It’s that time of year again, the winding down of the traditional network television as many shows air their finales and once again the long-running Bob’s Burgers is among them with a mostly solid belated Mother’s Day episode.
After 13 years on the air and a full season since the release of the great Bob’s Burger Movie which brought the adventures of the Belcher family to the big screen the Bob’s Burger tv show is still going strong, ending season 13 on a strong note with a very Louise-centric(with some Linda thrown in for good measure) episode that, while not the funniest or most flat-out entertaining episode is still very heartfelt and inspiring, really giving both Louise and Linda a chance to really shine in this finale episode. So much so that you barely notice the rest of the Belchers are barely featured.
What begins as a simple multi-media school report on an historic hero soon turns into a personal quest for Louise as she works harder than she ever has before in order to prove her classmate Wayne(returning guest star Andy Richter) wrong about the hero she selected for her report, the ill-fated Amelia Earhart, not being as good or important as male pioneers in the aviation field including the Wright Brothers and Neil Armstrong, who Wayne is doing his report on. Louise soon learns of Amelia Earhart’s mysterious and tragic disappearance which almost stops her report, but she persevereswith a lot of help from her family and a few friends. Along the way she gets a very important lesson in female empowerment by her mom Linda about women being able to do whatever they put their mind to
While it’s always great to see interaction between Linda and Louise as seen it such episodes as season 3’s “Mother Daughter Lazer Razor” it does feel like the rest of the Belchers feel like afterthoughts in this episode, especially with the side plot of Bob hiring a massage school student to massage Linda for Mother’s Day not offering much to the episode aside from a predictably awkward exchange between Bob and the Massage Student(voiced by Paul Reubens) and Gene predictably making it inappropriate. It was fun to see Bob’s attempts to keep the massage a secret, but beyond that Bob, Tina and Gene aren’t given much to do this episode., but that’s ok because it gives Louise, and to a lesser extent Linda, a chance to be in the spotlight. Especially since this is supposed to be a belated Mother’s Day episode it’s good to see a fair amount of Linda. It was even more disappointing that Teddy is only featured in one scene, but it was a fun scene that also featured Mort.
“Amelia” offers a very strong Louise episodes that really showcases her determination when something, in this case Wayne’s dismissiveness lights a fire under her. While definitely not the funniest Bob’s Burger episode it is still fun and offers great moments for both Louise and Linda and even some funny line’s from the rest of the Belcher’s like Gene talking about a stranger touching his mom.
This episode also introduces a new (hopefully) recurring character in the form of wheelchair bound puppet enthusiast Benj(voiced by Jackie Quinn) who helps Louise put together a shadow puppet show for her presentation which ends up being heartfelt and pretty entertain. Add in some help from Gene and Peter Pescadaro as well as Tina(the use of a multitude of horse puppets to represent the horsepower of Amelia’s plane does seem like a nod to Tina’s horse obsession) and it is the highlight of the episode. I hope Benj can join the wonderful cast of entertaining and recurring Bob’s Burger’s side characters.
Overall if you are looking for a funny zany adventure that incorporates all the Belchers this episode probably isn’t for you, but if you are looking for a heartwarming episode that celebrates the bond between mother and daughter and highlights a terrific aviation pioneer then this episode might be for you.
What did you think of the Bob’s Burgers finale? Let us know in the comments.
