Another year is about to be closed down in the books. Another long year ready to set to a close and man, this was a long one. Apparently, it almost feels like 2020 never freaking left. Mostly because the year started with an attempted coup over at the Capitol. Yeah...that happened. That really happened. One of those people who attended the terrorist festival is, of course, Jay Johnston. Heard that he got “banned” from voicing Jimmy Pesto. Which we all know that it’s another word for “fired” and it seems that we might not be seeing Jimmy for the rest of the season. It’s how the saying goes, “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” And that was one of the many items from a monkey paw year that the show went through when celebrating its tenth year on the air. The other being losing one of the crew members of the show, Middleditch being a piece of crap and being shown the door once the current season arrives, the quality starts to decline that it almost feels like we’re reliving Black Tuesday that led to the Great Depression, and the movie going through some scheduling conflicts from being pulled from its April 9 date to now a May 27, 2022 release while waiting for a teaser to drop but it looks like COVID-19...it looks like it might have other plans for our plans for next year. Can we have one nice thing for next year? That’s all we wanted. Come on!
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, it’s Christmastime for the Belchers...but it’s not a holly jolly one for Gene, who breaks his most prized possession and must get a new one at the last minute as Teddy establishes a neighborhood Secret Santa with Bob and Linda in my spoilerific review of the tenth episode of Season 12 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Gene’s Christmas Break”.
And nothing said celebrating the holidays than...of course, traditions. That’s the one thing to celebrate the holidays and that is happened to be traditions. That is what we are shown with the episode with Gene playing his most prized possession in the form of a record that he plays every Christmas, well, the days leading up to the holiday where he pretends that he’s a radio DJ for the holidays enough to annoy the family. Which almost feels like Gene’s vinyl of a 1970s song is the equivalent of Surfin’ Bird from Family Guy. A tradition that started all the way back to early childhood. So I guess you could possibly see why Gene is trying so hard to get his hands on another copy. Would say go on the internet and order another one, but finding something that rare online...yeah, it could cost you a pretty penny.
Also on the idea of Christmas traditions and it’s a well-known one out of the batch and that is the Secret Santa exchange. Yeah, some of y’all may have gone through that where you have to draw a name out of a cup, hat, or jar and that person has to get their pick a gift that they will like for...well, a moment or two. Sure, they could’ve done the whole white elephant gift exchange for the subplot, but...they rather do the Secret Santa exchange instead as Teddy suggested even though he only wanted to do it with Bob and Linda before pulling in both Mort and Mike into the conversation. Yeah, remember when Teddy wasn’t that mean to Mort? Whatever happened to that? But other than that, let’s unwrap our presents and enjoy some holiday music blasting into the background until January of 2022, this is “Gene’s Christmas Break”.
And it wasn’t even the first full minute into the episode and you have the family being annoyed by the sounds of Gene blasting the CD player as if he’s a radio DJ being on the air for the holidays. Something that he has been playing since December 1st. Since the start of December is where he wakes up early and starts blasting the radio early in the morning as you’re blasting your phone while getting ready to head off to school or work and annoy your relatives where they’re still sleeping. Funny because nowadays, radio stations, whenever November 1st hit on the calendar, flip the switch from playing normal songs, either the usual stations where they showcase popular songs or old songs from the 80s, 90s, sprinkle in songs from the 2000s and 2010s to Christmas songs the moment the clock strikes midnight as kids finally got their candy into their basket and make sure their parents don’t eat it all as part of a Jimmy Kimmel skit. Also, notice the little Easter egg there in the background with the wall of photos above the TV in what appears to be the holiday cards. You remember in “Die Card, or Card Trying” where Linda took down a wall of holiday photos that lead to them making one themselves over at a national park. So I’m guessing that photo they took is what led to them having to get more cards for the family to display onto the wall. That and also the handmade ornaments from “The Bleakening”, so that was a nice touch. And it wasn’t long before Tina pits the blame for how or who got Gene the album for him to blast through the stereo. And of course, the finger-pointing is at Bob.
This leads to a flashback to three years ago with Bob cleaning up the closet with some boxes on the bed and the floor with him putting old clothes away on their way to the thrift shop where you have a little Gene, knowing that he’s 11 in the present, he would be around 8 years old in the flashback as he set his eyes on the album from the closet. Which reveals that Bob’s aunt gave it to him and was kept for a really long time. Mostly because it’s the 1970s and...well...drugs are everywhere. The hippie movement. Peace and love. There was a lot of pot that Bob’s aunt puffed up. And man, this season continues to dump some backstory info into our plates. I mean, it was just two weeks ago, an episode ago, that we got some backstory with the restaurant and the Belchers’ household with Violet being the former tenant and the shop that was there before Bob opened the restaurant up used to be a donut shop. Not to mention the exposition regarding Linda earlier in the season. And man, they really just giving it away like the cafeteria at school and check what’s on the menu for the day and see if anything is good to consume. Not the perfect analogy, but you’ll get the idea. Which again, I feel like they’re setting things up for the upcoming movie. I mean you can’t just drop some information regarding each character’s past in each random episode prior to the film being announced. I mean...they can do that. They can actually do that. But knowing that we’re about to enter 2022 and the countdown to the film has already started to take its place, don’t be surprised if they continue to do that as the season progresses as we enter the second half. So Bob’s aunt gave him the album and he was planning on getting rid of it, only to hand it over to Gene and that’s pretty much the villain origin story behind Gene and the album. And let’s face it, Gene playing Tinsel Machine, the name of the album of the record, is pretty much the equivalent of Surfin’ Bird from Family Guy with Peter. They’re the same picture.
And much like with “Stuck in the Kitchen with You” and “FOMO You Didn’t”, we get a little side story, a filler that attaches itself onto the main plot as if the story in the spotlight is being treated as a tow truck whenever a car breaks down at the right side of the highway and it’s Tina this time with her struggling to wrap a present. I wish I was joking, but there’s no joke. That’s the actual side story of the main plot. And...yeah, honestly I don’t blame Tina on this one. Wrapping gifts, especially during the Christmas season, can be a bitch. It’s a bitch to wrap up that you’re pretty much on the point where you have to give up and place the present into a carry-on bag with some wrappers in as decorations. But that’s pretty much what the side story/filler is going to be that will be sticking around with the main plot of the episode.
Speaking of setting plots up for the episode, we transition over to the restaurant with Teddy announcing that he wants to do a neighborhood Secret Santa with Bob and Linda to participate. Linda is glad that she’ll get to do something though Bob doesn’t want to do it. Mostly because knowing Bob, there’s him being an antisocial fuck but also just want to have a normal day without any bullshit thrown onto him, which would be going against the script. Though Teddy, when coming up with the idea, feels like he was hoping for the whole secret Santa idea to be kept just between him and the Belchers and nothing more. So when Mort, and later Mike, enter the restaurant with Linda inviting the two to partake in it, much to Bob and Teddy’s dismay. So it was blatantly obvious that Teddy was annoyed and upset when he pulled out a name from a cup and it seems that he has no other choice but to play along. Just FYI, it’s Mort that Teddy pulled out. Which explains him being annoyed and upset over the idea that he becomes Mort’s Secret Santa. Remember when Teddy doesn’t hate on Mort? Yeah...what happened? I get the events of the subplot of “Drumforgiven” happened but...I feel like it’s just how long-running sitcoms work when it comes to a change in dynamics. One season, they seem to be on good terms...sorta but they were on good terms. And then the next, we have the hatred. Mostly coming from one person to the other.
Later into the episode as day turns to night and Gene still blares his music just as everyone is going to sleep, though not some because you had Linda doing some night reading and Tina trying to learn how to wrap a present via YouTube tutorials to coincide with her little filler plot before being interrupted by Gene’s late-night music blasting of him playing his favorite song that I’m surprised that the neighbors, even though almost the entire street are all businesses, issuing noise complaints against the Belchers for Gene’s music. Bob gets annoyed by it. Tina and Linda also get annoyed by the sounds. Even Louise, which...
The loft bed stays. The loft bed stays put. Thank god the crew kept the bed that Teddy built for Louise at the end of “Loft in Bedslation”. Easing all concerns when after watching the episode that the loft bed wasn’t going to be brought up ever again because knowing the show and how it loves to follow the status quo, it wasn’t going to be sticking around and the old bed will be kept. If you see that screencap from the Bob’s Burgers social media page, whether being Facebook or Twitter, it shows that exact scene but with Louise’s old bed. But once the preview hits on the page and on the YouTube channel, the loft bed was there. So I’m guessing the reason, and there are some on why the sudden change, is that maybe they decided to follow through with the episode numbers rather than the production order when it comes to keeping things that were established, whether being Louise’s new bed or Bob’s tattoo. Either that or might as well put in the most obvious answer to state why Louise’s loft bed gets kept post-Loft in Bedslation. Avoiding fan backlash. They already dealt with enough shit from this season from what happened with Mickey back in “Beach, Please” when they noticed that Bill Hader didn’t voice him and some fans are still pissed to this day, though should be calmed down due to the recent news regarding Jay Johnston. Please note that, and no one obviously checked on a certain item at the end of the credits, with the production order, the number for “Loft in Bedslation” is BASA08. “Gene’s Christmas Break” is BASA07, which is before that episode. Before the loft bed was built. And if this week’s episode showed Louise’s old bed from the promo pic, you would have people on the internet, especially on Twitter and Reddit, ready to throw a bitchfit over them not keeping the bed. Over a damn bed! Did you guys not read the production code! I did say that in my review of “Loft in Bedslation” the next few episodes is where the production code is going to be out of whack. We’re better than this, people. Come on now!
Oh yeah, and Gene accidentally broke his most prized possession when waking up in the morning with hurling screams coming from his mouth to get the family’s attention, though while worried about Gene and his well-being, inside their heads, they might as well be celebrating in secrecy that they’ll no longer have to listen to the song every day leading up to Christmas Day. Gene gets into a frenzy in trying to revive the disc by putting it back together with tape. I don’t own a record player but anyone remembers having CDs or DVDs back in the day and those things, like records, can easily break. And adding something to put it back together like glue or tape wouldn’t bring the content in question back. Gene learned that the hard way when he taped the pieces back together and plays it, only to play a distorted sound, putting Gene in a jam. And normally, since it’s the internet age, you can find music on...oh, I don’t know...YouTube, Spotify, any site?! But I bet that finding the song that Gene plays throughout the month is going to be as hard as finding an item at a low price during the inflation crisis. And knowing that Gene’s favorite album is in vinyl form, this can’t be the only album in the entire world because Bob did pinpoint that there has to be another copy across town. Leading to Linda asking Louise and Tina to take a mopey Gene to the record store, much to Bob’s dismay because he wants them to work for the lunch rush but since it’s the holidays, the girls might as well help their brother out to lift his holiday spirit up. And while that is happening...
We might as well get the subplot out of the way with the Secret Santa situation with Teddy asking Linda to switch places, rather, switch the people that they got. Mostly because Teddy doesn’t want to give Mort a gift. Well, who’s fault is that for starting the neighborhood secret Santa and pulling Mort’s name out of the mug? Pretty sure that’s all on you, man. That’s all on you. So you’re pretty much stuck with it. You’re stuck on buying Mort a gift duty. Even if you accidentally blabbed out your guy’s name out to the world and Bob followed suit in shouting people out with their Secret Santa with him coming out that he’s Mike’s secret Santa. Which questions what is even the point of doing the exchange if you can’t even keep your pipe hole shut over someone’s preferred recipient. But why stop there?
Because while the kids are out over at the record store, which we’ll get to that after this mention from the subplot, is where you have Bob on the laptop and trying to get his end of the bargain with his Secret Santa in trying to get Mike something. Teddy calls in from the mall in asking Bob for help to give away some hints in what Mort likes for him to give once the day of the exchange. The problem is that when it comes to the exchange itself, you have to find something that comes from the heart. Something that the person that you’ll be giving on Christmas Day will enjoy. In short, you’re on your own, buddy. That’s coming from Linda and told Teddy that he has to do it on his own once they leave Teddy hanging over at the mall. Remember, it’s the heart that counts, even if it’s for someone that you dislike.
Back to the main plot of the episode with the kids arriving at the record store in search of another copy but it looks like the Belcher kids might have hit a dead-end rather early when they’re having trouble looking for the exact same album. Just going to pinpoint a few Easter eggs from the record shop from the show’s past that includes a Dove Shannon album, a callback to “Local She-ro” back in Season 10. As well as a poster of Tabitha Johannessen, the singer who is most famously known for “Oil Spill” from Season 2, promoting a tour...hence, the poster of the said tour. The kids head over to the owner of the shop and ask him if he has the album in the back, but again the kids hit a dead end with Gene losing his Christmas spirit as time goes on. But it looks like all hope might be all but lost because the owner knows someone who likes to collect records and give the three his address. Only to find out...teedily deedly dee, the address that Louise, Tina, and Gene are heading after leaving the record shop...
Leads them to the Wheeler household with Louise asking Courtney, who answered the door, to require Doug’s help with Gene’s little situation. Do have to give some props to Courtney’s reaction to the Belchers coming to the Wheelers for help and with Doug of all people that causes her necklace to fall out of her mouth. I mean, knowing Doug’s history on the show...yeah, he’s pretty much mixed but leaning towards the negative side of things. Mostly with him partaking in messing with Gene with Courtney faking her death and taking his idea without permission, thrown a shoulder pad onto Gene to stop the show, manipulated Gene to give Alex diarrhea because he sucks at his position and that was after Gene refused to be Courtney’s dance partner...in which Courtney...she doesn’t even want to be part of the skating competition and follow in her father’s footsteps.
Courtney let Gene, Louise, and Tina in and join her and Doug at the garage where you have both him and Courtney untangling some Christmas decorations that needed to be put up while at the same time, decides to help Gene out in trying to find another copy of the album that he’s been searching for the entire day. The Wheelers are ready to put up the decorations in their yard because apparently last Christmas, everyone in their neighborhood went really hard with their decorations and the Wheelers want to follow suit and they did but according to Doug, they underperformed and also unlit and also over-reindeered, being the notion of the lighting sucks and the Wheelers, mostly Doug and Courtney, put up way too many reindeer decorations to the point that if they either try to do their best in setting up the decorations or running a reindeer farm.
But while doing that, Doug decides to help Gene out in getting the exact copy of the album that Gene needed and he might be in luck because Doug does have connections to someone over in London who might actually know where she can find an exact copy. The issue is going to be the time zone because if the time right now is in New Jersey, from the show’s standpoint, it would be around the 2:00-3:00 hour. Meaning that in London, it would’ve been late at night already over there. Meaning that someone that Doug knew in the record collection would be asleep by now because that’s how time zones work. And yeah, I may have known that for when looking over at the BBC One schedule to see what time a new Doctor Who would be on for the live blogs because it’s on Sundays and if there’s a new episode of Bob’s Burgers and The Great North, then I had to look up the time and go on a stream to do it. Hopefully, once RTD takes over once again, it would be nice to have the show air on a Saturday again so it doesn’t interfere with the Sunday night block. So Doug finally got the call from someone he knows, named Alice, and this is where the false hope decided to come in for Gene in a form of good news and bad news. The good news is that there’s another one in stock. About a few stocks and would light Gene’s mood and restore his holiday spirit. But this is where the false hope comes in with the bad news because the company behind the album only sent it to the band’s fan club, which only has a few fans. Which is pretty much the equivalent of a small forum group talking about how to turn the process of ladybug migration into an NFT. Not to mention, there was a fire that destroyed the building that made the copies with the only fatalities from the fire being the copies of the album itself. Once again, putting the Belchers at a dead end.
Causing Gene to continue losing his holiday spirit as low as Biden’s approval rating after embracing the false hope from Doug and being unable to get the album. And even Gene gets the album, knowing that it’s the holiday season, delivery is going to be a hassle, especially if the album is from overseas. And that’s more than enough for Gene to officially lose his holiday spirit by declaring that he doesn’t want to listen to any holiday music anymore. Almost getting some vibes from “Itty Bitty Ditty Committee” where you have him declaring that he’s giving up on music after being kicked out of the band that he created because of his skills of playing his keyboard came into question. But that’s pretty much my opinion with that very scene. That of course led the rest of the Belcher family to come with an idea by recreating the album to at least try to boost Gene’s self-esteem for the holidays. But for that to happen, they need to make sure Gene doesn’t find out about it when entering a random place, obviously the restaurant. I mean, you could possibly lock him in his room but I’m sure they don’t have to do that like he’s an emotional prisoner. Luckily for the Belchers, they may have found their perfect opportunity for Gene to not find out what they’re planning on doing once Courtney makes a phone call and Louise stepping in for her to do the family a favor by having Gene help the Wheelers to put up the decorations.
And he did once arriving at the Wheeler household by putting up the decorations in their front yard, only to run into some problems along the way from their neighbors walking or driving by to questioning...well, everything about the decorations that they have all set up. Trying to be perfect and wanting to wow the neighborhood and possibly deal with an additional buck added to the electric bill once the new year hits. And that’s pretty much what is all the Wheelers, mostly Courtney and Doug had to do for the whole episode. They’re just there and having some trouble trying to set up the decorations with Doug being a goddamn perfectionist to the point where he’s throwing in the towel. Sure, he did some help...kinda in trying to get Gene his exact copy of his album, but that’s pretty much it from him. And Courtney is pretty much there in putting up the decorations and also there as the Belchers’ opportunity to get Gene out of the house while they do their rendition of the Percy McTinsel-bud’s Tinsel Machine. Also noting that Courtney mentions her mom, being that the headcanon and possibility of Courtney’s family being divorced is pretty much thrown in the trash and it looks like I, along with various fans who followed the idea, will be getting clown wigs and noses under the tree.
Now, don’t get me wrong here, I do have to give some credit to the Belchers for what they’re doing in trying to cheer Gene up to get his holiday spirit back with them recording their own version of the album. Especially with Bob singing that high note at the end telling the two customers that they’re open after recording their session. But once Gene listens to it and stops at the five-second mark, in the music industry, you’re pretty much fucked if the listener pressed the stop button before the first minute of the song hits. Enough for Gene to storm back to his room with him still being upset over not having his favorite album being around and now have the family’s butchered version of it that made things even worse for the guy.
And I feel like, and this might be where I came up with some ideas or whatnot, where the family hit a dead end and upset that they haven’t done enough to fix Gene’s spirit. This is where the Wheelers step in and have something to do other than putting up the decorations by having the Belchers to drop on by and tell Doug to at least fix the sounds and make it as if Gene didn't break his record. Pull an all-nighter but in exchange for it, they should at least try to put up the decorations in an attempt to wow the crowd though it might be placed randomly or whatever. But that’s more than enough for Doug, being the jingle artist that he is, can fix the audio and make as if the record isn’t distorted, though it has to be in tape form, rather on a CD like if you buy a case of blank CDs that you can use to import sound into the media. And then we get to the next day, the day of the Secret Santa exchange with Gene coming in, still bummed (we’ll get to what really happened, just hang on tight) over him not having his album. Enter the Wheeler family, mostly Courtney because Doug has to inspect the decoration over at the yard with Louise being the first to recognize her since she’s facing towards the window and telling her that the disc is ready for Gene to listen. That would’ve been something because you would have the Belchers given another chance to cheer Gene up. You would have Doug and Courtney do something other than just being there in having trouble setting up the decorations with Doug doing some mixing and Courtney being the messenger and delivering the disc to the family. I mean, you have the family being concerned about Gene’s well-being over the loss of his favorite album, so it would probably make sense to have Courtney being concerned as well because she can. Gene is Courtney’s friend, so I think she has a right to at least be worried about Gene’s Christmas spirit being lowered by the minute.
Speaking of a mopey Gene, he is still mopey in his room while looking at his broken album and you can see the attention to detail with the album having marks to coincide with the record being broken into pieces and ends up getting his spirits lifted back up courtesy by a visit from the man of the hour from the album, Percy McTinsel-bud, to give Gene a good ol’ holiday pep talk and lifting Gene’s spirits up for accidentally breaking the record and at least give the family’s cover of the album a try since, again, it’s the thought that count. They gave it their all in an attempt to cheer him up and Gene shouldn’t have stopped the music at the first minute. Sure, he did somewhat laid out some constructive criticism and pinpointed that it doesn’t feel the same and feels like it’s been watered down when comparing covers to the original content. At least give his family’s attempt to resurrect the album a shot because even though the disc was accidentally broken into pieces doesn’t mean the music died altogether, though the disco era at the end of the 1970s going into the 1980s would like to have a word with you. The point is that Gene needs to know that the music doesn’t die once the record breaks and who knows? The cover that the family worked their asses off might as well be his new favorite enough to give it to his kid once he grows up. Percy’s words, not mine.
Onto the next day we go with the big day finally arrived with the Secret Santa exchange with everyone’s gifts ready to be given away and for the recipient to open up, but not before flipping the switch with Tina’s little filler plot with her trying to wrap a gift box where you have Mike telling Tina that a “good” gift wrapping makes the gift looks all cold and impersonal and would rather have a gift wrapped in...well, with recycled newspaper as wrappers. I mean, you could possibly find some gift wrapping paper at any store, being a department store or a dollar store but hey, give Tina some credit on what she’s doing when trying to wrap a gift as practice. And didn’t even resort to the bag option, which would be the easy way out for gift wrapping. Speaking of gifts...
The Secret Santa exchange with Mike being the first to open his gift from Bob which reveals to be a gift card. Which...okay. I mean, it’s not the best gift. Nothing wrong with money as a gift, unless you’re a greedy asshole enough to rival a Fortune 500 company. But a gift card isn’t a bad gift for Mike to have from Bob. Linda got a sheet of stamps from Mike. I get the gift card as a holiday gift, but stamps? Like unless you’re a stamp collector to pass the time as a hobby, I don’t think that’s a good gift in my opinion. But Linda doesn’t seem unphased over the idea of having a sheet of paper filled with stamps as the preferred gift. This leads to Bob’s gift in a form of a piece of paper, a note mind you, that states that Linda washed the car as a gift. I mean, it’s not surprising that Linda would be Bob’s Secret Santa, and washing the car was something as a gift since...actually, now that you think about it, when was the last time the car was washed? I mean seriously, you probably think about it when the note was brought up and think to yourself if the car was even clean from the start. Plus, if the car were to be washed, I don’t know if there’s a hose nearby for Linda to clean the car as Bob’s Secret Santa gift, so I have to guess car wash as a possible guess. Mostly because the family had to deal with Gene’s little situation regarding the broken record. And then...we get to Mort and Teddy with Teddy’s gift to the guy for the holidays by giving him a calendar. Which, like the stamp sheet, isn’t a good holiday card not gonna lie here. It’s not. Though it doesn’t upset Mort because apparently, he has a habit of barns...barns. Yeah and I thought knowing all things elevators was an unusual hobby. But then again, I was once a map geek when I was a wee lad, especially road atlases because why not. That was before I got internet, so just putting that out there. Which leaves us to Mort’s gift to Teddy and I’m not going to lie to y’all...
Mort’s gift to Teddy was honestly one of the nicest moments of the episode because as much as Teddy has a certain dislike to the guy for no reason other than following what the script said, this is one of the nicest things that Mort can come up with to give Teddy something for the holiday as his Secret Santa. And a plaque with his name on it and serve it as a permanent spot for the restaurant. And again, you have to give Mort some credit in giving Teddy a plaque for him to drill it onto the stool that he always sits on every time he visits the restaurant. But then, much like with the loft bed from “Loft in Bedslation”, you have this question coming into mind. Will the plaque stick around? Will we experience fan backlash if it doesn’t show even though it’s possible that the plaque might be drilled under the stool or the counter? I mean, it’s possible that the plaque will be there and it’s also possible that it might be drilled under the stool or counter. Above it? Hmm...we’ll see in future episodes as well as the movie once May arrives. So once Teddy heads out to get his tools out for him to mark his territory thanks to Mort’s plaque...
Here enter Gene covered in Christmas decorations from the start of the episode and it seems that he has regained his holiday spirit with him carrying the radio and the tape that his family recorded. Telling the family that he listened to the tape again. The full tape from start to finish that the family made for him and even though they’re not the best singers, they did their best to in their attempts to cheer Gene up. Enough for him, once getting a pep talk from Percy himself, to do some changes on the minor side with the tape once the play button is pressed, leading to the song to be slightly improved thanks to the power of old-fashioned audio editing and thus, rekindles Gene’s holiday spirit that he once lost earlier in the week. So at least that’s the end of the main plot of the episode if you thought that the episode would end right there? Sadly, you are mistaken because while that would’ve been a nice way to wrap up the episode after this scene...nope. It’s a nope because we got one more scene to end the episode and guess where it leads us?
Back to the Wheelers with Doug and Courtney looking at the front of their house with the decorations already in place but only had a few lights from the rope of lights being lit up with Courtney suggesting her father to get the additional reindeer to be placed on the yard and that’s where we actually end the episode. I still wish that the Wheelers should’ve done a little more in the episode other than putting up the decorations. Hence, my little idea that I came up with. Doug and Courtney could’ve done more, I’m just saying. They could’ve done a little more.
Reaction/Thoughts:
But besides all of that, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? To be honest, and I’m not saying what I’m about to say because it is the holiday season, this was a good episode. Not kidding around, I’d enjoyed this week’s episode and yes, I did rewatch the episode a few times while working on the review and may have created that one what-if idea at almost 4:00 in the morning, but this was a good episode and I honestly enjoyed it.
Mostly because the family did give it their all in trying to cheer Gene up after accidentally breaking his favorite record that one morning and thinks that it’s the end of the world because of one accident in the early morning hours. Sure, Gene didn’t enjoy it at first because he thinks that it’s not the same and it wasn’t long until the image of Percy McTinsel-bud come into play and telling Gene that he shouldn’t be sad over the destruction of a record that is pretty much all but extinct. Hence, the end of the episode with Gene playing a remixed version of the family’s cover of the song and adding an extra flair to make it like the song never went away. Like Percy said, just because the record was broken doesn’t mean the music died. Hence, the remixed song that Gene worked on at a faster pace leading up to the day of the Secret Santa exchange.
I kinda wished that the Wheelers, especially Courtney and Doug, could’ve done a little more in the episode. I mean if we’re just going, to be honest here, Doug and Courtney are just there with them having some trouble setting up the decorations and Doug only had some role in being the guy that the record shop owner knows on where the kids can find the exact copy. Like I said with the idea that I came up with, I still think that Doug and Courtney would’ve done something by helping the Belchers with the audio that caused Gene to lock himself in his room with Doug doing the mixing and Courtney doing the delivering in giving the tape to the Belchers for Gene to listen. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind how the ending panned out with Percy McTinsel-bud coming into Gene’s psyche and lifting his holiday spirits, but I still feel like the Wheelers may have just been underutilized in this episode.
The subplot of the episode with the Secret Santa, sure...there might be some flaws, mostly coming from Teddy with him wanting to change recipient with Linda after picking Mort’s name out of the mug and even trying to get Bob’s help in trying to find him a gift. But besides all that, the subplot was okay, to say the least. I thought that Mort’s gift to Teddy in having his own plaque for the restaurant was nice and hopefully, that might be a permanent staple to the restaurant in future episodes and the movie. I mean, if the cast and crew keep Louise’s loft bed from the previous episode, then why not the plaque?
But besides all that, final thoughts about the episode. I thought this was a good episode. I enjoyed it and despite the minor flaws regarding the subplot and some instances with the main plot, mostly coming from the Tina side-plot because why do we even need a C-plot in the episode because the past two episodes already did that and we don’t need a C-plot that intertwine with the main plot. I thought the resolution to the episode was handled well. I feel like Doug and Courtney should’ve done a little more other than setting up the decorations. I thought Mort’s gift to Teddy was pretty nice despite Teddy’s out of nowhere hatred towards him and hopefully, the plaque gets to stick around in the future. So I’ll give “Gene’s Christmas Break”...
An 8 out of 10. But that’s pretty much my thoughts and opinions with this week’s episode and now I wanna hear yours. What do you think about this week’s episode? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Where does this episode rank in the list of Christmas episodes? Do you think that the Wheeler family should’ve done a little more in the episode? Will the plaque that Mort gave to Teddy stick around? All that and your mini-review in the comments down below. That’ll do it for Bob’s Burgers for the year. The show will be taking a two, three-week break for the holidays and it’ll be back on January 9th with “Touch of Eval(ulations)” being the next episode up and being the first episode of the new year.
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