Review: Bob’s Burgers “Stuck in the Kitchen with You”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s Thanksgiving and the Belchers aren’t at home. Instead, they’re off to volunteer at the Elegant Doily, an old folks’ home in need of some holiday help. While Bob and the kids start making paper turkeys, Linda gets derailed into a hostage situation with Sergeant Bosco and his mother.

Bob soon gets an offer he can’t refuse when the facility’s chef is out of commission, and then the kids are off to help remedy the lack of a television parade by putting on one of their own. It’s Thanksgiving day hijinks at their finest and the Belcher’s won’t stop until every last retiree is smiling—or at least awake.

Our Take:

Another week, another new episode of Bob’s Burgers! This time around, it’s the annual Thanksgiving episode. Bob being a foodie, it’s one of the show’s most looked-forward-to treats of the year, both for fans of the show and Bob himself. This year’s ep is a bit different from normal, as it finds Bob and the family out of the house for the entire story, but does that mean it’s any less good?

In short, no! Stuck in the Kitchen with You is a solid episode of Bob’s Burgers. I’m not sure this will go down as one of the best Thanksgiving episodes the show has done in its long run, but there’s plenty to enjoy here, starting with Thankzilla. Bob has always been a bit of a beast when it comes to cooking on Thanksgiving day, but he takes things into overdrive. Getting the chance to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for an entire population of an elderly home is like opening an early Christmas present for Bob, and he’s determined to make the most of it. I love seeing him so excited about this, which makes it even more interesting when Louise comes in to shake things up.

A lot of folks (me included) can relate to trying to be the one not picked to help Dad with his favorite pastimes, and Louise is no different. But when she gets a chance to flambé the sweet potatoes once they’re finished, she happily accepts the title of Captain Casserole. That is, until Bob gets a little too controlling. It’s understandable, but still feels like an inexcusable offense to Louise at her age. So she starts messing the cooking up on purpose in order to get dismissed, which makes Bob work even harder to let her help to show he’s easygoing. It’s a perfect storm, and one that is cool to see. Bob and Louise usually get along really well together, but this episode puts them into direct conflict in a way that has both of them partially responsible for the trouble.

While the A-plot is really great, the rest of the characters don’t find quite as interesting roles to play. Gene and Tina run into Zeke, who it’s always nice to see more of, but their idea of making their own Thanksgiving parade to cheer up the old folks isn’t too exciting. For how crazy these kids can get, it’s really pretty tame, though it is sweet how they improvise with so little to work with (just charisma and basic art supplies, baby). Linda’s side story with Bosco and his mother is also fairly humdrum, and felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to do something more fun with the screen time.

Tonight’s episode had a really good main plot, with Bob and Louise learning how to work together to make a sweeter final recipe, but the rest of this episode’s ingredients weren’t quite as tasty to me. With one main plot and two side stories, it felt a little bit like an overstuffed turkey. I had a lot of fun watching Stuck in the Kitchen with You, but most of my favorite moments happened, well, in the kitchen.