Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled’

 

Spoilers Below:

It’s Thanksgiving again in the Belcher household, and Bob had to go pick up Gayle in the middle of a blizzard – because unlike New York City where it is inexplicably 70 degrees, some places are actually cold right now in November. Gayle was running late and the car ended up getting snowed in at her place, forcing the duo to return on foot, with Bob dragging her behind him in a kiddie pool due to an injury. After not getting very far, her cat ran away, Bob got covered in snow, and two became stranded in the street. They bonded for a bit just as the cat ran by, with Gayle sprinting to pursue him. Bob then realized she had been faking her injury for attention because she was distraught over her recent breakup with Mr. Frond. After calling Linda, who reminded Bob that Gayle is family whether he likes it or not, Bob went out searching for her, finding her cat instead – whom he rescued.

Meanwhile, back at the house, the family was reluctantly and anxiously tending to Thanksgiving dinner. As expected, things unraveled quite quickly, with the turkey being botched and the sides filled with junk food.

A thankful Gayle helped a now-injured Bob return home to a happy but virtually inedible Thanksgiving dinner, and the family helped their favorite aunt realize Frond didn’t actually break up with her.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Next door store: Maxi Pads – Large Apartment Rentals

2) Exterminator: The Good, the Bad, & the Bugly

3) I love how Louise enjoys the car spinning out.

4) Linda’s made-up swear word: “Ah, finky!”

5) According to Linda, Gayle fakes injuries “when she’s sad, or when she’s happy, or bored, or injured.”

With the fact that this isn’t the last new Bob’s Burgers before Thanksgiving aside, it was great to see the show celebrate a holiday. Why? Because it’s always great to see the Belchers celebrate any holiday. Especially this one, since we know from “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal,” “Turkey in a Can,” and “Dawn of the Peck” that it is Bob’s favorite day of the year. However, for the first time, Bob wouldn’t be able to prepare the traditional dinner himself. The fact that Gayle was the reason why only made it much worse.

But instead of being furious at her clumsy injury, additional stalling, advances toward him, and feline preoccupation, Bob stayed calm with his eye on the prize. Even after he realized Gayle had faked her fall, he still tried to get her back, likely due to his responsibility to her sister, Linda. In the end though, Bob went after Gayle – and her cat – because they are family. This is another episode that reinforces the good family man Bob Belcher is – not that we needed a reminder. He coolly handles his wife and kids’ quirks just as he handled Gayle’s in this episode, and even after he came home and realized the dinner he so cherished had been hilariously botched, he overlooked it as to not spoil the family moment at the table.

The episode’s other star, Gayle, has always been a bit annoying to me. She is very funny in small doses, but episodes that star her can get a bit annoying, even if she’s funny from time to time. This episode headed in that direction, but eventually ended up with her growing a bit closer to Bob and the rest of the family – albeit with a couple more speed bumps in between. I would have enjoyed Bob getting a bit more impatient with her shenanigans, but I guess he’s just a more sympathetic man than me.

There were some great laughs with Bob’s need to talk to the turkey, his tolerance of Gayle (including putting effort into singing to her cat), and the refrain of this song at the end, but the story was bigger than the jokes last night. Bob’s has proved itself enough to throw in a few of these types of episodes each year, and since the holidays are always a blast with the Belchers, it would have been hard for this episode to fail. That doesn’t mean it passed with flying, holiday colors, but it’s definitely worthy of inclusion with the others.