Just a little heads up with a little disclaimer to kick off the review and this is regarding the ongoing Battle of the Week Voting Tournament. Especially with the semifinals currently in progress for the cartoon community, especially with both Bob’s Burgers and The Great North that...guys, whoever is reading this, stop with the spam voting. For the love of whatever deity you worship, stop with the spam voting. I get that it's the semifinals, it's the playoffs, and the trip to the Final Round is hanging in the balance. I get. Raise the stakes. But bruh, enough with the spam voting, especially when it’s the cartoon community’s turn in the spotlight. Because unless you want the character in question that is getting the spam voting treatment disqualified, cut off the crap. You can share the poll and tell a friend and/or family member, but other than that, chill. Gotta let that out of my chest.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, Linda and Bob help Gretchen with her predicament in throwing a bachelorette party for her sister and hope that things will go as planned for the night, which includes a visit at the nightclub spot Pickles as the Belcher kids spend their night by playing a round with a board game that they found in my spoilerific review of the third episode of Season 14 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “The Pickleorette”.
And in this week’s topic that is in question for this episode, we’re talking about parties. Bachelor and bachelorette parties. The kind of party where you’re celebrating your last night of freedom before going into the alter...or at a local courthouse and tying the knot in what might be the longest commitment in your life with your partner...and hopefully, it doesn’t come crashing down once the call is official. It's like with prom where it's the one night where you're going to celebrate the last moments of your school career before graduating, but unlike prom when it comes to bachelor/bachelorette parties, the main star is the person who is getting married. That person is Gretchen's sister in this week's episode. To whom exactly? That was never brought up other than the fact that Gretchen’s sister is getting married and Gretchen, with the help of Bob and Linda, has to host a party.
Now, I'm not a married man...not even in a relationship, and if I see any sex bot messages in my DMs or the comments, I'm filing a police report, let alone being a social person, those types of parties are probably wild parties because you never know what to expect and you're treating these things like it's a weekend trip in Vegas crammed into twelve hours. Hey, gotta end your last night being open with a bang, even if it's going to probably cost you an arm or a leg or possibly a trip to confinement at a police station. Compared to what we saw in this week's episode, it's more on the line of...anyone here seen the movie Magic Mike? It's sort of like that since the bachelorette party includes male dancers...by the end of the episode because the duration of the episode is mostly trying to make sure things go as planned. So might as well break this episode down piece by piec- oh yeah, and there’s a subplot with the Belcher kids playing a board game that Tina found...so there’s that. This is “The Pickleorette”.
The episode starts with, of course, breakfast time with Bob cooking and the kids getting ready to go to school for the day with Bob cooking eggs for the kids. You have Linda walking into the scene to check up on Bob because out of nowhere to start the episode, Bob is currently recovering from his surgery regarding his ass. Apparently, Bob had suffered from a hemorrhoid and had to get surgery to remove it, which the kids dubbed the hemorrhoid "Gary" and Bob's butt "Brian". But not in the way where a needle is required because that's more on the "in case things get serious" if the needle would have to be brought in to drain it. Sounds gross and don't want to imagine the procedure, and don't you dare think about googling it. That sounded gross to the point where you might need a few rounds of therapy or something to get the image out of your head. So, because of Bob's fears of needles, the option didn't go through, and decided to get rid of it right away and let nature do its course for the hemorrhoid to go away. You could say that Bob took the wuss way out of getting rid of it but it's for the best for an early detection before things get worse as time progresses like having the hemorrhoid shrink down to microscopic size and having to drain the sucker out. So, Bob's little predicament had been dealt with off-screen, and will now have to be careful what he's doing for the next few days.
As Linda deals with her own issues when she tries to make contact with Gretchen, but to no avail, no contact. Playing the silent game. So what has happened comes down to what happened that led to Gretchen being mad at Linda and it happened during her appointment at the hair salon regarding Gretchen’s lookbook. A lookbook is a kind of book, which is sort of like a magazine, but more of a collage where you have various photos of fashion, whether being clothes or hair, being put into a blank book or binder. So, sort of like a scrapbook but for fashion. A book that Gretchen worked hard on it but one little mishap, one little accident from Linda during her hair appointment caused Gretchen to be upset at her. Mostly because she didn't see the curling iron when putting the book down after reading it. The thing was on and she didn't see the thing placed when putting the lookbook down when she was gunning towards the magazines. Which ultimately led to the lookbook being badly damaged by the fire caused by the curling iron. I would say that she could remake it like a copy but Gretchen worked hard on it and who knows if any of the images from various magazines that were plastered onto the lookbook that is now cooked like it's this year's Green Bay Packers. Yeah, it's bad.
Switching over to the streets moments later with the kids making their way to school where Tina noticed a table outside of a building that had "free" labeled on the table alongside a lamp that seemed old and I guess worn out, a teddy bear, a vase, and everything else. So Tina picks up the board game and wants to play a round after school with Louise and Gene, setting up the subplot with the kids playing the game...that is pretty much going to serve as filler. So the game is called “Veterinarian”, which is about what is like and feel when visiting a veterinarian to get your pet checked up. I’m guessing the game is telling you how to become a veterinarian the same way you play the game of Operation and think that you’re an expert in performing open surgery on a patient. So, the subplot is set for the kids once Tina picks up the board game and is planning on playing it once school is done for the day, having to put it inside her bag for the whole day. And as the kids make their way to school with Tina putting the board game into her bag, off-screen, of course...
We switch over to the restaurant with Gretchen making her appearance and entering the building with Linda thinking that she’s about to go negative on her. But, because she had her nails done, that had to be put on hold with Linda telling Gretchen, trying to get to her good side over the whole incident regarding the burning of her lookbook, by telling her that food is in the house. Doesn't need to pay for anything, as well as telling her that Bob is currently recovering from hemorrhoid removal. And the look on Teddy's face, his reaction to Linda telling Gretchen is getting her plate for free, even though it's mostly Linda trying to play nice with her, but the look at Teddy’s face when hearing that little announcement. Thinking to himself when hearing that announcement, “Wait, what the fuck?!” I mean, Teddy could put it on a tab...but I doubt it because the Belchers do need the money to make ends meet. Other than that, Linda tries to play nice with Gretchen in hopes for bygones be bygones and hoping for the whole issue with the lookbook being burnt is nothing more than water under the bridge. However, Gretchen decided to come up with an offer for her to let bygones be bygones. She mentioned a bachelorette party for her sister and also brought up that Linda is friends with Nat, who is a limo driver.
Bit a callback to Season 9’s “Every Which Way But Goose” when she brought up the limo ride on her way to her sister’s wedding after being desperate to find a date to take and Linda had to volunteer to be Gretchen’s supposed date, let alone a platonic date. Gretchen brought up Nat and is in desperate need of a limo ride for her sister Jestain and has everything all panned out for the night. Eating at an oyster restaurant, eating the seafood tower that Jestain likes, and going into the nightclub Pickles for a show. They just need Nat to do Linda a favor to drive everyone around. And speaking of Nat...
♪ Return of the Nat ♪ ♪ Return of the Nat ♪ So yeah, Nat is back and this is an interesting tidbit, this is the first episode she appeared in under a different writer. Because when it comes to Nat on the show, she only appeared in an episode where it’s written by the Molyneuxs. Dating back to Nat’s debut in “V for Valentine-detta”, an episode that they wrote. So it’s interesting to see Nat appearing in an episode that isn’t written by the duo because if we’re going to be honest, Nat is pretty much their baby. And she’ll only appear if the episode is written by the Molyneuxs...not this time when Linda calls in Nat for a favor...too bad that she’s currently out of town, rather, out of the state as she is calling from Wisconsin as she’s dealing with a situation with a herd of goats that her friend bought and her friend’s neighbors were not happy with the idea of buying a herd of goats roaming around the neighborhood. And mind you, this isn’t like...a farm or a ranch, let alone an animal sanctuary or petting zoo, this is a residential neighborhood and Nat’s friend had nowhere to put the goats...and there’s a lot of goats.
So Linda called up Nat at the wrong time with her being out of town and in desperate need of a limo ride. Leading Nat to give the keys to Linda for the night. To Linda, with no experience in driving a limo other than Nat handing the keys to Linda with no expertise, not even a certified limo driver other than the rules that were given from Nat to Linda to just keep the limo clean. Other than that, Linda has secured the limo for the night and the party for Gretchen’s sister’s bachelorette party is set and ready to go...
Only for Gretchen to put a dent in the night when telling Linda that she forgot to send out the invites and because she forgot to send out the invites to Jestain’s friends, they got plans. So now, we're pretty much back at square one in the party planning aspect for the night. But leave it to Linda to make sure things will go as planned for Gretchen to please her sister and for Linda to make amends with Gretchen over the burnt lookbook for finding a driver at the last minute. By dragging Bob into the mix to be the driver and drive Nat's limo for the night. I mean, he was a part-time taxi driver back in Season 1's "Sheesh! Cab Bob?" and we have seen him driving the limo when heading back home from the animal sanctuary at the end of Season 10's "Just the Trip". So what's one more for the guy to drive around a couple of partygoers to celebrate a bachelorette party? But even with Bob taking the wheel for the night, Gretchen still needs guests for the party. Leave it to Linda once more because she decided to invite herself to the party. And also bringing Gayle into the mix. I mean, Gayle and Gretchen have some sort of a budding friendship since “Clear and Present Ginger”, so it would make sense for Gayle to be brought along to the event to celebrate Jestain’s bachelorette party. And with that, the party is set as we wrap up the first act of the episode and go into the second.
We enter the second act of the episode with the kids on the couch and both Bob and Linda all dressed up and ready to go. Linda in a party dress and Bob, having to be served as a limo driver for the night, in a suit and tie along with a hat on his head. Planning on heading out to pick up Gayle before picking up both Gretchen and Jestain for the bachelorette party to begin. The only problem is that Bob and Linda are going to be out for the whole night because of those kinds of parties, that being both bachelor and bachelorette parties, who knows what to expect and for how long, they need a babysitter. Tina would take the mantle despite out of nowhere, Lousie and Gene are not in favor of Tina babysitting them. Mostly because of the game that she found and is going to force her siblings to play, but Linda has to make a call to see if Jen is available for the night for the long term. Except for another problem that had to be thrown into the pot...
Jen is preoccupied when picking up the phone and making contact with Linda. As seen in a different location and has a schedule on deck with her babysitting the Belcher kids for next week. And for the location and what she’s doing right now for Jen to take a rain check for the night to hand the babysitting gig to Tina? Why, by having her teaching a college algebra class during the night hours at the campus. This makes you question what kind of person Jen is regarding her as a character other than being the babysitter for the long term over Tina, who would serve in the short term. Because I thought that she would be a college student and she picked up the babysitting gig to make extra money...despite the Belchers' finances or lack thereof. I mean, she has to be in her 20s. Mid-20s but thought she would be a college student at a local community college. And thought to myself when seeing her teaching a night school class that maybe she's gunning for a degree in teaching, maybe a substitute teacher at the best bet for Jen. She’s an interesting character...mostly because of her profession and who she is as a character. She is a mystery on the show and uh...hopefully, we can get some answer on her soon. Jen's out because she's busy, leaving Tina to take the mantle and for Gene and Louise...have fun. Because they and all of us are going to need it for the subplot of the episode.
Bob and Linda picked Gayle up from her house and wearing an unusual outfit for her invitation to the bachelorette party. Wearing an outfit that seems like something coming out from the Renaissance...because it is her Renaissance dress that she addressed that also served as her sleepwear. So, nothing weird about that. But, just as the Belchers and Gayle make their way to Gretchen's apartment, Gretchen messages Linda through text that she can't let Jestain know that Bob is Linda’s husband who is driving the limo as if they can’t let her sister know that Bob is doing Linda a favor, who is doing Gretchen a favor that they have no limo driver because the limo driver originally, that being Nat, is out of town. Leading Linda, and I guess Gayle, to tell Bob to get into character once they arrived at Gretchen’s apartment.
In which Bob has to agree and going into the next scene with Bob, in character with the accent and pretending that he’s not Linda’s husband or doing anything at the behest of Linda, who is doing it at the behest of Gretchen, once Gretchen, Jestain (voiced by Rachel Dratch, I mean, the voice gave it away on who is voicing her), and apparently, a plus one on the guest list in the form of Gretchen and Jestain’s third-grade teacher Ms. Baker, who apparently gave out stickers like they're candy. So Jestain is currently having the night of her life even though the bachelorette party has just begun. Talking to everyone about her and Gretchen and the last time they partied hard when mentioning the "tea party." According to Jestain, a “tea party” is a term where you have three dancers, primarily male dancers, having an actual tea party. It contains three dancers who are considered the best Pickles has to offer, named Throb, Rocket, and Steve. And the tea party...well, it’s them having an actual tea party, so, they have to get into character like it’s something coming out of the WWE, just without the wrestling, before the main event kicks in once the music starts and uh...I’ve never seen Magic Mike, but uh...it’s sort of like that. I’m not a party person but that is what the direction went when Jestain talked about the "tea party" and hope to see it for her special night. It pretty much comes down to Gretchen, and also Linda praying for the night to go right. Even if it means screaming right out of the window and yelling into the air, not knowing that they stopped at a red light and a kid was minding his business, eating his sandwich. Yeah, I dunno if the kid next to the limo is going to ask his parents about what he just witnessed while being on the road.
Back home in the living room with what might as well be the longest night in the kids' lives as Tina, Gene, and Louise begin to play a round of Veterinarian as if they have no other choice. I mean, not even Louise, whoever is the babysitter in charge, whether it’s Tina or Jen, can slither her and Gene out of this situation. We used to be a proper country and she can’t even bypass to get her and Gene out of this mess? They could’ve and they would’ve but noooo...the script says they have to stick around like pigs in the mud. The kids play a round of the game with Gene going first to spin the spinner, giving him a four, and gets a procedure card with a $150 reward...with Monopoly money. I mean, it’s freaking Monopoly money that we’re seeing here. Tina takes the next turn where she spins a six and this is where the long night begins for the Belcher kids because of Tina’s misfortunes with her landing at a spot where she loses two turns and has to give away her $200. Yeah, thing isn't looking good for Tina when playing the game. You could say that it's Tina being Tina with her series of misfortunes and that seems to be right for the course since this is Tina we're talking about here, but...as the subplot progresses...yeah, this almost feels like the episode is painting Tina to be a bit of a sore loser. Almost getting some election-denier vibes here from her. As for Louise...well, we didn't get something from her since we had to switch over back to the adults, but if I were a guessing man...a better result than Tina. Speaking of the adults...
We switch back to them as we’re nearing the end of the first half of the episode with Bob taking the drivers to the direction where Pickles is at for the bachelorette party to truly begin. Right by where the next light is ahead...except for one little problem, boy, this episode just loves to throw dents onto everyone's plans, the problem for everyone on their way to Pickles...
The place is being fumigated for the night. Way to pick a night to call in an exterminator and have the gas that is being used to deal with an infestation of bugs right as the guest of honor is celebrating their bachelorette party. Talk about bad timing to host a bachelorette party without checking what is going on for the night that was set for the event. So, the Pickles plan for later in the night has been dented due to the place being fumigated and shut its doors for the night. This caused concerns for both Linda and later Gretchen when they found out that Pickles was closed for the night due to the place being fumigated. So for now...
It's a visit to the seafood restaurant, which is the first item on the list for the bachelorette party. Everyone makes their way into the restaurant, everyone but Gretchen, who Bob and Linda have to tell her that Pickles is closed due to the place being fumigated. Putting Gretchen (and Linda from Gretchen) in a very tight spot because she thought that the night would not have any problems to please her little sister for her upcoming wedding, other than her accidentally not sending out the invitations to Jestain’s friends, but now that she hears that Pickles is closed for the night, which is the last thing that she needed to hear, it’s not great for Gretchen to please Jestain. And it’s also not great for Linda, who is trying to get to Gretchen’s good side after accidentally damaging her lookbook. But that’s not going to stop Linda from making sure that the night will go as planned and making sure that Jestain will have the night of her life by doing a little improvising. A Plan B at a short amount of time to cook up to make sure the night isn't a total loss. She brought up Jen's hot cousin Dave, who is a dancer at Pickles, to help bail them out in this little predicament, and as for now, while Bob begins to make the call because he got to stay put without anyone noticing, Linda and Gretchen, after Linda’s little speech to commit to make sure Jestain will get the bachelorette party she deserves, will have to improvise as they join Jestain, Gayle, and Ms. Baker at the dinner table to close the first half of the episode.
We enter the second half of the episode as we check up on the Belcher kids with their game and uh...the environment is not looking great for the kids. Louise and Gene are already getting a winning streak with them collecting the most bucks as if they’re already experts with the board game. Tina on the other hand keeps on landing at bad spots and losing money and turns. Tina...I know the misfortunes are there and...I guess that's her character in a nutshell throughout the past fourteen seasons of the show, but this subplot in this week's episode might be making her look bad. I mean, look at Gene and Louise's expression, they don't want to do this. They really don't want to play the game as if they knew what kind of Tina they would be getting once she picked up the board game earlier in the episode. Louise tells Tina that it's getting a little late and both she and Gene need to go to sleep but Tina won't budge because the episode is slowly painting her as a potential sore loser because she sucks at the game that she found earlier in the day. I would say take the Moon Tobin approach, meaning that she would mess around and take some items to make sure she'll Mickey Mouse her way to a win, but knowing Tina, she won't do that and wants to play fair, which is fine. But...you're getting to the point where you're starting to act like a five-year-old who throws a tantrum after losing a game as if you think that the universe is rigging against you...so, pretty much today's Republican Party.
We switch over to the seafood restaurant and at least for the moment, the bachelorette party tour of the town seems to be going well, for now, with everyone except for Linda and Gretchen finishing up their food. Though Gayle...is the type of person who likes to collect shrimp tails. She asked the waiter if it was okay to collect them with the waiter telling her that the shrimp tails are for her to keep. Hell, she even asked Ms. Baker, who finished with her plate, to fork over her shrimp tails. Weird thing to have as a...well, a “hobby” to collect shrimp tails the same thing you would have an empty jar and were to collect frigging toenails. Oh yeah, and Ms. Baker brought out the stickers with Gayle asking for one before deciding to give everyone a piece as Jestain asks everyone if they’re up for another round of drinking, though Linda and Gretchen have yet to finish theirs. Mostly because they have to make sure that things go as planned to create an alternative to Pickles.
As seen in the next scene outside of the restaurant going in and out of the limo for Bob when trying to make contact with the three dancers that Jestain mentioned earlier in the night through Jen’s hot cousin Dave but it looks like things...might not be going in the party's way because they have plans and not because it has something to do with Pickles being fumigated...well, sort of, but it's mostly because of scheduling. But more on them having plans for the night while Bob was on the phone...the hemorrhoid decided to come back to bite him in the ass. It's as if it has never gone away. Throb, Steve, and Rocket that Bob trying to make contact to drop what they're doing, planning-wise, with Throb, whose real name is Terry because there's more than one Throb in the nightclub roster, is visiting his father at a nursing home. Rocket has plans to celebrate his son's birthday. And for Steve...well, no contact. All Bob can do is to leave a voice mail just as the women make their way out of the restaurant with Jestain, Gayle, and Ms. Baker feeling a bit tipsy with Ms. Baker, a third-grade teacher, I don't know if she's retired or not, feeling most tipsy the most since she had a lot of Mai tais before entering the limo.
Jestain, Gayle, and Ms. Baker make their way back into the limo with Bob telling both Linda and Gretchen that the party may have been hit with a road bump once more with the three dancers that Jestain mentioned earlier in the night are busy. Two of which have plans while the other is unable to make contact and has to leave a voicemail. So, we're still at square one with the improvising game because there’s no place to host the dance show and now with no dancers available, a lot of pressure is continuing to mound onto the trio. I mean, it’s not like we’re expecting Bob to perform a strip show. He did it once for Linda but that was when they were doing that Valentine’s Day advent calendar and Bob is currently “recovering” from suffering through a hemorrhoid. And they still need a place to host the party. And they might as well hurry because the three women inside the limo, feeling the effects of drinking too many Mai tais, not wanting to play the waiting game any longer and now leaning their focus towards the strippers that they want to see. Knowing that it's the end of the third act and going into the fourth...you'd think by now, the truth bomb would've come out as per usual on this show...apparently, that's not the case this time around. That’s more on the fourth act of the episode, which we’ll get to...now. Seriously, this is getting some real “An Incon-wheelie-ent Truth” vibes coming from this episode with the lying.
Oh yeah, and the change of location for where the dance party will be held will be at the restaurant. Yeah, at the restaurant. Bob’s restaurant...where the kids are upstairs minding their business. So the restaurant is the new place where the party is going to be held after seeing that Pickles is closed for fumigation with Linda having to lie to the partygoers about the location by pretending the restaurant isn’t a burger place and instead, it’s a secret location as if they have to treat it like it’s an exclusive private club. Though Gayle...Gayle, Gayle, Gayle, almost giving away the truth to the partygoers when the limo parked in front of the restaurant. And if it weren't for Linda to tell her quietly to keep her mouth shut, the night would've ended in disaster because of Gayle's big mouth. Then again, she did end the lie parade back in "An Incon-wheelie-ent Truth" by telling the Belcher kids about what happened with the Wheelie Mammoth after finding out what happened with her pet fish when she was a kid. But for once, Linda had to make sure that Gayle's mouth was shut in hopes for Jestain to have a night of her life. Even though the lies aren't going to last long once we get into the restaurant.
So, we check back with the kids with both Louise and Gene wanting to go straight to bed. I mean, Louise could've at least had her and Gene slither their way out of this mess but they pretty much can't. Would say that Louise could do something like what we have seen in the olden days like her creating a lie to get out of a situation like this one or...hell, she and Gene could just throw away the game and give Tina a win for once because the episode is painting her to be a sore loser as if she's holding Louise and Gene hostage until the game is finished and someone (possibly Tina) to win the game. Kinda wish we had that Louise back but that Louise died as the series progressed. Might as well turn the subplot into some sort of hostage situation because Tina is really holding everyone in place because the episode had to paint her as a sore loser because she keeps on landing on spots where she is losing money and turns like she's a business that was heavily relying on cryptocurrency before it came crashing down in a roller coaster to whatever level of Hell it landed. Just as the game from hell continues to go on...
Linda arrives back to the building with her trying to get some stuff from her and Bob’s room to create a private nightclub for Jestain’s bachelorette party, being a couple of blankets and a revolving disco ball for the event while trying to play koi with the kids to make sure that they don't go intrude the upcoming party at the restaurant. But you and Bob moved the party to the restaurant downstairs. The kids are upstairs and they can hear the commotion downstairs, they're going to intervene regardless. Especially when you're talking about a bachelorette party...turning the restaurant into a private nightclub...attempting to bring in male dancers...with Tina babysitting both Louise and Gene for the night? Of course, Tina is going to postpone the game and ultimately declare it a no-contest, because you have at male dancers and have to drag both Gene and Louise along for the ride, not to go into the door at the front because they'll be covered with the sheets for the revolving light to be plugged in. Though, they would at least go to the back, go down the fire escape, and make their way to the back of the restaurant...though, the door would be locked and Tina would have to tell Louise to pick the locks. But I guess going down the crawl space and seeing it through the vent at the restaurant works too I guess.
Going downstairs into the restaurant with the kids getting a front-row seat to the party...or a front-row seat to a therapy session with Gretchen, right off the bat, to tell Jestain the truth that the night of her bachelorette party didn’t go as planned as what she would expect she would want. Bob pretending to be a limo driver, asking Linda for favors, Pickles being fumigated to the point where the place where the party should be held would be moved to the restaurant...all Gretchen wants to do for the night is for her to be the best sister she can have. She's not doing it for a position like a bridesmaid, she pretty sure that spot had already been taken by any one of her friends, Linda tries to console Gretchen, but she gets called out because she thinks she's a better older sister to Gayle...though Gayle disagrees and Linda somewhat agrees because she's not perfect but she did her best. Though Gayle had to bring up the moment with the thought Linda was going after "her husband", even though...bitch, that was all you going onto Bob because he was high on anesthesia after his dental surgery, mistaken her with Linda, a callback to Season 2’s “Dr. Yap”. So, way to bring that back into the conversation.
But Jestain doesn't care about what she wants for the night and how big she wants because, yes, this is her big night. She is expected to be married the next day, but still no answer on who, so strike on- no, this might be a strike two for this episode thanks in part to the subplot, but Jestain doesn't care about the party and how big and impactful she wants because Gretchen being here is all Jestain wants because that’s her sister and that’s all that matters. Causing the two to hug it out...only to last for a few seconds until Bob ends interrupting because, no surprise to everyone...
Bob lied about him recovering from having his hemorrhoid removed because he never even had it fully removed due to Bob's fears of needles that it would come down to removing it with that option in the event the thing shrinks down even further to have it drained. So he admits that he wussed out from getting the surgery because of his fear of needles and was embarrassed to admit it and embarrassed to have Linda go with him to the procedure as if he didn't want her to find out he wussed out. But Linda doesn't care because he'll be with Bob no matter what...even if it's going to be a gross procedure like draining the hemorrhoid out his out. Pretty sure no one wants to see that but Linda is pure ride-or-die for the guy and would hold his hand to deal with the surgery that he will now have to get. Though knowing America and its health care system...good luck. Alright, so the truth bomb and the therapy session comes to a close and the bachelorette party would begin, but...we don't have a pair of male dancers the same way the House doesn't have a Speaker. But unlike the House in Washington...
The dancers came into the restaurant right at the two-minute warning...well, two of the three dancers. That is Steve, one of the three dancers who was a part of the "tea party" that Jestain mentioned but Rocket and Throb are M.I.A. for the night because they have plans. So Steve has to bring his friend Smooth to the party. So, we have our dancers but we're one member short from the party to truly begin. Not Bob because he is suffering from his hemorrhoid and him doing a performance would probably make his butt feel worse to the point where he may going to have trouble sitting and a trip to the hospital in a moment's time. But at least we have a volunteer because Gretchen wants to take the mantle to be the third member of the performance. I mean...who else are you going to find at the last minute? Gretchen decides to be the third member of the performance and thus, we have a party to start off the episode. Don't know who's the winner of this episode but we know who's the loser and that goes to Tina. Landing into spots that are making her look bad and now being unable to see the performance through the vent along with Gene and Louise, whom she had to hold them hostage for while playing the game. You could say that the episode might've treated Tina dirty...that's a conversation for another time come never but yeah, the subplot and her struggling to watch the performance weren't her best moments.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? I see some people in the fandom thinking that it’s a good episode and they enjoyed it. And that’s their opinion. And here’s mine...I’m going to be in the minority and say that it’s uh...an episode. Average, possibly below average to say the least when trying to summarize my thoughts about this week’s episode.
It’s nice to see any of the characters that we haven’t seen in a while. Gretchen’s return since Season 12 with her being up and center even though this feels more in line of being a Linda episode. Gayle’s return since we didn’t have her throughout the previous season. By the way, up until Season 13, Gayle was one of the characters who appeared in every season and that streak ended last season. Nat making a comeback was a surprise and didn’t expect her to appear in an episode that isn’t written by the Molyneux sisters and even though it was for a scene through a phone call with her at another location, it was nice to see her back on the show.
And the callbacks were alright from events from past seasons, whether being Bob having to take over the limo, or calling back to him being a part-time taxi driver. Gretchen mentioned the limo ride and her sister's wedding, going back to Season 9's "Every Which Way But Goose". And also Gayle went after Bob that one time when she mentioned that moment by the end of the episode, a reference to Season 2's "Dr. Yap". So the references to past episodes were nice to have in this episode.
Other than that, the issue would be the lie game that has to be placed. I get that the bachelorette party has to be perfect and not make the night a total loss, I get that even though Jestain doesn’t care about how big the party should be as long as Gretchen is there, but I’m getting some “An Incon-wheelie-ent Truth” vibes when it comes to the lying game, both Linda and Gretchen during the party and the same would go for Bob in trying to hide his pain because of his fear of needles. But the subplot...oh God, the subplot. Filler, that’s all I have to say. Whether or not the episode may have painted Tina dirty with this episode with her picking up the board game, only for her to be bad at it and enforcing both Gene and Louise to play until a winner is decided and they have to be a sore loser as if she's starting to deny her loss. And Louise and Gene would've gotten their way out of playing the game but no, gotta have sit put because the script says so. So, the subplot...wasn’t that great.
So final thoughts, it was an average, looking at a below-average episode. Glad to see characters that we haven't seen in a while to come back to the show. The callbacks were all alright to have in this episode. The main plot had some issues with, mostly with the whole lying game but I thought it was all alright. The subplot is where I have a problem with. So I'll give "The Pickleorette”...
A 5 out of 10. So, it's the middle-of-the-road approach for this episode when it comes to the rating. But that's my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments down below. We got an episode on Sunday, and sadly, it looks like we might not be having a Halloween episode this year. Yeah...I know, it sucks. But it looks like the writing is starting to appear on the wall when going through the press releases. And no, don't blame it on the strike. These episodes were made before the strike was called. And we have a Gene episode on Sunday with him trying to go and find the perfect song he can muster by going into dream after dream in the fourth episode of Season 14, "Running Down a Gene".
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter (still not calling it X, and hell no, I ain't paying for $1/month just to stick around), Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and now, I have a BlueSky account though I have to work around with the site before things become hectic over on Twitter. So follow me on those sites for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. Match 2 of the Semifinals in the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament has already taken place between Louise Belcher (Bob's Burgers) and Ham Tobin (The Great North) for a trip to the Final Round to take on Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) in December. And as I said in the introduction, no spam voting. Don’t want to repeat myself. And y’all 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. And until the next episode, wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated and boosted, and a reminder that you are 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