Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘Wharf Horse II: The Wharfening (or How Bob Saved/Destroyed the Town – Part II)

 

Spoilers Below:

Before I start on the series finale of Bob’s Burgers, I’d like to mention two things: first, I saw the real, human version on Linda Belcher riding on the B-train from Manhattan to Brooklyn last Friday night. I didn’t hear her voice, but she looked exactly like the Bob’s family matriarch. I spent most of the trip silently wondering whether the sighting was sane enough to inform my girlfriend, sitting next to me at the time. If it lends any credibility to my story: I told her. And she whole-heartedly agreed.

Second, I was automatically surprised by the abundance of humor in this episode that so lacked in plot.

You see, in the end, the episode basically picked up with Felix (Mr. Fischoeder’s brother, voiced by Zach Galifianakis) tying his brother & Bob to a pier pylon, and leaving them to drown via the ever-rising tide. Eventually Felix decided to reverse his decision at the same time that the Belchers figured out their patriarch was in grave danger. Everyone escaped, with the exception of Fanny (Felix’s girlfriend, voiced by Jordan Peele) who was pinned with the crime, and arrested.

In Case You Missed It:

1) For two weeks in a row, Mr. Fischoeder opened with a brilliant jab at the Belcher clan; this time regarding Bob worrying about dying and having a family: “Oh, come on, Bob. Those kids aren’t that great.”

2) Since the episode occurred in the same day as the previous one, the only Burger of the Day was (once again) The Saffron Saff-off Burger.

3) “Phones are for playing tiny games about fruit.”

4) Teddy’s comment about Tina’s bike lock/bracelet: “It makes your head look safe.”

5) Tina has a photographic butt memory.

6) Quite the adventurous couple, Bob & Linda were apparently “gonna try [cocaine] together. Just once.”

7) Louise slapped Linda and reminded her: “You’ve got two children and Louise to take care of.”

8) The identification picture of Bob was him on the toilet.

9) For some reason, Teddy said: “Give me back my son!”

10) Linda described her children as “two-parent, two-bottle-a-night” kids.

11) Upon realizing Tina was still alive, Louise called her a “beautiful, four-eyed son-of-a-bitch.

So yes, this episode’s plot only continued for a half hour or so after the last one left off. In fact, as previously mentioned, the Burger of the Day didn’t even change. Yet, the humorous dialogue carried this episode, and made it an overall success. Every character, from the Belchers to the Fischoeders, contributed, and everyone was absolutely hilarious.

The only criticism I have came from the moment that we thought things couldn’t get worse for Bob and Mr. Fischoeder, who were currently tied up and awaiting their watery demise: they started singing. Come on! What have I said before about this?

Still, it was uplifting to see the family pitch in to save their leader, and the way they went about kicking into action was terribly amusing. Especially in the details. Remember: despite being counter-intuitive, the turtle is actually the fastest.

And in the end, the episode mimicked one of my favorite Linda lines of all time (“Crackers, where are the crackers? You’re coming to bed with me, come on.”) with a line about eating croutons in bed.

If this episode came out in the middle of the season, it would leave something to be desired. But coming out as the finale, it was a perfect ending to season number four.