On this Christmas Eve with the number eight spot in the Top 12 Countdown and I may have a bone to pick with this two-parter when coming up with the list for this version of the list. Coming in with the number eight spot in the countdown and knowing that it’s a two-parter, I had to put two episodes into this piece because, well...rules are rules when doing this list. The 2020 version of the list was the last time a two-parter made the cut with The Owl House’s first season finale. And here we are...a season finale...in the Top 12 Countdown...in the top ten. Coming in at number eight is Bob’s Burgers with the “Some Like It Bot” two-parter.
I did say that I have a bone to pick with this episode and looking back to the two-parter since watching it for the first time back in May, there are certain moments from the two episodes where opinions since the release of those two reviews either changed or remain the same. Said it before and I said it again, I have never watched the original Blade Runner film as is what the two-parter is gunning for with Tina’s erotic friend fiction fantasy. Only saw the sequel film 2049 and of course, the spin-off series Black Lotus on Adult Swim leading up to this set of episodes. So when looking at those reviews that I posted back in May, especially the first half of the two-parter, I had to go into YouTube, scroll through the wiki, and everything else to understand and even if I never even watched the first film of the Blade Runner franchise, it’s a pretty damn episode...with Part 1 I mean. Part 2...eh... turbulence is what I would say about the two-parter’s conclusion.
The premise of the two-part finale to the show’s twelfth season and the last set of episodes of the pre-movie era is as simple. Tina bought a new shirt with her own money from babysitting and wants to show it off to the school, only for Tammy and Jocelyn to poke fun at it in their news segment, making her a laughingstock to the school and writes down a story as her way of escapism. Only for things to not go away, having Tammy and Jocelyn go after other people with their segment, leading to her going down a dark path and taking matters into her own hands. Oh yeah, and there’s a subplot with the bad message on the wall of the restaurant bathroom. As well as the side plot with Louise and Gene wanting Tina to spend the remainder of her babysitting money to get boba tea. Those exist too.
Going into Part 1 of the “Some Like It Bot” two-parter, Eighth Grade Runner, as I said earlier, Tina bought a new shirt, gets made fun of by Tammy and Jocelyn in front of everyone across the school on TV, and writes down a story based on Blade Runner as a form of escapism. And when I first saw the episode when it came out on premiere night back in May, holy fucking shit, this episode is class. A slow start with Tina writing down her Grease fantasy when putting on the new shirt that she spent her hard-earned money on babysitting and also Louise and Gene wanting Tina to spend the rest of her earnings to spend it on boba before things begin to pick things up. Especially once Tina enters the school and hopes for a reaction from her peers, mostly Jimmy Jr, before getting a negative response from Tammy and Jocelyn during their wow/weird news segment. Making her a victim of bullying just for wanting to express herself.
So when we get to the Blade Runner story with her as a replicant working in a factory with Tammy and Jocelyn as replicants in charge of the assembly line, Tina goes into override mode and put on an item on her chest with some of her fellow replicants doing the same before being sent to be “evaluated” or have her memory wiped and...you know we’re in a for a very bombastic episode once Replicant Tina make her escape from the factory and making her public enemy number one. The action, the music, the visuals...it’s the start of the story by Tina for her to let out her frustration, and holy fuck, what a start to the story. Not to mention the scene after that with Replicant Tina disguising herself to blend in with the crowd to evade capture and take up a babysitting job to get the shirt that Tina in reality bought and wore at the start of the episode and I got to say, the scene where there’s no dialogue being used and let the background music to do its work as she babysits Kendra while being a freeloader as a sanctuary was incredible. Her having the time of her life...before being turned in because she didn’t even bother to cover her wrist.
I mean hell, she even brought in Jimmy Jr (because of course, it is Tina’s story) and Zeke into the fantasy because on the next day at school, they too became victims of Tammy and Jocelyn’s news segment whether being Zeke attempting to make a shot but missed while playing basketball or Jimmy Jr with the way he was running. Fuck, Tina thought she was safe from the torment but ends up getting hit once more when noticing the down sock while having a conversation with Susmita. Turning them into fugitives on the run and sheltering where else? In the story version of the restaurant.
While Tina tried to convince Mr. Grant to discontinue the segment while on his lunch break, Louise and Gene did their part to get Tammy and Jocelyn to stand down from what they were doing and at least apologize to Tina. Thinking that they’re looking out for their older sister, but it’s mostly them wanting to rebuild Tina’s self-esteem in hopes for them to get some boba. That’s one downside from the first part of the two-parter being the boba quest side plot being served as...well, filler. Sure, that got resolved in the next episode, but it really felt like filler for Louise and Gene wanting to take a sip of boba from Tina’s hard-earned money that she got from babysitting.
Now the ending to the first part of the two-parter, and we’ll get to the subplot eventually...is what I said in the review not every episode needs a random musical number in each episode, so this one gets a pass, and for a very good reason. From Tina in between the story and in reality about her expressing herself being under attack and her self-esteem being bombarded by what Tammy and Jocelyn did to make her into a joke to the entire school. Of course, you have the whole whodunit on who’s been leaving the writing on the bathroom wall and criticizing the restaurant, putting Bob in a difficult spot. As well as Louise and Gene unable to do something to get Tina’s self-esteem because boba is on the line. Again, pure filler. But what made song number so great was coming from Bob and Tina doing a duet with them dealing with a situation where they don’t even know what to do. Whether being Tina having her self-esteem destroyed or Bob dealing with the criticism and having to clean up the writing on the wall one too many times, it’s not a bad song. Pretty much tells you that they’re at a stalemate as if they’re about to throw in the towel.
And that’s more than enough for Tina to decide to say that enough is enough and take matters to her own ends after stopping writing on the story with Jimmy Jr and Zeke being captured with Jimmy Jr closing the hole for Tina to escape. Her self-esteem had been destroyed. Her anger can’t be controlled and not even writing in her journal is enough for Tina to ignore what Tammy and Jocelyn had caused. If this were a simple 21-22 minute episode, this would’ve been resolved, I guess in a sloppy way with little to no resolve, but for this to be a two-parter, the tension is there. The suspense. When I first saw this episode when it came on the air, I was like, “Holy hell, I fucking miss this,” as I said in the review of Eighth Grade Runner. An insane episode to be the penultimate episode of the show’s twelfth season and despite the slow start, the moment Tina begins to put the pencil into the paper after being mocked in school, you know that we’re in for a wild ride and would be a good way to end the season on a high note leading up to the movie... until we get to Judge-bot Day.
And I might as well get the subplot out of the way. Because what the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?! So in Eighth Grade Runner, just as Tina was being bullied by Tammy and Jocelyn by mocking her shirt on live TV to the school, you have the whole situation with the writing on the bathroom wall and giving it a bad message to the restaurant. Turning the subplot into a whodunit with Bob, Linda, and Teddy wanting to know who’s the person responsible for the vandalization of the bathroom wall for anyone who enters to read as if you’re stumbling into an episode page on IMDb and see a negative score...to an episode that hasn’t even aired yet. You had hype being built around this subplot and may have some in the fanbase already guessing who would be the asshole responsible for that message! Treating it as if it’s the second coming of Who Shot Mr. Burns, minus the Vegas bettors putting up a parlay on who’s responsible for making Bob’s life a living hell with the writing on the wall.
So much hype being built. People making bets and playing guessing games with the subplot as Eight Grade Runner came to a conclusion alongside seeing what Tina is planning on doing. Once we get to Judge-bot Day...what’s the result? Nothing. Nothing! You had that all built up in Part 1 and you had it shelved to the sidelines in the following episode. No resolution. We didn’t get an answer on who’s responsible for vandalizing the bathroom wall other than Bob just brushing his shoulders off. I mean...the only answer that I can think of for why the subplot to the two-parter didn’t get a proper resolution, key word “proper”...they don’t want to make this obvious. They don’t want to make things obvious with the whole whodunit approach with the subplot, so their best bet to wrap it up is to just leave it as it is with no conclusion and have the episode just focus on the Belchers convincing Tina to stand down on what she’s doing at school. That annoys me. That’s going to annoy me for the rest of my life just for not having a conclusion to a subplot that will never be resolved other than the writers not wanting to make the answer obvious. That should be enough ranting about the subplot with the writing on the bathroom wall, now to Judge-bot Day with what is pretty much the rest of the episode...a standoff.
Because that is what Part 2 of the two-parter is all about. A standoff, much like how you see shows or movies where you have a standoff between the police and the suspect and have to negotiate with the suspect in hopes for them to stand down. And that is what we’re seeing with Tina and the rest of the Belcher family after finding out what Tina is planning on doing when she wrote down in her journal. Wanting to smash the touch screen into pieces because of the constant mockery from Tammy and Jocelyn because she doesn’t have a choice. She had to take matters into her own hands. Pretty much sums up what bullying can lead to. The negative consequences to the victim of bullying and what Tina is planning on doing is that consequence. And there’s a lot that bullying can have an effect on someone. Originally, I would put that in the review to Judge-bot Day about the negative consequences of bullying with one of them being taking matters into the victim’s hands like developing violent tendencies, mostly wanting to commit homicide, mostly school shootings. But the day the review was published was when the school shooting in Uvalde was happening and therefore, it had to be scratched due to insensitivity.
The musical number by Tina about a “what if” scenario, where people don’t be judgmental and live in a world where no one can be knocked down by negative opinions, was alright. It was an alright song and you can see where Tina is heading for the song choice for her to make her claim about why she had to do the dirty deed. And the one shot of the scene with the Belcher kids sitting at the table with their friends at the cafeteria was a nice scene with them sitting alongside Jimmy Jr, Zeke, Rudy, Darryl, Kaylee, and Susmita. And of course, having Tammy and Jocelyn sent off to Australia and work in a mine because why not. That and also Bob and Linda doing their best to make their case for their daughter to stand down to avoid a possible punishment, being either detention, suspension, possible arrest, you name it.
And the conclusion to the episode...I did say that turbulence would be the best word to describe the second half of the two-parter and I was right. Other than the conversation going back and forth between Tina and her family, as well as the subplot not getting a conclusion, you also have Tammy saving Tina’s skin thanks in part to Linda. She was this close to turning Tina in for almost destroying the touch screen until Linda stepped in to at least do her best shot to convince Tina to back down. More than enough for Tammy to save Tina rather than turning her in to Yuli. Oh yeah, and Tammy’s reason for the segment is that she got braces and doesn’t want to deal with ridicule. Hypocritical fuck and...I don’t want to hear anyone saying that it’s the start of Tammy’s so-called redemption arc. We know this song and dance. No matter much development you have to give to Tammy or Tina, they’ll go right back to square one in the very next episode. And I said this before in the review and I’ll say it again, either have Tammy go through a redemption arc or Tina call her out and stand up for herself. I could see them getting along later in their lives, especially around high school, but right now...Tammy needs to get her act together and be nice to Tina, to earn her respect; and for Tina...the girl needs to stand her ground. I get that there’s a rivalry between the two, but it’s getting to the point where we’re starting to grow out of it.
A bit of a bumpy ride to conclude the two-parter with the kids getting their boba fix, Tammy doing Tina a favor and changing things up with the segment, and also a conclusion to the Blade Runner story by having the assembly line having a dance party to close out the season. Knowing that those two episodes are the last ones before the movie, would’ve gone with a little tease by zooming inside the cracked sidewalk and remember when the sinkhole opened up in the movie? Well...that would’ve served as a tiny teaser to get the people to get their butts into theaters but...I guess what’s done is done.
So all and all, a long-awaited two-parter to close out the show’s twelfth season with an impactful first part and a second part...imagine taking a ride on a plane on your way to your destination. A nice flight after take off but once you’re nearing the airport of the city you’re visiting, you’re experiencing some issues with the plane but nothing to worry about because, despite the bumpy ride to the finish, it landed safely, but it needed to be checked out. That is the Some Like It Bot two-parter in a nutshell.
Most of the carrying from this two-parter was of course coming from the first part. Because Eighth Grade Runner was an episode that I didn’t expect to be explosive. And knowing that I have no knowledge of anything regarding the Blade Runner franchise, it was an incredible episode to start the two-parter to close out the season. Mostly coming from the action from the start of Tina’s story, the song choice at the end of the episode, as well as the suspense with Tina wanting to take matters into her own hands after reaching her boiling point...it’s an incredible episode. Bar none.
Part two, on the other hand, had some issues. Mostly with how it was concluded and having the entire episode being a standoff. The subplot and how it was handled was going to annoy me to the day and I’m still going to stand my claim that they don’t want to make the answer on who did the writing on the wall obvious and therefore, they had to put it in the sidelines, just to focus on the main plot. The song choice wasn’t too bad with Tina and the Belcher family stating their case. But...while it’s not a bad episode and would put just Part 1 of the two-parter in the countdown, but...what can you do? It’s not a bad conclusion to the two-parter but I think it would’ve done a bit better. Out of the two episodes, it’s mostly going to be Eighth Grade Runner where I say it’s the best one of the two-parter.
And that concludes the Number 8 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2022. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we prepare to go into the Number 7 spot of the Top 12 Countdown. Which episode and series will be taking the seventh spot? Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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