So I guess road trip episodes are slowly starting to become the norm on the show whenever late March, early-to-mid April roams around as we are now nearing the offseason in late May. I mean, we have “Just the Trip”, which aired back in March of last year at the start of the pandemic when everything shut down if you remember that terrible memory like it was yesterday. Those were the times. This week’s episode almost has that, but abruptly came to a halt with a four-way fender bender outside of the restaurant. Just be lucky that no one got seriously hurt or...no, just hurt. Death in the show is pretty much as rare as...well, anything.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, Bob gets caught in a four-way fender bender accident outside of the restaurant and it looks like finding out who or what may have caused the accident is not going to be easy as it looks. And so does add in totals for the insurance in my spoilerific review of the eighteenth episode of Season 11 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Some Kind of Fender Benderful”.
Okay, not really a road trip like what the intro has said. Thanks for the false advertisement there, FOX. But there was a car crash, a fender bender you might say, and...yeah, to put it out there, I honestly don’t know what to say about the episode for this week. If this week’s episode featured a car crash, then this one is the literal version of it. Because my god, there are a lot of issues I have with the episode from top to bottom. And you’re talking about an episode that aired a week after “Fingers-loose” came out, which turned out to be a very good and enjoyable episode. To the point where it came out after a very good episode, that was aired after an episode that was horse shit...we’re back to horse shit. Sure, the rewatch factor is there and all, much like in almost every episode on the show and the opinions may change after the first watch, but still. I knew that the episode was completely sus when the press release came out. Even said it in last week’s review, saying that this episode was sus. And it did prove that with the plot being fastly paced and feels like it’s going nowhere. The musical number by the end feels like it doesn’t belong there or even necessary to be brought up. And the ending...almost feels like Bob can’t catch a fucking break for once in his life. Just this once. Come on?! There have to be some positives to at least light up the place during the breakdown of the episode. This is “Some Kind of Fender Benderful”.
The episode begins with Bob and Linda unpacking some groceries from the car where you see Tina, Gene, and Louise going through a giant bag filled with candy that they got that believed to be discount candy and not like those name brands you see over at the candy aisle like M&Ms, Hersey, Snickers, Haribo, those names. No, because one of them tasted like paint while the other tasted like hair spray. Which surprising that no one actually contracted food poisoning or died from eating discount candy. Though that ain’t stopping Gene from hogging the bag, which upsets both Tina and Louise and ending up fighting over it with Linda coming in and decided to confiscate the bag until they learn to behave. That would’ve been a better plot than what we’re about to expect in this week’s episode.
Teddy comes into the restaurant with Gene hearing the beeping from the fryer and goes all robot to go along with the sound. And at first, when watching the episode, I thought if there was something off regarding the beeping and thought it may have something to do with the background from each voice actor recording their roles because they do record from home and thought that might be the case. Kinda like with Zoom calls and people can sneak up behind you in the background for who knows what they’re doing. Thought it was like that, but instead was told that it was the fryer that was making the sound with Bob telling each one of the kids to deal with the fryer...and hopefully doesn’t cause another fire in the kitchen. My ears are now just made for decoration when hearing that beeping sound.
With the groceries now unpacked, all Bob now has to do is take the car and park it somewhere else with the kids tagging along because it looks like they got nothing else better to do now that their bag of discount knockoff candy now confiscated by Linda. And if you’re new to this and question how come the car doesn’t appear outside the restaurant? And where did Bob put it once he’s done putting the vehicle away? Well, that question was answered in “Bed, Bob, and Beyond” when leading up to the episode, you have a fan questioning Bouchard over on Twitter on where did Bob put the station wagon because you don’t see it parked outside the restaurant or in the alleyway. That’s where that episode came into the play when the kids told their version of a movie that they were supposed to see in an attempt to stop Bob and Linda from arguing over the laundry and also trying to tell their parents about Gene’s broken bed. Finding out that Bob parked the car on another street and that’s where he’s planning on doing it along with the kids where while doing that...
They spotted Andy and Ollie outside of the restaurant in building what appears to be their version of a scarecrow with a melon for a head and a broom as its body because they’ve been told by their dad, the dad who once stormed the Capitol during his absence, thus, you have them make their own scarecrow. It is probably out of boredom as Bob and the kids enter the car and ready to head, or in FOX’s case when falsely advertise it for its Animation Domination night, thinking that it’s a road trip. That also would’ve been the better storyline than this one. Bob was about to head out to drive the car to park it into another street...
Only to be caught in not one, not two, not three...but a four-way fender bender outside of the restaurant with him being one of the victims of the accident, along with three other drivers: a guy in front of Bob, a woman in a red hoodie behind him, and of course...we have a lady in clown makeup. Catching the attention of pretty much the entire cast of the episode to check out the scene with Linda hugging the kids since they were in the car when the crash happened. Luckily, they did have their seatbelts on, so they’re good. But everything else, you have Bob and three other drivers now getting caught in the accident outside of the restaurant.
Enough for Jimmy Pesto and Trev to come out of the woodworks with Jimmy Pesto, being Jimmy, decided to use that moment to poke fun at Bob. Remember in “Romancing the Beef” where you have him being proud of him for hosting a Valentine’s Day dinner rush? Yeah...reset button. Though it is surprising to see him having a speaking role in this episode. Especially when finding out that his voice actor may have partaken in that one cold and cloudy January day in storming the US Capitol in an attempt in the biggest prank gone wrong...that killed 6 people, in which one them being a Capitol police officer. I get it because this was recorded and produced before the insurrection, but...yeah, pretty sure the jab on the MAGA chuds who partook in the whole thing pretty much written by itself. Waited for Jimmy Pesto to have a line after the bombshell and here it is.
Bob and the others check out the damage with one of the drivers was planning on exchanging insurance info to deal with the damages and all and would try to at least make some small talk and explain what the hell happened that caused the crash and stuff until Teddy comes in to intervene and asks Bob in private about the “dangers” of being a part of a fender bender and think that Bob shouldn’t be buddy-buddy with the three drivers, call the police about the whole crash, and make sure he doesn’t get thrown under the bus by the others to get immunity out of this. Like...really? I mean, that’s like if you’re in school back in the day, you met that special someone, being a friend or love interest, via whatever moment or some shit, you’d started getting along enough to share a special interest, but didn’t even noticed that your special someone had some sort of hidden agenda and you didn’t read the writing in the walls before it was too late. Guess you can say that analogy in what Teddy is saying to Bob to save his ass from being thrown under the bus by the three other drivers. But Bob would rather ignore the so-called stern warning from him. Thinking that it’s all baloney and make sure he and the others can find some common ground.
Now...okay. The four-way fender bender was located outside of the restaurant with Bob being one of the victims of the crash. Did I mention that it’s located outside of the restaurant! Who lives next door to the restaurant? Mort. Who has a camera attached outside of the building? Mort. Remind me how the literal fuck Bob didn’t go to Mort, check over the security camera, find the cause of the crash, and have this shit over with?! HOW?! WHY?! Like...okay...I get the notion of why Bob didn’t go to Mort right away after the accident occurred. Mostly, if Bob and the other three drivers went to Mort to look over the security camera to capture the moment the crash occurred and find the cause of the whole ordeal would end the episode short. It would end the episode short in just a span of 5, 6, maybe 7 minutes into a 21-minute episode. But instead, they extended it into one big blame game either one having to be the bastard who started the crash.
I mean, yeah...there’s the interview with the people who witnessed the crash, that would at least help the cause at least to get things going smoothly without playing the blame game. So you have Bob and Linda head over across the street to the Pestos at their restaurant...by questioning Jimmy and Trev, who just came out AFTER the accident happened. Do you know who should be interviewed after getting a front-row seat to the fender bender right before their very eyes? Yeah, the two kids who are busy putting up their knockoff scarecrow in Andy and Ollie. Why didn’t y’all question them? They saw it first-hand. They were the only people who saw it happened. But apparently, they went “nope” and head on over to Trev and Jimmy Pesto, in which they haven’t got any answers except for the mocks, just to bring Bob down, especially during a time of need like with the fender bender outside the restaurant. God, I hope the FBI can catch up on you and we’ll see who’ll get the last laugh.
Bob and Linda didn’t get their answers from next door, didn’t even bother questioning Andy and Ollie, who saw the accident with their very eyes, when of the victims of the crash, named Graham, want to talk to Bob alone once going into the restaurant with an idea that he came up with in order to get them immunity...by creating a fake story and make sure one of the victims, mostly pointing towards the woman in the sweater, named Patti, to be the suspect who started the crash. Planning on throwing her under the bus and leaving Graham, Bob, and the clown lady, named Elaine, getting immunity from what happened. Bob felt uneasy about the idea that Graham came up with, something that Teddy warned Bob around but ended up ignoring the signs about being around with the other drivers involved. I mean, at one point, he wants to get out of this whole mess. And does so everyone who is involved in the crash. But if it’s to the point where all three drivers end up getting immunity from the police while the one who gets the fingers pointed the most could possibly face the consequences, possibly having his or her license revoked. Something that Bob doesn’t want to have in both ways, being in not wanting anyone to be thrown under the bus or him under the bus over who or what caused the accident.
That enough for Graham to exit out of the restaurant and now telling Patti about creating a little alliance of their own to possibly either throw either Bob or Elaine into the suspect’s corner for the crash that happened outside the restaurant. Pretty much the last thing that Bob needed to deal with this whole mess of an episode. Like...again, camera...Mort’s...go there and check. Go to Mort and check the cameras! Check the damn film so no one gets harmed! Hell, do that before the police arrive at the scene.
Oh look, the police arrive at the scene and right on time to question everyone who is involved in the four-way fender bender. Something the last thing Bob needed during this whole fucking mess of an episode that is pretty much going nowhere with the two people, being Patti and Graham, being put to be questioned. Leaving Bob, courtesy of Teddy, to create a little alliance to get immunity in Elaine right down the street in clown makeup. Of course, gotta bring the kids along for the ride because...she’s a clown. Kids love clowns...though not some because of the fear of clowns. Man, I feel sorry for the people who watched the episode that was a complete train wreck who also have a fear of clowns. Really should’ve put a warning at the beginning of the episode.
Bob and the kids reach up to Elaine as she wraps up her phone call in hopes to talk things through about the whole mess from the top. Of course, with the Belcher kids coming in, you have her pulling out a balloon, putting in her breath to blow the balloon, and make a balloon swan hat for Tina...only to end up being popped once she puts it on over her head. Even Tina can’t catch a break when it comes to stuff going drown the drain when being around her radius, this time being a balloon swan hat. Bob begins to talk to her and follow Graham’s option and try to form their own little alliance because he fears that both him and/or her could be thrown under the bus. Of course, Elaine appears to not take the talk and situation seriously as she now goes for pulling multiple colored scarves out of her pocket, only to then take out her horn and later doing some faces. Think it’s mostly because Bob brought Tina, Gene, and Louise along with him to talk to Elaine that she went full-on clown mode to entertain the three. That’s probably one way to explain why she’s not taking this whole situation seriously to the point where Bob is unable to form an alliance and Elaine is pretty much fucked.
So Bob’s attempt to make a short-lived alliance with Elaine didn’t work due to her not taking things seriously when being in clown mode and just in time for him to be sent outside for questioning about the whole crash and detailing how he ended up in this situation. Telling the cop that he just started the car and about to head off to park the car into another street and did say that he used his signal lights to make a turn...here comes Teddy to step in and telling Bob from behind the glass, inside the restaurant, telling him to tell the cop about the traffic signal to prevent Bob to make it feel like he was the one who started the crash. So he avoided the idea of him saying that he used the signal lights as his interview is now over with the cop now heading over to the next driver, Patti, as Bob heads back into the restaurant as he waits for what happens next...until Tina decided to intervene and tells Bob that she realizes that her father’s an idiot in not using the turn signals when he was about to turn into traffic. Why? The fingers point to Gene being a walking sound machine and his song about turn signals and Bob not drilling the song into his head when about to enter open traffic, which ended up to where are we now with the fender bender. Causes Bob to reveal that he didn’t turn the signal on, hence earlier in the episode where he only used the driver’s stick and not used the turn signal before using the stick to head off. It’s pretty much the perception filter of when taking the driver’s seat. I mean, it’s a car in the real world. Don’t think that using the Force would you make a turn without using a signal like it’s Star Wars with Luke using the force and not using his navigation computer as he flies his way to the exhaust port of the Death Star.
Bob catches the police officer at the last minute before heading off and tries to request her to change the words on his part of the questioning on the report regarding the lack of use of his turn signals. But it looks like he might be too little, too late because according to the police report, Elaine was the one who caused the crash because she was the first car in the four-car crash by slamming the brakes for no apparent reason like she saw a ghost or something. Which lead to the four-way crash and now she has to face the consequences with her insurance paying a hefty price. Possibly gonna have her license revoked for a traveling clown. Yeah, just blame the clown for starting the crash. Maybe next we could slam through a tour bus filled with a church choir.
Bob heads back to the restaurant and tells everyone that both Patti and Graham both blamed Elaine for the crash and could possibly face some problems as if she was thrown under the bus. I mean, it was going to be either you or her who caused the crash, pretty much turned the issue into a Kobayashi Maru, the impossible to win challenge. So Elaine could face some trouble to the point where she may have to be using the bus thanks to Graham and Patti acting like total dickheads with Bob now coming to the realization that he didn’t use the freaking turn signal when heading into open traffic. This is really turning into a Family Fracas situation. Mostly at the end of that episode because that episode ended with the Belchers not able to win a lawsuit against the Pestos and the network for possibly rigging against the Belcher family and almost won the case...only for the network to destroy the tape. Something about them never going to win. Them can’t catch a fucking break. This is what we’re heading with this episode. But with “Family Fracas”, the episode was held well before the wheels fell off by the end. This one? No.
Bob meets up with the police officer yet again just as she was about to head off from the scene and now requesting to change the report and telling her that he didn’t use the turn signals when going into open traffic, which leads to the crash along with Graham, Patti, and Elaine. You could say that Bob wants to take the fall to save Elaine from facing the consequences, just because of the stupidity of Graham and Patti pointing the fingers at her. That or want part of the blame and not wanting to be just Elaine, who would get 100% of the punishment. That’s what Bob is trying to do to make sure that Elaine doesn’t get the full penalty from something that he thinks that she didn’t do anything wrong except for having two dickheads pitting blame, just to get immunity. And then...we get to this scene...in what is possibly the most controversial scene from...not just this episode. Not just not this season. But possibly the series as a whole.
So you have Bob trying to tell the officer to change anything with the report and make sure Elaine doesn’t get the full punishment for the crash that Patti and Graham all pointed their fingers at for the whole thing throughout the episode. And speaking of those two, they came into the scene and want to accept their part of the blame and...we went to a musical number? We went to a musical number with the four drivers involved in the crash. Of course, we have Patti and Graham explaining their cause of the accident with Patti distracted by her wiener dog and Graham distracted by his phone. We know that Bob didn’t turn his turn signals on, and Elaine didn’t see anything that caused her to abruptly hit the brakes. And to make things even worse...you have everyone holding hands and singing along like they’re fucking singing Kumbaya like everything didn’t freaking fracking happened with the moral of the song and possibly the episode is mostly them saying, “Be responsible. Don’t be dickheads. Be careful when you’re driving.” That shit. Like...what the fuck did we just encounter? Like what the actual fuck?! This feels like something you hear from a kids' show. A kids show you see in the morning hours that was attended for preschoolers. Kindergartners even. Not in an adult animated series like Bob’s Burgers.
So to the point where we get to this point has now garnered the idea from the fans who watched the show that it shat the bed. It’s like what happened in “Y Tu Tina Tambien” when a lot of people, myself included, have some issues regarding Tina’s behavior when falling for Rodrigo. Her becoming a simp that she threw away her quiz and not partaking in practice with her siblings to dunk Frond. To the point where Tina may have become a victim of Flanderization. This episode may have pretty much had the fans think that this isn’t the show that they watched when they first laid their eyes on. Questioning how we ended up here? Questioning how the show went from accusing the family of serving human remains on their meat and may have garnered some controversy regarding an autism joke to singing about being responsible? Just...what the fuck happened?
Now...you could possibly say that because you have kids now watching the show, mostly because their parents are showcasing it in their own eyes, that Bouchard and the crew noticed and decided to make things more family-friendly like it’s something you see coming from an ABC or some old-time sitcoms you see on TV Land or Nick at Nite. That’s probably one major factor for everyone pointing what’s the blame for the change that is going on. Other pinning blame on the pandemic for what went wrong for this season, mostly in the second half. And I don’t wanna hear from those official entertainment sites that reviewed the show like The Hollywood Reporter or Comic Book Reader, or whatever site you probably visit and say to the readers, “This was a good episode of the show.” “Bob’s Burgers is at it again with an amazing episode.” No...stop. They knew that this episode has a lot of problems and everyone knows it. Everyone knows it. This isn’t me hating on the show or giving up on it. That ain’t it. I’ve been doing the show since 2014. This is my 126th review. 126. I’ve seen very good episodes. I‘ve seen an alright episode. I’ve seen meh episodes. And also the bad. And this episode fit the bill. I ain’t leaving the fandom because of this episode or this season. I ain’t leaving because of how bored I am. This is my castle. I built this page from it...of course, there are other shows that also have a factor in that, but this one is what I talked about the most. I ain’t leaving because of this episode. I ain’t leaving because of this season. I’m staying till the end. Hopefully, after Season 15 because the show needs to have limits unless you want it to turn it into a Simpsons, Family Guy type of decline. Either way, I ain’t leaving the fandom just because of one bad episode.
Find out that the whole musical number that feels like it doesn’t even belong in the episode...guess what? All a daydream. Nothing more than a dream. Just went all Super Mario 2 on our asses with that scene. Bob doesn’t understand why Elaine would stop her car that leads to the crash with three other cars? What leads to her hitting the brakes on her car? The answer: a cantaloupe. A fucking cantaloupe. You might as well treat the fruit as the bane for everyone on the show. First, it was being accidentally dropped onto Logan by Louise and Gene in Season 7. And now in Season 11, it caused a fender bender for all four cars courtesy of...wait for it, Andy and Ollie, who now saw the cantaloupe head for their knockoff version of a scarecrow going down the drain. So Elaine was the first who saw the cantaloupe on the street that caused her to hit the brakes. Probably thinking that it’s some sort of ball like you have seen those signs when driving through a neighborhood with the icon of a child and a boy, that might be it when probably mistaking the cantaloupe for a ball. That caused Elaine to hit the brakes, causing Graham, Bob, and Patti to hit each other to follow suit.
So that’s the end of the whole issue with the fender bender with Elaine now being the one who caused the accident, even though Andy and Ollie are the ones who caused it...don’t know why they’re not being questioned since they got a front-row seat to the whole thing and now being the ones responsible for the whole accident, but episode went all “lol nah.” Elaine’s probably now not going to be driving at any time soon and for Bob, the insurance rates are about to go through the roof. God, this man needs a fucking break. And so does everyone after watching the episode, just be thankful that we got a break for next weekend due to the Oscars taking place. So might as well considered that some sort of recovery time. Thus, ending the episode with the kids finally getting their candy back...only to find out that the bag seems lighter than it looks, revealing that Linda ate the whole thing from top to bottom. Yeah. Just gonna end the episode like that...kinda wish we have a subplot focusing on the candy, but nope. One plot, had to suffer through it.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Let’s focus on the positives of the episode before going off on pretty much everything about the episode. Teddy got something to be useful for once this season. Though just there to alert Bob to be careful when dealing with certain drivers when being caught in a fender bender and even trying to have Bob diverge during his questioning to avoid thinking that he was the one who caused it. That’s something for Teddy to be somewhat useful in the episode. Not to mention that Andy and Ollie are pretty much served as plot devices for the episode with them trying to build a scarecrow of their own to the point where the head, being the cantaloupe, which I feel like the fruit may have been the bane of the existence on the show. I mean, fuck it, the cantaloupe is the antagonist for the upcoming movie. I’m calling it now. That cantaloupe will be the antagonist for the upcoming movie, release date TBA.
Those were the positives...there’s a lot of negatives with the episode. The musical number, while the visuals are okay to go through, I feel like it really doesn’t belong to be added into the episode. The moral behind the number seems like very lazy writing that almost feels like it was attended for kids to watch. I mean, it’s to the point where everyone who watched the show, either all the way to the beginning or during its prime, being either Seasons 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, questioning what the hell happened to the show? Thinking that the show is now heading towards the decline with some now saying that the show may have jumped the shark on this day. Point is, I feel like the song number for the episode doesn’t belong. It doesn’t even belong in the episode and the moral feels like lazy writing at its finest.
Like, I get that going to Mort’s because he has a camera in the building and that camera recorded the fender bender as it happened and find some common ground for the four drivers, Bob included, in who and what caused the accident would end the episode after 7-8 minutes in, but it doesn’t have to be dragged out to a 21-minute stretched out blame game with the drivers, mostly Graham and later, Patti, pointing fingers at each other like first graders tattle-telling over not sharing a box of crayons. It felt dragged out and the plot of it went nowhere with the whole issue regarding the fender bender issue to the point where you have some people being turned off about it. Mostly leading up to when that police officer arrives at the scene.
Holy hell, this episode has a lot of issues to state. Think that the whole Belcher kids with the candy would’ve been the subplot, but that didn’t happen. The episode felt dragged out with the whole blame game and such, just to avoid ending the episode, the main and only plot of it, after 7 minutes if they go to the camera over at Mort’s. Musical number feels like it doesn’t even belong in the episode with the moral of it feels like lazy writing at best. That’s pretty much my final thoughts on the episode. I did say that the episode was sus in last week’s review and holy fuck, it did. Give it a few rewatch of the episode and there has to be a silver lining for it. 126 reviews I have done in a span of 7 years...never gone below a five in the rating system. And I guess this is a first then. So I’ll give “Some Kind of Fender Benderful”...
A 4 out of 10. The first 4 score of the reviews in the span of seven years I’ve been doing the show...I think I may need to start thinking about restructuring how I grade the episodes, hopefully before the next season. So 4 out of 10 as the score. That’s my opinion and now I wanna hear yours. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Mini-review of your own down in the comments below. God, I hope the next episode in May, “Vampire Disco Death Dance”, be better than this week’s episode. I know it’s only two weeks away, but still. Four episodes left in the season. Four left...let that take in.
Follow me over at Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram for updates and behind-the=scenes stuff for pretty much everything and also to check up any updates regarding the remaining episodes of the season. And of course, y’all already know the rules by now...
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages are the way to go to help your boys in everything, both improving the page and also paying the bills to keep the lights on and all. Until the new episode in May, please let that episode be a good one than this week’s episode, might as well not do anything next week and consider that a mental week...mostly because the scars are mostly fresh from this episode. And until then, wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and I’ll see y’all later.
***Bob’s Burgers is owned by 20th Century FOX, Bento Box Animation, and Loren Bouchard. Please Support the Official Release***
No comments:
Post a Comment