Episode Grade: A-

“I think I’d do really well in the apocalypse, don’t ya think? Ah, who am I kidding? I’d probably get eaten immediately, and not just because my thighs are perfect.”

“You’d be ok, though I am picturing you with an apple in your mouth right now.”

“Father!”

“Sorry. I’m sure you’d be a very capable boy. Together we’d survive at least a day. Maybe two.”

They’re slightly more common in recent seasons, but Bob and Gene focused episodes of Bob’s Burgers are still notable for their relative novelty. Though the two have been paired up in a-plots going all the way back to season one, more often the show has chosen to pair Bob up with his daughters, and Gene up with Linda. Likely, this is the result of the writers having a better handle on Bob, Tina, and Louise in the show’s early days (it took them a couple seasons to figure out Gene, and there are times where it still feels like they don’t know what to do with Linda), but I’ve always found Bob and Gene to be an underrated pairing. Part of the issue is that when Gene and Linda spend too much time together in an episode the results tend to be, well, shout-y. Tonally, Bob and Gene make for a more even match, with Bob’s more restrained nature balancing out his son’s natural exuberance.

Of course, none of these structural considerations would mean anything if Bob and Gene weren’t so damned fun together. A common theme with this pairing is the two of them setting out to accomplish some seemingly simple task, only to quickly find themselves in way over their heads. Despite what Bob says above, Gene is not a particularly capable boy, and neither is Bob, to be quite honest. Even so, the Belcher men and their particular quirks manage to muddle through somehow (sock-cheese for the win!), and even manage to get the better of the less scrupulous mushroom foragers in the woods tonight (voiced by ever reliable guests Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, and Brooke Dillman). Sure, maybe they didn’t get away with enough mushrooms to make Burgers Of The Day, but I bet they could get at least two out of them.

Still, as the end of the episode makes clear, it’s not really about the mushrooms, delicious though they may be. It’s about a dad and his boy spending some quality time together. Everything else is a bonus.

“If there was an apocalypse, I’d bet we’d last three days with you around.”

Moist Valleys and Gullies:

• Solid b-plot tonight, with Louise having some mostly harmless fun with Tina’s improved vision. I have ding it slightly though, as it felt like it was building to something more, then just kind of ended. No big deal, but enough to knock the episode out of unqualified “A” status.
• That said, Tina’s wonder at seeing things more clearly reminded me of when I first got glasses as a kid. I remember thinking “Are you kidding me? Is this what other people see all the time?” I like to think I was less of a creep about it though.
• “You look like a glamorous Henry Kissinger.” Damn, Teddy. How are you still single?
• “Off center stem!” “Like something I know!”
• “Super Boobs. The streets did feel safer that week.
• I’ll concede the possibility this episode just caught me in my feelings (spent the day with my own dad today), leading to some grade inflation, but hell with it. Bob’s is knocking it out of the park so far this season.