Review: Bob’s Burgers ‘Equestranauts’

 

Spoilers Below:

The description of this episode was so glorious, that it almost couldn’t fail. That didn’t guarantee it would go down as a classic, but when the plot elements read so well on paper (or the preview on BubbleBlabber, the summary on Wikipedia, or the description on the Time Warner guide) it was hard to imagine it ending up as a dud. Watch and see.

Tina was planning to attend “Equestra Con,” the Equestranaut Convention, an event for fans of the children’s TV program about cartoon horses. Or, at least I assume it’s a cartoon show; it’s hard to tell since all shows within shows look like cartoons when they’re already in a cartoon.

Anyway, at the convention, Tina was pressured by a bunch of middle-aged men dressed as horses (known as “Equesticals”), into selling her favorite childhood doll. Louise overheard from the buyers that it was, in fact, extremely rare and worth a fortune.

After finding out his daughter was swindled, Bob learned everything there was to know about the show from Tina, and went undercover as a fan of the show in order to get Tina’s doll back.

Bob got way too into it (“He’s so deep undercover, he’s forgot who he is!”) and the plot took a weird turn with talk of immortality, but everything inevitably ended up okay in the end.

In Case You Missed It:

1) The Equestranauts were named Peggy-sis, Head Horn, Chariot, and Mini (with the power of being mini.)

2) The only Burger of the Day in this episode (although it totally seemed like it took place over the course of more than one day) was called “The Life of the Parsley Burger.”

3) The creepy Equestical dudes were named Sun Puddle, Horseplay, Pony Danza, and Bronconius.

4) Isn’t it nice to see Louise always looking out for her other siblings, namely Tina? Despite being the youngest Belcher child, Louise seems to have the most street smarts and the strongest connection to reality, often making her act like the eldest of the three kids.

5) Gene had a lot of great lines last night, my favorites were: “I told you we should’ve never left the food court!” and “Go, Girl!”

6) The unique imperfection in Tina’s toy that made it so valuable was its camel toe. It was never fully explained that that meant in this particular case, but I hope it just meant it had a toe that looked like a camel’s.

7) Linda got quite turned on by her husband going undercover, even in spite of the fact that he was only infiltrating a convention for a children’s TV show.

8) Louise had some great lines too, like “They’re tramp-stamping our tramp!”

9) The drunk/tripping simulation sequence was quite intense. I was buzzed and it made me feel wasted.

10) This show basically named Jon Hamm an Equestical, in so many words.

11) The tattoo/Tatu thing was bothering me too. I’m glad Bob said something about it.

12) The last scene really helped bring everything back around for the episode. Not only was it funny to see Tina feign a continued interest in the toy Bob almost killed himself going after (“But thanks for getting her back. Hooray!”) and Bob demanding she enjoy the horse (“Play with it!”), but it was also a nice way to return the show to a state of normalcy.

There were several things that I really liked about this episode. First, it was Tina-centic. At this point in the show and my career as a Bob’s Burgers critic, I don’t think I need to explain why this is a positive. However, it’s especially entertaining to see Tina in any position of leadership. She’s such an awkward outcast of a teenager – which is funny – but give her a little confidence and it brings the comedy to an even more hilarious level. This episode, in which she ordered Bob around and instilled information in him like a super-strict teacher, was no exception.

Also, seeing Bob out of his element (which is pretty much anywhere other than behind the grill) is always ripe for laughs. Usually this is because seeing Bob outside his comfort zone is hilariously awkward at first, but he inevitably always settles in. Be it driving a cab (S1E6 “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?”) or quickly warming to the idea of working in an office (S2E7 “Moody Foodie”), Bob always surprisingly adjusts to any situation, making him much more easy-going than he lets on.

Although there were ample strengths throughout, the episode didn’t garner quite as many laughs as one would think it would, or as it would appear, on paper, that it would. Still, this was a solid story line, with solid jokes, and a great performance by every character.

Okay, maybe it could’ve used more of Linda. But I’m just nitpicking now, right?