Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving throughout the past week. We’re nearing the end of the year and uh...yeah, hard to believe that we’re nearing the ninth circuit of hell that is 2024 and beyond. And it won’t be long until the year-end countdown comes into the picture to wrap up the year. Yeah, the list for this year is going to be a stacked one knowing how 2023 had done with certain episodes for certain shows. And I mean a stacked list to count down to 2024. But that’s in the future, gotta talk about this week as we are about to close out November and going into December.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, it's Spend Time with Pop-Pop Day for the Belchers with Bob and the kids hanging out with Big Bob at the Wharf, but the kids' little antics decide to put a dent in their day when they take control of a giant clam attraction as Teddy asks Linda (and Bob but mostly Linda) to take a good photo for his profile in my spoilerific review of the eighth episode of Season 14, titled “Wharf, Me Worry?”.
Well, since it is the holiday season, might as well talk about spending time with the fam. The one thing that comes with the holiday season, even though this episode isn't really a holiday episode, is more of the kids hanging out with the granddad for the day. A grandfather who is related to the father of the family is trying to reconnect with him after years, if not, decades of not talking to each other. And if you think that we should be getting some lore or something coming out of Big Bob’s mouth during the outing at the Wharf...buddy, I have bad news for you.
I mean, yeah, there has to be an episode once in a while where you would have Bob's side of the family, let alone Big Bob to be brought into the conversation. And sure, oftentimes whenever Big Bob appears, you would expect some reconnection between him and Bob whenever they're around each other. But that's mostly because the show often likes to drop some lore regarding Bob's past. Mostly with what the haps with Lily. You saw that with "Interview with a Pop-pop-pire”, which was the latest episode Big Bob appeared before this week’s episode, and that was mostly because of the writers deciding to throw a freaking fracking Hail Mary to save the episode that was a full-on anthology to pass the time before Big Bob’s arrival for dinner at the household. I might as well spoil the details that we didn't do anything related to the lore and more of Big Bob being a grumpy, old guy who, in this episode, acts like a party pooper and talks about the world going to shit...I mean...he's not wrong though knowing where we're going once we get into 2024. And we'll get to Bob's little issue with his father acting so negatively regarding the future soon because it's time to dwell on this...I guess "roller coaster" of an episode if you even want to call it that, might as well break this sucker do- oh right, there's also a subplot with Teddy, just a heads up, this is "Wharf, Me Worry". And there's going to be a lot of worrying. You'll find out why.
And talk about the late-season blues to start this week's episode with rain falling from the sky and intruding on everyone's plans but that's not going to stop some people from going into Wonder Wharf for the day in full raingear, especially with Belcher kids as they're prepared to be picked up and ready to spend a day with Big Bob on their way to the pier. Yeah, uh...I don't think that doing outdoor activities, especially when going to an amusement park, in the middle of a rainy day isn't what I would call it "perfect weather activity" for y'all to enjoy. Sure, no one wants to have their butts wet when sitting down on a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel that was covered in multiple rain droplets that touched the surface of the ride. And no one wants to have to deal with a slipping accident as if God or whatever deity you worship decided to mop up the place with rain as the water in the bucket that is being used to clean the floors. At least the rain isn't too serious to be considered a washout and have the Wharf immediately close for the day or wait until lightning is being detected to cancel plans and stay indoors and watch whatever is on Netflix or any other streaming service. So, to me, I don't think that going to an amusement park in the middle of a rainy day is considered a good idea to spend outdoors. You never know if Mother Nature decides to throw a curveball and you hear thunder in the sky that you might as well pack it up and make a break for it, even though a lightning strike can happen at any time and anywhere. Last I checked, the show is set in New Jersey, not freaking fracking Florida, and have the rain to scare off the travelers so you can have Disney World to yourselves. So yeah, going to an amusement park on a rainy day isn’t considered a good day to head out, even if it’s not a total washout.
But that’s not going to stop the kids from spending time with Big Bob despite the rainy weather. However, Bob has some concerns about having the idea of his kids spending time with their grandfather for the day at the Wharf. And you're probably wondering, what's so wrong with the idea of having Bob to have his kids spend a day with his father? Well, according to Bob, he had been talking about negative things as of late. Mostly the doom and gloom type of shit with him talking about the world being fucked and that we're going straight to Hell in a handbasket. And honestly...yeah, he's not wrong with knowing how and where the world is going right now. War, famine, climate change, democracy under attack, Disney keeping on making live-action versions of animated movies...it's a long list, and whatever shit that God cooked up with the scriptwriting in 2024, the script is going to be godawful to the max. And I’m not saying that because next year is a leap year and if we haven’t learned from 2016 and 2020...leap years are not great years. So Big Bob may have the right idea about the world going to crap, but fucker, fucker...talking Big Bob, fucker...your generation is the reason why this world is going straight to Hell. Your generation had to create a cavalcade of fuck ups regarding everything from social issues to the environment and our generation, whether it's millennials, Gen Z (like myself), Gen Alpha, and soon Gen Beta and so forth had to deal with the consequences because of those fuck ups. Feels like our grandparents and great-grandparents whenever we or our children or grandchildren enter the world and give out a metaphoric middle finger because of their generation having to create damage control for the future generation to deal with and clean up their mess.
And Bob has the receipts when it comes to his problems with his dad talking about the world going to shit, again, caused by his generation, whenever he pays a visit to his father at his place, which is a first to see what his place would look like outside of his diner when seen visiting Big Bob with the kids having milk and cookies, visiting the restaurant, and talking on the phone, Big Bob had to be a Debbie Downer or a Negative Nancy whenever he talks to his son. It’s gotten to the point where he’s scared that he would be a total realist to the kids once they get picked up to spend their day at the Wharf. And speaking of that, Big Bob arrives and picks up the kids to spend the day at the Wharf on a rainy day, leaving Bob (for now) and Linda to take care of the restaurant while the kids are away.
Once the kids and Big Bob make their way to the Wharf with light attendance at the amusement park for the day due to the rainy weather that may have people change their plans until the skies are cleared, they try to find where to ride first for the day with Louise wanting to go for a thrill while Tina hoping to go for a more gentle ride like the Mole Hill where they come across with a talking clam attraction that tells you your future...and telling you to eat clams. Because it is parked in front of a clam restaurant and with the attraction of telling you to eat a clam or two...I’m already guessing that business has been in a bit of a decline. So, the attraction had to be built in front of the building and a random Carnie had to do the voice inside a dark room with a microphone that was connected to the attraction. That and the clam has to be treated as a fortune-telling machine, hence, the fortune-telling orb in front of the clam, but it's not the usual fortune-telling machine you would usually find in an amusement park where you have to insert a dollar and an animatronic fortune teller tells you your future through a card to tell you what is going to happen. I would get to a bit of a rant where fortune-telling machines, let alone fortune-tellers are scammers, but how should I know? I've never had my fortune read. And even if I did, I would probably have already been dead.
Of course, we gotta go through a bit of a montage of Big Bob and the kids spending the day away at the Wharf from riding on the Scramble Pan ride to doing some fishing to get a prize, yeah...it’s really exciting to see the kids spending time with their granddad. So that’s pretty much the montage for the episode and once they’re done with the rides with Big Bob for the hour, he decides to take a quick nap on the bench, but not before giving the kids a few dollars separately for them to spend as they prepared to do their own thing until they’re down to $0 and meet back with their grandfather. Not knowing that once we get to the end of the first act is where the day, courtesy of the kids, is where things begin to come spiraling down. We’ll get to that in a bit.
We get to the subplot as we head back to the restaurant with Teddy coming in with him carrying a pack of shirts, and instead of going for the usual, which is him wanting a burger to eat, and instead, asks Bob and Linda for help with something he is dealing with. The issue that Teddy is dealing with concerns his photo. According to Teddy, he needs a good photo if he wants people to make appointments for his handyman skills to be put to good use. And when comparing photos between him and every other photo of every handyman across the area, the random handyman photos showcase them looking good as if they're professionals waiting for a modeling gig. But once Teddy shows his own photo to Linda...
Yeah, that's not a good photo. That looks like a screencap to one of the scenes of a horror movie where the killer is about to go for the kill and in first person of view as if you had 3-D glasses and the 3-D effects are about to do their work. That is the photo that Teddy took and it's not a good one. Hence, Teddy needs Linda's help to get him to capture a good photo. With that, we got the subplot all set up, and knowing the subplot, it's going to be a trial-and-error type of subplot when trying to get the right photo taken for Teddy to add to his profile. Just be thankful that they didn't take a quick approach like...I dunno, AI? Pretty sure you can't Mickey Mouse his way to get a photo and have to rely on a computer to at least create a legitimate photo.
Switching back to the main plot with the person who controls the fortune-telling machine as his duties were relieved for the day and not because it was scheduled, but because of the rainy weather that caused attendance to be light that no one even wanted to go out and just stay indoors. The Carnie's duties are relieved for the day by I guess the assistant manager and head out, only for the door to be left unlocked and open for anyone to go in and mess around with the giant clam. In come the Belcher kids, who, after spending their money for whatever they were doing after splitting ways with Big Bob, just as they're about to reunite with Big Bob at the bench where he's at is where the kids, courtesy of Louise decide to mess everything, dragging Gene and Tina along for the ride, and of course, Tina...trying to be the rule follower of the bunch, tells Louise to not take the mic from inside the building but Louise ends up ignoring Tina’s warning and does it anyway. Not knowing that the assistant manager had to come in and lock the door, not knowing that the kids were inside the building. So once again on this show, especially in the newer seasons, Louise does something she’s not supposed to do despite Tina’s opposition to it. Honestly, you would see that in a normal Louise episode these days with her having to learn a lesson but that's not the case, and more of them doing whatever they want under Louise's lack of judgment whatsoever while the adult in charge doing God knows what they're doing, or in Big Bob's case, him falling asleep. We end the first act of the episode with the kids taking over the clam despite Tina’s opposition to the idea.
And going into the second act, we see the kids messing around with the mechanical clam as their hour of taking over the microphone begins with Louise and Gene messing with some people who walk past the attraction, whether it's a couple going through a stroll or a couple of girls with one of them holding a giant banana plush for Louise to mess around and try to convince them to hand over the plush in fear before running off. The kids seem to enjoy abusing the power of the microphone, of course, Tina, being the “responsible” one of the group, wants Louise and Gene to stop what they’re doing and meet up with their grandfather, despite not knowing that they’re currently trapped inside the building. And no disrespect to Tina, you know what she is doing but uh...yeah, there comes a time where you might need to spice things up a bit for once. I would tell you to do that but the last time you did that, a few times to be exact, you had a dove became a hawk's to-go meal and had to experience the biggest social collapse in human history. So you're pretty much there, Tina. She tries to convince Louise and Gene to stand down but to no avail, becomes a bystander before meeting up with Big Bob. And speaking of him...
We head over to the next scene before going back to the subplot with him still asleep where the Dizzy Dog Mascot walks across the boardwalk and beatboxes across the Wharf to mind his own business where he notices Big Bob on the bench. Knowing that he is an old man and on the bench napping, the Carnie in the costume thinks that Big Bob may have been sent to the lobby, but he has not. It's just mind games when seeing an elder sleeping on the bench or any sitting area and your brain gives you the idea whether or not the person is either sleeping or has become the world champion of playing possum that his heart stops beating. Quite the scare Big Bob pulled on the Mascot when passing by him at the bench even though he was just taking a nap and minding his business. Of course, not noticing that the kids are missing from the scene.
That leads us to the subplot of the episode with Teddy trying to hold himself together when trying to get a good photo with Linda holding the camera. Yeah, we all have that issue when trying to get a good photo and having to hold still and trying to make sure it’s a good photo to attract anyone who would hire him instead of scaring everybody as if he’s about to commit a hitjob while holding a hammer in his hands. Not just the posture but also the face he’s making while facing in front of the camera. I would say that who would give a shit about what everyone would think about their posture and the quality of the photo itself, but looking at Teddy's little dilemma...yeah, he might need it and knowing that the subplot is him trying to get a good photo...y'all already know where this was going. I mean, The Great North already did that earlier this year with the photo shoot with the crabs. So as Teddy struggles to get a good photo, trying to be like a social media influencer trying to come up with something for the likes and views...
Bob starts to get concerned about what is going on over at the Wharf. Mostly with his dad and his kids because he knows that Big Bob is all doom and gloom because of all of those end-times conspiracies he came across on the internet and everywhere else, but mostly the internet because of him owning a phone as if...actually, no, I don't think it wouldn't be fair for Big Bob to fall into the conspiracy bubble to the point where you might call him an unofficial Qanon member, he worries that him being a Negative Nancy is going to wear the day with the kids down and worrying that he could ruin their day and possibly their future over him being doom and gloom. Bob is unable to make contact with his father when checking up on the kids as if he's not fit to watch over them and it's not because the kids under Louise's directions often pull a fast one to get what they want but more of him surrounding the kids with negativity, and despite Linda telling Bob to leave Big Bob and the kids be and that he shouldn’t be too worried about their whereabouts, that’s not going to stop Bob from heading out. But not before giving Teddy a few notes about his posture, causing Teddy to feel frustrated. So yeah, things aren’t looking good for Teddy to find the perfect photo for his profile to be updated.
Big Bob gets a call from Bob about the kids' whereabouts and asks how he's doing as if he truly doesn't trust his father for not watching his kids because of the way he keeps spouting doom and gloom language. Bob finally meets with his father at the bench and the language coming from Bob with him asking to do some father/son quality time while attempting to find the kids, who are MIA at the moment as if he's having an invisible gun pointing at the back of his head. As if he was being forced to spend with someone who oftentimes is being awkward around someone who hasn't gotten the best father/son relationship since his mom’s passing. So I guess now’s the chance for Bob to hang out with his dad while at the same time, they should be looking for the kids. So the father/son hunt to find Tina, Gene, and Louise is a go as well as an awkward hour of father/son bonding on a rainy day at the Wharf and speaking of the kids...
We go back to them for a bit with Louise and Gene having their fun messing with everyone by misusing the powers of the microphone. Spending the rest of the hour messing with people with the talking clam machine to no avail than just causing some people to feel uncomfortable when walking by. Tina thinks that Louise and Gene had their fun and thinks it's time to get out and rejoin Big Bob by the bench so they and Big Bob will not get into hot water because of their actions courtesy of Louise...until she decides to have a change of mind when she sees three random boys, all around her age, walking by and knowing Tina, decides for now to be the right time to use the clam to hit on either one or all three. Probably creeping them because the boys might think that it's some random Carnie instead of a teenage girl like Tina. Pretty sure Wonder Wharf should have a zero-tolerance policy on creeping people out to the point where you could be accused of being a playground sniper. Other than that, Tina decides to use the microphone just as Louise and Gene are about to go her way...sort off...until she decides to have some fun for a bit when trying to hit on the three boys walking by. Typical Tina. And while that is happening...
Bob and Big Bob continue their search to find the missing kids as go through the section of the Wharf where the prizes are at where we have Big Bob gets a little sidetracked when noticing a giant gorilla doll with sunglasses and a tutu waiting to be picked up by whoever wins the booth. Well, knowing carnival games, you probably think that the chances of winning are as big as trying to get the perfect parlay when placing bets on just one player to work their magic, regardless of the result of the team they're playing for. Yeah, I'm saying those things are probably rigged. Like claw machines, they're pretty much rigged. But that's not going to stop Big Bob from getting that gorilla doll and lo and behold off-screen, Big Bob won the gorilla doll. Yep, he won the stuffed gorilla doll off-screen, and apparently, Big Bob does have a good throwing arm enough for him to win the stuffed animal. Even at his age, which is old, he still got it and he got that accurate water shoot at everything...well, except for using the bathroom. Mind you, that was when Big Bob was about to bring up the pile island of garbage in the Pacific before turning his attention towards the stuffed gorilla. And Bob was about to tell him that now isn't the time to bring it up. The search for the kids continues as Bob decides to use the Ferris Wheel to get a bird's eye view for him and Big Bob to search for the kids. And so they did, though a bit of a tight seating for the two men because the stuffed gorilla that Big Bob won decided to tag along and sit in the middle. And boy, what an awkward ride on the Ferris Wheel when looking for the kids...oh, you thought I was talking about Bob? No, I'm talking about the stuffed gorilla. Must be awkward for the gorilla to be around two people who haven’t talked to each other for decades sitting on the same ride.
We go back to the kids to end the first half of the episode with the kids' time of hogging the microphone comes to an end after spending their time with the mechanical clam despite the light attendance due to the rain and now, the kids noticed that they're trapped inside the building. They now finally notice that the door is locked, them being trapped inside and because of the light attendance, getting help is looking difficult for the kids. You could say that it sort of gives you "Fort Night" vibes with the kids being trapped with little to no help but unlike "Fort Night", there was no near-death experience because they almost died from getting crushed by a truck. Also, don't bring "Fort Night" into this conversation. Because this is nothing like "Fort Night". That episode did better than this episode. What the fuck are you talking about giving you vibes?
Starting the second half of the episode and the kids are trapped with them using the clam to get anyone to help them to escape. The only problem...problems for them is that the weather, of course, being the factor, and with the light attendance and everyone starting to go home for the day, that would put a dent in the rescue efforts. The other issue to point out is, because of the kids' misuse of the microphone throughout the day, getting anyone’s attention would be a challenge because any bystander they come across and mess around through the microphone would ignore the kids' calls. The closest they got was the three boys that Tina tried to hit on earlier with them feeling weirded out over the talking clam, probably mistaken the kids as a random Carnie. The three boys were the closest the Belcher kids would have for help when asking them to find Big Bob, telling them his description, for them to escape. Why did I say the "closest" they would get for a rescue? They almost had a glimmer of hope from the three boys after Louise tells them to find their grandfather...only for Gene, being Gene, to buy fried dough while they're at it, mostly for Gene. Resulting in the rescue being hampered thanks in part to Gene and his fuck ups. Oh, Gene.
We go back to the Ferris Wheel for a bit with Bob and Big Bob trying to look for the kids from the top of the Ferris Wheel through a bird's eye view, but no luck on their end. So with them being unable to find the kids, Bob's first thought would be them being so bored that they would probably be back at the restaurant on their own. Yeah, like the kids would ever head back home and leave their grandfather behind to fend for himself at the Wharf on a rainy day. But that's not going to stop Bob from at least making a phone call to Linda to see if the kids made it back.
Going back to the restaurant with Teddy in the middle of his attempted photoshoot with him wearing a mask this time around when trying to get a good photo with Linda holding the camera to take. Of course, as expected, Teddy isn't getting a good photo from this shoot, especially when wearing a mask, which actually makes him a bit of a serial killer as if he's about to go for the Jason Voorhees approach when holding various tools from the wrench to the hammer. Just be thankful that it’s not carrying a chainsaw because then we’ll be looking at a possible Texas Chainsaw Massacre type of issue for Teddy to take a picture with him with the mask on. Last I checked, Halloween was over a month ago for him to go for the horror approach. So as Teddy struggles to get the right pose and right...everything to get a good photo for his profile, Linda gets a call from Bob to see if the kids made it back. Of course, they didn't come back to the restaurant. So they would still be at the Wharf and Bob and Big Bob would have to expand their search even further to find them inside the Wharf and through the boardwalk and about to hang up, but not before asking Bob what is considered a good tool to make him friendly and not threatening...don't think asking someone who has little to no experience in fixing up places would be first person to come across when asking for some help. Resulting in the phone call ending and uh...
Yeah, that’s not a good look. That’s a look that a mother could tolerate when looking at that. Man, Teddy was not kidding with him trying to make himself look good for the camera, only to have him look like a serial killer who is setting up a Tinder profile looking for its victims. That almost feels like the worst thought process of what would've happened if social media was around in the 1970s and the 1970s was the decade of serial killers going out the wazoo. So yeah, it’s not a good look for Teddy during the shoot and it’s getting to the point where he decides to throw in the towel, as seen in the next scene after this upcoming scene. I mean, the photoshoot was doomed to fail from the start, let’s just be honest here. It was going to fail from the start.
We go back to the main plot with Bob and Big Bob continuing to search for Tina, Gene, and Louise with Big Bob in his doom and gloom by thinking that they’ve been consumed by sharks. As if the kids would ever do something stupid like jumping into the water and want to try it out themselves before turning themselves into a hashtag. And this is where we thought that Bob would probably stand up to his father and say that he should stop saying all the negativity, all the doom and gloom coming out of his mouth and he wants to tell his father to stop saying that shit. He wants to say to him that he should cut all that nonsense...only to not do that and decides to split away for either one to search for the kids. Almost had it. You almost had it. Hey, remember whenever Big Bob is in an episode, we would get some lore about his past or Lily, mostly tying in with Bob's childhood or their time before Bob came into this world? Yeah, you kinda wish we had that in this episode to serve as a potential Hail Mary like what “Interview with the Pop-pop-pire” did with the tree incident that almost took his life during a camping trip. Right after Lily left the tent to take a leak. Kinda wish we had some lore drop but we didn't get it this week. Any lore drop? It doesn't have to be about Lily. It doesn't have to be about her as if we're digging her grave for story building. I know that people want to know more about Lily, but we didn't get any digging on Big Bob other than the tree incident that almost sent him to the lobby. We didn't get any more drops in this week's episode, but hopefully...we can get one in a future episode. So as Bob and Big Bob split ways to search for the kids...
We go back to the restaurant where Linda comes across with one of the customers eating her burger and asks her if she ever wants to hire Teddy for repairs when going through the various photos on the camera. And the look at Teddy’s face when overhearing the woman’s comments on each photo that was being presented by Linda...oh man, that's gonna hurt for the guy after being unable to get a good photo for his profile. Hey, you and Tina may have something to agree on because Tina in "Wag the Song", she didn't get a good picture either. But that was mostly because Tina wanted to be remembered, Teddy just wanted to make a good impression so his handyman business goes well without having a photo of him scaring the bejesus out of everyone and checking out other options. Leading Linda to help Teddy feel better by cooking him a burger, though the woman there didn't even notice that Teddy was there from the start the moment she came in and ordered her food. And I don't think the telemarketer job would take Teddy with the way he sounds, her words, not mine.
Bob goes through the boardwalk as we enter the final scene of the third act with the thought of the kids having to be shark food is nothing more than a mere fairy tale that almost got drilled into his head when he looks at the water for a bit before being spooked by a random fish. Not a shark, a fish. A minnow I think made a bit of a jump that scared the crap out of Bob as if he thought he would've expected Jaws to make a brief cameo. We switch over to the kids inside the booth and it looks like they might be getting ready to make the place their home for the night, you know, until the next morning when the Carnie who left his post for the day takes over again, which would everyone, mostly Big Bob and the kids on blast, when it looks like a beacon of life, a glimmer of hope has finally decided to shine for the kids when they noticed Bob walking at the direction of where the building where the kids are trapped are at. Hearing the noise coming from the clam and thinking that kids are finally going to get the fuck out of the hut...only for a different sound, the sound of a shark cage, or probably a piece of the ride...the park should be investigated for the faulty rides, rather, faulty infrastructure for the rides to slowly falling apart. The kids' glimmer of hope of escaping started to fade as the noise from the cage that two of the workers are carrying cancels out the sounds of the kids' plea for escape for their father's ears to detect where the sound is coming from, causing Bob to head off because of the nearest sound around him, that being the cage, canceling out the noise that is caused by the kids via the talking clam. This results in the kids probably being stuck there for the whole night with no one to help them out. Not even Bob, their father...I don't know about Big Bob, but it looks like the kids' glimmer of hope has shrunk to pretty much nothing to close the third act...
Or until we get to the fourth and final act of the episode with Bob finally finding the kids through the talking clam. Boy, that was fast for Bob to finally be able to locate his kids right after a few minutes of ads, or a few seconds if you don’t have ads, and of course, no keys to get the door to open when the kids tell Bob that the door was locked and they need to get out unless they wanted to be found the next morning and would possibly face a possible lifetime ban and that’s something they do not want. Not even an appeal to Fischoeder would have the possible ban revoked. And because most of the workers and everyone else went home for the day because of the rainy weather, getting help seems to be a problem. I would say get anyone the Belchers know who works for the Wharf...maybe an ex-convict who used to rob a bank and held the said bank hostage turned amusement park worker. I know that Mickey didn’t appear and even if they did, portions of the fandom would throw a bitch fit over Hader not being available, but something had to be done. But no, Bob saw the piece of the cage that fell off and used that to open the door. He had to improvise and using that piece would be the only way to do it. And mind you, anyone in attendance not named Louise doesn't know how to pick locks, just to put it out there. So as Bob improvises to get the kids out of the booth that they're trapped...to no one's surprise...
Teddy finally gets his perfect photo as we go back to the subplot of the episode when Linda gives him his burger after the various failed attempts of getting a good photo and some hurtful comments from that one customer that eating a burger would be his solace. That solace resulted in him finally getting a good photo of him for his profile, though some might probably mistake it as a possible thumbnail to a mukbang video but at least Teddy's side of the episode concludes with him finally getting the photo he got after eating a burger after Linda took the photo. And that photo would go under altercations when being asked to take the bag of tools for him to place while consuming his food. Mostly to make him more likable and less like someone who is standing on the streets in the middle of the night and stalks his victims like you see coming from any of those low-budget horror films. Why do we even need this subplot anyway? No, seriously, why? Why was this even needed in the first place?
Bob finally got the kids out of the booth after breaking the door with the piece of the cage being used as a key. Finally freeing the kids and of course, nearing the two-minute warning, the kids take responsibility for taking over the booth and not pit the blame onto Big Bob and accuse them of leaving the kids to do things on their own that would spiral out of control. I mean, the kids would ultimately be grounded once they get home for what they did but not before the kids noticed why Bob is even here at the Wharf in the first place. As if they don’t think Big Bob can be trusted to watch over the kids like what Linda is accusing Bob of earlier in the episode. Bob was worried that his dad being all doom and gloom would probably ruin the kids' childhood and their future about the world going to shit. You know, him being negative. While all of that is true, the kids counteract and say that Bob is the most negative because he thought things would go bad at his end. And uh...yeah, that seems to check out. And everyone knows it. Everyone has receipts if you look at a previous episode or a previous season and that should tell you a "Negative Nancy" Bob is, whether if it's concerning the restaurant or anything else. We have the receipts and the kids know it. Just as Bob is about to criticize and counteract the kids over the accusations of him being doom and gloom, the kids spot Big Bob and decide to head back to the booth for one more use of the talking clam. Deciding to have some talk and some messing around with Big Bob as we enter the two-minute warning of the episode.
Of course, gotta start the conversation with the kids and Bob for a brief moment mess around with Big Bob through the giant clam by trying to tell him his future and whatnot. Ranging from living a long life for 1,000 years to wanting to move to a funner location, but that’s not going to stop Big Bob from wanting to spout some negativity from his mouth and this is where Bob decided to step in and hopefully put an end to all the negativity once he takes over the mic.
Him saying to his father, "Hey, stop with the whole doom and gloom. You can't keep saying that type of stuff. There are kids around you, your grandkids, who might pick this stuff and worry about their future because of the stuff you're saying about the world going to hell in a handbasket. Maybe, cut down on all of this. And maybe avoid social media and the news altogether." In short, Bob wants Big Bob to cut the malarkey about the state of the world and the direction we're heading with everything that is going on. However, Big Bob decides to counteract Bob, still thinking that it's the clam who is doing the talking and not his son from behind the mic, that he doesn't want to stop. And he has a reason for it because of all the things he said about the world going straight to hell and that we're going to have a terrible future, he was looking out for his grandkids. He said that he knows that even though the world is going to crap, it would be the younger generation, his grandkids' generation and possibly his great-grandkids would be the ones to fix up the planet. As if he's saying that he knew that his generation had fucked everything up to make things harder for the future generation and that they had to deal with the consequences caused by their decisions back in the old days but that's not going to stop Big Bob for thinking that even though his generation did mess things up a lot and I mean a lot of crap to the point where we're nearing a world-ending catastrophe that he has to rely on his grandkids to clean up a massive amount of crap that was leftover for the younger generations to take care.
Big Bob leaves after that little confrontation and for Bob, he might as well call it a "victory" for talking to his father and also he had to stand up to him, even if it sort of backfired, but at least they made some talk before he heads off to the Ferris Wheel, which he was told by Bob and the kids to have him meet with the kids there, before heading off. Bob and the kids leave the booth for Bob to head back to the restaurant and for the kids to go join their grandfather, though questions why Big Bob has a stuffed gorilla doll in his possession, thinking that he won it for them, before splitting to end the episode. And boy...um...that was...an episode. Yeah, we know where this is going, so let's get to the reaction/thoughts portion of the episode.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Like I said...it was an episode. This was a dull episode if I have to be honest. Like, my brain had to be turned off from watching this episode and this isn’t the attention deficit doing the talking, the episode feels dull. Sure, it has some moments, but I had to rewatch the episode a few times to get a better understanding, and...yeah, there are some moments but it's not a great episode. But it's not me saying that it's a bad episode. It feels like it was but I would probably say that it'll probably be a forgettable episode.
Sure, the kids hanging with their grandfather was alright. Eric Bauza did an alright job doing Big Bob again since taking over the character since Season 12 to fill in the role that was left from Bill Hader, and that was episodes after taking over the role of Jimmy Pesto from Jay Johnston, who is currently awaiting trial. Nice to see and hear some stuff from the movie was brought up onto the Wharf like the Mole Hill ride and also the Carnie in the Dizzy Dog costume making his brief cameo and thought that Big Bob croaked, only to find out that he's alive and was just only asleep was alright. Anything else, this is where the issues lie.
The subplot feels like something that shouldn’t be added. You would probably understand Teddy’s little issue when trying to get a good photo, but we know how the whole attempted photo would go because we have seen that a few times in certain shows if anyone can name those. I did with The Great North earlier this year and we know how that turned out when it comes to the photoshoot subplot of the episode. I feel like the subplot shouldn’t even be there at all. And I have gripes with the main plot as well. Sure, we didn’t get any lore drop because Big Bob had to be added into the episode and I get that it doesn’t have to be that way and it has to be just him spending time with his grandkids, but if we’re gonna be honest...we were hoping for a bit of a Hail Mary and it doesn’t have to be tied in with Lily. It can just be with Big Bob.
Of course, Louise had to do something and Tina had to oppose it, yeah, gonna keep saying, that this shtick is getting old, especially with the newer seasons we're in since the turn of the decade. That resulted in them and Gene being trapped inside the booth. Again, this shtick is getting old and it looks like we're stuck with it. And yeah, the whole "Big Bob being all doom and gloom about the state of the world" feels a bit stretched out with Bob being concerned about his kids' wellbeing because of the possibility of his kids picking up something that dark into their subconscious to the point where he had to step in and find the kids along with his grandfather. Yeah, this is where the score comes and man, I had some difficulty and I had to rewatch it a few times mind you when working on this review, so I'll give "Wharf, Me Worry"...
A 3 out of 10. I was this close to giving it a 2 out of 10 that it's not even funny. But that's my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. That was...an episode for this week, but at least next week's episode, this upcoming weekend, we got at least a good one coming up with Louise thinking that she's hot shit by thinking that she's the world's best archer and a zombie apocalypse had to come in at the wrong time...so basically, Louise pretty much lies her way to think she's the best and her lies decides to come to bite her in the ass like she's George Santos. In the ninth episode of Season 14 of Bob's Burgers in "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-Docu-pocalypse”.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Mastodon, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The Final Round of the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament is coming up this upcoming weekend between Jolyne Cujoh from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Louise Belcher from Bob’s Burgers for the championship title. This is it, folks. The end of the year and a new champion will be decided for the next two weeks starting on Sunday. And of course, y’all should know the drill by now...
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