Review: Bob’s Burgers “Seven-tween Again”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Gene isn’t excited about his class’s new school project. Everyone has to learn how to be adults, and that means budgeting and finding a fake job. Even though he’s teamed up with his best friend Alex, Gene isn’t so sure he’s ready for everything that being an adult entails. So when he accidentally discovers an after school kid’s club at the local community center, he jumps at the chance to relive his childhood… but how long can he take being young, dumb, and full of fun?

Our Take:

Gene might be eleven years old, but he’s always acted more like the youngest member of the Belcher family. Louise might be the youngest in terms of age, but when it comes to maturity there’s no real contest: Gene is the king of kid-dom. So it’s only natural that he’d be the one to star in a story that revolves around the passage from childhood into the scary world of reality. That’s what happens in Seven-tween Again, the fifth episode of Bob’s Burger’s twelfth season.

I feel like Gene episodes can be hit or miss depending on how much tolerance you have for silliness and shenanigans. Luckily for me, I’ve always identified with Gene and his carefree attitude, so this episode was pretty fun for the most part. Gene has always been secretly rather insecure and needy (like when he demanded Linda cater to his every whim in a previous season), so it makes sense for him to gravitate towards the world of Kid’s Club when the pressures of the real world are caving in around him.

The fun really begins once he infiltrates the daycare. He gains a new best friend, for one thing. The scene where Alex eventually finds him and their argument is interrupted by Rider wanting to play puppies was definitely the highlight of the episode for me in terms of comedy. Gene is always a good source of silliness, but put him in a daycare center with a bunch of other carefree kids and the jokes will come even faster — or so you’d think.

There’s not really a whole lot of time spent on Gene’s developing relationships with the other kids at daycare though. The episode is more focused on how his actions affect those outside the club, which is fine, but I think it would’ve been interested to spend more time with Gene interacting with his newfound seven-year-old playmates. At school, Gene isn’t one of the popular kids, but at daycare I’d imagine him being the king of the classroom, so I wish we could’ve seen some of that.

I was also a little disappointed in the resolution of Gene’s fears of growing up. Of course, this is a 22-minute animated comedy, so one can’t expect it to get too deep. But still, I feel like Gene’s change of heart wasn’t conveyed in a believable enough way. He’s so gung-ho about reliving his childhood, but all it takes to dissuade him in the moment seems to be a couple of annoying little kid behaviors that we’ve seen Gene do plenty of times himself. Maybe that’s the point, but I think a more decisive moment of clarity would’ve worked better. And I was totally hoping that Gene would end up realizing that running a daycare program was a job, and one he’d love doing! Like that would’ve been the perfect ending, right?

Seven-tween Again may not quite reach the levels that I think it could have, but it’s still a really fun premise that manages to show us more of the world through the unique eyes of Gene Belcher. Alex is a fun side character to check in with again as well, and Linda’s subplot with Gretchen and the new hair salon was sweet. Altogether, a very respectable addition to the season so far!