12x18 Clear and Present Ginger

[8.0/10] The comedy and the character stuff were both on point here. In the A-story, I like the sitcom-y dynamic of Linda waiting for her closest friend, or at least the one who’s the most special. Gail and Gretchen are more rough around the edges by comparison, and Linda inviting them in or pushing them away with big whoppers when she thinks Ginger is/isn’t going to make it is a good story engine. Her wanting to have a special time with a close friend she doesn’t see very often is relatable, but so is Gail and Gretchen feeling put out when they realize they’re being lied to and hidden. Linda apologizing, with the bottle of fancy wine as a token of apology, and inviting Gretchen to come meet them, is a wholesome place to land.

Wholesomeness aside though, the sheer comedy of it is great. Linda is at her best, signing songs and worrying about her pits. Gail is as deranged and high maintenance as always and Gretchen is an amusingly trashy party girl. The three of them together are tops, and the stupidity of their prank calls had me in stitches. So did Gail’s line about “cutting liquids.” The pure moment to moment gags here were great.

The same’s true for the B-story, with Bob and the kids joining a relay race with Nat the limo driver. Bob’s “business man” jokes, Gene and Louise’s one-liners, Nat’s deadpan wit about her crush and the rules of the face, and Tina’s frantic prom texts were all good fodder for laughs.

But that story ends somewhere sweet too, with Tina freaking out about the potential for her to be dateless at prom in three years, and Bob sweetly reassuring her that no matter what, she’ll have fun because she’s fun. It’s another wholesome father/daughter moment between them that totally works. The fact that she gets a sweet call from Jimmy Jr. after all is the icing on the cake.

All-in-all, a quality Bob’s Burgers episode with a lot of laughs and a lot of heart.