It's hard to believe that the year is almost over, folks. The year is almost over and uh... oh yeah, for yours truly, I’m nearing 200 episode reviews, the upcoming Christmas episode, is the 200th episode review, and good God, here we go again in reaching a huge milestone and closing off the year before going into the year-end countdown... if the FOX scheduling department for once in their life to get their fucking shit together. Because surprise, surprise, The Great North decides to come back... on the week of Christmas instead of what was supposed to be a January return date (or a February date the week after the Super Bowl). And with this being last minute because we’re less than two weeks out from now to December 22 and the lack of promotion... God forbid if FOX decides to fuck around and decides to... I don't know, cancel the show. Please, God, don’t let that happen because no one wants to face the possibility going into 2025. But yeah, the 200th review is coming up and should be an interesting one with the Christmas episode being the one to be the milestone... of course, there’s a chance that the big man upstairs might as well be plotting leading up to the following Sunday as if there’s an assassination attempt ready to happen... metaphorically of course.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, things get heated in the family with Louise and Tina getting into an argument that turns ugly as the episode progresses over Tina’s newest horse figure from her favorite show that started the beef with no end... for at least 21 minutes in an episode’s length in my spoilerific review of the eighth episode of Season 15 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “They Slug Horses, Don’t They?”
If there’s one thing to know about 2024 as we are less than a few weeks out before going into 2025, we had a lot of beefs. We had a lot of beefs throughout the past twelve months that this year might as well be notorious for all these rivalries popping out of nowhere and ending up catching our attention. It mostly stems from the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef this past Spring as the most well-known feud that came out this year, but feuds have often been a normal occurrence from time to time ever since the beginning of mankind. Hell, animals have beef with each other and that’s nothing new. Rap, politics, or in this week’s episode’s case, a figurine and apology card, a feud had to kick off. And that’s what we got with Tina and Louise.
It’s your standard sibling rivalry over something that triggered the feud to erupt like a volcano and for anyone who grew up with siblings throughout their lives like yours truly, who is the oldest with two biological siblings and two step-siblings, it’s oftentimes an occurrence where one random argument over a certain topic gets the two or more parties partaking in a screaming match and it would boils down to a few outcomes, either make up with a compromise being made and let bygones be bygones and go on their day or the worst possible outcome where the argument last for possibly a generation of not having to speak with each other, especially when entering the holiday season. You can already guess what the outcome for this episode is with Tina and Louise with the two options that were laid out.
We already knew that the outcome would be predictable with Tina and Louise having to make up after an entire episode’s length of them bickering as if they want to rip their heads off but uh... good freaking God, this season is on some demon timing, and a good way to be exact. This episode exceeded some expectations on what we would expect leading up to the night of the premiere following the release of the synopsis a few weeks ago and the images just days before this past weekend, it did not disappoint. It did not disappoint and you know what they were doing when making this episode. And despite a few dents from here to there, it didn’t downplay it. It didn’t ruin the enjoyment and we’re pretty much due for an emotional rollercoaster of an episode going into the current season of the show... other than a few that we sort of got with certain moments in certain episodes. Might as well break this sucker down and see how good it is, this is “They Slug Horses, Don’t They?”.
And this is what’s interesting about this week’s episode is that instead of having to begin with the family at the breakfast table or the restaurant, they have title cards to begin the episode and naming the four acts as chapters as if we’re expecting a trial or something when having to watch the feud between Tina and Louise that is ready to erupt as the first episode progresses. Not since Season 5’s “Dawn of the Peck” where we have title cards to start the episode and guessing with the way we start with that, especially when being used not once, not twice, but four times after getting out of an ad break when it first premiered. Though you’d think that with the title cards showing to start each act as if we’re getting whoever side of the story we get to see in their point of view that maybe there shouldn’t be an intro and instead, treat it as if it’s a cold open, but that is only reserved if it’s a season premiere, a season finale, a two-parter, or a holiday episode and this week’s episode did not meet the threshold.
We begin the episode with Louise’s point of view as Chapter One of the episode with her, alongside Tina and Gene, watching Tina’s favorite show The Equestranauts, a reboot of the show... of a reboot, with Tina, of course, enjoying watching the show while Gene and Louise have to succumb to it with Louise feeling a bit annoyed as she messes around with her Burobu collection and currently not give a shit on what is going on when trying not to watch TV. The siblings watch the show where they watch a new horse in the show making her appearance in a picnic store... wow, you see that even in the Bouchard-verse, Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas.
The new horse on the flock is named Helen Oats, who entered the shop as she was just finishing studying to become a horse surgeon at a horse orphanage hospital, or in their world, a surgeon at an orphanage. And according to Linda when jumping over from the TV to the living room, the character is the doll figure that Tina bought and opened it once it arrived after arriving back from school. And boy, like a kid on Christmas, she tore through the box to the point where it became unrecyclable. Yeah, all that brute force after what I guess is days upon days of waiting since placing the order and yeah, she got her figure even though some folks would keep the box unharmed or at least leave the figure in the box and serve it as a collector’s item and sit nicely at a shelf. But regardless, Tina got her figure of Helen Oats, who quickly became her favorite character in the franchise, and feels joyous over it. And that, of course, annoys the crap out of Louise as the family prepares to head to the table to set things up for dinnertime. Leaving Louise alone for a bit with her Burobu for a bit.
And we transitioned to after dinner with Louise playing with her toys, that being her Burobu collection and some salt shakers and was about ready to let her imagination run wild but it looked like she needed one more piece for the imagination to be given the green light. And it’s the one piece that would put her on blast and the piece that would kick off an episode-wide feud between the youngest and eldest sister of the family. And that is her taking the Helen Oats figure from Tina’s room, but not before checking to see if the coast is clear, that is seeing if Tina is busy doing the dishes along with the family, and it does. This results in Louise taking the horse from the room and taking it to her room so she can take her Burobu figure and tape it onto the back of the horse so she can begin playing it. Which she does until she hears a knock on the door and uh...
Oh boy, Tina. Already putting Louise in the limelight as Tina searches for her missing horse that was taken from the shelf. Already sweating bullets, Louise tries to lie to Tina to get her off of her back and hopes to continue playing with her stuff which includes the figurine in question, Helen Oats. Of course, that didn’t take long because Tina did spot the missing horse and got upset over what Louise did and decided to take it back. And apparently, this isn’t Louise’s first offense when having to take Tina’s stuff. And if you think that Louise when it comes to her possessions and wanting to be a kid and such, you’d think that she would stick to her stuff and her stuff only and not use anyone else’s. But much like an annoying sibling growing up for anyone who grew up with siblings, especially when we were kids back in the day, you get the idea where Tina is coming from.
Whether it’s her music box, her glasses, or in the current situation at hand, her figurine, Louise has been taking items that were Tina’s and using them for her to play with, not realizing the consequences of her actions that would result in the items to be badly damaged. And whether it’s you or a sibling you know who was in Tina’s shoes, you get the idea when having to deal with annoying siblings having to touch your stuff, having to clean the toilet, or whatever mess they made without making it a them problem and not a you problem, or having to fight over who gets to watch TV and that was before the streaming era and before smartphones were a thing... the early 2000s... and also the 90s, the 80s... it’s not a pleasant time but you get the idea. I’m the oldest sibling in my family, two biological siblings and now two step-siblings, where I have no issue with the latter because I’m pretty much minding my own business, but with my biological siblings... the role of the brat, and yes, Tina did call Louise that word and we’ll get to that, but when it comes to the title between me and my siblings, it’s a pass around like it’s a game of hot potato, it’s between me and my sister over who’s the most bratty of the bunch.
So yeah, Tina called Louise the B-word. Not the word “baby” like with Chloe once called her in the movie, though it’s not like Louise would call Tina’s favorite show a “baby show” because it would be an unwinnable argument for Louise for Tina to strike back and call Burobu that in return, it’s the other B-word and it’s not “bitch”, it’s “brat”. And we’re not talking about the Charlie XCX song that came out this past summer that had a different definition, it’s the original definition of having Tina calling Louise out because of the way she acts, the way she takes her things and being reckless whenever she uses it as a toy instead of a collector’s item, and yeah, the consequences of her actions when it comes to taking Tina’s stuff and Louise not having to come with the realization. And you see that firsthand with the tail of the horse coming off like it was nothing and it’s not by brute force as if they’re having a tug of war between the two, but I can already there’s a crack and sustained some damage courtesy of Louise and she didn’t see it until the tail is ripped out of the figure. And with that, is where the relationship between sisters becomes fractured and thus... begin the beef between Tina and Louise.
Louise gets in trouble thanks in part to Tina snitching to Bob and Linda about what happened that led to the tail of Helen Oats ripped out of the figure and it’s something that she can’t get out of because of the damage she caused with Tina’s items that she took in what is pretty much a “do not touch” but again, that didn’t stop Louise and the damage that she caused with the horse figure seems to be the final straw. Knowing that we’re only in the first act of the episode, nearly five minutes in, and if you’d think that Louise would apologize right away, she’s not gonna do it and tries to play the victim. But Tina doesn’t buy it and says to Bob and Linda that she’s not going to apologize as expected coming from her (Louise) and claims that she never apologizes for her actions, which offended Louise but... in comparison to which version of Louise we’re talking about with Tina’s statement, early season Louise is oftentimes unapologetic with her actions as if she got no morals but later season Louise, while it’s there, as Louise stated, she apologizes all the time but it took an episode for her to go through the formula, and an overused one since the start of the decade, for her to realize that her actions come with consequences, but she had her moments whether we like it or not when going through the current version of the show. So unless we’re talking about early season Louise, then I guess Tina does have some sort of point but with the current season Louise, it’s there but it takes an episode’s length for her to have a change of heart. So, take your choice on what Tina is saying when stating the claim of Louise never apologized in her life.
Other than that, Louise has to choose from Linda and both options are not to her liking after being chewed out by Tina following the confrontation over the Helen Oats figurine: either she makes an apology card for Tina, which... I dunno how an apology card is going to help ease the situation. Especially with a figure of her favorite character from her favorite franchise that Tina wanted to put on her shelf, only to come crashing down thanks to Louise’s recklessness as if you wish Louise would go dumpster diving to find something for her to use as a toy. It’s as if, say for example, two countries who are at odds with each other, probably during a war, where the only way to stop the fighting is to make Hallmark cards as a peace offering like they’re five-year-olds. You don’t see North and South Korea creating apology cards every year to feel bad for their actions that pissed the latter off while the ceasefire is going on. So Louise has to make a choice after the confrontation over the figurine, either make the apology card or be grounded. And she ends up taking the apology card though knowing this day in age, a single apology card I feel like won’t be enough to ease the situation while the iron is heating up, especially when destroying something that is pretty much the last straw with Tina over Louise mishandling her stuff. Not unless she has money to buy a new one.
So Louise takes the apology card option and if you think that Louise would easily apologize to Tina right away and let bygones be bygones... yeah, that ain’t happening because again, we’re only five minutes into the episode, and knowing that Louise is angry, she is angry over what happened, she’s not going to apologize to her oldest sister, still playing the victim card onto her deck, and talks to herself, “You know what? Fuck the apology, I’m going cold turkey and paint you as the villain with what I’m cooking up.” And going cold turkey she does, instead of an apology that can take an entire paper, she creates a small comic strip where she’s the victim as her way to get back at Tina for chewing her out because she’s Miss Goody Two-Shoes.
We go into comic form with Louise dictating her own story in an attempt to get back at Tina for calling her out over the tail of the horse figurine amputated. This turns into her version of the reboot of a reboot of The Equestranauts by having the main characters finish the day of selling picnics and picnic accessories and decide to hold a private emergency meeting between the five in a private room. Turns on the news to see what is going on and sees the report of a slug named Slug Army Knife, taking the Louise role, hence the bunny ears on its head, getting caught by Helen Oats, taking the Tina role, and is getting ready to be trailed for her crimes that and have the slug be punished by being exiled to another planet, named Uranus Esgroumdeum, where she can float for all eternity and also lose her TV privileges. And Tina, as Helen Oats, in Louise’s point of view, paints her as Miss Goody Two-Shoes as the “actual” villain over the broken tail that she needs to reattach once the meeting is over.
That was until Slug Army Knife decides to come out of the stalls as if she was waiting for Helen Oats to come into the bathroom for her to reattach her tail and I would make a comparison regarding a recent event that happened last week... it’s best to not do that and just say that the US healthcare system is a fucking joke, let’s leave it at that. Slug Army Knife comes out of the stalls after sneaking herself into the building and decides to enact her revenge on Helen Oats and how did she do that by the way? By framing her as the suspect by shapeshifting into Helen Oats and plans on self-snitching, as the horse, so she (Slug Army Knife) goes scot-free. Feels diabolical but knowing that Slug Army Knife takes up the Louise role and knowing that Louise loves Burobu, she’s mischievous, and the one who got in trouble with her parents over messing with Tina’s figurine, she has no remorse and decides to get her lick her back after being, in her point of view, accused of a crime.
And that is what Slug Army Knife did, right after tying up Helen Oats and shift shifts into her, self-snitch as the horse to the Cosmic Council, primarily consisting of Bob and Linda, and uh... yeah, self-snitches as Helen Oats by saying that she did the crime and not Slug Army Knife as what was originally thought and believes that the chopped tail from the body is nothing more than a distraction as if you have to fake an injury just to be discharged from service. Rather than having to go through the evidence to prove her claim, which would potentially put Slug Army Knife under the spotlight, but instead, because this is drawn and dictated by Louise in an attempt to get back at Tina because she got in trouble thanks to her because she was reckless over using her stuff as playthings, Bob and Linda as the judges decide to say, “Yeah, sure. We believe you and gonna send your ass to the gulag, that being another planet.” As if the trial is being declared a mistrial because Slug Army Knife decides to throw Helen Oats under the bus by pretending to be her and self-snitch to the court so she (Slug Army Knife) to go free and hand the crime that she committed to Helen Oats.
And that is exactly what happened as we prepare to end the first act of the episode. With Slug Army Knife, at the moment, getting the last laugh as she watches Helen Oats being sent to the gulag in space via a rocket ship. Not saying that Louise wishes she would send Tina up into space but that would be a freaking long shot and I guess borderline illegal, but mind you, Louise is not in an apologetic mood because one, it’s early in the episode. And two... y’all already know, she’s not going to stand down because of what happened. Tina called her a “brat”... to her face. Much like with Chloe in the movie, she’s not going to stand down and take matters into her own hands. And her creating her apology card that is not going to be an apology card, to begin with, instead, it’s what is going to continue the feud as we prepare to enter the second act of the episode. I mean, sure, think back to Season 7’s “Flu-ouise” where Louise went into an unapologetic mood when falling sick with the flu after her Kuchi Kopi was accidentally destroyed and decided to try to cut ties with her family or Season 8’s “Mission Impos-slug-ble” with Louise being mad at Tina after being pressured into having the Burobu cards confiscated by Ms. LaBonz. I know that Tina and Louise make up at the end of the episode, but for right now at this moment in the episode, it’s gonna turn ugly.
So now, going into the second act of the episode, we enter Tina’s point of view with her attempting to fix her Helen Oats figurine with the broken tail that Louise broke. But with regular glue? Really? Like... does the family not even bother having hot glue or maybe Gorilla Glue, not sponsored by the way, to reattach the tail? Because I feel like something like a horse figure, normal glue wouldn’t hold the piece together and something like hot glue or Gorilla Glue would hold things down. Hell... remember those ads back in the day for a product called the Mighty Putty? Yeah, that would’ve somewhat helped with the issue. But enough with the talk about which glue Tina should use, it’s her time to have a go when it comes to the ongoing feud between her and Louise. And yes, folks, we got flashbacks in this episode! And Tina has to hear Louise’s voice in her head following the confrontation, saying to her face about her favorite show being boring and the same goes for... well, Tina herself because Tina called Louise a brat and she didn’t take it well. And it looks like the same goes for Tina when having to be called “boring” by Louise. To the point where we enter a flashback with them when they were young.
From a young Tina putting up an art piece of her and Louise in Louise’s room back in the day to her having to hold a baby Louise for the first time, feeling like the big sister that is she born to be... only for a baby Louise to cry as if she doesn’t want to be around Tina to a baby Louise having to roll her way away from Tina when having to play peek-a-boo to trying to tell a story to Louise, only for her to leave Tina behind when spotting Gene with a bucket on his head, and yes, that was a callback to a mention that Gene brought up in the movie, she’s taking the big sister role really well. Yeah, much like with Linda back in the day when brought up in “Mother Daughter Laser Razor” from Season 3, Tina had some trouble when trying to bond with Louise. And unless your name is Bob or I guess Gene because there are a few instances in the flashback, you’re going to have a hard time trying to bond with her leading up to the current timeline of the show. Tell that to Linda back in that Season 3 episode about that experience. And no, just because Louise had a hard time bonding with Linda or Tina growing up and prefers someone like Bob doesn’t mean she hates them. Like... y’all... we’ve been through this. Y’all should know this by now. Come on.
Linda reassures Tina that Louise will get a hang of it when it comes to the bonding experience with her eldest sibling, it just will take some time. No need to go overboard to the point where as if the next time she comes across her, she doesn't want to come near Tina and have the fear of God implemented. This isn’t like with Linda when she tried to bond with Louise ever since being brought home from the hospital and had to find something to make her like her, Tina knows that despite her boring personality that she was called out on by Louise leading up to the confrontation because she’ll be around her 24 fucking 7 whether she likes it or not. Especially whether it’s at the house, the restaurant, or at school, and she would have to try her best to be there as her big sister and she did most of the time throughout the history of the show since its humble beginnings. Especially, yes, in later seasons where she tried to be the voice of reason whenever Louise plans on something with concerns that her actions could have consequences.
So, the flashback scenes with a young Tina and Louise, mainly the Belcher family back in the day with the Belcher siblings when they were babies were nice and wholesome and were interesting to see with Tina reflecting on everything she tried to bond with Louise and even though she had to some hard times doing that in the pre-canon of the show, she did that once we get into the events of the show and became an unbreakable bond... up until this episode over the Helen Oats figurine having its tail detached and yes, they do make up in the end and still, an unbreakable between the two. Though if you want more of a bit of an emotional gut punch with this episode...
Take a look at Bernard Derriman’s Instagram page. It shows the script and the storyboard art for each scene in the episode. And we have a few scenes that did not make it into the episode but if you go through the multiple posts regarding this episode, whether it’s the scene that didn’t make the final cut like Tina putting a plush horse onto Louise’s crib before putting up the art piece onto the wall as if the scene is taking place before Linda arrives from the hospital with Louise in her arms to earlier in the episode with what would’ve been a scene with Louise screaming in frustration over what happened. It was an interesting look and would be more interesting if those scenes were added to the episode’s final production before being sent to air but I guess not because it probably didn’t make the final cut due to time. So Tina gets her apology card from Louise after a moment of reflection on her past with baby Louise and if you think that this will be the breakthrough to get the two sisters to stop fighting, and if you’re Linda, hoping for the apology card option to work... oh boy, it’s making the situation even worse.
Tina saw the card and she was not happy. And the smug look from Louise proves that Tina isn’t going to like what she is seeing. Mind you that we’re nearing 10 minutes in the episode, there’s no way in hell that the feud is going to end like that nearing the halfway point of the episode. And here we go, the beef continues between Louise and Tina because Louise is really proving Tina’s point of her being a brat by painting her as the villain just by playing the victim just by the drawings alone that she drew on paper throughout the first act of the episode. She poked the bear just by chewing her out and calling her a brat that you’d think Tina would know that Louise wasn’t going to easily apologize, especially this early in the episode with only ten minutes in. Ten minutes. If this were a 15-minute episode, that should’ve been resolved if this were on a preschool learning channel. This? Not so much. We’re still early and now, thanks to Louise’s lack of empathy because she got offended, proving Tina’s point of her (Louise) not being the apologetic type, we have ourselves a beef and for the option of creating apology cards... much like Jets’ season with Aaron Rodgers... fell flat to its face.
And now, it has gotten to the point where Tina decides to get back at Louise and create a comic of her own or rather, a continuation of it and is ready to paint Louise as the actual suspect because of the whole issue regarding her being reckless with her items that she takes without asking. The story continues with Tina, as Helen Oats, mysteriously arrives back on Earth from what I guess she jumped down sky high just inches away from the atmosphere just as the rocket is currently flying. She saved the rest of the Equestranauts that Louise, as Slug Army Knife, tied up after sending Helen Oats to be blasted off after being framed and she knows that she didn’t do any wrongdoing, painting her as the victim. And the Equestranauts team agrees to all of this because they know her and would never think that Helen Oats would ever do shit like this. Though that is what people think you find out that a loved one like a friend or family member or maybe your favorite celebrity being accused of any wrongdoing, thinking that they had a clean slate before finding out through what you found out online or through murmurs across the room. Helen decides to get to the Cosmic Council to punish Slug Army Knife instead but for that to reach them, she has to get through a city that would be considered a no-go zone, a worse place to live as if they’re saying the city where the Burobu slugs reside is being compared to Detroit, a town called Burobu Burough(bu).
Tina, as Helen, disguises herself as a slug via a picnic blanket and hoping for she to not be seen as if a gang member going into the rival gang’s territory in disguise and hoping to get some dirt without having to get cut and have their life subscription gets cut short. Helen does have things settled with no issue whatsoever with the disguise seems to be working...
Only for that one slug who was sweeping outside a club stepping on the blanket and ends up revealing Helen Oats to the public and in enemy territory. And even if drawing form, the action did not disappoint when having to take on three slugs so she can get to Slug Army Knife. The animation does look a bit flawless with Helen Oats kicking some ass. That was interesting to see just to get through the hurdles that was taking care of the three slugs after having her cover blown. Seems to be having fun with kicking ass but much like with what Susmita said to her in the Cheese Royale in “Don’t Stop Be-cheesin’” when having to make some puns, have fun but don’t have too much fun. This is pretty much that example.
Helen Oats finally reaches up to Slug Army Knife and decides to get back at the slug for accusing her of something that she didn’t do that resulted in her being sent to a rocket by the Cosmic Council. And instead of having to resort to violence as if we’re gonna have the two parties beat each other up, or at least to Helen Oats having to use brute force to at least weaken Slug Army Knife to create the least resistance. And that is exactly what happened when threatening to break the tail off of the slug like with what happened to Helen Oats earlier, treating it as a weak spot for her to cry uncle. This leads to Slug Army Knife being sent off to exile via rocket ship and for Helen Oats, she gets the last laugh.
And that’s what Tina was attempting to do just that as we are about to wrap up the first act of the episode once she finishes her version of Louise’s apology card as her attempt to get back at Louise. Thought that the feud might as well be them having themselves an art battle and using their frustration as inspiration. That did not happen going into the second half. Just as Tina was about to deliver the so-called “apology” card of her own in retaliation towards Louise’s card, especially after seeing Louise for a bit when brushing her teeth in the bathroom, she was attempting, the keyword “attempting”, to do something that would’ve been the unthinkable as a character.
Dropping a couple of papers and picking up one of the Burobu figures that were on the floor and you know it, you had that feeling for a bit there when watching the episode, saying to yourself, “Is she gonna do it?” Will Tina go as far as to inflict damage onto Louise’s Burobu figure as retaliation for Louise’s action regarding Helen Oats? Because the end of her version of the apology card has her mind set on breaking the tail of the slug the same Louise did with Helen Oats’ tail the same way at the end of the first part of the “Some Like It Bot” two-parter with her plotting to destroy the touch screen because of her getting poked fun of over her shirt. Tina had some thoughts about and wanted to break the figure... only in typical Tina fashion for her to hesitate because it’s not her nature and instead, decides to take the figure and confiscate it as she makes her way back to her room before Louise enters hers to close out the first half of the episode. And yes, no end to the feud and it might be getting to the point where it’s about to turn ugly once we get to the second half; and for the family, they might as well get ready for the possibility of having two siblings not having to talk to each other for the rest of their lives. And speaking of the second half of the episode...
This was a surprise that came out of nowhere entering the third act. We got a flashback. Not another installment with Tina and Louise but instead, it’s Linda and Gayle in their childhood days. That was unexpected when watching the episode and for a flashback that came out of nowhere and took us by surprise, especially with the title card for Chapter 3 has Gayle’s name instead of going back to Louise or staying with Tina or going with either Gene or Bob and/or Linda but Gayle seems to be the interesting choice and if you think that like with Tina and Louise, you’d probably think that a sisterly feud between Linda and Gayle would erupt... that wasn’t the case.
We enter the flashback with the Genarro sisters with them in Tina and Louise’s shoes over having a sibling taking their stuff. And with Gayle’s case in this flashback, it’s over magazine clippings that a young Linda is doing by making a collage. Something that Gayle probably wants in and joins her sister in doing it before being chewed out by Linda because she invades her privacy and does not want her to go near any of the magazines while she (Linda) is creating her collage. The magazine clipping issue is pretty much their version of the Helen Oats situation in the current day if we’re talking about timelines in the episode with Linda and Gayle. It’s always about the annoying sibling wanting to intrude and yes, Gayle in that flashback is in that category of taking stuff without little warning that actions have consequences. But for Gayle, especially when going into the next scene of the flashback, isn’t too devastating to the point where a feud has to be enacted.
Yes, Gayle did go behind Linda’s back while she was asleep and decided to mess around with the magazine clippings, i.e. the collage that Linda made and put it on the wall and ends up messing with it, but once the morning hits and Linda waking to see what is she seeing on her wall, it almost feels like a feud that should’ve happened just straight up didn’t spark. We didn’t get to see what Linda saw that Gayle made in the flashback when she first saw but once we get to the fourth act of the episode, you’ll find out what Gayle made for her sister in an attempt to at least ease the situation before it erupted.
Leaving the flashback and going into the present day with Gayle at the door and yes, she’s here to babysit the kids while Bob and Linda are away. To a parent-teacher event at the school and having Gayle as the babysitter seems to be an interesting pick to watch over the kids. Mostly because Jen... well, she’s not in the episode and can’t have Tina take the reigns because she’s currently in the middle of a generational beef in the making between her and Louise. So, Gayle ends up being the pick for a babysitter as she comes in, carrying a bag of soup that is leaking for the kids to eat despite that they have already eaten, because this is usually where Tina takes the reign to watch over Louise and Gene but because of what happened earlier in the night with Louise taking the Helen Oats figurine that ignited the feud, Gayle had to be step up as the emergency babysitter. I mean it’s either her or Teddy and he hasn’t appeared in this episode and he probably doesn’t know how to handle a situation where two people are in the midst of an argument.
And Gayle knows where this is going if this were to continue with Louise and Tina, fearing that this could turn into a Scarelli sisters situation. And according to Linda, they’re a pair of sisters that Linda and Gayle used to go to high school with. The oldest had a car and ride shares with her youngest sister to and from school and they had no problems until the youngest decided to take the car, a Beetle, without the older sister’s permission, go on a joyride, and then wham! Right into the wall, where the poster for Wham was placed, and totals it. She’s fine but the card, not so much. Getting to the point where the sisters got into an argument and the next thing you know, they stopped talking to each other once they were done with high school to the point where one of the sisters decided to go live as far away as possible in Buffalo. And that’s something that the Belchers, especially Linda and to Gayle when drawing comparisons, don’t want to deal with unless they have to find ways to get them to shut up and make up. And it’s not just Bob’s Burgers where we have a situation where you have a family with siblings or family members not talking to each other for years following an argument. The one example I can come up with for a comparison when talking about this issue...
That would be The Legend of Korra with Lin and Suyin Beifong. And yeah, spoilers for all of this shit that came out over ten years. In Season 3 of the show, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, you have Korra and the gang traveling across the world to find people who happened to mysteriously unlock airbending abilities thanks in part to Harmonic Convergence and one of those locations ended up being Zaofu, ruled by Lin’s sister Suyin. Those two, of course, are the daughters of Toph, just FYI. And those two growing up are total opposites with Lin having to abide by the law who would end up becoming an officer and Suyin being a reckless rulebreaker. And the confrontation over a robbery in progress was the last straw to the point where those two stopped talking to each other, mostly to have Suyin to leave Republic City and have the charges dropped. And all that took for them to make up is, aside from having fate to mess around by making Lin’s long-long niece Opal an Airbender, an acupuncture session for Lin to go and reflect on her life and her strained relationship with her sister to the point where they have themselves a sparring match, and, of course, having to deal with a big threat that season in the form of Zaheer and the Red Lotus. No apology card required. Besides, could be worse... spoilers again, this time for the fourth season of Blue Exorcist...
Crash out incoming. That’s all I have to say. Crash out incoming between the Okumura brothers. But yeah, that’s something that the Belcher family doesn’t want to go through where they would have to face the possibility of Louise and Tina not having to talk to each other for the rest of their lives and it has now gotten to the point where yes, they need a Hail Mary for this feud to end; to the point where they have to bet their hedges with Gayle to be the one to step up to end the goddamn feud.
Because it is already getting ugly. It is getting mad ugly between Louise and Tina once Gayle sees what is going on once she enters the building for the night. Especially with Tina having to confiscate Slug Army Knife from Louise’s room in retaliation to Louise’s half-assed attempt at a so-called “apology” card that painted her as the villain to all of this. Yeah, Bob might as well be thankful when finding out that Linda and Gayle nearly had a falling out and seeing the situation unfolding with Louise and Tina bickering that he doesn’t have siblings so he doesn’t have to deal with all of the drama. But Gene... oh man, Gene... he had to go and listen through the whole thing from the start like a kid having to listen to their parents arguing as if a divorce is about to take place. Luckily, Gene was not told this time around to choose a side and decided to stay the fuck out, but to have him be caught in the middle of all of this, even though he was trying to mind his own business, you have to at least feel for him for having to get caught in the middle of the feud. Hoping for the screaming match to end before going to bed for the night.
Gayle tries to get Louise and Tina to make up by telling them how she got her cats, Mr. Business and Jean Paw’d Van Damme, to stop fighting by creating a playful, relaxing environment so they can let out their frustration and cool down for them to try to get into an apologetic mood... there’s just one little problem with that and that is, uh... oh right, they’re not cats unless you have a spray bottle filled with water and spray them to get them to behave, which I doubt that would have them behave themselves. Not unless it’s some sort of childhood punishment when having to behave after getting into trouble. And when I said that things are getting ugly between Louise and Tina regarding their situation... gonna sound like a broken record but it’s getting mad uglies. Mad uglies to the point as if World War III would erupt over a single argument of who’s playing the victim complex over what happened regarding their toy. Could be worse, they could be throwing hands and turning it into a fistfight and treating it as a World Star video. Let’s hope that murder is off the table because that would be the worst possible outcome to think about. So now, ending the third act and going into the fourth and final act of the episode... there better be some freaking diplomacy to solve this. There has to be something to fix all of this. Because their version of humbling one another isn’t working and seems to not work. And with one final act left in the episode, we all know that Tina and Louise will make up in the end, but it’s time to find out who and/or what will be the major factor to create a ceasefire between the two sisters.
So now, we enter the final act of the episode: Chapter Four. And I kid you not, looking at the screencap above this paragraph text, that is actually the name of this chapter we are less than five minutes left in the episode. “The Fourth Chapter” instead of calling it “Tina and Louise” or calling it Gayle again or hell, Gene since he was in the middle of all of this but then again, it’s not like he has anything to solve this issue and this isn’t me shitting on him, putting it out there. But yeah, quite the interesting title and you could say it’s somewhat lazy but it’s quite the interesting choice to name the final chapter to just “The Fourth Chapter” rather than naming it “Tina and Louise” since we all know that entering the fourth and final act of the episode, they’ll make up. It’s as simple as that. And buckle up, even though we sort of went through that with the confrontation and the flashbacks, we’re going on a feels trip, y’all. And the internet wasted no time talking about the cast and crew in this week’s episode and went into straight demon timing when it comes to the emotional aspect of things.
We start the final act of the episode and so far, no progress in getting Louise and Tina to make up with both of them lying on the bed in their separate rooms. The separation starts to grow, if not, already growing like a freaking tumor between them as if the Belchers and Gayle are about to experience Scarelli sisters 2.0 right in front of their eyes. To the point where the family now praying for a Hail Mary to come in and end this feud before it lasts them for the rest of their lives. All hope lies on Gayle as she defies Linda’s order to stay away from her bedroom once Gene notices what his aunt is doing inside and scrimmaging through the closet, hoping to find something that should at least be a potential last-ditch effort to get Louise and Tina to stop arguing. And so, Gayle does as she pulls out a giant envelope in what appears to be a framing of a photo that Linda kept hidden and you’ll find out what’s inside the envelop and, of course, the collage that Gayle made when messing with Linda’s already made collage in that flashback earlier in the episode.
Gene and Gayle, as an unusual duo for this episode, decide to annoy the crap out of Louise and Tina from outside of their bedroom doors for them to get them out so they can show them something that Gayle found in Linda’s closet. And they do so by playing the spoons because if you or a sibling can annoy the latter, especially when having to deal with the two parties feuding over something that isn’t that deep, to begin with, like a toy or a figurine, is to annoy them just to get their attention. Especially when having to show the two girls something Gayle wants to show that Linda hid inside the closet. And what is the thing that Gayle wanted to show to Tina and Louise that was kept hidden inside the closet?
The collage that Gayle made of her and Linda. As in the same collage that she messed with Linda’s in the flashback where she went through the magazines while Linda was asleep and woke up to see the next day. That’s the collage in question that Gayle made behind Linda’s back. However, there’s one little issue with it when seeing it as Gayle presents it to the kids, especially Tina and Louise as a last-ditch effort to stop their bickering, because the collage shows Linda and Gayle in their adult forms, their current age, but Gayle made it when she was either a pre-teen or in her early teens. You’d think that the collage Gayle made would have a younger version of herself and Linda and not their grown-up selves. Makes you question how Gayle even knows how they would look like as adults when looking at the collage with Linda in her usual red shirt and Gayle donning the purple.
Gayle shows the collage to Tina and Louise in an attempt to serve as a last-ditch effort to end the feud. And yes, Gayle coming in clutch to save the day. Another W moment from her since what happened with the lie over the Wheelie Mammoth in Season 11, that’s something we got to see from her instead of having her be the usual crazy, unhinge aunt that we know of. We know, based on the flashback earlier in the episode, that Gayle invaded her privacy with Linda calling her a creep to the point where she ended up reacting in retaliation the same way to the current timeline with Tina calling Louise a brat that, of course, led to her retaliating by creating “apology” cards that are considered offensive. When Gayle did the deed and went behind Linda’s back, she did it out of love. Angry love to be exact but that issue didn’t result in them arguing like with Louise and Tina. To the point where she kept the collage that her sister made and kept it with her to this day. And the collage that Gayle found when going through the closet, especially when finding out that Tina and Louise are in the middle of a bitch fit, would be the item in question to end the bickering.
And Gayle has a point in all of this when nearing the two-minute warning when telling Tina and Louise after they and Gene took a peek at the collage. She can understand that siblings get along but they can also pick fights with each other and that’s pretty much normal like with her and Linda. Being siblings is an unbreakable bond. Linda and Gayle nearly had an argument growing up but that got prevented thanks in part to Gayle creating that collage over Linda’s own creation overnight many years ago and they remain in touch, for better or for worse whenever Gayle appears but they remain in touch and don’t want to see Tina and Louise have their sisterly relationship broken up over one item to the point where they would’ve to see a repeat of what the Scarelli sisters went through because of the younger sibling’s recklessness. In short, just make up. Find something that resembles the collage, or in their case, the drawing that Tina drew when she was little when preparing to see Louise as a newborn to arrive home, that should once and for all to squash the beef. As much I feel too indifferent with Gayle because of... well, her being Gayle and such, much like with “An Incon-wheelie-ent Truth” with her having to tell the kids about their parents lying to them about the whereabouts of the Wheelie Mammoth or “The Kids Run Away” with her helping Louise to overcome her fear of the dentist, this was the one moment where you have to appreciate Gayle for what she is doing and having to be the one to solve things and having to be the reasonable one of the bunch. And that is exactly what we are about to see going into the two-minute warning and the moment that as of this time, the moment that everyone cannot shut up about.
We go back into the drawing world once Tina and Louise are having their respective come to Jesus moment thanks in part to what Gayle said to them after seeing the collage that Gayle made for Linda to prevent their beef from ever happening by having both Helen Oats and Slug Army Knife to be lifted off to exile because they can’t get along when having to play hot potato over who gets the title of the victim and the suspect and instead, Bob and Linda as the Cosmic Council decides to compromise by punishing the two instead of punishing one that would result in a continuous cycle of playing the victim and yes, we have our emotional scene in the episode because we’re pretty much due for one anyway.
And not gonna lie, it was a very good, if not, amazing scene going into the final minutes of the episode. Sure, it was predictable that Louise and Tina would have to make up at the end based on the synopsis when it came out a few weeks ago but the way they did it and had to go into straight demon timing with having an emotional value added into the mix, especially for fans of the show who grew up with siblings like yours truly, they know how to find ways to exceed expectations by turning what is pretty much a predictable outcome into something that should at least put this episode in contention for the next awards season. Changing from the drawings of Helen Oats and Slug Army Knife to Louise and Tina inside the rocket once Louise pulls up the drawing that Tina made for her and yes, she kept the drawing. She kept the damn piece in her drawer much like Linda keeping the collage that Gayle made back in the day. That alone causes Tina and Louise in the drawing to move the rocket ship close to each other without having to collide which would cause a catastrophe in the making, that didn’t happen, and instead, it’s them looking at each other through their rockets as if it’s that one musical number from SpongeBob with him and Mr. Krabs.
It was an emotional gut punch though not in the way of let’s say “The Amazing Rudy” or “The Plight Before Christmas”, but more like a mixture of Plight and having to sprinkle in “Amelia” into the pot but regardless, it’s a pretty good ass scene with them finally settling their differences. Especially when having to transition back and forth between the drawing and the show’s actual style with Tina ready to return the Slug Army Knife figure and Louise having to turn her not-so-apology card into an actual one as we close out the episode with them looking at each other standing at Louise’s door. And this shit lasts all the way to the credits with Nora Smith once again singing the credits like with “Amelia” and yes, she also wrote this episode, just an FYI, you can see why people haven’t stopped talking about the episode since it’s premiere this past weekend when going through the socials. I would not be surprised if this episode does end up being in the conversation for the next awards season cycle because it is a pretty good episode and of course, because we are in the Christmas period that of course family is the name of the game, and man, pretty much picked a good time to do that. And having the credits end with Louise and Tina going from inside the rocket to back to the usual credits of them working at the restaurant behind the counter inside the kitchen along with Bob, that was a nice little transition just as the episode comes to an end. This is straight demon timing. This is straight demon timing for the show to have another emotional episode to come out and the week before the Christmas episode and even though we knew that Tina and Louise would make up at the end of the episode, it did not disappoint, and let’s see where this episode goes if it’s in the conversation going into the next awards season even though we still have a lot of episodes in this season left to air.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? For an episode that we already knew the outcome of when the synopsis came out a few weeks ago, this exceeded expectations. It didn’t downplay it and it was a good, if not, amazing episode to watch with only one plot to showcase and it wasn’t an anthology or the episodes that we had in the past two seasons where we go into one story that drags throughout the episode and instead, it’s perfect as it is. Especially when having to transition into the drawing without having to resort to the usual stick figure through a thought bubble.
And there’s a lot to think about when talking about the episode aside from the ending. The animation with the drawing was nice when going through the apology cards and having both Tina and Louise play the victim. Especially with the fight scenes with Tina, as Helen Oats, being up three slugs on her way to reach Slug Army Knife, that was a nice scene. Love the flashbacks that were used when showcasing a young Tina and Louise with Tina remembering the times when she had trouble trying to bond with Louise ever since she was brought home and again, just to clarify, just because Louise had trouble bonding with Tina and Linda growing up doesn’t mean she hates them. We don’t need to remind y’all just to get into your thick skulls. But yeah, it was a nice touch to show a young Tina and Louise in a flashback once we enter Tina’s part of the episode from her point of view.
But the Gayle flashback with her and Linda was a surprise that I didn’t expect. Especially with the third chapter of the episode with that title card that has Gayle’s name on it. That was surprising to see as if you’d think that Linda and Gayle were about to have another falling out but instead, the collage that Gayle made prevented the feud from ever happening. And it was nice to have Gayle to be the one who ended up being the voice of reason and having to be the one who would end the feud just by showing the collage that Linda kept all these years. And yes, the ending... what else to say but to say emotional to the max though not in the levels to say “The Amazing Rudy” but it’s there, and if there’s an episode that should probably be in the conversation for the next awards season unless there’s a future episode that decides to one up it. So I’ll give “They Slug Horses, Don’t They?”...
A 9 out of 10. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. Tune in this upcoming Sunday with a Christmas episode for Bob’s Burgers as we prepare to wrap up 2024, for Bob’s Burgers at least because The Great North is coming back the week after that, and it involves dogs... well, A dog because all we know is that Gene might be planning on doing something stupid like giving it chocolate in the ninth episode of Season 15, “Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon”.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, BlueSky, and Threads for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The 2024 season is almost over for the Battle of the Week Voting Tournament with the Final Round between Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) and Moon Tobin (The Great North) already in progress. Polls close this upcoming Friday night, December 13, so there’s some time left to cast your vote. Be on the lookout for that. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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