Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘The Kids Run Away’

Spoilers Below:

A Bob’s Burgers episode title that begins with “The Kids” isn’t even fair. Of course it’ll be a success – the kids are the main focus. Tina, Gene, and Louise make up the best storylines and the best jokes in the series, and I enjoy every minute of it. Need I remind you of “The Kids Run the Restaurant” and “The Kids Rob a Train”?

Although, cards on the table, I didn’t even watch the episode yet. So I’m really banking on this intro working out.

Fast forward 30 minutes: Alright, my prediction paid off, but not necessarily for the reasons I predicted. Bear with me a second. My name is Gonz, I got a real funky concept. Listen up, ‘cause I’m gonna keep you in step (RIP DJ EZ Rock):

After a trip to the dentist, it was discovered that Louise had a cavity. Unfortunately for Dr. Yap (Ken Jeong returning to reprise his role) Louise is one of the more difficult patients, and to avoid the dental work, she made a break for it via the office’s window. Fleeing with her “go bag” (packed back when she was seven years old) Louise sought asylum at Aunt Gayle’s studio apartment. Bob and Linda, thinking Louise would eventually come home due to her aunt’s general insanity, made a bet with their daughter – the wager: if Louise can last a week, she doesn’t need to get the filling.

Despite numerous mischievous attempts by the parents to disrupt Louise’s stay and push her home, she ended up staying the full week. However, using extreme measures (getting Louise to eat cavity-irritating ice cream) Bob and Linda ended up getting their daughter to crack after the fact, and used some creative role play to get her to get the cavity filled.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Bob had to tackle Louise to stop her from initially running away, and it was hilarious.

2) Ken Jeong was perfect again as the family dentist. Especially comments that expressed his fear of Louise, like, “I don’t want to go back in there. I really don’t want to back in there, Bob.”

3) Burgers of the Day: Onion Ring Around the Rosemary Burger, and something that was a spoof of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. I missed it!

4) The best exchange of the episode came from the two sisters:
Gayle: “You’re the smart one; I’m the hot one.”
Linda: “…no…”

5) To end any questions viewers may have had (and to get it out in the open between Bob and Linda) Louise clearly gets her personality from Linda’s side of the family. The mother knows, and her laugh proved it.

6) Linda’s parenting book (because such things do exist) would be called “Hey you, I saw that, put it back.”

7) The names of Gayle’s cats included: Jean-Paw Van Damme, Mr. Business, and Pink Eye.

8) One location in Gayle’s board game, Gayle Force Winds, was called “The Cliffs of Huxtable.”

9) Yap referred to his own workplace as “a sad, lonely, dentist office.”

10) Good for Bob and Linda still keeping it exciting in the bedroom after all these years (and all these kids.)

Although this episode was called “The Kids Run Away,” the kids weren’t necessarily the reason this episode worked. And honestly, the episode wasn’t even about the kids running away, because technically Louise was the only one that actually ran away. And even though an episode that starred Louise was expectedly humorous, as was the involvement of the other children, there were a lot of other aspects (and people) that contributed to this episode:

For instance, Bob and Linda were great. I loved (and have loved) the good cop/bad cop relationship that the parents have with the kids – specifically Louise. Linda tends to play along, not to patronize or humor her daughter, but because she has that motherly attitude where even the smallest issues are life-or-death situations. And with Louise, it very well could be. Bob, on the other hand, doesn’t buy into the madness, and generally takes a more direct and realistic approach.

Gayle was also quite entertaining in this installment. She’s been in several prior episodes, but I think in this one (more than others) we got to see her in her own element much more. I think I also have a soft spot for fictional television characters that make their own board games. I loved The Simpsons’ “Scrabbleship,” It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s “Char-Dee MacDennis,” and even Parks and Recreation’s “Cones of Dunshire,” so of course “Gayle Force Winds” would appeal to me.

And finally, Teddy played a surprisingly large role in this story, and the success of it. He was there in the restaurant to offer suggestions to bring Louise home, he tagged along on the stake out (“Hey, get take-out for your stake out. Maybe you can order steak and have a take-out steak stake out.”), and was there for the issue’s resolution at the end (which even Louise questioned.) I especially liked the scene in the car as well.

Speaking of good scenes: the final one, with the make-believe game in the dentist’s office, was the epitome of why this episode worked. Every character contributed, every character was humorous, and it perfectly illustrated the close bond that the family and townspeople have with each other. Sure, maybe Dr. Yap is a shoddy dentist without a lot of patients and Teddy basically never works and Gayle spends her time being way too obsessed with cats, but regardless of the reason, everybody managed to put in the effort to make one little girl’s dentist visit a lit bit easier.

So although this didn’t provide the big laughs I thought it would, or for the reasons I thought it would, it was undeniably an amusing half hour. With only a few episodes left this season, who knows how many more gems we’ll get before number four comes to a close.