Welcome to the month of May. Of course, the final month of the season before going into the offseason. And of course, a few weeks away from the biggest day of the year since we circled on our calendars for the third time in the form of The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Judgement Day is almost here. The weather is starting to heat up. And the sidewalk in front of the restaurant continues to grow shittier and shittier at the moment as we draw closer to the biggest week of the fandom to date. Well, other than the 100th episode back in 2016 and the 200th episode in 2020. Both of them happened to be in leap years. An election year. Years...that went to shit right away. Not looking forward to what 2024 has in store.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, Gene becomes obsessed with his Tamagotchi device as Bob tries to reason with his son to do some plant work for his school project as Tina and Louise...they called dibs over a kiddie ride at the store. This is how low we have fallen, folks. This is how low we have fallen in my spoilerific review of the nineteenth episode of Season 12 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “A-Sprout a Boy”.
With only three episodes left before the movie and the offseason and once again, this episode was average to a tee. At least the storm that was last week finally calmed down following Ginger not having a full face revealed that some of us expected that was going to happen. But that’s enough of the past and now getting ready to talk about the present and uh...yeah, wouldn’t you guess it. In my opinion, yet another average episode.
And I know what everyone is going to say. “Oh, look at him go. Bitching up a storm. He probably starting to give up on the show.” Yeah...no. It’s nothing like that. This isn’t me giving on the show with only three episodes left before the biggest event in the show’s history with the movie. Like I said from last year, one bad episode isn’t going to make me drop the show. It’s not. It’s just this season has felt a bit dull. With the exception of some good episodes like “Manic Pixie Crap Show” and “Loft in Bed-slation” to name a few, it feels a bit dragged out. And you know if something like a TV show, movie, or book decides to bore you is when a cardinal sin may have been committed. Because what’s the purpose of those forms of media? To entertain you. And this season, while it hasn’t done committed what I as we prepare for the film, it feels average. Borderline average to say the least. Mind you that we only got three more episodes left in the season. That being the Mother’s Day episode and the two-parter. And eyes might be on them before we call it a season with the movie and what to expect from Comic-Con and getting ready for the next season in September. So we might as well get this episode out of the way as the season begins to wind down with each passing week. This is “A-Sprout a Boy”.
The episode begins with the Belchers at the breakfast table with Gene already becoming obsessed with his Tamagotchi just as the family is ready to do whatever they do for the day. And even though I’m a 2000s kid, those things around my early childhood are everywhere as the decade changes from the 1990s into the 2000s. The Tamagotchi devices are pretty much the precursor to what we have now with smartphones and tablets, being addicted to technology. Especially to the kids like with Gene in this episode. Becoming addicted to a piece of technology that it almost feels like they’re poking fun at an old trend of kids having those devices back in the day. I think the movie Turning Red had that since that film is set in 2002. And it’s best to not bring up a Mr. Enter comment into this review. No siree Bob.
And of course, knowing the synopsis of the episode besides Gene becoming addicted to the device is when he brings out a piece of paper and a seed packet with Linda reading the assignment out loud for his science class and it tells him to do a project of growing sprouts and monitor the progress of its growth. I had that assignment back in ninth grade in biology class...it never grew. Yeah. And that is where Bob comes in because it would give Gene the benefits to try out new things like growing plants and help him out in getting a good grade on this. But it looks like it’s going to be a long week for the Belcher boys with Bob wanting to grow plants and Gene being busy being glued to his Tamagotchi. Which he called the cat in the device “Purrbo”. Because of the rules of television is a pain in the ass.
Switching over to later in the day at the restaurant and if you think that Gene being addicted to his device more than...well, anything addicted like drugs and alcohol, you have Teddy coming into the restaurant and telling both Bob and Linda that he’s expecting a shipment of Alaskan salmon to come to his doorstep? Why? Because he was on a messaging forum that one night at his home and one message after another and thus...here we are. Waiting for the shipment? Again, why? Because it's Teddy. He had no idea why had to order a shipment worth of Alaskan salmon but again, here we are. And picked the wrong time to wait for the package to arrive, huh Ted-ster? Because he had to head out to North Carolina with his mom for surfing lessons for the elderly and asks Bob that he changed the delivery address to the restaurant so Bob can pick it up and put it in the freezer as he awaits for Teddy to pick it up once he comes back to town. Which both he and Linda agree just as we’re getting the main plot rolling with him and Gene doing some sprout growing. Or at least, try to at least convince him to lend his eyes to the work for once.
But before switching over to later at night, it looks like we have yet another tease in the background just as the Belchers are having their conversation when you noticed a woman walking through the restaurant as she almost tripped from the sidewalk that is ready to crack like a hardboiled egg. Telling the viewers that we are dangerously close to reaching the day of the film and of course...the sinkhole to erupt and put a pause on what Bob and Linda are planning on doing. But apparently, this isn’t the only time that happened in this exact episode because it happened again. It happened again during the montage later in the episode of another woman almost tripping from the cracked sidewalk. It’s coming. It’s almost coming. Much like with the Attack on Titan fans with The Rumbling or The Owl House fans waiting for what the Day of Unity might bring, the opening of the sinkhole and whatever shit that might throw during the kids’ investigation to save the restaurant should be treated as if we’re preparing for the Super Bowl.
We switched over to later at night with Bob and Linda in bed with Bob being concerned that Gene might be able to focus on his work for school and instead keeps on being glued to his device because that’s pretty much what is focused on. Hence, in the next scene as Bob enters the kitchen and sees Gene on the laptop this late at night and checks through a forum for Purrbos because of course. There’s always a forum for everything online. Gene explains to Bob what to do with the device in hopes to keep the animal in the device happy and also being kept alive as if you’re treating it to an actual pet and Bob tries to reason with his son that he should at least give the device a break and should focus on the project since it is due at the end of the week. That’s enough for both Bob and Gene to come to a mutual agreement to do the project though knowing where this is going, it’s not going to be easy for the Belcher guys. Mostly with Gene still being glued to his Tamagotchi device and even at one point, imagined Bob as the digital cat. Which...okay, I’ll give the episode a point for that. Think of this as me being generous.
So as Bob and Gene begin to work on Gene’s project and Gene still keeps his attention on his device, we have the subplot to the episode as Linda, Louise, and Tina make their way to the store to pick up some stuff. Knowing that Tina and Louise had their backpacks on, meaning that it was after school when they would expect Linda to pick them up. Seeing Tina carrying a brown bag full of stuff and for Louise, a bag of candy, a bunch of coins which she didn’t even bother putting in her pockets. Yes, her dress has pockets for some reason. Go watch “Manic Pixie Crap Show” to see that, you bastards. But if you’re asking if this is really the subplot? Just them on the kiddie ride that Louise is riding and uses a sticky hand toy that she got from those dispense machines and slaps the candy onto her mouth? Hate to break it to you...yes. This is where we’re heading with the subplot. Jeez...how low have we fallen, man? How low have we fallen? I know this is pretty much filler to the main plot since it pretty much interludes as if once again, driving on the main road and coming across with a business or alternative route serving as a bypass. But this is pretty much the subplot to the episode. Good God, next week’s episode better be a good one.
The day shifts to night with the Belchers sitting on the couch with Linda telling everyone that she’s heading back to the store the next day because she forgot to get another bottle of detergent and that is enough for Louise and Tina to go with her once again so they can ride the kiddie ride once again. Though Linda did question the two about what happened to the dollar bills that they were supposed to give it to her once leaving the store. Really should’ve made the subplot better if Linda were to get suspicious over what Louise and Tina are doing but because of her and Bob waiting for the shipment of Alaskan salmon to be dropped off, this is pretty much what we got. As for Bob and Gene, it looks like things are slowly going well despite Gene still taking care of his digital pet and not even focusing on his science work. Wanting to check how the plants are doing and want to measure them. You know? Seeing the progress of the plant growth despite Gene being against it and being busy being glued to his device. Making up excuses like not wanting to bother the plants as if you don’t want to bother a baby after putting them to sleep. But how should I know? My plant didn’t grow during that week of the assignment. I think I overdid it...or perhaps underdid it which led to the plant not growing.
That leads us to the montage and of course, you have three slots in one montage showcasing each of the plots with the top left being the main with Bob and Gene with the progress of the plant, Louise and Tina in the top right taking control of the kiddie ride as if they took control of a military fort in a middle of a war, and of course, the bottom with Linda (and sometimes Bob) waiting for the package to arrive. At this point, you might as well just add some random music when seeing the timelapse for each scene in each passing day in the same week. Though I did mention earlier in the review that there’s someone who almost tripped from the sidewalk and brought up that this isn’t the only time you’ll get from the episode. Mostly because we got another one during the montage of another background character almost doing the same thing. Again, much like with The Rumbling from Attack on Titan, it’s long-anticipated and we here as a fandom are hungry for the main course as if we’re at a fancy restaurant. The Easter Eggs and news about the movie are our appetizers and it looks like the film will be the main course. We’ve waited for five years and four waves of COVID to finally have our bread and we want to have our damn bread. And we want it, damn it! We want it!
And it looks like things are falling apart for Gene and Bob once Bob enters Gene’s room and sees his son on the keyboard with his Tamagotchi sitting next to him while seeing the progress of the sprout but even though the sprout is going well when it comes to the progress of its growth, but of course, Gene is still addicted to his Purrbo to the point where he had to create a jingle with the device to his keyboard. As if any of the Tamagotchi has the capability to connect something like Bluetooth. But that’s more than enough for Bob to have no choice but to confiscate the device from Gene. Told him that the project is due the next day and he can’t let his grades slip just for taking care of a single device. And despite Bob getting really tired of Gene becoming more addicted to his device with each passing moment, apparently, much like with actual Tamagotchis, letting the device to take a break or getting confiscated like with what Bob is doing right now can lead to some massive consequences. To the point where the animal dies. Almost feels like back in the day when Facebook had those games on their site and it’s sorta like that. Yeah...at this point, we should all have criminal records for leaving those games behind.
The scene changes to Linda and Bob doing restaurant work with Linda having some issues over her going to the store one too many times and trying to get more stuff for the house. One of which was an empty gallon of milk which for some reason, the girls, Louise and Tina, chugged all of it. Which I’m pretty sure that chugging a whole gallon of milk would cause more harm than good. So they possibly just dump it down the drain. That probably be the more reasonable. Still wish that the subplot should’ve done a bit more. Linda getting suspicious over what Louise and Tina were doing to the point where she caught them red-handed. Hell, a simple flashback to Louise and Tina having a nostalgic memory of that ride would’ve been nice. Especially because the damn film is ready to knock on our door. But nope. Linda has to stay put because she has to wait for Teddy’s shipment of salmon to arrive, leaving the girls to do fuck all with the kiddie ride. Also, Bob has to do Purrbo duty thanks to him confiscating the item and thinking that it’s for the best for Gene to at least give the item a break and focus on the project. Though it looks like Bob might have a hard time keeping tabs with a digital animal each passing second. You raised three kids in a building with little to no money to be made. I don’t know what’s your definition of having a hard time is but it looks like we’re looking at it.
But their conversation gets cut short when a shipment arrives. But it’s not the salmon but instead, it’s the bread coming from Joel. Yeah...you remember Joel? No? He was the guy who was in “Roamin’ Bob-iday” when delivering the bread to Patricia at her shop. Yeah, no one remembers the characters who happened were supposed to be one-offs but...here we are. So Joel drops on by with a broken arm for his 30 seconds of fame as he drops off a shipment of bread for Bob. Well, Bob has to carry the bread because of the broken arm from Joel and heads off...until he realizes that he accidentally left Purrbo at the truck. Just as Gene comes and checks on the progress of his now missing device from his father. Because of course, there has to be a mishap. Tried to call Joel and lucky for them, he did notice that the device was dropped and expected Bob to pick it up...is what I would say if we took the optimistic route, but nope. The phone call went straight to voice mail and causes both Bob and Gene to head out to find Joel. Leaving Linda to do pick-up duty for Teddy’s shipment of salmon and of course, just as Bob and Gene drive around town and looking for Joel as if we’re just getting back outside and get back to playing a round of Pokémon Go...
Bob and Gene get sidetracked for a bit and see both Louise and Tina doing what they’re really doing at the store. Caught red-handed but instead, it’s only a small conversation and a pardon before heading off to continue to find Joel. Again, would’ve been better if Linda were to get suspicious and she would've been the one who caught them red-handed. Bob kinda did while looking for Joel but instead of telling Louise and Tina about where they were at throughout the past few days after school. Wondering why Linda didn’t get her change back. Bob caught them red-handed but had to head off along with Gene to find Joel and retrieve Purrbo. Leaving them on their own with the kiddie ride...until later in the episode where they got a complaint from the store’s manager of them hogging the ride and eventually got themselves being kicked out from the vicinity, thus ending this subplot that...has a lot of holes than a block of Swiss cheese. This is why the subplot is where I have a lot of problems in this episode. Other than the usual “nowhere to go” direction but it almost feels like some of the characters being involved in this subplot feel like they’re being restricted. Mostly with Linda being stayed put just to be on lookout duty for the package or Louise and Tina were bored and have nothing else better to do than just hog the ride so that no one can get their sticky little hands on it. This is, in my opinion, one of the worst subplots that I’ve ever seen because of the lack of direction and also having the characters to just be there and do absolutely nothing than just being restricted and such. And also didn’t serve anything coming from Tina and Louise. A small flashback with them would be nice but we didn’t. We actually didn’t. We’ll get to Linda for a bit as we switch back to Bob and Gene on Purrbo Hunt.
The two Belcher boys finally caught up to Joel at a nearby building and Bob tells Joel that he accidentally left the device at the back of the truck and asks if he can retrieve it. Joel gives Bob the green light to go to the back of the truck and pick it up but...it looks like they came too late because to no surprise, thanks to Bob not noticing that that device was dropped when picking up the bread is where Purrbo decides to bite the dust. Of course, as expected that the device has to die. Though knowing that if Purrbo were to be an actual cat...yeah, they would have eight more lives left to go. But a digital cat...nope. No extra life. And because of Purrbo’s death thanks to Bob, this would result in Gene to start all over. Making a ride back home a bit rough with Bob and Gene arguing over what happened to Purrbo as if it’s an actual pet. Mostly Gene being mad at his father and Bob tries to reason with him and even tried to tell a story about a cat. Too soon, Bob. Too fucking soon. I mean at this point, if the sinkhole were to shut the restaurant down in the movie, Gene would probably be gloating at Bob and telling him, “Hey Dad, remember that time when you accidentally dropped my Purrbo and let it die? Yeah...how does that feel losing something you love.” Okay...yeah, that sounded a bit dark and mean. Gene would not say that. That’s not his character.
Back at the restaurant with Linda to see how the salmon situation goes and it looks like Linda has missed the delivery pickup because she had to go to the bathroom. You kinda wish that with the current age of technology, if the Belchers were to have a smartphone, they would’ve at least tracked the package, though with Teddy’s account or information since he was the one who ordered it. But regardless of that, Linda missed the shipment and just as things haven’t gone bad already for her while handing a customer his food...
Here comes Teddy on the phone from a random beach somewhere in North Carolina and checking up to see how everyone is doing and see if the package has arrived. Linda was about to deliver the bad news that she missed the package but wouldn’t you guess it? Just as she was about to address the situation, the package finally arrives and now waits for Teddy to head back home to pick it up. But not before he plans on sending a thank you gift to the Belchers before leaving the Tar Heel State by sending them a package of Carolina BBQ. Teddy...Teddy...just stop while you’re ahead. Just stop while you’re ahead. Pretty sure the Belchers are done with packages for the week and just want this shit to be over. Linda’s expression just as she is about to take the package says it all. Don’t worry, you only got three more episodes and a movie left until the offseason. You’re almost at the finish line. Just three more episodes and a movie and that’ll do it for the season.
Back home in Gene’s room as we prepare to close out the episode with Gene and Bob searching up the forum and to no surprise, apparently Purrbo’s death is short-lived because according to the forum, there’s a trick to revive the digital animal rather than just starting all over from scratch and thus...Purrbo is back to life from the dead. As well as the items that Gene got back as if he stored items in the cloud when switching over from one computer to another. And also found out that Gene made some music with Purrbo through his keyboard. A song that went on to become the credit song for the episode. Guess that’s one of the highlights coming from what is pretty much a lackluster of an episode. Bob apologizes to Gene for leaving Purrbo behind and Gene does the same with him not doing his work for school regarding the sprouts and it looks like it has somewhat fully grown to the point where the night hits with Gene getting a good grade on this project as Bob passes out what I guess is the sprout onto each plate and for Louise and Tina, despite being kicked out from the kiddie ride of time wastefulness, they get to keep the sticky hand and don’t expect that to play a role in the movie. Hopefully, this will be a one-time thing and nothing else.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? As I said earlier in the episode, this was an average episode but this is pretty much borderline if you ask me. I’ll say the rewatch factor is there if you’re planning on watching the episode yourself. Just to take in what you just experience. But other than that, this was borderline average to the point where it almost feels like you’re watching nothing.
Might as well get the positives out of the way before everyone paints me as a “Sour Note Sandy”, I thought the moment with Gene envisions Bob as Purrbo while being distracted. I’ll give a point to that. The credits are alright with Gene’s little song that he made with the Purrbo device and showing off each Purrbo version of the family. I thought it was alright. Of course, more people almost tripped on the sidewalk. Really telling the viewers that the big day is almost here. Only a few more weeks till the theatrical release and I for one am ready for the most important day in the show’s history as if we’re preparing for the Super Bowl. But now that we got the positives out of the way...now to the negatives.
The episode is full of holes like a block of Swiss cheese. It almost feels like it felt nothing. Besides the tease for the movie with the sidewalk, which I should probably may or may not be talking about it...though I feel like I should with only a few more weeks left until the film, I’ll try. But each of the plots in this episode felt nothing. It felt nothing with the subplot is where I have the most issues with. How restrictive it feels and question if this is how low we have gotten over at the writing department. I don’t know, this almost feels like this might’ve answered your question with Louise and Tina hogging the kiddie ride throughout the week to the point where they get kicked out after a complaint was issued. I still think the subplot would’ve done a little better if Linda were to find out what Louise and Tina were doing because she didn’t get her to change back and also certain stuff being wasted like crazy. Hell, a little flashback of Tina and Louise in their younger days with that ride would’ve been better but once again, we didn’t. It’s like taking over a fort and once you took over from the other camp or it was open for anyone to take that you didn’t notice what to do next once you took control. That is pretty much the subplot to this episode with Louise and Tina.
The main plot with Gene and Bob, again, has lots of holes with this plot. You already knew that Bob was gonna take the device and you knew that the device was gonna die after accidentally being left behind from Bob’s pocket while picking up the bread. Though I guess a tiny slice of the pie didn’t expect Purrbo to come back to life and kinda wish they could’ve done that back in the 90s or 2000s on how to revive their Tamagotchis but...the main plot underwhelmed to the point where it almost feels like you’re watching nothing and the little side story of the package...was it really necessary for the episode to have a C-plot? I feel like it’s really unnecessary to have a C-plot at all by having Linda to wait for the package filled with salmon courtesy of Teddy. Again, it feels like there’s nothing to invest in when watching this episode. It is noted that I heard from a YouTube video that the biggest crime in the world of entertainment, whether being a TV show, movie, book, etc., is to bore you or leave you with nothing. No one wants to commit that when working on any form of media. Especially in this show. And again, the rewatch factor is there and opinions can change. But this episode feels like there are a lot of holes and it can be somewhat tough to understand or something like that.
So final thoughts, this episode was borderline average but it’s to the point where once again, it has a lot of holes than a block of Swiss cheese from all three plots. The subplot should’ve done better but didn’t. The main plot could’ve done a little better other than some positives and the side story with the salmon package...again, really unnecessary to attach it to the overall main plot of the episode. So I’ll give “A-Sprout a Boy”...
A 3.5 out of 10. Hopefully, next week’s episode is better. But again, the rewatch factor is there. But that’s pretty much my opinion and now I wanna hear yours down below in the comments along with your mini-review down by the comment section of the blog post. We have a Mother’s Day episode coming up this upcoming Sunday. The first time we have had that since 2018 was with “Mo Mommy, Mo Problems” and it looks like we might learn a little something coming from Linda’s side of the family. This cannot disappoint for the love of Christ. In the twentieth episode of Season 12 of Bob’s Burgers in “Sauce Side Story”.
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