We’re now in May. Only two episodes left for the season. Jesus Christ, already, we’re nearing the end of another burger season. I mean, it was just yesterday that we were getting ready for the season after coming out of watching the movie and what would expect what the post-movie era had in stores for the series going forward. And uh...it’s there. I mean, we know about Bob’s mom’s name. We got some stuff from the Fischoeders since it looks like their arcs (from Calvin and maybe Felix but mostly Calvin) since they often times appear throughout the season...well, a few episodes but hey, I guess there’s nothing wrong with some Fischoeder propaganda. And with only two episodes left after this episode and the posting of this review...well, anything goes, I guess.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, it’s lore, baby! We have lore with the Belcher family going through the bedroom closet where they discovered an old radio that contains a recording from Bob’s grandmother about the time she lives in the same building as someone who happened to be a spy for the German army at the height of World War II in my spoilerific review of the twentieth episode of Season 13 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Radio No You Didn’t”.
Historical fictions aren't new to the world of entertainment. Whenever there's a historical event in world history or US history, there's a certain form of media in the form of a show or movie where it has to be based on an actual event, whether being a character was made up or focuses on one random person in real life because we just focused on the event, not focusing on either a random civilian, a soldier, a squadron, etc., to hear their side of the story of what happened when an event happened. I mean, sci-fi shows that use time travel used the historical fiction idea, even though often times, they use someone who is in the history books like Doctor Who for example. And the historical event that is often used the most in entertainment...World War II. Whether being focusing on the war itself, either the Invasion of Poland like...the only thing I can think of is the Family Guy episode, Pearl Harbor like the movie of the same name...though they really don't need to make it focus on a love triangle in a film that was supposed to be focusing on the event that led the US into the war with lives lost that day, all the way to, of course, the upcoming Oppenheimer movie that is set to be dropped in the summer. Wouldn't rule out films about the Holocaust and what the Nazis did during the war was horrific and awful and if you say that you don't believe that happened, get the fuck out of my sight.
And for Bob's Burgers' sake, we got some lore coming from Bob's side of the family. Hey, if Linda can get some stuff about her and her family last season from the name of her hometown to her maiden name, it's only fair for Bob to get his side of the family being under the spotlight. And of course, it's coming from Bob's Mom's side of the family to take center stage. Knowing more about Lily's side of the family with her mother living in the same building as a freaking fracking spy working for the German army during the height of the Second World War. And uh...woo boy, what a ride that was when seeing the episode. The lore is one thing regarding everything to know about Bob's family, primarily coming from his mom's side, but the suspense is there leading up to the fourth act. The animation that was used...man, this favoritism for this episode is going to be there. But sadly, for a short while because of uh...certain season finale that people have been yammering since...well, earlier this year that will be short-lived. That being said, let’s get to the episode breakdown going. We got two more to go after this. This is “Radio No You Didn’t”.
The episode starts with the family cleaning out the closet and planning on throwing away some stuff, stuff that is no longer in for use as Bob enters the room after taking a shower and is about to put on a change of clothes. Of course, the family is planning on throwing some stuff out from the closet because let's be real, no one like a stuffy closet. Mostly because Linda tries to get a blanket from the top shelf and knows that it's small and stuff as if the closet is carrying a lot of stuff as it's being served as storage space. I mean...there is an attic where most stuff often time gets stored. Other than that, everything has to be thrown out so the closet doesn't feel stuffy. And if you're planning on throwing stuff away, don't just throw it into the dumpster in the back, and instead, maybe you can...you know...donate to a donation store? Those exist and you can just donate there instead of putting them in the dumpster.
As the stuff gets thrown out of the closet, Linda and the kids notice an old radio in their possession, and just as Linda is planning on throwing it away, though knowing that it's an old radio, an antique mind you, that you should at least try to sell the item to a pawn shop because a radio like that can worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Well, as long as it doesn't contain any damage and sees if it works to secure the big bucks. But it's not that episode. This isn't an episode of Pawn Stars on the History Channel because Bob stumbles into the conversation and tells the family that the old radio that Linda found. Telling her and the kids that the radio used to belong to his grandmother Alice. His grandmother from his mom’s side with Bob telling Linda to not throw the old radio and instead want to keep it since it was an heirloom. I mean, knowing that it’s old, who knows if the item still works after a few decades since the 20th century, who knows? And that's more than enough for Bob to tell the story about the radio. And it all begins with his grandmother Alice in the 1940s while holding a baby Lily in her hands. Entering story mode we go!
So it was the Summer of 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, implying that Lily is a New Yorker with Bob having some New Yorker blood in his veins, just saying, with Alice taking care of Lily at an apartment by the harbor. Oh yeah, knowing that it's 1941, it's in the midst of World War II. Though mind you, Bob said that the story took place in the Summer of that year. Probably either June, July or maybe August is where the story is set. Meaning that this was a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The US was neutral from the start of the war until the end of 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, back when Hawaii was a US territory. Also, Bob mentions Alice’s husband, Lily’s father, and Bob’s grandfather Billy when seeing an image of him in a sailor uniform and says that he was shipped off. Again, the US remained neutral during that time before Pearl Harbor but mind you that back in the day, the US had a military draft where in the event of a war, you get drafted into the military and have to fight in the frontlines whether you like it or not. Knowing that this was before the US entered the war, declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, I’m guessing that it was voluntary to be shipped off. Mostly to serve in either helping the British fend off the Germans or go to the Pacific and defend the islands from possible imperialism from the Empire of Japan at the time. Knowing that Bob's grandfather on his mom's side was a sailor, the Pacific would make the most sense. Also note that Bob's late mom Lily was six months old at the time with the story set in either June, July, or August, Lily would've been born either in late 1940, probably November or December, or early 1941, being January or February. Yeah, this almost made the case that Lily died around the 1970s.
Alice takes care of a baby Lily and lives with her mother Gertie at the apartment and knowing the notion of people becoming new parents after giving birth to their child...oh yeah, baby Lily was a crier. She was a crier that awakens Alice throughout the night and knowing the apartment, you'd think that other tenants would have to deal with Lily's crying. Remember, this is the 1940s. There is no YouTube, no portable devices, and no other devices that can help the baby go to sleep for the night. The life and times of being a new parent. Linda stated to herself with she and Bob taking care of Tina, Gene, and Louise when they were babies. So all Alice had to rely on to calm Lily down would be to use the old radio, which Bob brought up that his grandmother somehow invented the white noise onto the radio. A random fact, but okay. Though questioning whether or not Gertie sent out a patent to get the noise improved and make a few bucks. Something to help benefit both her, Alice, and Lily. Oh yeah, and the apartment has a pigeon coop, because of course. I don't know if this was a normal thing to have, and I'm talking to anyone who lives in New York City, did y'all have a pigeon coop on the roof of your apartment or no? Let me know in the comments down below. Alice tries to calm Lily down by using the white noise and singing a song by going through the window and seeing some people being out and about while trying to calm her child down. Seeing one of her neighbors, Rolo, or some name that Alice can't name from the tip of her tongue taking out the trash, her other neighbor, Mr. Miller, feeding the cats and raccoons some food. Both animals being strays. And then, of course, notices her other neighbor Peter coming back home from work at the shipyard. So, other than that, Lily had calmed down so Alice can go back to sleep and get some rest.
Too bad that it’s only short-lived once 4:30 hits with Lily starting crying again with Alice turning on the radio once more to get the white noise to calm her down. But once the radio comes on and tries to get the white noise to help Alice to calm Lily to calm down is when she noticed something unusual from the radio. It was a conversation that came across the transmission and speaking in another language. It appears to be someone speaking in German trying to talk to someone as if the person from behind the radio is messaging someone from Berlin and talking about the shipping docks nearby as a possible target. Would say why they would do that since the US isn't even at war in the Summer of 1941, but a heads up that even though we were neutral at the time, we had to aid the British army with supplies like weapons and humanitarian items to them while being bombarded by the German air raid. And targeting the shipping yard by the apartment where Alice and Lily are nearby their way in hopes to cut off the shipment, giving the German army the opportunity in their failed attempt to conquer all of Europe. The German spy noticed Lily's crying from the transmission waves, meaning that the radio may have intercepted the transmission line. But also drawing concern for Alice that the call is from inside the house. Oh, and to make things even more anxious for Alice when noticed that she may have come across a German spy talking to someone in Berlin about the shipping yard being the target of the German military...
Alice, after dropping Lily onto her crib for her to sleep, goes to the roof and sees what's going on and saw that the pigeons are unharmed and kept in their cages. But notices a footprint covered in bird poop, meaning that the call was made from on top of the roof of the building, just to get a better signal. Causing even more anxiety for Alice for days to come now that she noticed that she was currently living in the same building as a German spy. And knowing that this was during the age of war and Germany, of course, was the enemy at the time alongside Italy and Japan, you can feel the anxiety coming from Alice now that she knows that something isn't right and wants to tell someone about this. Alice came back into the building, seeing the aftermath of the pigeons flying away from the cage, and comes across Peter as he is about to make his way to his job at the shipyard. And of course, Alice suspects that Peter might be up to something. But mind you that when Alice came up to the empty pigeon cage, there was a footprint filled with bird poop. So when Alice saw Peter's shoes and noticed that there isn't a trace of it, you'd think that maybe Peter wasn't the spy that Alice has quietly accused him of. But that would be a problem, mostly because the spy who stepped on bird poop would've cleaned his shoes and gotten rid of the evidence. Again, this is the 1940s. Security cameras weren't around. So the accusation game has to be the way to go unless you somehow hire a private investigator as if we're treating this as a noir.
The morning arrives at the kitchen with Alice telling her mother Gertie about the strange transmission interception that came onto the radio and listening to a conversation in German with a footprint implanted onto the bird poop from the top of the building by the bird cage. Alice told her mother everything while eating her breakfast and giving Lily some of her food, but Gertie thinks that she’s being overreacting and that she’s imagining things because of her not getting a full sleep due to Lily’s constant crying throughout the night that causes her to think that imagine the conversation through the radio. Boils down to perspective with one person encountering something sinister but everyone else thinks that it's all in their imagination and thinks that they're being insane. So Alice decides to take her mind off of things, thinking to herself that it's probably all in her imagination, and get to do her daily activities, upsetting Louise because she wants to skip to the part of her great-grandmother hauling some Nazi ass, but patience is key because the suspense is there. It’s just slowly building up since we’re only ten minutes into the episode. Alice does the laundry as Gertie takes Lily out on a stroll where she notices Peter outside with someone doing an exchange that causes Alice’s anxiety to explode once more. Still thinking that Peter is the spy that she heard on the radio as both he and the guy who he made an exchange and head off to the alleyway, enough for Alice to step out of her robe to check the scene herself.
Until she gets stopped by both Gertie and Mr. Miller alongside Lily in the stroller coming back from the market and notices Alice by the alleyway and suspects that Peter might be the spy when seeing the exchange by her front step. And again, Gertie doesn't think that what Alice says is real. Though I see that Miller is trying to play cutesy here with Gertie as if he's planning on...well, the 1940s equivalent of sliding into her DMs. But yeah, Alice's anxiety about the supposed spy living in the same building as she is going to intense levels as if the anxiety bomb is expected to explode. Especially once Alice takes Lily back into her arms and heads back inside the apartment building. Even though the US is not in the war because we remained neutral until the end of 1941, the anxiety is there from most people regarding what Germany and Italy were doing in Europe and Africa. Mostly coming from the news on the radio because back in the day, you’d get the news from the radio. The paranoia is being built into Alice after accidentally coming across a live conversation through the radio of a German spy talking to HQ in Berlin as if you're watching a movie where someone came across something the person should not know but wants to tell but the enemy makes sure that will not happen. It's sort of like that with Alice fearing that if she finds out that there's a spy inside her apartment that she's going to be sent to the upper room. Because the last thing a baby Lily needs during this time frame is for her to become an orphan. She would be under the care of Gertie, but...nah. Can't have that.
In the final scene of the first half of the episode, Gertie is ready to head out to a friend's house to play a card game, attempted to gamble with her card buddies, leaving Alice to be with Lily to be on Peter Watch since she has already suspected that Peter is the alleged spy that Alice quietly suspected him of when seeing him walking back from the shipyard. One moment, he’s there from Alice’s window as she looks down at him. And the next, he disappears and out of the blue. Her anxiety levels have risen to DEFCON 1 for Alice and might be fearing for the worst. And just in time for the first half of the episode to come to an end and we get to the second half with the Belchers currently sitting by the radio as the suspense was building up regarding Alice and her safety being jeopardized. Onto the second half we go and yes, The Great North will once again have their own review. Accuse me of being a masochist, we only got a few episodes left in the season. There’s no new Bob’s Burgers episode this upcoming Sunday. Plus, the second half of the episode...hang on to your seatbelts because holy shit...whether you like it or not, is where this sold the episode for me. It sold the episode for me for what is about to come.
The second half of the episode had to start slow with a brief scene of the present with the Belcher family sitting by the radio and is expected to see what Bob is cooking regarding his maternal grandmother with her safety, both her and baby Lily, of a possible situation where she might be getting attacked by Peter after being suspicious of him of being the German spy since accidentally listening through a conversation through the radio. It’s like you could feel Alice’s heart racing when the anxiety when hearing the door knocking. Thinking that it’s Peter from behind the door and ready to take her out. Though with the baby in her hands...not a good look but it’s Nazi Germany, they don’t give a fuck about sentimentality unless it’s their own. Alice makes her way to the door, as if she’s about to meet her fate or whatnot when thinking that it’s Peter right at the door, but instead...
It's Mr. Miller carrying flowers, hoping to give them to Gertie as signs of him showing some affection towards Alice's mother. Alice's father was never brought up in the story by Bob. So either Mr. Lombard, Alice's father/Lily's grandfather...yeah, that was never brought up in the episode after Lily was born. Let alone before she was born. So it's probably either he fucked off because...well, the Great Depression fucked over everyone, served in World War I and died on the frontlines, or got hit with the Spanish flu. So Miller comes in with the flowers and hopes for Gertie to retrieve them as his way of affection towards her, but it looks like he has to wait because Gertie is out for the night to spend some time with her friends. So Miller has to play the waiting game until Gertie comes back...or maybe just leave the flowers and go on with his night. Leave a card also if you're planning to do the latter. As long as it is not sappy. But Miller rather waits for Gertie to come back, so he'll have to stay here for a bit with Alice and decides to make tea for him while waiting for Gertie to make her return with Lily drooling from her face when she's on Miller's lap with Alice telling Miller that Lily drooling shows signs of someone who is okay to hang with. And Miller was that person because of him spending some time with Gertie. I know that it's really taking its time and getting bothersome in playing the waiting game, but now...this is where we get to that good shit, whether you like it or not with this episode. And it began with Lily dropping her toy to the floor with Miller being unable to pick it up because he's carrying Lily on his lap. Causing Alice to pick it up and the moment she goes and picks the item up...goddamn, this was something that we haven’t seen in a while.
Alice notices the poop on Miller's shoe when picking up Lily's toy from under the toy and notices that Peter isn't the spy that she quietly accuses him of, and instead, it's Mr. Miller who is working for Dolfy boy and eyeing on the shipping yard in hopes to cut the US supply line to Britain. Alice tries to play it cool by taking Lily away and creates a ruse to trick Miller so she can alert the authorities by telling Miller that Lily made a dookie in her diaper and requires a change. Miller didn’t smell anything bad coming from Lily as Alice suggested, but better safe than sorry. Especially when attempting to create a ruse when finding out that Alice accused the wrong guy of being the spy. And already, you can feel the suspense and anxiety building up. And take a look at the screencap above. That is not an animation error. You have Alice trying to play it cool after finding out who the actual spy is and you can see Miller in the background and pretends that everything is going alright, not knowing that his secret may have been exposed by Alice after noticing the bird poop on his shoe. You know that this is where things are getting really good where the suspense is coming out of nowhere and the anxiety rising after finding out that Miller is the German spy. I feel like we have seen this before. Have we seen this before?
Alice makes her way to her bedroom with Lily in one hand and a phone in the other. Mind you that it’s a landline phone, so anyone can see what you’re trying to do. Especially when attempting to alert the authorities about a spy for the enemy at the height of the war. Alice almost sounded a bit hesitant but tried to keep her cool when calling the 911 operator in hopes to turn Miller in as if she and Lily are in immediate danger, which they are because again, you can feel the anxiety coming from her voice when trying to make the call. As well as Lily babbling getting in the way of making the call. Whether or not the authorities heard the call and made their way to the apartment building is up in the air, though spoilers, they did, but now...this is where shit hits the fan as we are about to enter the last act of the episode once Alice quickly put away the phone once Miller comes into the room and attempted to play her cool. And man...this is where things get really juicy as the action and drama with the seeds that were planted earlier in the episode now coming out to bloom. Alice lies to Miller that she needs powder but Miller notices the bottle of powder on the shelf before telling him that she needs a different powder, thinking that it's too powdery. I mean, yeah, no one wants their infant child to experience an itchy bottom. But oh boy, Miller ain't buying that shit the moment he noticed the landline wires reaching all the way to her room to the nearby wall and is expected to strangle her. I mean attempting to strangle her...while carrying the baby. Like holy fucking shit. Yo, this episode is wildin’. They are wildlin’ when creating the episode. Especially the fourth act of the episode.
Gertie comes in at the wrong just as Miller is about to come for the kill and Miller goes back into playing his cool and tries to play along, back to when he acted earlier in the episode and thinks that it's nothing more than the usual visit. Well, the usual visit would not involve holding a landline wire and attempting to kill a mother with a baby in her hands. But the jig is up for Miller as Gertie noticed the terror in Alice’s face and the body language and...I gotta say...god fucking damn. The animation looks amazing with the escape scene. And the anxiety is there with the escape with Alice making her escape and Miller grabbing her in the leg while carrying Lily in Alice's arms as if the show was this close to dropping Lily. Like...oh man...I know that the show wouldn't go too far by having Alice accidentally drop Lily to the ground, they wouldn't do that. But the suspense and anxiety from the scene, as well as the animation of Alice trying to escape by her pushing the radio, the same radio that Bob is talking to Linda and the kids while attempting to not throw it away, landed on Miller's foot...no cap, they did a pretty amazing job doing that scene.
It's sort of like with the movie because it is sort of like that with this episode. In the movie, you have the kids trying to solve a cold case and wanting to prove Fischoeder's innocence. Thought it was Felix at first who did the deed, only to find out that it was all Grover. In this episode, you have Alice, well, trying to live her life and taking care of a baby Lily but stumbled into a conversation with a German spy through the radio. Accused Peter of committing the crime quietly before finding out that it was Mr. Miller who made the call. You’re getting some déjà vu when watching the episode but I don’t mind, this was incredible to watch. And the show wasn't holding back when it comes to this. Hopefully, can't wait to see more of this in the near future. Other than that, Alice and Gertie alongside baby Lily made their way out and just in time for the authorities to arrive and arrest Mr. Miller, or so we thought because apparently, Mr. Miller is an alias name, and instead...well, it was never described on who that person's real name was but it was German, that's for sure. So he gets arrested for espionage and with that, the whole issue had been cleared with Alice getting her photo taken in the newspaper of her stopping a Nazi spy from committing an act. Oh yeah, and the whole Peter thing...
Apparently, the handoff that Alice saw earlier in the episode from her window when she thought that he was the spy...false alarm. It seems that the handoff wasn't classified stuff like a weapon or something to pose a threat to the shipyard, and instead, it was a box that contained a wedding ring, and was about to ask his girlfriend to marry him at the shipyard. Other than that, everything has been settled. Miller had been arrested. And things finally come to an end with the story regarding the radio that held a Nazi spy to the ground before the authorities arrive. And everything is going well for everyone...until a few months later in 1941 and you already know the rest after this.
But other than that, the story comes to a close and the family decides to keep the radio. I mean, predictable to some that the radio will not be thrown away after a rollercoaster of a story that was Alice stopping a Nazi from doing Nazi things. Because the radio served as the item that stopped a spy from doing bad things and uh...yeah, quite an episode that was with the story. All this to keep the radio from being thrown away or sell it to a pawn shop to get a few extra bucks, but the radio stays and back into the closet it goes. Would’ve kept the newspaper image of her to show her face to the family. Or at least a scrapbook with the image. Hopefully, we can get more of that in the distant future. Other than that, the radio stays and everything else will be thrown out to close out the episode.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? This was a rollercoaster of an episode. The lore was there when knowing more about Bob’s side of the family, about Lily and her family. But also the suspense and anxiety that was there by the fourth act of the episode with the reveal of who the German spy is and Jesus Christ, what an episode.
I have seen some comments that people are torn with the episode. Mostly with Alice and how the set-up leading up to the moment the spy was revealed in the fourth act, but honestly, despite the slow set-up leading up to the final minutes of the episode, it took its time and while it had some downs and want to get the final moments, they did their time just right to build the suspense. To build the anxiety with Alice becoming paranoid after coming across a live conversation between the spy and headquarters in Berlin in an attempt to cut the supply line for the US to send aid to Britain. Again, this was months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It was nice to see more lore coming from Bob's side of the family. Especially with his mom's side, especially since coming out of the movie just last year and being introduced to Bob's grandmother Alice and his great-grandmother Gertie, even though this is mostly The Alice Show throughout the episode with her thinking that her neighbor Peter was the spy before finally realizing that it was Mr. Miller. It did give you flashbacks to the moment the killer was revealed in the movie. It sort of gave you déjà vu when watching the episode and thinking back to the movie. But I don't mind doing that. It was a slow set-up, sure. But they did spend their sweet time planting the seeds and waiting for the flowers to bloom as the episode progresses. And did they do that with care despite the few misses. But other than that, this was an insane episode to watch. The lore regarding Bob's side of the family, especially seeing Lily's early life with her mom beating a Nazi spy and the importance of the radio. The suspense leads up to the fourth act. The animation with the escape...nice. It was nice. This would be a Top 5 episode and this would be the episode that people will be talking about...but, it looks like this will be short-lived because at the time of posting the review, the plot synopsis for the season finale just came out and all the hype is being built there. So I’ll give “Radio No You Didn’t”...
A 9 out of 10. A high score, I know, but that's my opinion and now I wanna hear yours in the comments down below. No new episode this upcoming Sunday for Bob's Burgers, the week of May 7. Only The Great North will be the only game in town this upcoming weekend. We return on May 14 with the penultimate episode of the season with Linda accidentally committing a silver alert with an author of a book and the kids have to deal with a cat being stuck on top of a tree in the twenty-first episode of Season 13, "Mother Author Laser Pointer". Seriously, stop recycling the names. I get that "Radio No You Didn't" was a recycled episode title and that turned out to be class, but still.
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