Welcome to 2023. A brand new year for everyone around the world even though it's the second week of the new year. The January schedule for Animation Domination has always been weird because the NFL Playoffs are right around the corner for everyone to watch. We're back in February, sure, but yeah...it's a weird time where we only get one episode for a month to start the new year. Especially with yours truly doing some recovering from doing twelve days of posting countdown spot after countdown spot leading to the end of the year. A job's a job I guess when trying to get everything settled when doing the blog posts.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, Tina gets canceled, what a way to start the new year when a student accuses her of cheating, her social and school life in disarray and wants to clear her name, only for Mother Nature to fuck things up in her attempts to clear her name. That while she and the rest of the family have to suffer through the snowstorm with no heat in my spoilerific review of the eleventh episode of Season 13 of Bob's Burgers, titled "Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang".
Before we get to the Bob’s Burgers reviews, I know that you’re probably wondering about last week’s Great North review and yes, that was supposed to happen. It's best that I might as well do the same thing as I do in the past reviews of doing the mini-reviews but rather than going into intermission mode in between the two halves of the episode, I might as well start things off with "Arranger-ous Minds Adventure". The reason is mostly because of time of recovering from doing the countdown, waiting for the transcript to come out, and of course, if y'all haven't watched the news throughout last week, the situation regarding Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin. Luckily, he's recovering (at the time of working and posting, he should be out of the hospital). Which is good because what happened last week live on television when attempting to work on The Great North was a scary sight to see. And whether you're a football fan or not, that was a scary scene to watch and/or hear throughout the last week. Thank god that Hamlin is recovering and mind you that you have to value human life. Learn CPR to save a life. And yeah...that’s all I have to say. Let’s get to the mini-review of “Arranger-ous Minds” mini-review before kicking off the ”Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang” review and breakdown.
With The Great North last week, it tackled the topic of OCD when it comes to Moon and Golovkin. Believing that Golovkin murdered someone is what Moon, Quinn, and Russell thought at first earlier in the episode before switching the topic meter from a teacher being a secret serial killer to someone who has a disorder when being organized can push people away. That is what happened to Golovkin when one of the teachers that he's crushing on, Ms. Anderson, breaking up with him just as she was moving in with him. And of course, Moon fearing that him being super organized is scaring Quinn away. It's not a bad main plot when talking about the disorder but I feel like it could've been better. Could've done a bit more into the episode. At least Golovkin's noir fantasy was something and you have to hand Tompkins to perform as if you're watching a noir film. But other than that, besides the musical number, it's not a bad episode. Felt average at best, to sum up, this episode with the main plot.
And while it was nice to see Quinn again and even though some people are setting up the concern shop about Debbie since we haven’t seen her in a while, I felt like we’re going a tad too fast when it comes to Moon and Quinn’s relationship. Mostly with Moon revealing that he has the hots for Quinn. And I say that because we just met Quinn. We had her for three episodes this season alone and already you have Quinn being positioned to be Moon's crush/potential love interest. You also have Quinn, when it comes to context, has some feelings towards Moon back with her saying her reasoning to him while waiting for their parents to pick up. Her saying that she joined the Junior Janitors to listen in to teacher gossip, not because she wanted to hang out with Moon. I mean, she could outside of that. But again, context. Context. Read between the lines when it comes to Quinn in this episode when being around Moon. And even though Quinn knew that Moon and his friends would pull a heist in the Autumn Frenzy to steal the baked goods that her mom made and helped Moon in taking care of Wilhelm and even helped the reindeer giving birth, we just met the girl. We don't know anything about her because of her being a newer character that was just introduced. I mean, I don't mind if Moon and Quinn do end up being together, but build her character first before we get to the idea of romance. Other than that, it's nice to see Quinn again in this episode. Almost solidifying herself in being in Moon's group. And uh...build her character first. Just putting it out there.
Other than that for the “Arranger-ous Minds Adventure” mini-review...well, there’s a subplot with the family using dead crabs and later live crabs to help Wolf and Honeybee to make a calendar for a contest because Wolf and Honeybee haven’t gotten a honeymoon since their wedding. Yeah, they didn’t win the contest. Predictable when knowing what the outcome is going to be. Not to mention with how the photo shoot would turn out with the rest of the family being pinched by live crabs and them falling down the stairs while wearing the crab costumes. So it’s a 6 out of 10 for the episode. But a low-end 6 out of 10 and hopefully we can get a reach around come February to get the steam out. Now to the main event, the review of “Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang”.
So the episode starts with the eighth graders getting ready to take their history test with the show already kicking off 2023 by injecting some false hope into my veins by having Tina and Susmita interact with each other before partaking in their test. Getting their game face on because Susmita knows that she'll ace it because she's a smart kid and Tina, of course, wants to get a good grade on this test. But hey, Tina and Susmita are interacting with each other. And sitting next to each other even though they’re taking their test but motherfucker, motherfucker, if this doesn’t tell you that we’re on the verge of potential greatness that is Tina and Susmita being great friends, if not, best friends, then I don't know if you're watching the same show as I am and you might as well look at yourself in the goddamn mirror. Sure, she's been in some episodes with most of the episodes having her in the background, but goddamn it, let us have this. Let me have this! 2023 better be that year where the magic happens, baby!
But besides that, you have Tina and Susmita getting their game face on. Well, Susmita is putting on her game face. Tina feels a tad nervous when getting ready to take her test in hopes to earn a good grade in her class. Enough for one of the students in the back, sitting behind Susmita, making contact with the pair in the form of Chelsea, voiced by Chelsea Peretti, aptly named, making a lot of eye contact when overhearing Tina and Susmita’s conversation as if she’s getting annoyed by how Tina act leading up to the start of the history test. And not in the way of where she wants to be the crap out Tina and Susmita because she looked intimidating and look at her, she looks intimidating. This is the type of person who often doesn't want to cross paths with.
We cut over to Gene in his classroom with him humming over a jingle he heard that has been stuck in his head that will stick around for the duration of the episode and would serve as...well, an annoyance to most fans when watching this episode and have it treat it as pure filler as he disrupts a quiet reading session for his class. And then of course, you have Frond announcing once we switched over to Louise's class about a doll that he made named "Accountability Billy" with a fanny pack attached to his waist where you put a piece of paper that you have written down and shove it into the bag. As Frond put it for this initiative, "it's cool to tattle to your friends." As if he's saying that it's okay to snitch on your peers. Yeah, as if you're okay with backstabbing. Sure, if there's anything wrong with that person, whether being issues at home, dealing with an addiction, and whatnot, then I guess even though that's a personal matter and you shouldn't out that person. But unless there's an NDA on standby next to the doll for you to sign that states that the school will not be responsible for what could happen to you if someone who you snitched were to find out. One day, you snitched at something you're not supposed to see or know, and the next day you know, you wake up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with no water, food, or anything to help you survive. Or in this case, a cap in your ass, being poisoned without warning, accidental overdose, or anything for that matter. As the saying goes, snitches don't get bitches and will get stitches and you'll end up in a ditch. Thanks, propaganda.
We switch back to the eighth graders as they’re about to finish with their history test with Tina finishing hers as she circles the answer for the final question. Finally done with her test by picking “C” as her letter of choice to close off her test as she takes a bit of a peek at Susmita’s paper as if she read Tina’s mind or the other way around to pick the same answer, but it looks like she’s been somewhat caught by Chelsea, who noticed Tina taking a quick peek of Susmita’s sheet and thinks that she’s cheating as if she’s copying her answer for the last question. Mind you that Tina finished her test before accidentally looking over Susmita's work, so could that be considered cheating? Well, if you had a change in mind of wanting to go through the answers and planning on changing it to follow through with the person next to you, then yeah, it would not paint a pretty picture. With Tina, it was an accident, and didn't mean to take a quick look for a millisecond at Susmita's work. But Chelsea is not going to let that go. Especially when Tina notices that Chelsea is doing the cheating herself by overlooking Susmita's work. But no, Tina gets the most pressure coming from Chelsea over her accidentally taking a peek at Susmita's paper, and now, the anxiety monkeys decide to latch onto Tina as everyone turns their papers in and is unable to locate Chelsea on their way out. You know what they should do at least prevent potential cheating when taking tests, either spread the desks around, go to another room, or in cases like this one...
Bring back those bad boys. Yeah, the Gen Z in me is saying that Wagstaff should bring the privacy folders in the event someone were to take a peek at a random student's test. In fact, every school should do that. And the same goes for colleges and universities. And when getting a driver's license. And implying citizenship. The point is that cheating is wrong and Tina thinks that she got the short end of the stick with Chelsea and caught her in the act even though she's been caught by Tina of copying Susmita's work. Worrying that her life might be as good as dead. Yeah, who here had Tina Belcher being the first victim of cancel culture in their 2023 bingo card?
Transitioning from the day going into the night with the family at the dinner table with Tina living through a guilty conscious as she and the other members of the Belchers enjoy their dinner with Gene talking about the jingle that's been stuck in his head and keeps on singing and humming, already annoying the crap out of Louise. Speaking of Louise, she brought up Frond's little initiative about writing down someone's actions on a piece of paper and having their name revealed as if Frond is okay with people being snitches. Leaving Tina to try to steer her situation away from the table without anyone noticing as the family begins to feel a chill in the air. Setting up shop for what is about to come later in the episode as we prepare to close out the first act and going into the second.
Later into the night as we switch over to Tina's room with her still sulking over the fact that Chelsea might be getting ready to rat Tina out for potentially cheating on Susmita's paper and if there’s a group of people that Tina should vent over what happened earlier in the day, it’s Louise and Gene. Telling them about what happened during class when she accidentally saw Susmita’s work and Chelsea accusing her of cheating. Living through the guilt that is currently eating her up and her school life would be as good as dead. And by school life, because it would cost her a good grade, but also her social life.
She's a teenager and her social life has to be the primary focus. Fearing of potentially being shunned if Chelsea were to rat Tina out to save her skin, who did the deed by copying Susmita’s work. Thinking that people would not want to talk to or be around her because of the accusations that Chelsea made. And sure, looking at Chelsea as each of the kids describes, she doesn't look like the type of person who would rat people out because she really don't. This is the girl who said "fuck" 23 times during one round of kickball, and to the bleachers...the girl says "fuck" a lot, and yeah, not the type of person who you want to come across. So Chelsea's history and personality should calm Tina's nerves for the night...for a few seconds before finding out about Frond's little initiative with Accountability Billy and fearing for the worse that Chelsea may or may not have written down what she saw. Leading to her wanting to talk things out with her come tomorrow to clear everything and let bygones be bygones. Alleviating her anxiety...
Leading to the next scene later in the night by going into Tina's dream which turns into a nightmare with her finishing doing her locker and making her way to her class when she comes across Accountability Billy, alive and extremely tall to Tina's height and looking how stiff the doll is as if he’s ready to hug you to death. Billy haunts Tina in an attempt to add even more pressure onto her with what happened earlier in the episode with him patting his fanny pack with the notes inside with one of the notes that is in the bag is the note that Chelsea wrote with Tina's counterattack the giant living doll that Chelsea was the one who did the deed, she didn’t even mean to take a quick peek right after finishing her exam. And much like with her nightmare with the pig from Season 10, the jokes started to get old with the two going back and forth with the name-calling. But it has gotten to the point where Tina needs to talk to Chelsea, but not right away. That's where the next day comes into play for her to make her way out to school and ready to make amends to Chelsea and not let her write her name onto the note, but it looks like it might not be going into Tina’s way. And this is why.
Yep, mother nature decides to fuck around with Tina’s chances to clear her name by throwing in a snowstorm to barricade her shot to convince Chelsea to drop the accusations. Closing down the school for the day and making the roads impassable so that no one can leave the place. Meaning that Tina’s chances of wanting to clear her name and save her social status and school life will have to be postponed for another day. Let’s see here, a random student accused Tina of cheating despite finishing her test before Susmita finishes hers? Check. Anxiety building up across her body and mind after dealing with the possible accusation? Check. Wanting to talk to Chelsea to drop the accusations, only for mother nature to bring in a snowstorm that came out of nowhere? Check and check. And knowing that it’s a Tina episode, it’s time to bring out everyone’s favorite segment, That’s So Tina.
Come on, we all knew this was coming when looking at Tina’s situation. Tell me you saw this idea coming into mind when watching this episode. So going into the second act of the episode with Tina looking gloomy over the fact that a sudden snowstorm had blocked her chances of wanting to convince Chelsea to stand down and not be accused of being a cheater. Thinking that she can't do anything for this moment or even the entire day as the storm dumps amounts of snow over the town. It has gotten to the point where Louise and Gene can't even go out and enjoy their time outside in the snow because it’s a snowstorm. They can’t do jack shit because of potential blizzard conditions slapping into the face. Mind you that the synopsis read it as a “snowstorm” and not a “blizzard”.
Mostly because there's a difference between the two. Mostly because of the criteria for a blizzard to be called, you need the three items checked off from the checklist: low visibility, 35 mph winds or more, and it must last at least three hours or longer. And while yes, the episode did say "snowstorm" and the end of the first act and the start of the second could act like a usual winter storm with heavy snow being dropped that disrupts daily activities like going to school or work. Though as the episode progresses, the conditions do get worsen by the moment that it could scream "blizzard" with the visibility starting to dwindle and the winds picking up. Not to mention the duration of the storm since it just came out of nowhere overnight and lasted throughout the day. Though nothing like with what happened in Buffalo a few weeks ago when they had a blizzard. So uh...take your pick on how you want to define it. Surprising that the family struggles to stay warm but somehow has power along with the rest of the town.
So to pass the time, Louise and Gene have to create a fort using blankets and pillow cushions as the storm progress while trying to comfort Tina to lower her anxiety despite wanting to head out so that she can prevent Chelsea from writing the note into the pouch of Accountability Billy and have Frond to read it out loud. Fearing that her grade for the exam would be nullified and would cause some issues with her social status. Mostly with her friendship with Susmita if she were to find out about it, even if it was an accident right after finishing her exam. So the kids make a fort to pass the time as the progresses, of course, with no heat in the apartment, mind you that the kids being in the fort lasted throughout the rest of the episode...
We switch over to the kitchen with Bob and Linda cleaning the place up with Bob dialing in Teddy if he can help fix the heater for the family despite the inclement weather that is going on. Nothing says helping a friend and loyal customer out like fixing the heater while bracing the elements. But it appears that Teddy's hands are tied when driving his way to his appointment during the snowstorm, leaving Bob and Linda to defend themselves while bracing against the elements. But not really because Teddy does tell Bob that he needs to call someone else to do the job while he's busy with his appointment. Better than going through the entire day with no heat. At least they have power. And this me comparing what the Belchers are dealing with the episode to, of course, the winter freeze from February of 2021 where I had to endure 24-36 hours of not having power, heat, or running water while dealing with historic record low temperatures because of the state’s poor excuse of a power grid.
And we stay with Bob and Linda with Linda checking in with the kids in their fort and requesting hot chocolate to keep them warm and for Tina to try to get her anxiety to be lowered as Bob dials in the next handyman up that Teddy recommended to him while he is busy with his appointment. And this is what the subplot is going to be, folks. Bob struggles to get the heater guy to pick up the phone. And even if he did later in the episode, the conversation begins to dwindle with Bob trying to play nice with the guy on the phone if it means getting the heater fixed before the storm blows over. From the heater guy being unable to pick up the phone to Bob accidentally sending his butt to the guy for no reason other than for the lols, yeah, this is our subplot. You could say time waster and it probably is, but what do you expect from what is pretty much realism at its finest when being on the phone, calling in an expert, trying to get said expert on the phone, and then having to deal with a lot of bullshit in hopes for whatever situation you're in get dealt. Welcome to the real world, kids. You didn't sign up for this shit but I'm sure it's in the hidden text once you enter day one of your life.
Back to the Belcher kids in their fort with Gene already humming to the jingle and annoying the crap out of Louise as if she wants to tape his mouth shut or knock him out with Tina...yeah, still anxious and wants to die over everything that has been going on regarding the Chelsea issue and ready to take the cheater label onto her character. I would say to Tina that you aren’t the Houston Astros when they got caught cheating but they won a World Series last year without using cheating methods, so much for the jabs. Sure, I could use the other cheating scandals from other sports leagues that some are unaware of like poker or fishing, or chess, but...does anyone even remember that? Those were whatever page is on the newspaper headline news. But leave it to Louise to help Tina with her situation by using the phone since school is closed for the day. Getting her number through the school directory that Bob and Linda somehow got in their possession but at least she’s getting to do something to get Chelsea to stand down. Just be lucky for Tina that phone service hasn’t been knocked out during this winter storm.
Tina gets on the phone and dials Chelsea's number, which she successfully got connected to the eighth grader who is in the middle of playing a video game and asks if she did the deed. That being her going towards the Accountability Billy doll that Frond placed and writing down the accusation to rat Tina out to save her skin. Which Tina gets a huge sigh of relief that Chelsea didn't write down her name and the action that came with it onto the piece of paper, and also her saying that she didn't cheat because she finished hers before Susmita does, as well as Chelsea proclaims that she didn't cheat either despite that she saw Susmita's answers right in front of her. So a sigh of relief for Tina that Chelsea didn’t rat on her, only for her and pretty much the writers to fuck around with Tina’s mental state and causes her to have a mental breakdown when finding out that Chelsea did turn in the note, causing her to run off to her room that resulted in the fort to come crashing down. At least that fort didn't come close to crushing themselves to death. And that closes the first half of the episode and this would be the time when there would be that intermission mini-review of an episode of The Great North, but that's been taken care of at the start of the review. Don't worry, that'll be back here come February. So we might as well start the second half with Tina having a mental breakdown.
Which she is currently going through after finding out that Chelsea wrote down the note and puts it into the pouch. It's pretty much the end of the line for Tina when it comes to her life as a whole. Her school life because her test results would get nullified, resulting in a bad grade, possibly a zero on her paper. But also her social status a la “The Hormone-iums” from Season 6 because why not, she’s a teenager. Social status is pretty much the number one priority on her mind. Her peers and everyone else in school that aren’t her siblings, sure. But it’s mostly focusing on one person and it’s the person who is in the center of it all, Susmita. And some of you could say that because of the directory in her possession, she could try to call Susmita on the phone and give her a better understanding of what's going on. Telling her what's going on is nothing more than an accident and can't live with the guilt that is eating her. And hopefully, things would go smoothly between the two. Worrying that if Chelsea did get her way with the note into the fanny pack of the doll the Frond made, sure, she would get a bad grade and she doesn't want that.
But the primary objective would be how Susmita would react to the accusations. Afraid that one little accident, just one mistake, could put their relationship on thin ice. Afraid that her friendship with Susmita, and I’m calling it a friendship because fuck you, would come to an end because of Chelsea saving her skin despite that she did the cheating herself. She doesn't want to lose her friendship with Susmita because of Chelsea's accusations. And I guess it could make some sense for her to at least tell Susmita about what is happening and get an understanding that won't result in a fallout because if there's one person who can talk to, somebody to vent...other than her siblings and her parents, it has to be Susmita. That would've at least made things decent because it would expand Susmita as a character and the relationship between the two girls in this episode. Too bad that didn't happen and instead, the focus is on the doll that Frond made. Leading to her to get ready to call Frond to see if the note Chelsea wrote is in the fanny pack.
And she does that right after she came back into the fort just as Linda delivers the hot chocolate to the three kids as Bob continues to struggle to get the guy that Teddy recommended to at least make contact. Tina picks up the phone and dials Frond's number to make contact with the person who could ruin her life as if he didn't do that before in past seasons, and we're about to see what Frond does whenever there’s no school, other than knitting and pretty much sulk. And it’s him doing some exercising from an exercise video from I guess the 1980s and wearing the same tank top he got at the end of Season 9 while trying to do some squat work. Man’s out here trying to avoid skipping leg day, especially during a snowstorm. Tina failed the first time to get Frond to pick up the phone. And the same goes for the second attempt but again, no contact because Frond is too busy with him doing some exercising. Would say that Tina is at a stalemate on the current situation and will have to wait until tomorrow or whenever the storm passes to do the last-minute job but we already know where this is going come to the end of the third act and going into the fourth.
Tina decides to take matters into her own hands by heading out to Frond’s house to get the doll. You heard that right, folks. Tina is heading out to Frond’s house to get the doll in the middle of a snowstorm that is knocking on the door of getting the blizzard title as the conditions continue to deteriorate. It's suicidal for Tina to head out in the middle of a snowstorm. Especially with the snow amounts about to go up to a few inches, looking at 8-12 inches, could be leaning towards 12-16, around a foot of snow. The winds start to pick up and the visibility starts to lower to the point where the background looks like it's starting to fog up. And if you say that I'm being too overdramatic over the conditions, take a look at the start of the fourth act of the episode...
Tina decides to take matters into her own hands by heading out to Frond’s house to get the doll. You heard that right, folks. Tina is heading out to Frond’s house to get the doll in the middle of a snowstorm that is knocking on the door of getting the blizzard title as the conditions continue to deteriorate. It's suicidal for Tina to head out in the middle of a snowstorm. Especially with the snow amounts about to go up to a few inches, looking at 8-12 inches, could be leaning towards 12-16, around a foot of snow. The winds start to pick up and the visibility starts to lower to the point where the background looks like it's starting to fog up. And if you say that I'm being too overdramatic over the conditions, take a look at the start of the fourth act of the episode...
Yeah. It’s not a good look for Tina for her to head out on her own. Not to mention the temperature somewhere around the teens or maybe the single digits. And if you factor in the winds, the wind chills in the negatives are nothing to fuck with. That is hypothermia waiting to happen if you were to venture out in the brutal cold elements. But that's not going to stop Tina from doing something drastic by heading over to where the doll is and storming through Accountability Billy's pocket as if the doll has done something it's not supposed to do but somehow garnered the attention of the FBI. And it didn’t take long for Bob and Linda to find out about what Tina is doing coming from Gene and Louise when getting the warm crackers and they would do something to stop her...yeah, they would've done that. They would've gone out and gotten Tina before she freezes herself to death but because of the harsh conditions, they can't get out. I mean they could but...just don't know it. And for anyone who had or will be going through a snowstorm or blizzard or nor'easter any winter-type weather, don't venture out if things turn ugly. Seriously, don't. Just don't. You can’t venture out as if you’re on the ice planet of Hoth and expect a random tauntaun to come through, slice the sucker open, and crawl inside for warmth. Also note the change of line coming from Linda because in the promo, the preview to the episode, she said that Tina would end up as the guy from The Shining. I’m guessing Jack Nicholson’s character. But once we get to the actual episode, it changed from The Shining to Encino Man. Don’t know why the change but...what’s done is done I guess? Odd change but okay?
Switching over to outside with Tina slowly making her way to Frond's house in the middle of a supposed blizzard where her conscience begins to play mind games once more with a fantasy version of Accountability Billy tagging along and once again, putting pressure onto Tina over the guilt that she is currently going through with the cheating issue and thinking that asking Frond to pull the note that Chelsea wrote from the bag would solve things. Even brought up the possibility of Susmita picking a different answer. I mean...that's a fair point because would it consider changing if the person next to you picked a different answer? It's not even though there are some instances where you could but it's not. Because if it is true, she would've gotten the last answer wrong once she finishes her exam and Chelsea would be the one who would be taking the cheater label when looking at Susmita's paper. And don't say that Susmita may have let Chelsea copy her papers because of X or Y reasons. Cut off with that bullshit. So just as Tina and Billy kick each other with snow...
You have Teddy coming in and spotting her out in the elements, noticing as if she's just kicking the snow for no apparent reason other than her hallucinating as if she's been out of the brutal cold for too long of a duration that it can mess a person up and not because of her guilt playing mind games with her. But at least the Belchers will not be venturing out into the elements because Teddy took her back home just as he is prepared to help the family in getting the heater to be cranked. But besides that, Tina decides to vent to the family about everything that has been happening for the past 24 hours over the whole accusation and worries about how Susmita would react to the said accusations even if they have different answers. And of course, in comes the moral of the episode with Linda comforting her eldest daughter about the situation and that she's not a cheater and even if she were to change her answers, it doesn't automatically make her a cheater, even if it was an accidental millisecond peek, she shouldn't beat herself up over what happened. Even brings up her life as an example even though this was different and was sitting in the back of the class with the quote-on-quote "dum-dums". So the morals of the episode come down to not beating yourself up for something that you didn't do and could get you canceled by your peers.
Though going out in the middle of a snowstorm...yeah, don’t do that. Because what Tina did was stupid when trying to take matters into her own hands. And I do hope no one can ever do the same thing Tina did in the episode. Seriously, at this point, you might as well add a freaking disclaimer on what not to do during a snowstorm. But at least the subplot, the side story of the episode is closing with the heater repairment coming into the building with Teddy guiding the man to where the unit is at. And of course, Louise succumbed to the jingle that Gene hummed and sang throughout the past 24 hours as if what sports fans currently have to endure each a Burger King commercial pop up. And knowing that the NFL playoffs are coming up...oh boy. Where are the agents from Men in Black when you need them?
Onto the final minutes of the episode as the next day rolls on with the snowstorm finally coming to end and man, the snow plows were upped and ready to go the moment the system behind the inclement weather passes through, with the moment of truth finally arriving for Tina's life to come to an end...but didn't. Because of course, she didn't get called out, and instead, it's a random student that Rudy wrote and tuned in for Frond to read out. So uh...if I were Rudy, I would probably get into witness protection, just a heads up. But other than Rudy might be planning on going into hiding over him snitching on a random student, it looks like Tina’s ass has been saved thanks in part to Chelsea not turning her in because as Louise mentioned earlier in the episode, she doesn’t look like the snitching type. As she said it herself, she doesn't snitch. So all of that, after everything that Tina had gone through for her mental state to be in turmoil in the past 24 hours, is nothing more than Chelsea pretty much fucking around with her. But at least the note that she wrote isn't the one that put Tina in a very tight spot in the past day or two and instead it's a series of F-bombs that Tina had to read out to close out the episode. Classy to say the least to close out the first episode of the new year.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Well, going through the episode from start to finish, right after two amazing episodes with the previous episode being fucking bombastic in a positive way that it should get an Emmy nod, it feels like we're going back to the basics. Almost getting a bubble episode vibe with the Belchers being trapped inside the house during a huge snowstorm. Of course, it has to be a Tina episode to start the new year, and nothing wrong with Tina, but this episode felt like we were going through...well, it felt flat. Some moments in the episode are okay, if not, decent at best. But the rest, it felt flat if I have to be honest. I’m going to have to say this as if I’m a broken record, it’s not a bad episode but it’s not that great either. Looking at an average but below average if I have to be frank here.
Sure, Susmita returning was a treat, and having the two interact at the start of the episode leading up to what is pretty much The Tina Show and Tina being overly anxious over how Susmita would react if Chelsea did rat her out about her accidentally taking a peak at the test would not only nullify her test and thus giving her a bad grade, but also would put her friendship on Susmita on thin ice. Hell, at the start of the third act of the episode when having her I guess mental breakdown and said to herself, "What's sweet, sweet Susmita going to think of me", okay yeah, that sounds like me bringing up that line would have different contexts when going through that, it's more of worrying that one little accusation would put her in a bad spot. Thankfully that didn't happen. And I guess Chelsea isn't too bad of a character. At least it's someone different for once to torment Tina, so thank God for that. Though chances of her returning...eh. It's not zero but it's a low chance. You'll most likely be going to see her in the background at least. At least it's a different person this time who would serve as the antagonist to the episode rather than turning it into...well, another Tina and Tammy type of episode. So I have to give the writers some props for going for something new.
Other than that, it almost felt like a bubble episode, to say the least with the subplot with Bob struggling to get a hold of the heater repairman that Teddy recommended felt like filler with him being unable to make contact with the repairman as the family suffer through the day with no heat. Again, would've gone with the space heater in the event this were to happen since I'm surprised that y'all didn't even lose power as the conditions worsen. Especially because if the winds go over the 39 mph threshold, which is tropical storm force winds, you get sporadic power outages. So it would be a miracle for the Belchers to not lose power throughout the whole day as the storm moves over Seymour's Bay. The same may go for Gene humming that song other than...well, filler. For laughs, sure. Though if you had to choose between listening through the jingle that is stuck in Gene's head or the goddamn Burger King whopper jingle, I rather pick the first one. And I think some people might agree with that notion. Gotten to the point where Louise has it stuck in her head because she's been around Gene throughout the day. That's on her for the jingle drilled into her head.
So final thoughts, after two previous episodes that are good to enjoy with the Christmas episode being the best out of the two, it felt like we’re back to the basics of average episodes with a moral to close things out with the subplot feeling like filler to pass the time as part of the family going through a snowstorm without having any heat. Seriously, have a space heater on standby next time. So I’ll give “Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang”...
A 4 out of 10. The first rating of the new year and, of course, it's a below-average score for this episode. But that's my opinion and now I wanna hear yours in the comments below. No new episodes next week or the next few weeks until February 19. Yep, February 19 is when the next episode comes out and a special one too because it'll be the show's 250th episode. 250 episodes, good god. So let's hope the next episode will be a good one. I mean, it has to. It has to.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. As for what to do between now and the week of February 19? Well...we’ll see about that. Maybe some content. Maybe not. Anything can happen. And of course, y’all should know the drill by now...
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
Donate over on PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out in both improving the page and paying the bills to keep the lights on to get something to come out. And until February 19 I guess unless something happens during the hiatus, wash your hands, wear your mask, get vaccinated and boosted and a reminded that you’re loved, you’re beautiful, ignore the haters, and I’ll see y’all later.
***Bob’s Burgers is owned by 20th Television Animation, Bento Box Animation, and Loren Bouchard. Please Support the Official Release***
No comments:
Post a Comment