Review: Bob’s Burgers “Gift Card or Buy Trying”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When a customer leaves a $100 gift card as a tip, the family goes on a $20-each shopping spree. Meanwhile, Gene has an awkward run-in with a former friend.

Our Take:

Bob’s Burgers returns from its hiatus once more to finish its thirteenth season. How is it going to celebrate this occasion, you ask? Why, by going shopping, of course. The episode sees the Belchers getting the best tip of their lives. Spoiler alert: it’s not cash. Instead, they got a More Store gift card worth $100 from a valuable customer. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to use gift cards as tips instead of cash unless I’m mistaken.

The episode consists of the Belchers attempting to find items in the More Store using a gift card. However, each member must find some that cost up to twenty dollars. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds, as one of them wants something that’s over their limit, resulting in some amusing shenanigans involving them convincing each other to get what they want.  

One of them is Linda, who hopes to get the Seam Dream 3000 Stitchinator (which costs $100) to replace their broken sewing machine. Then, there’s Louise, who wants an archery set so she can be like Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, so she attempts to convince Tina to buy a cheaper item to get it. In the end, the family wound up buying Linda the sewing machine so she could continue her dream of sewing clothes and costumes, putting her essential needs ahead of their own selfish desires. 

However, Gene is the only one not focusing on his desires. Instead, Gene is spending the day trying to avoid his former friend Mitchell. Gene stopped hanging out with Mitchell because he found him annoying with the slide whistle. However, as they fight over the drums, it turns out that Mitchell stopped hanging out with Gene because he found Gene annoying, only to discover that they’re both annoying. This moment references Gene’s pestering personality within his friendly and carefree nature by displaying Mitchell as another version of himself. Although I find Mitchell more annoying than Gene, the episode playfully expresses this trait without going overboard.

Overall, “Gift Card or Buy Trying” is a fun shopping spree featuring the family’s greedy needs and pestering former friends. Regarding its humor and Gene’s confrontation with Mitchell, this is enough to ease our pain of surviving another Sunday without the Simpsons. This is because the show took its 7 pm slot in the Animation Domination lineup for this Sunday. Still, it was nice to reunite with the Belchers earlier than expected following a brief hiatus.