Review: Bob’s Burgers “Interview With a Pop-pop-pire”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Bob’s dad is coming over for dinner and the kids are excited. Louise has her card collection to show off, Gene has a musical extravaganza, and Tina just wants to interview him for a school report. But when Bob predicts what he’ll say and then her siblings chime in with versions of their own, Tina is doomed to never know the truth about Pop Pop and the tree—until her superior interviewer skills kick into gear.

Our Take:

This week’s episode of Bob’s Burgers brings Big Bob back around after being absent for what feels like a season or two at least. With an appearance from Bob senior, I had high hopes for Interview With a Pop-pop-pire, but much like Tina throughout most of tonight’s episode, I ended up feeling a little let down.

Teasing an appearance from Big Bob at the beginning, only to string things along until he finally shows up at the end wasn’t my favorite decision, and that was just the start of my issues with this week’s episode. We’ve had episodes where the kids each take turns telling a story. Many of these episodes that take place in the magical realm of the mind are quite fun, like the excellent Flu-ouise from several seasons ago. But the way things are structured in this one, it just makes it feel like a introductory gag being drawn out far too long.

For one thing, none of the stories are particularly interesting or inventive. It’s cool seeing the character designs show up in old time-y costumes in Louise’s version of Pop Pop’s past, but beyond that there’s not really much to love. It’s an episode filled with very scattershot scenes, which is fine when they’re funny, but harder to appreciate when they’re not. And a lot of Interview With a Pop-pop-pire falls flat when it comes to the comedy.

The jokes just aren’t as sharp as I’m used to from Bob’s Burgers. The most overused joke in the episode is when the narrator will say something and then the fantasy character repeats the exact same words—and that happens like three times! It was barely funny the first time! Even the dialogue isn’t except from this blunting. Every piece of conversation should either be super funny, or serve to advance the story, but a lot of Tina’s early interactions with her family just felt like going in circles, just expressing the same frustration over and over again.

Late in the episode, it tries to concoct an emotional moment for Bob and his dad. Normally, I feel like this would’ve worked really well. Bob and his father aren’t the best at communicating, so finally opening up about their issues and even mentioning Bob’s mother should be a big deal! But honestly, after the halfhearted fifteen minutes that lead up to it, it didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it should.

Like I said at the start, Bob’s can definitely pull off an episode comprised of short stories—but this one didn’t work. Between the uninspired tall tales and the jokes not landing with as big of an impact as usual, Interview With a Pop-pop-pire feels like it might be my least favorite episode of the season. And that sucks, because I really wanted to enjoy Pop Pop’s precious few moments with the only family he has left.