It’s a new year and...yeah, it’s a new year and the same show that yours truly is set to review along with the return of The Great North, which that review will be out later this week since the show is back after a six-month wait, but other than that, it’s a jam-packed week to do two reviews in one week and it’s the try and true that I have to break it down detail by detail to go first on the docket. Yeah, knowing that it’s a leap year, it’s gonna be a long year plus one day for everyone. Lots of uncertainty.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, it’s Bob to the rescue as he gets a call from Teddy of him being stuck in a sticky situation inside an underground bunker as Linda and the kids host a group of athletes fresh out of a championship win with the family attempting to do something that has never done in their lives in my spoilerific review of the eleventh episode of Season 14, titled “Mission Impossi-Bob”.
Yeah, I guess there’s no other way to describe this episode than...well, filler. Because that’s one way you would describe it as a whole. Don’t know if this was the post-holiday fatigue talking because it just happened right before my eyes or that most of the focus might’ve gone towards The Great North with its season premiere, mind you that it did air right after Bob’s Burgers that night, so, please bear with me. It’s one of those episodes where it’s alright, just hardly forget that it’s there and just happened.
The episode is as simple as it goes, Teddy gets stuck during his handyman appointment inside an underground bunker outside of town and calls Bob to step him to get him out. This almost sounded like a case of things getting out of hand for a simple handyman appointment that someway, somehow spiraled out of control to the point where he had to call in I guess the only person that Teddy can contact through his phone, though there was a name drop from Teddy, but that's later in the episode, so it's a Bob and Teddy episode to make it the main plot of the episode, leaving Linda and the kids to watch the restaurant, especially once a group of athletes come into the picture and for the family, ready to do something that has never been done before. That being said, time to break down the first episode of the new year. This is “Mission Impossi-Bob”.
The episode starts with, as usual, the Belchers doing their work at the restaurant with Gene having trouble doing his homework on a Saturday, which is something that no kid wants to go through of all the days of the week. Right, you are, Gene, doing homework on the weekend...or any other day, shouldn't even exist. I get that you have to improve your grade or get ahead of everyone and treat it like it's some sort of game to get to be in the top percentage of the graduating class. Of course, Gene is struggling to find an answer to his math homework for his class and it's a freaking word problem. Word problems are the worst. I'mma put it out there, word problems are the freaking worst, aside from anything with algebra. And this is coming from yours truly, who is bad at math. I am so bad at math, y'all that it's not even funny. Especially when having to show my work when doing those problems and it's not easy. It is not easy and I know what I was doing to make sure things go right with my assignments. But, bottom line, math is awful and I get that it's useful for daily life, but how come we don't have classes on how to pay our taxes or learn the essentials we need for the outside world once we leave school? Yeah, the international viewers are already saying that the American education system is a freaking joke.
Gene struggles to find an answer for his math homework and asks for anyone to step in and help. And, of course, you have Linda shouting out the number four as the answer as if she thinks that would be the answer for everything, so, not helpful on that and makes you question if the number four is either her favorite number or just shouts it out because why not. Gene brought up that the word problem that he is struggling with is retail, enough for Bob to step in and help his son out. However, the problem that Gene is struggling to answer causes Bob to struggle with the problem as he yells it out to him for assistance. The question of a guy named Peter, who is a hat salesman, selling two hats every 20 minutes for $29 each between the hours of 10:00 and 5:00 on the daily, except for Wednesday when he sells twice the amount, eight times to be exact, and wanting to know the percentage of weekly hat sales Peter made...on a Tuesday. Once again, word problems are the freaking fracking worse. Gene is currently having some problems with it and now, it caused Bob to struggle to answer the question. I would say bring the paper to him to get a better understanding, but even then, it would be a hassle to answer. Hell, Bob admitted that he was bad at math growing up and that was before opening up the restaurant. The bottom line, math is awful. But this episode is going to be focusing on the topic of problem-solving that would tie in with Gene struggling with his homework and that's where the main plot begins to establish.
When Bob gets a phone call that sends him to the kitchen and it’s Teddy who is calling him. But, not in the “wanting to have a conversation” type of phone call or hoping the place is open for him to drop by, but instead, it’s more on the line of a cry for help. Calling him from an underground bunker, which is surprising that it has reception, though it is by a house, so, that’s one way to put it why Teddy is able to get a call...aside from a nearby cell tower since there has to be one on the outskirts of town. Bottom line, Teddy is trapped inside a bunker while working for one of his clients and asks Bob to get him out. As for how Teddy ended up in this mess to establish the main plot of the episode...this is where you might be thinking that something shady is going on regarding the type of client Teddy is working with for the hour. Especially with how Teddy ends up working for the guy for the day and I feel like this is something that almost sounded like a plot to a horror film or a possible plot to the movie “Taken”.
So, according to Teddy, who is telling the story, he first met his client, named Gerald, at a small gas station on the outskirts of town, in a town called Oakville, as a place to meet up, and instead of telling him the directions of where he lives or follow each other's car to reach the house, but no, Gerald decided to do something insane that it would draw some concerns on the type of person he is when he blindfolded Teddy when entering his truck. Yeah, blindfolded the guy to his house as if he didn't want Teddy or anyone else to know where he lives. As if he did something in the past that he shouldn't have done like a possible murder or anything way too heinous to think about to make sure that his identity doesn't get revealed. Either that or witness protection, one of those two options had to make the most sense. Gerald, when nabbing Teddy from his truck and into his and being forced to put on a blindfold, hired him, wrong spelling for the word “kidnapping” in the script, hired him to do a job for him regarding his bunker by building him a false wall. Why a false wall in a bunker? According to Teddy, Gerald wanted to have a false wall inside the bunker for something for him to hide. Already with the shady shit, so, what is hiding? Drugs? Money? A dead body? No, it's neither of those three or more items even though knowing the client that Teddy describing just now sounded like a shady guy, but instead, the items he wants to hide enough for Teddy to make a false wall?
Candy dispensers. Yep, candy dispensers. Primarily Pez dispensers if anyone remembers those items you would find them at the candy section of the check-up aisle at the store. I mean...nothing wrong with a little collecting vintage items and Pez dispensers are one of those items that are deemed collectables like they're trading cards. However, I don't know why he needed a false wall to hide his collection and not build a shelf to hold the items in question. Sure, for security reasons because in the case a break-in were to happen and who knows what would happen if the shelf were to break to cause the dispensers to fall? No one wants to have certain items to break that would hamper your chances of getting that sweet, sweet resale value. The reason why Gerald even wants to have a false wall being made for his bunker is this, it has something to do with his mom. While Gerald and his mom have no beef with each other, he does love his mom, it's just he doesn't trust her for no whatever reason. You could say that his mom is probably telling Gerald that he would be wasting his life and money collecting the dispensers as if it's his job rather than a hobby. So, in short, this boils down to Gerald not wanting everyone to know or touch or see his Pez dispenser collection to the point where had to put a blindfold over Teddy and take him from his truck and into his all the way to his house. It’s weird and also insane for you trying to keep your profession super private to the point where you had to somewhat kidnap, I don’t care if Teddy said that it’s a hiring, this feels like a kidnapping, that you want no one to know about your hobby. And the insane stuff doesn’t end there, folks.
As Teddy continues to give Bob the background of his client and how he ended up in this mess with him being trapped inside a bunker, while doing a job at his place, finishing his job regarding the hardware where he noticed the three drawers and the items that came with it. One drawer has a sandwich inside, the second contains a piece of cake, and then the third is a wad of cash. Of course, Teddy didn't take the cash because that would be the wrong thing to do for him, especially when doing the job. And this is a part of the supposed loyalty test that Gerald conducted for Teddy to partake in without notice. A loyalty test that the past handymen failed...yeah, this doesn't sound too suspicious regarding Teddy's client. Teddy passed the loyalty test and thus, he got the job to help him out. As for how he ended up being trapped? He was building the false wall as instructed inside the closet of the bunker and the extra sheet metal that was meant for the wall fell because it was leaning on a chair...a rocking chair, which is not a good place for the sheet metal, resulting in the material to collapse and thus, here we are with Teddy being trapped inside the closet as if we're expecting the thing to become a music video for a song by uh...a music artist that should deserve to burn in hell. But whether he likes it or not, Bob has no other choice but to go and rescue Teddy.
Of course, the family eavesdrops on the conversation, and even though the kids want to go and somewhat help Bob in doing these types of things, the kids have to stay put since the script says that Bob has to go alone for this. Besides, we don't know anything about Teddy's client other than him being a rich guy who we sure isn't a shady guy other than kidnapping a handyman and before that, had him go through a loyalty test, so it might be considered dangerous for the family to go with Bob to get Teddy out of the closet. Disappointment from the kids, especially Louise, who wanted to go and she said to Bob after being told to not go with them and says to her father, "We never get to rescue anyone from inside a safe.” Rescuing someone from the safe, yes, they never done that before. But never saving anyone in general? Like, are not going to pretend that the events of the movie didn’t freaking happen? You know, saving the Fischoeders and such? Just gonna pretend that didn’t happen even though that’s more of them being trapped inside an immobilized submarine and not a safe? We have receipts, you know? Just putting that out there. End of the first act with Bob is ready to head out...
We go into the second act, miles from town, and minutes into hours later with Bob reaching the scene of where the taken-ing happened at a gas station in Oakville, taking his phone out and calls Teddy about his arrival at the scene and gives him the play-by-play that would give him some clues that would get him to the house and to the bunker where Teddy is located. Teddy picks up the phone and tells Bob the play-by-play of how he ended up in the bunker and got trapped inside the small room and tells him the moment he gets taken to the house. Gerald takes Teddy to the truck with the blindfold being put over his face and leaves the gas station with Teddy’s truck being left parked right outside the gas station and if you think that Teddy with the blindfold would make him completely blind to the point where it causes Bob to be put in a dead end, you would be wrong on that because if you look at Teddy’s perspective once Gerald takes him to his house, the material for the blindfold doesn’t make Teddy fully blind from the blindfold because he can still see the landscape whether being on the road or on his way to the bunker, though the darkness from the blindfold at around 75%, maybe 80% of the darkness from the blindfold that...let’s be real, a shirt or a blanket would serve better as a blindfold. Hell, a sleeping mask would’ve been a better blindfold than whatever Gerald put over Teddy, but I guess if it means helping him not trip or get lost by the time they arrive at the bunker, then by all means I guess.
Aside from the blindfold portion of the story when going for the play-by-play from Teddy, he brought up the song that was used on their way to the bunker that Gerald put on himself on their way to the bunker called “Judy in Disguise”, and I’m not kidding, go search it up for yourself, it’s a real song that was used in this episode. I can already tell some of y'all, probably in the tiny slice of the pie, are thinking whether or not the show is starting to abandon the original music that isn't the credits, but I digress. I doubt that's going to happen. They ain't gonna do that. They just can’t. So, with the song that was used that Teddy brought up that Gerald played when taking him to the bunker and the scent of aftershave that was used, it looked like Bob may have found the clues he needed to make his way to the bunker and get Teddy out, having the song ready to be played once he leaves the gas station. Even though Teddy, being Teddy, wants the call to continue despite his phone as of this moment sitting at less than 10% of battery life and now, having to deal with a faulty connection that just now Teddy had to deal with over an alright connection that happened at the start of the episode.
And now, out of freaking nowhere, Teddy developed a case of claustrophobia because of countless hours of him being trapped inside the closet in the bunker. Despite that in “The Bleakening”, he had no issue with small spaces when encasing himself inside the inflated Santa decoration as camouflage when waiting for The Bleaken to arrive. The same goes for the crawl space in the episode with the same name and in “Eggs for Days”. You’d think that a handyman like Teddy would get used to dealing with small spaces since taking the profession, but anything can happen and Teddy developing a case of possible claustrophobia is that one moment that shot out of nowhere. This isn’t like a Darryl situation where, even though there was a freak out like with Teddy in this episode, the bunker isn’t made out of cardboard and there’s no truck that almost squashed everyone like bugs. So, as Bob is heading out to play problem solver to get to where Teddy is at...
We return to the restaurant with Linda and the kids being left behind to take care of the place while Bob is away where one of the people in a basketball jersey comes into the restaurant to see if the place is open, which it is, more than enough for the woman to call in her teammates to enter the restaurant. The group of people who happened to be a local basketball team donning what appeared to be Seattle Sonics jerseys, note the green and yellow colors, coming into the restaurant for a feast, fresh out of a championship victory and are celebrating the victory and are ready to feast on their win. But once the athletes take their menus and sit at the table to go through the items to see which food to order, Louise gets an idea, resulting in an emergency family meeting inside the kitchen.
An idea that would no one in the family has ever done before when seeing a group of seven people coming into the restaurant. An idea that Bob couldn't even achieve until just now courtesy of Louise's idea and some effort from Linda, Tina, and Gene to feed a party of seven. That idea being a giant ass hamburger the likes no one has ever seen unless you're in a restaurant and some random customer ordered it as part of a contest to eat it all in 60 minutes to win a shirt or something. Dubbed "The Beef-hemoth", it's an impossible task to create a burger patty to be the size of Cincinnati as Louise described it but almost the size of a poker table. Again, it's an impossible task that Bob couldn't even achieve as Linda described even though Tina accuses Bob of being a "hater" because he doesn't want to do the job as a possible world record breaker and not get the attention of the guys from the Guinness World Record. Not to mention, knowing how big the burger is going to be, an empty tray after consuming seems out of the ordinary unless you're a Shonen protagonist who eating a lot of food feels like a normal Tuesday. But with enough convincing from the kids to get Linda’s permission and the basketball team in agreement, it looks like The Beef-hemoth is set and ready to go and we have ourselves a subplot in the episode...almost nine minutes into the episode around the second act.
The game of problem-solving continues as we shift back to Bob on his way to the bunker where Teddy is at with the song "Judy in Disguise" now downloaded on the phone and just in time for Teddy to make another phone call to know about the progress Bob is making on his way to the bunker, in which Bob tells Teddy that he hasn’t left the gas station because knowing that he’s an old man, at age 46, knowing that this is his first time with a smartphone, this was the first song that he had to download, hopefully legally by purchase from the app store, but begins to make his pursuit as he leaves the gas station with the music being played once he hits the road, but not before putting Teddy on speakerphone even though knowing that Teddy’s phone is already at less than 10% of battery life, which Teddy should really conserve his phone or at least put on freaking battery saving mode. Seriously, why isn’t that mode turned on for Teddy the moment he made the first phone call earlier in the episode? But knowing that Teddy’s claustrophobia has been kicking into high gear, despite not putting on battery saving mode, the phone call has to go on in hopes of alleviating the claustrophobia as Bob makes his way to follow the trail of where the house and bunker are at as Teddy described earlier in the episode. But knowing that we're nearing the end of the first half of the episode, there have to be some hurdles standing in the way.
The first hurdle is Bob getting blocked by a tractor as he's on the road going at the usual speed of how a tractor would go as if it's in a school zone. Knowing that the clock is ticking, Teddy suggests that Bob should go around the tractor since knowing that it's a one-lane road, he can't just let the tractor and the farmer who is driving it hog the road, but Bob can’t do that because knowing that it’s a one-lane road, a passing car could pass by and that would result in an accident. And not because of what happened the last time he did that when cutting someone on the road...yeah, can’t forget about that. A little reminder, don’t celebrate the holiday super early, just a little word of warning. Because that’s what you’re going to get that would result in a possible road rage incident and road rage incidents are never funny. Teddy suggests that Bob should honk the horn to get the driver’s attention to move, and pray that the tractor driver isn’t armed, which Bob did, only to be called out for what he thinks he pounded on the horn but at least that got the tractor driver's attention and clears the road for Bob to go through. Just be thankful that a possible road rage incident has been prevented because that's pretty much the last thing everyone needs in this situation. But that’s just the first of the hurdles that stand in the way for Bob to reach Teddy at the house where the bunker is located once we get to the end of the first half of the episode...
He comes across the three-way intersection once he reaches the dirt road to end the first half of the episode and go into the second half. And if that's not enough that would hamper things and leave Bob to his lonesome and have to do the problem-solving himself, remember when I said that Teddy should've put on battery saving mode on his phone knowing how low the battery life is when making a few calls with Bob? He probably should've done that because once Bob made it to the dirt road and told Teddy if he can remember which road to take that leads to Gerald's home, wouldn’t you guessed it, the phone at Teddy’s end freaking dies. Resulting in Bob to problem solve himself on how to get to the house before Gerald arrives at his house to check up on the progress of the false wall. Once we get to the second half of the episode, Bob is having trouble with where to go and thinks that the tire tracks would be the way to go to figure out which road leads to the house, but ends up being in a standstill with no clue where to go. Knowing that the episode has Bob playing the role of the problem solver, this almost feels like something coming out of a morning preschool show where it teaches your kid how to problem solve and figure out which route or item is the correct choice. At this point, we might as well expect a cameo from Dora the Explorer telling us where to go even though she has the freaking map in her possession. Getting flashbacks to that one episode from Drake and Josh with Crazy Steve watching Dora during a storm.
Both plots decide to intertwine for this scene as Linda and the kids begin to cook up the giant patty the size of a poker table and notice the backside of the patty now cooked and ready to be flipped, only to run into one little issue for them when making the Beef-hemoth for the group sitting at the table, flipping the patty. A normal spatula won’t do the trick to flip the damn thing unless the spatula or the patty were to break. It has gotten to the point where they need Bob to tell them what to do when flipping the patty without breaking it and the proper equipment that is required to do the job. And speak of the devil, Bob makes a call to Linda about the sticky situation that he is in with him having trouble picking the right road that leads to the house. The phone call pretty much boils down to Bob needing to vent over the situation that he is in after Teddy's phone died which resulted in him having to solve the problems himself. Which turns into a venting session with Bob telling Linda that he’s not capable of being in this situation when trying to reach Teddy at the bunker and Linda telling Bob that he can pull it off with no problem whatsoever before trying to change the subject into telling Bob on how to flip a giant burger patty before hanging up once Bob noticed a truck coming through. Leaving Linda and the kids to improvise on what to do on how to flip the damn thing to cook the other side of the patty. I would say get a shovel but that would require a lot of cleaning when getting the shovel to flip a patty that huge.
Bob comes across a truck that has a lot of flowers on the flatbed coming out from one of the roads and asks him for some help. Some directions that should help him get to Teddy as the clock continues to tick before Gerald's return, though the driver thought that Bob was looking for a friend when he thought that guy needed a friend instead of Bob looking for his friend, that being Teddy, so, talk about context when saying that sentence when asking for help. That supposed conversation almost went awry as the guy on the truck was set to make his way to the road, only for Bob to notice the smell of aftershave as the truck was preparing to drive by courtesy of the flowers that were in the flatbed. The flower in question, called the witch-hazel, is the active ingredient used for alcohol (medical alcohol) and, of course, aftershave. Which was the scent that Teddy smelt when being taken to the bunker and now, Bob noticed the smell coming from the flowers that would turn into an ingredient for the aftershave and other use from the plant. Connecting the dots in the search to find Teddy and Bob finally got his answer on where the house and bunker are. Look at Bob, thinking that he’s hot shit like he’s Sherlock Holmes when finally connecting the dots on where to go when locating the house that Teddy is at when noticing the scent from the flower and the music that was played when going for the play-by-play and now, he may have finally found the location of the house...well, one of the roads that would lead to Teddy’s location.
Going back to the restaurant with Linda and the kids doing a problem-solving answer for themselves when trying to come up with an idea on how to flip the giant patty to the other side for it to be grilled. This, of course, leads to Linda and the kids grabbing something to flip together as a group without having to break the patty into pieces with Linda and Tina with the trays on each edge of the patty and both Gene and Louise with the spatulas for support. And, to no surprise, they did flip the giant patty and no damage was caused when attempting to flip. So, that's good news for the Belchers when cooking up a giant fest for the group of athletes, who are waiting patiently for their orders to arrive. And even though the patty is flipped for the other side, the uncooked side, to be cooked on the grill, the bread has become the next item on the list that they need to get the giant burger ready to be served. This results in Tina volunteering to head to the bakery to get the bread as everyone waits for the burger patty to heat up. Keeping everyone busy as things hopefully go as planned as if we're dining at a Chili's. And they took their sweet ass time to cook when placing an order.
At the end of the third act of the episode, Bob finally arrives at the house following the scent of the witch-hazel but has some concerns about his arrival and where to park without being seen as if the house is equipped with cameras, though you think that knowing Teddy’s client being super secretive and hoping no one would get to his stuff that cameras would have to be installed, either that or booby traps but you’d really think he would go as far as creating booby traps if he had the chance? You have to think about that even though that probably won't make the most sense since the house is somewhat off the grid. Bob makes a decent move to not get detected despite the fact that Gerald isn't even at the house at the moment but it is for the best by having his car move past the house to another location so that it won't be seen without putting Teddy into a tight spot. As seen in the next scene with Bob coming into the backyard from the right as the way to go without being seen. Looking at the backyard of the house, it almost feels like a usual backyard when taking care of the property when purchasing the land as if you live on a farm or a ranch, hopefully for lumbering but knowing Teddy’s client and the description that Teddy gave to Bob about Gerald being super secretive and having to blindfold Teddy to his place and have him to create a false wall inside a bunker, as well as a loyalty test that was unannounced to Teddy during a visit at his house back in town, knowing the environment, tell me I’m wrong that this almost feels like a set up for a horror film with a murder scene ready to take place. Tell me I’m wrong that the environment doesn’t give you some serious serial killer vibes.
But it didn't take long for Bob to enter the bunker as we prepare to close the third act and go into the fourth with him arriving at the bunker and see the scene of the incident that happened and is ready to get the metal sheets up, well, not before having to put on the gloves per Teddy’s instructions because those things can be sharp and can cut a bitch, and once he does that, moving the metal sheets to have the door in the closet in the bunker to be open, and as the screenshot above is shown, Teddy been has freed thanks to Bob thanks to his problem-solving skills coming in clutch, even though he was this close from calling it a day midway to the house with little to no problem-solving skills without some needed help as if we're waiting for Bob to have a brain blast moment when getting to the house, but at least he pulled it off. But the celebration has to be cut short because knowing that Bob, even though he helped Teddy to get out of the closet inside the bunker, shouldn’t be here and should make a break for it before Gerald arrives to check up on the progress.
Too bad that once we get to the end of the third act and going into the fourth and final act, making an escape for Bob to get to his car without getting seen as if we're treating the visit into a dangerous game of "Don't Wake Daddy" with daddy being Gerald...pause. This leaves Bob and Teddy in a very tight spot because, again, Bob, despite being called in by Teddy to help him get out of the bunker, is not supposed to be here. And I'm guessing if Bob should've come here sooner or Gerald had been gone for another hour, then those two wouldn't be in this situation the duo are in. Did I mention that this almost feels like something coming out of a horror movie as if we're expecting for the slashing to take place? Yeah, it's sort of like that. Man, this season really wants to get to the horror aspect of things. First "Escape from Which Island" with a guy going full Florida Man, then "Fraud of the Dead" even though that was all for show, and now with this episode with Gerald, as Teddy described, as someone that we all think would be a shady guy with the loyalty test, not trusting people with the candy dispensers, and having to blindfold Teddy to take his place, I feel like the show wants to test the whole horror aspect by making Gerald into a terrifying threat as someone who you don’t want to fuck with. So, as Bob and Teddy attempt to improvise a plan to hide Bob so that Teddy won’t feel the pressure from Gerald and being put in hot water...
The rest of the Belcher family put the finishing touches on the Beef-hemoth with the piles of cheese being put on the patty for the heat to melt over the patty with Linda, Gene, and Louise waiting for Tina to return with the buns that they needed for the burger...except for one little issue once Tina returns to the restaurant. The buns in question that the family needed for the giant burger... turn out to it made out of plastic. According to Tina, the bun that she suggested earlier in the episode wasn't even real at all. It was all for display for the bakery to show off to the consumers. Meaning that the giant bun that everyone thought would be an actual thing...well, say it with me, folks...it was all a...
Genjutsu! The buns that Tina brought up and went to see if it was all didn't even exist at all. Well, it is but it wasn't actually the real thing and instead, it's all made out of plastic. Hampering the Belchers' shot of making the giant burger and with the basketball team still waiting for their order to arrive, they have to improvise once more if they want to get the giant patty out of the grill. I would say cut them into sliders for each member, but knowing that the Belchers are gunning for that record that you already know it's not going to get beat, they're not going to just throw the white towel and, again, they have to improvise. Let's just say, there are a lot of hamburger buns that haven't been touched for the day and it looks like, as shown at the end of the episode and as Louise instructed, they did that. Gotta think of a Plan B in case something is missing in a short amount of time. So, there wouldn't be an issue if you don't act like a dumbass in case something is missing that could hamper things.
We go back to the bunker with Teddy’s client Gerald coming into the bunker to see the progress of the false wall and looking at Gerald alone, aside from the description by Teddy of him being rich but is also a super private person who would go the full nine yards to make sure his candy dispenser doesn't get discovered, this motherfucker, when watching it when the episode first premiered, is giving me some sudden serial killer vibes. I mean, he does look like someone who might be ready to go on a killing spree. Like...my dude, tell me that he doesn't look like someone as if he's ready to go for a slash and run. Do you know what he reminds me of? You remember that subplot from Season 12's "Video Killed a Gene-io Star" with the guy with the briefcase who accidentally left the briefcase that caused Linda and Teddy to attempt to open the damn thing, only to find out that there are walnuts inside.
This guy. This guy in the screencap above is what I meant when mentioning the guy when compared to Teddy's client in this week's episode. Serious murderer vibes coming from those two in a span of two seasons and man, the design of their characters alone would give you a clear picture. I get with the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" despite that those two are one-offs, but the way they design and the vibes they gave to the viewers and the adults, they're the type of people who you don't want to fuck with. Oh god, imagine if those two were to team up. That would be like Shaq and Kobe, you know that video meme of whenever there's a team up with two people that would be trouble for everyone...yeah, that would be those two. Gerald checks up on the progress and sees that the false wall is a success coming from Teddy when noticing that his Pez dispensers are in good condition and perfectly hidden as he prepares to make his way out. But, don't worry, at least Teddy has become trustful in Gerald's book once he makes his way out to buy more dispensers, so at least there's some good in that but not going to get over the fact that what happened that led to the construction of the false wall feels like a kidnapping than a hiring with the blindfold being added, as well as having the location of the place being deleted from his phone. I’m not gonna let that go, you know. Gerald leaves the bunker, causing Teddy to open the other false wall from inside the closet for Bob to get out and before making his way out for the night, this is where things get a little interesting.
Because coming from the horse’s mouth, the horse being Teddy, Bob wasn't actually the first on Teddy's mind when making a call to get him out of the closet the moment the sheet metal came crashing down hat resulted in him being trapped. Yeah, I know, shocking. You'd thought that Bob would be the first to make contact, but he's not. Do you know who Teddy tried to call first before getting to Bob in his contacts? Mort. Yep, you heard that right. Mort. And here's what's interesting about Mort and Teddy when it comes to the history of the show. Throughout the past fourteen seasons, in the earlier seasons, Seasons 1-5 to be exact, Teddy has no problems with Mort since those two are regulars at the restaurant and Mort lives next door by the way. But once we get to the later seasons, think around Season 6 or 7, when you notice a shift where Teddy gets annoyed whenever Mort appears.
You could say that maybe because Teddy got promoted to the main character role and him, as the series goes on, becoming too attached to the Belchers that another family friend like Mort shouldn’t go near them even though Mort was just minding his business. You remember that subplot in “Drumforgiven” with that scene with Mort being drenched in soup when Teddy took the handyman job for Jimmy Pesto and was hoping for the reaction from Bob about him working for the enemy because he knew that both Bob and Jimmy hate each other. And before y'all say anything, no, it's not because of the whole thing regarding Kindler and the whole "issue" that some fans think that he's hard to work with since the 2016 election that has Mort to appear less and also being the bane to Teddy's existence out of freaking nowhere...I hardly doubt that was the case. I don't buy it.
So, Teddy bringing up that he was attempting to contact Mort before leaving him hanging, mostly because he didn’t pick up his phone when that happened, was interesting. Didn't expect that he would contact Mort as the first one on his list because knowing Teddy, you'd think that Bob would be the first. So the fact that Mort was the first before calling Bob to help him get out of the closet after being trapped with the sheet metal fallen to barricade the door, that was something that came out of nowhere from someone who in the earlier seasons of the series had no beef with the guy. Bob makes his way out but not before telling Teddy to call him once he leaves the place safely and swiftly before the night hits, already in celebration mode that he can do what Mort can't do once he leaves the bunker in gloat mode as the main plot finally comes to a close.
This leads us to the final scene of the episode later in the day and going into the night at dinner time with Bob, with him finally gaining his problem-solving skills and ties it back to the beginning of the episode with Gene struggling with his homework, helps him with his work with Bob giving Gene the answer for his math homework as the family prepares to eat the leftovers of the Beef-hemoth for the family to eat instead of wasting it away. Oh yeah, gotta bring that up as Louise tells the story about what happened once the burger was made in a flashback with the family presenting the giant burger to the table after playing the waiting game, and in celebratory fashion, they ate the whole thing but not the entire thing like a full 100% of the burger, more of a mere 50% going into 60% of the plate. Half a plate for the basketball team to consume until they decide to tap out because it's too much to eat. Won a championship in basketball to win yourself a trophy and order a giant ass meal, a giant ass burger to consume, and it knocks you right out when you and your teammates ate about 50%, 60% of the plate like it’s Christmas dinner. The lunch of champions, at least they deserved a feast this huge after celebrating a win. By the way, yours truly...fantasy football champion. First-ever title to say the least and much like the Steelers, embrace the bullshit. Rather than throwing the plate away, the Belchers decide to keep the plate and serve it for dinner once Bob returns from saving Teddy. Ending the episode with Linda and the kids beginning to conduct more ideas on how to create giant items as Bob tries to shut it down to wrap things up.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? At first, as I said in the introduction to this review, it felt like filler when going through the first viewing the night it came out. Think it’s mostly because of the mixture of the holiday fatigue, yours truly doing the year-end countdown, a short attention span, and getting things ready for The Great North’s return is when my brain went completely off. But when I had to rewatch it to give it a better understanding, if I have to be honest, despite that this feels like a filler episode and possibly a forgettable one at best, it was an alright episode. Not great but it’s not bad when going through the main plot with Bob planning on getting Teddy out of the closet of the bunker.
The topic of the episode with Bob having to open up his problem-solving skills after struggling to help Gene with his homework and having to follow the tracks on where the bunker where Teddy is trapped was okay. I mean, sure, it does feel like something coming out of a morning kids' show that teaches you how to problem solve, though without the use of fourth wall breaking and asking the viewer to answer the right choice as if it's a choose-your-own-adventure book. But unlike a certain episode from a few seasons ago and a song that feels like something coming out of a preschool show that you thought that it feels like the script was switched for a preschool show and not an adult animated show like Bob's Burgers, but unlike that episode, the episode did hold steady with the writing and direction. I'm still going to say that Teddy's client is giving me some serial killer vibes because the look and the description, despite that he's super secretive over his Pez dispenser collection that he doesn't trust his own mom despite Gerald and his mom doesn't have any beef, not to mention the loyalty test and blindfolding Teddy and being taken from his truck to his own and taking him to the house where the bunker is, I’m still going to say that he’s imitating and the type of person who you shouldn’t mess around with. And Teddy bringing up that Mort was the first person in his contacts over Bob when being trapped inside the closet in the bunker was an interesting scene that came out of nowhere after being saved. Like with Bob with the Freudian slip a few times that Teddy was his best friend, Teddy attempting to contact Mort first before calling Bob was interesting, mostly because of how the dynamic shifted from the earlier seasons where they had no beef to the later seasons where Teddy had some beef with Mort for no whatever reason.
The subplot was okay with the rest of the Belchers cooking up a giant burger for a basketball team fresh out of a championship victory and in need of a feasting. Not a lot to say about the subplot other than that this feels like filler but this was an okay subplot with the Belchers working together. And it's interesting to see Gene and Louise wearing aprons, which is something that we never even saw until this episode came out. But other than that, this was an okay subplot but feels more like filler, to say the least when describing the secondary story of the episode while Bob is away to get Teddy out of the bunker closet. So, final thoughts, an okay episode. Feels like filler and can be deemed as a forgettable episode and the rewatch factor is there in my opinion when watching the episode to get a better understanding. I don't hate it but I also don't like it. This was average at best when describing the episode. So I'll give "Mission Impossi-Bob"...
A 6 out of 10. But that’s my opinion on this episode and I wanna hear yours in the comments down below. And with The Great North now returned to our screens after a six-month hiatus since the end of Season 3, yep, yours truly is expected to work on the review for "Bad Speecher Adventure", the first episode of Season 4, and hopefully I can get it out...knowing that by the time this review gets posted, it's already Wednesday, so hopefully by later tonight or overnight going into early Thursday. So stay tuned for that.
Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. As I mentioned, the review for the first episode of the new season of The Great North will be worked on right away once this review is posted and hopefully, it will be out by later tonight or early Thursday. And of course, y'all should know the drill by now...
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