I might as well get this out of the way regarding what to expect for the next few weeks...scratch that, next week because I see some comments, and some complaints about not having a Halloween episode this season, the first time since the earlier seasons of the series. Dating back to Seasons 1-2 of the series and that was the Spring half of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 AniDom season. And it looks like we might not be getting a Thanksgiving episode this season as well. We’re getting a Christmas episode on God in December, but not having a Thanksgiving episode on Bob’s Burgers...yeah, you might as well say that it’s criminal because Bob’s Burgers is usually known for having Thanksgiving episodes, but if it means wait for another season to have one, as well as Halloween, so be it. The last thing we need from the fandom is throwing a bitch fit because we didn’t have a holiday episode for just one season. And no, the strikes didn’t have something with us not having a holiday episode. You sit your ass down.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, Mr. Fischoeder takes Bob to an island at an exclusive club, and let's just say, shit happens during the island visit as Linda and the kids decide to play pretend when trying to blend into what it's like to be in an exclusive rich club in my spoilerific review of the sixth episode of Season 14 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Escape from Which Island”.
This episode may scream something that looks like a Halloween episode with the horror aspect being added to the mix when creating the episode, but it’s not technically a Halloween episode since we don’t have one this season. Think of it as somewhat of an apology letter to the fandom for not having a Halloween episode this season. The tweet by Loren pretty much stated that it’s not actually a Halloween episode but the aspect is there.
Yes to Xmas. And really close to yes for Halloween - not set on Halloween - but scary. https://t.co/2Hzxkm91bD pic.twitter.com/jKBdHQLS4l
— loren bouchard (@lorenbouchard) October 21, 2023
Looking at Season 14 as a whole so far, I may have to exclude "Running Down a Gene", we have been on demon time with these episodes. I'm not saying that we might be heading back to when we were in the golden days that was Seasons 3-7, but it might getting to the point where might be expecting a potential renaissance with the show. And a lot of chatter had been going on with this episode with some hype, keyword "some" because it looked like an interesting one when the synopsis came out. While yes, ashamed that we didn't get a Halloween episode this season, you might as well call it a de facto Halloween episode the same way I would consider “Every Which Way But Goose” a de facto Valentine’s episode back in Season 9 after “Bed, Bob, and Beyond”, in my opinion, doesn’t feel a like a Valentine’s episode as advertise.
Aside from that, while it's not called a Halloween episode, as advertised by the big guy himself, and also the subplot being a normal subplot and treated as a normal episode, which it is for this episode, the horror aspect is there when it comes to the A-plot and knowing that it's a Bob episode with Fischoeder being there as one of the characters in the spotlight to a private island filled with a lot of rich folks, yeah, it looks like we may have ourselves a time. That being said, it's time to break the episode down piece by piece to see what this episode has in store to what appears to be a roller coaster of an episode, the A-plot to be exact with the B-plot just being there, this is “Escape from Which Island”.
And boy, that didn’t take long for the first red flag to be waved for everyone, primarily Bob when watching the forecast with the meteorologist on the screen forecasting a massive storm coming their way. Not technically a hurricane or a tropical system in general because it doesn’t have the structure for it, referring to the circulation along with a few ingredients that would create a tropical system like the winds to go circular and also very warm waters. And looking at the scenery that is used in the episode when going to the island, the use of jackets, and the aspect when it comes to the theme, the closest would be a possible nor'easter since the show is set in New Jersey and oftentimes, it brings rain and wind, don’t think it’s too cold to bring in the conversation of snow, and between the months of September and April would be the typical time where you expect these things. And I don’t even fucking live in the Northeast. So, it's pretty much a nuisance since the meteorologist brought up a front. Though the usual front would go west to east but Mother Nature, according to the script, decided to be a bitch since he mentioned the thing making landfall in an unusual track in my liking when it comes to this front. And if it were to be called a nor'easter, it would've skirted through the coastline rather than hitting land, unless you live in New England, because the center is in the ocean. All we know is that we have a mess of a weather pattern coming into play, setting the picture for what could be an interesting, yet rough night ahead.
Speaking of which, Mr. Fischoeder enters the restaurant with Bob thinking that he's here wanting the rent to be paid as per usual, unable to make ends meet, and taking an IOU to keep the place running. But that's not the reason why he's here, though that is most of his visits, but that's not it. Instead, he tells Bob if he's free this upcoming weekend, nothing too threatening about that question, said no one. No plans have yet been made for Bob other than running the restaurant and being with his family, and that's where Fischoeder comes in with an invitation for the patriarchal providing Belcher to be his private chef for the weekend at an island. Let alone, hiring Bob to be a caterer, one of the caterers on the island for what Fischoeder is calling the event over at a private island a retreat. A retreat filled with powerful members of society, so basically, an island filled with rich assholes. And Fischoeder needs Bob to be his private chef, he just needs to sign an NDA and make sure that nothing happens to the guy...or not be sued in the event something happens to Bob over there for the weekend. I would make a joke about a private island filled with rich people for the weekend...best that I stop there because...you already know where this joke is heading...
Yeah. Fischoeder doesn’t fuck with that, just putting it out there. Just putting that out there regarding Fischoeder. He doesn’t fuck around with that. Everyone else, jail. And have them pay their taxes. Fischoeder asks Bob about the private gathering which is a retreat for the rich and powerful where it's your standard run-of-the-mill camping you would experience, just hire a random cook from the streets on the ready and serve the campers, which are the elites, and treat it as if it’s a private Burning Man event, minus the burning of a giant man that is made out of wood. Besides, every other chef across the land had been picked and for Fischoeder, he’s out of options and because he knows Bob the best, for better and for worse, he has to hire the guy. So, Bob has no other choice but to accept the offer, but he can’t do it for free. There has to be a quid pro quo to be on the table for Bob to accept the invitation to be Fischoeder’s private chef. How does $973 sound? Seems like an odd price but it’s better than nothing. And with that, Bob agrees to Fischoeder's invitation, and thus, we get ourselves the A-plot of the episode.
Hours later, Bob arrives at the docks where Fischoeder is with his boat on their way to the island with Bob puts in the finishing touches by putting the equipment onto the back of the boat and is set to head off...only for Fischoeder to stop him and ask him to put on a blindfold. Why a blindfold? I mean, it's a private island. Hence the word, "private". And you never know what the island is made of. So, to Fischoeder to Bob, think of the trip from the mainland to the island as a surprise trip. Though, not in the way of thinking that you're to an amusement park and instead, it's a trip to the dentist to get a cavity filling...or going to a Giants game because they've been bad all season. Bob followed Fischoeder's directions by putting on the blindfold and once they headed out, leaving the docks, and on their way to the island, you can feel that it's a bumpy ride for the guy when tagging along with your landlord to do an odd job for the weekend at a random deserted island near the shores of town, and no, I don’t think it’s Quippiquisset Island, or Quicky Kiss-It Island if you have trouble pronouncing it, and I just watched “Seaplane” the other day, that is NOT Quippiquisset Island that they’re heading. The island looked a bit flat with some cliffs by the shore of the island.
Once Bob and Fischoeder arrived at their destination, the island they went for the private retreat is a mountainous island, named Babylon Island. Hence, the duo climbs their way to the top of the island where the retreat will be held. And Bob couldn't believe it once he removed his blindfold to take a peak of the island, mostly because both he and Fischoeder had to climb up to the top, and knowing that it's a mountain, going up the summit and having the blindfold on is a dangerous task because you have to be careful where you walk. Do that and your trip to the mountains for the weekend is about to turn into a trip to the Upper Room for the rest of your life. So, once the two make their way up to the top of the mountain on the island and the campsite is all setup and ready to go, we have ourselves a retreat.
Including some old faces that we haven’t seen in a long while, not since Obama was in office in the form of the three of the four people who attended the gingerbread house building contest in the basement of Fischoeder's mansion back in Season 7. One of the three trying to remember who Bob is since Fischoeder did drag Bob into partaking in the contest back a few seasons ago that resulted in every gingerbread house being torn down by a barrage of bullets as if the gingerbread house-making contest was being held in the middle of nowhere in Texas, though that’s not the case when he confused Bob with the last chef Fischoeder brought in a sex party that I really don’t want to know. But that’s water under the bridge regarding the gingerbread house building contest because that’s all in the past and now that we’re in the present, everyone is enjoying the retreat and a lot of drinking and I mean a lot of drinking. And some drugs, because you gotta include them as well.
Because when we get to the next scene, once the sun sets and the clouds start to cover the sky with the impending storm coming towards the island and the wind starting to pick up as if shit is about to go freaking fracking down. So, once the get-together wrapped up after countless hours of drinking and some eating is where things are about to take a wild turn with Bob cleaning his table up for the night until being interrupted by Fischoeder, who asks Bob to put face paint on him before heading off...much to Bob’s dismay because the weather is quickly getting worse by the minute with the wind gusts picking up the pace. Nearing tropical storm force though the wind gusts were strong enough to knock down a few equipment, not strong enough to take down a tent...yet. But that’s not going to stop the bonfire from happening, even if the weather gets worse at the moment. Just be lucky that the storm didn’t knock a few degrees down even more to bring in wintry precipitation. Because that would be bad for everyone, including Bob as the camping trip progressed.
We go back to the mainland at the Belcher household with Gene and Louise on one couch and Tina on the other as the rain comes pouring down with the kids watching TV to pass the time with Linda being unable to make contact with Bob, forgetting to mention that the island that Bob and Fischoeder are at doesn't carry signal for his phone. Pretty much a dead zone, not the Dead Zone from Dragon Ball Z, but it's an area where you're not going to get a bar or two on your mobile device. Hell, Bob had that issue when arriving and Fischoeder had to tell him that he ain't going to get a signal on the island. And you think that with an island filled with rich folk, they would at least have the internet signal settled, but knowing that they're boomers, it's pretty much tough shit. Especially for Fischoeder, who, like Bob and Linda and I guess the same goes for Felix, had to get a new phone after having theirs being sent to the ocean by Grover. Although nah...nah, Fischoeder did not just say that line to Bob and say to him that he has to wait till he gets home and make a TikTok. Oh yeah, as if Bob would ever get himself a TikTok account. Great for business because of promotion, but give it to the kids and it'll be a different story.
Anyway, Linda is unable to make contact with Bob with the storm coming into the vicinity, not knowing that the island that Bob is at with Fischoeder doesn’t have any signal, and it's a wait-and-see if Bob is doing okay over at the island as Linda and Tina head to the kitchen to grab a bowl and pour potato chips to watch TV alongside Louise and Gene where the topic of cocktail parties get brought up since Bob is currently at an island with Fischoeder filled with rich folks like Fischoeder, so we're going to have the B-plot set up with Linda and the kids when the idea of having a small etiquette class on how to be fancy and how to survive a cocktail party seems to be a go for them to pass the time. Better than having to sit around and let the night progress and the rain come crashing down. Usually, this would be the time where we should end the first act and go into the second, but here's the thing, this is becoming the longest first act in the show's history, tied with "Human Flesh" by over nine minutes. Nine freaking minutes! That's almost the length of the usual quarter of an NBA game, which is twelve minutes per quarter. Yeah, talk about a record time for the first act of the episode as if we're watching an episode that lasts for almost 45 minutes. Yeah, a tying record in having the longest length in the first act of an episode on the show. And we got a B-plot ready to go for the episode.
Back at the island and it looks like shit is starting to deteriorate because once the rain started to pour and the wind started to howl, as well as Bob losing his jacket because of the wind gust because Mother Nature decided to a massive bitch towards the guy for ignoring the signs and speaking of being a massive bitch, everyone decided to make a break for it when noticing the storm is getting worse by the moment. Bob sees every boat except for some leaving the island due to the weather deteriorating. Though...a bit of a quote-on-quote "suicidal" move for everyone's part when fucking off away from the island during a storm. Mostly because of how the tidal waves are behaving when feeling the brunt of the storm going through the island the same way you're about to take a flight to your destination and a storm might stand in the way of reaching the place you're heading. This ain't Spirit Airlines. I know that claim was false, but...they could, though that would be stupid.
Bob is in panic after seeing everyone leaving the island because of the storm, making his way to where the bonfire is at with Fischoeder and the others doing a drunken dance with electronic music blasting through the air as if they’re having a private nightclub outdoors despite the inclement weather getting worse and worse by the second. Bob tries to tell Fischoeder about everyone leaving the island ahead of the storm and Fischoeder, along with the others who are currently staying put despite the storm, decides to dance their balls off while being drunk from the various cocktails they consumed. That and drugs with one of the campers and rich folk, Hubert, taking drugs to get into the groove of things. What kind of drugs? We don’t know other than that it’s not cocaine. Because if it was cocaine, there would be some hints of white powder over his nose and face. That and the addiction into the veins.
Although, let's take a moment with the visuals with everyone dancing and Bob trying to be the sane one of the group when bracing for the storm. That is the background because if you look at the background, the way the trees move when having to deal with the brunt of the wind as everyone dances the night away around the bonfire, that feels like something coming out of real life when it comes to the background. Mostly because it does. The background when the bonfire was taking place with the trees rustling through the wind looks like something coming out of real life and that is what the animation is going for when animating the bonfire dance scene. It looks great and out of the ordinary for the animators to use the idea of a rotoscope. Didn't expect this shit to happen to any episode until this week and the fact that they want balls out in blending in stuff from the real world and adding it into the 2-D world that is Bob's Burgers when animating the scene does look pretty incredible, let's not lie ourselves.
But once the night progressed and everyone but Bob should be knocked out from the substance that was added to their bodies, the weather continued to get worse by the minute with Bob went through the aftermath of the bonfire dance and saw the docks being battered and the boats being sunk due to the rough waves. Let's hope the boats have insurance...oh wait, they're rich, they could get a new one. However, this is where things begin to take a massive turn because even though it’s not actually a Halloween episode, the horror aspect is there in the pot to create this episode. So once Bob strolls through the area with the bonfire still lit and the boats now sunk with nobody in attendance after the bonfire dance-a-thon is where Bob is stranded and all alone on the island as the storm continues to get worse where he notices Fischoeder hiding in the bushes. Fischoeder asks Bob to get behind the bushes and tells him to turn off the lantern. Turning it into a dangerous game of hide and seek as if the storm that is over the island isn't bad enough for Bob or anyone, you have everyone in hiding. What are they hiding? Oh...nothing much. Probably something like a bear or...not a longhorn because they’re on a different island, some animal that can pose a threat to any camper. But what if I were to tell you that the being that is causing Fischoeder and every other camper who is left standing on the island is not a bear or any other animal they may have attracted, but instead...
It's one of the rich folk, Hubert, going fucking feral and is on demon time, going after anyone who is caught in his radius. Hence, why Fischoeder and the three guys had to hide and the bonfire dancing came to a sudden halt as we closed off a long first half and went into the second act, off-screen of course when everything went wrong during the bonfire dance when Hubert ended up feeling the effects of drugs, didn’t say which drug that caused him to be feral, but it was something that caused him to go full demon and was dangerously close from committing cannibalism when attempting to chew one of the guys’ arm as if it’s a chew toy for your dog. Remember those anti-drug PSAs you saw when you were a kid growing up when watching TV back in the day? Oh yeah, this is the danger of what drugs can do to you. Turning you into a feral monster that makes Hubert the predator and everyone, including Bob, the prey in the gusty rain in the middle of the night.
The rest of the campers, that being the three guys who were with Fischoeder during the bonfire dance, join up with Bob and Fischoeder with those three and Fischoeder being flat-out drunk since they’re the ones who had a lot of drinking but didn’t take the drugs that resulted in Hubert going hog wild with the effects from the narcotics taking over his body, leaving Bob to be the only person who had never had a substance added onto his body throughout the night. So with Bob being sober, and everyone in panic mode because they didn’t expect that something like this would happen until tonight in the pouring rain and howling winds, a game plan needs to be conducted if they want to survive as if they’re playing a dangerous game of hide and seek. So, a game plan is needed if they want to survive, but that gets interrupted when a wild and feral Hubert pops out from behind the bushes and, of course, decides to go full demon time on Bob, Fischoeder, and the others on their way to another hiding location deep in the forest, hoping to stay off Hubert's radar. And look at the guy...
This is the face of only a mother can console. The effects of the drug, whatever drug that Hubert took to make him look like...that, that is a powerful drug that Bob and the others have to endure as if we're going through a horror movie and some people would have the skills to survive a horror movie and try to make it to the end alive and unscathed. And I'm not an expert, but I'm sure that a drug that powerful to make an elderly rich man turn into a wild beast in human form, this screams something coming out of the black market. Something that isn't even legal in the United States, let alone in certain other countries where the drug that Hubert took shouldn't be even in the hands of a random individual. I mean, he is a rich guy, so I wouldn't be surprised if he did pick that up from the black market for a huge price just for shits and giggles leading up to the weekend of the retreat.
We go back to the mainland with the B-plot taking place with Cocktail Party Preparation 101 now in session with everyone in their get-up. Well...Linda and Tina are in dresses, though quite the color change there for Tina’s dress going from the usual magenta she wears whenever she’s at some event to a full blue. Linda and Tina are wearing their dresses with Gene wearing a suit jacket, probably Bob’s suit jacket, and Louise wearing only a necktie over her casual dress, ready to learn how to survive a cocktail party, especially when you're the host. And this isn't the usual training when you have to get ready to attend a fancy dinner and have three sets of forks and spoons, not one, three, and a lot of stuff to know without letting everyone know that you're acting like a mess as if you're a raccoon going through the dumpster in the middle of the night. The Belcher kids get their first lesson on how to survive a cocktail party with Tina being brought in as a volunteer to play the role of the host and Linda as one of the attendees who arrives at the party. An attendee who arrives at the party 30 minutes early and decided to become that one partygoer who is going to judge everything from the choice of wine to questioning Tina's choice of style...so, Linda is playing the role of that one partygoer who is pretty much an asshole. Now, I'm not an expert when it comes to surviving something like a cocktail party...because I don't want to. I'm an anti-social fuck. I ain't attending when knowing that going through one, especially if you're the host, is going to create some anxiety for the host, that being Tina in the roleplaying session. Again, cocktail parties, especially if you're the host...that's a no for me.
Going back to the main plot with Bob, Fischoeder, and the others trying to get away from a feral Hubert in a dangerous game of the "try not to get sent to the lobby" challenge with them trying to avoid being on Hubert's radar if they want to live to see the sunrise. Although Bob may have a point when dealing with a situation like this, how come they didn't bring guns? How come they didn't bring any weapons to arm themselves? I mean, hell, Bob remembered that moment when Fischoeder and the others pulled out their weapons and shoot the gingerbread houses and treated the bullets as air strikes to tear the houses down. But Fischoeder tells Bob they didn't bring their weapons with them for the weekend retreat. Mostly because they don't need them. Apparently, according to Fischoeder, their insurance can only cover one thing in the event something like this would happen, either you get insured for drug abuse or eat a hail of bullets into your body. They picked the first one. Though, Bob...you're a cook hired by Fischoeder...you'd think that you would at least have a knife with you. Just putting it out there. You would've at least carried that. Though knowing the newer seasons...we're not going to have someone getting shanked. Not following the prison rules when trying to survive a horror movie-esque type of situation.
Bob, Fischoeder, and the others get jumped once more by Hubert, now without clothes to show off how feral he has become. The power of drugs, man. Those anti-drug PSAs back in the day have started to age like fine milk. One of the guys got his arm bitten, and almost came close to getting his arm chewed off as if you're experiencing an episode of "When Animals Attack" before kicking Hubert back, causing him and everyone else to run away in retreat once more in the dark. Can't turn the lantern on because the light will serve as a source for Hubert to gang up to them wherever they go. Might as well get this out of the way, I'm beginning to suspect that the drug that was used was bath salts. I mean, what else can you think of when thinking about what is causing Hubert to go full Walking Dead? Him not being mentally sane, acting like a mindless zombie, came close to chewing a man's arm off...it has to be bath salts. Don't know if anyone remembers this. But there was a story back in 2012 where a man in Miami took bath salts and came close to eating a man's face off. I'm not kidding. That actually happened. Bath salts can cause zombie-like behavior and pretty sure some of y'all watching the episode might be getting that idea of what kind of drug caused Hubert to go into demon time as if we're watching a preview of a possible zombie apocalypse.
Bob, Fischoeder, and everyone else goes into hiding once more in a cave this time around, and with no weapons on their side, they need to come up with a game plan to capture Hubert and contain the guy and play the waiting game for the effect to wear off. Since Bob is the sane one in the group and the only one who is sober while everyone else is drunk from too much drinking with the special cocktails. Fischoeder and the others decide to nominate Bob as the captain of how to survive the Hubert situation since he is the only one who is sober and sane at the moment. Besides, he's been in situations where it nearly claimed his and his family's lives one too many times. So he's pretty much an expert in this. And what is the first task in order for everyone with Bob as the captain to close off the first half of the episode?
Have Bob be the bait by having everyone tie him down to a table and have a slop of raw meat all over the guy. That's the plan you thought up after nominating Bob to be the supposed captain of the group? By having him become a lamb going to the slaughter in hopes of capturing and compromising Hubert? I bet you that if any of the chefs and everyone else hadn't left the island, the moment Hubert felt the effects of the drugs that caused him to become a mindless zombie, they would have them become lambs in the slaughter as well. Yeah, Bob is totally regretting his life choices when agreeing to join Fischoeder on the private island. At least the guys have the trap ready with the tarp and rope the moment comes for Hubert to come into the picture once more. Yeah, the man here is regretting his life choices. Speaking of regretting their life choices...
We get back to the subplot with the lesson of how to survive a cocktail party continues with everyone having a drink in their hand and it looks like Tina is starting to have regrets about her life choices when participating in how to act when attending a cocktail party. Going through the questions and answers when being around certain people as if they're being interrogated. But that's not the case according to Linda. The posture was off, they lacked something that could catch someone off guard, and just let the drink you got waste away. Like...you're treating the partygoers as if they're in the den and everyone who is in attendance acting like a pack of hungry wolves sensing when someone is expected to mess up. Putting a lot of pressure onto everyone, though they don't mind, but Tina on the other hand, yeah, just the look alone feels like she's not getting into the gist of all of this. Yeah, it's not a fun time for her to try to learn a single thing about how to survive an average cocktail party as if you just stumble into the depths of the jungle and hope to get out in one piece. You see why I'm not a party person, let alone when being at a party like a cocktail party. No, thank you.
We go back to the main plot with Bob regretting his life choices and regretting the notion of agreeing to take the $973 to go to the island despite the incoming storm and everything else that came with the retreat on the island as he awaits to become food for a feral Hubert. And it's Bob being in distraught over his poor choice in accepting the invitation to be Fischoeder's private chef, not knowing the shit that would come with the travel with the storm, the retreat, and now having to deal with one of their own becoming a mindless zombie thanks to the powers of drugs, is where Fischoeder decides to have a coming to Jesus moment when hearing Bob's cries and decides to step in, tricking the others by telling them that he is going to add more raw meat onto Bob, but instead, he's freeing the guy and thwarting the plan to capture Hubert. Because as much as capturing and containing Hubert is a top priority for everyone's survival, when it comes to Fischoeder, he may be rich, but he's not an asshole. Especially towards someone who is unable to pay his rent but is fond of the guy because he has got to at least show some compassion. Not gotta let him become human food for Hubert to come into the picture to take the bait, so Fischoeder has to untie Bob and run off with him, thwarting the plans that were made to capture Hubert. That and also pissed off a few people and left them for dead.
And yeah, Bob and Fischoeder can come to some agreement that the club that Fischoeder is paling around with...doesn't seem that great to be around. They may be assholes for coming up with the idea of letting Bob become the bait, which wasn't the greatest thing to come up with from them when trying to catch a feral human after seeing chewed arm after chewed arm because of the drug that made Hubert into a mindless zombie...well, they're rich. So, to me, they're assholes. And let's face it, they're not happy with the fact that Bob was let go and Fischoeder having to be the one who had to untie him because he felt bad for dragging him into a situation that went out of hand. But Fischoeder had to do it because even though catching the guy is the main objective if they want to survive the night without letting themselves into zombie food, he did feel bad for dragging him (Bob) to the retreat and doesn't want him to get into harm's way. He's not an asshole. Let's just put it out there, he's not an asshole. He likes the guy, despite not being able to pay him when it comes to the rent, but come on, that's his guy. You could say that he's probably his favorite tenant, showing a bit of favoritism towards the Belchers, mostly Bob, but mind, he may be rich and own pretty much the entire town or at least Ocean Avenue as a whole, he's not an asshole. We don't need to talk about Felix...or Grover. At least the weather has calmed down as both Bob and Fischoeder make their way to the docks where the boathouse is at for them to make their way to escape, despite that they would be leaving the others to become the walking versions of the main course at the dinner table. Well, those guys took that personality because come the end of the third act and going into the fourth, just as Bob and Fischoeder and use the trap that was set for Hubert, end up using it on them as payback for leaving them hanging, as well as Fischoeder for untying Bob and preventing him to be the bait, though most of the hits landed on Bob instead of Fischoeder, just for comedic measures.
Leading to the fourth act of the episode, Bob and Fischoeder get tied up because they're not happy with the idea of Bob and Fischoeder sneaking their way out of the island. That and also Fischoeder thwarting their plan to capture Hubert by having Bob as bait before untying him and going on the run to the docks. Bob tries to de-escalate the situation by telling them that the boathouse nearby has a dingy inside for them to get off the island. They saw the boat and all of them were on agreeable terms to get the hell out of the island...only for Bob to remind them that they shouldn't leave Hubert behind despite him still being feral because who knows the drugs (potentially bath salts) should be worn down by now. Telling them that they shouldn't leave Hubert behind because they think that showing compassion signals potential weakness, going for the old "if he dies, he dies" approach. But Bob was like, "Hell no, fuck that. That's your friend, you ain't leaving him hanging to be left alone on a deserted island. What you mean by "compassion for the weak?" I mean, Fischoeder did show some compassion towards Bob because he did feel bad for having him become the bait. I guess they should at least try to learn that as an example...maybe not. Besides that, Bob thinks it's a bad idea to leave Hubert behind and the plan to capture him is still a go if they want to have a full party to leave the island. And what's the plan the five come up with in hopes of ending this nightmare?
By having Bob be the bait again. Yeah, okay, so it looks like we're back to square fucking one in trying to catch the guy. And funny enough, this was Bob's idea. The second time around, the first time around was mostly Fischoeder and the others having no freaking idea and thought that this was a good idea in a state of panic after seeing one of the guy's arms being nibbled. Bob is back at bait and here comes Hubert making his way towards him as if he's Thanksgiving dinner with Bob telling Fischoeder and the others to prepare the trap. This is where there was an issue regarding the two-minute warning in the episode, primarily with what happened between Hubert making his way towards Bob and everyone on the dingy on their way back to the mainland. It's mostly the pacing that was the issue. That could explain why the first act lasted for nine minutes than average.
We go to the subplot for a bit in the final minute of the episode for a bit with Tina hiding inside the kitchen, not wanting to feel the pressure of having the audacity of ever wanting to host or even attend a cocktail party without wanting to mess everything up. Linda comes in and checks on Tina to see what's wrong with Tina with her (Tina) telling her mother that she can't handle the pressure of attending a cocktail party. Worrying about the pressure of remembering what she is supposed to do when attending, if she's ever going to get an invitation, boiling down to worrying that she might make an ass of herself to the point where she might be that one partygoer where they go and hide in the bathroom or closet or basement or anywhere around the building and probably pull out a cigarette or a vape pen to calm themselves down. Tina somehow passed the course in surviving a cocktail party. How? Tina's frustration and anxiety when having trouble trying to remember everything that Linda told her kids on how to survive a cocktail party to the point where she just hides and waits for the event to be done. In short, it is almost sort of like the Chunin Exams in Naruto with the written exams with Naruto having to struggle with what to write on the test papers, having the pressure building onto him because of the notion of the event if one person fails, the whole team fails. That’s the only example I can think of when it comes to the comparison. All we know that is Tina somehow bullshit her way to pass the supposed course for the night and all it took is to be that one partygoer to just hide themselves in a private location. Why do we even need this subplot to begin with?
And then finally at the final few moments in the episode and yeah, might as well get this out of the way. So, what happened back there before switching over to the subplot with Tina hiding in the kitchen, you have Bob being served as bait, Hubert coming in towards him by the docks, and everyone having the trap set and ready for use. We didn’t get what happened, which does suck but even though it sucks that we didn’t get the capture in action without having it off-screen, let’s just say that everyone had some trouble when trying to contain Hubert. I mean, hell, Bob has a bite mark on his arm, so it looks like it might’ve been brutal for everyone to pin him down. In fact, I bet everyone pretty much had bite marks on their warms with one of them who had a bite mark probably got seconds in their arm. That and the pacing of the episode because it does feel like it went by a bit too fast after coming out with the first act going through nine minutes over the supposed average time of the usual first act in any episode. But besides that, what happened tonight with Bob, Fischoeder, and the others regarding the storm and one of their own having to go full zombie through the power of drugs is now all in the past. And even though it’s not a Halloween episode, the aspect is there. But uh...it might as well treat it as an anti-drug PSA episode about what drugs can do to you. People almost died because of that.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week's episode of Bob's Burgers? Well, I see a lot of mixed reactions to this episode. I get that we don't have a Halloween episode this year, but the aspect is there even though there's nothing related to the holiday. It was an interesting episode to have the horror aspect being added in what is pretty much an intense game of hide and seek with Bob and the others trying to get away from one of their own becoming feral due to the use of drugs, primarily bath salts, going into demon time.
Gotta put some positives to state with the episode. The visuals look good, especially with the background with the bonfire scene with the use of a rotoscope for the trees as the storm rolls through the island. It looks great and didn't expect the animators to go over the lengths to do something like that and I didn't even notice during the first viewing until someone brought it up on Discord, so it looks great. It looks really great. And I guess having that horror aspect with the storm being used for no reason other than the usual answer of "fuck it, just use it." And having the old rich guys being succumbed to the use of illegal substances would probably make the most sense when trying to create a horror-like theme for this week's episode. So...fine, I guess. At least the subplot was better than last week's, just putting it out there.
Other than that, the issues I would have with the episode would be the subplot at first. Do we even need it? I'm not saying that the family should be involved in what happened over at Babylon Island where the retreat is at, but I feel like the whole subplot with Linda and the kids going through the basics of what's it like to attend a cocktail party was an unnecessary addition to the episode other than having them being sent to the sidelines for the rest of the episode. The pacing is also an issue because things went by so fast. Especially once we get to the next three acts after having a very long first act that lasted for nine minutes. Scratch that, the second half where it does kinda feel like it was going a bit too fast with the whole chase scene with Bob, Fischoeder, and the others trying to escape from getting chewed by Hubert. Those were the issues I would give out for this episode.
So final thoughts, it was an interesting episode. The subplot feels like pure filler and I feel like it shouldn't be added. The pacing felt a bit too fast right after the first act and going into the second act of the episode. Other than that, the visuals look great. The horror aspect being added to the episode was interesting. So I'll give "Escape from Which Island"...
A 7 out of 10. But that's my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below about this week's episode of Bob's Burgers. We have a new episode this upcoming Sunday, a reminder that there's no Thanksgiving episode this season, but we'll be getting a Christmas episode, so hang on and put down the pitchforks. We got a new episode this upcoming weekend with an issue regarding the raccoons at the alley and for Linda, a difficult decision to make in the seventh episode of Season 14 of Bob's Burgers, "The (Raccoon) King and I".
Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The third-place match in the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament between Feliciano Vargas/Italy (Hetalia) and Ham Tobin (The Great North) is coming up this upcoming weekend to decide who will take the third place position for the year with polls open on this upcoming Sunday, November 19. And y'all should know the drill by now...
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
Donate over on PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out in both improving the page and paying the bills to keep the lights on. 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