We’re finally nearing the end of what is pretty much a long season. And no hyperbole because this has been a long one. Not by episode count, because we’re getting 22 episodes that last season, which is why we're currently at 22 episodes. However, it feels like forever since Season 15 began. Started in September of last year, a week after Season 14 ended, and now, once the review is posted, the week the current season ends before going into the next one in about seven weeks. A full year living in Season 15, and it’s about to come to an end with the next episode after this. I could say that I might be getting an off-season before the new one, but... of course, The Great North. That season is not done.
In this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers, Arnold enlists Louise to be a director for an ad he’s making when getting into the bodyguard business after getting promoted to green belt in karate, as Bob deals with an influx of early 1990s rock music blasting into the restaurant in my spoilerific review of the twenty-first episode of Season 15 of Bob’s Burgers, titled “Mr. Safebody”.
Well, good to know that a side character is finally getting their own episode after being introduced as a supporting role in one of the previous seasons, though not in the way of what we got from “The Amazing Rudy” last season, because the Belchers, most notably, the siblings, are fully involved in this for the main plot of the episode. The character in question for this week’s episode is none other than the pint-sized fourth grader from Louise’s class, Arnold Evans. Yep, Arnold is getting his episode for this week, as the synopsis states, wanting to enlist Louise to direct a commercial he wants to make since, for this episode only, wanting to get into the bodyguarding business since from here on out, will be having a green belt around his waist instead of the orange he wore since his debut back in Season 9’s “Yes Without My Zeke”.
So, it’s nice to know that they have a side character like Arnold being under the limelight, and while there isn’t any importance for him in this week’s episode aside from him moving on up when it comes to karate and donning the green belt after wearing an orange belt since his debut more than six years ago. And while the episode itself, well, needs some improvement on, well, everything, but solely the main plot and wishing it should’ve done better and maybe throw in a few more side characters aside from Rudy, at least the side character like Arnold, who most of his appearance since the end of Season 9 serve as an extra for each episode since, primarily whenever we’re in Ms. LaBonz’s classroom, got an episode of his own, though nothing like some lore stuff other than donning a great belt and wanting to play bodyguard.
But, we might as well karate chop the episode to get through the whole thing, good God, I need a small break to recharge, both the main plot and the subplot, with Bob having to deal with early 90s rock blasting onto him, of this episode, this is “Mr. Safebody”.
The episode begins with lunchtime, with the Belcher siblings getting their lunch for the day as they get themselves a carton of milk before heading off to their tables. We have Louise struggling to get a carton of chocolate milk far below the tray. Having her get Tina to get her the cartoon because she has issues with her height. Using her arm like she’s a claw machine or grabber. But if you think that’s going to be the plot point for the episode or at least the main plot overall, I hate to say this, but that’s not the case for this episode.
Because once the Belcher kids get their lunch and make it to their table to eat, their lunch is when Arnold comes up to them with his tray and decides to tell Louise something. An offer that he wants to make that he thinks Louise can’t refuse. He asks her to film a commercial for him as he is about to enter the bodyguarding business. Louise questions why someone as small as Arnold would ever want to get into the bodyguard business, especially when going for the name “Mr. Safebody”, hence, the episode title. And it’s mostly because he recently got a promotion in his karate class, as he shows it off to the Belcher siblings.
A green belt. Yep, Arnold got promoted to a green belt. No more orange belt that he wears around since his debut back in Season 9’s “Yes Without My Zeke”, and will be rocking a green one going forward, the next time we see him. So uh... status quo change, I guess? Pretty much a status quo change that the next time we see Arnold after this episode, going into Season 16 and beyond, he’ll be wearing a green belt around his waist. But other than that, Arnold asks Louise to film a commercial for him as if he thinks that he’s ready for the big leagues since getting the new colored belt. Wanting to use his skills to help people, while, of course, having to respect the karate code to not use physical violence. And why Louise? Well, according to Arnold, he needs something for his ad to sell the crowd on what he has when it comes to his abilities, and he knows that Louise knows how to sell a crowd because he was there when Louise was giving a book report not too long ago, without having to read the book. Not sure if he knows, though everyone should know that Louise can direct and film a video as if she has a knack for filmmaking, like a modern-day Brendan Small from Home Movies.
It’s an offer that Louise can’t refuse, according to Arnold. Having to show off her filmmaking skills, and we’re talking about the same girl who once made a zombie movie last season. However, Louise is going to say no to the request, not because she doesn’t want to do the commercial. Saying that it’s a little much for someone like Arnold to come up with for what he wants in an ad to promote his little business since getting the green belt. And she was about to deny the offer as if her mind was all made up, but that won’t stop Arnold from making a push to say otherwise. As if he knows what Louise is going to shoot down the request. Though this isn’t like with what we saw in “Video Killed the Gene-io Star”... or any other episodes where pressure has to be applied to get a Belcher to be involved in something. Unless you throw in compensation like money or candy or something that should get her on board, but other than that, Louise knows what her answer is going to be, ready to deny Arnold’s request, but that’s not going to stop Arnold from making sure she accepts the offer. Especially once the bell for the lunch period ends, and for Arnold, not having the time to eat his lunch, decides to power rush and stuff his face before heading to class.
We check up with the adults at the restaurant, with Teddy entering the restaurant as he hums to something he heard on the radio on his way to the restaurant, as if he has an earworm lodged in his ear. Teddy tells Bob and Linda that his radio on his truck was blasting rock songs from the early 1990s, specifically the early 1990s, not the entire decade, but rather a more specific time frame, such as 1990-1994 or 1990-1995. Any rock song from that range other than the most well-known songs like “Smell Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Some would have to fall into the grunge category, but then again, I know nothing about my music history. And most people back in the day, when picking up new music, would get it from whatever plays on a TV show or movie, whatever plays on the radio wherever you go, or probably got it from playing GTA when messing with the radio or picked up from watching old school AMVs on YouTube from the early days of the site.
It’s alternative rock, and it’s from a radio station called Crank FM, a newer addition to the area that caters to old-school rock fans, especially those seeking nostalgia, and most of whom are hoping to experience it as a first-timer. And for Teddy, he’s already succumbing to the sounds once he made it to the restaurant for the day. Already getting to the point that it’s annoying the crap out of Bob as if Teddy wants Bob to join in the fun. It’s like dealing with that one person who doesn’t follow what’s trendy, or in Teddy’s case, old-school, just because he just wants to mind his own business. But knowing that is the start of all of this, he’ll come around. Just give it until the end of the episode to do just that.
Another random scene that feels like it shouldn’t be there would be this shot before cutting over to Louise and Arnold in the hallway with the fourth graders about to leave the room for the day, with Ms. LaBonz saying to them that they won’t remember this. Referring to the book that she is reading as if it were going to be on a quiz or something. That’s two random shots that don’t feel like it was tying into the main overarching story for this episode and just there because... well, there are no other reasons other than that we don’t question it.
Onto Louise and Arnold on their way home, with Arnold catching up to Louise and asking her if she had thought about the offer that was made from earlier in the day about filming a commercial for his up-and-coming bodyguard business. Even though Louise almost gave out an answer before Arnold cut her off mid-sentence, even though Louise was about to say no to Arnold’s little project because of what he is doing, especially since he recently got the belt, because she thinks that’s a little too much for a guy his age to think that he’s going into the big leagues like he’s some sort of rookie who has no experience. But with what Arnold is doing in trying to convince Louise to do an ad, it almost feels like he knew that Louise would shoot down the offer, especially when trying to bring up a bit of compensation to get her to tag in... other than her asking him to having to use physical violence against Mr. Frond because even though Arnold wants to get to the bodyguarding business... of course, he still have to abide by the karate code and not use violence. Having to train in the art of fighting without actually fighting, as if he had read a transcript from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”. Though the whole “Oh, let’s not resort to any physical violence”...
Was this you? Was this you, Arnold? Just six seasons ago, in your debut, when you and the others attempted to sneak a ladder into the classroom to clean off the wet toilet paper from the ceiling, and your suggestion to get Mr. Branca off of y’all’s backs so y’all don’t get caught, and that would be to snap his neck? Yeah, that was you, pal. That was your suggestion that was shot down by Louise in that episode. Wanting to follow the karate code by wanting to be a pacifist and not wanting to use any martial arts skills that would resort to violence, and that was one of the suggestions. I’ve never seen any of the Karate Kid films, so this might as well be me being a total noob in this. Back to the topic at hand, Arnold ain’t backing down on wanting Louise to do his project and decides to do something that would fully convince her without having to use physical violence that would result in an actual fight.
This leads us to the hallway that leads to the exit. But it’s not the main exit that we’re used to, and instead, it’s the southern hallway, where it’s filled with seventh-grade boys playing a game of Crotch Punch, where they... they punch each other in the nuts. That’s pretty much the game for every seventh grader in the hallway every day. Wow, they’re THAT bored, huh? To come up with something like getting hit in the boing loins? For Louise and Arnold to get through the hall and to the exit, by the way, solid animation there with how each student has their heads down when being punched, the game is simple for them: avoid the crowd, so they can make it out quickly. Pretty much as Arnold puts it, not wanting to get involved in any altercation and not having to resort to violence. They made it out, but it’s not enough to convince Louise to help him out with his ad.
But Arnold, having to break a board that he somehow carried around in his backpack while running towards said board, that Gene and Tina had to carry, like a madman and kick the son of a bitch in half, that’s more than enough for Louise to say, “Fuck it, you got yourself a director”. It’s not a simple “Hey, can you help me film this video for my bodyguarding business” conversation, nor them getting through a hallway filled with seventh-grade boys hitting each other in the nuts, or even wanting to bring up money or candy as compensation; it’s him breaking a board with his legs while running. Especially once Louise, along with Tina and Gene, who is holding the board, along with Rudy, who just came up to them, saw the whole thing unfolding.
Other than that, it’s more than enough for Louise to join Arnold in shooting a commercial. Though again, no compensation to throw in for Louise to accept the offer, other than wanting Arnold to teach her to break a board with her legs. I was hoping for something like her saying she wants a portion of the earnings from the business, for her to fully accept the offer. Don’t know why that wasn’t brought up because this is Louise we’re talking about. If this were early-season Louise, of course, she would bring compensation when having to agree. But she knows Arnold enough to know that it doesn't feel like he’s ain’t ready to do something like this. That was before having to go and break the board in half with his legs, and that alone would convince Louise to accept the director’s role as we end the first act of the episode.
Onto the second act of the episode, after school and at the restaurant and the kids are on the planning stages for Arnold’s little commercial. Consisting of Louise and Arnold as the usual suspects, as well as Tina and Gene, and also Rudy, since it’s been a while this season to have him around, so why not, I guess. They debate over what to do for the commercial, both the location and what Arnold should do to make sure the people who watch it are sold as if they’re selling a product with Arnold and his skills as the product. Turning it into a debate whether or not the commercial should be action-packed when having to demonstrate his skills and sell the crowd once they see the finished product, but even though it's his idea to show off his skills and wants to help the people in need, he doesn’t want to resort to violence because it would violate the karate code. But Louise doesn’t want the commercial to be just Arnold breaking boards; the commercial needs to have action to sell to the crowd his needs.
To respect Arnold’s well-wishes, while wanting to do things her way since she’s pretty much the director of this commercial, the kids want to stage a fight. Not an actual fight where hands have to be thrown, but instead, it’s a fake fight. Thinking that they’re throwing hands, but in actuality, it’s not. It’s like how you see in action movies where they think they’re fighting, but they’re really not. Mostly because they had to switch out the actual actors with stunt doubles, and since the kids can’t afford stunt doubles for this, they might as well act like wrestlers in front of the camera. And despite the differences over, again, wanting to abide by the karate code and not want to use any physical violence, even if it’s for show and actually putting harm on anyone, Arnold gives the green light. But with that out of the way, next comes the location. Wagstaff, especially after school, is off-limits when choosing a place to film because the students might think it’s an actual fight and could turn it into those fight videos you see on IG Reels.
Rudy, of course, comes up with a suggestion for where to shoot the film since Louise is looking for a location that should be in a school hallway, and Wagstaff has to be turned down because it could make the place look bad when being filmed. Courtesy of his cousin Mandy about an abandoned high school that older kids often break into to do older kids' things. Of course, it’s a place that shouldn’t be allowed for kids their age to enter the place. And you already know where this is going once they find out that it’s a no-go destination.
Yep, they arrived at the place, going into the next scene. Minnie Palmer High School, a defunct high school that almost feels like the kids might’ve accidentally traveled to Detroit. Because it does feel like something coming out of Detroit. The place outside with the gates surrounding it, along with the insides going into the next scene as if it had taken a massive hit with something that would cause the place to decline. I know that it’s mostly coming from equipment aging, like pipes and A/C, along with other things, but it does feel like it’s from a city that had gone to shit in the past few years. You could say that they should turn it down, just to close a book in that chapter, but maybe y’all can get the funding to transform it into affordable housing? You know, the thing that our taxes should’ve gone instead of having to fund a modern-day Gestapo that terrorizes non-white communities or sending weapons to a certain country to carry out a g*nocide. Once again, what the fuck are we doing?
We go back to the subplot of the episode, where it seems that the whole '90s rock thing that Bob wants to be no part of decides to blast towards the restaurant while the kids are away. We have a car that is parked in front of the restaurant with two people coming out. But not for the two people to park the car and eat. They decide to ditch as if they’re running away from the law. Spoiler alert, that is exactly what those two are doing. Though they didn’t turn the car off. They just left the car with the engine running, with the radio that is stuck on Crank FM, and for Bob, Linda, and Teddy, especially Bob, they’re stuck hearing the radio blasting to the restaurant until the engine runs out.
We check back at the kids as they walk through the hallways of the abandoned high school, since it was Rudy’s idea to suggest a place like this to film a commercial, since Wagstaff is off limits. The hallways are the best place to film said commercial because most shit what you see on TVs and movies, especially in commercials, because the name of the game of said commercial is Arnold, as the bodyguard, having to play the hero when saving a victim from being bullied. Tina and Gene get to play the bullies because they’re older, making Rudy as the tag-along for this episode, as, of course, the victim. And you can see Rudy grumble for a bit with this scene and the previous before leaving for the abandoned high school, as if he wishes he didn’t want to play the victim before having to bite his tongue. Thinking that he would play the bad boy in the ad, but Louise knows that Rudy doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. And when it comes to the casting list for this commercial, he’s pretty much the youngest since someone who is younger than him, that being Arnold, is the focus for this once the camera rolls. Besides... he’s a pretty much a softie. And not a mean way.
Returning to the subplot of the episode with the car radio still blasting ‘90s rock towards the restaurant, and a few other neighboring buildings around its radius, but mainly the restaurant, as everyone, mainly Bob, for the car engine to die down so that he doesn’t have to hear the radio. He’s calling the police about the car that was left abandoned by two people who left in a hurry, as if they’re running from the law for something they did. Turns out... that is actually what happened. The car that was left abandoned in front of the restaurant was considered stolen. This was a stolen car, according to the police, meaning that Bob can’t go to the car and turn it off because it is now considered an active crime scene. So, until the police come to check the scene out, the car is off-limits. Meaning that Bob can’t go and turn the car off and would have to deal with the car radio blasting ‘90s rock, like how you would go to sleep for the night, and your neighbor decides to blast loud music because they want to. Hoping for an altercation not to break out.
Transitioning back to the main plot of the episode, back to the abandoned school, and so begins the filming for the commercial, with everyone getting in place on what they’re being told to do once the cameras roll. It takes a few shots for everyone to remember what they’re doing. But after a few bad takes, after not knowing how to follow a non-existent script, the kids got their footage once they watched the finished product, and that should be enough for them to have what they got, and about to call it a day as they prepare to leave the abandoned high school, only for Rudy to accidentally knock a bottle to the ground without even noticing, and that alone should draw trouble for the five on their way out as we are now at the halfway mark of the episode.
Where we have two older teens, it’s not the two people who ran off with the stolen car, that’s a whole different story that will never be touched upon, but a couple of douche nozzles who are standing in their way, thinking that they’re alone in the building without even noticing a couple of kids stumble into the vicinity until they hear a knock of a bottle as if they’re undercover cops. The two teens, named Breckin, voiced by Ike Barinholtz, and Devon, voiced by David Herman, aren’t going to let the five walk free, thinking that it’s all an accident and just call it a day. But if you remember what happened in Season 7’s “Large Brother, Where Fart Thou” with Logan regarding the cantaloupe incident, they’re not going to let this fly by.
Of course, Louise has to show off her big mouth to the two teens as if she hasn’t gotten deja vu or a bit of PTSD from what happened with Logan and the cantaloupe because she thinks that they’re not afraid of them, even though the rest begs to differ, because they got Arnold as their apparent bodyguard. Treating this as if it’s going to be Arnold’s true test to see if he is capable of being the bodyguard that he wishes to be, since donning the green belt, despite that he still doesn’t want to resort to physical violence and having to abide by the karate code. Breckin and Devon take Louise’s big mouth as a challenge, and Arnold... yeah, he ain’t ready for primetime. He may be a green belt, but he is a little kid and decides to run away with his brain going into fight or flight mode, with flight as the option to go with. Running away from the two teens, and now, the rest of the kids follow suit as we end the first half of the episode and go into the second, with them now having to play a dangerous game of hide and seek.
Onto the second half of the episode, and aside from Arnold, separated from the group after his instincts decided to have him run away like, well, a child running for mommy, the kids are separated from each other when attempting to hide from both Breckin and Devon so that they don’t get beaten into a bloody pulp. We see Louise walking around, trying to find everyone without having to be seen by the two angry teens who aren’t afraid to commit child abuse, where she easily finds Tina as the first person to spots. The groaning gives it away for Louise to locate her when hiding in one of the classrooms and behind a globe. Just be thankful for Tina that it’s Louise who found her and not the two boys, who have their testosterone going nuclear when hearing the sound of a single bottle that was accidentally knocked down as if they’re the police.
Going back to the subplot with the police officer finally arriving at the scene, and hoping for the sounds of the car radio to finally be put to rest. The bad news for Bob is that he’s going to have to wait because, once again, it’s an active crime scene regarding a stolen car that was left hanging by the two people who I’m guessing are now going into hiding, is that the car will not be turned off until the fingerprint guy enters the picture to overlook the scene. In short, the car stays on a while longer, meaning that Bob is stuck listening to the radio blasting ‘90s rock, and for Linda and Teddy, they seem to enjoy it. As if they don’t want this little jam fest to end, or unless the engine dies before the fingerprint guy arrives. And for Bob... he just wishes for the day to end. Same, Bob, same. It could be worse, Bob, you could be your kids in their situation that they’re dealing with. Speaking of...
We go back to the kids in their situation as they find Gene hiding in the kitchen of the cafeteria, because of course, he would. He was this close to having to eat an age-old fry that hadn’t been touched since the Ford administration and about to have a dangerous case of food poisoning to the point where his ass might end up in a medical textbook. So, Tina and Louise found Gene hiding in the kitchen, having the siblings reunite and not being seen by the teens, as the clock is ticking for them to get the fuck out before getting spotted.
And it didn’t take long until we got to the next scene with the siblings finding Rudy hiding inside one of the lockers. His sneeze and the sounds of his inhaler give away his location the same way as earlier in the subplot with Tina when hiding in the classroom. Just be thankful for whatever is inside the locker, primarily rust, dust, mold, and every other stuff, doesn’t pose any harm to Rudy’s system. Because that’s the last thing everyone needs, while two teen boys want to find them and commit child abuse. That makes four now for the kids, and now, all eyes are on Arnold to find before they make their way out of the school. This leads us to the old abandoned gym.
And holy shit, it’s filled with literal shit. It’s not actual shit that you’re seeing, but more of the water you see from the fucking toilet. It’s something coming out of fucking FedEx Field if y’all remember that story when the pipe from the stadium burst and some of the sewage water landed on some of the fans. You see why the Commanders need a new stadium because it does feel like they’re getting flashbacks to the poo water. At least they’re getting a new stadium since Dan Snyder is no longer their owner. But it does scream abandoned building whenever there’s a place where it gets flooded due to a busted pipe. But the way the water filled up the entire room, as if the pipes underneath exploded like a ticking time bomb, speaks for itself when looking at this shot. It’s like a freaking toilet for the Jolly Green Giant.
It didn’t take long for the kids to finally find Arnold, who was hiding inside a box on the bleachers. He apologizes to everyone for running off like that earlier when confronting Breckin and Devon without even giving them a shot to use his skills on the two. Because even though he’s a green belt and knows what he is doing when wanting to, you know, protect the people who are close to him in a situation like this one, despite wanting to follow the code and be a pacifist, he’s still a kid and facing against a group of people who are a few inches higher and a few years older than you, unless a parent or cop is nearby, it might as well be GGs, in GTA. And that’s some of the anime in a nutshell. They prepare to leave as we are about to end the third act of the episode and go into the fourth and final act...
Once again, cornered. Once again, trapped. Breckin and Devon found the five kids right as we start the final act of the episode. Trapped like a couple of mice falling for a couple of mouse traps. And might as well get this out of the way to say this: teenagers are fucking assholes. They are assholes. Or at least what we’re seeing with this episode. Let alone this season, if you remember what happened a few episodes ago in “Wild Steal-ions”. Full of angst and intimidation as if they’re bears that shouldn’t be poked the same way you... Well, poke an actual bear when going camping. Like... they’re just kids, for Christ's sake. They’re freaking kids. You or they didn’t know that the latter would be the building, and sure, Louise shouldn’t run her big mouth that landed them in this mess, and I guess the same would go for Arnold wanting to film an ad just because he got a green belt and thinks that he’s ready for the big leagues, but still. Just leave them be. You’re treating them as if they’re undercover cops or ICE agents, which, fuck the latter, and what they’re planning on doing should be considered stupid and also illegal. Good God, man.
Those two in this episode are pretty much making Logan’s action in “Large Brother, Where Fart Thou” look like a friendly game of tag. Like, what the fuck are we doing? What the actual fuck? Just leave them be for Christ’s sake. Like, what are we doing?! Or I might as well quote one former famous YouTuber turned singer and songwriter regarding this situation, “Where the fuck are your parents?!”
So, starting the fourth and final act of the episode with Louise, Arnold, Tina, Gene, and Rudy struggling to keep the door locked so that Breckin and Devon don’t barge in and commit child abuse, all in GTA, of course. In GTA. Louise tells Arnold that now is a good time to man up and start thinking about how to handle the situation with these two teenage boys if they want to make it out safely. Once again, turning this shit into a back-and-forth argument between Louise and Arnold in the middle of a life-threatening event because, once again, as much as he wants to value his and everyone else’s safety, he doesn’t want to fight.
He wants to stay a pacifist, and look, I respect what Arnold is saying because I’m usually the type of person who doesn’t want to cause problems that could lead to altercations, and I respect that, but when it comes to having to deal with a situation where talking things out seems to be out of the table... I guess you could say that it’s a bit of a lose-lose from a moral standpoint when having to live by the code, but if it means having to save someone you care about, like a friend or family member, what choice do you have without hoping you don’t become bloodthirsty? But last I checked, this isn’t like with Gohan leading up to transforming into Super Saiyan 2 against Cell after struggling to hold on to his pacifism, and all it took for him to snap was a dying breath of a head of an android. So, it’s pretty much back to square one with their situation, but not so fast, says Arnold, because even though he doesn’t want to use physical violence against the two teens, he has an idea to get them off their backs if it means getting him and everyone out of here alive and untouched. Just has to trust the process going into the next scene.
Going back to the subplot of the episode with the fingerprints guy finally entering the scene, and with it, finally putting the music blaring situation from the car radio to rest, which is good for Bob, but disappoints Teddy and Linda, who were just enjoying it while the whole thing was going on. Especially since the radio station is about to enter a period of ad-free music. So, just as Bob is about to have things go his way and finally put the sounds to rest, it took until now to have a change of heart because the next song that is now playing is one of the songs that Bob knows. He doesn’t know what the band name is, but knows the song. You have a smartphone, I’m pretty sure you can go to Google and press that little icon where you can get a sound, and it helps you get the name of the song, and the band behind it shows up. Bob was about to get into the groove of things before the car was turned off, disappointing him. Turns out that there was a dead body in the back of the car. Talk about a mood buster when bringing up a corpse that was hiding inside the back of the car... or so we thought, because that was a false alarm. No dead body, and it’s back to music city for the three adults as the police continue to search around the car. Oh yeah, and by now, those two either got apprehended or got themselves a one-way ticket to Antigua. Who the hell knows, other than that it’s never going to get resolved anyway.
Going back to the main plot of the episode, as we are about to approach the two-minute warning of the episode, the kids are struggling to keep the door closed. Having to follow what Arnold is suggesting, because even though it’s risky, it’s better than doing nothing and letting the two older teens beat them up. So, they open the door, letting Breckin and Devon enter the abandoned gym, and just as Breckin is about to lay the first punch, Arnold decides to challenge the asshole in a 1-v-1 battle where if Arnold wins, he and the others are out unharmed. Breckin agrees to the offer, and the stage is set between the two, with the stage serving as an island. About to turn this shit into a match coming out of the Karate Kid. Breckin takes the stage once he crosses the board as a bridge. But Arnold, on the other hand going into the two-minute warning.
Decides not to cross and instead, removes the board and dumps it into the poo water, ending up trapping Breckin on the stage and is surrounded by said poo water. This was his plan that he conducted to the others before opening the door without having to resort to violence. Because even though teens are pretty much assholes whenever they feel intimidated, they’re also stupid. And as I said in my review of “Jude-Night Run Adventure”, teens are all bark, but some bite. And Arnold used that to help him win the match without having to use his hands to do the job. Breckin is trapped, surrounded in poo water to the point where he may have to swim his way back to the bleachers and would have to smell like shit from the waist up. But other than that, the kids got their freedom thanks to Arnold having to use some smart thinking without having to resort to violence.
Leading us to the final scene of the episode with the kids riding through the neighborhood, a new location to be exact, in what I’m guessing it’s supposed to be Arnold’s neighborhood, but who knows, with everything that Arnold needed for his commercial to be a bodyguard. Only for Arnold to decide to ditch the bodyguard business because even though he got everything he needed, like a commercial that was filmed, after what happened back there at the abandoned high school, he thinks that it should be enough for one day. Which is, of course, valid over what just happened as the kids ride through the sunset, and the moral of this story: there’s nothing wrong with a little pacifism. Just don’t fall into the temptation of violence as long as you avoid getting into the smoke.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So, all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers? Well, it’s another average episode to say the least. I mean, it’s good that we have Arnold, who was there mostly in the background throughout the series, or is just there with minimal speaking roles since his debut back in Season 9, but it does feel like it was middle of the road, at least in my opinion.
Once again, the main plot is the highlight of the episode, but I wish that it could’ve done a little more with it. Once again, it’s nice to have a side character to be the focus of the episode and get some expansion out of said character, like Arnold, for this week’s episode. I do respect where he is coming from, where he wants to be a pacifist when having to abide by the karate code and not wanting to succumb to violence, and while you could say that maybe this would’ve been the time where he has to break at least one rule just to save everyone, but we sort of know that Arnold was going to pull something out of his hat without having to resort to violence. At least we have a status quo change since the green belt is going to stick around for the foreseeable future. And some animation scenes were nice, with the sunset at the end of the episode as one example.
As for the subplot, once again, it feels like filler with Bob having to quickly get annoyed over one radio station blasting rock music before having a change of heart at the end of the episode, once the car that was left behind in front of the restaurant turned into an active crime scene. So, final thoughts, another average episode, and even though it’s nice that Arnold got some massive screentime, it should’ve at least done a little more with it. So, I’ll give “Mr. Safebody”...
A 6 out of 10. But that’s my opinion, and I want to hear yours in the comments below. And here we are at last, at the time of posting, Finale Week. It is Finale Week... for Bob’s Burgers only because The Great North ain’t done just yet. But tune in August 14 for the Season 15 finale, where, like yours truly when doing these reviews, Bob decides to become sleep deprived in the twenty-second episode of Season 15 in “Insomni-Bob”.
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