[8.0/10] Another Thanksgiving banger from Bob’s Burgers. Moving the usual Turkey Day excitement to a nursing home helps to keep the proceedings fresh, and they find strong places to go with the family and their little orbit of friends and assorted weirdos.
The best plot is the one that goes directly to the heart. Bob getting super into Thanksgiving, to where none of the kids want to be in the kitchen with him while he’s a “Thankzilla” is a good setup. Louise drawing the short straw (or the softest hand-fart) and having to help her dad sets up a nice conflict between the two of them. Bob is a control freak who would love for Louise to follow in his footsteps, but who’s too overambitious and unable to let go to make it so that she can actually help. And Louise loves her dad, but doesn’t want to be subject to that.
Their bits together are good. Louise trying to be intentionally bad at cooking so she can be kicked out, while Bob tries to be chill about it under orders from Linda, makes for a good farce. Bob having conversation with the food and kitchen implements around the holidays is always a source of laughs and this is no exception. And Bob apologizing to Louise for his overzealousness, letting her brown the marshmallows like she’d wanted to, and hearing that even if he’s tough to deal with on Turkey Day, he’s a great dad the rest of the year is incredibly wholesome.
The other stories are solid too. Linda trying to help Sgt. Bosco make peace with his grumpy mother, who prefers her other son, has some solid laughs there. The irony of her legitimate speech about appreciating the people who make time for you, only to have their opposition to the sentiment be what unites Sgt. Bosco and his mom is a funny place to land. And Linda’s fears that the kids won’t visit them when they’re old because they’ll be grumpy and unreasonable is a nice motivation for her to lean on Bob to be patient with Louise in the A-story.
The biggest comic highlight is Zeke, Tina, and Gene putting on a three-man Macy’s Day Parade for the old folks when the cable goes out. Their efforts at Broadway songs, gymnastics tumbling, and floats that are a tribute to medical supplies are a hoot. As my wife noted, it’s fun to see Zeke away from Jimmy Jr. now and then. He’s a very entertaining character.
Overall, this show delivers a great Thanksgiving episode hot out of the oven every year, and this is no exception.
Shout by palharesfBlockedParent2021-12-16T15:14:11Z
Awwww Bob and Louise episodes ALWAYS do the trick! It is so good! Linda's storyline had its laughs, but the parade was mostly passable (good only to wrap the Bob / Louise part). Instant classic!