Well…this episode…holy crap, this episode was one wild ride. Thought last week’s Thanksgiving episode in “I Bob Your Pardon” was supposed to take the cake for the season so far. But now, a new contender has now enter the ring in the form of this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers with Gene being upset over his best buddy from last season, Alex, ditch him for his ex, Courtney, to be her roller skating partner. All while Bob, Linda, and Teddy deal with a woman who just standing being there inside her car outside of the restaurant in my spoilerific review of the Eighth Episode of the Ninth Season of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Roller? I Hardly Know Her!”
So in last week’s review, I was acting a bit overreacting over the outcome for this episode and been on the frenzy over the drama with Gene, Alex, and Courtney. Man, I was right about that. But it was handled perfectly. And despite my overreaction might have downplay the first time I was viewing it despite the fears, this was a very good episode. And not in a sarcastic manner where it’s like earlier in the season with the main plot being good and the subplot being borderline bad. No, like back in October with “Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street”, both plots of the episode was somewhat good to enjoy over.
This right there has to be Gene’s biggest challenge known to date when his friendship with Alex is now being put through the test. And with Courtney no less. Do kind of remember of what Bouchard said in an interview for Entertainment Weekly back in September I believe that Gene’s friendship with both Alex and Courtney are in play and see how this will be played out. And this was handled beautifully. Not saying that it’s my favorite episode of the season just yet. The review just got started and we’re now only eight episodes in for the season.
And the subplot was something alright. Thought it was going nowhere at first with Bob, Linda, and Teddy being skeptical over the woman just there across the street in her car and would be like the subplots we saw in the first few episodes of the season. But once we get to the end of that subplot, it looks like things might gone well with the woman telling Bob the reason why she had to be around the place. And Bob deciding to help her out was something to watch over and it was something alright, and he had to do twice following Linda and Teddy making a scene enough to scare her away. It was a decent subplot. Thought it was going nowhere at first, but then things get a tad interesting over Bob and that woman with agoraphobia. And we’ll touch on that as the review commences…now.
It's after school for the three Belcher children and as Louise and Tina are about to head home, Gene tells both Louise and Tina that he was to wait for Alex to come by so he can bring him into their house. And when Alex finally show up to meet Gene in front of the school, of course, Alex isn’t…the type of person who don’t do long walks. So yeah. I see that the friendship between these two have somewhat gotten stronger and better since Alex’s debut back last season when he invited Gene over for a sleepover…in which he dragged him to run away with him and have Gene to slap some sense into Alex and made it back to his house, with the help of Louise and Tina, before his parents ever finding out. So I guess in between them waking up the next day and Gene returning home, I could like imagine Alex apologizing to Gene for that stunt that he just pulled, fearing that Gene might be upset at him for that. But knowing Gene being the kind-hearted one in the family, accepts Alex’s apology and the rest becomes history. Somebody has to fill that empty void and I guess I’m now the one who has to patch things up.
Right you are, Doctor. Right you are. Anyway, just as Gene and Alex are about to join Louise and Tina for a walk from school to their home…
They got confronted by both Courtney and Doug, who ask Gene to do a favor for them. In which the favor…is lifting Courtney up. Okay. Don’t know why this is a thing and my god…look at their faces.
Look at the faces of Alex, Louise, and Tina. It’s like they’re watching something that they’re not supposed to watch but end up watching anyway with Gene trying to lifting Courtney up. In which he did…midway. So…improvement. Anyway, the reason Doug asks Gene to lift Courtney is that Doug is in need for a roller dancing partner for Courtney due to her partner decided to head out to do a cross-country tour. And thinks that Gene might be, not the best candidate for the spot, but decent enough to at least fill the said spot for the upcoming competition. That and he noticed that he did a decent job of him skating in that one school event that just popped out of nowhere. And Gene straight up rejects Doug’s offer to be Courtney’s dance partner. Telling them that Gene’s not the type of person who skates and dance all in one as he and Alex now begins to walk down to the Belcher residence.
So following Bob, Linda, and Teddy being paranoid over the woman across the street in her car, just as that is going on, we have Gene and Alex playing a game that they created called Robo Wizard Quest, which is like…let’s say it’s a cross between hopscotch and Dungeons and Dragons? What? Yeah, that’s the game that they created and my god…their friendship…ahhh!!! God, it’s so damn cute. This…like Louise and Rudy, their friendship is strong. I adore those two for having a good friendship since “Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene”. It’s like, finally, Gene made a friend with someone who wasn’t a previous love interest or isn’t in the same grade as Louise or Tina. Alex is the perfect fit for Gene to hang out. Their dynamic is perfect to watch over. Almost reminded me of Bob and Teddy and their friendship.
They even have a handshake that they created. God…damn it. I really love their friendship. Maybe on the verge of…shipping…these two. Yeah…shipping. Gene x Alex. Somebody better make a fan art or a fanfic of these two. And pronto. Oh, and let’s not forget about a mention about Alex’s health problems when Linda introduce both him and Gene some pretzels and hummus, in which Alex can’t eat hummus due to him being allergic to sesame. Because if he eats something that has sesame, then…well…
They even have a handshake that they created. God…damn it. I really love their friendship. Maybe on the verge of…shipping…these two. Yeah…shipping. Gene x Alex. Somebody better make a fan art or a fanfic of these two. And pronto. Oh, and let’s not forget about a mention about Alex’s health problems when Linda introduce both him and Gene some pretzels and hummus, in which Alex can’t eat hummus due to him being allergic to sesame. Because if he eats something that has sesame, then…well…
Yep. So uh…might as well get the Pepto on standby just in case he accidentally eats something and not noticing that there’s sesame in it. Man, Thanksgiving over at the Papasian household…let me tell you…it’s not a pleasant experience.
Next day, same as the beginning of the episode. Gene waits for Alex for another hangout over at the Belcher residence to continue playing Robo Wizard Quest when Courtney and Doug decided to show up in front of Gene again. In which Gene already told the answer since yesterday when it comes to being Courtney’s dance partner, no. But apparently, Courtney is NOT expecting Gene. Instead…
It’s Alex who has become Courtney’s dance partner. Oh…Alex, Alex…what have you done, son? What have you fucking done?! Things were going so well between you and Gene and now you decided to fuck off and hang out with his other friend and somewhat ex-girlfriend? Who the fuck does that? But yeah, Alex now becoming Courtney’s partner and leaving Gene behind by his own.
Poor, poor Gene.
We transition to Alex now closing his locker and pop comes Gene having a little chat with him about being partners with Courtney. Thinking that being around Courtney must’ve been a complete and total nightmare to be with. And he knows because he has been around her boatloads of time since her debut. Like wanting change his name, leave the country, and move to Peru to raise some alpacas away from the city life. But from Alex, it’s the opposite of that. Because it was somewhat of a pleasant experience. Touching were involved. Oh…god. Why?
And Gene then questions Alex in the worst thing possible known to man, “Do you like-like Courtney?” As in, did he developed a crush on Courtney? And when Gene said that, it almost sounds like it’s more than just Gene being upset over Alex ditching him. It almost sounds like if he still have feelings for her! Have we not forget about what happened at the end of “The Gene and Courtney Show”, when Courtney questions Gene about the song that he wrote and performed during the morning announcements on Valentine’s Day, “Is that song was about our break up? Our on-and-off relationship?” In which Gene denies it. Denies it to the max. Thought the viewers, they can sense bullshit. Oh god, what even is this timeline? And when Gene brought up that, looking at his face and the way he sounded…this is my reaction…
We transition to Alex now closing his locker and pop comes Gene having a little chat with him about being partners with Courtney. Thinking that being around Courtney must’ve been a complete and total nightmare to be with. And he knows because he has been around her boatloads of time since her debut. Like wanting change his name, leave the country, and move to Peru to raise some alpacas away from the city life. But from Alex, it’s the opposite of that. Because it was somewhat of a pleasant experience. Touching were involved. Oh…god. Why?
And Gene then questions Alex in the worst thing possible known to man, “Do you like-like Courtney?” As in, did he developed a crush on Courtney? And when Gene said that, it almost sounds like it’s more than just Gene being upset over Alex ditching him. It almost sounds like if he still have feelings for her! Have we not forget about what happened at the end of “The Gene and Courtney Show”, when Courtney questions Gene about the song that he wrote and performed during the morning announcements on Valentine’s Day, “Is that song was about our break up? Our on-and-off relationship?” In which Gene denies it. Denies it to the max. Thought the viewers, they can sense bullshit. Oh god, what even is this timeline? And when Gene brought up that, looking at his face and the way he sounded…this is my reaction…
But thank god we didn’t go to that direction. So my message to whoever the writer of the episode, who hurt you, man? Who hurt you? Alex said that chances of him falling in love with Courtney seems pretty slim, like around the five, maybe ten percent chance since he like-likes every girl…and Strawberry Shortcake, for some reason. Did not expect Alex to somewhat of a player. Oh and when Courtney arrive to where Gene and Alex are at, just as Gene ask Alex to do lunch, Alex rejects Gene’s offer and head out to practice with Courtney.
And I called it. I fucking called it. If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? Then let me explain. So a while ago, when the screencaps for the episode came out, I chatted with some people over at Discord and throwing in speculations and the third image from the frenzy of a screencap show Alex in the spotlight in the roller rink with Gene in the background. I speculated that there’s gonna be a musical number and lo and behold, first time in like…ever, I got a speculation right and now I await an asteroid crashing towards the Earth. But yeah, we got a musical number, first time since two months with that barrage with Tina falling in love with every guy in a 50 mile radius, and it’s Gene singing as he watches Courtney and Alex train. Upsets over Alex ditching him. Seeing him trying to get to him but it looks like each time he tries that, either Alex is getting further away from Gene or that the floor is getting wider and wider like if California were to split today by the San Andreas Fault and drift away to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that would be Gene and Alex in this musical number. But yeah, this musical number was something alright. And of course, called it. Woo boy, this episode might as well be the death of me.
We switch over to dinner time with Gene not eating his dinner, still upset over Alex doing time with Courtney over at the skating rink. To Linda, it looks like she wants to fill in the role of being Gene’s friend like it’s another mother-son bonding time. But Bob on the other hand, wants Gene to at least head over towards the roller rink to cheer both Alex and Courtney once their turn arrive for the competition. And that’s what Gene will do…only for the wrong reason.
Because when Gene arrives at the roller rink and sees both Courtney and Alex doing practice, carrying the mop that was used for their game a few scenes ago. Oh yeah, should also mention Doug, you know what? Fuck it. I’m not gonna call Doug by his name. Imma call him ‘Ass Hat Joe’. We see Ass Hat Joe trying to get both Alex and Courtney straighten up if they want to be up and ready for the big night as we also see the return of Alex’s mom, watching Alex in the sidelines and have some snacks ready in case of him having some major low blood sugar. And oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, the friendship between Alex and Gene is like seeing a wildfire blazing out of control and just as the firefighters are trying to take it out, things has gotten worse since it first lit up. Oh, sorry California. Forgot that y’all dealt with those fires recently. My mind goes to the victims of those fires.
On to a rainy night over at the Belcher residence where Gene is now even more pissed off over Alex’s decision to stick around with Courtney and not with him, thus putting a major strain on their friendship until he receives a visit at the door. Thinking that it’s Alex crawling back to him and apologize over what happened but nope. It’s…
And I called it. I fucking called it. If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? Then let me explain. So a while ago, when the screencaps for the episode came out, I chatted with some people over at Discord and throwing in speculations and the third image from the frenzy of a screencap show Alex in the spotlight in the roller rink with Gene in the background. I speculated that there’s gonna be a musical number and lo and behold, first time in like…ever, I got a speculation right and now I await an asteroid crashing towards the Earth. But yeah, we got a musical number, first time since two months with that barrage with Tina falling in love with every guy in a 50 mile radius, and it’s Gene singing as he watches Courtney and Alex train. Upsets over Alex ditching him. Seeing him trying to get to him but it looks like each time he tries that, either Alex is getting further away from Gene or that the floor is getting wider and wider like if California were to split today by the San Andreas Fault and drift away to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that would be Gene and Alex in this musical number. But yeah, this musical number was something alright. And of course, called it. Woo boy, this episode might as well be the death of me.
We switch over to dinner time with Gene not eating his dinner, still upset over Alex doing time with Courtney over at the skating rink. To Linda, it looks like she wants to fill in the role of being Gene’s friend like it’s another mother-son bonding time. But Bob on the other hand, wants Gene to at least head over towards the roller rink to cheer both Alex and Courtney once their turn arrive for the competition. And that’s what Gene will do…only for the wrong reason.
Because when Gene arrives at the roller rink and sees both Courtney and Alex doing practice, carrying the mop that was used for their game a few scenes ago. Oh yeah, should also mention Doug, you know what? Fuck it. I’m not gonna call Doug by his name. Imma call him ‘Ass Hat Joe’. We see Ass Hat Joe trying to get both Alex and Courtney straighten up if they want to be up and ready for the big night as we also see the return of Alex’s mom, watching Alex in the sidelines and have some snacks ready in case of him having some major low blood sugar. And oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, the friendship between Alex and Gene is like seeing a wildfire blazing out of control and just as the firefighters are trying to take it out, things has gotten worse since it first lit up. Oh, sorry California. Forgot that y’all dealt with those fires recently. My mind goes to the victims of those fires.
On to a rainy night over at the Belcher residence where Gene is now even more pissed off over Alex’s decision to stick around with Courtney and not with him, thus putting a major strain on their friendship until he receives a visit at the door. Thinking that it’s Alex crawling back to him and apologize over what happened but nope. It’s…
Ass Hat Joe! He pays a visit and asks Gene for a favor for him. In the which the favor that AHJ asks Gene to do is to take Alex out of the picture. Well, not in like the form of a murder. More of…sabotaging. Because Ass Hat Joe notices major flaws when it comes to having Alex to be Courtney’s dance partner are that he barely lift her. Not his fault that he’s…not an active person. Noticing that his claps are too weak. Yeah…like the judges would even notice if the clap is considered strong or weak. And even called out Alex’s mom for being a total nightmare. And we thought being around Courtney was bad. And Gene had to get through Alex’s little parental problem with his mother during the sleepover.
Ass Hat Joe asks Gene that the reason he wants Alex to not be Courtney’s dance partner is mostly because of ego. He only doing this for Courtney to win, and by Courtney, I mean him. More in line of those type of parents where getting second place or below makes you a massive loser and a failure. Oh sweet baby Jesus, I really, really hate Ass Hat Joe right now. Hate him with a passion. So much that it would make Jimmy Pesto seems like he’s a good parent and I freaking hate him as well. Seriously, fuck them. Fuck them both. Gene asks Ass Hat Joe that he now doesn’t care if both Courtney and Alex were to win or lose the competition. But Ass Hat Joe brought up that even if they either win or lose, it would result in Gene losing Alex forever. And he even asks why he wants Gene to do the job. It’s mostly because of fears of history repeating itself.
He tells Gene about what happened in 1984 back when he was on stage for the roller dancing competition. Things were going well with him alongside his best friend, named Charlie Cross, and they were on the top of the world…or town. World seems a bit overkill to sum up these two in the competition. Anyway, things were going well until a girl named Sharon and next thing you know, Charlie and Ass Hat never skate again and both him and Sharon went off and got married and been going on for 30 years. And that of course, now got Gene to do the dirty work and now awaits him for the competition the next day. I swear, this slime ball of a human being, it’s like he really wants Gene to use his anger on Alex to do the dirty work for Ass Hat Joe to win a competition with Courtney and a new dance partner. Who may or may not be Gene. He’s like Palpatine back in Revenge of the Sith sensing Anakin’s anger boiling up after finding out that he’s the Sith Lord. Can feel his anger and wants to use it to get back at Alex for leaving him. Even though that’s not gonna save their friendship. That’s putting an end to it.
Almost seems like with “Gene It On” with Ambrose trying to create some drama between Gene and Todd when it comes to who takes the leadership position. But what’s different is that Ambrose took the blame for what he did and even broke the cheer squad’s fall when attempting to do the one move that Linda created. Ass Hat on the other hand…we’ll get to that later. And oh yeah, Tina and Louise heard the whole thing. And if you’re hoping for them to be the voice of reason, you know those mini people on someone’s shoulders with the angel and the devil? Well it’s like that with Tina and Louise, but it looks like they’re gonna be pushed to the back and just be there…for the lols.
And then we get to the competition as Gene now enact his plan for Ass Hat Joe, leaving both Louise and Tina behind and do their own thing. Also…
Are we not gonna mention that? Because I feel like this should be brought up but at the same time, I don’t want to. Even if that random boy was just coming in to the roller rink…should we care? No. I feel like this shouldn’t be brought up. But for now, Gene attempts to get back at Alex.
He walks up over towards Alex as he’s getting ready for his turn and apologize over what happened the other day. In which Alex apologize for ditching Gene for Courtney and Gene decided to hand a soda to him as a sign of good luck, for Alex to not noticing that Gene puts a hint of sesame into the drink so that Alex would go full diarrhea mode. And that right there is where Gene now begins to feel bad as he now watches his best friend about to take a sip on the drink. And if you’ve been watching the episode on TV when it was first aired, you know what the network did? Just as Alex is about to take a sip of the sesame filled soda…cut to commercial. Cut to motherfucking commercial. Just as things are about to get intense and yet good at the same time, the network decided to cut to commercial. And Jesus Christ, way to leave a lot people hanging…even if it were for a few minutes. My god, it’s like we’re treating this episode like it’s a middle school drama show that no one watches. Anyway, Alex was about to take a sip on the sesame soda but as the first drip of the soda comes into his mouth, Gene, in time, stops Alex and apologize to him for everything, include the sesame into the soda. And it looks like he was going to have a breakdown. Like, I feel sorry for this kid. This is the type of situation that he shouldn’t be a part of and it looks like that really, really screwed up and fears that his friendship with Alex might’ve been over with. And Alex would’ve been mad over that, but like I said earlier in the review of how Gene and Alex settle their differences between them waking up and Gene back home with Alex being the one apologizing and Gene would’ve been mad but ends up accepting it anyway.
Oooohhh….my god. Why is too damn cute?! But yeah, they finally make up. The friendship between Gene and Alex has been saved but now, they have a new problem. Courtney. Alex notices the flaws that Ass Hat Joe said to Gene last night. And even asks Gene to be his replacement, which of course, he rejects that offer. But decided to find common ground and must find Courtney. And I guess I’ll talk about once we reach towards the competition. Which is…now. It’s now Courtney and Alex’s turn to take the stage and with Ass Hat Joe saying that, “Oh, not for long.” He thinks that the plan is going well, despite that he didn’t notice that Gene and Alex made up and didn’t drink the sesame drink. Once the two made to the stage, we have another entrée making his way to the stage and…
The trio has been finally been forged! The prophecy has been fulfilled my lords! Gene, Alex, and Courtney sharing the stage. The GAC Pack. Perfect name for these three as they now decided to share the stage for the dance contest. And how these three decided to find common ground is somewhat got people questioning and I think I could have a say in this. Not wanting to call it a theory, more of…let’s say something to fill in the void. And I could imagine that of course, Gene and Alex apologize and settle their differences and must find Courtney. I could imagine Courtney, once Gene and Alex arrive to her, feeling somewhat frustrated over Ass Hat Joe and how he’s been majorly controlling and don’t want to be in the competition. And she wants out. In which both Gene and Alex begin to feel bad for her. And Courtney notices that these two have made up and have I guess it’s either Alex or Gene telling her that this competition is tearing their friendship apart and Gene tells Courtney about what her dad told him to do. Which makes Courtney shocked and even more frustrated. And she could probably remember when Gene and Alex days ago having a major falling out, while watching over the drama, you could probably imagine Courtney thinking to herself in her subconscious, “Okay, this competition is really getting out of hand with Dad acting like a total dingle over this. But watching these two having a major falling out. I mean, Alex, only knew him for a little while since becoming my partner. But Gene…holy crap, he’s my friend. And I can’t just stand there. And I want to do something.” Like her just standing there and thinking to herself that she wants to help but don’t want to make the situation even worse. So when she found out coming from Gene and Alex and now she feels bad for them. And with the clock now ticking before these two are about to head over to the stage, the three decided to come up with a way for these three to do something and stand up to Ass Hat Joe and decided to surprise the audience with Gene being the extra, not knowing the risk of them getting disqualified but went all, “Fuck it. We’ll take the risk.” And have these three hug it out and maybe Courtney asks the both of them if she can hang out them and of course, they agree to add her to their group.
Like…I feel bad for these kids. I’m beginning to take back everything about either one of these three. Because this is not normal. These poor kids had to deal with this whole shebang since the beginning of this episode. And that shit ain’t freaking right. And it’s like everything has finally come in a full circle. Or triangle or whatever shape you want to come up with. Courtney and her being annoying at first but then gets matured later on in the series but has to deal with a shitty dad. Alex with not accepting the change in this diet and tried to run away. And then Gene, dealing with the drama and the fears of losing his friendship all because of one competition that the three in agreement to not partake in it. Oh God, somebody save them. Save them before Bouchard and the writers begin to make things worse for them.
So yeah, the three of them are now sharing the stage but Ass Hat Joe now begins to storm into the stage like a coach about to enter the field over a player or two making bad plays. And was about to drag Gene out of the stage, but both Courtney and Alex decided to not take any more bullshit coming from Ass Hat Joe and stand up to him. For Courtney, it’s over her not wanting to be in the competition. Like I said in my idea of how their friendship came to be. And that he’s only doing this so he can make it like he’s the biggest talk in the town like an overreacting soccer mom. And for Alex, of course, over his friendship with Gene and almost had him getting full on diarrhea mode from his friend. And that triggers Alex’s mom to now step into the ring and beat the ever living shit out of Ass Hat Joe. And we’re seeing it in action in the background while Gene, Alex, and Courtney are about to do the finishing move in their routine, which is of course, lifting Courtney up like what Gene tried to do back in the beginning of the episode. And with Alex now on board, despite having somewhat of weak arm strength, lifted her up and thus, finishing their turn on stage. Got applause from the audience but the look on their faces, it looks like they’re not excited over it. But it looks like it doesn’t even matter because to Gene, Alex, and Courtney, this feels like a victory, for them. Despite that the three got disqualified for going over the two-person limit. But…they rather take that than doing something big to make Ass Hat Joe proud and Gene feeling upset over.
And then we get to the end of the main plot where we have Gene, Alex, and Courtney, noticing that both Alex and Courtney didn’t even like have the time to switch out to their normal outfits, play a good ol’ fashion game of Robot Wizard Quest. Already at Courtney’s turn, missed a spot, math and stuff, and of course, a visit from the mop that Gene was carrying and cast a death spell on Courtney and hands the next turn to Alex and thus ending the main plot of the episode. And I gotta say…wow. Just…wow. This was a roller coaster of a main plot. And it was executed perfectly with Gene and Alex and of course, Courtney. The drama between these two got me shook and intrigued at the same time. And having these three being friends at the end of the episode…if this episode doesn’t like…win at least either an Emmy or an Annie, then I would be very pissed over that. Still feel bad for these three. Goddamn.
Then we get to the subplot of the episode with Bob, Linda, and Teddy dealing with a problem of their own in the form of a woman just being there in the car, not moving a muscle. Putting both Linda and Teddy on paranoia mode when speculating what and why that random woman is just there, across the street, in sunglasses, and doing absolutely nothing.
And you gotta love that little scenario of paranoia coming from Linda and Teddy. Thinking that the woman is probably out there and ready to get them out in cold blood like she’s planning to do an assassination. Yeah…no. Not really more of that. I mean, what the worse thing that could happen? Be a KGB spy? Cause the last time the restaurant dealt with a KGB hit squad, let me tell you…it was not a good night…for the hit squad. If you get that reference, you get a cookie.
At first, I thought this subplot was going all slow and it looks like it’s one of those subplots where it looks like it’s going nowhere to be honest. But it looks like things are about to take a turn once they faced day three of seeing the woman just standing there. But there are some progress when it comes to her as it looks like she was about to go across the street to the restaurant but got scared away so easily. And tired of the paranoia coming from both Linda and Teddy, Bob decided to take matters into his own hands and ask the woman, later named Brenda, and asks why is she doing this? Why is she even doing in front of the restaurant and just being there? And she told him that the reason she’s being doing this is mostly because has agoraphobia, a fear of going into public places, and wants to be face it but unable to tackle it. So Bob decided to help her out and be her support when dealing with this difficult task for her. But apparently, just as the two are about to enter the restaurant, Linda and Teddy…why? Why? Things were going so well and you scared her away. But don’t worry about it. Because it looks like we’re gonna have ourselves a do over with Brenda and her fight against agoraphobia.
And it looks like things for the second attempt are going smoothly so far with of course, starting again from the top with Brenda coming to the restaurant where this time, both Teddy and Linda had to keep their mouths shut and just stay perfectly still so that Brenda don’t run off again. Given a cup of water for her to drink, hoping to calm her nerves down a bit as it looks like both Linda and Teddy are about to break their silence. In which they did and scare Brenda off again. But it looks like there some progress in the making for the agoraphobic woman as she came back for a bit and telling the three that she’ll be making a return the next day. So was it a failure? I don’t think so. Despite that Linda and Teddy scared her off like seeing a bird and you want to go at least go near it, only to scare it off like that, the first time seems to went downhill. But the second time, there were some improvements. So that’s something to boast about. I would say that the subplot of this week’s episode seems rather decent. It was good to be the least, despite that at first, I thought this is probably going nowhere but when Bob decided to take matters into his own hands and try and try again to help the agoraphobic woman out, the opinion changed just like that. It’s like trying out new food. You don’t like the first time. But then when you try it again for the second time cause why the hell not? You’ll probably think to yourself, “You know? This isn’t actually that bad. I think I’ll try more of that.” That’s what I’m probably getting with this subplot and it works out fine. So like “Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street”, we have another decent subplot that works out really well and I hope this will continue in future episodes.
The way the writers have written Gene and Alex having a strong friendship was handled perfectly. I mean, just like with Louise and Rudy’s friendship, their friendship, after the events of “Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene” with Alex pulling that stunt of dragging Gene to run away from home, only for Gene to knock some sense into him, has somewhat gotten stronger and better and finally seeing them bond outside of PE class. Seeing them playing a game that created, only for Courtney and Ass Hat Joe to swoop Alex away from Gene after Gene denied to be Courtney’s dance partner, trying to get him back only for the drama to get even worse, doing the dirty deed for Ass Hat Joe, only to stop Alex from taking a sip of the soda that has sesame in it, only for Gene to stop him and about to have a breakdown over fears of losing him. This was Gene’s hardest test when it comes to the subject of friendship and mostly not hoping to lose that. And Alex accepts his apology just like that and their friendship gets saved. And I adore their friendship. It’s just two guys, despite falling through the drama of the episode, enjoying their lives at the fullest and keeping an eye on and looking out of each other no matter how bad things will get.
And Courtney, holy shit Courtney. I knew that we’re gonna have a three-way friendship by the end of the episode, but man, this was handled perfectly. Having her, Gene, and Alex on stage, not knowing that going over the two-person rule would equal automatic disqualification. And both Alex and Courtney, standing up to Ass Hat Joe, defending Gene and calling him out on his bullshit, that, and Alex’s mom beating the ever living shit out of Ass Hat Joe, despite that they got disqualified, this seems like a victory for the three kids. Which I feel bad for them for dealing with the bullshit coming from the writers. And I’m for one, glad to see these three hanging out and I hope we can more of them in action as the now newly claimed G.A.C. Pack, and yes, I’m calling it the G.A.C. Pack, fight me, in future episodes of the series. And possibly in the movie.
I’m for one glad that this whole drama with the three characters didn’t make to the whole “Gene still have feelings for Courtney” issue. Because when Gene asks Alex that if he has a crush on Courtney, it’s like knew this is gonna somewhere where no one wants to head over to. But it didn’t. I’m glad that the writers didn’t pull out that card. And the musical numbers was perfectly as well with Eugene Mirman covering the hell out of the song with Gene hoping for Alex to come back to his arms. And yeah, I called it to have a musical number. And now also feel I ship both Gene and Alex to be together. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that.
Both plots of the episode are handled perfectly. In a not sarcastic manner. The main plot was handled perfectly and the subplot, thought it was going nowhere at first throughout the episode but once Bob decided to take matters into his own hands, that thought change and I like Bob tries to help Brenda, the woman who has agoraphobia, tackle her difficulty of getting into a public place like the restaurant and the first try failed thanks to Linda and Teddy. But the second time, it was the same at the first, but there are some improvements in the works. So that’s something to boast about. And yeah, I really like it.
And it was an amazing episode to gloss over. And everything, both subplots, the acting, the visualization, audio…I love it. Might be the best one yet in the season. Possibly the series as well. So I’ll give “Roller? I Hardly Know Her!”…
…a 10 out of 10. The first ten of the season and the first ten in my comeback to do these reviews. And this episode doesn’t disappoint. Not an inch. And despite my overreaction in this one, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying this episode. Best one yet for the season thus far as we are only two episodes left until the season takes a Winter Hiatus until January 2019 where more has to come in our ways. So…let’s see about that. Anyway, next week, aliens. Yeah, you didn’t misheard it. This is not fake news. Aliens. So get ready for that. And that’ll does it for this week’s review. Hope you guys and gals and whatever like it. And tell me what you think about this episode? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you adore Gene and Alex’s friendship? The three-way with Courtney, do you like the G.A.C. Pack? Do you feel sorry for them after this episode? And the subplot, do you like it? Tell that and more in the comments below.
And if you want to keep up to date, feel free to follow me on my social media accounts of Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram for updates, posts and more that is Bob’s Burgers related and of course, stuff outside of the topic. And if you want to help me out keeping this page running…
And then we get to the competition as Gene now enact his plan for Ass Hat Joe, leaving both Louise and Tina behind and do their own thing. Also…
Are we not gonna mention that? Because I feel like this should be brought up but at the same time, I don’t want to. Even if that random boy was just coming in to the roller rink…should we care? No. I feel like this shouldn’t be brought up. But for now, Gene attempts to get back at Alex.
He walks up over towards Alex as he’s getting ready for his turn and apologize over what happened the other day. In which Alex apologize for ditching Gene for Courtney and Gene decided to hand a soda to him as a sign of good luck, for Alex to not noticing that Gene puts a hint of sesame into the drink so that Alex would go full diarrhea mode. And that right there is where Gene now begins to feel bad as he now watches his best friend about to take a sip on the drink. And if you’ve been watching the episode on TV when it was first aired, you know what the network did? Just as Alex is about to take a sip of the sesame filled soda…cut to commercial. Cut to motherfucking commercial. Just as things are about to get intense and yet good at the same time, the network decided to cut to commercial. And Jesus Christ, way to leave a lot people hanging…even if it were for a few minutes. My god, it’s like we’re treating this episode like it’s a middle school drama show that no one watches. Anyway, Alex was about to take a sip on the sesame soda but as the first drip of the soda comes into his mouth, Gene, in time, stops Alex and apologize to him for everything, include the sesame into the soda. And it looks like he was going to have a breakdown. Like, I feel sorry for this kid. This is the type of situation that he shouldn’t be a part of and it looks like that really, really screwed up and fears that his friendship with Alex might’ve been over with. And Alex would’ve been mad over that, but like I said earlier in the review of how Gene and Alex settle their differences between them waking up and Gene back home with Alex being the one apologizing and Gene would’ve been mad but ends up accepting it anyway.
Oooohhh….my god. Why is too damn cute?! But yeah, they finally make up. The friendship between Gene and Alex has been saved but now, they have a new problem. Courtney. Alex notices the flaws that Ass Hat Joe said to Gene last night. And even asks Gene to be his replacement, which of course, he rejects that offer. But decided to find common ground and must find Courtney. And I guess I’ll talk about once we reach towards the competition. Which is…now. It’s now Courtney and Alex’s turn to take the stage and with Ass Hat Joe saying that, “Oh, not for long.” He thinks that the plan is going well, despite that he didn’t notice that Gene and Alex made up and didn’t drink the sesame drink. Once the two made to the stage, we have another entrée making his way to the stage and…
The trio has been finally been forged! The prophecy has been fulfilled my lords! Gene, Alex, and Courtney sharing the stage. The GAC Pack. Perfect name for these three as they now decided to share the stage for the dance contest. And how these three decided to find common ground is somewhat got people questioning and I think I could have a say in this. Not wanting to call it a theory, more of…let’s say something to fill in the void. And I could imagine that of course, Gene and Alex apologize and settle their differences and must find Courtney. I could imagine Courtney, once Gene and Alex arrive to her, feeling somewhat frustrated over Ass Hat Joe and how he’s been majorly controlling and don’t want to be in the competition. And she wants out. In which both Gene and Alex begin to feel bad for her. And Courtney notices that these two have made up and have I guess it’s either Alex or Gene telling her that this competition is tearing their friendship apart and Gene tells Courtney about what her dad told him to do. Which makes Courtney shocked and even more frustrated. And she could probably remember when Gene and Alex days ago having a major falling out, while watching over the drama, you could probably imagine Courtney thinking to herself in her subconscious, “Okay, this competition is really getting out of hand with Dad acting like a total dingle over this. But watching these two having a major falling out. I mean, Alex, only knew him for a little while since becoming my partner. But Gene…holy crap, he’s my friend. And I can’t just stand there. And I want to do something.” Like her just standing there and thinking to herself that she wants to help but don’t want to make the situation even worse. So when she found out coming from Gene and Alex and now she feels bad for them. And with the clock now ticking before these two are about to head over to the stage, the three decided to come up with a way for these three to do something and stand up to Ass Hat Joe and decided to surprise the audience with Gene being the extra, not knowing the risk of them getting disqualified but went all, “Fuck it. We’ll take the risk.” And have these three hug it out and maybe Courtney asks the both of them if she can hang out them and of course, they agree to add her to their group.
Like…I feel bad for these kids. I’m beginning to take back everything about either one of these three. Because this is not normal. These poor kids had to deal with this whole shebang since the beginning of this episode. And that shit ain’t freaking right. And it’s like everything has finally come in a full circle. Or triangle or whatever shape you want to come up with. Courtney and her being annoying at first but then gets matured later on in the series but has to deal with a shitty dad. Alex with not accepting the change in this diet and tried to run away. And then Gene, dealing with the drama and the fears of losing his friendship all because of one competition that the three in agreement to not partake in it. Oh God, somebody save them. Save them before Bouchard and the writers begin to make things worse for them.
So yeah, the three of them are now sharing the stage but Ass Hat Joe now begins to storm into the stage like a coach about to enter the field over a player or two making bad plays. And was about to drag Gene out of the stage, but both Courtney and Alex decided to not take any more bullshit coming from Ass Hat Joe and stand up to him. For Courtney, it’s over her not wanting to be in the competition. Like I said in my idea of how their friendship came to be. And that he’s only doing this so he can make it like he’s the biggest talk in the town like an overreacting soccer mom. And for Alex, of course, over his friendship with Gene and almost had him getting full on diarrhea mode from his friend. And that triggers Alex’s mom to now step into the ring and beat the ever living shit out of Ass Hat Joe. And we’re seeing it in action in the background while Gene, Alex, and Courtney are about to do the finishing move in their routine, which is of course, lifting Courtney up like what Gene tried to do back in the beginning of the episode. And with Alex now on board, despite having somewhat of weak arm strength, lifted her up and thus, finishing their turn on stage. Got applause from the audience but the look on their faces, it looks like they’re not excited over it. But it looks like it doesn’t even matter because to Gene, Alex, and Courtney, this feels like a victory, for them. Despite that the three got disqualified for going over the two-person limit. But…they rather take that than doing something big to make Ass Hat Joe proud and Gene feeling upset over.
And then we get to the end of the main plot where we have Gene, Alex, and Courtney, noticing that both Alex and Courtney didn’t even like have the time to switch out to their normal outfits, play a good ol’ fashion game of Robot Wizard Quest. Already at Courtney’s turn, missed a spot, math and stuff, and of course, a visit from the mop that Gene was carrying and cast a death spell on Courtney and hands the next turn to Alex and thus ending the main plot of the episode. And I gotta say…wow. Just…wow. This was a roller coaster of a main plot. And it was executed perfectly with Gene and Alex and of course, Courtney. The drama between these two got me shook and intrigued at the same time. And having these three being friends at the end of the episode…if this episode doesn’t like…win at least either an Emmy or an Annie, then I would be very pissed over that. Still feel bad for these three. Goddamn.
Then we get to the subplot of the episode with Bob, Linda, and Teddy dealing with a problem of their own in the form of a woman just being there in the car, not moving a muscle. Putting both Linda and Teddy on paranoia mode when speculating what and why that random woman is just there, across the street, in sunglasses, and doing absolutely nothing.
And you gotta love that little scenario of paranoia coming from Linda and Teddy. Thinking that the woman is probably out there and ready to get them out in cold blood like she’s planning to do an assassination. Yeah…no. Not really more of that. I mean, what the worse thing that could happen? Be a KGB spy? Cause the last time the restaurant dealt with a KGB hit squad, let me tell you…it was not a good night…for the hit squad. If you get that reference, you get a cookie.
At first, I thought this subplot was going all slow and it looks like it’s one of those subplots where it looks like it’s going nowhere to be honest. But it looks like things are about to take a turn once they faced day three of seeing the woman just standing there. But there are some progress when it comes to her as it looks like she was about to go across the street to the restaurant but got scared away so easily. And tired of the paranoia coming from both Linda and Teddy, Bob decided to take matters into his own hands and ask the woman, later named Brenda, and asks why is she doing this? Why is she even doing in front of the restaurant and just being there? And she told him that the reason she’s being doing this is mostly because has agoraphobia, a fear of going into public places, and wants to be face it but unable to tackle it. So Bob decided to help her out and be her support when dealing with this difficult task for her. But apparently, just as the two are about to enter the restaurant, Linda and Teddy…why? Why? Things were going so well and you scared her away. But don’t worry about it. Because it looks like we’re gonna have ourselves a do over with Brenda and her fight against agoraphobia.
And it looks like things for the second attempt are going smoothly so far with of course, starting again from the top with Brenda coming to the restaurant where this time, both Teddy and Linda had to keep their mouths shut and just stay perfectly still so that Brenda don’t run off again. Given a cup of water for her to drink, hoping to calm her nerves down a bit as it looks like both Linda and Teddy are about to break their silence. In which they did and scare Brenda off again. But it looks like there some progress in the making for the agoraphobic woman as she came back for a bit and telling the three that she’ll be making a return the next day. So was it a failure? I don’t think so. Despite that Linda and Teddy scared her off like seeing a bird and you want to go at least go near it, only to scare it off like that, the first time seems to went downhill. But the second time, there were some improvements. So that’s something to boast about. I would say that the subplot of this week’s episode seems rather decent. It was good to be the least, despite that at first, I thought this is probably going nowhere but when Bob decided to take matters into his own hands and try and try again to help the agoraphobic woman out, the opinion changed just like that. It’s like trying out new food. You don’t like the first time. But then when you try it again for the second time cause why the hell not? You’ll probably think to yourself, “You know? This isn’t actually that bad. I think I’ll try more of that.” That’s what I’m probably getting with this subplot and it works out fine. So like “Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street”, we have another decent subplot that works out really well and I hope this will continue in future episodes.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Wow…what an episode that we got. And despite that I got overreacting throughout this episode when it first airing, that didn’t stop to downplay the episode and it was handled perfectly.The way the writers have written Gene and Alex having a strong friendship was handled perfectly. I mean, just like with Louise and Rudy’s friendship, their friendship, after the events of “Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene” with Alex pulling that stunt of dragging Gene to run away from home, only for Gene to knock some sense into him, has somewhat gotten stronger and better and finally seeing them bond outside of PE class. Seeing them playing a game that created, only for Courtney and Ass Hat Joe to swoop Alex away from Gene after Gene denied to be Courtney’s dance partner, trying to get him back only for the drama to get even worse, doing the dirty deed for Ass Hat Joe, only to stop Alex from taking a sip of the soda that has sesame in it, only for Gene to stop him and about to have a breakdown over fears of losing him. This was Gene’s hardest test when it comes to the subject of friendship and mostly not hoping to lose that. And Alex accepts his apology just like that and their friendship gets saved. And I adore their friendship. It’s just two guys, despite falling through the drama of the episode, enjoying their lives at the fullest and keeping an eye on and looking out of each other no matter how bad things will get.
And Courtney, holy shit Courtney. I knew that we’re gonna have a three-way friendship by the end of the episode, but man, this was handled perfectly. Having her, Gene, and Alex on stage, not knowing that going over the two-person rule would equal automatic disqualification. And both Alex and Courtney, standing up to Ass Hat Joe, defending Gene and calling him out on his bullshit, that, and Alex’s mom beating the ever living shit out of Ass Hat Joe, despite that they got disqualified, this seems like a victory for the three kids. Which I feel bad for them for dealing with the bullshit coming from the writers. And I’m for one, glad to see these three hanging out and I hope we can more of them in action as the now newly claimed G.A.C. Pack, and yes, I’m calling it the G.A.C. Pack, fight me, in future episodes of the series. And possibly in the movie.
I’m for one glad that this whole drama with the three characters didn’t make to the whole “Gene still have feelings for Courtney” issue. Because when Gene asks Alex that if he has a crush on Courtney, it’s like knew this is gonna somewhere where no one wants to head over to. But it didn’t. I’m glad that the writers didn’t pull out that card. And the musical numbers was perfectly as well with Eugene Mirman covering the hell out of the song with Gene hoping for Alex to come back to his arms. And yeah, I called it to have a musical number. And now also feel I ship both Gene and Alex to be together. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that.
Both plots of the episode are handled perfectly. In a not sarcastic manner. The main plot was handled perfectly and the subplot, thought it was going nowhere at first throughout the episode but once Bob decided to take matters into his own hands, that thought change and I like Bob tries to help Brenda, the woman who has agoraphobia, tackle her difficulty of getting into a public place like the restaurant and the first try failed thanks to Linda and Teddy. But the second time, it was the same at the first, but there are some improvements in the works. So that’s something to boast about. And yeah, I really like it.
And it was an amazing episode to gloss over. And everything, both subplots, the acting, the visualization, audio…I love it. Might be the best one yet in the season. Possibly the series as well. So I’ll give “Roller? I Hardly Know Her!”…
…a 10 out of 10. The first ten of the season and the first ten in my comeback to do these reviews. And this episode doesn’t disappoint. Not an inch. And despite my overreaction in this one, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying this episode. Best one yet for the season thus far as we are only two episodes left until the season takes a Winter Hiatus until January 2019 where more has to come in our ways. So…let’s see about that. Anyway, next week, aliens. Yeah, you didn’t misheard it. This is not fake news. Aliens. So get ready for that. And that’ll does it for this week’s review. Hope you guys and gals and whatever like it. And tell me what you think about this episode? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you adore Gene and Alex’s friendship? The three-way with Courtney, do you like the G.A.C. Pack? Do you feel sorry for them after this episode? And the subplot, do you like it? Tell that and more in the comments below.
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