Welcome back! I know, Bob’s Burgers premieres on Saturdays, but again, better late than never! This week we had Tina looking to spice up her life with a young man who is also tagging the town. Jordan, or “Ghost Boy,” is a tagger who’s been spray painting little images of ghosts all over the town. When Tina catches him, they start a weird, fledgling, awkward relationship. And the result is… jeez, again kinda meh.
Here are some thoughts.
1. The Tina as “bad girl” story has already been done
If you recall, all the way back in season one or two, Tammy showed up on the scene and got Tina into a side ponytail and lipgloss. Under the frightening yolk of peer pressure, Tina went against her nature and better judgement and drank margarita mix with her new frenemy. Same thing here, except Tina is out tagging with her new beau. And it’s not especially interesting.
2. Jordan is a terrible kisser
I mean… he get’s his whole mouth around her her whole face. “It’s got a lot of the things real kissing has!” Tina says, wiping her face. This was possibly the best running gag of the episode.
3. The Land Ship story was weirdly normal
The story is that the settlers of the town, fearing a British invasion, brought a ship onto land. They then waved it back and forth, to make it look like it was on the sea, causing the British ships to crash on the shore. The only reason this story is told is so Tina and Jordan can do a giant Ghost tag on the sail of the ship. It was really only a plot device and kind of devoid of the usual Bob’s Burgers weirdness, like a butter sculpture of Julia Child or a giant rampaging mechanical shark. Seems like a missed opportunity.
4. Poor Bob and his toilet troubles
The town has decided to put all the porta-pottys for the town event in front of the restaurant! Bob’s B-plot is all about him trying to get them removed. This isn’t the first time Bob has had toilet related troubles. Come to think of it, it’s actually kind of a running theme through the show. There was that time Gene brought home a super-intelligent talking toilet. And there was that time Mr. Fischoders brother, Felix, built a terrible, faux-sheik bathroom in his restaurant. Interesting…
5. Also, Tina with a boring boyfriend has also been done
Back in the Beefsquatch episode. AND if that wasn’t enough, that other boyfriend was also voiced by Nathan Fielder! That would actually be kind of funny. If Tina had a string of boyfriends who were all voiced by Nathan Fielder. I would appreciate that. But as it stands, it just seems a tad lazy.
6. I love the running “Jimmy Jr. loves Tina” gag
Every time a boy shows even the slightest interest in Tina, Jimmy Jr. is suddenly desperately in love with her. It’s a sweet, very realistic portrait of adolescent adulation. And his lisp just makes it sweeter.
7. Linda in all black
“Linda, are you wearing a dress?” “Whaaaaat, I never get to dress up when we go out!” Just to complete the picture, she’s wearing high heels and a black dress to move the toilets away from the restaurant, under the cover of night…. wait a minute…
8. Doing illicit things under the cover of night has ALSO been done!
All the way back in season one! Remember Moolisa? The cow that Randy the filmmaker uses to make Bob feel bad about cooking hamburgers!? WELL!? DO YOU!?!?!? Ahem… anyway, Moolisa is stolen by some really creepy petting zoo owners and the whole gang tries to steal her back under the cover of night. It’s BEEN DONE, Bob! What is happening, all this recycling!?
9. I want to see more of Jocelyn
Her voice is just the epitome of annoying. But I always want MORE of her!
10. This season has started off very weak
The laughs have been sporadic and the stories have been pretty bland. Hopefully, the season will start to pick up. Because so far, it’s been pretty underwhelming. If it were any other show, I’d say it was doing well. But this is Bob’s Burgers, damn it. I expect the very best.
