Tina’s thirteenth birthday is coming up and the family
approaches Bob about making it really special for her. They all take turns
listing this they’ve read from her diary that makes them feel that she really
needs it. Linda of course only reads her diary to make sure she’s not on drugs,
whereas Louise feels that Tina is better on paper. Bob can’t believe that the
entire family reads her diary, but agrees to give her a greate birthday. They
call her over and ask what she wants to do for her special day, to which she
spouts off a coherent and detailed list. As she lists every detail, Bob
can’t help to shake his head no to several of her requests. Mainly the one where she
kisses Jim Jr. the son of Bob’s rival from across the street.
As Bob and Linda talk about the party, Louise decides to
help Tina with kissing. She runs through a series of questions ranging from,
“You know what it’s like to lock lips with a man?” and “If you’re not careful
out there you could get yourself killed!” After each comment or rhetorical
question Louise slaps Tina’s face. Once Gene gets involved she slaps him too.
Bob doesn’t know how they’ll afford to shut the restaurant down for a day and
get everything she wants for the party. After looking at her so pathetically
they decide to do whatever they have to, to give her the party she wants.
Bob has a talk with his landlord Mr. Fischoeder (pronounced
Fish-odor) to see if he can be late on his rent. Fischoeder has him meet him
on the docks at night in the middle of a thick fog. He’s won’t grant Bob an extension,
but he offers him another way to make money by driving a cab. Bob takes the
job, mostly because he wants to wear the cabbie hat offered to him. The next
day he goes over the plan with the family. He’ll work days at the restaurant
and nights driving cabs. On his first night out he encounters all sorts of
people. His first customer is a drunken guy that pukes everywhere forcing Bob
to hose out his cab. The next fair is a horny couple that has sex in the back
seat and again forces Bob to hose out the car. After a while Bob gets the lay
of the land and even makes some friends.
This is definitely one of the strongest episodes yet. There
are two plot lines running through the episode, the first being Bob working two
jobs to pay for the party; and the second is Tina becoming a woman while trying
to get everything she wants for the party. There’s a lot more to this episode
than just jokes, there’s actually touching family moments which have become
absent from most of Fox’s animations. This was another father-daughter building
episode which did a good job of developing both characters. In recent episodes
there’s been a trend of toning down Gene which is not good since he’s the least
developed character. He’s used effectively in this episode as the DJ for the
party, but he’s really falling to the back ground compared to the other four
characters. Louise continues to be hilarious as practically everything she says
is hysterical. It would be interesting to see a similar episode developing her
relationship with either parent.
As it stands this is definitely one of the best episodes
thus far, but it’s far from perfect. There were way too many characters
introduced due to the cab scenes and this was the first mention of Bob’s rival
Jimmy from across the street. Regardless of those two items, the show continues
to display a lot of heart with its comedy and because of that it stands out
from everything else on Fox’ animation circuit. If you’re still not watching
Bob’s Burgers then swing by Hulu to catch up on the first five episodes and be
sure to check it out Sunday’s on Fox.
Overall Score - 9.0