Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘Tina Tailor Soldier Spy’

Spoilers Below:

What the hell? There’s a new Bob’s Burgers tonight? I figured with last week’s Christmas episode we’d be done for the year, like The Simpsons, but I suppose I stand corrected. I didn’t miss Christmas, did I? I just got through donning now my gay apparel. So on that note, let’s get to it.

Tina quit the Thunder Girls, but was later approached by the leader who informed her that the troop has a mole whom only Tina (because she recently quit) can help catch. She rejoined as an undercover spy, as did Louise to get in on some of the action. The search got too intense for Tina, and she called it off, but Louise pressed on, infiltrating rival troop 257. Her cover was blown when the two troops ran into each other during a turf dispute, but Tina revealed that she figured out who the mole was, and exposed them.

Also, after a salon mishap, Linda ended up blonde. She did her best to act the part.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Next door store: Rude A-Bake-ening – Cakes for people you hate.

2) Burgers of the Day: Cajun Gracefully Burger, and Blondes Have More Fun-Gus Burger (comes with mushrooms).

3) “Did everyone see Tina’s stick?” Yesssssss.

4) “You’re like the Brett Favre of the Thunder Girls!”

5) “Hey guys, it’s your cool, young, hip friend Tina. Can ya dig it?”

6) “Last night Reena had chicken. The end.”

7) Hey, it’s Rachel Dratch! Also Brooke Dillman, Sarah Baker, Melissa Galsky, and Betsy Sodaro.

8) “Weeeeooooooooeeeeeooooo” is the sound of shutting the spy operation down.

9) Trashion = Trash Fashion

10) “You guys are making Banana Nut Fudge cookies with macadamias now?!”

Another Tina episode? Clearly the producers know what the people want. And the best part about the plot of “Tina Tailor Soldier Spy”? The fact that it wasn’t just Tina going solo, but a Tina-centric story that involved all the kids. Gene may have just been an amusing & amused spectator (“Well they fit me perfectly and I’m grateful to you!”), but Louise was right in the midst of the spy mission, and as always, she was very entertaining as a mastermind. It’s a great feature of the show that the youngest star is the most diabolical of all. She even narrated her plan to Tina as it unfolded.

The subplot, which was a nice bonus that the episode didn’t even need, was appealing as well. It focused on Bob & Linda, but was clearly more Linda-centric. Though the three kids are my favorite characters, I actually prefer storylines that feature Tina or Linda. Go figure.

Some of the more minor characters had great roles and/or moments in this one, especially the troop leader that cared enough about her kids to obsess over catching the mole, but still acted disinterested and dismissive toward them at times. (“Well then cut your hair, Reena!”) I always enjoy Rachel Dratch, who played Jodie, in basically any role.

Even Bob had some good moments, including his resistance to Linda’s sexy blonde advances, and his surprising liking of one of Gene’s trashion outfits. Once again, Bob proved to be a very tolerant and accepting father.

On top of all this, it was a damn good story. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy a spy thriller inside of a Bob’s Burgers episode? Especially when it focused primarily on Tina. Her confident awkwardness was predominantly featured (which is her teenage character’s biggest strength) and so was her intelligence. Even though Louise was the most passionate, Tina was the one who cracked the mole mystery, and she did it with a clever plan that would allow the rat to expose themselves. (No, not in that way. These are kids we’re talking about!)

On that odd note, I hereby declare this another solid episode for Bob’s Burgers, and a nice bounce-back from a week outlier installment last week.