Review: Bob’s Burgers “Ancient Misbehavin”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When Ms. Padaro starts teaching the kids about Greece and there’s prizes involved, Louise is all about it. The only problem is that the prizes require tokens, and tokens require knowledge. She enlists Rudy and Millie and the three of them form a band of counterfeiters in an effort to get all the prizes possible. But when their operation is uncovered and Ms. Padaro threatens to cancel the symposium party, Louise gets a guilty conscience.

Our Take:

This week’s new episode of Bob’s Burgers takes things back to a classic setup with Louise pitted against the forces of authority in a struggle that has the youngest Belcher sibling asking the question: to counterfeit, or not to counterfeit? It’s a fun episode that doesn’t really break any new ground in terms of theme, but the team-up? Oh man, what a team.

Louise is chaotic enough on her own, but the maniacal mischief maker combined with an amped up Regular Sized Rudy and the borderline psychotic Mille is a match made in heaven. The three of them are definitely my highlight of Ancient Misbehavin, and for good reason. From their different ideas about token production to the way Louise’s sidekicks both call her for moral support, it’s a dynamic trio that I would welcome more of.

Louise’s dark side has been smoothed out over the years as the show has progressed, but it was still a little surprising for her to be the one who confessed to it all. Although that confession was the most beat-around-the-bush confession I’ve ever heard—and it was hilarious. Is asking about the Socratic method, the Socratic method? The ending feels a little too tidy, maybe, in the way that the kids suddenly love the class and the teacher suddenly realizes a circle of chairs is a bad idea for someone nearsighted and hard-of-hearing, but hey, all’s fair in love and counterfeiting and ancient Greece.

The rest of the family takes part in the B story, but it’s really Bob’s time to shine, and boy does he do it. The other highlight of the episode is his big musical number for sure, and hearing it really made me miss the little ditties and catchy tunes that seem to have been missing lately. Am I imagining it, or has this season not gotten as musical as past seasons? Regardless, the song was wonderful and I loved Tina’s addition especially.

Ancient Misbehavin doesn’t shake things up too much when it comes to the structure of the storyline, but pairing Louise with Rudy and Millie in a single underhanded operation makes for some very entertaining times. And a happy ending, too, with the ne’er-do-wells responsible admitting and accepting responsibility for their crimes. (Except Millie, who feels no remorse, just adrenaline, and that’s FINE.)