Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving if you live in the United States and also for my Jewish followers to have a happy, safe, and healthy Hanukkah. Oh man, by the time the review is posted, we’re entering the month of December. The month of December. The holiday season. And here I thought that we would have a teaser by now for the upcoming Bob’s Burgers movie. It’s a long wait but it’s coming folks. It’s coming. Hopefully sooner rather than later since Christmas is now right around the corner. Would be an early Christmas miracle for 20th Century to get their asses up from bed and try to send in a snippet or two. That’ll be something.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, Tina deals with a dilemma in both the social and educational sides of things with Susmita wanting to help her out for her photography class but also wanting to be with the friend group that likes to throw her under the bus sometimes in ditching class as Linda gives a grand tour to the people who previously owned the building they’re currently residing in my spoilerific review of the ninth episode of Season 12, titled “FOMO You Didn’t”.
Let’s talk about false hope. Every once in and a while, people can come across the idea of something that might please them and get the optimism meter to go through the roof as if something good is about to come in their way. Only for the universe to do some fucking bullshit and decide to have everything point in the opposite direction. That and also letting reality to step in and slap us right upside the head. I mean, the most basic examples are fans in the world of sports. They think that their team might have a shot in winning a game, whether being teams that might a shot in winning a championship or thinking that even a losing team might have a shot in getting out of the basement, only for reality to come in and have that team either being outplayed, didn’t show up, or choke away the damn match in front of a fanbase that can go in the range from accepting to insufferable. How does it tie in with this week’s episode you may ask?
Well...this leads to the day of when the press release to this episode that came out earlier this month. They were some hype being built up surrounding it. And to be perfectly frank, I too fell into the hype because the synopsis has this episode to be a Tina episode. You have Susmita being involved. The idea of Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr, and Zeke ditching class, and Tina wanting to follow along like a lost puppy. Thinking that this episode would finally be the episode where she follows along with it, only to realize it’s a bad idea, and patch things up. Either that or Susmita forbids Tina from doing and says to her that doing the idea of ditching class would affect her grades, but also don’t want her to get hurt or get into trouble. That was the idea I would’ve gone with and instead, it’s mostly Tina dealing with some issues and wanting to pass her class but also wanting to tag along with her so-called “peers” in ditching school by getting some slushes and visiting a half-torn house. Really should’ve saved the episode with a little proclamation but...still have time. We still have time.
But at least the subplot did give us something to keep intact when it comes to the lore of the show and that is, of course, the very building that the Belchers currently resides in when finding out that they’re not the first ones to call that building their home because apparently, there’s someone before Bob rented the place and also finding out the previous business before Bob transformed it into the burger restaurant that we know of today. And while I do have to give some pointers to the episode for what it’s doing in giving out stuff like Halloween candy, yeah...the subplot may have some problems coming from each passing moment as the episode drags on. Mostly with Linda keep on inviting the entire family and messing things up. Let’s not forget that little side story that we got with Gene and Louise eavesdropping on Branca regarding the trophy display case that coincided with the main plot with Tina and Susmita. So let’s take a photo and capture each passing moment with this very episode, this is “FOMO You Didn’t”.
The episode begins with the Belchers having breakfast to start off the day with Linda going hard at work in cleaning up the house and already setting things up for the subplot of the episode as she is preparing to expect a visit to someone named Violet to drop on by. Revealing that Violet isn’t just some random person that appears out of nowhere, which is pretty much almost every one-off character in every episode, but reveals that she used to be the owner of the building where the Belchers are currently residing in. And while people are currently shitting on the current season, as well as the current state of the show, I do have to give some brownie points on what they’re doing when it comes to the lore of the show. Mostly coming from Linda and her past with her seeing a bouquet that resembles her neighbor’s dead dog, her and Gayle making a visit to her hometown to deal with some demons, and just a few episodes ago with the notion of her and Al did something but was unable to finish what they have started. And now, we’re getting some background, some history about the building that the Belchers are residing with a former tenant paying a visit to the house that she used to call home and also left a note once Bob rented it from Fischoeder. Almost feels like how a former president visited back to the White House after leaving office.
And while Linda is busy trying to get things in order to impress the former tenant of the house, you have Tina trying to take some photos from her camera for her photography class, and apparently, she’s doing at the last minute before the first bell rings. That is mostly because Tina doesn’t even know how to work with a camera. I would say that because it’s an old-fashioned camera that this generation doesn’t even know how old gadgets would work that isn’t their phones, but it’s Tina. Of course, there would be some mishaps standing in the way in your typical Tina fashion possible. But hey, at least it’s better than ditching class as she stated when noticing that Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr, and Zeke all did during class where they fuck off from school, went over to the nearest convenience store to get some slushies and hang out over at a demolished house. Which to be honest, Tina had done something better by not dealing with their bullshit and at least trying to focus on her classwork. Too bad that once we head over to the next scene at school is where Tina begins to develop a case of FOMO, hence the name of the episode because like the lost puppy that she is, now wants to tag along with her supposed “peers” and be a part of the experience. And girl, she can do better. She can do so much better than being a part of this bullshit because the script fucking said so.
But as we are preparing to follow the Tina side of things in the main plot of the episode, yes people, we have ourselves a side story. A C-plot you might say where you have Louise and Gene noticing that something is off regarding the school’s custodian, Mr. Branca, down by the trophy case by the intersection of the hallways. Acting all suspicious like he has seen a ghost or something each time the students pass on by. And whether you like it or not, which I hardly believe that anyone would like this after watching, this is going to stick around for the duration of the episode and still intertwine with the main plot regarding Tina and her struggles to pass her class while also wanting to be with her “peers” in ditching class. Will it help with the main plot? Well if you already saw the episode as I did, y’all already know this answer.
We switch over to photography class with DeSanto taking the helm of the position as the photography teacher. DeSanto, of course, is also the head of the school’s debate that Tina joined back in Season 7 with Henry Haber if you remember that episode. Anyway, he’s the teacher to the photography class and tells the students about the upcoming photography show at the end of the week with the theme of the show being the topic of perspectives. And I took a lot of art classes back in grade school. Mostly in middle and high school and learning about perspective and how to draw it can be somewhat of a hassle when it comes to the background of the drawing or a simple shape and doing some shading to make it look realistic. But we’re talking about photography class and with a work of a camera attached to their necks where the camera quality might be in focus, see if you can get a good angle while also getting that perfect quality. And it has to be an old-style camera and take the photo into the darkroom and not through a cell phone and print it out as Tammy suggests because let’s face it, we’re in the digital age now and everything is about to be replaced with computers.
And it looks like the photography show at the end of the week has some massive implications for the people who are not improving when it comes to their grades with what is pretty much their grades for the semester hanging in the balance. Case in point, Tina. Tina has not been improving for the semester, but mostly in this class in general and the upcoming show set for Friday might be do or die for the eldest Belcher girl who may need to think of a game plan to get her grades up to avoid the dreaded “D-train”, which was okay at first until it gets old really quick as the episode drags on. But that being said, Tina heard that she’s facing some trouble regarding her GPA and need to think of something to do with her camera to at least get one good photo to pass the class. But of course, in your basic “Tina-risms”, the lens of the camera decided to break apart from the camera itself and this is where the false hope begins to take its place, folks.
You have Susmita coming in and fixing up Tina’s broken-down camera. Which can’t tell if the camera that Tina was assigned to was either defective or the last person used it but then there was some sort of mishap that happened where it causes the lens to fall off? If that’s the case, then how come DeSanto didn’t even bother getting another one? I mean, sure...they don’t make these cameras anymore...well, unless you’re at either a pawn shop, flea market, garage sale, somewhere to get a replacement. Either that or it’s just Tina being Tina and embracing some bad luck. But besides that, we have ourselves some false hope regarding Tina and Susmita, and man, oh man, we’re just getting started. And I’m not saying that having Tina to be with Susmita is a bad thing, it’s just the damn show likes to fucking press the reset button and just love to follow on what the script said and listen to the status quo because that’s how sitcoms work. Just this once, for one time, just this once...don’t follow the damn formula and give Tina a proper friend for once. And Susmita is right there. She’s right there. Do something!
We transition from the classroom to the back of the school with Tina and the others trying to get some photos for the upcoming photo show for the end of the week with Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr, and Zeke now planning on heading out to do their usual ditching activities in both getting slushes and visit an abandoned house because why the fuck not. They’re middle schoolers and they could do it if they want though it can carry some consequences of being MIA. Tina thinks that it’s a bad idea for them to do that because it would affect their GPA and this is where I called shenanigans because these four motherfuckers have been ditching classes like they’re skipping their appointment to the doctor for a checkup because they think that them ditching photography class won’t even harm their GPA because they all have As and Bs and think that they’re untouchable. Everyone. These four have As and Bs in their GPA...even Jocelyn scored some As and Bs and no offense to the girl...she’s not the brightest crayon in the box. But it because of that is what makes Tina tick because when finding out about it makes her...how should I put this? She’s not the dumbest kid in her grade because that would be hurtful. It’s more of her not being the brightest of the bunch. The point is that she’s in a Mundo of ca-ca and needs to get a pretty good photo for her class but it seems that her mind is now ready to focus on what the four are doing and putting herself in a very tough place. Again, how the fuck did those four got As and Bs despite them ditching classes?
But that gets interrupted by what’s going on in what we’re now going to be calling the C-plot of the episode as “Branca Watch” because Louise and Gene stormed their way in from their respective classes, Louise from study hall and Gene from PE class, and telling Tina about what Branca’s been up to and apparently, the guy hasn’t even moved from the usual spot. You’d think by now that Branca would leave that spot and head on to somewhere else but nope, not even a single step like someone had put superglue on his feet from moving from point A to point B. So that’s about it from Branca Watch 2021 and now we’re back to our regularly scheduled program.
In which Susmita stumbled into the Belcher kids’ conversation when trying to get some pictures for her presentation for the show at the end of the week with Tina struggling on how to work around with a camera and trying to get a photo of her own. That leads to Tina pleading to Susmita to help her out if she were to get a good grade for her photography class. And the moment has to be perfect between Tina and Susmita. Potentially they’re way of saying of them paying each other back. I mean, don’t forget that back in Season 9 with “UFO No You Didn’t” when while waiting for a signal to drop in from their radio telescope for their science fair, you had Susmita asking Tina for some romantic advice with wanting to ask her crush out. Let’s also not forget that Susmita’s little problem in wanting to ask her boy toy out is considered confidential and asking Tina about it, who she just met at the time, again, going back to my Susmita character discussion, despite that they only just met, Tina fastly gained Susmita’s trust in the exact week of the science fair. Sure, there’s Henry and his prank but hey, if it weren’t for that speech at the end, Susmita wouldn’t gain her coincidence and asks Henry out. And you can thank Tina for that. And now, this episode might be Susmita returning a favor, maybe, maybe not, in helping Tina out with her project. You could say that it’s coming in a full circle, but again, it’s the false hope talking. Susmita accepts Tina’s offer and agrees to be her tutor and would be a good thing for Tina because with Susmita around, she can finally get some good help...except in the fact that she also wants to be with her “peers” in ditching class and enjoying time over at the abandoned house and drinking slushies. And knowing that it’s a Tina episode...cue the theme music...
Never gets old. So Tina accepts Susmita’s help while at the same time wanting to be with her supposed “peers” in ditching class despite that her GPA is being held hostage as she reviews her past photos that have piss poor quality that even my phone quality with the camera can do better than Tina’s. One of the photos that she has when reviewing now belongs to Tina with an image of the living and the family sitting on the couch and watching TV despite being blurry but Linda would rather keep it than give it back to Tina to be put into the tile to find which image is the best one.
Transitioning to the next day on school grounds but outside of the building with Tina and Susmita along with their respective camera attached to their necks with the tutoring session starting to take its place. Susmita, being the kind, gentle soul that she is, gives Tina a lesson about the topic of perspective by looking down on a random leaf and pointing their cameras down. Because if you look at the leaf, it’s basically your normal leaf. Nothing special about it other than food for random caterpillars to consume. But if you use the zoom feature of the camera, then it doesn’t look like a leaf at all. And instead, it looks like a landscape from above the skies when boarding the plane. Adding some uniqueness to the episode when informing people about how perspective works. I know that sounds a bit cheesy when it comes to stuff but if you’re a struggling artist or photographer, then that would at least help y’all out with the topic in question. That itself should at least help Tina out if it weren’t for her, and also Susmita, to see Tammy and the others making their way to the convenience store and abandoned house. Adding more insult to injury for Tina in being the lost puppy that she is. But not before taking a photo of them walking away from the school grounds, of course with the lens off from the camera. And something tells me that photo that Tina took before switching over to the montage portion of the episode that might bite her right in the ass later on. You know we haven’t checked on them for a while since we last saw them in the episode? Louise and Gene.
We switch over to them in the latest episode of Branca Watch 2021 with Gene and Louise out of their classes and see whether if today’s going to be the day that Branca finally moves away from the trophy case. That didn’t happen but now you noticed that something is off about what’s going on behind him with the trophy case. That being an item that doesn’t seem like the others in what appears to be a model ship. Sensing that something is up with Branca and the model ship behind him and it looks like that’s going to stick around as the episode drags on as we’re preparing to enter montage mode.
But not before we transition back to photography class with DeSanto pulling out an empty slushie cup from the trash can. Putting a massive amount of pressure on Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr, and Zeke now that their instructor might be on to them. Which you have some smugness from Tina in thinking that she may have avoided a bullet because she wanted to be with them in ditching classes, getting some slushies, and hanging out at the abandoned house and now she found out that the next time these four, or anyone else, were to skip class, it’s a trip to the principal office and could be ready to face suspension. Again, Tina may have dodged a bullet as she can focus on her work with Susmita on her side in hopes to get a good grade, and now we can get into montage mode.
And again, we have two plots with the A and C plots coinciding with things from each passing moment along with the B-plot. Let’s start off with the A-plot with Tina’s attempt to get a good photo with her and Susmita over at the darkroom of the classroom with Tina trying to hang her photos to see if each of the images will be in use for Friday, only for the photos to be fallen down. Again, this might be Tina being Tina doing all of the talking when trying to hang the photos up. That and also when trying to get another photo from her camera during the nighttime hours with her horse figures all lined and thinking that she may have found her opportunity, only to be knocked down like a set of dominoes before taking various photos of the school field, a flower, and of course...Jimmy Jr’s butt, in which she spams the button as if she were to be stuck in traffic, pressing on the horn, and hoping for the road to be cleared on your way to work.
Let’s also not forget about the C-plot of the episode where Louise and Gene try to get Branca to move his ass out of the way by having both Andy and Ollie to do something for once in this season. I mean...when was the last time that Andy and Ollie did something? Like no, seriously? When was the last time that Andy and Ollie did some relevant? I mean, yeah, it might be either at the start of the pandemic during Season 10 with them and Rudy under Louise’s orders to rescue a lost cat or Season 11 when they, along with the others, being invited to Louise’s pool party and had to help out when the tin pool had a hole that causes the water to escape. So Andy and Ollie got to do some shit, though only short-lived, and the Silvermans aren’t available in the episode, by trying to do what Louise and Gene are told to get Branca to move away from the display case, only for that to be foiled. And that’ll be your Andy and Ollie moment of the season. We’ll see them in the movie come May of next year.
We escape from the montage and enter the darkroom inside the classroom with Tina and Susmita reviewing Tina’s various photos with the clock ticking now that we’re already on a Friday in the show’s time, again, time is pretty much nonexistent, with Tina need to find an image for her to use for the tonight’s show if she needs to pass and here comes Susmita, coming in clutch and found the perfect image for Tina use because one of the images that Tina took through the valley of blurry images, she found the perfect image for Tina to use for the show of a fence with a blurred background. So Tina finally got one. She finally found her ticket to avoid getting into the D-train thanks to Susmita for helping her out and it looks like things are going smoothly for the two girls.
Too bad that they didn’t even notice that Tammy was in the same room as them and is against the idea of using that image for the presentation. Mostly because of the image in question, despite the fact that the background is blurry from behind the fence, have her, Jocelyn, Zeke, and Jimmy Jr heading their way out of the campus. Did I mention that she was in the same room as Tina and Susmita? Of course, you did because she was there as both Tina and Susmita put up Tina’s images to find the right image. Boils down to Tammy working on her photo for the presentation set for tonight, only for her to turn around, just as she was about to head out, to see the image of them in one of Tina’s photos that both her (Tina) and Susmita put up for the presentation, her head just got an alarm bell ringing and begins to go on the defensive and trying to convince Tina to take it down and get a new image. And of course, Tina would say no to her because her GPA is being held hostage and on the verge to be shark food and establishing yet another installment of your typical Tina/Tammy bitchfit while almost reminding us that the girl needs better friends. And the reason for Tammy in wanting Tina to take the picture down that would’ve been her golden ticket to a good grade is because her summer trip to Greece to visit her cousin is hanging in the balance her getting suspended would be a kick in the nads for her. And we only got Tammy’s reason if she doesn’t get suspended. But we got nothing coming out from Jimmy Jr or Zeke or even Jocelyn on why they shouldn’t be suspended as well but nope, it’s just Tammy worrying about her plans to go overseas and if that image gets presented, then she would kiss her summer trip goodbye.
Which leads to the bullshit portion of the episode where Tammy gets a lightbulb shining above her head in hopes to get rid of the evidence by inviting both, yes, I said BOTH Tina and Susmita to tag along to the abandoned house down by the street. After school of course, not during class. Which if it were during class, Tina would be conflicted over which option she would choose but would go right ahead in being with them. Though Susmita would totally be 100% against the idea of her ditching and also convince Tina to back out of the invite. Plus, those two need to get their stuff ready for tonight, but since it’s after school and with a little convincing for Susmita to tag along, they’re heading out to join Jimmy Jr, Zeke, and Jocelyn over at the abandoned house...not knowing that Tammy is about...oh I don’t know...destroy the damn image!
I mean...yeah, Susmita can’t even tell that something is up because while she is smart academic-wise, knowing that something is up...you could say that she’s not a sociable person before meeting both Tina and Henry. And yeah, those two back in Season 9 didn’t even notice that Henry was the one who pranked them in thinking that Earth was about to be invaded by aliens and now didn’t even notice that Tammy was about, if not, already destroy the photo that Tina worked so hard to get it right. But Tina...you knew Tammy the longest since she was the new kid. How the fuck did you not even notice that she was planning on doing something that would harm you? Like how?! How?! I mean, you read Louise like a damn book and predicted that you noticed that she would do something and prove your point. But Tammy...oh no, you either had to either fell for the mousetrap and get caught in her lies and think that something would go smoothly, only to go towards the opposite direction or you just find out at the last minute because the script said so. God, I freaking hate Tammy so much. But yeah, Tina and Susmita’s visit to the abandoned house with Jimmy Jr, Zeke, and Jocelyn gets cut short when noticing that they’ve been click baited and make their way back to the school.
And while that is happening, we head back to the latest installment of “The Ship-alorian” with Gene and Louise now noticing that Branca has finally made his move and it wasn’t long for the two Belcher kids to make their way to the custodian closet and stumbled across Branca with another model ship on his deck. Or rather, the original ship that he has on the table, which is revealed to be a model ship that is the school’s precious ship that Branca accidentally broke while cleaning the case. And Branca would get a new one and pretend that whatever happened didn’t even happen. Have everyone fall into a genjutsu, only to find out that the model ship has been looked at by Principal Spoors and treats the damn item like it’s his pride and joy and if he were to find out about the small damage caused by Branca, even if it was an accident, his goose is cooked. So yeah, mystery solved on what’s the deal with Branca. Him trying to save his ass to avoid getting the pink slip by Spoors by one little accident while cleaning the case. And honestly, we all kinda have those moments where you did something dumb that resulted in messing things up with someone’s most prized possession that you try to patch everything up before getting caught. I know that has only been seen in movies and stuff, but I know there’s some of y’all who done it in the past, and that enough cause Gene and Louise to keep Branca’s situation a secret and thus, wrapping up the C-plot and just in time as Tina and Susmita make their way to the photography class and no surprise there, Tammy destroyed the image to avoid being suspended and for Tina to go back to square one to find a good image again at the last possible minute.
Oh look, that happened. What a surprise, said no one when stating that Tammy was going to destroy the image that Tina worked so hard to find a good image for once to evade getting suspended because she wants to go to Greece for the summer. You don’t get shit, Tammy. What you did was pretty much inexcusable and destroyed what is pretty much Tina’s golden ticket from having a bad grade added to her GPA. All because you wanted to get to know some BFOG from overseas. I’m sorry Tammy but you’re not getting a pass for what happened. You’re not leaving the episode scot-free just for tearing up the picture to save your asses (and also Jimmy Jr, Zeke, and Jocelyn’s but mostly hers). But besides all of that, Tina is screwed and was about to throw in the white flag and hop aboard the D-train, which again, the joke has gotten old as the episode drags on. But it looks like all hope is not lost after all. Remember that side story that intertwines with the main plot with Branca fixing the ship? Well, it looks like Tina might do the same with the teared-up pieces of the photo that she was about to send in by putting it back together courtesy of Louise. Will it work? Well... the next scene at the final minutes of the episode, yes. Tina got the pieces back together, though a different look when it comes to perspective that make modern artists create their own salt mines in their backyards. Though if it weren’t for Louise, Gene, and Susmita, along with Branca as the influence, Tina wouldn’t have gotten her passing grade from DeSanto during the photography show and put her GPA in harm’s way.
And trying to avoid having a conversation with Bob regarding the GPA issue, you have Susmita walking on by and Tina telling her that she will not be getting a D in her class thanks to that image she (Susmita), along with Louise and Gene helped to get Tina to where she’s at. But not before mentioning that she now noticed that being around Susmita and having her help out throughout the week is much better than being around with Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr, and Zeke over at the abandoned house. And there is the false hope consuming me because come on! Come on! I know that this was not according to plan. There was some hype built into the episode when the press release came out a few weeks ago and almost everyone fell into the trap. I too fell into the trap with any warning and didn’t see the reality train chugging into the area. I know that they’re not official and knowing this show, they’ll keep the usual four to be around Tina because fuck you, fuck me, and fuck everyone’s expectations because the status quo is king when it comes to animated sitcoms, but I don’t give a shit. I might as well make a premature call that Tina and Susmita are best friends. I’m sorry but I’m fucking calling it. I’m fucking calling it. Tina and Susmita are best friends. I know that it’s not official but I’m sorry, they’re best friends. They’re fucking best friends and there’s no fucking debate over it. I didn’t celebrate the Braves winning the World Series earlier this month just to deal with false hope from this episode with Tina and Susmita and not have them becoming best friends. I will take this shit to court and consider this a fucking win to close out the month. And if this were a YouTube video, I would laugh like a fucking madman when consuming the false hope. It’s time, Bouchard. It’s time, Bob’s crew. It’s fucking time to have these two become official and tell the status quo to go fuck itself.
Of course, we can’t wrap up the main plot of the episode without mentioning the Branca situation with the model ship. He calls on both Gene and Louise that the original model is set to be put back but he needs a distraction for him to switch items without getting caught. And both kids did so by doing the distraction and Branca getting out of his sticky situation scot-free and unscathed. Expected to live to see another day till we finally end the main plot with Tammy’s poor attempt at an apology when meeting up with both Tina and Susmita before spotting Tammy’s photo and the person who spotted something off about one of the photos, being a selfie of herself, was not Tina, but rather Susmita with Tina following along when noticing a booger from Tammy and giving her comeuppance to wrap up the episode. Seriously...Bouchard, Bob’s crew...time for a change for once. Promote Susmita to a regular so we can have our bread.
So while Tina and Susmita are off playing Pictionary, not the board game but follow along while I laugh like a goddamn madman, we have the subplot already in progress with Linda giving the grand tour of the building to Violet, the former tenant of the house, of the upstairs and how she compared how she looks from when she used to live to right now with the Belchers before heading off for the day. But not before throwing in a fastball onto us when meeting Bob and finding out the business that Violet used to own with this very building. Found out that the burger restaurant that Bob currently owns and operates used to be a donut shop that was once operated by Violet. And whether you give this season either some praise or shit on how the episodes so far have performed, you have to give it some credit when it comes to dropping some knowledge regarding the lore of the show. We got some information with Linda and her past in just season and now with this episode, we got some history with the restaurant and the Belcher household that Violet used to live in the building and ran a donut shop before fucking off and handing the keys over to Bob and Linda. Although it’s not the first time we got some stuff regarding the building’s history because don’t forget that little tidbit from Season 6 with one of the members of the mob being gunned down by a rival gang. I feel like with this season so far when it comes to the exposition and info dump that is being thrown at us, regardless of if the episode is good or bad, they’re setting us up for the movie. Because let’s not forget that once the season ends in May of next year is when we get the film’s release where it becomes a buffet of information regarding the characters, the town, everything but not by a lot. So that’s pretty much what it's come down to when it comes to the recent info-dumping that’s been doing so far this season. Setting things up for when the big day arrives come next year. But if you think that the tour would be a one-day event and the subplot officially be over with...oh, you are mistaken when saying that. Though not the first time you heard about it.
Because it looks like Linda will be continuing giving Violet the tour by giving her family a shot in giving their former house a tour as if she’s some sort of real estate agent, putting a lot of pressure onto Bob, who has to deal with a lot of customers, mostly Teddy because he can’t do it by himself and also Linda can’t stop giving tours like she’s Willy Wonka and the Belcher household is her chocolate factory. This leads to the montage, though a brief one mostly due to the Tina and Susmita plot and the side story with Louise and Gene taking most of the few minutes of screentime of her showing Violet and her family the bathroom before heading over to the kitchen with Linda dealing with a packed house with Violet’s family. Which I would make a joke and would compare it to another sitcom, but I don’t want to get canceled. But Linda can’t help it when it comes to inviting the whole family to the point where Violet wants to throw a family photo over at the living room with the entire family, as well as an important someone that later reveals to be Violet’s mom. Causing Linda to call Bob that she’s going to be upstairs for a little while longer. But it doesn’t take long for Bob to head upstairs and leave the restaurant unattended when hearing the noises coming from upstairs and sees the family redecorating the living room. Though to be fair, the living room was pretty much due for some cleaning, just putting it out there. Bob would want to put a stop to it and Linda doesn’t want Bob to ruin things before they got interrupted by one of Violet’s family members and telling everyone to hide as her mom makes her way upstairs since apparently out of nowhere, it’s her birthday. Turning the big 9-0 and the family photo is that one present that they have to make it right for her...in whatever time she has.
Though we finally have made it to the finish line for this week’s episode with the family finally gotten their picture despite a brief fuckup from one of the members, though you think that Linda when carrying the camera, would’ve gone in front of Violet and her family like with every other picture that is being taken. Apparently, you did a pretty decent job in holding the camera than what Tina did for a whole week. But that’s more than enough to impress the mother since seeing the room being redecorated feels, in her opinion, like Violet never left the building. Finally left the building with Linda rejoining Bob over at the restaurant and saying that Violet and her family got what they wanted in getting the photo for her mom for her birthday. Mentioning the idea of a family coming back to a place that they once called home and experiencing a nostalgic feeling and thinking that it’s going to be Bob and Linda’s turn once they get old, though Bob hardly believes that would ever happen. Even though in last week’s episode, Linda did mention that both she and Bob would end up in a retirement home. Hell, Louise even brought it up in Season 3 and believes that it’ll be Tina and Gene who will be putting their parents over there. So you might as well just go along with the ride as Linda suggests even though time is pretty much nonexistent in the Bouchard-verse.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Well, other than the false hope that was built when the press release came out leading up to the night of the episode’s first airing on the network, this was average. It’s not a bad episode, but it’s also not that good. Again, that might as well be the hype that pretty much downplayed the episode when the press release came out a few weeks ago, but besides all that, this was average. Decent to say the least.
Yes, the main plot with Tina and Susmita didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations, myself included, but it was nice to see Susmita again in the show and again, I’m going to say this again, change this shit. Time to make some changes and promote Susmita to a regular. I get that her voice actress, Aparna Nancherla, is a regular on The Great North as Moon than over at Bob’s Burgers as Susmita, but it’s time. It’s fucking time. And after what we just witnessed with this episode, as well as what occurred in “Vampire Disco Death Dance” back in Season 11, Tina needs better friends. The people that she got, with the exception of Zeke, always throw her under the damn bus. And now that the fans noticed that something was off following the events of “Vampire Disco Death Dance”, changes need to be made. This shit is getting depressing as time drags on. I don’t care that it’s an animated sitcom and this will be nothing more than a memory once we get over to the next episode, but I don’t give a shit. It’s time to give Tina a proper friend that won’t be fucking off after one episode and doesn’t have her deal with the usual four. And Susmita after this week’s episode is the perfect candidate for her to fill in that empty hole. Make her a regular, I’m dead serious. You gave Gene a best friend in Alex and he only appeared in five episodes...and one of them doesn’t have him speak. Y’all motherfuckers gave Gene some leverage in adding Alex to be his best friend, so why not Tina with Susmita? The time for change is now!
But ranting aside, the main plot was hit and miss with certain moments throughout the episode. The “D-train” joke was fine once but then it got old that quickly, much a grin to the pig puns in “Pig Trouble in Little Tina”. Some of the jokes didn’t land on me. I feel like the side story with Branca feels like it might not be there to intertwine with the main plot with Tina and Susmita with the model ship. I get that they’re only doing this because it would at least give Tina something once Tammy tore up the picture later in the episode. But I feel like it shouldn’t even be added to the episode at all. Tammy, being insufferable as ever with her really proving that point when tearing up that photo that Tina worked hard to get it just to avoid getting suspended, like what the shit?! But besides all that, the only thing I can think of when it comes to the positive side of things for this episode is Tina and Susmita. They’re building things up between those two to become good friends, though myself, they’re best friends and there’s no debate about it.
The subplot for the episode...what to say about it? Well, I like that little info drop coming from the crew of the show when it comes to the history of the building that the Belchers operate and reside from finding out that there’s someone who used to live there before Bob and Linda moved in and also the business before Bob transformed it into a burger restaurant that we all know today. Which again, I feel like with this season, coming from either good episodes or bad episodes, they’re setting things up for the upcoming movie by the end of the season. But other than that, the subplot is also hit or miss with Linda showing Violet and her family a tour of the house before using the living room for them to take a family photo for her mom’s 90th birthday. Again, it was hit or miss in my taste. I do like that little tidbit with the building’s history but that’s about it. The rest is just Linda keeps on inviting the rest of Violet’s family as if she were to host a sudden family reunion.
So final thoughts, this episode was average at best. I did enjoy having Susmita returning and helping Tina out in getting her things together to get a good grade for her photography class. Again, I do think that it’s time for Tina to have a proper friend that doesn’t treat her like crap, and with Susmita being around her, despite that she’s smarter than her, she is quirky enough to fit the bill. I do hope that we can get more episodes with these two and for the love of God, make Susmita as Tina’s best friend. The subplot was hit or miss. The lore with the building is what I enjoyed but then get scattershot by the family getting a photo from the house. So I’ll give “FOMO You Didn’t”...
A 6 out of 10. But that’s pretty much my opinion and now I wanna hear yours in the comments below about what you think about this week’s episode. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Is it time to give Tina a proper friend? And why is it Susmita? Do you think that this season might set things up for the movie with the recent information drop? All that and your mini-review down below. Just a heads up that there are no new episodes this upcoming Sunday, December 5, or the following Sunday, December 12 due to stuff regarding the programming. Mostly because we’re already at episode nine and we can’t get over the ten-episode mark before Christmas. Hence, the three-week break, but we’ll be back on December 19. The week of Christmas, Jesus Christ. “Gene’s Christmas Break” is the next episode and this year’s holiday episode.
So until we wait for the next episode to arrive, follow me over at Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The Final Round of the 2021 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament is nigh. December 5 is the date where polls are set to open between Feliciano Vargas/Italy from Hetalia and Luz Noceda from The Owl House. And y’all should know the drill by now...
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
Donate today over at the PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out as the holiday season draws near in both improving the page and paying the bills to keep the lights on to keep on pumping out content for you fine people. And until December 19...or maybe earlier, we’ll see if I’ll do the Top 12 Countdown for this year, so follow me over at my social pages to find out, so until that becomes a thing, 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