We’re finally out of daylight savings time and we’re still in a debate on whether or not we should keep it because, if we’re going to be honest, we’re still divided over the idea of the usage of daylight savings. Mostly because of certain items on the list like sleep, mental health, physical health, you know, the works. Besides, if we did get rid of daylight savings, and this is a hypothetical, we would have daylight until almost 9:00 at night and sunrise at around 8:00 in the morning. I don't know. That's for y'all to decide on what to do with it as part of another installment of why is this even a thing. Oh, and Bob's Burgers, welcome back to the Final Round. The third time in eight years to make it back to the big dance with Louise Belcher as the nominee for this year. Dethroning The Great North and come December, we will have a new champion. Just have to get past the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fandom and Jolyne Cujoh to get the prize come December.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, we got an interesting episode that is presented before our eyes with the Belcher kids getting into Zeke's way and wanting to know about the guy and his past when a new kid transferred to Wagstaff. We got some Zeke lore in this week's episode and if that's not enough...we got the return of Jimmy Pesto as Bob plans on rekindling his rivalry with the guy after a three-season-long hiatus in my spoilerific review of the fifth episode of Season 14 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Bully-ieve It or Not”.
And once again, we got an episode where the side character is in the spotlight. But...it’s not in the way that we saw with “The Amazing Rudy” a few weeks ago because the Belcher kids are involved in the episode than being sidelined and have the side character taking center stage. But there is lore with a backstory on a character like Zeke being the center focus in this episode after his past decides to haunt him with the arrival of the new kid in school. But, oh boy, quite the twists and turns we’re about to encounter when it comes to Zeke and his troubles.
Just be lucky that this season is starting to get to the notion of expanding their side characters. We got that with Rudy with his episode a few weeks ago and now, we’re getting that with Zeke. But it’s with the Belcher kids being involved, so, again, it’s nothing like with “The Amazing Rudy”. But hey, as long as the show is what they're doing, some of the time, in trying to expand their side characters, I'd so go for it. Yeah, it would be too soon I guess to do another episode where the main cast is sidelined and have the side character taking over the limelight, but hey, any given Sunday.
And out of the characters that need some deep exploring, Zeke is an interesting case. And there's a lot of things that needed to be explored with the guy ever since his debut back in Season 2. Where he was from? What was his past like? Y’know, his life before moving to Seymour’s Bay and transferring to Wagstaff to where we are now? He’s an interesting, yet complicated character to understand. We didn’t get a last name in this episode, which is one of the many things that should’ve been taken care of, but I guess not. But his past, particularly when the new kid arrived at the school that caused Zeke to have himself a Vietnam flashback and that is what the episode is all about when getting something from the guy on his past when coming across with the new kid. Might as well explore the episode bit by bi- oh yeah, Jimmy Pesto is back after a three-season hiatus, gotta mention him since he’s also in the episode, bit by bit. This is “Bully-ieve It or Not”.
The episode starts, not at the Belcher household, but in the hallways at Wagstaff with Jimmy Jr and Zeke by their lockers, having a conversation. Talking about their supposed ideas of "tank bottoms", which is like a tank top but in pants form. They talk about their shared ideas and such just as they're busy with their lockers on their way to their next class. And this is where things begin to take a turn and right off the bat for Zeke because once both he and Jimmy Jr are talking and finishing up taking some stuff from their lockers...
You have Tina in her Welcome Wagon vest with her giving the tour to a new kid at the school. We got a new kid who just transferred into Wagstaff who is in Tina’s grade, talk about a tall boy because he is tall. Even taller than Jimmy Jr when it comes to the eighth graders, if not, the entire school in general regarding the height of each student. A new kid on the block and apparently, looking at Zeke’s face when seeing who the new kid is, the Vietnam flashback kicks into his psyche as if the two had some history dating back to Zeke’s childhood. Because we have a bit of a flashback with Zeke in elementary school having a confrontation with the new kid with him in the sandbox with the new guy with everyone crowding as if they were expecting a fight. The new kid, whom we were given the name Will, looked intimidated and Zeke looked like he was ready for a good fight or trying to be friendly but looking like he was about to get his clock worked. It's pretty much a Vietnam flashback for the guy when coming across with Will when Tina was showing the tour and presenting him to Jimmy Jr and Zeke, and later Louise and Gene. Like...you know that meme that is going around as of late with that soldier given that stare, the thousand-yard stare with the battlefield in the background, though people thought that it was pointing at war flashbacks, primarily the Vietnam War, even though that was during World War II...
Yeah, that is Zeke right now. That is Zeke as of this moment in the episode when coming across with Will just as Tina is giving him the tour and Will introducing himself to Jimmy Jr, Louise, and Gene. This caused him to grab what he was looking for and prepare to make his way out and leave the group hanging, though probably catch up once he reached the next class off-camera. Much to everyone's confusion and concern with Zeke having a change in attitude the moment Tina introduces Will to the group when giving him a tour of the school. And it won't be long before someone begins to notice that something is wrong with the guy and something that spooked him regarding Will. Though, we already know what the answer is that caused Zeke to be scared as if he just saw a ghost, and no, it's not a Sam Darnold joke. Halloween has just passed. And it won't be long until someone, scratch that, which pair is going to connect the dots later in the episode regarding Zeke and Will. All because of a nickname that was given to Zeke as “Pee Streak Zeke”, funny enough that this was originally going to be the name of the episode before changing it to “Bully-ieve It or Not”. Other than that, Will and Zeke knew each other in the past and it looked like Zeke’s past decided to haunt him as the episode progressed.
We switch over from the main plot at school to the subplot at the restaurant, outside of the restaurant, and for the first time in three seasons, not including the non-speaking cameo in the movie...guess who’s back? Back again? Pesto’s back. Yeah, so Jimmy Pesto is back in the series after being absent for three seasons. Not since "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy", which was the last time his old voice actor voiced the character. What happened to his old voice actor? Well...let's just say, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. This is what happened when the guy you supported decided to act like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum because he couldn't take a loss for once in his life with the temper tantrum that almost spun the country into a possible civil war. Out goes Jay Johnston, who is currently awaiting whether or not...he's guilty. He's pretty much guilty of partaking in the riots on January 6 that resulted in five people dead. Johnston got the boot and in comes Eric Bauza, which isn't his first rodeo lending his voice in the show because he was the voice of Big Bob in Season 12's "Interview with a Pop-pop-pire", filling in for Bill Hader. So, Bauza is the new voice for Pesto even though everyone, but not some, didn’t expect to have Bauza in their parlay on who will be the new voice for Jimmy Pesto. Some of the fandom when debating who’ll be the new voice of Pesto thought it would be someone like Lucky Yates. And Yates had been the heavy favorite before this episode to be the new voice, especially with Archer wrapping up. So uh, welcome to the show, Eric Bauza, even though this is the second character on the show you’re voicing. This means that we'll be getting more Jimmy Pesto in the future...still waiting for my boy to return. Come on, show!
Jimmy’s back after three seasons and as usual with him, he pokes fun at Bob with the way he sweeps outside of the restaurant. So, the usual when it comes to Jimmy Pesto, no matter who is voicing him, yeah, it’s almost quite clear that I for once didn’t really care for Pesto. I mean, aside from episodes like “Prank You For Being a Friend”, “Yachty or Nice”, and a portion of “Romancing the Beef” where he had his sane moments. Mind you, that was 2020-21. Nothing made sense that year. Jimmy makes his way across the street and sees the burger of the day on the wall through the window and sees “the burger ball pit” written on the chalkboard. Which is something that Bob is somewhat experimenting with the burger meat turning into meatballs instead of a simple burger patty. So basically, he’s making a meatball burger. Would grab the marinara sauce and have yourself a meatball sandwich, but instead, you replace it with cheese to hold it. So, you’re probably wondering...how is that a subplot? How does that tie in with Jimmy Pesto’s return? This is where the next scene in the subplot comes into play because it looks like we might be borrowing the playbook from a few seasons ago.
Going back to the main plot at school during recess with the conversation of tank bottoms going on with Jimmy Jr and Zeke but Zeke seems to be distracted when looking at Tina and Will playing a game of tetherball. And not in the way some people in the fandom would see it that way, but it's more of Zeke's past haunting him when looking at the two over at the tetherball court and Will glaring at Zeke, sort of like a death glare as if he is about to do something to him and expect it to be shown live on national television. This causes Zeke to walk away from the conversation and make his way back into the building, causing Jimmy Jr to feel concerned about Zeke's well-being after seeing Will each time they're in each other's vicinity. So, Jimmy Jr. feels concerned for Zeke whenever he sees Will around the school when being given the tour by Tina but is unclear on what is going on with him. And it didn't take long for both Louise and Gene to see what happened from the playground when they saw Zeke running back to the building. Causing the two to intervene on what is going on with the guy. Because something is causing Zeke to make him feel scared of Will and as the script says, the Belcher kids, primarily Louise and Gene, will have to step in. I mean, it is Zeke after all. This is their friend we’re talking about. And knowing the Belchers, you mess with one of them, either the siblings or their friends, you’re messing with all of them. They ain’t going to let it slide...oh, if only they only know the truth, but that’s later in the episode.
We go back to the subplot and no surprise there; Jimmy Pesto ends up stealing Bob's idea of using meatballs and uses the opportunity to use it on himself. And Bob was not having it when he saw the chalkboard being placed outside of the restaurant serving the thing that Bob was selling but turns it into his creation. And if it doesn't sound too familiar when it comes to the subplot, well...it does sound familiar. Because we have seen that shit back in Season 6 with "Bye Bye Boo Boo” with the whole thing with the plaque. So, a brief history lesson, back in Season 6’s “Bye Bye Boo Boo”, there was a historian that came into the restaurant and noticed one of the booths in the restaurant being the booth where a mobster was shot and got sent to the lobby during the height of prohibition and the rise of gangs and just as the Belchers were about to get the historical marker, Jimmy Pesto took the idea and created his own historical fact onto his own business. Was about to expose Pesto that the thing didn't happen over there, but ends up letting him enjoy his cake. He was about to expose his ass and he brought the historian with him for fact-checking. Oh yeah, it's like that all over again with this week's episode with the ball pit idea. Gotta bring Jimmy Pesto out of the waiting room after three seasons without a voice actor, only to take the playbook from one episode from Season 6 into this episode. As if we can’t think of something original for once in this subplot.
And by the way, by the way, the word “rekindle” on the synopsis...do you know what the word means? Yeah, it means bring back. Revive. Relight. But last I checked, Bob and Jimmy’s rivalry didn’t even go away. Y’all acting as if he got sent packing to freaking Cancun for the three seasons he was gone with the exception of the small part in the movie. I mean, they only brought the word into the conversation with the synopsis telling the viewer that Pesto is coming back after being gone for almost three years. That's the only way they would tell anyone that he is set to make a comeback other than a tweet from Loren earlier this year. So yeah, it's the subplot to “Bye Bye Boo Boo" all over again with Bob having his shining moment, only for Jimmy to end up swooping that and making it his own. And if that's not enough, we got Teddy wanting a simple cheeseburger instead of trying out the meatball pit. As if that's the last thing Bob wanted to hear after seeing that Jimmy has stolen his idea.
We go back to the main plot as we prepare to close off the first act of the episode and go into the second with the kids going towards the cafeteria for lunch with Louise and Gene making their way to the cafeteria. Mostly with Gene being excited that it's ravioli day and knowing Gene, he's a boy of hunger as if he got the hunger of a Saiyan. So, just as both Gene and Louise are about to enter the cafeteria, the drama with Zeke continues with him now planning on bailing from joining Jimmy Jr and the others from eating at the cafeteria and instead, wanting to eat at the library, even though eating at the library is pretty much a no-go. But that's not going to stop Zeke from going to the library because Will is most likely going to be at the cafeteria with Tina showing him the ropes. It's now getting to the point where Louise puts two and two together and comes out to say that Zeke is afraid of Will because she believes that Will bullied Zeke in the past (or so we thought) and the nickname "Pee Streak Zeke" was a haunting nickname. So Louise and Gene noticed that Zeke was bullied by Will in the past and they want to help give Zeke some justice, getting back at the guy as we close out the first act of the episode.
And it didn't take much for Jimmy Jr to tag in as well as we entered the second act of the episode. And Jimmy Jr would make the most sense to tag along because that is his best friend we're talking about. And finding out that someone who he can rock with was bullied in the past and the fact that his "bully" transferred to Wagstaff, you know that he can't sit around and do nothing. He has to step up. That's his homeboy we're talking about. That is one hand where he wants to stand up for Zeke, but on the other hand, what Louise is planning on doing to Will when coming up with a plan to get back at him would make things worse for Zeke. The retaliation might backfire and you know the saying, "If you mess with the bull, you'll get the horns." You intimidate the bully to protect the bullied, the bullied is going to be messed with even more. Especially when hearing Louise's plan to get back at Will by having Gene squirt a portion of apple juice onto Will's crotch, thinking that he peed himself, and have the whole crowd reacting to the supposed incident. Why apple juice? Let's be real, apple juice looks like pee. I'm not kidding, apple juice looks like freaking pee. It looks like freaking pee. And what do you think is going to happen if the plan goes without any issue? Brush it off and learn the errors of his way? Because that’s what Louise would imagine if the plan goes into place. Whether or not it’ll actually be in reality, we’ll have to wait and see.
We check back at the restaurant and as if things are not going great for Bob after having his idea stolen by Jimmy Pesto...guess again. Because once Bob gives Teddy his cheeseburger for him to consume over the meatball pit...it's a meatball sandwich if we're going to be honest. A meatball sandwich without the marinara but still. Bob isn’t pleased with the sight that his idea got stolen by Jimmy Pesto and now, he's seeing a long line forming outside of the restaurant. Thinking to himself that it could've been his place that had the public's attention. And you know the reason why Jimmy had to steal Bob's idea, and I forgot to mention it earlier in the review, is that his business is going through the gutters. And it’s not because he was gone for three fucking seasons because his old voice actor is likely going to prison, but it's because there were some issues with the place. Having to deal with a pack of rats, and the place being covered by roaches, it's not a good look that would scare off a few customers. Otherwise, his business would've been shut the place down by the health department. And you've seen those restaurant report card segments on your local news...they mean business when it comes to inspecting the place. Which I feel like that should've been the decent subplot to go with than what we got. But at least we got a Mort sighting when coming into the restaurant, Bob's place, not Jimmy's, when noticing the long line outside of Pesto's, with him trying to be supportive when seeing the meatball sandwich on the board, though try to read the room for once when coming in, man.
We go back to the cafeteria as we’re nearing the end of the first half of the episode with the Belcher kids and Jimmy Jr sitting at the table as they wait for Tina and Will to join them. We have Rudy coming into the picture. It’s like the fourth time in five episodes this season we got the guy appearing. He joins the Belchers and Jimmy Jr as they wait for Tina and Will to come out of the lunch line and just as they’re waiting for the plan to go into action, Zeke enters the cafeteria and joins everyone at the table. Jimmy Jr asked Zeke why he didn't go to the library as he was originally going to for his lunch break but got caught by Mr. Frond. He tried to create an alibi by thinking he was reading a cookbook, but he didn't buy it and got sent to the cafeteria. I mean, it's not like Zeke was planning to perform some sort of hunger strike or some shit. But it looks like Zeke might've come in at what might be the wrong possible timing because coming from the horse's mouth, that being Jimmy Jr, that he, Louise, and Gene are set to get back at Will for the torment he laid out at Zeke that caused him to step away each time the two boys' path decide to cross and causing Zeke to be spooked. So it looks like the three are locked on getting back at Will...except that Zeke thinks that it's a horrible idea. Not because it would make matters worse between him and Will, but...oh boy, we have ourselves a twist coming.
And it’s right as both Tina and Will join everyone at the table that Louise is about to get the green light on the plan to go into action and have Gene to weaponize his juice box towards Will’s crotch. Only for Zeke to attempt to deflect the box away from Will from under the table to make sure the juice doesn’t land on him. And much like a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico, the juice has to hit someone. And looking at the direction...Will’s in the splash zone. But looking at the screenshot here, Zeke is in the splash zone as well since he’s the one who is trying to deflect the juice away from Will. Though not wide enough to reach either Tina or Jimmy Jr, so they’re safe from the blast. Louise tries to distract Will from noticing that Gene is about to squirt a portion of his juice onto Will, not knowing that Zeke is trying to deflect it away from him. And once the juice was squirted, it didn't land on Will, and instead...
It landed on Zeke instead. And this is where the twist comes into play once we have a little confrontation between Will and Louise over the whole issue and the accusation that Will bullied Zeke back in the third grade and told him that he should pick someone his own size, knowing that he is a tall guy. And yeah, this is where the plot twist comes in when Zeke steps up to the plate to break the confrontation between Louise and Will by telling everyone that Will didn't bully him back in the day, and instead...it's the opposite. Zeke was the bully who tormented Will and made his life a living hell. So much for the accusations towards Will that he was the bully and Zeke being the bullied, I mean, just look at the guy. Him being tall, giving everyone the "don't fuck with me" look, and having some girls swoon like he's freaking Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. However, not the time to attempt to fall for the guy, Tina. Ending the second act of the episode with the mishap and the twist that made Zeke and Will switch positions on who's the bully and who's the bullied. And when we get to the third act of the episode to start the second half of the episode, we finally get some backstory with Zeke and the issue that came with it when it comes to him and Will leading up to this exact moment.
So...if y’all remember in “Broadcast Wagstaff School News”, going all the way back to Season 3 when Zeke revealed himself to be the “Mad Pooper” after a few accidents, a few times he did it for fun, and the one where he was helping Tina to get a story, he stated that it was in a result of him and his family moving around a lot. Having to switch locations. House after house. School after school that he can't even land a proper education. Let alone a proper friendship. So, there's that. But there is one line that caught me off guard and it didn't take long until the release of this week's episode where I saw a post on Tumblr when bringing up "Sit Me Baby, One More Time" when confronting Kendra, the little girl who Tina and Tammy had to babysit who was a serial crotch kicker, hiding in the treehouse with Tina telling everyone that Kendra had some disciplinary issues regarding the crotch kicking issue because she was the new kid and had trouble making friends and could fall into the wrong crowd with Zeke saying that, and he quotes, "I've been there. It's hard to make friends". And this is where the backstory comes into fruition regarding Zeke and his past leading up to the confrontation between him and Will.
We all know that Zeke and his family move around a lot and the flashback shows him being presented in different classes in different schools. And this isn’t like a every semester because there’s an issue with the family or Zeke in general, though his family life feels like that's something we need to bring up in a future episode, I mean, he's probably from a divorced family since he mentioned having a stepmom, so whether or not the divorce may have an affect on Zeke that caused him to have some problems in the behavioral side of things, so we’ll put that in the “maybe” box when it comes to Zeke. Again, he’s an interesting, yet complicated character to talk about. So Zeke, when it comes to his school career, especially in elementary school, because of his family moving around a lot, whether if it's complications of some family troubles, unable to pay rent, or losing a job, affects his education. Mostly with him having to switch school in almost a semester to almost an entire school year like he's an athlete who can only be signed for a one-year contract, just to save cost to not go over the cap space. Zeke in his elementary school days was nothing more than a rental student because his family kept on moving from location to location as if he was on witness protection that he couldn't get a proper education, I mean, he probably did, but when it comes to the friend department...unable to find his people. Unable to make a single friend. So when he was transferred to Rocky Creek Elementary, which was the school he was transferred and it happened to be the school that Will went, unable to make a single friend and this was the latest he had to attend school before going to Wagstaff later in his life. And as if moving schools and being unable to make a single friend isn’t enough for the guy...
He has some behavioral problems. Mostly with him putting random people in a headlock or trying out different wrestling moves whenever someone crosses his way. Like, the guy can’t help it. And if you think that him having to roughhouse anyone in his way, especially towards Jimmy Jr is mostly because of...well, comes down to a few things...mostly him watching way too many wrestling matches, especially at a young age. You’d thought that it was more of him picking things up once he reached middle school...nay, nay, this was when he was at a very young age. In his third-grade year. Not picking fights, he just loves to roughhouse that you could say that it's a bit of an addiction. And that addiction resulted in some kids who were trapped pissing themselves when being unable to escape and came dangerously close to being choked to death. As if their bladders can't freaking hold it when being put in a headlock or whatever wrestling move because I've never seen a single wrestling match. Of course...
That move on that one kid resulted in him picking up a few people that he thought he finally found his group. His people, but not the type of people who would be rocking with. Case in point, you could say they’re probably using him for their amusement because of that one altercation with Zeke and that random kid that made him piss himself. And if you take a look at Zeke before those three boys spotted him, you could probably tell that he sort of feels bad for the guy. He didn't even notice that putting him in a headlock would result in him being the butt of the school, just for him to piss himself in front of the school. So, once Zeke became a part of this bad batch of characters, the torment of the different students continued across the playground and across the school. If you say that it's peer pressure at its finest because the guy hasn't even made a single friend? You would be correct, because that is pure peer pressure because when he saw the guy who he recently put in a headlock, you could sense that he felt bad for the guy when looking at the look on his face, but once those three kids who got a front row seat, they walk up to Zeke and ask him to join their group, but in the result, they would have him to continue what he was doing in making the kids' lives a living hell. Case in point whenever those three with Zeke in tow come across a random kid for no fucking reason...
Getting a front-row seat to the action and watch Zeke torment any random kid they come across in the playground as if he's the Grim Reaper. Regardless of peer pressure and hanging out with the wrong crowd, as well as the consequences that came with his actions, Zeke was a menace in the playground. He was a menace when trying to go after random kids in the playground to roughhouse, much to those three random kids' amusement. And regardless of what just happened in the playground, you could say that Zeke almost got that black air force energy with no remorse whatsoever. Key word, “almost.”
When we get to his confrontation with Will, putting him in a headlock, and you already know where this is heading with him. Will being unable to escape the headlock and once he got out of the headlock, he ends up pissing himself, and boy, if you think that the peeing issue was the thing that caused Zeke to feel bad after coming across with Will earlier in the day once more, buddy...there's more than just the headlock to pee issue, but that's later in the episode. I mean, Zeke making fun of Will after letting him go from the headlock for a brief second pretty much tells you that there's more to that story, which we'll find out later in the episode. But for now, as we get back to the present after Tina took Will to clean himself up from the mess from the remaining portions of Gene's juice onto his shirt before coming back and uh...had that little moment of confrontation, the universe decided to be a pesky little fella because with Will transferred to Wagstaff and everyone hearing about Zeke’s past and how he used to torment everyone, including Will, back in the day, Zeke now has an opportunity to make amends with Will for what happened. He got to apologize to the guy for what happened back in the third grade and he has to mean it, but not right now, he has to save it for once the final bell rings. And Jimmy Jr will have to make sure that Zeke doesn’t run away from Will after telling his backstory to everyone about how he made Will’s day a living hell over what happened in elementary school.
We go back to the subplot and yeah, Bob isn’t taking any crap any longer with him just sitting there in the sidelines while Jimmy Pesto is getting all of the customers because of his idea being used that he stole from Bob earlier in the episode. Especially now that the paper is getting involved in the frenzy to interview Pesto as if he were the originator, causing Bob to take matters into his own hands once he walks across the street and enters Jimmy's restaurant. But not before getting some banter between Teddy and Mort once Bob storms out of his restaurant and goes across the street. I mean, the guy just wanted his soup and you have Teddy yelling at the guy for no fucking reason. Let the guy have his soup. Bob makes his way to Pesto's and notices a reporter interviewing Pesto and is about to expose the guy for stealing his idea, only for Jimmy Pesto to tell Bob to shut it because he needs this. He needed a rebound after having to deal with some issues that he had to deal with his restaurant, but Bob wasn't too pleased because it was his idea and Jimmy shouldn't have ripped it away from him. I mean, he could've at least sued the guy, but knowing Bob's luck...it's a lose-lose for him. Jimmy takes the interview to a private location, so basically, the inside of the kitchen, leaving Bob at a standstill as he awaits for the interview to be wrapped up. Sitting at the booth with Trev coming in to ask Bob for some water, which he ends up taking it, only to be slapped for a $7 price before fucking over with the guy and taking it on the house...since it's free and you can't charge water. Oh Trev, as soon as Jimmy makes his return, you have to follow along to come out of the waiting room. You know you can just have Trev in a random episode, doesn’t have to be a massive role, just have him there without having Jimmy involved. Hey, it worked for Jocelyn without Tammy, Hugo or Ron without the latter, or even Zeke or Jimmy Jr without the latter as well. Speaking of which...
Going to the end of the third act and preparing to enter the fourth with the hour of reckoning finally arriving with everyone leaving Wagstaff for the day with Jimmy Jr, Louise, and Gene have Zeke ready for his apology to Will once Tina is wrapping up giving him the tour. And Zeke can't run away from his demons, he has to tackle it. And Jimmy Jr, and also Louise and Gene, will make sure he doesn't weasel his way out of this. And they'll make sure he'll apologize and hope that what happened in the past...well, is in the past. But knowing internet culture, what happened in the past, get the fuck out of the public sight. Though Jimmy Jr did put out that line when confronting Zeke to do the apology tour with Will by saying that he once told Andy and Ollie that they were one of them, not one and the same, but more of the way of messing with them by saying that line as if he was trying to say that one of them was biological and the other possibly adopted. It wasn't Jimmy Jr's proudest moment when saying to the twins, well, other than the whole thing regarding Tina, but that's not the point. Everyone has moments that they're not proud of. And what Zeke did to Will wasn't his. Speaking of Will, once he and Tina leave the building, thus ending the tour, which...knowing that Will’s the new boy, and knowing that Tina is part of the Welcome Wagon, and being boy crazy...yeah, I would not be surprised if Tina had some affection towards Will because he’s a guy. The apology tour begins for Zeke to Will once both he and Tina meet up with everyone and this is where the next round of twists comes into play once we get to the fourth act of the episode. Zeke, at the behest of everyone, apologizes to Will for what happened and uh...apparently, the apology is not accepted because it looks like the pee thing wasn't the issue while being trapped in a headlock. That's just one of the many things that made Will's day a living hell...or so we thought.
Zeke never made Will piss himself. Yes, Zeke did put him in a headlock, but Will's bladder didn't betray him enough to cause him to piss his pants because of Zeke's actions when being put in a headlock as if he was gasping for his life. So, the apology was not accepted by Will because the pee thing wasn't the issue that he was at Zeke and for him have gone through mad PTSD for his actions. Zeke tries to distract Jimmy Jr to get out before the tactical truth bomb is set to explode by Will over what really happened that day but it was too late, everyone heard it. So if it wasn't the pee issue that made Will mad and Zeke feel like shit, then what's the real issue? And this is where the truth bomb explodes coming from Will's mouth because according to him, the pee thing wasn't the main issue by Zeke that made his day a living hell. And instead, get ready for this y'all, remember that brief little scene from the backstory that Zeke told with him making faces towards Will? Yeah, those faces that Zeke made...he was making fun of the way he does. The way he speaks. Poking fun at the man's speech impediment.
EMOTIONAL DAMAGE. Oh my god...Zeke...Zeke, Zeke, Zeke...what the fuck?! As if you feel bad for what happened and I get that you succumb to peer pressure because it's tough being the new kid and having to keep switching schools on a daily basis...poking fun at someone's disability...what the fuck?! I get that it was a different time but...no, seriously, what the fuck?! Everyone is in shock over what Zeke did that is pretty much a cancelable offense just for him making fun of his lisp, his speech impediment. Not because of the pee thing that didn't even happen, it's because of the way he speaks. So, let's trace some steps to the whole truth about what happened that day.
Yes, Zeke did get Will in a headlock. No, Will didn't pee himself. Yes, Zeke did poke fun at the way he spoke when trying to tell him to let go of him. The lisp came in during the third grade and of course, it was during the incident when trying to tell Zeke to let him go, replacing the "s" in his sentences with "th", causing Zeke to poke fun at him over the way he speaks. In fact, everyone who saw the incident pokes fun at him for the way he speaks. It’s mostly the three kids who Zeke hung out with, i.e. the bad batch of characters, i.e. the Larry, Curly, and Moe of assholes, seeing Zeke head locking Will, only for Will to narrowly escaped and ends up running off to the building after seeing him poking fun at the way he talked, causing him to run to the bathroom and cry in shame. And to make things worse for the guy, you have a couple of kids, unclear if it's those three that were around with Zeke, entering the bathroom and even though Will was embarrassed with the fact that he was made fun of the way he talked, he did found some positives when trying to fool the kids outside of the stalls by thinking that he was taking a dump to hide the sounds of crying. So, at least Will got out of his situation settled, but is never going to forget what happened because what happened on that day has been drilled into his mind for a while until the day we were transferred and came across Zeke once more. So, everyone decided to feel sympathetic towards Will for what happened and pointed out their disappointment and frustration towards Zeke.
Especially Jimmy Jr, who was distraught over hearing what happened with what Zeke did to Will by poking fun at his speech impediment. And Jimmy Jr knows that and has a right to be disappointed in his friend, his best friend, because he too has a speech impediment. He's working on perfecting the way he speaks, but he's getting there. Other than that, Jimmy Jr is disappointed with what Zeke did after three-quarters of the episode trying to look out for the guy. And yeah, Louise and Gene, might as well grab the clown costumes, because that was a clown moment from y'all by trying to get back at Will for Zeke before knowing the opposite of what happened. An apology is not going to be enough to bail Zeke from what happened in the past regarding Will, so Louise decides to come up with a punishment for Zeke to make sure if he's truly sorry with everyone attempting to come up with an idea for him to get even for embarrassing Will. Don't think payment, coming from Louise's mouth, is going to cut it. Because that's the easy way out to get out of a situation, that's every rich douchebag's way to weasel their way out of a situation. Gene brought up that Zeke should show his butt and have everyone poke fun at it, at which Zeke was ready to go when trying to pull his pants down to show off his bare ass in front of everyone, especially Tina, who has a knack for butts. Got a front-row seat to that view. And speaking of Tina when everyone tries to come up with the punishment, she finds the perfect punishment for Zeke for what he did to Will. And it's one of the spots in the school that she mentioned to Will during the tour...the dreaded booger wall. Forgot to mention it earlier in the episode review, but the booger wall is a part of the school where one of the stairways is where the wall is covered with boogers from various students after having no way to get rid of them and with no tissue to pick. Didn't expect Tina to come up that disgusting and punishing to come up with something like that, but once the booger wall was brought up earlier in the episode, it was bound to happen. And it looks like Zeke is set to do the deed. If he has to do something nasty for him to make amends with Will and Jimmy Jr, he has no other choice but to do the deed.
We go back to the subplot with Bob sitting at the booth at Jimmy Pesto's as he awaits for Jimmy's interview with the reporter to wrap up as we enter the two-minute warning where we see him seeing everyone eating their food, seeing the meatballs on the pizza and the smiles on everyone before having a thought with what Linda and Teddy, mostly Linda have been saying to Bob earlier in the episode, forgot to mention that as well earlier in the review, that he should let the accusation, even though it’s not actually an accusation and more of him actually stealing the idea, to just let it go and just focus on his own happiness and not compare to anyone else like Jimmy, especially after having his ideas stolen. Case in point once the interview is done and the reporter making his way out is when Bob tells Jimmy to accept his stolen idea to make it his own because he said everything he did, he can do better the next day. So what Bob is saying to Jimmy, is he's going to one-up him and he'll make sure that'll be the sweetest once he exits the restaurant and heads back to his to tell Linda what happened. So...was it a victory for Bob or Jimmy? Eh...it’s probably leaning towards Jimmy because his business had gone through some stuff, even though he had to Mickey Mouse his way to make a rebound by copying Bob’s homework from the burger of the day board. But Bob did have to listen to Linda, twisting it to make himself, telling Jimmy that he should enjoy it while it lasts because he'll bounce back and come back stronger. Will it work? Eh...who knows? I mean, maybe. But who knows?
And then finally, we reach the final scene of the episode with Zeke ready to accept his punishment when he and everyone make it to the infamous booger wall with him not backing out from doing it. I mean, he hurt Will in the past because of his lisp and cause Jimmy Jr to be disappointed over him poking fun at him (Will) for the lisp because he (Jimmy Jr) too has one. And uh...looking at the booger wall...yeah, that is nasty to look at. And it's even more nasty with Zeke attempting to lick the damn wall in hopes of making amends with Jimmy Jr and Will. We didn't see the whole thing, I mean, we saw him almost letting his tongue touch the wall before Will stopped him before the tip of the tongue touched the wall as if it were the cheese slice in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Zeke came close to touching the booger on the wall, much to everyone's disgust, and it didn't take long for Jimmy Jr and Will to stop Zeke and say that he should stop what he was planning on doing because knowing that we're less than a minute left in the episode, they already accept Zeke's apology and have everything that just happened throughout the episode and what happened in the past nothing more than water under the bridge. Mostly because they don't want to see Zeke licking the damn wall.
But Zeke ends up doing it, and even though they haven't shown him actually licking the wall...y'all already know he did the deed. Man's out here attempting to start another pandemic because of that punishment. Zeke can't back out because he's a man of his word. He hurt Will because of him making fun of the way he speaks and hurt Jimmy Jr because of what happened to Will because of his lisp. So, Zeke did the job and finally proved his apology to Jimmy Jr and Will, much to them and the Belcher kids' disgust...and everyone who saw the episode. Nevertheless, Zeke did his punishment and got the apology accepted by both Jimmy Jr and Will for what happened. The friendship between Jimmy Jr and Zeke survives to see another day and for him (Zeke) and Will, it's water under the bridge since the incident is now behind them. But not before Zeke chased after everyone with booger breath since he touched the wall. Again, that's how you would start another pandemic because of that damn booger taste test. Nasty bastard.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So, all and all, what do I think about this week's episode of Bob's Burgers? Well, this is going to be the longest-worded review that I did this season so far because this was an interesting episode. A good episode to say the least...well, if only the subplot does a little better when bringing back Jimmy Pesto into the show. Nonetheless, this was a good episode with Zeke being the center focus in this week's episode. And for the person who outperformed as being the voice of reason for this episode...I can't believe I'm saying this, but uh...cue the Shaq quote...
Yeah, Jimmy Jr was the voice of reason in this episode. I know that it’s Zeke’s episode since the synopsis did say that it’s his episode, but Jimmy Jr did his role as the voice of reason and you have to give the guy some credit. Him being concerned for Zeke's wellbeing when he thought that he was bullied by Will, only to find out that it's the opposite and later find out that it was over the way he talked and even tried to stop Zeke from licking the wall because it was a disgusting sight to see and thinks that it should be enough for him to accept the apology. Other than that, even though I'm neutral on the guy even though I don't ship Tina with Jimmy Jr, this is Zeke we're talking about here and he has a right to look out for the guy.
And speaking of Zeke, it's nice to see him having the spotlight because he is an interesting character to dive into. Exploring his past with him kept on switching schools because of his family moving around a lot and the issue of not having any friends that his behavioral issues got him hanging with the wrong crowd. And having Will to be introduced to the school for Zeke to have his past haunt him was interesting to have his past to be explored. And uh...the booger licking scene at the end, even though him actually doing the deed wasn't shown, yeah...that was nasty but Zeke was a man of his word because he hurt a guy for the way he spoke and putting his best friend in a difficult position. So hey, I like how the show is expanding their side characters as of late like with Rudy earlier in the season and I would love for them to continue to do that.
The subplot feels like something coming out of Season 6’s “Bye Bye Boo Boo”, so uh...there’s your explanation. Eric Bauza as the new voice of Jimmy Pesto was something I didn’t expect, but props to the guy because he did the voice perfectly when trying to imitate Johnston’s performance of the character. And the supposed in-universe explanation about rats and roaches invading the restaurant was okay to explain why Pesto wasn’t there, even though he was there in the movie, but only in a non-speaking role, whether it’s him cleaning his side of the street or seeing the sinkhole across the street. And with Bauza stepping up to the role, looks like we’ll expect a lot more Pesto and Trev in future episodes.
So final thoughts, this was a good episode. Didn't care for the subplot because it was a retread of Season 6's "Bye Bye Boo Boo" with the plaque with the stolen meatball idea. Did enjoyed the twists and turns regarding Zeke's past and hopefully we get more episodes in the future. So I'll give "Bully-ieve It or Not”...
A 9 out of 10. Almost a 10 out of 10, but the subplot...that is all I can say. Tell me what you think about this week's episode in the comments section below. And after doing a very long worded review, you'd think we'd be going for a bye week? Apparently not, because we got another episode coming up this upcoming Sunday and it's an interesting one with Bob and Fischoeder with Fischoeder taking Bob to an island filled with rich folk and uh...let's just say, when going through the synopsis and the photos that were released weeks ago, they might become the hunted than being the hunters in the sixth episode of Season 14 in "Escape from Which Island".
Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament has wrapped up the semifinals with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Bob's Burgers in the Final Round between Jolyne Cujoh and Louise Belcher, which is set for December 3. The third-place match between Hetalia and The Great North, Feliciano Vargas/Italy vs. Ham Tobin for the bronze medal on November 19. And y'all should know the drill by now...
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