After two grueling months of not having any new episodes and yours truly having to tackle The Great North to pass the time, we’re back for another installment of the Bob’s Burgers review...for this month only. Yep, we’re going into another hiatus again until sometime in April. The signs were already in place that we are looking at a shortened season than the usual 22-episode count that we usually get in the past seasons. I already said what I said in my introduction to my "Risky Beefness Adventure" review of The Great North back in February, just because of a shortened season, doesn't mean the show isn't going anywhere. It doesn't mean the show is canceled because we still have Season 15. And no, the show isn't ending any time soon just because of the long hiatus between January and March. I've been through this shit back when Steven Universe and Gravity Falls were airing and had to go through that and having to wait to play the waiting game. Hell, I had to go six months without having anything from The Great North since the end of last season, though that was mostly because of the strikes that affected production, so calm down. While it's not a guarantee because I don't know what the fuck I'm saying or doing, but I'm sure that we'll be back to a full 22-episode episode come next season. So, chill, folks. Chill.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, rather, this month's episode of Bob's Burgers, Louise and Linda go to the Wharf to partake in a scavenger hunt while going on a tour across the wharf and learning about the town's history of bootlegging as the rest of the Belchers host a group of street performers and must find a way to settle a beef between the performers in my spoilerific review of the twelfth episode of Season 14 of Bob's Burgers, titled "Jade in the Shade".
You might as well label this episode as “Fan Service: The Episode” because ever since the synopsis of the episode, along with the promotional images a few weeks ago leading up to the official airing this past weekend, there was some hype being built up for this episode. Mostly because the fandom had to play the waiting game since January for when another episode is going to air, especially going into the spring half of the season with a lot of question marks when it comes to scheduling with Family Guy moving to Wednesdays, Grimsburg setting up shop in the Sunday lineup, the return of The Great North, and Krapopolis, I thought the first season would be at least 12-13 episodes but might be gunning for a twenty count than what I originally thought that putting in room seems like a hassle. But it’s mostly because of the various locations from the images that caused the fandom to go on a frenzy regarding certain familiar locations in the Wharf that we saw before. Maybe y’all heard of it, called The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Y’all know where this episode was going and hoping for some reference from the events of the film and uh...lo and behold, we got that in this episode. Which I’ll get to later in the episode.
But besides that, oh, don't forget the lore, the looooooore, you have to yell out as if you give a damn whenever something that ties in with the canon of the show or the world or character building gets dropped that happened to be big and important, regarding the town’s history when it comes to the world of bootlegging and the object in question, that being a jaded jellyfish statue...and there’s also a subplot...yeah, but besides that, we waited two months from this and even though we have to wait for another month for another episode, might as well take our treat and go. This is “Jade in the Shade”.
The episode, as usual, starts with the Belchers at the breakfast table with Louise coming into the kitchen in high spirits and excited for what is about to come for the day. She’s excited about the tour at the hotel about the history of the town. Yeah, Louise being excited about learning according to Tina and Gene sounded as if she was out of character, and having both Louise and learning in the same sentence when being excited about going on a tour about the history of the town. Then again, she studied her ass off one time so she can get a chance of feeding the sharks at the aquarium during an overnight stay. But the reason why Louise has shown an interest in wanting to go to the tour at the hotel later today when establishing the main plot of the episode is because of an interesting tidbit that piqued Louise's interest and convinced her to get into the conversation. That being the bootlegging side of the history of the town’s lore and thus, it’s more than enough for Louise to say...
Of course, Linda has to tag along because Louise is young and an adult is required to take her to the hotel once the family finishes eating breakfast, but also because Linda senses an opportunity to spend time with her youngest daughter. Some quality mother/daughter time together while being out of the house. And a trip to the hotel to learn about the bootleggers and the smugglers that came to the city back in the day and learn that the hotel was once a hotspot for underground activity that would make Louise’s day because she gets to learn about the criminal activity during the times of prohibition, but yeah, quality mother/daughter time is what Linda is expected to have for the day and a day that she will have once taking Louise to the hotel once they finish breakfast. At least they got the tickets on the cheap, for free because it only applies to small businesses across the town and Bob’s Burgers is a small business. Unlike those tourists where they have to pay the minimum if they want to take a looky-loo at the history of the town. It’s the principle that counts.
The day has begun for Linda and Louise as they arrive at the hotel once we get to the next scene and meet up with the rest of the attendees with two of the attendees being Harold and Edith, who are also on the small business freebie experience, as they too are taking part of the tour...they’re only there for this scene and in the non-speaking role of the rest of the first act of the episode as the tour takes place. But even though Harold and Edith aren't too much of an issue for the two Belcher girls, the day shouldn't be too much of a downer. Louise has to learn about the history of the town and its ties with the underground criminal activity and Linda on her side for, in Linda's point of view, hoping to be the best mother/daughter outing day as long as they run into problems that could sour the mood.
Until Logan and Cynthia enter the premise and the mood has turned sour when the two parties come face-to-face with each other right before the tour is about to begin. It has been almost three years since we last saw them with Season 11’s “Tell Me Dumb Thing Good” and might as well bring them back because it has been a while since we last had a rivalry episode with Linda and Cynthia but also Louise and Logan. Of course, whenever Logan gets introduced like what we saw with him coming in with Cynthia and coming across with Louise...bring out the locust. For context, I don't ship these two and yes, that is an actual pairing despite the age difference and Logan being an asshole. But there's going to be some in the fandom, the tiny slice of the pie, where they're going to pretend what happened in "Large Brother, Where Fart Thou" didn't even happen and taking one of the one-liners from Gene from Season 5 seriously, even though...it's a one-liner from Gene and most of his one-liners are taken as jokes that are oftentimes random, though nowadays, don't even land or was forced in to tone down the seriousness of the subject of the matter, no matter what the subject is. But yeah, I don't ship them and I know that the Louigan shippers, that's the pairing name of Louise and Logan, are probably eating this up, even though Logan and Cynthia come the second half of the episode are going to be non-existent since they're going to have little screentime. It has been almost three years since we last saw those two, might as well bring them back because we're overdue for a rivalry episode for Linda and Louise who aren't named Colleen Caviello and Chloe Barbash. While the tour is about to begin for Louise, Linda, and the others at the hotel...
We head to the restaurant where we establish the subplot of the episode with Bob, Tina, and Gene noticing a group of street performers outside the restaurant. Thought that they're going to do a show outside by the sidewalk at first, but no, they're going inside the restaurant and take a seat where the three noticed sour moods on their faces as if there's some sort of friction going on within the group, which there is once the group introduced themselves to the three Belchers. The group consists of a woman carrying balloons on her waist, a guy who plays with bubbles, a juggler, and a guy who looks like a homeless person who happens to be a pipe player, and the bubble guy breaks the ice by telling Bob that one of their members, or rather, their former member has passed and the group are on thin ice with each other over who would be getting his spot in the group. Not for the job of being the tap dancer, but for getting the best spot whenever they perform outside of the Wharf. So, we have a group of performers being mad at each other over who gets to call shotgun on their dead member's old spot and at odds to decide who would be the lucky one to fill that role and stopping by the location where the main cast are at, probably going to serve as a place of therapy, and have said main cast to patch things up. Do you know what this reminds me of?
The Ketchikan-do's acapella group from The Great North. Because like this episode of Bob's Burgers, you also have a group of performers that made a stop at the place where the main cast resides. Granted, there are a lot of differences between the Ketchikan-do's and the street performers by the Wonder Wharf, and here are a few things on the list to name out: The acapella group's bus's tires hit a snag after coming across a pothole that Wolf forgot to cover; the street performers just walked into the restaurant by foot. Two of the members of the Ketchikan-do's had a feud over who gets to call dibs on a song to be added to the playlist following the death of one of their members; whereas the street performers, it's over the best spot following the death of one of their members that got the whole group to be mad at each other as if they're fighting over who gets the last slice of pizza. And much like with Wolf and Honeybee having to get two members to patch things up, it looks like the Belchers will have to do the same with the street performers...by being the judges and watching each of the street performers' performances, which was brought up after the scene of the first portion of the tour but I have to say it anyway because the subplot for this episode...forgettable at times because most of the attention has been on the main plot and honestly, it sounds like a valid response to the subplot.
Going back to the hotel with the tour now in progress with everyone being taken to the underground bar that was hidden from inside the walls with the bookshelf serving as a hatch to reveal a secret passageway to the said bar. A speakeasy that was hidden inside the hotel that is now a tourist attraction and y'all should already know about the era known as prohibition. Where during the 1920s and 1930s, alcohol was outlawed by the government after numerous complaints due to the masses, especially the men, and the heavy drinking that led to the passage of the 18th Amendment that ultimately led to the rise of speakeasies and organized crime, most notable being the Italian mafia. We have a speakeasy in the hotel as one of those reminders as the hotel manager tells Louise, Linda, and the others about the historical aspect of the underground bar, which includes an old-fashioned speaker where the bartender gets the alert in the event the police gets called and a secret tunnel, which is not shown in this part of the tour, for every patron to escape to evade arrest that would lead them to the Wharf. Those folks who thought that prohibition was a good idea or against it from the start who were against it later in their lives had to think smart on how not to get caught that would turn into history's version of Don't Wake Daddy, and Daddy is, of course, the United States Government. But why stop there during the tour, and yes, having to skip over the scene back to the restaurant because that's where the performers decided to hold a competition and have the audience be the judge, but why stop there?
We get to the other side of the hotel in a random room where more stuff that was hidden is being showcased to the masses as part of the town's bootlegging history. The bedpost by the edge of the bed seemed like a usual bedpost, but it turned out to be a storage unit that could hide one bottle of liquor. The same goes for the outlet, to make it faulty, to make sure it can store another bottle to make sure that it looks like a usual hotel room rather than potential hiding spots. Again, the people who hated the idea of having their usual drinking being outlawed by the government have to use their big brains in hopes of hiding their illegal substance from the po-po. And if it means committing hard crimes like...I dunno, murder? They would have to go the whole nine yards, in fact, the whole ninety yards to make sure the suspect in question would go scot-free while trying to hide the scotch. All of this ties in with the item in question that gets Louise's attention and would become the important object in this week's episode. The jaded jellyfish statue. And boy, the history on the object...let's just say, the prohibition era of the 1920s-1930s when it comes to criminal activity would make the serial killer golden era of the 1960s-1970s look like a freaking act for a low-budget movie.
The only problem with the statue is that the item isn't even his, to begin with, it was stolen. Sam stole the prized possession from a New York collector named Carlyle Linus and decided to keep it for himself and put it in a safe until one night, it was stolen from the said safe by someone that turned into a crime scene. By someone whom he trusted. That person happened to be his girlfriend. Yeah, you read that right, his girlfriend by the name Mimi Molero, who wrote a letter to when hiding the statue in the safe, telling her on a note about the statue in the event he gets sent packing. Just didn't expect the girlfriend of the suspect to be the one who would rat him out and Mimi did after getting arrested after committing the crime, mostly to save her skin. And what's interesting about it is that even though Mimi did betray Sam and then rat him out for possible immunity despite stealing the object for herself, telling her about where the object was hiding. 20 parsecs west of Poseidon, which sounded like a weird use of measurement because you’re talking about measurement that is used for space exploration unless it refers to the constellation, spoiler alert, there’s no such thing as the constellation called Poseidon. So, in short, what the letter is saying is that the jaded jellyfish statue has been stored in a secured location until some nook decided to take it for themselves. Hmm...I wonder who that nook is that took the item in question. So, as everyone is about to make their way out of the hotel room as the tour continues...
Especially once we get to the end of the first act of the episode, it doesn't take long for Louise to figure out where the statue is actually located based on her logical thinking after the hotel manager brings up the story of the crime scene and the case of the missing statue. Most notably, where the thing is located. Louise asks Linda in private about putting two and two together on where the missing statue is actually located thanks to her logical thinking. When the note by Sam back in the day mentioned that the statue is locked away 20 parsecs west of Poseidon, Louise figured out that the note wasn’t referring to the sea as if the thing was buried deep underwater, though if it were, which, according to Louise, it’s not, though if it is, then that shit would’ve either broken into pieces or some random fisherperson scooped it up long ago, but nay-nay, according to Louise when talking to her mother in private, she knows where the statue is actually hidden. The place that she is referring to when finding out that there's something else that has the name Poseidon. Poseidon is the statue that is in the Wharf near a certain ride that Louise and Linda know all too well. The ride? The freaking Mole Hill. That's right, ladies and gentlemen and others, we got a connection to the movie! Oh, we finally got one. We finally got one, even though we saw the Mole Hill ride outside of the movie last season in "What About Job" in Bob's story, but hey, we got continuity from the movie when bringing up the Mole Hill. Most importantly, the underground hideout that the Fischoeders have is located deep inside the ride including the statue where you have to twist the nips to open the passageway. You know…when things happened, which included a scrawny lawyer/cousin revealing himself to be the murderer and coming close to having the Wharf destroyed to build a Mega Park? Those were the times. Those were the times indeed. Louise and Linda decide to make their way out of the hotel and head to the Wharf to find the statue...except for one little issue that could stand in the way for them. Oh yeah...
Logan overheard the whole thing because Louise and Linda had their private conversation with the speaker just as he was waiting for his mom Cynthia to come out. Just as they're about to head back home, it looks like the duo has other plans for the rest of the day because now that Logan overheard Louise and Linda's conversation about the jaded jellyfish and begin their search, knowing how valuable it is, it seems that the Bushes also want to get their hands on that statue. And...okay, even though I hate those characters, that being Logan and Cynthia because one’s an asshole and the other is a bitch, besides the rivalry between them and Louise and Linda that we haven’t seen in a few years that is being showcased now that the race to get the jaded jellyfish statue has now begun, I guess one of the highlights for the episode aside from the callbacks from the movie would be how Cynthia is babying Logan and trying to be motherly towards him with Logan being embarrassed and also some moments later in the episode where Logan has to reason with his mother over some stuff like shoes in the event they do find the statue, it is an interesting add-on to the episode for the main plot as they’re hot on Linda and Louise’s tail to get to the jaded jellyfish statue. Even though they became non-existent once we get to the second half of the episode.
We begin the second act of the episode with Linda and Louise at the Wharf and by the Mole Hill with Linda on the phone with Bob and telling him that both she and Louise are going to run a little late when telling him about the jaded jellyfish that they heard from the tour and for Louise to go on the hunt to locate the item in question. But if it means that Linda gets to continue spending mother/daughter quality time outside of the restaurant, even if it means going back to the place where shit once hit the fan in the movie and...you know, nearly died and almost had the Wharf go explodey-boom. So once Linda wraps up her phone call with Bob, Louise is unable to open the door to the room where the control panel of the Mole Hill ride is for her and Linda to go down the slide into the underground hideout, another movie callback added into the show, and it looks like the ride doesn't stop there because if you think that Louise being unable to open the door of the Mole Hill would stop her, which uh...really should've have your pickpocket kit on the standby there, Louise, just putting it out there, that kit would've been really handy. The locked door at the Mole Hill, without a fucking lock picking kit in tow, didn't take long for Louise to realize that there's another way to get into the underground portion of the pier where old rides go to die.
Remember in the movie where the Fischoeders take Louise along with Tina and Gene across the underground pier and show them the different entrances to get to the underground from one place in the Wharf to the other as seen in the screencap above? Oh yeah, we're going to that place and it's the ice cream shop that Louise and Linda are heading to if they want to get to underneath the pier. Man, the fan service is going strong in this episode with the connections to the movie and we're already in the second act of the episode. The first few minutes of the second act. So, Louise and Linda make their way from the Mole Hill, once again, would be really handy if Louise had smuggled her lock-picking kit on the ready, which is pretty much dental equipment but useful for picking locks, and made their way to the ice cream shop.
Not knowing that Logan and Cynthia are hot on their trail because they too want to get their hands on the artifact with a high bounty once they see Louise and Linda enter the ice cream shop. Saying that it’s too cold to eat ice cream? Bitch, it’s never too cold to eat ice cream. Drinking beer on a cold day on the other hand, yeah...not an ideal thing to have even though the temperatures are starting to warm up now that Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is right around the corner. Too cold to eat ice cream my ass.
Louise and Linda enter the ice cream shop where they come across the ice cream vendor that made a cameo in the movie when the Belcher kids and the Fischoeders popped up from the floor in one of the passageways to underneath the boardwalk. Of course, they gotta get the vendor out of the shop if Louise can open up the hatch for their quest to continue, leading Louise to lie to the vendor that Fischoeder is throwing $10 in the shape of paper airplanes to pass out as if he’s giving them for free as if they’re giving people raises but that’s more than enough to get the vendor out of the shop and for Louise and Linda to behind the counter and open up the hatch. Once again, the callback to the Fischoeders showing the kids the different passageways to underneath the Wharf and Louise pretty much knows in memory long after the events of the movie.
And I know that there are going to be some people who question that the callbacks to the movie are there in this episode, the burning question would be, “Oh, if we’re getting callbacks to the movie, why isn’t Tina in high school? Didn’t the movie set a week before summer vacation?” First of all, shut up! Second, you and I both know they ain't gonna age the characters up a year. Sure, Tina in the first five episodes of the series was 12 before turning 13 that we know to this day, and yes, Bob, Linda, Rudy, Courtney...they all had their birthday episodes and Bob had two birthday episodes in between two seasons. There's an issue on that when it comes to...well, the setting. The week before the summer break. You'd think that with a setting like that, Tina would be up and ready to go for her next adventure as a high schooler. Last I checked, the topic of graduation did not get brought up in the film. Not even once throughout the hour and forty-two-minute runtime. But then comes the "Some Like It Bot" two-parter leading up to the movie when Linda brought up that Tina's birthday was coming up. What would've been her ready to turn 14? Hell, we saw one of the final scenes of the second part of the two-parter with Linda wrapping up a pair of jeans into a present. That didn't get brought up ever again. So for anyone who got excited that we got a lot of callbacks to the movie but question why Tina and her class didn't make it to high school, again, they ain't gonna age the characters up. And the most sense of it would be if Tina does go to high school, it could disrupt the dynamic of the Belcher siblings whenever they're in school. By the way, Grover was not mentioned in this episode from either Louise or Linda's mouths once they reached underneath the pier. I mean, the events of the chase were there but it's baby steps from calling out the fucker's name.
We go back to the restaurant and the next few scenes in the episode, especially when going into the second act, there’s not going to be a lot to be covered since each of the scenes from the subplot is each of the performers. We start with the balloon lady showcasing her skills by making animal balloons but not in the usual way of making a balloon animal you have to rely on one or a few balloons to create something simple like a dog or a giraffe. Try a Chinese dragon to top things off from her using various balloons in different colors to create the shape of the dragon and decides to toss it for Gene to catch once she's done...only for Gene to end up popping it, resulting in the balloon sculpture to deflate more than the Patriots back in the day deflating footballs. But that’s going to be the rest of the subplot until we get to the fourth and final act of the episode, overseeing each of the performers’ performances and hoping to get a big enough crowd reaction to give them the spot that was left vacant by a dead member of the group.
Louise and Linda finally make their return to the place where most rides go to die underneath the pier, reminiscing the moment of the family having to evade getting murked by Grover after Louise figured out that he was the person behind Cotton Candy Dan’s murder and his plot to destroy the Wharf to build his Mega Park. It's been almost two years since the release of the movie and already, we're thinking back to the times when the Belchers nearly died and they're pros at dealing with near-death experiences. Again, Grover wasn't mentioned in this episode when going into the pier underground once Louise and Linda entered the premises to continue their search for the jaded jellyfish. Not knowing that Logan and Cynthia are hot on their trail.
We go back to the restaurant with another performer, this time with the bubble performance, in an attempt to please the crowd, mostly Bob, Teddy, Tina, and Gene in hopes that he gets the dub and the spot that was left vacant by a former member. Once that’s done, the next performer is about to perform and ready to outclass his group members so he can get the dub. But not before the other performer, the guy who looks like a homeless person, asks Bob if he can wash his flip-flops at the kitchen sink, which Bob doesn’t want him to do it but has no choice but to allow him to do it as he prepares for his performance later in the episode. Aside from that, the bubble guy finished his performance and the next man up, the guy who juggles, is ready to take the stage.
Going back to the main plot where all things are important there where we have Linda and Louise finally making it to the hatch where the passageway to the Fischoeders’ hideout inside the Mole Hill would be at and thought that it would be their way into the hideout where Louise thought the statue would be at. However, it has shut. Like glued shut. Oh jeez, I wonder why it was locked. Oh right, you need to get to the statue, which is inside the hideout, and twist the nipples to open the passageway. Brute strength would be the next thing up for Linda and Louise to open unless there’s a crowbar randomly placed out of nowhere but brute force would have to be the way to go and hopefully the hatch isn't fully closed off from them to enter. However, that's going to have to wait because just as Linda and Louise struggle to open the hatch to the passageway to the hideout, Louise notices a noise, make that a couple of noises from the back, and to no one surprise as we close the first half of the episode and going into the second half...
Logan and Cynthia. They followed them to the pier underneath since, mind you, the end of the first act of the episode where Louise and Linda had their private conversation, not knowing that Logan overheard the whole thing from start to finish because the conversation was by the freaking speaker. As for how Logan and Cynthia even made it to the underground pier? They followed them, of course. And once they noticed the vendor leaving the shop and the hatch to the underground pier that left open for them to enter...quite a dumbass move that Louise had to make for not knowing that she’s by the speaker that is still working mind you, and also leaving the thing open, or so I think it was left open when Louise and Linda entered the passageway. I think she or Linda did close it but Logan and Cynthia pretty much saw the thing from the shrubs and noticed the lock. But, still...quite a dumbass move to have someone like Logan and Cynthia to follow them on their tracks because thanks to Louise’s big mouth about the missing statue and the price tag it contains. Louise decided to improvise a way to get both Logan and Cynthia off of her and Linda's backs by bringing Linda into the mix and helping Louise lie to Logan and Cynthia mixing up the wording from what she said where she thought the jaded jellyfish was located, mostly to get them off of their backs. And in a blink and you'll miss a moment, the movement in Louise's hand when signaling Linda to tag in, fluid animation once more. It's as if her winter getup serves as her source of good animation powers. I'm serious, go to that scene, take a closer look, take a look at the scene again, and this time, go slow-mo or go frame-by-frame.
So once Louise and Linda lie to Logan and Cynthia to go to the other side of the underground Wharf, finally having them exit stage left, the two continue to try to open the hatch...only to stop what they're doing once more when Louise noticed that statue is not even inside the old hideout at all and instead, using logical thinking when remembering the card that Sam wrote long ago to Mimi that the item is stored away 20 parsecs to the west. This means that, again, the lost statue isn't even located in the hideout and instead, it's by a nearby wall. The place that no one would ever suspect for almost 100 years before just now by the thinking cap of a 9-year-old in bunny ears. Louise and Linda make their way to the wall and this is where Linda's motherly instincts decide to kick in once she notices the creaking of the wooden floor as they make their way to where the statue is hidden. Fearing for Louise’s safety as the two Belcher women are right by the finish line regarding the location of the missing jaded jellyfish statue.
Once again, going back to the restaurant with the juggler wrapping up his performance by juggling an apple, a lightbulb, and a literal sword at the same time. You'd think that him juggling a sword would have you think that something bad is going to happen like...I dunno, having an arm sliced or someone getting caught in the range of the sword and an indirect accidental murder happens. But no, he did it like a champ when juggling an apple, a lightbulb, and a sword without messing things up. Pleasing the crowd with him a bite of the apple and then slices it just as he was about to wrap up his performance, which he did. You could say that it should be the end of this so-called competition but we got one more person to take the stage and if you haven’t already watched the episode, y’all already know who won this competition.
Going back to the pier underground the Wharf as we're nearing the end of the third act and going into the fourth, passing through the small scene with Logan and Cynthia with them struggling to find the statue after accepting the lie told by Louise with Cynthia giving Logan raisin pieces when knowing how cranky he is, and it looks like things might not be looking well when it comes to...well, safety. The floor continues to creak a lot more as the mother/daughter duo are inches closer to reaching the wall where the statue is. The goal of getting the object in question is near with Louise going on a warpath to get the item despite not knowing where she is going or not caring about her safety. Yeah, this is turning into a repeat of "The Show (and Tell) Must Go On" with a similar notion to this episode. You remember in that episode from last season where Louise wanted to get an old cannonball from the cave for her show and tell presentation, her last one for in her career as a student, Tina telling her to back down because of safety concerns, you get the idea when it comes to some Louise-centric episodes these days since the turn of the decade. It’s like that this time around with the jaded jellyfish being the center of attention that caught Louise’s attention and you have Linda now noticing the floors creaking as they continue to walk and think it’s a good idea to stand down and head back to the surface before they go to sleep with the fishes. Just as Louise continues to ignore Linda’s warning to stop what she is doing as the floor continues to creak...
Yep, that happened. A portion of the Wharf comes crumbling down, opening a gaping hole that almost looks like the size of the sinkhole that happened in front of the restaurant if anyone remembered that. It's amazing that knowing the condition of the floor underneath the pier, it can handle well despite the signs that it's becoming rickety, it somehow stood still despite the conditions it had to go through and would make the chase scene in the movie a little more different if the floor of the underground pier crumbles as the chase progressed. In fact, that almost happened because there's a bonus feature in the movie if you have the...well, the Blu-ray disc called "The Movie We Didn't Make" and there's that one animatic of the chase scene that has the floor crashing down into the ocean, which would've made that scene a high stakes one for the Belchers when attempting to evade Grover. Funny enough that the conditions of this underground pier were the same pier that Wonder Wharf had to be built over this exact boardwalk that Linda and Louise are in and mind you, before the Wonder Wharf, the amusement parks of years past either got burnt to the ground or get washed away from a storm. And if that's the case, even though Wonder Wharf opened more than 80 years ago when the practical birth-giving Fischoeder opened the Wharf, that is a pretty strong safe that can withstand stuff like that. And also construction without anyone noticing.
Oh, and Linda decided to curb stomp Louise's mission by telling her that she should stand down and head back home. Not because of safety concerns, but because Linda thinks that because it's been over a century since the statue was last seen that the status is one big question mark and think that they're going to find it anyway. Causing Louise to be mad at her for lying just for thinking that the whole hunt for the statue is nothing more than...well, a fairy tale. Nothing more than a fairy tale that Louise would have to fall for. But Louise knows that it's out there. She knows that it's not a fairy tale. She had her logical thinking built in because she knew what she was doing, despite putting her safety at risk. This almost sounded like a callback or a reference to what happened in the movie with Louise wanting to prove that she's not a baby by solving a cold case regarding the murder of a carnie to save the restaurant, save the Wharf, and prove Fischoeder's innocence. What's the reason for this with the missing statue? Well, aside from the money because of that high bounty regarding the statue that could benefit the family, it's mostly to see the item for herself and think that the whole story about what happened isn't fake and treat it as some story to fool the crowd just for clicks. Oh yeah, and going into the fourth act of the episode, in a snap, Louise and Linda set aside their differences and continue the search despite Louise getting sent to the ocean by the crumbling floor of the pier. Gotta put that out there as the duo are moments away from reaching the wall where the item is.
Going back to the restaurant and we already have ourselves a winner because the last person of the group takes the stage, the guy with the pipes who looked like a homeless person and yeah, the beat was interesting and the visuals when playing the pipes and treating it as a drum does look sick and that’s should be more than enough for him to end up taking the spot because, of course, save the best for last and he did his best to do it. More than enough to get Bob, Teddy, Tina, and Gene some round of applause to him as he's now the clear winner. Meaning that he'll get the spot...but not before deciding to say that the fighting between the members should stop and instead, share it. Though coming close to him has revealed that he's the son of the dead member, which, of course, he's not, his words, but everyone now comes to an agreement that they need to share the spot, as written on various pipes that he has to pass out to his friends on who gets the spot on each specific time and day. So, that's the end of the subplot for the episode with everyone in the group patching things up following the final performance and about to leave, but not before deciding to grab a bite to eat.
The camera goes back to the main plot as we're nearing the two-minute warning of the episode with Louise finally discovering the jaded jellyfish statue from inside the wall despite the open gaping hole that almost took her to the ocean. She unravels the statue from the cloth and takes the statue and shows it to Linda. Of course, gotta keep it quiet and hidden once she puts the statue into Linda's coat so they get out before Logan and Cynthia notice and could turn it into a squabble. Especially when going into the final few minutes of the episode. So, Linda and Louise decide to skedaddle and make their escape without being seen by Logan and Cynthia, however, once they finally reach the surface, at the ice cream shop...
Yeah, Fischoeder noticed when grabbing a bite of ice cream. He noticed that the bootlegging tour would result in Louise and Linda going and searching for the jaded jellyfish statue, the statue that he claims it belongs to him, even though Louise claims that it belonged to Sam. Oh yeah, so uh...remember the hotel manager mentioned that some nook took the missing statue that Sam took that he took from a New York City resident? You guessed it, it's the Fischoeders who took it. Unclear that it's Papa Fischoeder who called dibs and somewhat handed it over to Calvin as part of the inheritance or maybe it was Calvin himself who found it, all we know is that it was the Fischoeders who called dibs on the statue, and thus, having it to keep it under the Wharf inside the wall so that no one could find it. And even though Fischoeder is already loaded, what's one more once he takes the statue away from the Belchers and plans on selling it...
Only to find out that it's nothing more than a piece of crap. Worthless to be exact despite the $40,000 price tag ($700,000 in today's time) and rather than selling it on the cheap, you know, trying to strike a deal, or keep it as a moment for the next of kin to take...so I guess no one because you need a good track record to get their hands on the inheritance, something that neither Felix nor Grover is never going to get. So instead of all of those options, Fischoeder decided to give the item to the hotel manager to put it up as a new addition to the tour. Oh yeah, and the reason why the jellyfish statue was deemed as worthless as Fischoeder described? The statue in question isn't even made from actual jade stones and instead, it sort of resembles a decorative item you would see at a bargain store that is made to serve as decoration at a living room home. Thus, because it was worthless and not worth the $700,000 in inflation as it was originally advertised, Fischoeder had to make a deal for the hotel manager to accept, in which the deal was made and only got $100 out of it. Of course, the Belchers, rather, Louise, can't end the episode empty-handed and decide to give her and the family, but mostly Louise because she was the one who found it, $50 in cash...is what he would say because he had to spend a portion of the $100 make sure no one who isn’t a Fischoeder to get into under the pier following what happened with Louise and Linda, along with Logan and Cynthia entering the scene of the location earlier in the episode. So, Fischoeder has to deduct the prize money to only $17 and if this were the old, earlier seasons version of Louise, she would have to drive a hard bargain to get more than the $17 that Fischoeder is planning on giving, but since she was the one who found the item, she decided to swallow her pride and takes the money from Fischoeder’s wallet. So what did Louise do with the money in her hands after finding the statue? Normally, a kid like her would spend that shit as if she just won the lottery from a scratch-off ticket. But no, rather than spending it, or at least saving it in the event she were to open a bank account for herself...
She decides to frame the $17 on the wall in her bedroom and treat it as an achievement. While I have some issues with the modern version of Louise, mostly with how her episodes played out with her having to learn a lesson each time that it has become formulaic since the turn of the decade except for a few episodes where she had really stolen the show, it is a very nice moment there for her to have the award money that she got from Fischoeder and decides to frame it as a reward rather than planning on spending it on stuff. Yeah, this was a good moment for Louise that she got to put something on her wall to serve as an award for something she did, even if the item she found was deemed worthless but to Louise, putting up the frame of the money that she had to tape on what appeared to be construction paper, despite that she nearly died, you have admit that it was a very cute scene and hopefully that frame she made that she put by the stairs of her loft bed will be a permanent thing that we’ll see in future episodes. I mean, it has to be. It has to be there the next time we see Louise’s room.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week's episode of Bob's Burgers? After waiting for two months since we last saw an episode of Bob's Burgers, we got an episode and this was a good episode, to say the least. Sure, I didn't care for the subplot because often forgettable because most of the attention was on the main plot, and also knew right away the outcome of the subplot, it was a pretty good episode. And it’s mostly because of the callbacks to the movie and I guess also the dynamic between Louise and Linda.
The callbacks to the movie were the highlight of the episode and there was a lot of hype regarding this episode leading up to the night of the premiere. And I guess the hype didn't disappoint when visiting the locations that were the first scene from the movie, even though we saw a glimpse of the Mole Hill ride last season, but it's nice that we got a few callbacks to the movie whether if it's the aforementioned Mole Hill or the pier underneath the Wharf that was the scene of the chase, it was full-on fan service, and not the definition that you're familiar with when it comes to those two words, thanks for that, anime community, but it's great to hear and see the references of the events of the movie and well, made the events of the movie canon even though, again, there's going to be some people having issues that because the certain points of the movie made it to the canon of the show are going to question why Tina isn't in high school. They ain't going to age the characters, so we're stuck for the time being. But besides that, the fan service with the events of the movie brought up was the highlight of the episodes aside from Louise and Linda having a bonding experience and, I guess also, Logan and Cynthia despite that I despise those two, did have some interesting moments with her babying Logan whether if it's telling him to not get a girlfriend when hearing about the story of the missing statue or giving Logan pieces of raisins from her bag because of how cranky he is. Also, the end of the episode with Louise framing the $17 on the wall instead of spending it was a nice moment for what she did when finding the statue that, of course, would deemed worthless.
The subplot on the other hand was not a big fan of. Mostly because it’s just there as filler. I’d say that because the main plot of the episode overshadows the subplot with a group of street performers fighting over a vacant spot left by one of their own who died. Yeah, it sort of reminds me of the Ketchikan-do’s from The Great North with the subplot, only have the whole group members have beef with each other instead of just the two members and know right away that the beef would have to come to a close. Especially with the whole competition, which...alright, I mean, it's not bad, and sure, the performance of the guy with the pipes was good and the visuals look great, but it can be forgettable at times because, again, most of the attention was at the main plot because of the callbacks to the movie and having an episode where Louise and Linda were the center focus of the episode. So final thoughts, it was a good episode. Love the callbacks to the movie. Nice to see a Louise and Linda dynamic episode. The ending was cute with Louise putting up the frame of her $17 on the wall. The subplot would probably be forgettable at times. So I’ll give “Jade in the Shade”...
A 7 out of 10. But's that my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below as we once again, wait for the next episode to drop which won't be until sometime in April as my possible guess. So after this review, off to The Great North yours truly goes, especially now that I have to do this week's episode right after this with "Cheese All That Adventure", which that'll be released...later. Hopefully...I'm getting there. Daylight Savings had kicked me in the ass. So, please be patient. So stay tuned for The Great North's review for this week's episode sooner rather than later.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. First time in voting tournament history as an experimental run that we have two matches in one week for the group stages now that we have twenty candidates partaking in this year's voting tournament. Match 1 of Group A between two returning candidates, Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), you remembered that name, the main lead of Part 6 of the JoJo's franchise and the runner-up of last season who lost to Louise, and the return of a former champion in Maka Albarn from Soul Eater. And Match 1 of Group B between Made in Abyss and Dragon Ball, once again, RIP to series creator Akira Toriyama, and may his work live on for future generations to come. Both polls close on Saturday, so get to voting. And y'all should know the drill by now...
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