Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘The Oeder Games’

 

Spoilers Below:

Bob’s Burgers is now at the end of its fifth season, making it officially a veteran show, based on a classification system I made up for this article. Yet even after all that time, the series can still manage to surprise me.

In the finale, Bob and a bunch of other tenants met to organize a rent strike against Mr. Fischoeder and his latest hike. Instead of hearing them out, the landlord made them all compete in a water-balloon fight where anyone hit will have their rent increased, and the last man standing will get their rent cut in half.

Bob initially protested, but eventually committed to the contest and almost won. But at the last minute, Mr. Fischoeder changed it to a competition where each successful water-ballooning of Bob would result in a $50 reduction in rent for the thrower, and a $50 addition for Bob. Everyone ended up cornering Bob, but they collectively agreed to drop their weapons, and Mr. Fischoeder – moved by the gesture – decided to postpone the rent hike for another year or two.

In Case You Missed It:

1) No intro = no next door store or bug truck.

2) Burger of the Day: Who Wants to Be a Scallionaire Burger.

3) Bob, according to Louise: “A high-value target in a low-value body.”

4) Linda, after getting hit in the face with a water-balloon: “My whole face flashed before my eyes.”

5) Mr. Fischoeder throws firecrackers at his tenants?

When I finished “The Oeder Games” and looked at my ‘In Case You Missed It’ list (where the number of bullet points is often in direct correlation with how funny an episode is), I was perplexed. The list was surprisingly short, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed the episode. How could this be? Bob’s Burgers is one of my favorite shows to quote, and yet there were very few quotable lines in this episode. In fact, it was more of a constant-grin installment, than a raucous, laugh-out-loud joke-fest.

So then what made it work?

Well, first: out to help the cause was the entire town. As much as Bob’s is a show that leans heavily on its five main family members, it also has an outstanding cast of characters throughout the whole town, and episodes like this are needed to reinforce this fact. In this way, the show is very much like The Simpsons. The family can be the whole focus for an episode, but the spotlight can be lent occasionally to smaller characters, or shared almost equally by everyone. “The Oeder Games” was without-a-doubt an ensemble episode.

In fact, the installment didn’t even start with the full intro, but instead faded in on Bob’s restaurant, packed with most of the characters that would run wild in the next 22 minutes.

We of course saw Teddy and Mort, loyally hanging around Bob and both being inevitably felled for this very reason. We also saw Jimmy Pesto’s (poor) relationship with his twins (two of my favorite characters), and another visitation with Tina and Jimmy Jr. (and Zeke). Louise & Gene had a bit of side mischief, which eventually brought Felix Fischoeder into the picture, because no Mr. Fischoeder-focused episode is complete without him.

I could talk about the musical sequences (both the Nancy Sinatra fight sequence and the enjoyable “99 Red Balloons” ending), or the truthiness of Bob’s conclusion (“People are the worst. Coming together is the worst.”), or confess my undying love for Tina and the wearing of her emotions on her monotone sleeve (“Well, at least it was fair and square, in my back, when I wasn’t looking.), but the biggest key to success was the fact that Bob’s Burgers and it’s unique cast of characters can expertly walk the line between realism and fun, exaggerated fantasy. Ostensibly, the show is about a burger cook, his wife, their three kids, and the ins and outs of running a restaurant in a small, seaside town. Most of the plots are realistic, and the conflicts relatable, yet the show always seems to take one step toward fantasy land in everything it does.

Adults in the real world have to deal with things like rent, and they have to deal with things like greedy fucks trying to squeeze them for every penny they’re worth. Yet most folks, upon confronting a foe, are not given the option to compete against each other in a high-stakes water-balloon fight. And ever the straight man of the show, Bob had the reaction of most reasonable people, and scoffed at the offer. Yet his fellow townies willingly joined into the battle, and inevitably he did as well, because that’s what happens in the silly, anything-goes world of Bob’s Burgers. Things are going along in a way that could be described as “normal,” yet before the viewer realizes it, the story has been changed into something completely ridiculous.

And we didn’t even notice.

Just like most fans of the show barely noticed that five full years of Bob’s have gone by as of tonight’s strong season finale, and too many people still don’t notice that the show even exists.

By the way, did anyone notice that we only got 21 episodes this season?