[7.4/10] This one really annoyed me at first, mostly because Linda’s parents were really being unreasonable jerks, and the sense of frustration over trying to get them to just do the most basic tasks was, if anything, too palpable. But in hindsight, I appreciate it. It puts you in Bob’s shoes, seeing the way his in-laws (or at least his mother-in-law) abuse their daughter’s kindness, especially in an “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” sort of situation at the airport.
But as is often the case in the Bob’s Burgers universe, it comes back to something sweet and a moment of family understanding. Bob cares for Linda and so hates seeing her taken advantage of by her parents. While Linda knows her folks are doing their best and wants to do all she can to look after them anyway. So while Bob’s disdain for Linda’s parents comes from a place of love, he can demonstrate that love by caring for her parents in the same way. It’s a sweet resolution.
I also enjoyed the B-story with the kids scheming to get a set of pilot’s wings. It makes for some good Louise-led shenanigans, and the imagine spots for what the kids will do with the wings are great. There’s also some great one-off character bits, like the gate agent who clearly doesn’t want to have to keep dealing with the Belchers, and the TSA agent (voiced by Veep’s Timothy Simons) who’s both strangely into his job and strangely into the Belcher’s family issues. Both are worth plenty of laughs.
There’s also some good clockwork storytelling. The kids’ seemingly throwaway comment about the existence of a neck pillow store, combined with an amusing exchange between Bob and his father-in-law about neck pain leads to the answer to what happened to Linda’s dad. The TSA agent even solves the “find a snowglobe for Teddy” problem and offers a cache of pilot wings for the kids at the same time. It’s also well-motivated, with the kids wanting their trinkets, and Bob having to balance out his sheer annoyance at Linda’s parents with his desire to make this “visit” work so as not to have to go down to see them in Florida later in the year.
Overall, this one will get on your nerves in the early going, but builds momentum as it goes, and ends on a great note.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-12-18T03:38:21Z
[7.4/10] This one really annoyed me at first, mostly because Linda’s parents were really being unreasonable jerks, and the sense of frustration over trying to get them to just do the most basic tasks was, if anything, too palpable. But in hindsight, I appreciate it. It puts you in Bob’s shoes, seeing the way his in-laws (or at least his mother-in-law) abuse their daughter’s kindness, especially in an “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” sort of situation at the airport.
But as is often the case in the Bob’s Burgers universe, it comes back to something sweet and a moment of family understanding. Bob cares for Linda and so hates seeing her taken advantage of by her parents. While Linda knows her folks are doing their best and wants to do all she can to look after them anyway. So while Bob’s disdain for Linda’s parents comes from a place of love, he can demonstrate that love by caring for her parents in the same way. It’s a sweet resolution.
I also enjoyed the B-story with the kids scheming to get a set of pilot’s wings. It makes for some good Louise-led shenanigans, and the imagine spots for what the kids will do with the wings are great. There’s also some great one-off character bits, like the gate agent who clearly doesn’t want to have to keep dealing with the Belchers, and the TSA agent (voiced by Veep’s Timothy Simons) who’s both strangely into his job and strangely into the Belcher’s family issues. Both are worth plenty of laughs.
There’s also some good clockwork storytelling. The kids’ seemingly throwaway comment about the existence of a neck pillow store, combined with an amusing exchange between Bob and his father-in-law about neck pain leads to the answer to what happened to Linda’s dad. The TSA agent even solves the “find a snowglobe for Teddy” problem and offers a cache of pilot wings for the kids at the same time. It’s also well-motivated, with the kids wanting their trinkets, and Bob having to balance out his sheer annoyance at Linda’s parents with his desire to make this “visit” work so as not to have to go down to see them in Florida later in the year.
Overall, this one will get on your nerves in the early going, but builds momentum as it goes, and ends on a great note.