Bob's Burgers: Eat, Spray, Linda

May 6, 2015 1:24 PM - Season 5, Episode 18

Linda endures mud, two skunks (or the same skunk twice), a chalk festival chase, and some kind of street diaper on what could be her worst birthday ever, while Bob, Teddy, and the kids learn things they didn't know about her in their attempts to track her down.

Store Next Door: A SIGHT FOR SORE THIGHS MASSAGE PARLOR

Pest Control Truck: MAMA SAID THERE'D BY SPRAYS LIKE THESE

posted by joan cusack the second (5 comments total)

This really was the best kind of bait-and-switch story, where it seemed like it was going to be about the rest of the family's desperate attempts to not disappoint an unenthused Linda... but the series of reveals of each kid's different connection with their mom was as sweet in its own way as Linda's horrible odyssey was (purposefully) cringeworthy. Nice contrast.
posted by psoas at 4:49 PM on May 7, 2015 [3 favorites]

And in the end, Linda was TRIUMPHANT! Her view of the experience was fantastic. That's not just optimism, that's super optimism actualized!

The Linda from this episode is now my life coach. Not that I've faced such a terrible day, nor do I plan on testing my survival and navigation skills in this way, but her ability to say "this day was crappy, but I survived, and I want to do it every year to celebrate my own improvements and betterment over the last year" is pretty great. (That, or I'm the sappiest sap in Saptown.)

And in retrospect, I like how the store next door and the pest control truck could be foreshadowing for the episode. I will now go back to see if this has been the case (many times) before.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I am looking forward to future Linda's Birthday episodes, with Gene and Louise teaming up for weird sadism and Tina pulling them back from the brink. Just make it "Linda's 41st Birthday" over and over again and fuck continuity.
posted by Etrigan at 11:33 AM on May 8, 2015

Also, I like that Linda has a whole life of adventures with her kids, each with their own focus on who they are. Tina: fancy bathrooms! Gene: free samples! Louise: petting cute puppies!
posted by filthy light thief at 12:32 PM on May 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've always been a huge Linda fan, but this episode sealed it.

Etrigan, I thought she was saying that she was 44, and that made her my age, and I just loved her more.
posted by MsVader at 10:41 AM on June 19, 2015