Review: Bob’s Burgers “Sleeping With the Frenemy”

“It’s not a cruise, but you might catch a stomach thing.”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s Spring Break at Wagstaff, and everyone is going on cool vacations – except Tina. Instead, she’s planning to earn a long-awaited Thundergirls badge by doing something ‘thunder-ful’. When Tammy misses her cruise ship’s departure (they didn’t have her brand of lip gloss), Tina gets a chance to show kindness to an absolute monster (those night farts!). Things get messy when a BFOT (Boy From Outta Town) shows up and falls in love with Tina’s mind – but Tammy’s looks.

Less romantic (but still very dramatic), is Gene and Bob’s quest to find a replacement baby tooth. You see, Linda has been collecting Gene’s lost teeth in a jar, and – yeah, it’s weird. Let’s just say that it all ends well with Gene swallowing a dead man’s tooth.

Our Take:

This was an impressive episode of Bob’s Burgers, complete with fun storylines and hilarious character moments. The whole ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ aspect is perhaps a bit stale, but pairing Tina and Tammy makes it immensely enjoyable. The two of them have always had a rather, er, strained relationship at times, so it’s nice to see them come to appreciate unique qualities about each other. Tina admires Tammy’s confidence while Tammy envies how Tina can be herself so easily. Getting Louise involved (hey, she walked in without knocking) amps the entire situation up in ways only she can.

The comedy was definitely on point this time around. There are lots of cleverly witty moments like Louise’s response to Linda’s admission that she pays Gene for his baby teeth in kisses: “Rip-off.” Linda herself wasn’t a huge factor in today’s episode, but she still got some great one-liners: “Alcohol does not solve problems, it just makes them go away.” But I think my favorite scene had to be when Bob was forced to blow-dry Tammy’s hair. (He was not good. Even on the second try.)

Pairing an amusing plot with great character beats and lots of comedy makes for a very good episode of Bob’s Burgers. (We even got a short cameo from Dr. Yap!) This is a show that seems to remain consistently excellent no matter how long it’s been gracing our screens. Here’s hoping for countless more seasons to come! In the short term, we’ve got another brand-new episode next week.