, which i get in universe, everyones a joker of some sort and no one really approaches their job with an even hand, but they also saw that he was facing away from the waitress, including the waitress, who is understandably angry but doesnt say anything. Why would the family who just witnessed what happen lie to make him appear worse to the cop? Then right after says you almost got this family arrested, which isnt remotely true, why would the officer care about any of them in that situation? Bob is trying to let a law enforcement officer know he was run off the road, to his families incredulity, as they are more concerned when he accidentally gesticulates and knocks a waitresses tray down. I mean they even question why he would hit someone on christmas as if it was a deliberate act, in front of a cop who is probably needing more than one person at that pint to verify the concern. Not sure why the family is so shocked by accidental tray knocking when the end of the episode they are all totally fine with bob being deliberately punched, so long as Bob is the one who is hit, its all good apparently.

After they leave and the find the truck on the bridge, and its begins to quickly drive towards them the family finally "realises" the serious aggressive intentions of the truck driver. It really makes me clench my eyeballs, like how have they not noticed any of what was going on previously, and the truth is, the did notice and yet apparently forgot, and then said they dont listen to Bob, but do seem to pay attention to isolated pockets of behaviour that can in the wrong context reflect badly on him. Which is odd, as he is the only one that seems focused on not being out late on icy roads ,on christmas eve, thus removing them from risk. They of course change their attitude towards his exclamations and now they very much want to listen to him when their lives are in danger, for the third time, despite them being the reason they are in the dangerous situation in the first place. After they've escaped from the truck and bob finds an off-road to hide in, the family seems to understand the gravity of what is going on, as they are all hiding, and whispering precariously. After the truck moves on and Bob makes the joke about saving Christmas right before the car gets stuck, the line by Louise "dad ruined Christmas" was another piece of erroneous reasoning and utter hypocrisy. As far as i see in order of whos to blame it would be Linda, The Kids, The Trucker and then Bob, as those are the parties that instigated each piece of conflict. Also why wouldnt Louise blame Linda? i get that for that joke to work it had to be directed at Bob since he said he "saved Christmas", but in a way he did, he drove out at night got a tree, against his better judgement and logic, and then escaped a dangerous truck driver that was only following them because of his families idiocy. So hes really doing the best he can, whilst his family seem to wish him to fail and every point, even if its at the cost of their own safety.

The final scene with the truck driver was the final misery of the episode for Bob, with him willing to get assaulted by the driver. So many aggravations there, Gene saying that Bob was throwing them under the bus when he was trying to calm an visibly enraged man by explaining what had happened, which was the fact that the kids thought it was funny to not tell Bob about a truck driving towards them that he couldnt see and narrowly avoiding an accident, which is understandable from the truck drivers perspective. Linda saying she would fight the guy angrily, which wouldn't exactly deescalate the situation as well as provoking him by insinuating that he doesnt "know jingle bells" when she was beeping the horn, which seemed to be the drivers main point of aggravation, which was her own fault. I mean Bob is the one being so generous, willing to try remedy this situation by making this random hostile guys night better by letting him vent his anger physically on himself due to his own family taunting him, repeatedly. I mean it goes with saying, the Truck driver is a psychopath, willing to potentially kill someone and violently pursue them in a huge ,albeit hilariously shaped festive truck, to the point of getting out and physically attacking someone, because you miss your family. He assaults bob and then decides to act all friendly, like really the mark of an unhinged lunatic. All which is observed by his family, the instigators of the whole situation.

But the final piece of utter disbelief is Linda telling Bob to give the driver the tree. I mean.... what? why? This guy states that he has to drive to two events before he has to drive home, didnt mention that he doesnt already have a tree, or if a tree was needed, of if a tree could fit in the truck or if he would even be going to a place that needed a tree, or if his family needs a tree. Yet Linda angrily tells him to give it up, despite the whole episode being that she bought two trees early and they died, and is now needing to go out out buy a new one, to satisfy her own desires to decorate one for Christmas, wasting the money on both the ones that died as well as the additional tree as of the end of the episode. She also watches her husband, who offered to protect them from a violent pychopath hell bent on taking out his frustration on some random unsuspecting victim, get assaulted by said violent perpetrator, and even thank him for helping get their car unstuck, even though hes the one that forced them in there in the first place. Linda also giving the dutch baby to the driver was just an unreal piece capitulation, as she was complaining that Bob nearly gets them killed so a pancake is the reparation for that folly, and makes an issue about it when bob wants to leave to go home after theyve made him out to be violent patron in front of the police officer, who is telling them to leave due to their disturbance, all so he can go home to the ham in the oven. Yet now, she totally is happy to surrender it to a man who assaults her husband in front of her kids, because hes upset to be working on christmas, as well as for her beeping at him. The whole interaction was just painful, Bob did nothing wrong and yet was blamed the entire way and suffered all the consequences of his families provocations, and they didnt even get a tree in the end. I mean why would it take the driver being sad to show to Linda and the kids how hard the holidays can be, i mean, the cop and the waitress at the diner are both working on christmas eve. Bob accidentally hits the waitress, so why doesnt she get the tree? Also what about poor old teddy, why cant he get the tree or the dutch baby, as he was doing them all a favour by turning the oven off and he doesnt have family.

So overall, this episode is down there with my least favourite ones of the entire show, which in my opinion is still one of the greatest animated shows ever made, and the family on balance are all brilliant and unique and for the overwhelming majority great fun to watch and not often maddening to the point of reddit venting like this episode caused me too. But every so often one of the characters, and it does seem to cycle on which one it is, will do something so painfully selfish and destructive that it drives me nuts, like Tina with the crashed car episode, gene with the baseball one etc. It seems another popular episode of contention is the one where Bob wants a garden and Louise has to put up with Logan, which upon multiple viewings i can see both sides.

Anyways congrats for making it this far, this essay is a testament to my love for the show and even though that episode is not my favourite, id still watch it over most animated series!

TL;DR: Huge Bob's Burgers fan, but rewatching has reminded me how some episodes, like the candy cane truck one, are incredibly frustrating. Bob’s family often overlooks him, and in this episode, their behaviour is especially grating. They pressure Bob into unnecessary tasks, irritate him, and seem oblivious to their role in escalating situations. Despite Bob’s efforts, he’s blamed for things beyond his control. I still love the show and its unique characters, but sometimes their selfishness is maddening, and this episode seems to have a surplus of that,

Tammy: “Yeah, it wasn’t totally dumb, just like, mostly stupid.”

Tina: “Just like you Tammy.”

I saw a clip of it but can't remember ever seeing the episode. It's now one of my favourite Tina lines and one of my favourite BB lines. Thanks in advance

No hat, but isn't he cute!!

I think i saw in the comments that the fancy dance fighting /Capoeira was somehow based on a current event. What other episodes?

It's been Agatha all along!

I recently started learning embroidery and wanted to make my favorite scene in the whole show. “That’s fascinating, Teddy”

Hamburger Dinner Theater.

Gene “This tastes nothing like real blood.”

Edit: Thanks everyone, I can hear each individual person saying those lines.

Pam: “Are you a little bunny girl?”

Louise: “Snifff…I smell fear on you.”

Pam: “Alright I don’t like this one.”

Gene on trick or treating: “Let’s go turn some tricks.”

Tammy: “Oh my God what if she is using AI on him?”

Jocelyn: “As if?”

Tammy: “Yes totally As If.”

Zeke: “Wow. You two are making feel smart me.”

I'm glad Bob and Linda are MILFs in A Fish Called Tina.

Made NSFW just incase because I know this can go south FAST.

Edit: I was quoting the episode Guys. Louise Asks Linda what MILF meant, and she says Mom Is Living Forever

This is a joke post.

It makes me even more disappointed in that they didn't keep the new couch bc the kids didn't even need the cushions for their couch forts. They could've built it behind the couch like this.

https://preview.redd.it/wvxga7gjilud1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=724f6d99ead3c38b18613121e4675bbe02b95109

Has anyone done the maths on how much money Louise would have made charging $5 per person to attend the Die Hard musical?

Hello everyone! I am working on an essay centered around Louise. I’ve seen every episode at least 5 times, but that may be hurting me because it’s all running together. Can you guys think of an example when Louise’s pranks or mischief backfire on her and SHE is the one who suffers the repercussions?

The only one coming to mind is episode when her, Rudy, and Millie make the fake coins for while studying mythology.

Thanks in advance!

It has Linda, bob, blaze and the monster machine, and two unique characters

“Some Like It Bot” came on again today, and I was thinking, “wow, this is putting a lot of energy into matching the Blade Runner vibe, but the whole thing isn’t quite landing.”

It also gives something more “real” and serious for Tina to hook into. Certainly, it’s not been as well received as some other similar episodes that attempt real vulnerability or movie homages.

Any episodes come to mind for you where it seems like they were trying something either exceptionally emotional or more detailed in the animation, but it wasn’t received on the same level?

https://preview.redd.it/25w0xvz7bkud1.png?width=1051&format=png&auto=webp&s=2d1d75de00e2531faf85bfbe800e525612038d66

Gene ate the shrimp !!!! 🦐 BUT I thought he was allergic to shell fish ? On ......Season 4 Episode 22!! #LOBSTERKILLS!!! 🐦‍🔥🦞🦑.......

It came to me in a dream

i was rewatching this last night and it had me thinking about all the times gayle has inappropriately thrown herself at bob. it also made me think about how linda never sets boundaries with her sister and makes bob play along which makes me very uncomfortable and sometimes very angry lol. if the roles were reversed and bob had a brother that did those things to linda and bob made linda play along how do you think linda would handle that? i clearly know bob wouldn’t ever let that slide but just hypothetically if the roles were reversed how do you think linda would take it?