Review: Bob’s Burgers “What a (April) Fool Believes;Crows Encounters of the Bird Kind”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

What a (April) Fool Believes

Mr. Fischoeder challenges Bob to successfully prank him on April Fool’s Day or lose his lease.

Crows Encounters of the Bird Kind

Tina drags Bob along on a desperate quest to earn her bird-watching badge for ThunderGirls. Meanwhile, Louise and Gene try to keep their new restaurant game a secret from Linda.

Our Take:

Bob’s Burgers is doubling up our order for this week because we’re getting not one but two back-to-back new episodes involving the Belchers. This means we’re getting twice the amount of burgers and twice the hilarity for the price of one. But are any of these episodes enjoyable enough to maintain the season’s successful business? Yes, they are.

The first episode, “What a (April) Fool Believes”, celebrates the joke-filled holiday earlier than expected, with Bob tackling another trial to keep his restaurant open. This time, he’s challenged by his landlord, Calvin Fischoeder, to pull off an April Fool’s Day prank. However, Bob’s not exactly a fan of the holiday because he doesn’t understand the appeal. Additionally, he hates that Calvin has been pranking him every year, with the landlord’s latest prank involving putting cardboard in front of Bob’s counter. When Calvin threatens Bob that he’ll lose the restaurant if he doesn’t prank him, Bob and the family must devise one before the day ends.

The humor in this episode consists of Bob pranking Calvin to get back at him for his “harmless” jokes. His new prank involves him and Teddy re-wiring Calvin’s golf cart and inserting a fart microphone into its horn. However, Bob’s joke goes awry when it causes Calvin to crash into the pole and accuses him of murder, but it turns out that the “accident” was yet another April Fool’s joke by Calvin and Felix. As a result, Bob winds up being paranoid over who’s in on the trick and who isn’t, which is revealed to be Bob’s actual prank to fool Calvin.  

Regarding this episode, the plot showcases that April Fool’s Day may be a holiday full of fun and games, but it can also be harmful when a joke goes too far. Sadly, Calvin didn’t get the memo after his recent cruel prank caused Bob to be “blackballed”. As a result, this episode displays Calvin’s meddling and odd personality in a negative light regarding its topic despite its comedy.  

Then, there’s the second episode, “Crows Encounters of the Bird Kind”, which has the characters expecting “fowl” play in their seaside community, mainly Tina and Bob. This episode sees Tina trying to earn enough badges to get her lightning sash from the ThunderGirls. Tina’s quest takes her and Bob to the park, where they attempt to find several types of birds for her bird-watching badge. However, all they could find was a bunch of crows. Tina then resorts to extreme measures, which results in her running from the law.

“Crows Encounters of the Bird Kind” is a suitable improvement over the April Fool’s episode for a few reasons. One of them is that Tina is learning another vital life lesson from her difficult yet traumatizing experience. Tina hopes to collect her badges as fast as possible to have a brighter future. So she attempts to rush her bird-watching experience by luring the birds with bread crumbs, which is illegal. Unfortunately, this resulted in the morning dove being eaten by the Broadwing Hawk, catching the attention of Ranger Matthew Denko, who accuses them of murder. Tina then realizes the true purpose of bird-watching when she sees a crow using a stick for hunting for food while hiding in the bathroom.

Regarding its decently written script, the episode represents bird-watching as one of life’s great metaphors. It’s about being present at the moment and slowing down to appreciate the beauty of nature. The episode also cooks up some decent humor, including Linda’s zipper problem. The side-plot involving Louise and Gene was also enjoyable, with them pulling off dares with Linda, who calls herself the “Dare-y Queen”. However, Linda got more than what she bargained for when she got double dog dared into performing her job while wearing everything backward.

Overall, both episodes serve up some delectable treats for the show’s hungry fans. “What a (April) Fool Believes” is enjoyable for seeing Bob go nuts over whether he’s being pranked. However, it also depicts Calvin Fischoeder’s actions as inconsequential considering its topic and his recent prank. Fortunately, “Crows Encounters of the Bird Kind” quickly improved upon the previous episode with a relatable portrayal of one of life’s big messages and its fun bits of sitcom humor. It’s no joke that this season continues to provide some freshly delicious content this year, and these episodes are no different.