Review: Bob’s Burgers “Bridge Over Troubled Rudy”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Tina is all set to take on a babysitting gig, but there aren’t any actual humans involved. Instead, she’s been hired by Regular Sized Rudy’s dad to plant sit for him while he’s off on a trip and Rudy is at his mom’s house. It doesn’t seem too hard at first, but things quickly escalate when Tina gets roped into one of Louise’s schemes and finds herself trekking across town with a bonsai and an explosive bridge.

Our Take:

Bob’s Burgers returns from a brief hiatus with an interesting episode that started off pretty great and ended up making me feel a little conflicted. Bridge Over Troubled Rudy is cool because it introduces a dose of freshness with a closer look into Rudy’s life, but it also winds up being a bit of a head scratcher for me when the conclusion ends with Louise forcing an apology on Rudy that he didn’t necessarily seem to want.

Starting with the good stuff, Tina plant sitting for Rudy’s dad is a great setup. I’m not exactly sure why he chose her, but it’s cool to get to see inside Rudy’s house and get a little view into what the regular sized fella is like when he’s not at school or out in public. (Hint: he’s very stressed.) He and Louise have always had a rather topsy turvy relationship, so getting the two of them together and then having them get into a little fight is a cute twist. She calls him a weenie for not wanting to blow up the bridge he and his father built, but starts to regret it later.

So, in typical Louise fashion, she enacts a big, brash scheme to apologize without really apologizing. She and Gene sneak into Rudy’s room while Tina is taking care of the plants and kidnap his blow up bridge, intending to bring it to Rudy at his mother’s house for him to detonate. They end up successfully making the journey and Louise does apologize to Rudy — but I can’t help but feel like she was totally in the wrong here, despite the episode framing it as a way to make up for her insult. Rudy and his father seem to have bonded over building it together, and even if the elder Rudy is allergic to the detonation, you’d think he would’ve wanted to be there at a safe distance when it went off. But hey, Louise and him are cool now, so that’s that.

My favorite part of this week’s episode wasn’t about the kids at all. Rather, Bob learning to meditate stole the show. When Mort challenges him to try meditation (Mort’s back!) Bob gives in and quickly realizes how good it makes him feel to forget about his troubles, even if only for a moment. He winds up showing up Jimmy Pesto with his newfound calm and the two of them duke it out in a battle of who can be calmest which ends in spectacular fashion and a win for Bob. It’s nice to see that, plus having Teddy and Mort squabbling like old times felt great.

Bridge Over Troubled Rudy may not have been the biggest success of the season or anything — the kids’ storyline wasn’t super interesting and the conclusion was a bit of a letdown — but the adult subplot more than made up for it in my book. Now if only Bob can keep his meditation skills in mind when he’ll inevitably need them down the road!