Review: Bob’s Burgers “Some Kind of Fender Benderful”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s a low-key day for the Belchers — until Bob gets into a little fender bender outside the restaurant. Bob doesn’t think he’s at fault, but neither do any of the other three drivers involved. Everyone tries to get their stories down by the time the police arrive, but Bob isn’t sure if he used his turn signal or not.

When two of the drivers involved form an alliance, Bob tries to make one of his own with the clown, but quickly realizes it’s not going to work. In the end, the only thing that can save him is his own silence. But rather than let her take all the blame, Bob owns up to his mistake and becomes a role model for his kids in the process.

Our Take:

In this week’s new episode, Bob’s Burgers delivers a whodunnit about the importance of taking responsibility for your actions. Alliances are formed, trust is lost and gained, and there’s a lot of clown-ing around. It’s a fun episode, but doesn’t quite pull together in the way that the best Bob’s episodes do.

The first half of Some Kind of Fender Benderful is devoted to the setup. There’s a minor fender bender, alliances form, and nobody has their story straight. There’s a lot of potential in getting three total strangers involved, but unfortunately none of them are very memorable except for Elaine, who happens to be a door-to-door clown. She’s a fun new face for the Belcher kids to interact with, and the whimsy that she brings makes Bob feel sorry for her.

The other two people in the accident, Graham and Patty, make up a story to blame Elaine for the damage, but Bob isn’t so certain. After spending the whole episode wishing that people would just take responsibility and own up to their mistake, he realizes (thanks to the lack of Gene’s turn signal song) that he didn’t properly signal when he pulled out. In the end, he confesses his mistake to the officer in charge of getting the report down and is able to solve the case — even though it means his insurance rates will go up.

While Some Kind of Fender Benderful isn’t one of my favorite episodes this season, it’s still a fairly fun half hour of television that has a sweet message at its heart, even if it is laid on a little thicker than usual. There’s still plenty of laughs to be found, thankfully, between the kids’ antics and Teddy’s interference as he tries to coach Bob through the process of forming alliances and not incriminating oneself. It may not have been quite as funny as this show normally is, but the added dose of morality might just make up for that.