Review: Bob’s Burgers “Clear and Present Ginger”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Linda is excited about her BFF Ginger coming over for wine and crackers, but she’s bummed when she gets the news that Ginger won’t be there because her car broke down. Then Gayle and Gretchen invite themselves over and everything’s gets better…until Linda is forced to choose between them. Meanwhile, Bob and the kids try to help Nat Kinkle win a Limo racing competition.

Our Take:

Bob’s Burgers is back with a fast-paced (literally) tale of betrayal, loyalty, and limos. Clear and Present Ginger finds Linda eager for a special visit with her best friend Ginger, but having to reconcile her feelings for Ginger with those for her sister and not-BFF Gretchen. There’s also a fun side plot for Bob and the kids that brings back everyone’s favorite limo driver Nat Kinkle. All around, it’s a really fun episode that also has a bit to say about Linda’s bad behavior.

The overall set-up is simple enough—Ginger is coming over for a rare visit and Linda has been looking forward to it all day. She’s got the wine, the fancy crackers, and the house all to herself. The only problem is that things don’t always work out how we expect. When Ginger gets car trouble, Linda tries to salvage the night by inviting Gayle over and later Gretchen as well.

The two of them aren’t exactly BFF-material, but between them both the night turns into something that Linda starts to enjoy a little. Gretchen knocks back cheap wine like it’s going out of style, and Gayle even gets up enough gall to make some prank calls. All is well until Ginger calls and says she’s fixed her car and is coming in 45 minutes. That’s when things take a turn for the more interesting, as Linda has to decide whether to kick her current guests out or let them stay. She ends up hurting both their feelings. It’s a tough thing to deal with for sure—we all have preferences when it comes to our friends, and Linda’s not necessarily bad for calling her time spent with Ginger special. But when it comes at the expense of the other people in her life, she has to re-examine her priorities.

Bob and the kids little adventure with Nat is much more off the rails. It’s some crazy limo competition that involves dressing up like elderly women and trying not to spill hot coffee in your lap? It was all a bit removed from reality in a weird way that felt almost like a weird dream sequence, but it was a lot of fun. Tina’s little bathroom crisis felt a little out of left field without enough screen time to sell her big reaction, but Bob’s talk through the door was sweet.

Overall, Clear and Present Ginger had plenty of laughs and a little bittersweetness to it, especially in Linda’s portions. I feel like we got a lot more side characters than usual this week, between Gretchen and Gayle and Nat and everyone else, so maybe it makes sense why this episode felt like it had a weird sort of frenetic energy at times. I might not want every week’s episode to feel like this, but at least this time around, I enjoyed it.