Bob's Burgers: Amelia (13x22)

Aww, this was cute, I liked it!

Cons:

I was waiting for some sort of plot beat to close up the Linda getting a massage story. The culmination of the episode was very much with Louise, as was appropriate, but it made the whole B-plot feel a little aimless by the end. I expected maybe Linda would say she preferred the kids' bad massages and manicures over a semi-professional surprise. Or the masseuse could have been more ridiculous, given us some bigger laughs. I didn't mind what we got, it just felt like there could have been more there.

Pros:

I think the reason Louise is such a stand-out character on this show is that she has this really ruthless, devil-may-care attitude, and it's always extremely effective when she decides to care, when she decides to put in the effort. So at first Louise just stumbles into Amelia Earhart as a topic for her "hero" presentation in class. Then she finds herself super engrossed. Then, upon learning the "twist", that Amelia failed and didn't make it all around the world, she wants to throw in the towel but is told she has to stick with her topic.

Also tied up in this is Louise's frustration with her classmate Wayne, who seems to think Louise's project idea is no good. Enlisting the help of another student, Benj, with some shadow puppets, and getting good perspective from her mom, Louise pulls out all the stops and actually makes a beautiful presentation on Amelia Earhart, thinking of her bravery and her tenacity.

It was so sweet to see Louise learning something about feminism through this lens, the concept of exactly how big a deal it was that Amelia Earhart did this thing. What it symbolized. It tied back into what Wayne had said earlier, that her work was a publicity stunt, that other people, the real heroes of the history of flight technology, were the various men who'd been involved in making it happen. As if both can't be true! This whole thread was a good mix of Louise just wanting to get a good grade to stick it to Wayne, but also being sucked in and genuinely interested/moved by the topic at hand. I loved it!

And in the mother's day plot, for all that I might have wished there was a little more, I did like the fact that ultimately Linda enjoyed her weird massage, and that Bob was so eager to do something nice for her.

And that's the finale! I love Louise so I was happy to focus on her. I'm glad that this show will be back for further adventures, eventually!

8/10