Review: Bob’s Burgers “Apple Gore-chard! (But Not Gory)”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Louise suspects there’s something sinister afoot during a Halloween field trip to an apple orchard. Tina and Gene hope to win the school costume parade.

Our Take:
I haven’t watched many of the show’s Halloween-themed episodes, which have been a thing since its fifth season. So this week’s episode is my first time experiencing this spooky celebration with the Belcher family. From the looks of its plot, this is a suitable way for me to get into the family’s bizarre tradition.
The episode sees Louise on a Halloween field trip to a dreary apple orchard, with Bob as their parent chaperone. Meanwhile, Tina and Gene stayed behind to participate in the school’s costume parade. During the trip, Louise and her friend Jessica attempt to impress the other kids with Jessica’s sheep puns and Louise’s mouth trick. Louise’s impressive trick resulted in her being chosen by the tour’s hosts to be the “hero of the harvest”. However, after sneaking off to an abandoned farm, Louise discovers a painting that depicts a tragic fate for the hero of the harvest. But it turns out the picture was for a haunted orchard attraction, and the ashes Bob and Louise found were wood ash instead of human ash.
One thing I noticed the most while watching the episode was the costumes worn by the characters, mainly the Belcher kids. The kids’ costumes paid homage to the movie “Twister”, with Louise dressed up as Helen Hunt. Additionally, Gene dresses as Bill Paxton with a bunch of stuff on himself, like cows and tractors, while Tina is the twister. It’s a solid callback to the 1996 disaster film that’s surprisingly getting a sequel soon. You also have Jessica dressing up as singer-songwriter Billie Eilish with the green lining on her black hair.
As for the plot itself, the episode doesn’t deliver many frights and surprises in its creepy yet formulaic storyline, which humorously resembles a horror movie involving an evil cult. This is far from surprising considering the show’s focus on sitcom drama instead of far-fetched scenarios like the other adult-animated sitcoms. However, it does offer plenty of chuckles to overshadow the lack of genuine scares, including Louise saying “doy doy” with her hand covering her mouth. “Apple Gore-chard” is far from an enticing fright, but it does leave me with a good impression thanks to the Belcher kids being “Team Twister”.