Review: Bob’s Burgers “Heist Things Are Heist”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Bob wins a local award brings the family to help cater a big event for it, but when the arrangement for receiving the award gets fishy, the kids get some unexpected help in snatching it. Also, Linda takes her bra off.

OUR TAKE

We come to our final Bob’s Burgers for the year of 2025, and the two thirds point of this strangely short season, with an episode that gives all of the Belchers something to do. As mentioned, Bob gets an award, something that puts him in surprisingly high spirits, at least compared to his usually perpetual state of stress and pessimism, almost as if getting even the slightest bit of outside approval fills a gap that his overly critical father left him with. Though all of this is immediately dashed when it turns out getting the award itself requires a two hundred dollar purchase, which is…not how being given awards usually works. This puts Bob back in his bad mood, since having your hopes and self-esteem being raised just a little only to come crashing down is probably not a great feeling. Luckily, his kids are there to heist the single award away, though they must find a way to retrieve it out of the watchful gaze of the Sabrina (played by guest Patti Harrison) with the help of possible former jewel thief and definite current restaurant owner Vincent Bartos (played by guest Ebon Moss-Bachrach of “The Bear” fame), who first appeared in last season’s finale. The latter likely picked for this because it’s funny to hear a guy from “The Bear” make bear related jokes, but also it’s a nice change of pace to hear him in a more relaxed role compared to his constantly insecure character on that show. He was also good in this year’s Fantastic Four, so that helps too.

I have no idea if there are local awards that handle things so weirdly as making winners pay for their own award, but clearly this must have been based on something similar happening because this feels way too real and personal. As for the kids’ heist itself, it has all of the usual hallmarks and tropes of that sort of plot. There’s a failed attempt, a rally back for the retry, a fake failed attempt followed by a switcheroo and then explaining the trick after (because if the plan is being explained WHILE the heist is happening, that’s a sign something is going to go bad), and the kids are able to give Bob the award for him to maybe display, but probably not because that would be too much continuity. And also Vincent’s jokes dancing around his possible thieving past are pretty funny. That’s all for Bob’s Burgers this year, and who knows when we’ll get the remaining five episodes of the season, but hopefully soon enough. It’s odd we’re getting such a shortened season, and hopefully this isn’t a sign of the show being close to ending, but I suppose with American Dad coming back, they gotta make space for it somehow. Happy New Year!