Review: Bob’s Burgers “Sit Me Baby One More Time”

When Tina gets into the babysitting business, tinkle-dinks are going to be kicked.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After a late night viewing of The Sound Of Music, Tina is inspired to start her own babysitting business. The only problem is that Tammy, who needs cash for hair dye, does the same thing. As Tammy and Tina compete for clients, Bob and Linda are looking forward to a night out at the hot new restaurant in town – Savory.

Tina is hired to babysit for a family new to town, but there’s a catch. They hired Tammy, too. What begins as an all-out competition for best babysitter quickly turns into a horror movie. Little Kendra is as creepy as she is cute, and she loves kicking people in the crotch. Meanwhile, Teddy tries to avoid being seen trying out the Savory burger but eventually gets invited to sit at the Belcher’s table.

In the end, Bob realizes (with some very funny flashbacks) that he needs to take it easy when it comes to comparing other burgers to his own. Tina and Tammy (well, maybe just Tina) learn a valuable lesson about how to treat bullies. Instead of returning Tammy’s negativity, Tina vows to try and take the high road. Julie Andrews would be proud.

Our Take:

I think this is definitely my favorite episode of the season so far. Everything from the plot to the characters, to the humor, was firing on all cylinders for this one.

The show could’ve sidelined Kendra and focused on Tammy and Tina’s conflict, but by making Kendra a fully-realized character, she becomes the driving force for their cooperation. Sit Me Baby One More Time is filled with great lines and gags, one of my favorites is how Kendra makes her best friend/teddy bear speak in a disturbing horror movie-ish voice. (“Why does that girl talk like a gremlin?” wonders Jimmy Jr.) Kendra’s parents’ (especially the fathers) breakdown caused by the guilt they have about forcing her to move is a perfect example of how a real-life situation becomes so much funnier when it’s slightly exaggerated.

But even with all these great qualities, I think the reason why this episode worked so well was that it gave everyone something to do. Bringing the entire Belcher family (sans Tina) along with Teddy to the restaurant resulted in comedy gold, as Louise and Gene blackmailed him in exchange for chocolate cake. And when Tammy invites Jimmy Jr. and Zeke over, it sets up a fun teen slasher film spoof to compliment their usual group dynamic.

Episodes like this one that manages to incorporate all the characters I’ve come to love while still remaining coherent and consistently funny remind me why I look forward to Bob’s Burgers so much every week.