It’s gonna be a weird October when it comes to scheduling. I did say that it’s gonna be a very long season filled with questions regarding the scheduling and the number of episodes that we’ll be getting for this season. I mean, the Fall season was settled with the show holding on to its 9:00 slot up until the holiday season. But this month, it’s a big what if. And you can thank the MLB for this. Why? The scheduling could stand in the way in the event there’s a weather delay that could push a game to a later date or if a series becomes competitive. I think we’re off this upcoming weekend but who knows? It’s gonna be crazy regarding the schedule and we’d be back on October 20, but that is, or at least according to The Futon Critic, pray to God the series, the NLCS to be exact, do not become competitive. And it comes down to which two NL teams have to come out of the NLDS to see where this is going. I’m just hoping we don’t have to relive what happened in 2020 where we lost a night here in the US while Canada got it on time because they didn’t get the memo at the last minute. Hopefully, we learn our lesson this time around.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, the Belchers visit a drive-in theater on its final night operating with Bob making it his nightly mission to save the place while going through a flashback of his experience with a girl he met (long before meeting Linda) while Linda had her issues regarding one of the PTA members and Gene and Louise trying to play innocent when eating candy that belonged to Tina in my spoilerific review of the second episode of Season 15 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Saving Favorite Drive-In”.
Might as well go on a limb here and say that I have never been to a drive-in in my entire life. I guess it’s because I was born at a time where, yes, there are some back in the day that were still up and running but nowadays, you hardly find one that is currently operational to keep things flowing. I’ve been to an indoor theater to enjoy watching a movie a few times while living in Georgia before going through a 15-year drought before finally going back in 2022 while living currently in Texas but I have yet to be a part of an outdoor viewing event. Sure, you just need a projector, and a screen, and hope nothing can go wrong for things to go smoothly, but we’re talking about drive-in movie theaters like with this week’s episode.
It’s one of the few staples of American culture that screams... well, America. We all remember the times when watching old movies or having to listen to your grandparents’ stories or your parents’ about their experience on what it's like going into an outdoor theater like a drive-in where you have to drive your car to a lot and turn it into the ultimate BYOS event, that being “bring your own stuff” for short. Having to bring your food without having to smuggle because you don’t want to pay for snacks at the concessions that could rip you off, your own seating by getting a lawn chair by the back of the car, having to turn to whatever frequency on the radio you’re trying to mess around to get a good sound... it’s all there, man. The experience is right there. And even though I’ve never been to a drive-in theater, let alone an outdoor theater or event, it kind of sucks that we’re watching what was once a relic in history in everyday life fading away. You can thank the following options to pick to blame from financial issues to Covid to now streaming becoming a part of our everyday lives even though, yes, you can still go to an indoor movie theater and that’s still kicking to today’s time.
And you can see that with this week’s episode... well, in Bob’s plot of the episode because the other two pretty much serve as filler, and a time waster on those fronts, with him not wanting to lose that feeling when attending the drive-in on a family night out on the theater’s final night operating before shutting its doors down for good. And while that is happening, finding ways to keep the place open for the current generation but also the next to enjoy what the past generations had endured, you also have a couple of flashback scenes with a young Bob in his time enjoying his night out at a drive-in theater and also meeting a girl (and this was long before he met Linda). So uh... yeah, we got lore. The looooooooore!!! Lore. That being said, let’s park the car and explore the episode and go through it piece by piece, this is “Saving Favorite Drive-In”.
The episode starts with the family on their way to the drive-in theater for a family night out with the theater, according to Bob, is on its last leg with tonight being the night is the last day of operations because once the night ends, the drive-in will come to a permanent close. So nothing wrong with going to a drive-in one last time while having its doors open by bringing the family along to watch an old movie through a projector and hoping for everyone to get an experience before shutting down. And for Bob, hoping to relive it one more time because he had visited the place a few times in his early life. Especially once Linda brought a woman named Ramona during one of his visits. Ramona, of course, is the first girl who Bob came across during one of Bob’s visits to the drive-in and this was long before Bob met Linda. And she was the first girl who talked to Bob, not in the way as if there’s some romantic connection between the two once we get to the flashback portions of the episode, but more of the line of making friends with someone who is a girl. Once again, this is long before meeting Linda. So, I guess there were no moments of Linda having to feel a bit of jealousy in her system when Bob told Linda his experience and brought up Ramona.
While the drive is happening, it looks like Linda has some problems of her own through the phone, setting up one of the subplots for this episode. It’s regarding one of the PTA members in a chatroom that Linda is in since she is a member of the board. Bringing up the upcoming bake sale and questioning the number of tables they need to set up the event to one of the members named Maryanne. Oh boy, quite the chatter in the chatroom regarding the number of tables that are needed for the bake sale and for Maryanne to get it to her thick skull to remember what is needed for the event. And it has been annoying Linda leading up to the night of visiting the drive-in when having to be glued to the phone just to get used to whatever Maryanne is saying. And it’s getting to the point where her (Linda), Colleen, and a few others decided to vent in the chatroom or as Bob puts it, talking shit behind her back. Which Linda tries to correct Bob that it’s not talking shit because they’re not together in person and instead, it’s through a text chain. That’s still talking shit behind Maryanne, regardless of the type of communication you’re using. But hey, as long as Maryanne doesn’t discover the text chain where the members had to badmouth her, then we should be good.
Going back to the conversation about the drive-in they’re heading. The movie they’re about to watch once they arrive is an old sci-fi film from the 1960s called “Attack of the Man-Monsters” and according to Bob, the drive-in they’re going like to show old movies, like before the turn of the century, rather than showing the newer movies because they’re old school and don’t know if there’s... I would say if there’s WiFi but I’m sure there isn’t. Mobile data, yes, but if possible, pray that you don’t hit a lag or have to hit the limit mark. Not in compared to some movie theaters where they show movies as last chances before being taken off and having to wait a few months to buy them on DVD or Blu-ray or in today’s terms, on a streaming service. And, of course, because it’s an old movie, a movie from the 1960s mind you, that the main concern for everyone, especially for the kids, would be the pacing. I mean, could be worse, we would be looking at a film from the 1940s filled with musical numbers and hoping the racism meter does not crank up to 100. Luckily for the family, they have brought the stuff they need to consume since it’s gonna be a long night and not have to waste their money on the concessions. Especially with Tina having to bring a paper bag filled with candy. Old candy that she had from Halloween and Easter that Tina had hidden because it was caught on Louise and Gene’s radar for them to get their hands on them and knowing that it’s going to be a long night for the family to a drive-in just hours away from shutting its doors down for good, might as well share it but it would come down to ground rules later on in the episode.
And it’s not just the Belchers who are paying a visit to the drive-in theater one last time because you have a line formed to get their ticket for them to find a spot for them to watch the film. You have Edith in her car ready to go into the lot while trying not to get caught because she’s smuggling Harold from inside her trunk rather than having him sit next to her in the front seat. I’m guessing because Edith doesn’t want to pay an additional fee for a ticket if she were to bring a plus one with her and thought it would be a good idea for her to smuggle Harold into the drive-in as an alternative cheaper option. And the rest of the for the two is pretty much Edith having trouble getting Harold out of the trunk with the door stuck while trying her best to not get caught as if she’s harboring a hostage. You have the Belchers getting their tickets with one of the workers, or I guess the only worker here in the drive-in, named Quinn, voiced by Nasser Samara, telling Bob to adjust the radio to hear the movie because the theater got rid of the speakers 30 years ago because why not. Already telling the signs that the place has deteriorated as the years go by. And then, of course, Teddy. And I might as well get this out of the way, there’s no way in hell that the show would show a face reveal of Teddy’s mom right when he was bringing her to the drive-in. We see her sleeping in the front of the truck but much like with Ginger, especially with this out of freaking nowhere, we all knew that a face reveal is not going to happen at any time. I don’t want to hear any bitching over why we didn’t get a face reveal like with Ginger because we knew it wasn’t going to happen.
The Belchers arrive at their spot with everything now all set up for them to watch the film, well, finishing adjustments with Bob trying to find the perfect frequency to hear the audio and Linda having her own problems regarding the text chain that she is in. Leaving the kids with their situation to set up the third plot of the episode with Louise and Gene right away attempting to open the bag for them to consume the candy that was packed inside the bag, only for Tina to snatch it away. Tina knew that Louise and Gene, once the family found their spot to watch the movie they were planning on seeing, would go and attempt to eat right away but knowing that it was her bag with her candy stash inside, there had to be some ground rules for Louise and Gene to know... that they’re likely going to ignore later in the episode. So once that’s been taken care of, and now Bob putting in the finishing touches on adjusting the radio and finally gets the frequency to hear the movie, we now enter a flashback to one of Bob’s experiences when visiting the drive-in...
With a young Bob, in his mid-to-late-teens, with him enjoying the film in what I guess it’s the same film that the current day Bob is planning on watching with Linda and the kids. Watching the film with Big Bob in tow, who was asleep during the film. And knowing that Bob is in his mid-to-late-teens here means that this has to be set a couple of years after Lily’s passing because Lily’s death did have an impact on Bob and Big Bob and how that changed their dynamic. Because we have seen Big Bob acting a bit of a dick here and I guess it would tell you that Lily’s passing did put a lot of emotional impact on the guy because he would be a lot nicer back when Lily was around. As if she was the glue that was holding the fort. Bob leaves the car to go use the bathroom before getting something for him to eat to watch the rest of the film, telling his father if he wants anything, only for him to take a rain check. Bob leaves but not before Big Bob tells him that he could’ve brought a friend with him to watch the film instead of dragging him (Big Bob) to the drive-in with Bob telling his father that they’re busy... and also the fact doesn’t have many friends in his social circle. He’s not Mr. Popular and I can see where his troubles with his social skills are coming from.
We go to the next scene of the flashback with Bob coming out of the bathroom and making his way to stand in line for him to grab something to eat. But not before a girl standing behind him, a girl that Linda brought up at the start of the episode, named Ramona, voiced by Paulina Alexis, tells Bob that a piece of toilet paper is stuck on the bottom of his shoe. Quite the first impression to make here between the two comes from Bob once leaving the bathroom. She called Bob “Robbie”, which Bob had to correct her even though she was in the ballpark since it is close to the name Robert, which is a long name for Bob, even though Bob had to correct her by saying that it was Bobby that he is used to in a nickname basis and not Robbie. At least we know there are some instances of them knowing each other with those two having the same class together but not for long because in Bob’s many visits to the drive-in, this was also pretty much Ramona’s last because she and her family are moving to Ohio after this. Well, she and her mom because Ramona brought up that her mom’s boyfriend named Dave is not invited to the move. I don’t want to jump to conclusions about why Ramona’s mom’s boyfriend won’t be joining them in Ohio, Akron to be exact, as if Ramona’s mom and Dave have some sort of falling out that led to him not joining them to Ohio, so I guess we just leave it there.
And quite the dodge there when bringing up the topic of mothers with Ramona bringing up her mom and her potential move to Ohio once the night ends since this is pretty much her last night here in New Jersey. Especially when Ramona asks Bob if he’s here with his mom, not knowing that he doesn’t have a mom because his mom got sent packing and those two barely know each other aside from them having the same class. They’re pretty much total strangers to each other as if you’re expecting Bob to say to Ramona with him saying “My mom isn’t here. Because she’s dead” but didn’t because they don’t want to make the conversation awkward between the two. Aside from that, we got the meeting between Bob and Ramona as they plan on getting popcorn, not together, but separately as they wait in line.
We end the flashback and check back up with Linda with her issues. And it’s not looking good for Linda because she just sent the wrong text to the wrong chatroom regarding Maryanne. She accidentally sent out a message of her badmouthing Maryanne, calling her a “dumb-belstiltskin”, to the main chat where all of the members, including Maryanne, to see, and not the private chatroom. Putting Linda in a very tight spot as the night progresses and now, she would have to spend the night away, or at least before the movie begins, to make sure no one gets a hold of the message, especially Maryanne. Though because of this being in the public chatroom instead of the private one, by now, everyone should get the notification regarding the message. I mean, Linda could delete the message before everyone notices, press the message, and delete it, but she had the smartphone for... what? Nearly two years since having her and Bob’s phones down to the ocean floor that forced them to make the upgrade (even though flip phones are somewhat making a comeback), so uh... she’s going to run into some problems as the episode progresses.
We get to the end of the first act of the episode with the owner of the drive-in lot, named Evelyn, voiced by Pam Grier, giving an announcement before starting the film with her announcing that it’s the end of the era for the drive-in theater after 40 years of operations and announcing the start of the sale of the lot once the new day hits. That, of course, got Bob’s attention, and realizing that the drive-in shouldn’t go away and doesn’t fade away from existence once the last car leaves the lot for the night to close its doors for good. And that was especially after the first flashback moment with him and Ramona meeting each other while waiting in line at the concession booth, think it’s a good idea for him to find a way to save the theater, yes, by his lonesome, to keep the place open as if the many factors were thrown as the cause of why the place is shutting down.
Don’t know if COVID was around in the canon of the show’s storyline aside from that small short back in 2020 called “Bored” with everyone in masks but in real life, it was one of the factors even though some shut its doors long before the pandemic struck. So I guess financial issues would be the next option on the table aside from... well, either streaming taking over our lives or the owner deciding to call it quits. The movie begins... or so we thought as we wrapped up the first act of the episode because there was a problem with the projector and now, an additional few minutes... give it 15-30 minutes to get things patched up as if we were waiting for the Cowboys/Steelers game after a rain delay. And that should give Bob a lot of time to come up with a plan to save the drive-in by creating a petition to convince Evelyn to keep the place open.
And he does that once we begin the second act of the episode with Bob looking for paper for his petition campaign but to no avail because he didn’t bother bringing in some sheets of paper or at least a miniature notebook, so a couple of napkins from inside the glove compartment should be the way to go for him to kick off the campaign at the drive-in to keep the place open. Bob leaves as Linda continues with her problems at her end of the bargain after accidentally sending the message to the wrong chatroom and needs to find a way to make sure that Maryanne doesn’t read the message sent by her and hopes no feelings get hurt by it. She tried asking the other text chain that she is in, the gossip chat, for some help... didn’t help. So, she’s pretty much stuck with nowhere to go to make sure Maryanne doesn’t read the message. Especially with her being away from the town for the night because stealing her phone would be the last thing to help your situation. So, the only other option for Linda to use as an excuse for sending the message to the wrong chatroom... and it’s the most generic excuse out of them all, both to be exact, with Linda claiming that it was autocorrect’s doing or maybe she got hacked. Yeah, that should sell the story to get the heat off of you. Bob leaves to start his campaign and Tina follows suit, mostly because she had to go use the bathroom before the movie begins, and to no one’s surprise...
Gene and Louise end up taking the bag and eating the candy inside for themselves while Tina is away. At least Gene is somewhat hesitant because Tina means business when it comes to her bag, but we all know that they gonna follow what Tina has to say regarding the bag of candy. And the first piece of candy that they eat once they open the bag is called “ka-bloozies”, where you eat the candy and your mouth turns blue from the blue flavor, hence, the “bloo” as in the color blue in “ka-bloozies”. And for Louise and Gene... looks like they can’t get out of this one because Tina will know right away just by the color of their mouths caused by the dye as they tried to get rid of the evidence with bottled water and a piece of napkin but to no prevail. So now, it looks like Louise and Gene will have to keep their mouths shut once Tina comes back in what might as well be the longest and most excruciating game of holding your breath.
Bob goes around the lot to collect the signatures as he comes across a family who is enjoying their night out at the lot, only to be interrupted by Bob knocking on the window and hoping to get their signature. And of course, Loren Bouchard himself had to lend his voice as the little kid inside the car and saying to his parents if Bob was going to kill them, mistaken him as a creep of some sort. Like Jesus Christ man, who knew that Bob collecting signatures to save the lot was going to put the fear of God on them as if he were a member of Jehovah’s Witness. And it looks like the signature collection isn’t as easy as it looks for Bob because there’s a some, if not, a majority of the moviegoers don’t want to sign their names onto the napkin. Whether it’s the family that Bob scared the bejeesus out of them from their car or an elderly couple who doesn’t want to sign and just want the projector to be repaired because they’re getting impatient and not because it’s their way of saying that the drive-in theater experience had passed its prime. But at least it’s not a total loss because, despite the desperation, he did get some signatures. Not a lot, but he might as well go and take it like with him getting Edith’s signature on a napkin while she had her own problems in trying to get Harold out of the trunk while trying not to get caught because she doesn’t want to pay for an extra ticket. It’s a long struggle for Edith for this episode and on the final night of the drive-in in operation, she might as well wish she paid for that extra ticket so this wouldn’t have happened.
We go back to the rest of the Belcher family at their car with Louise and Gene now having to play innocent as Tina makes her return to the car after using the bathroom. And again, Louise and Gene can’t get out of this one because one word or breath from either one of them could land them in hot water with their older sister that could lose their candy privileges. Especially once Tina brings up the ground rules and remember the candy that Louise and Gene ate the first thing they nabbed? The ka-bloozie? Oh yeah, that candy, or at least three of them a piece, was meant for Tina and Tina only. This adds even more pressure on the siblings because they can’t escape their way out. I mean, they could lie to explain why the inside of their mouths were blue but the candy that was meant for Tina and she could see it right away the moment either of those two opened their mouths.
And now Linda, still having issues of her own with the text chain. And what is Linda’s plan to make sure Maryanne doesn’t feel offended by the message that she accidentally sent out in the wrong chatroom? By calling everyone one by one and saying the same comment through the phone that was meant for Maryanne and thought it was her way of calling them on a nickname basis. This is pretty much the same way someone who had gone into massive heat and thought that a bad word or a possible slur and thought it was a “friendly” nickname and hoping to get out of dodge. Why are you following that route just to save your skin, Linda?! Especially in this day of age where that plan would easily get you cancelled. And to make matters worse for Linda when doing this... she ends up calling Maryanne as the first person on the list to make a call. Yeah, I think technology, especially when using a smartphone after making a slight boo-boo by sending a message in the wrong chatroom, isn’t your strong suit there.
Bob continues his quest to collect signatures to save the drive-in with only a few signatures collected for him but still not enough progress to help him out with his mission to save the lot from shutting its doors down. And apparently standing in front of the concessions booth and yelling while waving the napkins, hoping to get someone’s attention isn’t working because it seems that no one is even bothering to show their support and just minding their own business on what might as well be the lot’s final night. The concession worker, Quinn, tells Bob to not bother some people when noticing what Bob is doing in trying to collect the signatures to save the drive-in. This caused Quinn to serve Bob some popcorn on the house despite being burnt as he put it, guessing the projector isn’t the only problem here in the lot but might as well get your mind off of it.
And this, of course, leads us back to the flashback with Bob and Ramona with them getting their popcorn and explaining the plot of the movie they’re seeing. That is one of the films from the 1950s called “The Fly” that is currently shown on the screen. Ramona asks Bob if “The Fly” has some sort of hidden message in the film regarding the plot as if it’s an anti-communist film. But knowing that it’s the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, according to Bob, pretty sure most films from the 1950s are about with the anti-communist propaganda message as subliminal or just there in the open when going through the plot as if they’re not even clever on hiding it. So, the two get their popcorn and talk about the plot of the film they’re watching, signifying how close the two are fastly coming together as good friends if as if Bob in his younger days during one of his visits made a friend that is about to turn it into a long-distant one because, again, this is Ramona’s last night in the state before relocating to Ohio. Meaning that the visit needs to be special to remember for I guess the rest of their lives and it didn’t take long for Ramona to spot the perfect opportunity for the night to be perfect. The sign. She suggests that both she and Bob should go up the sign and get a better view of watching the film from on top despite that Ramona brought up heights to him with him feeling a bit anxious as if he has a fear of heights but switch the words around so that he doesn’t back out. And speaking of the old sign...
This causes Bob to get an idea to save the drive-in by getting the sign up and running to advertise to save the drive-in lot when talking to Quinn. The only problem is that you can’t just put a sign that says “Please sign the petition. It’s not online, you have to go in person and write it down on a napkin”. And it looks like Quinn wants to save the drive-in too even though up to this point, haven’t done anything aside doing his job, and with the place shutting down once the night ends, the dude might as well start collecting his unemployment check. So, it looks like he’s in to help Bob spread the word. However, a petition isn’t going to cut it unless you create it on a petition website but those only work for big issues that could impact lives. So here comes the next item on the list to save the drive-in theater and that is running a fundraiser. And in the world of social media, it didn’t take long for Quinn to open up the show’s version of a GoFundMe because the rules of television don’t play around, and we should be good to go. But because Bob has no social media game because he doesn’t have a social media app or two on his phone. Feel like he should be then he would probably get addicted unless it’s to promote the restaurant. Other than that, Bob has no social media game, and that, of course, leads us to the sign that hasn’t been operating in a long ass time. Just need a ladder, a box filled with letters for the marquee, and the lights to work. We only got two of the three items on the checklist. Luckily for Bob, he knows the right guy to do it since he is already here and he was the one who told the family about it.
He goes to Teddy and asks for his assistance to help wire the lights. Yes, he goes to Teddy to help him to fix the wires. Teddy... who we all know is a reliable handyman for the town, but especially the Belchers... when it comes to doing electrical work... oh boy. History does somewhat tell that there are some hits and some misses when doing electrical wiring. Mostly the misses from having to wire stuff for Reggie at his gazebo that caught on fire or messed around with the wiring at the apartment that led to the Belchers having to spend Christmas at another house. But Teddy is the best option available and knowing Teddy, he accepts the offer to help him out. He just has to leave a note for his mom to make sure that he’ll be back and won’t take up a lot of time once she wakes up from her nap. Especially when having to write down on a gum wrapper since, like Bob, doesn’t have a notebook or sheets of paper on the ready. And yeah, once again as a heads up, we ain’t getting a face reveal from Teddy’s mom in this episode. Just putting it out there as a reminder.
And now, onto the end of the first half of the episode, with Teddy and Quinn now at Bob’s side, the mission to save the drive-in theater is a go once the ladder is set up. And with that, we’re in business once we begin the second half of the episode with Teddy remaining on the ground to wire the sign, and for both Bob and Quinn, they go up the ladder and onto the top where the marquee board is at for the sign to begin placing the letters to promote the donation link for the drive-in. And once again, Bob... not being a fan of heights when going up there as if he’s going to fall down and expecting an accident waiting to happen. And while that is happening with Bob going up the ladder to the top of the sign as we begin the third act of the episode, we once again go back into flashback mode.
With Bob and Ramona finally on top of the sign to get a better view and for Bob, it’s to not fall to the ground when having to get a good look from on top before sitting next to Ramona to watch the rest of the film. Once again, this shows a close bond forming between the two as they watch the film. No romantic interaction between the two as the episode progresses each time the flashback is shown. It’s just two people being friendly with each other in a platonic way that will soon become a long-distant one once the night ends between Bob and Ramona. I would say that if there’s a possibility we could get to see a present-day Ramona in a future episode and have a reconnection with Bob, but knowing the show, she is deemed as a one-off. And a one-off who was once in Bob’s past when having to go through one of his drive-in experiences when going through a nostalgic trip when trying to keep the place open.
Switching back to the present day on top of the sign and the mission is a go for Bob, Teddy, and Quinn in their attempt to save the drive-in from shutting down permanently with Bob ready to put the letters on the marquee board to spell out the link to the donation page and Quinn helping Bob spelling the link onto the board while the sign remains in the dark but not for long once Teddy begins to work with some wiring to make sure that the sign is up and running. And before you say anything, it’s not an actual link. Someone who I talked to over on Discord went to the link to see if it’s a legit link and you would probably end up with a blank screen or a screen that shows your security extension showing a possible security link as if the site is going to send you to a suspicious website. Don’t go to the link that was shown in the episode, folks. Just don’t.
The Linda Chronicles continue with her continuing to have things bite her in the ass regarding Maryanne. Especially with Linda now getting messages from Maryanne to call her back after accidentally calling her first when trying to go for the plan of talking to everyone one-by-one and thought that it was a “friendly” nickname and not her badmouthing that quickly and horrifically backfired. At this point, Linda, it’s for the best to drop the phone and not do anything. Just put down the damn phone for the night and enjoy the night out with the family and hopefully come the next meeting, you would talk to them and say it’s a misunderstanding because she can’t get a hold of how technology works. You know, playing the “I’m old and can’t work around a device” card. It’s not an effective strategy but it should at least contain the damage that was already caused earlier in the night regarding the message that was sent in the wrong chatroom. And speaking of characters that can’t get out of a sticky situation while waiting for the movie to begin...
You have Louise and Gene continuing to play innocent by attempting to do the world’s longest game of holding your breath while Tina is present and can’t open their mouths because of how blue their mouths are from the candy that they were not supposed to eat. To the point where the two decide to hide themselves from under the blanket and begin their talking from underneath just to avoid being seen their mouths covered in blue dye as if the movie “Big Fat Liar” missed that when turning the guy blue. So, Louise and Gene thought it was a good idea to hide under the blanket to not draw any suspicion from Tina despite that Linda noticed it was too quiet when dealing with her problems as if she were hoping for either Louise to throw out witty comments or Gene being Gene with his one-liners. And because Louise and Gene are hiding inside the cover as if it’s a sibling bonding experience, Tina ends up joining them, which is the last thing that the two siblings need as they wait for the projector to be fixed and the movie to be put on the screen.
We go back to the main plot of the episode with Bob finishing putting up the letters on the marquee board with the URL for the donation site, once again, don’t go to that link because it’s not a real site, and once Teddy finally got the thing to work, the sign is lit up and now, the waiting game begins for anyone, whether being in the lot or driving by, to get the message and donate their money to save the drive-in. And yeah, gotta put it out there, the lighting from the sign does look good. Just putting it out there. And once again, we enter flashback mode once more once the sign is turned on.
Checking up on a young Bob and Ramona currently watching the movie from on top of the sign. Bob already regrets his decision to go up the sign knowing his thing with heights but doesn’t bother his viewing experience when sitting next to Ramona to watch the rest of the film. And once again, you’re seeing a friendship growing between the two who were total strangers before visiting the drive-in despite having the same class at school. Once again, it’s the experience of visiting the drive-in that can draw people together like with Bob and Ramona when seeing the movie. Especially since this is one of Bob’s many visits to the place and also this is Ramona’s last in the state before leaving for Ohio with her mother as she asks Bob if there are any drive-in theaters by her new place.
You have to make the night special so they can remember for the rest of their lives like with Bob when trying to save the place one too many times in this episode. Especially once we end the flashback with Ramona thinking that she should be friends with the monster as if he’s misunderstood despite the stuff he did... I dunno, I never watched the film. Which almost feels like they’re already becoming friends as the night progresses between the two and again, this is about to become a long-distant friendship because of Ramona having to move to another state but a night they shouldn’t forget. This is truly the end of the flashback by the way. Not kidding, the fourth act does not have a flashback scene, so this is pretty much it for Bob’s flashbacks with him in his younger days at the drive-in. Knowing that we are now less than five minutes left in the episode, it’s only a matter of time before a mishap takes place once we get back to the current day to end the third act and go into the fourth and final act of the episode. And right on cue...
A mishap is taking place to close out the third act and going into the fourth with Bob making his way to the ladder for him to get down the sign after placing the letters to send the message out for everyone to see... only for the ladder to fall, making him trapped on top of the sign. I would say that Bob has a phone on him so he can call Teddy or anyone to get the ladder back up for him to climb down, but apparently, Bob decided to have butterfingers right before placing the letters for the sign that resulted in the phone to fall deep to the ground from high up at the sign. So now, ending the third act and going into the fourth and final act of the episode, Bob is pretty much trapped on top of the now brightly lit sign and it’s not like the entirety of the fourth act is going to be him stuck on top. As expected, he goes down the old, rusty ladder on the pole in what I guess that’s how he and Ramona came up many years ago. Of course, Bob ends up falling down to the ground the moment one of the steps breaks from the pole because of how old and rusty it looks it’s going to serve as a hazard. Hence, why the ladder had to be used for the sign leading up to where we are now. Bob falls but no serious injuries thanks in part to a bush that saved his fall. I mean, he had to come down eventually, and right away, he did. It’s not like him being trapped up the sign is going to take over the fourth act.
We go back to the Belchers once more with Linda still having to deal with the Maryanne situation. Again, Linda, pretty sure, and this is just me saying to you, none of this should have happened if you just put your phone down for the night or at least, oh, I don’t know... be careful where you’re messaging but mostly put your phone down for a night without getting into hot water. The situation is so bad for Linda that it has gotten to the point where Tina has to step in as Linda’s potential ace in the hole to get her out of dodge. Telling her mother that she should call Maryanne back and say that she didn’t mean all the things she sent through the public chatroom and say that it’s all one big misunderstanding because she was frustrated and made her lose her train of thought that led to her accidentally sending the text to the wrong chatroom. And it has to be Linda herself to do the job and not someone to do an impersonation like with Gene, who is willing to volunteer with a decent Linda impersonation from under the cover. So as Linda decides to follow Tina’s suggestion and call Maryanne... to no one’s surprise since we are less than five minutes left in the episode...
Louise and Gene get caught red-handed, or rather, blue-handed once they get out of the blanket, thinking that the coast is clear because Linda left and called Maryanne and Tina to leave to do her business, mainly to stretch her legs, but no, it’s to catch the two in the act the moment they get out of the blanket. Tina knew right away that Louise and Gene would go after the bag the moment Tina left the car with her stash being left unintended for anyone to take. You’d think that them opening their mouths when hiding under the blanket would give it away regardless of how dark it is under there but it’s mostly because of the duration of hiding inside and with Gene tagging along for almost an entire night. Yes, because if there’s one way to know that Louise and Gene stole Tina’s stash of candy even though she told them that it was off-limits without giving prior consent is not because of the dyed mouths or opening the bag and seeing how many of the ka-bloozies are left in her bag that was meant for her for the screening... it’s counting the time of hiding inside the blanket with Gene. And what is Tina’s response to all of this after her youngest siblings stabbed her in the back and took her stash?
She just let this slide. Yeah, she just let this one slide because despite that, yes, she is upset in a not-surprising way when finding out that Louise and Gene would go after her stash of candy once she left the car to go use the bathroom before the movie begins, or at least while the projector is being fixed, it’s entertainment for her because she rather prefers the so-called “drama” with the candy rather than having to hear Linda’s problems on the phone with her accidentally sending a text in a wrong chatroom or probably the actual movie that has yet to be shown, she finds it amusing and decides to declare its water under the bridge between her and her young siblings. To the point where she decides to pull the last ka-bloozie candy out of her bag and wants to share it with the three in three separate ways. But because of the drama that came with it with Gene and Louise going behind Tina’s back as if they’re showing signs of the wrath of God weighing over them, it’s a hard pass for the two siblings. Especially Louise, who decides to go back into the blanket... that is plagued with Gene’s farts. Yeah, pure filler. Thanks for wasting our time there with that side story despite the pregame that we got before the movie was shown to buy time.
We return to Bob returning the bag to Quinn after falling feet from the top of the sign. Telling him that a ladder was pushed down just as he was about to go down along with his phone fell to the ground to the point where he had to go down a rusty ladder at the pole that resulted in one of the handles broken due to how old and rusty the caused him to fall only for a bush to save his fall without having to deal with serious injuries. And just in time for Bob to return to the ground because Quinn tells Bob that he heard from Evelyn that the projector is fixed. This means that the pre-movie presentation of her announcing the closing of the drive-in lot back on schedule and for Bob, rather than the usual two-minute warning, but the three-minute warning for this week’s episode, senses an opportunity to convince Evelyn to change her decision.
And just as Evelyn is ready to announce that tonight’s the night the place will be shutting its doors down for good, here comes Bob disrupting the speech as his way to convince Evelyn to not sell the place once the night ends. Especially once Evelyn spots the sign lit up and the message that she is reading that has the link to the donation page to keep the place open. And this is where we get Bob’s speech in an attempt to convince the owner to backtrack her decision to close the place down without any given reason for why to make the decision. Telling her that he knows what it is like to operate a struggling business because of him owning and operating the restaurant and keeping the business afloat but also telling her about the memories and the experiences that the drive-in had to offer for everyone regardless of whatever generation each attendee is from and also wants the next generation and the one after that to go through the same experience what the past had gone through. And as I said in the introduction of this review, it would suck to see a relic of American culture like a drive-in movie theater go away and fade into nothingness. Telling Evelyn to hold off on the sale and hoping for anyone to catch the URL and lend their donation to keep the place open. Hoping for Bob’s request to go through Evelyn’s head...
Only for her to shoot it down because we got a reason for why the place is shutting down and her reason, coming from her mouth, is not because of financial issues because a projector that often breaks or getting rid of speakers or streaming taking over our lives and shit, but it’s because Evelyn is getting old and wants to retire. And because she didn’t name someone to the ownership/managerial role, the place has to shut its doors for good. She’s past her time of running the place and for once in her life, she wants to enjoy the rest of her life and spend some time with her family and not worry about work like running the drive-in theater but is respectful of what Bob is saying on why he wanted the drive-in theater to open and where he is coming from. Yeah, it sucks that a place like a drive-in theater shutting down would not let the current and future generation to experience what the past generations have gone through, and according to Evelyn, just because the place is shutting down because she passed her prime and don’t know how technology works, doesn’t mean that the memories will fade away with it. Just enjoy it while you can and it will stick with you for the rest of your life. Hence, the flashbacks we got throughout the episode with him and Ramona. So Bob heads back to rejoin his family after his efforts to save the drive-in theater failed to get through...
Of course, we got a brief scene with Edith finally getting Harold out of the trunk with a crowbar at hand. Oh yeah, that’s a thing that we kind of forgot but it was there from time to time. At least she finally got him out of there and right on time for the movie to start thanks to the projector that had to be broken down to buy Edith time to get Harold out of the trunk. While, yes, not trying to draw suspicion because she doesn’t want to pay for the extra ticket. Especially in this economy.
And now, we get to the final scene of the episode with Bob rejoining the family after failing to convince Evelyn to rethink about shutting down the drive-in movie theater. And you have to give Bob something for what he was doing with the drive-in. Hoping to keep the place open for his kids to go through the experience and hope for their kids after that to enjoy the night out at the drive-in and now, they might not get the shot because it’s fading away from existence. And even though we still have indoor movie theaters and now, watching movies at home through streaming, they can at least create some magic as the drive-in theater just doing it indoors though wouldn’t rule out a backyard screening... well, at someone else’s house since the Belchers don’t have a backyard. Other than that, with less than a minute to go, both plots have wrapped up and now, we have the other one now wrapping up with Linda’s situation taken care of thanks to Tina’s suggestion by giving Maryanne a call and telling her what she sent is a misunderstanding and an accident. And apparently, there’s no beef needed because according to Linda, like her, she’s a bad texter but is a lovely person though can be a bit lightheaded. But she did send photos of puppies, so there’s a positive in all of this. And with that, the movie begins just as the credits roll and this close to Teddy joining the family if it weren’t for his mom starting to wake up and for Linda to bring out the deli meat. Once again, no face reveal. Maybe next time.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Well, if I have to be honest here when talking about this week’s episode, it’s an alright one, to say the least. I mean, I don’t hate it but it has some misses from here and there. This mostly comes from the Linda plot with her on the phone and Louise and Gene trying to play innocent after eating Tina’s candy from her candy bag. But it’s the main plot of the episode with Bob that was the highlight of the episode.
And you can see where he is coming from with him attempting to save the drive-in theater. It’s all about the memories and the experiences that the place and he doesn’t want that to fade away when finding out that the place is shutting its doors for good once the screening ends. And the flashbacks with him when he was young around his mid-to-late-teens were the ones that I think would be the highlight of the episode when going through one nostalgic trip after another and meeting Ramona for the first and only time before her move to Ohio. It was a pretty sweet moment between the two having to share a moment in a platonic way and having to create memories of their own. And you have to give him some props on what he was doing and even though he fell short of convincing Evelyn to reconsider her decision to shut the place down, the memories and experience will be there forever in the mind and heart and you can still create that in different locations at the kids put out once Bob rejoins the family at the end of the episode.
The rest felt like filler coming from the two other plots of the episode and knew right away what the outcome was going to be. Well, Louise and Gene’s side of the episode because we all knew that they were going to nab Tina’s candy from her bag even though they were told not to take it right before giving them the ground rules as they waited for the movie to be put on. But that is filler and the same goes for Linda with her trying to find ways to not get into Maryanne’s bad side just because of one fuck up of her sending a text to the wrong chatroom. Other than that, the parts I’d enjoyed were, of course, the flashback scenes with Bob and Ramona. But also the moment when Bob tried to get a random family’s signature for the petition with the kid claiming that Bob was a murderer just by knocking on the car window unexpectedly. And yeah, I guess the same goes for Edith trying to get Harold out of the trunk just because she doesn’t want to pay for an extra ticket. So I’ll give “Saving Favorite Drive-In”...
A 6 out of 10. Yeah, let’s go with that. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. Looks like we have no new episode this upcoming weekend but we do have one on October 20 with “Colon-ly the Dronely”. And hoping and praying that baseball won’t get in the way when it comes to the scheduling. As for what to expect for next week here on the blog... who knows because you probably want me to do one of the two episodes of The Great North that I haven’t done but at the same time, I need a bye week from doing this because doing eight episodes in the past five weeks with one of them being a makeup and doing three episode reviews in one week... dude, I feel like I’m getting drained and the same goes for my laptop.
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