Finally gotten this episode review out. I did say that I would have this episode review out before the start of the new season and here it is. This was saved in the drafts and having to play catch-up because what had happened was, of course, the issue with the laptop earlier this year regarding the battery. That had been taken care of right before the weekend of when the episodes “The Right Tough Stuff” and both “Look Who’s Squawking Adventure” and “Am I the Ice Hole? Adventure”, but here we are. Here we are. And right before the start of Season 15. So, let’s get this episode review out of the way.
In this episode of Bob’s Burgers, the Belchers attend a birthday party at a bowling alley celebrating Rudy’s dad, and for Rudy, he worries for his dad’s well-being and self-esteem on his own birthday, especially with Rudy’s mom’s boyfriend Paul in attendance and while that is happening, trying to find Sylvester, Rudy’s dad, a date in my spoilerific review of the fourteenth episode of Season 14 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “The Big Steblitzski”.
So...we have another Rudy episode in this season and a lot of hype was built in this episode following the press release a few weeks ago. Mostly because it is a Rudy episode and let’s face it, we all like Rudy. He’s a fan favorite and this season so far, he’s been killing it, and “The Amazing Rudy” earlier in the season proves that. It was nominated for an Emmy... only to then lose to Blue Eyed Samurai... never heard of it but with that show winning the award tells you that it’s good. Thought that the show had found its golden ticket to the Emmy award but I guess not.
A lot of hype from the fandom has been hyping this episode and with this episode being a Rudy-centric one, only with the Belchers involved in this one around instead of sitting on the bench for the first half, that some would think that it would be the sequel to “The Amazing Rudy” because you have Rudy in the spotlight, both his parents in the same building, Rudy’s mom bringing her date to a small social gathering, and the topic of divorce clouding over Rudy’s conscience that could probably disrupt the night...mostly of how a bit of a fragile guy Sylvester is. Especially with his track record on how to hold a relationship and we’ll get to another person from another show in the Bouchard-verse once I get to the “Welcome to Miami Adventure” review...hopefully get that one out no later than the weekend of September 28-29 before Season 15 begins. So, some thought that it would be some sort of lightning in the bottle with this episode following the success of “The Amazing Rudy” the same way we thought “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now” would be the same with “Hawk & Chick”. So let’s see how this episode fares piece by piece now that we’re back on schedule in the winding months of the year that is 2024, this is “The Big Stieblitzki”.
The episode starts at night with the Belchers on their way to the bowling alley. The whole family is in the car to the alley to attend a social gathering. A bowling birthday party to be exact for Rudy’s dad Sylvester since it is his birthday. Quite the coincidence that this episode came out on September 8 and the episode is set on Sylvester’s birthday; Sylvester is voiced by Brian Huskey, who also voices Rudy and this is his episode, and oh yeah, September 8 is also Brian Huskey’s birthday. Had to put that out there as a small trivial fact that you already read that on the episode’s wiki page. Blame the universe for trying to knock your boy out in missing this. As for how the Belchers were roped into this, mostly Bob and Linda because the kids have no issue because Rudy’s there and because they are good friends with him. As for Bob and Linda...
Yeah, they were guilt-tripped into accepting the invite to Sylvester’s party. They were guilt-tripped into accepting the invite to attend Sylvester’s party at the bowling alley and that happened while at a parent-teacher conference with Bob and Linda waiting for their turn outside the classroom, sitting next to Sylvester who is texting some people, sending in some invites. Bob thought that the event was for Rudy with Sylvester being super busy getting things set up for the event, only for Sylvester to correct Bob and Linda that the party is for him for his birthday. And Linda’s big mouth with her saying that they like the sport leads them to where we are at this moment of the episode with Bob was about to turn down the damn thing but they got caught in the guilt trip and thus, off to the bowling alley we go. And when it comes to how to invite someone to an event like a birthday party, especially with a small attendance, little to no crowd... yeah, this is pretty sad.
This is pretty sad to guilt trip someone, whether being a friend or a family friend or your kid’s friend, or a random stranger, to attend your party. I mean, yeah, there’s Craigslist but... not the likely source to find someone to attend your event. But aside from that... it’s a sad way to say that you want your special day to be special and have a certain amount of people, no matter the size as if you want to brag about the size of a political rally to make it a good night. Especially if the birthday boy is a divorced parent who has a terrible track record of keeping a relationship together and who happens to be super fragile and corny, but mostly fragile where his self-esteem is a ticking time bomb. Hence, why you have Louise shows some concern for Rudy who has to attend and be caught in the middle of attending a social gathering where your parents who are divorced in the same building, and that one-half of the parents are bringing in their date. As well as him struggling to get used to the separation. So, Rudy gotta needs this one for the night. And the kids coming along should be the right call even though they don’t want to in a party filled with middle-aged adults.
Oh yeah, and we have that little side story that is going to be jumped around from time to time throughout the episode and it’s with Bob and Linda regarding the topic of when either of them say “I love you” the first time. And of course, Bob decided to have a brain fart when struggling to answer the time and place of the moment that happened when they first got together. That is going to be jumped in from time to time between the two throughout the episodes in certain scenes when we get to the bowling alley. I know that the two finally got their heads together at the end of the episode to recall the moment they first said “I love you” to each other, but for right now, it’s Bob having himself a brain fart when struggling to remember the moment that happened. And the same goes for Linda when having to play a round of bowling. That’s going to be the side story for the episode as the rest of the episode is going to be focusing on Rudy’s issues regarding having to attend a party with both his parents who are separated since the divorce in the same building.
The Belchers arrive at the bowling party where they come across Rudy with a slushie in his hand and welcoming the crowd. Telling the family that it’s impossible to invite any other kids, either from his class or from any other school, but alas, filled with adults who are single or just out for a night out, but mostly single. So pretty much JD Vance’s worst nightmare of having a place filled with childless adults. Rudy tells Louise, Tina, and Gene the upside of attending his dad’s bowling party that despite that they’re the only kids in the building, they can’t resist having the all-you-can-drink slushies that are waiting for them to slurp the night away while their parents are getting ready to bowl. Of course, even though this is Sylvester’s big day because it is his birthday, and just wants to have fun while the night is young at the ol’ bowling alley...
A lot of pressure is mounting over Rudy for tonight and tonight only. You remember what happened with the events of “The Amazing Rudy” with him having to deal with the pressure and awkwardness of having to be in the same building with his parents who haven’t lived with each other in a long time for one night and having to bring their dates involved... well, one of them to be exact for this event but still, even though it is Sylvester’s big night celebrating his 44-year subscription in the blue ball we call Earth, it’s Rudy who has become the center focus for this episode and the pressure and awkwardness of having two parents in one building, who are in good terms after the separation was made official, you can tell that Rudy is about to have himself a breakdown like we saw in “The Amazing Rudy” earlier this season. Mind you, he’s only 9 years old, he is 9 years old, and having to face the reality of a separation is going to hurt regardless of the age you’re at. And Louise notices it firsthand and tries to calm Rudy down when finding out what is about to go down that would be a long night for the asthmatic friend to the Belcher siblings.
Yep, here we go again. The kids and Rudy notice that Rudy’s mom, we finally got a name in the episode when looking at the scoreboard later on at one of the lanes, her name being Holly, kinda wish that we got a full name out of her but soon...soon, but might as well take the first name while we can take; notices Holly, Rudy’s mom, bringing in her boyfriend Paul and this is what’s weird about this. And it’s regarding the synopsis of the episode and is about to come next with the next tidbit of information regarding Sylvester. The synopsis reads, and you have to go check on the Bob’s Burgers wiki on the episode for that, saying that Paul is hitting on Rudy’s mom as if those two have met and tried to be friendly with each other...super friendly to be exact even though we seen them together in “The Amazing Rudy” at the dinner table along with Sylvester and his date at the time Vicky when the disaster with Rudy’s magic tricks took place.
And the synopsis, or at least I can read and talk to some on Discord, treating it as if it’s some sort of holdover because the strikes and the network’s decisions have messed everything up when it comes to how they are placed in order. But this isn’t a Great North scenario because as I said time and time again when doing those reviews the order has been wonky and scattered, “The Amazing Rudy” is labeled as DASA01, and “The Big Steblitzki” is DASA13. So, there’s no issue. So, it has to come down to how you read the synopsis and how to compare it with the episode itself. So, Holly, Rudy’s mom, brought Paul over at Sylvester’s bowling party and you’d think that despite the pressure and awkwardness, you’d think that Rudy would at least try to keep his cool with someone who might potentially be his step-dad from his mom’s side of the family. Especially with Louise (and the rest of the Belcher family) in attendance. So what’s the issue with him this time around?
Sylvester, Rudy’s dad. This guy does not have a good track record of trying to land a date following the separation with Holly. Remember Vicky? The woman who Sylvester brought to the monthly dinner with Holly and Paul with Rudy in tow earlier this season? According to Rudy, they broke up. And it’s through a text, which is the worst way to tell someone that their relationship isn’t working out in the technological age and not face one-on-one. So, that’s the end of the Vicky chapter for Sylvester leading up to his birthday, and now, because Holly brought her boyfriend to the event and Sylvester not have a date in tow for his special day, you can see why Rudy is feeling anxious for this night. Mostly because he sees his dad as... well, fragile. Or as Rudy put it, a caterpillar who is trying to become a butterfly but is having a hard time undergoing metamorphosis. He is about to watch a potential bloodbath and it’s not going to be pretty. Especially because of how perfect Paul is. And just, for once, for one night for Rudy’s sake, wanting to have the night go smoothly without any drama exploding that could hamper Sylvester’s birthday. Leading to the kids, under Louise’s direction, to make sure that will be the case.
Sure, you could say that the Belchers don’t know what it’s like when being in Rudy’s shoes when it comes to having to deal with a family separated through divorce, but they know what they are doing. They know how not to cross any boundaries with the topic. Mind you the only other family that they know as of this moment who are divorced are the Pestos and I guess that has to be the way to go with the Steblitzes. Especially Rudy with Louise. It makes sense for the kids under Louise’s watch to make sure that night goes as planned without having any drama cloud over the event. And they’ll try their best to do it... even if it means coming up with a plan that could potentially ruin the night.
We check at Bob and Linda as they get their hands on some bowling shoes for them to wear, revealing their shoe sizes with Bob being a size 11 and Linda a lady 9 1/2, and while Linda is glossing over her pair, you have the man of the hour in this birthday bash, Sylvester, coming in up in their business. Bob and Linda struggle to find a lane knowing how packed the bowling alley is for the night, looking for a lane for just them and the kids to bowl but to no avail, nearly all the lanes have been taken. This, of course, leads Sylvester to ask Bob and Linda to share his lane with the Belchers, in which they end up being guilt-tripped into joining him along with Rudy, Holly, and Paul. Bob tried to decline the offer but there’s something about all of this that they could not get out of whatever predicament they just roped into without having someone’s feelings getting hurt. It’s like they knew that Sylvester is a fragile guy and saying no to his face, and on his birthday no less, is almost the same as kicking a puppy to the curb... or making up a false claim of a city in Ohio thinking that there are people eating pets, which all know that is bullshit. We all saw the debate when that stupid ass racist claim was made.
Back to Rudy, the anxiety is continuing to build as we are at the final few scenes of the first act of the episode. We know that Holly brought her plus one to the event, which is Paul. Sylvester, on the other hand, does not after the fallout between him and Vicky through a text message. This means that the kids would have to find someone within the small group to be that lucky person for Sylvester to at least get along. And the woman who might be the closest on their radar to play matchmaker for Rudy’s dad would be a woman named Cheri, who is in the same culinary class as Sylvester when learning how to cook Indian food. That sounds like a match for Sylvester... except for the fact that they only have one thing in common (so far) with them being highly allergic to cumin. But that’s all we know about Cheri as a possible contender to be Sylvester’s next date following his fallout with Vicky.
Aside from that, the hour of judgment is about to take its place at the bowling alley as we prepare to wrap up the first act of the episode with Sylvester telling the kids that the bowling lane has been secured and they, along with Holly and Paul, as well as Bob and Linda after being guilt-tripped into sharing their lane for them to bowl along with the kids. And we’re about to have ourselves a possible crash out in the making once both parties...well, three parties because you have the Belchers, half, or at last two-thirds of the Stieblitzes (Rudy and Sylvester), and Holly and her boyfriend Paul ready to bowl the night away.
And for Rudy, he already knows that Paul is Mr. Perfect himself, knowing how to make Holly happy and treat her right, would not be surprised if Paul tried his best to bond with Rudy whenever Rudy lives with Holly as part of the shared custody, but to Rudy, we’re about to have a crash out in the making because of how perfect Paul is and... Sylvester needs this according to Rudy and the game of bowling with his dad and who might as well be his potential step-dad sharing the same lane. It’s not looking good for Rudy because he knows how fragile Sylvester can be and him preparing to witness him losing to Paul in his own eyes at a bowling alley and on his birthday... it’s gonna be a long night and for the Belcher siblings, it looks like the plan will now go underway as we begin the second act.
But not before we gotta talk about... well, this. I mean, you can’t hate on this duo. You just can’t hate on those two. Whether treating it as Louise being a good friend because that’s her best friend, her ride or die, her Shaq to his Kobe... well, before the fallout or treating some of the moments in this episode as a shipping claim... platonic or romantic, take your pick or poison, you can’t beat this duo. And this was a bit of a funny scene from this episode with Louise having a brain freeze and Rudy having to step in to help her by rubbing her head in what he thought it would cure a brain freeze and not treating it as if he was about to roughly rub her scalp or about to rip her head off, but it’s a cute scene to close out the first act of the episode regardless. And even though I did say that there’s nothing wrong with Rudy and I do hope other people who Louise is friends with, that being the Pesto Twins, Jessica, Kaylee, just a name a few, this is a duo that can’t be beat in this show (aside from any other duo that you can name of from the top of your head). And Season 14 has been killing it with these two and Rudy when it comes to the performance and the development. And no, that because Season 14 is continuing, doesn’t mean the MVP title will get a do-over. Blame the networks for having these breaks. Rudy won the MVP vote, so deal with it.
Onto the second act of the episode we go and with the three parties at their respective lanes, rather, the one lane that they have to share, Rudy’s anxiety is already going through the roof once he picks up his bowling ball from the rack with Louise in tow. The Belcher kids and Rudy come up with a game plan to make sure that Sylveter’s party doesn’t turn into a disaster, or at least from Rudy’s perspective. You’ll know later on in the review or scroll way down to the near end of the episode breakdown. The kids come up with a game plan to make sure that everything goes right for Sylvester before the night ends. The first item on the agenda: find Sylvester a date. Rather, pair Sylvester up with Cheri since she is the likely contender for Sylvester to be with while keeping the others busy to stall for time and Sylvester leaving to go use the bathroom is the trigger. Tina gets the matchmaker role because that’s pretty much her expertise. Remember, she was the one who paired Teddy with Kathleen back in Season 9 and helped Meryl, the woman who she volunteered to take care of back in Season 6, find her lost love, so she should be able to do that. As for the rest, Louise has to stall her parents, Holly, and Paul by telling Rudy what is Paul’s occupation, revealing that he is an occupational therapist, which is a type of therapy for someone who has trouble doing stuff and has them do exercising and giving out advice. Leaving Gene and Rudy on Sylvester duty by going after him and making sure that the loose lash on his eyebrow gets yanked, without having to hurt him first. And it has been annoying some in the area for a while, so the thing has to be yanked out before serving as a distraction.
With Louise we go and already, she has found her the right person for Paul to show off his skills while she and the others are stalling to find Sylvester a girlfriend in less than half an hour before the game begins. Louise asks Paul to use his job skills on Bob, who has a lot of issues regarding his body and stuff because why not? And the next few scenes while the kids are stalling for time to race against the clock to find Sylvester a date, and we see that in the next few scenes of the second act before we get to the two-minute warning of the first half. Did I mention that Bob has a lot of issues to the point where Louise uses him for Paul to try out his skills, not knowing that the kids are stalling for time? Yeah, the next few scenes show it and it’s pretty much typical for Bob in this situation... or any situation in that matter.
Onto Tina’s side of things and there’s not a lot to cover here for this one or the next scene since it’s her trying to play matchmaker. Attempting to have a conversation with Cheri and convince her to be with Sylvester since they’re in the same Indian cooking class and them being allergic to cumin. I mean, Cheri seems to be the ideal choice according to Rudy before the plan goes into action. It just comes down to how long the relationship lasts or rather if there are any return feelings from both parties. The better question is can Sylvester at least last a day or maybe a week without having the relationship going down the drain? It doesn’t have to be rushed and instead, take things slow. Don’t be awkward or do anything stupid that could ruin your shot. I mean, how you landed with Holly in the past should at least work with Cheri or whoever you’re with through the powers of online dating. But how should I know? Especially coming from Moi, who is single. So, Tina had to try her best to convince Cheri to be with Sylvester in doing her part of the plan.
We go back to Louise and the others with Louise once again stalling for time. Bob, instructed by Paul, gets up and already, it’s not looking good for the guy with the way he stands up from his seat. Him making a sound when getting out is one example. Usually, people don’t make a sound when they get up unless the chair or whatever you’re sitting that makes you feel uncomfortable from let’s say a metal chair while waiting to get on a plane, a seat at the school cafeteria growing up, or a bucket or crate during a simple gathering when visiting family. But there are some who do that, so... no judging on that, unless you’re Bob. But once we get to him trying to touch his toes, especially with Paul giving out the double whistle, I know that Bob might be old, not being able to beat out the accusations of him being an old man despite being 46 years old in the canon of the show, I know that he is middle-aged and such, having to take care of the restaurant and the family along with Linda on his side and the stress that comes with it, especially when trying to make ends meet... what else to say other than that Bob might as well have sticks as bones in his body. He is never going to beat the allegations... and it’s not even an allegation to begin with, well, unless you’re his kids who often joke about it. And often times accepts it each time his body tires him out.
And we get a brief scene in the bathroom with Rudy and Gene with the duo having trouble getting the small strand out of Sylvester’s eyebrow on his way out to rejoin the others at one of the bowling lanes to begin the game so the plan to find Sylvester a date in rapid fast pace doesn’t go awry to make sure the night won’t be a long one. Of course, fluid animation in this scene with Rudy and Gene struggling to pull the strand out of Sylvester’s eyebrow. Yeah, I thought it was going to be the scene with Rudy helping Louise get rid of the brain freeze but no, it’s this scene that gets the good animation in this episode.
Going back to one of the bowling lanes before the start of the session with Paul currently checking Bob out. Noticing his stiff and sees that Bob’s shoulders seem to be out of length with one of the two shoulders. One shoulder being higher than the other. Already putting out the claims that Bob is out of shape but something has to be done while keeping Sylvester busy in the bathroom and to Cherri busy with Tina trying to play matchmaker, hoping to be paired with Sylvester by the end of the night.
But alas, once Sylvester returns from the bathroom, the game begins and for Rudy, he is about to get a front-row seat of what might be his dad’s self-esteem ready to be demolished like it’s demolition day for an abandoned building ready to be torn down. Sylvester goes first and rolls his ball into the lane and going to hit the pins, ends up hitting at least three pins out of the ten. Not a good start, but there’s a shot that he could get a spare. But again, a lot of pressure is building around Rudy because he doesn’t want his dad to be bested by Paul in a game of bowling on his birthday all because of how fragile he is and for one night, especially after his break-up with Vicky, he needed this win and uh... this... this might not be it.
Hoping to ease Rudy’s anxiety, the Belcher siblings and Rudy decide to come up with a plan to make sure that things will go in Sylvester’s favor on his birthday. Mind you that this was after Tina gave Louise a status report on the whole matchmaking process with Cherri, so a Plan B has to be pulled out and activated. And the Plan B that Louise has to cook up to help Rudy help Sylvester to not feel like a loser on his birthday of all the days of the year is what you expect from the refs in certain games they like to help a certain team win because of a parlay being made into their accounts. That being rigging the game in Sylvester’s favor to make him the winner, not Paul. Look, I know that Rudy is starting to feel anxiety once again about having both of his parents, who have been on good terms since the divorce was finalized and having joint custody of the kid, in the same building with Holly only bringing Paul and Sylvester who just got out of a short-term would-be relationship with Vicky, thinking that it’s about to become a repeat of what happened back at the restaurant earlier this season, and I know that the process of divorce can be a hurtful one to go through, especially in a young age, pretty sure that rigging a game just to help a parent who is fragile and especially fresh out of a relationship isn’t the way to go. So, the kids make their way to the storage room to find the room where they operate each lane in the bowling alley to get their plan in full swing...
Only to be stopped by an employee at the alley named Rachel, voiced by Blair Socci, and yes, the person who we saw angrily mopping the floor earlier in the episode. And much like Rudy, she too is a child of divorce and has one-half of a parent in a new relationship. A new relationship that Rachel, sort of like Rudy, doesn’t like because her dad’s girlfriend, named Penny, treats him with love and care and being Ms. Perfect. Making Penny the Paul in Rachel’s life. And much like Rudy, couldn’t process the change of status quo with a family being split and I guess having a hard time accepting Penny into her life as if she might be poised to be her future step-mom the same way we could see Paul potentially being Rudy’s step-dad from Holly’s side of the family. And right away, Rachel ends up agreeing to help the kids with their plan to rig the game for Sylvester rather than throwing them out or letting the kids leave as if they’re about to watch a possible implosion. And now, ending the first act of the episode, we’re in business to rig a bowling game to help the birthday man to not let his fragile self-esteem crumble like it’s Trump’s stock numbers.
We begin the second act of the episode with Rachel giving the Belcher kids and Rudy the laydown of how the machines at the bowling lanes work. And if you ever wondered when you were a kid when attending the bowling alley for the first time and wanting to know how the bowling alley works, Rachel decided to give the kids how the lanes work from the pins being installed to how they get swept into the tunnel. And the plan to help Sylvester cheat at the game from the kids’ doings is simple, they wait for Sylvester to have a go for him to roll and regardless of however number of pins he hits that is not a strike, a full 10 out of 10, they drop an extra pin and knock the remaining pins to earn the strike. Even though there are 10 pins and adding one more, adding up to 11, would draw some possible concern but as long as anyone at the lane doesn’t draw any suspicion, then Rudy would not have any problems with Sylvester losing to Paul once the night ends.
Louise leaves the storage room with her serving as the signal caller. She checks the score and uh... it’s not looking good for Sylvester with the board reading 43 points for him and Paul on top with 70 points with his turn coming up. Yeah, Sylvester is not looking too hot with the game based on the current score that Louise read once leaving the storage room... but is not as bad as... well, Bob and Linda who are down by double digits. Oh, especially Linda with only 13 points and Bob being up by a few points with 24. But ignore Bob and Linda, who might need some help how to improve their scores, it’s Sylvester who should be the focus of the night.
Louise rejoins the lane for a bit after being spotted with Bob and Linda still having brain farts when trying to remember the first time Bob said “I love you” to Linda. Yes, we’re still on that in case you missed it since we were solely focused on the main plot with Rudy. Because that is pretty much their focus that sort of caused them to not focus on the game which led to them being down at the bottom other than them being rusty and don’t know what the hell they were doing. The two tried to continue to remember the moment with Bob bringing up a baseball game where he took her and then puked over her... not a good moment but the struggles continued to find what they were looking for in their heads. Louise notices Rachel and Gene getting in position as Paul gets his turn and rolls his bowl, resulting in him getting a split despite being in the lead over everyone. So, once Paul’s turn is done, in comes Sylvester, and for Louise, it’s go time for the kids to strike. But once Louise makes her way back to the storage room to give the signal, something is off about all of this.
And it’s this moment with Louise overhearing a conversation with Paul and Holly with Holly noticing that something is off about Sylvester throughout the game. Remember earlier in the episode that Sylvester needed this one for the night following his break-up with Vicky and hoping for one night and one night only, on his birthday no less, he needs to one-up Paul. But apparently, according to Holly once Louise makes her way back to the storage room, she figures Sylvester out on what he is actually doing all throughout the game. And that is that Sylvester is not losing on purpose because he sucks, but because he’s letting Paul win. He is losing on purpose on a sport that he thinks should at least be a shoo-in for the guy, but instead... Sylvester is being a pushover. Letting someone like Paul win a competition because why not? Blatantly throwing the game away and it’s not because Sylvester is sorry for Paul instead of the opposite. It seems that the two have no beef with each other because, again, Sylvester and Holly have been on good terms since the divorce was finalized but it has been somewhat of a problem with Sylvester whenever he’s in a competition like a bowling game and Holly knows that. She knows what is going on because she was with him up until the separation. So, we now find out that Sylvester is throwing away the game because he is being a pushover...
And going to the end of the third act of the episode, once Louise returns to the door of the storage room, with Rudy, Tina, Gene, and Rachel waiting for the signal from Louise to get the plan rolling. Louise tells the four that they need to abort. Because it seems that they don’t need to help Sylvester cheat, telling them that Sylvester is letting Paul win on purpose. Rudy tries to comprehend on what Louise is saying and probably wants to follow through with aborting the plan, wanting to talk with his dad about what he has just heard. That was until the four with Rachel now taking charge and going rogue because she still refuses to accept Penny into her life and probably wants Rudy to do the same with Paul and still wants Sylvester to cheat to get a one-up on the guy. Like... girl, go heel. Go heel. And the same goes for you, Rudy. go heel. But yeah, ending the third act and going into the fourth and final act, Tina, Gene, Rudy, and Rachel are going rogue after hearing that Sylvester is throwing the game away from Louise after overhearing the conversation between him and Holly.
This means that Louise, at the start of the fourth and final act of the episode, needs to find a way to convince the four, especially Rudy, to stand down before the plan goes into effect once Sylvester is up to the plate. Especially with Rudy carrying the extra pin and Rachel giving the signal with Tina and Gene in tow. Gene doesn’t know what he is doing and Tina, is doing the usual “God, I hope we don’t get in trouble. This is a bad idea” moment since that’s pretty much her shtick nowadays whenever Louise decides to come up with a plan that could land them in trouble because she knew that helping Sylvester cheat is a bad idea and the same goes for what they’re doing currently, which is helping Sylvester cheat. And this was before the bombshell that Louise dropped moments ago about Sylvester losing on purpose to let Paul win but ends up following along because she has no other choice.
This causes Louise to come up with a way to improvise to convince Rudy and everyone else to abandon the plan just in time for Sylvester to roll his bowl into his lane. And she decides to do what I guess is her committing a cardinal sin in the world of bowling, which is her stepping on the lane, or rather a few lanes on her way to the lane with the Belchers and Stieblitzes are at while not wearing bowling shoes. And everyone, not just the parents and their plus one, sees what is happening when seeing Louise walking and jumping over various lanes on her way to where Rudy and the others are stationed. It’s not like she doesn’t have a choice. Rudy needs some convincing to get his frustration with Sylvester being fragile and seeing Paul as Mr. Perfect I mean, Rudy was sort of close to dropping it after hearing the bombshell by Louise if it weren’t for Rachel’s frustration towards her own personal life regarding her dad’s girlfriend Penny.
And you have to give Louise some credit for what she is doing when attempting to talk Rudy down into abandoning the plan, which he did after the talk and seeing his dad bowl. I said this in my review of “The Amazing Rudy”, even though the Belchers aren’t a divorced family like the Steblitzes or even the Pestos since they too are a divorced family, Louise knows what she is doing. Her being a good friend to Rudy and wanting to look out for the guy. You’d see that earlier in the episode with Rudy’s anxiety rising and Louise having to step in and ease it. And when she overheard that Sylvester is throwing the game to let Paul win, while yes, her having a change of heart after creating a rule-breaking plan is, of course, tiring since this is pretty much the norm now, say what you want about Louise in this episode, she was looking out for the guy. And this, all of this, is not going to help Rudy’s case to help Sylvester boost his self-esteem but rather, make things awkward for both sides of Rudy’s split family as if he wants the old fam back together or something.
Louise talks things out with Rudy through the bowling pin machine in her attempt to have him stand down and abort the mission. Telling him that Sylvester needs to cheat because he’s letting Paul win and brought up that Paul and Sylvester actually don’t have any beef with each other. They have no issues, no confrontation, nothing as if he’s fine with what is going on with him entering Holly’s life with no ounce of jealousy from him. Reminding Rudy that if he were to continue going along with the plan, it would make things awkward for Paul and Sylvester as if Rudy is pushing Paul away from his life, enough to make things weird between Rudy and Paul. Hell, not just Sylvester and Paul that would make things awkward, but also Sylvester and Holly because of Rudy’s actions if he were to follow through. And before being told to leave the lane so that Sylvester can bowl, he tells Rudy that instead of doing this, just to let his frustration out because he can’t process his parents’ separation at a young age, he just needs someone to talk to, someone to vent because again, even though the Belchers aren’t a divorced family and never gone through an experience like that, they’re good friends with Rudy and wants to be there for him, especially Louise because this is her best friend, her ride or die we’re talking here. This kid needs a hug and you’re lucky that this season before the start of the next has come to a close this past weekend.
And so, moment of truth for Sylvester to bowl once Louise moves away from the lanes. And the result speaks for itself following what happened with Sylvester getting a 7 out of 10 split with the remaining three pins standing on the top right. Thought that the plan would go into full effect once he made the split and have the extra pin to be dropped to knock the remaining pins but knowing that we are less than three minutes left in the episode, y’all already know where this is going.
Yep, Rudy and the others, thanks to Louise and what they saw from Sylvester, but mostly Louise, decided to stand down once they left the storage room with Rudy finally having some sense slapped into him thanks in part to a change in heart. Well, that and also Gene’s nervous farts that is plaguing the area that causes them to abandon the plan, but it’s mostly Louise’s little speech to convince Rudy to abandon the plan and finally have some common sense when it comes to dealing with the divorce and one-half of his parents with a new lover. That’s more than enough for Rachel to accept Penny into her left and decide to text her future step-mom an apology after a series of upsetting messages. A series of upsetting messages that involves a photo of an orangutan flipping the bird. And pretty sure she did not make that through an AI art generator. So, once the game is finished, along with the would-be plan that is now aborted at the last minute and going into the next scene with everyone returning their bowling shoes with Linda bidding goodbye to her pair...
We get our father/son talk with Rudy sitting next to his dad as Sylvester begins removing his bowling shoes. Asking him why did let Paul win in a game of bowling tonight, on his birthday no less. And going into the two-minute warning of the episode, even though I give some credit to Louise for what she had done moments ago with her convincing Rudy to stand down and telling him that even though this was her plan that she created after the matchmaking plan stalled that having it go through would be the most unhealthy for Rudy to go through regarding Paul, you have to give credit to Sylvester for not letting jealousy or his fragile self be on display to the public. As Louise brought up earlier after overhearing Sylvester’s conversation with Holly and now, in this scene, Sylvester having to bring this up to Rudy during their talk, that he has no problem with Paul. There is no beef between them. In short, he accepts what happened with the divorce. He’s alright with Holly being with Paul and that Rudy should at least give Paul a shot since he’s pretty much going to be in his life but also mentions that even if there’s a possibility that Paul will end up being Rudy’s step-dad, it’s not going to affect his (Rudy) relationship with his biological dad.
And despite the various breakups that he had to endure with the most recent being his breakup with Vicky through the phone via text message, while it sucks that he can’t land himself a steady girlfriend, let alone a steady date without having to fumble the ball, long after the divorce was finalized between him and Vicky, it’s not going to stop Sylvester from having an optimistic outlook at life, hoping that one of these days, he will get a rebound and perfect and steady one at best as long as he sees a therapist and having a couple of friends around. Separation can be hard, especially coming out of a messy divorce where he and his ex-wife lost their spark as Rudy was growing up, still on good terms as well as having joint custody of Rudy, it’s not going to wear him down. And I know that it’s tough to get through, but as long as you do follow the same thing as Sylvester and not having to rely on any wrongdoings like drinking or creating any other unhealthy habits, you can get through this as long as you have a therapist but also a couple of buddies and family to be there.
Just as Rudy and Sylvester finish their talk with each other, Cherri walks by just as she is about to return her bowling shoes and head out for the night and it looks like we might be getting something between the two from that small talk. Planning on seeing each other the next time they meet for their Indian cooking class and uh... yeah, looks like the matchmaking plan from earlier in the episode with Tina attempting to convince Cherri to hook up with Sylvester seems to be working. So it looks like there might be a chance that those two might get together once Cherri leaves to return her shoes. As for whether or not this relationship might land... who knows? I’d say give it a week and needs to survive a week to consider it a possible relationship between the two. The streak has to end and let’s hope that a would-be possible relationship will work between Sylvester and Cherri.
And now, the final scene of the episode with the Rudy plot now dealt with, oh yeah, we still have to know how Bob and Linda remember the moment Bob said he loved Linda while fighting through a brain fart throughout the night. Might as well get this out of the way since we’re less than a minute to go in the episode, according to Linda when helping Bob to remember the moment, they had a picnic at the beach, and out of nowhere, a seagull pooped on her hair, not the best experience to go through while at a beachside romantic picnic. Resulting in Bob back in the day removing his shirt to clean off the poop and that was the moment he said the three words to her while cleaning the poop off of her head. Pure filler, folks. It's pure filler that you sort of forget while watching the episode that we were too busy with the Rudy plot. At least we got our moment, even if it’s just a mention because Bob and Linda can’t think straight and have to go through multiple brain farts.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all in all, what do I think about this episode of Bob’s Burgers? While there was a lot of hype that was built up since the release of the press release that included the plot synopsis of this episode, especially with Rudy once again being the center of attention, and especially after the success that was “The Amazing Rudy”, this was nowhere near the levels of “The Amazing Rudy” because as I said I guess numerous times since doing this that each episode has their own identity. And this one fits the mold and not treat it as “The Amazing Rudy 2: Electric Boogaloo”.
Regardless, this was a pretty good episode, not gonna lie. Sure, some moments are somewhat slow and predictable at the end like Rudy standing down thanks to Louise overhearing the conversation between Holly and Sylvester, but it didn’t downplay the whole thing from start to finish. And this being a Rudy episode once again pretty much tells you that we should be getting a good one, even though, again, this isn’t a repeat of “The Amazing Rudy” because the Belchers are not on the sidelines this time around. The topic of divorce and having to deal with the process, as well as the notion of your parent dating another person, is front and center and you have to get both Louise and Sylvester some credit in this episode. They nailed it when having to calm Rudy down in their shot to convince Rudy to process the change in status quo and should at least muddy the waters and give Paul a shot since he’s going to be in Rudy’s life as long as he and Holly are together. Especially Louise and once again, she’s been a good friend and even though the Belchers are not a divorced family, she knows Rudy. She’s a good friend to Rudy and wants to be there for him and also look out for the guy as we saw at the end of “The Amazing Rudy”.
No other plot for this episode from the side story with Bob and Linda from time to time struggling to remember the moment Bob first said “I love you” to Linda. Them going through a brain fart as if age is catching up to them in their heads. And it all the way to the end for Linda to finally bring up the moment right as the family headed home for the night. I mean... feels like a time waster but then again, we were all too focused on the Rudy plot that you just forgot that was going on from time to time. So, in short, it’s filler to pass the time while the whole Rudy plot was happening. Other than that, it’s a good episode regardless, and didn’t sour the mood. So I’ll give “The Big Steblitzki”...
An 8 out of 10. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. And with that, after a few weeks wait after saving this in the drafts, thanks in part to having to wait for a new battery for the laptop to arrive, but I made it. Finally made it. Season 14 with these reviews is finally done. And just in time for Season 15 to arrive starting next week. How am I not dead when having to play catch-up? You tell me. But yeah, Season 14 is now in the books, and if I were to give a final rating for Season 14 after a confusing and crazy season following the strikes, a 7 out of 10 as the final score. Had to give a few episodes that I reviewed earlier in the season a bit of a bump. Other than that, Season 14...done. Onto Season 15 we go.
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