Review: Bob’s Burgers “The (Raccoon) King and I”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

A block party ends up blocking off view of the stage from the restaurant, which is a shame because it’s a band Bob really likes. Louise tries getting kids to pay for seats, Bob ends up having an existential crisis when he talks to the band’s manager, and Linda accidentally calls animal control on the raccoon she likes.

OUR TAKE

Oh dang, we’re not even getting a Thanksgiving episode either?! Man, the strike really messed stuff up this year, huh. Well, I guess this one is fine too. Like this week’s Krapopolis episode, this episode also has three different concurrent plots, and in a weird coincidence, is also named after the one involving the show’s mom and the eldest child who also happens to be female. BUT thankfully there are no Bob’s Burgers NFTs…as far as I know, and I’m not gonna investigate it. So, how are all of these plots? Linda and Tina’s gets front and center and I actually don’t have much to say about it, but let’s see what I can fart out. I remember the last episode that was about Little King Trash Mouth…or I THOUGHT I did, but apparently the last one was two years ago and I don’t remember that AT ALL. But yeah, Linda looking after a raccoon is pretty funny, especially as she adds a gay relationship to him and another raccoon she names Gary. And Louise and Gene’s plot is pretty weak on its own as they just try to keep kids around to see the show. So these are kinda nothing plots but the Linda one is kinda funny.

The plot that I think is the highlight and really sticks out is definitely Bob’s, when he gets to have a brief conversation with the band manager of the band he likes…who definitely have a name, I swear. His anxieties about his efforts and passions in making burgers end up bleeding into the conversation, where the manager tells him that even if the band did one good song, it’s kinda monotonous doing one good thing over and over and over. But later, when he sees them on stage, he sees they’re having fun, and understands that doing something over and over and over again can be perfectly fine as long as you love what you do, which is a good ethos to live by. A thing people have noted about Bob’s Burgers as a show is that we are unlikely to see many of the characters like Bob or Gene or any of the ones with great creative aspirations fully get to where they’re hoping to be, but that the fact they keep trying is what makes them compelling as characters, so this little subplot with Bob really cuts to the heart of that. But there better be a Thanksgiving episode next season! I’m serious, I’m gonna lose my SHIT if they don’t have any holiday episodes next time! Do not test me!