Huh? You know, I haven’t watch any reality shows in my life, but this seems it almost looked like it if you would’ve read the plot synopsis, I thought we’re gonna have this like The Bachelor with who’s the lucky lady for Teddy to get the last rose to be with him. I don’t know if you want to call it a Valentine’s episode or not…nah, can’t be it. Too early for that shit, plus this isn’t like last year with that. So…you choice, or don’t, I don’t care.
On this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, Linda and Tina are play matchmaker for Teddy to be with one lucky lady to spend his life with, either Kathleen or Helen, while visiting an apartment complex as Gene and Bob went to some guy’s apartment to fix the pipes in my spoilerific review of the Twelfth Episode of Season Nine, titled “The Helen Hunt”.
Well, it’s not like “Lorenzo’s Oil” where it was going nowhere because while yeah…it almost seems like it too was somewhat going nowhere, it seems like we were given an answer on who Teddy is gonna end up with and having Tina and Linda having a competition on playing matchmaker on getting Teddy to spend his life with because it looked like he’s not getting any younger. And of course, gotta filled that spot for Teddy to be with someone following that whole Denise debacle.
I decided to go back to the old format in my earlier days of reviewing since the reviews that I’ve done…this is now my fifth year doing this and there’s been some ups and some downs…mostly downs when it comes to things like views and likes and comments and stuff like that. So this might be only a one-time thing than doing the usual with summarizing the episode from beginning to end. That’ll be back come the February 10 episode of the show.
If you think that this might be a Teddy-centric episode? Well…you’re sort of right if you read the plot synopsis for this episode because it’s mostly have something do to with his love life in the beginning of the episode with Teddy entering the restaurant following doing some work over at the beach house where Helen is at, which was nice that we got a little continuity in this episode since the introduction of that said beach house back in Season 5’s “Housetrap”, this seems more of line of Linda and Tina interfering when having that little wager when it comes to setting Teddy up to be with whoever the lucky woman will be. And if you think that it’s gonna be let’s say The Bachelor for example with the whole who’s gonna get the rose to be that guy’s lucky person to spend his life with whether if it’s Linda with her wanting to set Teddy up with Helen or Tina, having experience when it comes to the relationship aspect, wanting Teddy to be with Kathleen because of a spark that she sensed coming from these two.
Speaking of Helen, the person who did or did not murder her husband Larry that was introduced back in Season 5, so she’s back into play following an almost four year absence from the show. But in my review of “Housetrap” back in May of 2015, was kind of skeptical, over Helen’s behavior. Mostly because of the question of did she or did she not murder her husband because while yes, it looks like she didn’t, but judging by the way she act when Bob fell from the roof with the buried toolbox breaking his fall, despite being high on painkillers, and of course, at the end of the episode if you can see her face in the background as the Belcher head out back home, you can see from her having an innocent face to her thinking that “shit, they might be on to me.” And of course, have a massive worry for Teddy if she were to return. I was called out by someone in the comments over that.
Yeah, Helen came back. And it looks like we might have ourselves a competition, mostly coming from Linda and Tina with Linda being #TeamHelen and trying to get Teddy to end up with Helen, mostly because Teddy was going all gaga over Helen since “Housetrap” and it looked like things were going well for these two that Teddy mostly likely come the end of the episode that we might have ourselves a relationship between these two. But then the whole thing with the…snail statute of destiny come into play with Teddy about to hang on for dear life on the elevator shaft when the object fell down and if you think that Helen would like have her shining moment and have Linda take the victory lap and have her save Teddy, well…hate to break it to y’all…she saved the object. You could say that she saved it from it being broken because it was priceless and whatnot, but then decided to fuck off with it just as Teddy got saved by the Belchers and Kathleen. So you could say that Helen is pretty much a gold digger, yeah, yeah, you could say that because the thing is pretty much priceless and if the object is priceless, then it worth a lot of money. Thus having Helen to taking it with her for her to earn some cold hard cash. So you could say that Helen…might be greedy bitch who only thinks about herself and probably also the money. I could thinking that maybe that’s the reason why she killed her husband, allegedly, with the toolbox. To get the inheritance and whatnot to make her life better for herself. But that’s just a theory. A game theo…no, no it’s not.
It’s not just Helen that gotten into contention to be Teddy’s one to be in this episode cause we got introduced to Kathleen, one of the tenants living in the apartments as Teddy, Linda, Tina, and Louise visit as one of the stops that Teddy has to his job. While Linda was all out #TeamHelen, just as Tina thinks that Helen is mostly the only woman left standing for Teddy to spend the rest of his life with, in come Teddy and Kathleen having a nice little conversation, and Tina is now #TeamKathleen because she sensed a spark, some chemistry between the two. But it looks like Linda ain’t gonna let that one slide and thus having a little wager and competition and whatnot. But we’ll get to that later on…as in after this section of the review, for now, Kathleen.
Another character to be introduced in the series that might never come back after this episode. Or most likely to the movie, which is in 2020, which we’re now a year away from release mind you, only to appear in the background in case of let’s say the town gets in deep doo-doo and everything been put on the Belcher family’s hands. So Kathleen, interesting woman for Teddy. Tina sensed some chemistry coming from the two mostly because of the topics they talk about whether if it’s sports like a game she’s watching, telling him about what hurling is about and things with plumbing and all that, while it looked like things might be going on between these two, despite that it’s looking like a simple friendly chat, Tina sense potential between these two and of course, made a wager with Linda to get Teddy to be with Kathleen rather than Helen.
Person voicing Kathleen, Sharon Horgan. Recognize that name? Well you probably should because if you haven’t watched a little series called Adventure Time, she was Minerva. The mother of Finn the Human that was introduced in the Islands miniseries back in 2017. Oh, sorry, spoilers…well, the series ended like a few months ago so uh…spoilers maybe?
Kathleen seems like a very interesting character to look over even if she looked like she’s a possible one-off. Found out that like Helen, dead husband. Another widow in play with this episode that might be a potential love interest for Teddy. Found out that her husband died by a train. An actual train. On a train track, or technically at a railroad crossing, with the car broken at the worst possible as the lights begins to flash, you know, those stoplights with the guard rails, go google that, in come the train and the conductor saw the car and tried to stop it but knowing a train, it’s gonna take a while for the train to halt at the last minute and well…tragedy. Gotta feel sorry for Kathleen there. Also an interest, her knowing Larry. Yeah, Larry pretty much own the apartment complex up until his unlikely death and it found out that these two know each other because their neighbors over at the complex. Oh yeah, should I mention that Larry had his own room in the complex? He has one. It’s a man cave. Helen was not fucking impressed over that. Oh and when it comes to the whole Teddy ending up with thing? You could say that #TeamKathleen won by default following Helen ditching off with the snail statue of destiny, it looks like we’re going with neither? Is that what I’m getting. Though by the end of the episode, looks like that’s not gonna stop either Tina and/or Linda to get Teddy to pair up with Kathleen. And Kathleen didn’t even know that two, well mostly Tina, trying to set her up with Teddy.
Teddy’s love life with both Helen and Kathleen, for Linda and Tina, and Louise, mostly in between both the supporting and background roles in this episode, think of it like the color of the paint for your wall. You and a random individual, either a family member or a friend, found the perfect color and random individual thinks that he or she has found the perfect color and you like it at first, but then you found the color that you like and think that this color’s the better choice than the original. Of course, disagreement erupts, takes a massive while until either you or someone else caves in and end up resulting in either one side wins or ends up in a stalemate. That almost sums up Tina and Linda with the whole setting Teddy up with either Helen or Kathleen, and it ends at a stalemate even though the Kathleen pretty much won by default.
The Snail Statue of Destiny, the Netscape? Nashville? The Natalie?
*Netsuke
Netsuke. Netsuke, okay, that pretty much gave people some trouble during the episode. Pretty much there as a plot device for the episode as it looks the real reason they decided to pay a visit to the complex other than doing Teddy’s normal handyman job. It took almost fifteen minutes of the episode till Tina and Louise finally found the thing from inside the pipes attached by the walls. The last place you would ever find to find the Snail Statue of Destiny and the Belcher sisters found it. So you could say the old fashioned way of saying when finding something first, finder’s keepers, loser’s can go and suck it. So they decided to hide it back in the pipes because…plot convenience and head back to their usual business of getting Teddy to be with Kathleen. That is until Tina and Louise talks to Linda about the whereabouts of the Netsuke in hopes for Teddy to impress either Helen or Kathleen and pulled it out from the pipes and held it on for a while…until it fell down the shaft and have Teddy to hang on to his life and almost fell, later almost being squished to death by the elevator. I feel like people are gonna take the stairs now following this episode.
The subplot, the subplot, oh god, the subplot. What to say about that Bob and Gene subplot and them trying to fix a pipe over at someone’s apartment, filling in for Teddy while over at Kathleen’s and trying to find the plot device of destiny whatsit. Remember last year with “V for Valentine-detta” that I said that I wish we have more moments with Bob and Gene doing their thing? Well…we got it…but…unlike last year with them being trapped in midair while going trapezing, mostly because of fear of heights, I don’t know, this time around, it’s mostly Bob trying to fix the pipe over at an old man’s home with Gene just sitting on the counter supervising like he’s minding his own business and it took the duration of the subplot, the duration of the episode, just sitting there and looking pretty to the cameras. That and of course, lending Bob a hand. Mostly with the hole of the sink to see if the pipes are fixed or not.
You could say that it’s somewhat time consuming, because it’s mostly time consuming and…not in the line of going nowhere, least it’s better than last week’s, but it seems like, it’s like with Teddy back in “Thelma and Louise (Except Thelma is Linda)” from Season 7 when Linda didn’t came back to the restaurant after visiting the school, Bob not noticing that she snuck Louise out from her in-school suspension, Teddy decided to fill in the role and of course, showing that subplot with Teddy helping out seems like being the substitute Linda aren’t easy shoes to fill and now it’s the same with Bob in this episode with the pipes. Because him being a handyman is not an easy job like with Teddy being the waiter but of course, went well at the end of those two subplots from each episode, well for Teddy back in Season 7. Bob in this episode…short lived with the pipes finally been tackled even if it took him what appeared to be the whole day and thought that the nightmare has finally been dealt with but the celebration was cut short when the pipes burst yet again. Never celebrate early kids. Just a little lesson here. Oh yeah and we can’t just forget about the most important thing of the episode…
That…father/son hug. Two episodes in a row, two weeks in a row though we’re on break next week, where we have a cute little moment coming from a Belcher in any particular scene or scenario or whatever like with last week with Louise treating Wee Cuddly Joe like it’s her own child and now this week, it’s Gene hugging Bob in celebration after the pipe has finally been fixed after countless hours even if the celebration was short lived due to the fixed pipe burst out once again. It’s been a while since we have a cute Gene moment and a hug for once, being the last time was with Alex in the roller episode. It was cute. This was the highlight of the episode…and sadly the only highlight from it coming from the train wreck that was last week’s episode. But at least this one is better than that. The whole episode, not that cute moment we have with Gene and comparing it to Louise. That’s pretty much the whole highlight of the episode. Not like come February 10, we might have another one coming in like a hurricane of epic proportions. Maybe like…a bunny. Yeah, a bunny, let’s go with that.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Well, it was an alright episode and although it almost feels like it was going nowhere from the beginning, at least it’s better than last week’s episode. Unlike last week’s episode, there were some moments in the episode that at least made it a better episode. Think that this episode should’ve kicked off 2019 rather than last week’s because that one feels like a disappointing start where to this one, they could’ve had it.
Despite that this episode was supposed to be a Teddy episode because it focuses on his love life and with the return of Helen and the introduction of Kathleen, it would’ve been given the case with the whole who will he end up with by the end of the episode. And yeah, Linda and Tina there in the episode trying to play matchmaker with Linda with Helen and Tina with Kathleen, it’s mostly them hijacking the main plot while Teddy was busy doing his thing and of course, finding the netsuke in the apartment complex. That put the fandom in full on divisive mode, for thirty minutes, on who’s the lucky gal to be with Teddy by the end of the episode. Helen was pretty much given the nomination easily, being the only one standing in contention, throughout the episode since the events of this episode and the last time she was on the show because there were some moments for those two and things were about to hammer things home until the elevator thing comes into play and Helen left off with the netsuke.
Kathleen in this episode and by the end of it as well seems like she’s now the only contender left standing. I could see Kathleen being the possible woman for Teddy since I have to agree with Tina with this one because of the chemistry thing and despite that it feels nothing more than them having a friendly talk and nothing more, that doesn’t stop Tina to play matchmaker to get Kathleen to fall head over heels for Teddy. Of course, you have Kathleen not noticing that Tina was trying to setting her up, would’ve been somewhat disappointing if let’s say if Kathleen found out that Tina is trying to set her up with Teddy and about to say to her, “Oh, I truly appreciate what you’re doing and Teddy’s a great guy but we’re just friends, that’s all. But thanks for trying.” I say give it time for these two to work things out. I’m not a romance expert, I’m currently single and I’m terrible at giving out advice. So if you’re about to ask for something like that, you came to the wrong person for that.
The netsuke, the ultimate snail statue of destiny, pretty much there as a plot device in the episode, mostly for Tina, who found it first, before telling Linda and the others in hopes for Teddy to impress either one of the two women. Something more about that item other than being a plot device…Larry, ex-husband of Helen, apparently have some taste in the bizarre when it comes to items like that other than buying and building places and collecting dusty old typewriters, yeah, dude may be dead, but he has some weird tastes.
So who knew that this shiny, priceless, irreplaceable item that everyone in this episode been looking for…almost killed Teddy with the elevator. The suspense was there, not gonna lie about that, and I’m glad that the suspense was there in this episode with Teddy hanging on for dear life. It was somewhat of an edge on your seat moment coming from this episode with the ladies trying to calm Teddy down as both Bob and Gene try to shut the elevator off, which they did, but at the same time, worry about the netsuke and see if it doesn’t get damaged or broken into pieces. Just be thankful that it didn’t take a more tragic turn for the worst with a character death and a major one in that. I know that we’re currently lacking in the character death department but you know this series is pretty much the one where they don’t do character deaths…unless you’re a cow with a blonde wig glued on its head from a filmmaker making a burger man looking guilty over cooking hamburgers.
The subplot seems like it was going nowhere and time consuming with Bob and Gene trying to fix the pipe over at the old man’s apartment and we seen this. We seen this before back in Season 7 with Teddy filling in for Linda and of course, that’s not easy shoes to fill. Bob trying to fix the pipes, not easy shoes to fill. And it took Bob like almost a whole day trying to get the pipes fixed from bursting and despite that it was short lived, the hug between Bob and Gene in celebration was a very nice and cute moment we have there. Second time in a row where we have a cute moment coming from a Belcher with last week being Louise going all cutesy with Wee Cuddly Joe and I hope we can have more moments like that as the year progresses. And of course, more of that Bob and Gene plot. I think we’re getting that as a main plot in a future episode later on in the season, mostly once Spring arrives as we prepare to close out the current season.
So final thoughts on the episode, better than last week’s train wreck. Despite that this episode seems like it was almost going nowhere, there were some moments in the episode where I have to somewhat state my claim on why it’s better than “Lorenzo’s Oil”. The cute moment with Bob and Gene with that short lived celebration after the pipe was being fixed. Hope we can get more of that in the future, well them having a nice father/son bonding. Them having development, either one of the two mostly because this season alone, so far, we have episodes where the kids are the ones being in the spotlight when it comes to the any situation whether if it’s Tina and her love life or Gene dealing with betrayal but got all patched up or with Louise fighting over the control of the snowy hill. What about the parents? Subplot. Only episodes you get with Bob or Linda being the prime focus, “Bobby Driver” back in 2018 and “Lorenzo’s Oil” last week. Hope we can balance things out with that soon. And by soon, I mean like…now. The pacing of the episode seems a bit of an issue and the direction seems like it was about to go nowhere. And I thought that it was gonna be a Teddy-centric episode because it was mostly focusing on his love life but of course, Tina and Linda playing matchmaker, feel like they just hijacked it. Mostly with them competing to get Teddy to fall over who. And also, I glad that we have that suspenseful moment that we have with the elevator. Haven’t seen that in a while with a character having a near death experience with Teddy hanging on for dear life on the elevator shaft and later about to be squished to death but of course, be thankful that it didn’t took a massive tragic turn with that. So I will give “The Helen Hunt” a rating of, coming from yours truly…
…a 7.5 out of 10. A better episode than last week and despite that the direction and pacing of the episode seems some what of a problem at hand, it somewhat didn’t stop from being a decent, if not, a fine episode to say the least. Mostly coming from the suspense with the elevator and of course, the hug. That’s all what I’m gonna say to close out this episode. But I want to hear it from you, the reader, what do you think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Were you Team Helen or Team Kathleen in this episode? Do you think that Teddy will find that special someone at anytime soon? And will we have another cute moment as a highlight in a future episode? Put that and your thoughts in the comments below.
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