So how about that poster over the weekend? Yeah, that was a surprise to have it popped up just as I was cooking up lunch for myself on the hour the exact news would break of a second poster and what to expect over at Wondercon in less than a few weeks regarding the upcoming film. That almost explained why we don’t have an episode on the week of April 3. You could read my take on that as we’re prepared for what to expect in the coming days as we’re drawing closer and closer to the release of the Bob’s Burgers movie. But as we wait for that, we got an episode to talk about. Starting with this week’s episode.
So in this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, we have Louise, Rudy, and Millie in an unusual alliance the likes we have never seen before when trying to get some “justice” and going toe-to-toe with their teacher for their Ancient Greek work as Bob, for some reason based on the press release leading up to the week of the episode, decides to move out and mark the basement his own room. I’m not making this up, we both saw the same exact episode. In my spoilerific review of the fifteenth episode of Season 12, titled “Ancient Misbehavin’”.
The ancient art of pulling heists and learning about history, including mythology like Ancient Greece just to name an example, isn’t new when it comes to any form of media. Including here on this week’s episode with what Louise, Rudy, and Millie working together to create counterfeit coins for themselves after being screwed out from getting their shot in answering. Yes people, let me say that again. Louise, Rudy, and Millie working together. As if fearing of another potential COVID variant and a possible nuclear war knocking on our doors and wanting to fuck up our summer plans, one of which being the movie premiere in late May, isn’t bad enough in 2022...you have the three of them, rather the likes of Louise and Rudy working together with Millie. Not saying that it’s bad because of the idea of the cast and crew attempting to humanize her and looking at the results from this episode, rather than being the Millie that we used to know, even though her obsession with Louise is still there, seems rather tame. But other than that, we have them in an episode pulling off a heist to get them to get some prizes by making some fake coins all to themselves.
While the subplot...yeah. I mean...the idea of Bob forcing himself to get his own room after getting into some trouble with bed, mostly with Linda doing some unusual sleeping habits like kicking, to move to the couch and later the basement...we’ll touch on that when we get to the subplot portion of the episode, but for now, we might as well jump into the main plot and break this piece and piece in this breakdown of an episode, this is “Ancient Misbehavin’”
So the episode kicks off by setting up shop for the subplot to the episode with Bob feeling dead tired when getting a cup of coffee at the breakfast table. Pretty much your sudden case of the Mondays based on his mood, which is pretty much a mood for almost everyone. But the reason why Bob is acting so tired as if he wants to die is because he didn’t get enough sleep for the night courtesy of Linda picking up some bad sleeping habits. Mostly due to her kicking in her sleep which causes Bob to stay awake throughout the overnight hours. Pretty much anything can cause you to wake up that might cause you to lose some sleep. Notifications on your phone, the sounds of possible break-ins, your pet being unable to shut up. All of that can potentially cost you some sleep time. That and also Daylight Savings, especially where we switch the clocks forward an hour. At least that is almost over with once a bill is passed into the House and for Biden to sign in to finally put an end to this nightmare...unless lobbyists decide to put a dent into it.
Though the focus on this section of the review will be on the main plot with Louise telling the family that she and her classmates are doing some work based on the topic of Ancient Greece where whoever gets any of the questions right will result in getting some coins, well, fake coins, but act like they’re actual ancient coins and ready to spend it once the teacher who’ll be teaching the subject to open up the prize box. Or rather, the prize market. Something that Louise wants to get her hands on and is hopefully ready to pay a visit to the market once she gets her questions right on the money. Being wishing she gets it correct and it’s an all-expense paid trip to the prize box.
This leads us to the next scene at school where everyone is taking their seats, of course, you have Millie still being the same ol’ Millie and trying to keep her cool about having Louise sitting next to her as the teacher, Ms. Padaro, is ready to teach the class about Ancient Greece and of course, as Louise said to her family at the start of the episode, get the question right and it’s the prize box you’ll go to spend your coin as if you got your allowance and ready to spend at the discount store. With the end of the week is where the unit, being the fourth-grade class learning about the subject, will be getting a small party. Something that everyone, including Louise, wants to have and man, for something like dangling the prize box and a small end of the week party as if they’re a set of car keys in front of an infant, they are really prepared to get their hands on the coins that the teacher is carrying. And when I said everyone, I mean...EVERYONE is all set on getting their hands on getting the coins by getting their questions right. Well...unless your names happened to be Louise, Rudy, and Millie, then it’s Coin City and a trip to the prize box.
Onto the next day in school after not being called and unable to get their coins into their bank with people who gotten their coins...so basically everyone like Chloe and Kaylee getting a few more than what everyone else got, Louise believes that if they take their seats, then they’ll get the coins. Except that’s not the case once Kaylee and Chloe got their seats and for the three to head back to their usual seats and of course, getting screwed out from getting their due. I mean seriously? You really think that if you get their seats, you’ll get picked and get the coins despite that later in class, when you got your turn and ends up falling short and got the answer wrong. That’s pretty much the equivalent of an athlete wanting to go to another team because he or she sucks over there but once the trade is made for some draft picks and that person go play for that them, finally comes into the realization that the team isn’t the problem (though it’s that or the coaching staff), it’s the performance that was an issue for that athlete.
The point is that Louise, Rudy, and Millie got fucked over as they watch everyone getting another batch of coins and another visit to the prize station, and being left in the dark is where they say that enough is enough. It’s only day two of doing the class but to those three, they’re already sick and tired of getting fucked over because they didn’t get their shot. Though not in the likes of...let’s say last week’s episode of The Great North where Judy thought that she would get a shot at getting the main lead of a musical at school and hoping to be with her boy toy Steven, even though he’s off the market, only for the guidance counselor to take over the director’s chair and gives the main role to someone else, handed the role of a stool to Judy, and yeah...a lot of stuff to have Judy to be messed around from getting the role until an injury comes into the picture at the day of the musical. Even though this week’s Bob’s Burgers with Louise, Rudy, and Millie getting screwed out from getting some coin action and unlike with what happened from last week, they’re taking matters into their own hands.
Switching over to lunchtime with the three kids where they come up with an idea to get their hands on the coins. If they can’t earn the coins to make their way to the prize station, then why not make it. That’s what Louise, Rudy, and Millie are planning on doing when Louise gets her hand on both a quarter and a piece of chewed gum and faceplants it. Turning it into a replicant version of the currency and an easy path to get to the prize station and not feel left out. Although when the scene switched over to Tina and Gene for a bit, for a moment there, there were some concerns that the two might intervene and tell Louise that what she’s doing is wrong and tell her to back down, she does something, and then backs down at the end of the episode. Thank god that we avoided that. Sure, Louise, Rudy, and Millie did get into trouble at the end, but just be at least feel relieved that Tina and Gene aren’t intervening in Louise’s scheme because it looks like they got their own problems in the subplot when we get to that later in the review.
Now the idea of Louise, Rudy, and Millie working together to make the counterfeit coins once they made it to the Belcher household after school, after distracting the class with Louise taking the coin from Chloe’s bag and creating an exact copy, as I said in the introduction of the review, is rather unusual. Because when it comes to Millie as a character, we usually knew her as the Wagstaff student who is overly obsessed with Louise and question how in the ever-living fuck does all of this started? Someone who has a goal in mind and that goal is being Louise’s best friend. Even though that position has been taken long before Millie was introduced into the show with Rudy. The idea of having these three being in an alliance and working together after being screwed out from getting a turn and earning some coins is one of those unusual moments that we would ever see on the show. Them as a trio without having Millie resort to her going full yandere as you see back in “The Millie-churian Candidate” when she attempted to choke Abby to death with her braid.
Though once we get to Season 8 with “The Silence of the Louise” and later on towards this season with “Manic Pixie Crap Show”, while her personality of her being overly obsessed is still there, it almost feels like her “homicidal tendencies” has started to dwindle and Louise, despite being uncomfortable around her, could possibly see her as a possible ally. Though not yet as a full-fledged friend just yet. Not in like the likes of Rudy, Andy, Ollie, Jessica, Kaylee, just to name a few as examples. And this episode with Millie working with Louise and Rudy without wanting to make him disappear looks like baby steps for her. Even though we have Millie in Louise’s room and saying to herself, “Oh my god, I’m in Louise’s room. I’m in Louise’s room.” Yeah...you’re treating this as if it’s your first time and trying to play innocent but we all know that the reason you transformed your room into a carbon copy of Louise’s is that you broke in without notice and mimic everything. And now that she finds out that you have a loft bed, I would not be surprised if Millie decides to get a loft bed for herself.
Louise, Rudy, and Millie work on getting the counterfeit coins going by placing the coin together into a pile of clay that Rudy was molding into an exact copy and later putting it into the oven for drying so they can dry up and be ready for use for the next day. Yeah, great idea to let two nine-year-olds and a ten-year-old to have their time in using something that big like an actual oven. Just be lucky that they’re aware when making the counterfeit coins for their class.
And it looks like the fake coins have landed them to the three kids to the prize station after some fears coming from Rudy and...well, just Rudy about the idea of getting caught while they’re ahead. Luckily for them, that didn’t happen and the fake coins work. The three got their prizes and faced no consequences. But why stop there? Because it looks one prize per child isn’t enough for Louise, Millie, and Rudy as they continue to create more fake coins and collect more prizes as each day passes by as if it’s a bargain sale for them by using those fake money you would use in math class. Or rather since we might as well make a comparison to what we’re seeing, making fake IDs to get into clubs or buy alcohol. That is the fake coins in a nutshell for Louise, Rudy, and Millie. Just switch the fake IDs with the fake coins and won’t be facing the consequences. However, whenever there’s some fun around, concerns decide to cloud over.
And that comes towards the next day at class where just as Louise, Rudy, and Millie are about to make their way into the classroom, you have Rudy trying to stay calm but it won’t be long until he begins to feel some nervousness and his conscience ready to eat him up. Millie on the other hand seems to enjoy it and ends up creating more counterfeit coins, though almost giving away their scheme out loud just as Kaylee and Arnold make their way to the classroom. I mean, it would be at least interesting if someone were to find out and potentially want in, but everyone but those three got their coins, so...that wouldn’t work into this episode.
However, it looks like it’s all fun and games until the teacher finds out that someone used counterfeit coins to make their way to the prize station. Putting Louise, Rudy, and Millie into the hot seat, thinking that the jig might be up for them. This was mostly because Padaro noticed that the counterfeit coins didn’t include one of the ingredients that were used for the actual coins that the other kids have in their pockets. That ingredient being foil. And she baked the piece of foil into the coin as some sort of security. The counterfeit coin that Louise, Rudy, and Millie used throughout the week doesn’t have that. Sure, they didn’t even notice that there would be foil but they were this close to getting out of dodge. Again, they didn’t notice that the foil would be an additional touch in making the fake coins. But it doesn’t matter now because Padaro knows that something is up and wants whoever uses the fake coins, i.e. Louise, Rudy, and Millie, to confess. Otherwise, it’s no party for everyone at the end of the week. Putting the event hostage and won’t be back as planned unless the three kids come out clean. Almost feels like the lockout a few weeks ago that almost cost everyone a baseball season. But this one won’t last that long than the MLB’s little issue.
Once night hits as the rest of the Belcher family deal with an absence of couch cushions, courtesy of Bob sleeping in the basement, more on that later, Louise gets a phone call with Rudy and also Millie on the same line and ready to talk about what’s going on as of late after Padaro found out about the counterfeit coins earlier today. Rudy, when talking to Louise, seems to be on the verge of caving. As if his guilty conscience is currently eating him alive and doesn’t want to be the guy responsible for ruining the class’s chances of getting a party at the end of the week just because of being a part of making and spending counterfeit coins. Millie on the other hand thinks that it’s a good idea to get Rudy to be quiet and not let him spill. Both agree that they don’t want to be responsible for holding the party hostage but there are some differences. For Rudy, he wants the party to happen but it would result in them getting punished. Whereas Millie, she wants a clean slate but it almost looks like we rather not have the party as long as the three don’t get into trouble but it would be bad for everyone because...of course, no party. Leaving Louise in a very tight spot. She doesn’t want to get into trouble as Millie suggested but she also doesn’t want to be the asshole responsible for having the party canceled. That’s COVID’s job when it comes to fucking up everyone’s plans. Again, putting Louise in a very, very tight spot.
Which leads us to the final few minutes of the episode where we’re back at class with nobody having the balls to step up to the plate and confess, though forcing Padaro to have no choice but to cancel the party and have the rest of the class to be upset. Here comes Louise to the rescue in hopes of both saving the party and also trying to avoid getting into trouble by using the Socratic method. Which is the dialogue between teacher and student where the teacher is being questioned in hopes for the student to be shaped when it comes to their opinions and views. And the topic of the fake coins that’s been plaguing the class as of this week is being discussed with Louise, trying to avoid accidentally revealing herself, going all third-person, and accusing Padaro of screwing the three suspects in question from not getting a turn and being unable to earn the coins that resulted in the creation and use of the counterfeit coins. That and also the person who would create the fake currency would also feel bad for holding the party hostage and doesn’t want to be the asshole responsible for it. Leading Padaro to come to terms that the rewards thing can be a tad problematic and for some reason questions her vision and hearing problems, which almost sounds like an excuse but besides all of that, it looks like the party is back on thanks to Louise. I know that this almost sounds like another installment of “Louise learning a life lesson and falls short of not facing the consequences”, but at least for once, just give it a pass. Just give it a pass just this once.
Yeah, I know that Louise, Rudy, and Millie got into trouble at the end by serving the concession stand once Padaro called them up as if she knew that it was them who were behind the counterfeit coin scheme. I mean, they were the ones who were screwed out from getting the actual coins when Louise brought it up in the third person without using her name in hopes to avoid getting into trouble. So it would at least make sense that Padaro called the three up and thus, here we are at the end of the main plot with them serving their punishment as everyone else have the time of their lives. Again, just this once, I might as well give this a pass when it comes to the morale and the life lesson being used like we just saw. And hopefully...just hopefully, hopefully, this doesn’t result in me biting me right in the ass when coming up with a suggestion, maybe use that whenever there are diplomatic talks to ease down conflict if you know what I’m saying. But that’s enough talk for the main plot, so let’s check over at the subplot with Bob and his troubles trying to get to sleep.
This leads us to the night of the first day of the Ancient Greek Week where you have Bob, just as he was about to have a pleasant night and ready for an uninterrupted eight-hour sleep that he needed...only for Linda’s sleeping habits decide to kick in, literally, with her kicking Bob as she gets the full eight-hours and bothering Bob. Causing him to say that enough is enough and decide to sleep on the couch in hopes to get a good night's sleep. But with Bob out of the room and deciding to sleep in the living room so he can sleep in peace, you have the Belcher kids ready to make their mark in sleeping with their mom. Mostly Tina and Gene, who will be bowing out from the main plot with Louise and will be having their little situation with Linda once they go sleep with her. Even if Bob said to them “good luck” when dealing with her because of her kicking, though Tina and Gene doesn’t seem to mind.
Transitioning to the next night with everyone ready to go to bed with Bob telling Linda that he’ll be sleeping on the couch again after getting some good night’s rest in the past 24 hours that he decided to do it again. In which he did and try to get himself tired to get that good shit by pulling out some reading material from the bookshelf by reading a book about pepper. Because why the fuck not. Though it’s better than looking at the phone in the middle of the night as the brightness of the device, despite how much brightness you adjusted unless you have that blue-eye feature that doesn’t strain the eye, and could possibly cause you some trouble getting into a sleeping position. Technology, am I right? Either way, it looks like it’s another good night for Bob to sleep on the couch and also being off-camera, another night of Tina and Gene sleeping with Linda. Onto the next day at the restaurant...
Wait a minute. Hitting the pause button for a bit because it looks like something may have slipped under the radar. Now, everyone knows about the condition of the sidewalk ever since...oh I don’t know, last season? And also a few weeks ago when Kristen Schaal tweeted out about an Easter egg as a potential foreshadowing mechanism that might tie in with the movie. Which, we all know that it’s the sidewalk since we’re looking at it. But take a look at that scene when we switched over to the restaurant for the day, you have a random person walking across town, minding his own, and then all of a sudden, motherfucker almost tripped courtesy of the cracks. Of course, he brushed it off and minded his own business after almost faceplanting himself, but it looks like that one background individual is noticing that something is off outside of the place. I mean, he would probably tell the owners, being Bob and Linda, to check what’s going on with the sidewalk. But what would be the fun in that leading up to the movie on May 27 if they notice right away. Like I said in previous reviews, the condition of the sidewalk is getting worse and worse in each passing episode. Though I am surprised that a random person almost tripped while walking but Louise, Millie, and Rudy when they walked from school didn’t even do the same. Guess it's mostly because it was in his direction where the sidewalk is beginning to crack is if it’s the San Andreas Fault. But man, that’s something that needed to be talked about. Especially with that three-second clip from a few weeks ago on Reddit and the incoming previews in less than a week from WonderCon. We’re in the long haul, folks. The final countdown is in our sights.
Pressing the play button once again when we switched over to the restaurant where Bob is telling Teddy about his good night’s sleep and he said that he hasn’t gotten sleep like that for almost 15 years. 15 years. You had three kids and a business. Gone through a few burnouts, the yips, a few times where you had to shut down your business, and various near-death experiences and you finally got your moment where you sleep like a baby in almost two decades. Of course, that conversation between him and Teddy gets interrupted by the kids coming back from school with Louise, Millie, and Rudy heading upstairs to work on making the counterfeit coins. But it looks like we’re pretty much setting up shop for what to expect next for the subplot.
Going from sleeping in the living room to moving on down to the basement and transform it into his own bachelor pad. Putting up the string of lights on the wall. Adding the Hawk and Chick poster onto the wall, setting up the bed that is made up of couch cushions. Which could explain the cushions being missing with the scene where Louise gets that phone call from Rudy and Millie. And also a radio and putting on some Donna Summer and thus, Bob has his own room, even though it’s in the basement. Though nothing wrong with transforming a basement into your own room. Well bedroom, mancave, office, you name it. Especially if it’s your own room. Sure, you could get an apartment or a house all by yourself but a room would be that small step. So as Bob enjoys having the time of his life at the basement as we get to a musical number...
It looks like we got the opposite with Tina and Gene as it looks like their time spent with Linda on their little sleepover is turning into a nightmare. Those two are feeling super tired and they wish that they want to head back to their own rooms and get some good night’s sleep. But it looks like Linda won’t budge and wants to continue doing the sleepover as if she’s holding her children hostage. As if Tina and Gene wish they were in the A-plot with Louise, Rudy, and Millie. Hell, Louise is probably glad that she’s in the same boat as her siblings because she got her own problems to deal with. Though the choice of song for the musical number...I may have to give it a pass on this one. It was alright and it almost feels like it’s giving you some vibes from “Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise” where you have one side enjoying the time of their life while the other suffers in their time in hell. Bob seems to enjoy his time having the basement and turned it into his own room as Tina and Gene are going through sleepless nights with Linda by taking his place. Again, I have to give this musical number a pass on this one.
As expected when we get to the end of the subplot with Bob and Linda calling each other, just as Tina and Gene decide to bow out and finally get some sleep when the two finally got some shut-eye, rather passed out in the background after giving their mom a backrub as she decides to visit Bob at the basement and notices the touch-up to the basement and decides to sleep next to him. So here lies Bob’s so-called bachelor pad. And much like most only child in the family just as they’re about to expect a sibling, the days of having their own room is over. You know unless you move out and rent an apartment or mortgage a house. But in this economy? In the middle of an inflation issue? I know this might not tie in with the current issue but let’s be real, money is a bitch right. Let’s just put that out there. But as expected to close out the subplot and the episode as a whole in this review, Bob’s time in having the basement all to himself comes to an end, and decides to pack up and move back upstairs because apparently, they missed having their sleeping habits on the bed. Even though the reason why Bob chose to move to the living room and later the basement is that he hasn’t gotten any sleep because of the constant kicking that causes him to be groggy at the start of the episode. I don’t hate the subplot. I think it’s an okay one if I got to be honest. But...yeah, as expected since the press release came out that Bob would head back to the bedroom with Linda. So uh...shrug emoji. Because apparently, we can’t let Bob have his fun. Oh, wait till the movie, man. Wait till the movie. It’s not going to be pretty.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? This was an okay episode. An alright episode to say the least. Again, it’s not the best but at least the structure held on throughout the episode despite some faults showing some cracks onto the walls. Especially coming from both the main and sub plots of the episode. But again, it’s an alright episode and quite some improvements from last week’s somewhat disappointing performance.
The idea of having Louise, Rudy, and Millie working together, while it’s unusual to think about it when the press release to the episode first came out a few weeks ago, I got to hand it to the cast and crew of the show, they finally did the unthinkable that no one thought this would ever happen. Millie slowly becomes tamed and she and Louise slowly become buddy-buddy at a snail’s pace. You know now that we’re in the end times if someone like Millie Frock gets some development enough for her to have her homicidal tendencies in hopes to have Louise all to herself starting to dwindle courtesy of the cast and crew of the show. But it’s an interesting concept in having Louise and Rudy to work with Millie over being screwed out from getting the coins in class and they did a good job in doing that. Will we see more of that or maybe her being around the Belcher kids’ group? I mean...it’s not out of the table. It’s possible if Millie gets to her best behavior. Say...if Jessica were to return and we get an episode with those two. Then things should be really interesting.
But as for the main plot itself, the structure held on and it wasn’t that bad. But it’s not that great too. It’s alright and sure, it was expected that Louise, Rudy, and Millie get into trouble, though the punishment seem rather light and turned it into another installment of “Louise learning a life lesson” but as I said, I have to give it a pass because you didn’t have Tina and Gene to get involved and she did call out Padaro for what happened that lead to the three making those counterfeit coins by using the Socratic method. So this was an alright main plot for the episode.
The subplot itself...I didn’t hate it. I’d say it’s okay and possibly an improvement from last week’s. Sure, the ending was predictable because it was expected that Bob would move back up to the bedroom with Linda and also nothing nice can ever happen to Bob, just putting it out there, but again, it’s not that bad of a subplot. The musical number is what I have to give it a pass as well in between Bob enjoying his time in the basement while Gene and Tina had to suffer through Linda in staying up all night for the past few days almost give some vibes from “Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise” with one person having a good time while the other is not. So there’s that to sum up the subplot as a whole.
Final thoughts to the episode, this was an alright episode. It’s not bad but of course, it’s not that great but the structure was held on despite the cracks. The idea of having Louise, Millie, and Rudy working together was an interesting concept, especially with what the cast and crew were doing to humanize Millie ever since “The Silence of the Louise”. The subplot was okay though the ending was expected with Bob ready to move back up after transforming the basement into his own bachelor pad. So I’ll give “Ancient Misbehavin”...
A 6.5 out of 10. A bit generous but again, it’s not a bad episode. So 6.5 out of 10 is the score I’m giving to the episode. But that’s pretty much my opinion and now I wanna hear yours. Tell me what you think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Let me know with your mini-review down in the comments below. The Oscars are this upcoming Sunday and normally with the Academy Awards, we would not have an episode airing because we can’t compete against the biggest night in cinema. Looks like we’re up this Sunday night and it looks like the ratings come Monday is gonna take a nosedive. Though the Oscars’ ratings last year...yikes. And it looks like this Sunday’s episode is an anthology episode and Bob’s Dad is the man of the hour in the sixteenth episode of Season 12 in “Interview with a Pop-pop-pire”. That’s gonna sound like a mouthful and a potential tongue twister.
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