Bob's Burgers: Bully-ieve It or Not (14x05)

Hey, I've been saying for the past four weeks that I wanted a school-centric episode and I got it. I'm happy!

Cons:

This is just a personal thing but the gross-out humor that this show sometimes employs is not my favorite. The pee stuff, fine, but then licking the booger wall and the idea that Zeke might throw up? I did have to look away from the screen during that part. Not a fan.

Pros:

I liked how both the subplot with the kids and the plot with Bob back at the diner had like, real life lessons to learn, but it never felt after school special-y. This show can sometimes decide to tackle a real issue in a way that still preserves the comedy and still remains broadly palatable and enjoyable.

In this episode, a new student at school forces Zeke to relive something from his past that he'd rather not. At first, the gang all believe that Zeke was bullied by this kid, and Louise and Gene concoct a revenge plan. But it's the revealed that Zeke was the bully, and he's avoiding the new kid out of shame for who he used to be!

I love that everyone agrees that Zeke's behavior is messed up, even before the truth comes out that Zeke had mocked this kid for his lisp. Jimmy Jr. is already pushing Zeke to apologize and make amends before it becomes personal. And Louise wants to cause chaos as usual, but she's doing so with a childlike sense of justice. This new kid hurt someone, so now he has to be humiliated in return.

One of the fun things about this plot was Tina. I loved how she actually played it really cool and didn't have an instant crush on the new kid. She uses her charmingly awkward demeanor to give him a tour of the school, and is able to come out of the whole situation seeming pretty normal for once. I wonder if this new guy will feature in more episodes moving forward!

In the subplot, Bob has an idea for a burger with little meatballs inside instead of one burger patty, and Jimmy Pesto steals it from him and uses a similar idea in his restaurant across the street. Bob gets up in arms as always, goes over there to make a fuss and tell the truth, but with the help of Linda and Teddy's sage advice, he decides to take the high road. He tells Jimmy the one thing it's actually hard for him to hear: that Bob would rather be himself, than be like Jimmy. That Jimmy may have found success by stealing Bob's idea, but Bob's the one capable of having other ideas. Better ones, in fact.

Just like the main plot, this subplot features Bob learning an important lesson. I love how Teddy orders a "normal" burger and pisses Bob off, and how Teddy then coaches Mort into ordering the burger of the day just to try and indulge Bob's whims. I love how Linda tries to encourage Bob to take a more healthy tack, but she also doesn't stop him from marching across the street to make a statement. She would have supported him even if he had made a scene and humiliated himself and won nothing. We've seen that scenario play out on this show before, and it would have made for some great comedy here too. But it's fun to give Bob the moral and social victory here, for once!

So that's that: a really fun episode, that took us into the school where I'd been wanting to visit for a while!

9/10