The best Bob’s Burgers to date

Oh. My. Gordness.

Bob’s Burgers was firing on all cylinders last night. The writers were in overdrive. (Gene even shot out a personal favorite interjection I use on a daily basis: *eyesh!* I love it.)

Conflict was the name of the game on and everyone — everyone – was right in the middle of some sort of conflicted state, headed toward a showdown of epic proportion:

• Gene has problems with a bully at school who gets off blurting out the punch lines to his jokes
• Louise, enjoying quality father / daughter time with Bob, gets her emotions squashed when Gene muscles his way into their time
• Tina is working out her issues within her Conflict Resolution Club
• Linda has payback to package and deliver at an upcoming school fundraiser
• And Bob? Well … Bob’s just trying to hold everything and everyone together. His conflict comes with being head of the household … and it’s all-encompassing.

Top it off with this being the closest I’ve seen to a genuinely sweet episode in the short history of Bob’s Burgers and you’ve got a full plate.

What? You doubt me? How? Why? Oh … wait … I know. I can see the questions formulating in your mind’s eye right this very moment:

“Michael: Are you daft? It’s Bob’s Burgers, for Pete’s sake. There’s not an ounce of sweetness in the entire program. What did you see that I didn’t?”

Well, let me try and explain: Yeah … there was the snarkery with Bob and Louise cutting down the various television programs at the start. (Which was funny stuff.) Yeah … there was the fighting between Gene and Louise shortly thereafter. Yes, I know, there was that playground scene between Bob and his kids, yielding tears from Louise, no less … but from emotion not noxious fumes. And, of course, there was that ugly incident in the auditorium where Tina yelled out “Skank!” and leapt into the audience, starting a fight. So … I guess I can see where you would find it difficult to glean any sweetness out of the show.

But … but what about the father / daughter bonding at the beginning between Bob and Louise? With Bob and Gene? And Linda and Louise, even? (Okay … maybe that one was a bad example … get off me.) Or Louise’s “Food Court” dialog with her lasagna and her milk? That was cute! (What? It was!) And, come on! You mean to tell me you didn’t think the scene straight out of Lady And The Tramp where Tina tried getting Joey Jr. to lock lips with her while slurping a spaghetti noodle wasn’t completely adorable?!? Where’s the love in you? (Better question: If you missed that nod, why haven’t you seen the classic Disney flick … ?!? Get to gettin’ … !!!)

And I’ve got to tell you: If you don’t believe putting conflict resolution in process front and center to get rid of high anxiety, worry and general annoyance, well … isn’t that what Life is all about when those situations arise? It may not be the easiest thing to initiate, but you’ll feel better afterward.  All you have to do is remember Mr. Frond’s formula (see photo above). I mean, the guy’s a big anti-anxiety advocate, y’know?

“ABS: The conflict resolution program sweeping our school!
You all know my system, and at the spaghetti dinner,
so will your parents or legal guardians … except Becky … ’cause your mom’s in jail …”

And, if you’re going to bite the bullet and be proactive enough to do it, why not with a little flavor? You got it: Within the confines of the time-honored and traditional Western. Just like Gene did with his bully … just like Bob did with Mr. Frond, holstered tongs and all, complete with cheesy prairie theme music.

“I thought I told you, Bob: You and your spaghetti aren’t welcome here …” – Mr. Frond, Tina’s Conflict Resolution teacher
“But I want to say something …” – Bob
“No, thank you. I’ve had enough of your ‘hurt speech’ …” – Mr. Frond
“Would it make a difference if … I worked on my ‘ABS’?” – Bob
“Oh …” – Mr. Frond
“I want to … ‘A’ … what was ‘A’ again?” – Bob
“Anus …” – Louise
“Amyl nitrate …” – Gene
“Access … access my feelings …” – Bob
“Okay, okay, okay, okay … enough, enough, enough, enough … everyone’s out to kill each other here … let’s … let’s eat … !!!” – Mr. Frond

Sounds good to me. See? We can learn from our guilty animation pleasures.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Mar 28, 2011 @ 16:52 EST5EDT