[8.1/10] Another episode with a great “the kids go on an adventure/the parents get into something at the restaurant” divide.
The A-story saw the Belcher kids trying to find a secret, supposedly boarded up ceramics room in order to find handmade gifts they can pass off as their own to their grandparents. I like the dynamic of the kids as mystery solvers (encouraged by the ever-pushy and troublemaking librarian). Louise spearheading an effort to track down old art students, figure out the best possible location based on old year books, and burrow through a wall just makes for a good story spine, and the humor involved was great too (especially Teddy just giving the kids a bunch of dangerous power tools and Tina and Gene’s excuses for getting rid of white dust -- mind your own business Jimmy Junior!).
But I also liked the thematic elements of it. For one, I appreciate the show toying around with the notion of the kids going to way more effort to avoid making handmade gifts for their grandparents than it would take to just make them. I also appreciated Tina’s trepidation about the dishonesty of the whole thing from the beginning, and that it’s Frond’s covering up his (well set up) 7th grade class secretary debacle that persuades Louise not to lie and have lifelong regrets. (And Frond’s severity about the whole thing, and miscalibrated self-perception is great.) It’s not much, but it adds a nice bit of sentiment to give the zany story a little emotional heft.
I also got a big kick out of the B-story, which sees Teddy latching his phone screen repair business onto Bob’s restaurant. Bob’s quiet but growing annoyance with the whole deal and Teddy’s oblivious troublemaking made for a great exercise in goofus and gallant humor. To be frank, I’m still kind of waiting for Bob to reach his breaking point and tell Teddy off, but the conclusion the show went with -- Teddy deciding that the restaurant scene is an imposition on him is probably funnier, and preserves one of the show’s core relationships.
Overall, two well-done stories, a nice little emotional epiphany, and some good laughs. That’s what I’m after from Bob’s!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-08-30T16:57:04Z
[8.1/10] Another episode with a great “the kids go on an adventure/the parents get into something at the restaurant” divide.
The A-story saw the Belcher kids trying to find a secret, supposedly boarded up ceramics room in order to find handmade gifts they can pass off as their own to their grandparents. I like the dynamic of the kids as mystery solvers (encouraged by the ever-pushy and troublemaking librarian). Louise spearheading an effort to track down old art students, figure out the best possible location based on old year books, and burrow through a wall just makes for a good story spine, and the humor involved was great too (especially Teddy just giving the kids a bunch of dangerous power tools and Tina and Gene’s excuses for getting rid of white dust -- mind your own business Jimmy Junior!).
But I also liked the thematic elements of it. For one, I appreciate the show toying around with the notion of the kids going to way more effort to avoid making handmade gifts for their grandparents than it would take to just make them. I also appreciated Tina’s trepidation about the dishonesty of the whole thing from the beginning, and that it’s Frond’s covering up his (well set up) 7th grade class secretary debacle that persuades Louise not to lie and have lifelong regrets. (And Frond’s severity about the whole thing, and miscalibrated self-perception is great.) It’s not much, but it adds a nice bit of sentiment to give the zany story a little emotional heft.
I also got a big kick out of the B-story, which sees Teddy latching his phone screen repair business onto Bob’s restaurant. Bob’s quiet but growing annoyance with the whole deal and Teddy’s oblivious troublemaking made for a great exercise in goofus and gallant humor. To be frank, I’m still kind of waiting for Bob to reach his breaking point and tell Teddy off, but the conclusion the show went with -- Teddy deciding that the restaurant scene is an imposition on him is probably funnier, and preserves one of the show’s core relationships.
Overall, two well-done stories, a nice little emotional epiphany, and some good laughs. That’s what I’m after from Bob’s!