Review: Bob’s Burgers “Putts-giving”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Belchers go to a mini golf course on Thanksgiving morning.

Our Take:

Usually, families spend Thanksgiving at home or their relative’s houses. However, the Belchers are doing something different that doesn’t involve cooking or thanking. This year’s Thanksgiving episode of Bob’s Burgers sees the family getting into some friendly competition during the holiday, and as expected, laughs and incidents will ensue.

The episode offers precisely what the plot suggests: a family outing at the Planet Mystery World mini-golf course. Coincidentally, the course happens to open on Thanksgiving to attract a crowd outside of the busy summer days. While the Belchers golf their hearts out, each member encounters a problem that could threaten their “Putts-giving” day, especially Bob, who’s eager to go home to cook his turkey. Additionally, Linda struggles to get a hole-in-one in the other holes, resulting in her blaming the obstacles instead of her bad skills.

An entire episode involving mini-golf would’ve sounded boring on paper since…well, it’s just mini-golf. It’s hard to make a sport like mini-golf exciting outside of putting balls through colorful obstacles. However, since this is Bob’s Burgers we’re talking about, there’s always a way for the Belchers to make the most straightforward activities entertaining. Luckily for me, “Putts-giving” happens to be another example.

The heart of the plot isn’t just the fun of playing mini-golf. Instead, it focuses on the siblings, with Tina attempting to get Bob and Linda’s permission to go to a bonfire beach party. However, Louise and Gene want to experiment with the yeti course by simultaneously putting the balls into different holes. As a result, the kids have a falling out, with Tina calling Louise and Gene out for their immaturity. When Louise and Gene’s experiment broke the yeti’s legs, they attempted (and failed) to fix it with Tina’s help, forcing them to come clean.

“Putts-giving” offers a refreshing and mildly heartfelt take on the traditional holiday narrative from the other Thanksgiving-related episodes. Along with its humorous mini-golf shenanigans, the episode delivers another solid character moment for the Belcher kids, especially Tina. Tina wants to go to the beach party with the high school boys to be mature. However, she later realizes that a mature person takes responsibility for their actions and supports their loved ones instead of their own needs. This message and its amusing character moments help make this Thanksgiving outing a hole-in-one.