Bob’s Burgers: Is The Hawkening a worthy follow-up?

Hawk & Chick might be Bob and Louise’s best episode, but will The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now be a solid sequel to a great Bob’s Burgers episode?

When thinking of Bob’s Burgers, most people don’t think about the incredible familial relationships. Rather, the focus is on other things that aren’t bad but is a bit of a disservice to the series. The relationships between the Belcher family are realistic yet unique. No doubt that most of us can relate to it in some capacity.

There are a lot of episodes that explore said relationships including this week’s most recent episode: “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now” It’s clearly a throwback to a Season 5 episode, “Hawk & Chick.” That episode is infamous for being the quintessential Bob and Louise episode as it explores their relationship as father and daughter. As great as “Hawk & Chick” is, can “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now!” live up to the high expectations of its predecessor?

It would only be right to break down both episodes and compare to see if “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now” is as good as the first installment. Of course, there will be spoilers as I’ll be talking about the plots of both episodes, Bob and Louise’s relationship in the episodes and ultimately deciding if the sequel is better, worse or equal to the first part.

If you haven’t watched “Hawk & Chick” or “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now” there will be spoilers from both episodes. With that out of the way, let’s get down to business and talk about one of the best Bob’s Burgers episodes ever.

Starting off with “Hawk & Chick,” the episode centers around Bob and Louise’s love for a film series featuring a father-daughter duo named Hawk and Chick. Upon seeing the actor who played Hawk, Louise comes up with a plan to host a viewing party for fans. Everything is going great until Hawk admits that he and Chick are now estranged, leading to Louise and Bob trying to reunite them.

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Shenanigans inevitably ensue, but the family works together and is able to temporarily fix what’s been broken. Hawk and Chick decide to make amends (for now) and watch the movie together which makes for a satisfying conclusion. It might be one of the most wholesome Bob’s Burgers episodes there is and it’s all because of Bob and Louise.

This episode has one of the most defining moments for these two as Louise admits that he’s terrified the two will eventually become estranged. Her fear seems so real and palpable which is something that all of us can relate to. None of us want to become estranged from our parents, but those things can happen. Regardless, watching Louise at nine shares that with Bob is enough to make you a little emotional.

Additionally, the episode also touches on the special bond the two have over odd things. What really makes the episode to the next level is the lengths the two are willing to go to repair the broken relationship. It’s a true testament to how much they care for each other and how much Bob and Louise value each other. While it might not be a favorite episode, “Hawk & Chick” is no doubt a touching and noteworthy episode for fans of Bob and Louise.

As great as the episode was, it’s hard to believe the show is making a sequel. This week’s episode is just that. Entitled “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now,” it’s clearly a follow-up to “Hawk & Chick.” As per the previous episode, let’s get into what happened, how it relates to Bob and Louise before deciding if it was a worthwhile sequel or better left as a standalone.

“The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now!” follows Bob and Louise deciding to host a screening of Hawk & Chick at the restaurant with Hawk’s actor attending. Bob cancels after things start going awry which Louise doesn’t accept and goes behind Bob’s back to ensure it happens. It all falls apart when Koji steals the second half of the movie before they can air it.

Bob keeps trying to get in touch with Koji and the family realizes that a scene is missing in which they all come up with ideas of why it was cut out.  Meanwhile, Louise runs off to Yuki’s to find Koji and Koji eventually admits that he wanted to cut up the movie because he was overshadowed by someone else.

Unlike “Hawk & Chick,” “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now!” didn’t feature nearly as many scenes with Bob and Louise. Instead, the episode focused more on Koji and the films rather than the familial relationships. It was a nice change of pace for the show, but it didn’t really add anything in terms of Bob and Louise’s relationship.

Unfortunately, the episode wasn’t nearly as good as “Hawk & Chick.” That’s not to say that it’s a bad episode. It just doesn’t compare to “Hawk & Chick” in terms of Bob and Louise’s relationship or development of their characters. Overall, the episode was a good albeit not great follow-up. I am curious to see if Bob’s Burgers team is going to make the third part, though. Maybe we’ll get another solid Bob and Louise episode later in the season so fingers crossed.

Bob’s Burgers airs Sundays on Fox at 9/8c. 

What did you think of “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now?” How do you think it compared to its predecessor? Be sure to let me know in the comments!