Review: Bob’s Burgers “Touch of Eval(uations)”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s teacher evaluation day at Wagstaff Elementary, and Louise Belcher is going crazy! When Mr. Frond decides that it’s a good idea to ask students to grade their teachers on a scale of 1 to 5, the youngest Belcher child decides it’s time to enact vengeance upon Ms. LaBonz for a C- grade on a recent class project. After a day of freedom and chaos, Louise gives her least favorite teacher the lowest grade possible… but after Ms. LaBonz explains why she’s hard on Louise, the lazy genius decides it’s time to reevaluate her evaluation.

Our Take:

Bob’s Burgers returns from the holiday hiatus with a real winner of an episode this week. Touch of Eval(uations) chronicles the souring relationship between the teachers at Wagstaff and their students, centering the story on Louise and Ms. LaBonz. It’s a really fun half hour of TV that also manages to get quite sentimental by the end of things. So what exactly makes it such a great return for the show?

It all starts with an engaging premise. We’ve had plenty of episodes that take place at Wagstaff, where the kids try to escape the watchful eye of Mr. Frond and the teachers. But this is the first time I can remember where the power dynamic has been switched up like this, and it makes for a really intriguing series of events. Seeing the adults groveling for good votes makes for some excellent comedic moments, from quick gags like holding the water fountain button for students to more extended sequences like the fourth grade class and Ms. LaBonz. Turning things on their heads like this really shakes up the status quo, and the episode really succeeds due to this groundwork.

After setting the scene with some of the smaller gags, the episode shines the spotlight into Ms. LaBonz’s classroom. LeBonz has always come across as one of the most no-nonsense educators at the school, so it’s no surprise that she and Louise almost never see eye to eye. Watching as Louise singlehandedly starts a rebellion that LeBonz unsuccessfully tries to squash is great—as is all of the ensuing events between Louise and her oppressor. It’s the mark of good writing that the episode easily gets us on the side of the kids at the start, and then brings us back around to see the other point of view by the end of the ep.

Bob and Linda don’t have much to do this week. Teddy and Mort come into the shop and start talking about last wills and death. The Belchers have never had the chance to make a will (they’re always tired), but they decide to take this opportunity to start laying out some ground rules. The belongings and wealth are quickly divided out, with Teddy getting whatever leftovers are in the fridge, but they reach an impasse when it comes to burial or cremation. Bob is all about the traditional option, while Linda might prefer to be scattered around the world or stored in a tasteful urn. This B-plot itself is alright, but it never really works up to anything very exciting and I think it might’ve been cooler to do something that tied into the A-plot, at least in a small way.

Touch of Eval(uations) brings us right back into the swing of things with an excellent episode of Bob’s Burgers. It might just be my favorite episode of the season so far, and it’s definitely the best Louise episode that we’ve had in a while I think. Sometimes her quick change of heart between chaos and control can seem a little rushed in 22-minute episodes, but the pacing of this one felt good, and the happy ending for LaBonz deserved. (The commentary that Gene and Tina did of her walk to the overflow parking lot was amazing, by the way.) LaBonz and Louise will probably never be friends, but I’m glad that they’ve come to a better understanding of each other now.