When your show hits 200 episodes, you can be forgiven for wanting to make a big deal out of it. Your syndication value has doubled, youve achieved some level of cultural prominence, and your collected DVDs will take up at least one shelf on some collectors entertainment center. Consequently, many shows have gone to great lengths to make the bicentennial episode stand out. The Simpsonsprovided a grand Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory musical number, a Steve Martin guest spot, and eventually relocated the entire town in the wake of a trash epidemic. Family Guypaid homage to Garry Marshall with a romantic comedy that covered the entirety of Quahog. South Parkcreated a grand self-referential conspiracy that blended virtually all its past controversies and celebrity parodies.
“Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids”
In comparison, the Bobs Burgers bicentennial episode looks like a relatively tame affair. The story remains centered on the family restaurant, dealing with the umpteenth crisis on an important day. Out of the shows sprawling cast theres only a couple guest stars who make an appearance, and most of those have been around so long theyre practically regulars. Theres no life-or-death struggles, no great reveals, and while theres musical numbers and callbacks its no more than youd expect from a show that thrives on both. At a glance, it could be any other day at the restaurant.
And oddly enough, thats what makes Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids a perfect commemoration of Bobs Burgers longevity. Deep into its eleventh season, Bobs Burgers has cemented its role as the comedic workhorse of the Fox Sunday animated lineup. Like the restaurant itself, Bobs Burgers knows what its good at and sticks to it, and its 200th episode is an expert deployment of that particular blend of the sweet and the silly. It follows in the footsteps of hundredth episode Glued, Wheres My Bob? to celebrate how much everyone working there does care about this oft-maligned greasy spoon, a challenge and reaffirmation of the Belcher family bond.
Its a strength thats tested early on in Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids, as it looks like the plot will be split evenly between parents and kids. Bobs trying to ensure the restaurant does well on the OceanFest street business festival, while the kids are instantly distracted by the prospect of an associated sculpture contest and a $300 gift certificate. The episode subverts those expectations in the first act by immediately tying the stories together, when the kids try to punch up Lindas horrifying papier-mache mermaid and their combined efforts set the restaurant on fire. (Aw, working together! I mean, thats not good.)
Its a good decision by credited writer Steven Davis to ramp things up, and another good decision is to split the blame up between the Belcher kids rather than pinning the blame on one of them. Any one of the threes established character flaws could drive this story forwardTinas attempts to grow up and be in control, Genes desire for attention, Louises appetite for destructionbut in consolidating them it makes the whole thing feel more centered than it would otherwise. The staggered music reveals are a perfect choice to escalate the consequences, with just the right individual touches added to each verse. Toss-up for the favorite between Gene having to add his trip to the bathroom and Louise making it clear Genes really the one at fault.
And in doing so, the bicentennial episode gets to center on an idea thats been part of the show since the very beginning: Bobs long-suffering refrain that his family is terrible. Its hard to argue with that determination here, especially given that this level of devastation comes from the kids at their least malicious or distracted. This isnt the kids making a deliberate decision to go against their father or even ignore their usual work, this is just them being kids and not seeing consequences to their actions. Bob cant find it in him to get too mad at themsome glorious freaking out and retracting ensuesbut the kids are fully capable of internalizing his disappointment.
And in doing so it makes it all the more rewarding to see them own up to their apparent awfulness and decide to do something about it. By not giving any specific weight to any of their motivations and presenting them as a whole, Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids gets the best out of all three of them. Louise takes charge, uses her destructive impulses to their advantagepoor Kyle and his whisksand gets them to their goal. And when it turns out that theyd have to break the rules to get what they need, its Tinas commitment to the right thing that gets them to their resolution, and then take it a few steps further with a very long letter. Genes caught between the two, but hes fully loaded on his one-liners, and more than carries the comedic weight of their encounters. (Bubba Gump give us strength!)
In fact Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids is one of the more hilarious episodes of Bobs Burgers this season. With a limited supporting castHugo and Ron bookending the action, Jimmy Pesto Zoom!-ing in for a few insultsthe attention can be focused on the core ensemble, as they prove yet again why the show continues to be so sharp eleven seasons in. Bobs poignant grill apology is one of his best outbursts to an inanimate object yet. (And theres been some stiff competition for that this season.) Lindas unwavering commitment to her sculpture is peak Linda detachment from the judgment of others, and honorary Belcher Teddy keeps things light as he gets swept up in a lot of individual moments.
If the 200th episode does give us one thing new, its seeing Hugo get his comeuppance. In the world of Bobs Burgers Hugos probably the closest we get to an actual villaineven if these days hes more of an annoyance than a threatso for him to have to go to Bob and mutter his guilt is almost as satisfying as seeing Jimmy Pesto take one below the belt. While the reveal wasnt necessary to add a good feeling to the end of the episode, its the perfect coda to the musical elements of the episode, seeing the Belcher kids rise from the ashes in the wake of Hugos confession. It lets them strike the highest possible note as Bob can admit his family isnt that terrible after all, and they can pivot to their next minor squabble as Linda wants to bring the increasingly horrifying mermaid indoors.
Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids isnt going to become a pantheon entry of Bobs Burgers any time soon, but its another building block in whats shaping up to be a highly solid season. Far from being a spectacle, it does exactly what a show should be doing on a milestone like this: proving how it got to this point, and proving that it deserves to stick around for as many more episodes as it can get.
Stray observations:
- Burgers of the Week: The Chimichurri Up and Wait Burger, The Guac! Or My Mom Will Shoot Burger
- Store Next Door: My So-Called Knife Butterknife Store
- Pest Control Truck: Sleeping With The Ant-Emy Pest Control
- Teddys comment about the propane tank being light and subsequent wish that he was made of propane made me think that we were at last heading to some sort of King Of The Hillnod and a suspiciously familiar propane salesman dropping off a new tank. Weve already had a Home Movies reference, its not an impossible thought.
- Callbacks galore: Genes costume drawer includes his cheerleading outfit, the Beefsquatch mask, and his necklace from the Halloween he went as Queen Latifah during her U.N.I.T.Y. Phase. Plus, Ghost Boy sighting on the dumpster behind A Shrimp-le Plan!
- So much competition this week for best interaction, but the gold has to go to Bobs analogy about using a backup grill and Lindas matter-of-fact response. Bob: Its like having an affair with another woman on top of my wife. Linda: I am a pretty solid sleeper.
- Oh, the heavy breathing guy who sounded scary but also vulnerable? Thats about the best description of Teddy Ive ever heard.
- Bob: Why did everything turn out the way it did? Teddy: You sound like me every morning.
- Shes not conventionally attractive, but she has kind eyes. Theyre kind of eyes.
- Its hard out here for a crimp!
- Those fire guys went all Patrick Sprayze on me.
- You got a great memory for your age, Dad. And a great ass! Thank you.
- Well pack our things. Actually, Mom, if you could pack our things thatd be great. Were really bad at packing.
- Id do more than that. Id kill a guy. Dont do that.
