Bob’s Burgers: Will Flat-Top O’ the Morning to Ya live up to the hype?

Holidays are a big deal on Bob’s Burgers. With “Flat-Top O’ the Morning to Ya” as the first St. Patrick’s Day episode, will it compare to the others?

Bob’s Burgers has covered a lot of holidays. We got our first taste in Season 3 in which we celebrated the major holidays with the Belchers: Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Later in the season, we got our first Valentine’s Day as well. Since then, every season has at least focused on the major holidays and most seasons have Valentine’s Day episodes as well.

The show also featured their first (and only!) Easter episode in Season 7. This week, we’re getting a look at another holiday. Since Bob’s Burgers is airing before Saint Patrick’s Day, it would only make sense for the show to finally feature a St. Patty’s Day episode. I crossed my fingers this would happen and Bob’s Burgers team listened so that’s exciting. Considering how beloved and special the holiday episodes are, it’s no surprise that we have high expectations for “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya.”

In honor of the show airing its next first-holiday episode, it’s only right to talk about why the Bob’s Burgers holiday episodes are so beloved. Then look at the “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya” and see if it lives up to the gold standard the show has set.

Before getting started, there will be spoilers for this week’s Bob’s Burgers episode: “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya.” With the warning out of the way, let’s talk holiday episodes.

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When looking at all of the previous holiday episodes, there are a few threads that seem to connect all of them. In particular, there are three notable characteristics featured in almost every single holiday episode. First is the premise is always unique. While the episode might be inspired by something else, it’s almost always wholly original. For Thanksgiving, it’s especially true as those episodes go off the rails fast.

Another characteristic is the episode is always filled with shenanigans. No matter what’s going on, something always goes wrong. If the family is planning to have dinner, there is always a monkey wrench thrown in there somewhere. The last aspect all of these episodes share is a focus on family. Almost every holiday episode features the family being together or them working through something together. For most of us, that’s what the holidays are about so it’s no surprise that the Belchers feel the same. While each holiday episode is different, those three core themes are almost always present.

With those in mind, let’s talk about what happened in “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya.” The episode starts with Linda being incredibly excited for St. Patricks Day while Bob and the kids go to a liquidation auction. At the restaurant, Teddy convinces Linda to dye a lot of things green including Linda eventually dying the burgers. It ends up turning customers away until Linda decides to serve sliders at the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family meets the guy who owned the failed restaurant. They find out that he lost his father and eventually, the restaurant due to changes. Upon talking to him, they get roped into helping him steal his family’s flattop, much to Bob’s dismay. Once the auctioneer walks away, Jules, Bob and the kids are able to steal it until he comes back and then they’re able to evade him by hiding. Jules admits he doesn’t love cooking as much but he wants to keep a part of the restaurant.

Eventually, Bob convinces Jules to sell the flattop until he finds out that it’s only going to be resold, causing him to accidentally push it outside. The episode ends with Linda and Teddy handing out their green sliders, bringing a lot of customers for them.

As for Bob, he’s able to help Jules get over selling the grill and it gives him a sense of pride. Now that we’ve talked about the episode, it’s time to talk about if it lived up to the hype and if it’s as good, if not better than the previous holiday episodes.

Personally, I thought “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya” was a solid episode albeit, not the best holiday episode. Considering it’s the show’s first attempt at St. Patrick’s Day episode, I’ll cut them a little bit of slack. As for the three guidelines, the episode had a unique plotline, featured a snag in their original plans but sadly didn’t focus on the family as much. No doubt the episode suffered a bit due to that. Either way, “Flat-Top o’ the Morning to Ya” is a good jumping-off point so the show can only go up from there.

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

What did you think of “Flat-Top O’ the Morning to Ya?” Do you think the episode lived up to the holiday gold standard Bob’s Burgers has set for itself? Be sure to let me know in the comments!