CliqueClackBob’s Burgers’ 3rd season premiere proves this show isn’t for everyone
We didn’t find out the origin of Louise’s ears, but we did get one kick of an episode out of the gate.
Have we ever seen Louise this desperate before?
No. We haven’t. It was unsettling. Rarely do we see Louise get so frazzled that she makes rookie mistakes. With her beloved ears snagged by high school bully Logan, we saw her grasp at straws while trying to recover them. In so doing, her attempts were half-hearted, non-threatening and haphazard. She wasn’t the Louise we all know and love … the scheming Louise, the Louise who flirts with “the dark side,” the “I have a plan” Louise. It wasn’t until she enlisted the services of the biker gang One-Eyed Snakes (Really, writers?!?) that the Louise of old returned to form.
At the 2011 edition of Comic-Con, I asked creator / executive producer / writer Loren Bouchard and if we were going to get to the bottom of the mystery of Louise’s ears. Well, we didn’t get the answer in “Ear-sy Rider” but we were rewarded with a gem of an episode that orbited around her. Because the 3rd season premiere of Bob’s Burgers shook things up and took us out of our comfort zone. That’s what made it the spiffy premiere that it was. And it did so with a lot more than the uncomfortability and desperation exhibited by Louise. For example: More head-cranking than Mudflap quaffing beers while about to bear her child was Teddy’s declaration of how she should proceed with the birthing: “Just pretend it’s lasagna …” What the … ?!? I didn’t know whether to blow my drink through my nose or squinch up my face in revulsion.
But I know better. I know better than to believe there’s anything atypical about Bob’s Burgers. That’s what makes the show what it is … and why it’s not for everyone. I’ve tried turning lots of people on to the show and I’ve been successful in a handful of my attempts. Let’s face it: The show is so far left of center sometimes that it leaves the unsuspecting scratching their heads.
And the folks putting Bob’s together are just as “interesting” as the characters. Let’s take a recent call I was fortunate to sit in on with H. Jon Benjamin and the aforementioned Loren. Jon, the card and wit that he is, wi’ll catch you off-guard just as easily as skew an answer to any question:
Michael: Jon, is there an episode or story you’d like to see come to life with 20 episodes of Bob’s Burgers under your belt?
H. Jon Benjamin: I’d probably like to eventually see them go on vacation or something. Like … that’s inevitable, right? I’d like to see it jump the shark. They’re going to go to Hawaii or something. Right? I don’t know if they couldn’t afford Hawaii, but maybe some country in the midst of a revolution, where the flights are affordable. Like West Africa.
M: Come on Jon, get real. They don’t have any money. They’re having problems paying rent as it is …
HJB: That’s why I said they could get good deals to certain countries where not many people vacation … like Haiti right after the hurricane.
M: Yeah … that might be better.
HJB: So, yeah … maybe something like that. I don’t think they’ve been on vacation, so I think they deserve one. And that’s all I have to say about that …
See what I mean?
Additionally during the call, it was confirmed there will be a crossover Bob’s Burger/ Archer episode. But then again, that information came courtesy of Jon … who wants the Belcher clan to vacation in Haiti. After a hurricane. So take that with grain of salt.
Note: Did anyone notice this was the third in a Belcher kid-centric trilogy? “Bad Tina” two airings ago featured Tina (duh) and “Beefsquatch” focused on the irascible Gene.
One Comment on “Bob’s Burgers’ 3rd season premiere proves this show isn’t for everyone”
My favorite moment was the biker explaining crank to the kids and Tina’s “Oh, we’re going to cook some meth.” I had to pause the episode because I was dying of laughter.