Review: Bob’s Burgers “Dream a Little Bob of Bob”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Tina wants to volunteer at the animal hospital, but needs her birth certificate for the application, which Bob has stored in a fire safe. Unfortunately, he’s lost the key to the safe, and while searching for it in the car he pulls his back. While recovering with a rejuvenating car nap, he dreams he’s a miniature version of himself. In his dream, he searches for the key and struggles to overcome the shame of neglecting various responsibilities. Back at the restaurant, Tina is trying to learn a hand-slapping game. Gene and Louise start off with their version, but soon enough Linda, Teddy, and even Mr. Fischoeder step in to show off the rhymes they’d learned for the game in their youth. Needless to say, the variety isn’t exactly helpful, but our favorite bespectacled Belcher child perseveres.

Our take

I’ve been eagerly anticipating the return of my favorite animated restaurant family, and this first episode back does not disappoint. Not only is the premise itself solid, but the dream sequences are bolstered by the fact that Bob’s versions of his self-help tape and rubber band ball are voiced by Jon Glaser (Jam in Parks and Recreation) and Jack McBrayer (30 Rock’s most dedicated page, Kenneth), respectively.

McBrayer imbues “Squeezy” with his signature bright-eyed optimism, while Glaser lends a hefty dose of pure dickishness to “Tape.” It’s not all the short end of the stick (or pencil in the eye) for Tape, however. Glaser’s character also gets the best joke of the episode, “Physical health is a gift you give yourself every day! Or in your case, maybe like twice in your twenties?”

While the idea of Bob’s subconscious roasting him through the entire episode is funny enough by itself, the B plot of Tina learning the moves to a hand clapping game that has various rhymes provides an interesting look at how a younger Belcher’s overthinking manifests, as compared to her dad’s. Honestly, when I read the description, I thought the hand clapping was going to be related to Bob’s “CAKE” obsession, which would have also worked, but I think watching Tina struggle with something fairly simple but unrelated, and getting the payoff from the visual humor of her “hell yeah!” moment when she finally gets it was, overall, a better way to go.

Despite everything else going on in the world at the moment, it’s uplifting to know that there’s plenty more Bob’s Burgers headed our way, with not just this season being rolled out, but the 12th and 13th seasons already ordered by Fox.

While this particular episode isn’t as iconic as some of the show’s more well-known offerings, it’s a strong, steady start to a new season, and a much needed salve of goofy humor to distract from the chaos of existence during 2020. Much like how things have improved for Bob and Tina by the end of this episode, this show returning has vastly improved things for me, and hopefully, other viewers as well. Here’s to the new season!