Bob's Burgers: They Slug Horses, Don't They? (15x08)

Aww, sister episode!

Cons:

I thought the flashback about Linda and Gayle was kind of gilding the lily, this episode would probably have worked just lovely without that added context spelled out for us? I almost rather would have just had Gayle explain the story to the kids maybe with a bit of flashback happening then, rather than structuring it so that we saw it earlier, if that makes sense. A small nitpick!

Pros:

The basic premise here is just that Louise and Tina are fighting about their toys. But the real fight is about their roles in the family - Tina as the good responsible one, Louise as the mean brat. Louise resents that: she was being thoughtless with Tina's possessions, but she didn't mean to break her horse. Both of their feelings are really hurt because Tina thinks Louise thinks she's boring, and Louise thinks Tina thinks she's a screw-up. I liked that the outer surface of siblings fighting over their belongings was actually about a deeper insecurity in their relationship, that worked really well!

The creativity of Louise's "apology" card and then the follow-up from Tina was so silly and perfect. The idea of being shot off into space in a rocket being the equivalent of being grounded, the My Little Pony spoof with Tina's toy horses, the sketchy art style, Linda and Bob as the arbiters from on high... this was all just joyfully goofy and sweet.

The flashbacks to young Tina excited about having a little sister were honestly so heartbreaking! You don't get the sense very often that Tina minds her role as the sad sack of the family, but maybe inevitably there is some part of her who wishes things could be different. And to see that it bothers Louise that Tina and her parents have a low opinion of her is sad too, it shows that as much as Louise will always be the chaos gremlin of the family, maybe there's a part of her that wishes she could earn a bit more trust with everyone. In the end, the two sisters don't want to drift apart and become people who only interact because they happen to be related.

That's all for now! This show is always a nice little treat on a Monday morning.

9/10