Review: Bob’s Burgers “Fingers-loose”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Wagstaff Elementary Open House is coming up in a few days, but something’s wrong. Mysterious happenings have been going on around the school, and Tina is determined to find out what’s going on and report back to Mr. Frond.

Until she finds out that what’s actually on is that Gene and Louise are running an underground finger dancing club during lunchtime. Tina even tries some handy prancing herself and can’t resist the allure. But when Mr. Frond busts down the doors of the operation, she has to plan a big surprise to make it up to her siblings.

Our Take:

Tina is arguably one of the single most beloved characters on Bob’s Burgers. At this point, she’s led the show in all sorts of starring roles, but this week’s episode might just be one of the freshest stories to date as Tina assumes her detective noir alter ego Holly Monitors to investigate a series of strange situations around Wagstaff.

The episode is narrated in Tina’s head and because of this, it feels a bit unique from every other episode this season. Because we’re getting more of Tina’s internal POV and less screen time for other characters, Fingers-loose features a somewhat more subdued sense of humor than is usual for the show, but it delivers big time when it comes to classic detective vibes and I was here for it. There were also some really sweet moments, including Gene and Tina bonding at the end in a way that made me realize how rare it is for the two of them to have screen time apart from Louise.

Bob and Linda have a small side plot where they try to come up with the best way for Teddy to sneak a burger into the movie theater, and it’s also hilarious. The two of them have equally bad ideas, but both are fully committed to making it work to the point where they show up to the school’s open house wearing armpit bags and a burger building vest.

Fingers-loose feels like one of the more refreshing episodes this season, as the framing device of Tina and her investigation lets the show stray to new territories. (I mean, who would’ve seen a finger dancing club coming? That was wild!) Tina being caught between her siblings and her sense for justice isn’t new, but this episode executed the storyline in a way that I can’t remember the show doing before, and after so many seasons, it’s great to see that Bob’s Burgers can still serve up a piping hot plate of entertainment.