Bob’s Burgers: Eighth Grade Runner sets the groundwork

Season 12 of Bob’s Burgers is steadily coming to a close. However, there are still two episodes left and these two are special.

For years, the show has featured multiple two-part episodes and it’s actually going to help cap off Season 12. Instead of airing the episodes back-to-back on the same night, it’s being broken up which could be better.

For Part 1, the episode is entitled, “Some Like It Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner.” Honestly, it sounds like it’s going to be a sci-fi/action-packed episode and of course, the episode will follow Tina. Considering the lack of Tina episodes this season, that could be a good sign.

Either way, if you haven’t watched the episode yet, there will be spoilers from this point on.

Here’s what you missed on “Some Like It Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner.”

The episode begins with Tina wearing her new horse shirt and creating an Erotic Friend Fiction about it based on Grease. At school during the day, Tammy and Jocelyn decide to do a new segment entitled “Wow or Weird” in which they call Tina’s shirt weird. Upon coming home, Tina is depressed and decides to channel it into an Erotic Friend Fiction.

The Erotic Friend Fiction is based on Blade Runner and it follows Tina being the underdog and trying something different than her other robot “friends.” She ends up almost getting her mind wiped until she can escape and start over by being a babysitter and buying the same exact shirt that Tina has. Eventually, she gets caught and gets questioned by Jimmy Butters Junior but can’t finish before breakfast.

The following day, Tina ends up back on the “Wow or Weird” segment for her socks. After school, she immediately goes back to writing her story with Jimmy and Tina getting caught by Jimmy’s enemy. Eventually, they find out that Jimmy is a robot like Tina and so is Zeke but Tina decides to figure out how to stop the mind wipes and she uses the same idea to try and stop “Wow and Weird.” Tina’s story continues with her, Zeke, and Jimmy Junior trying to pump for more information but they eventually get caught up, resulting in Tina questioning herself and her “weirdness.”

Meanwhile, Bob is trying to figure out who keeps writing graffiti in the restaurant bathroom while Louise and Gene try to get Tina to take them out for boba. It all comes together in an epic song sung by the entire family. The episode ends with Tina getting away in her story and realizing she needs to stop Tammy and Jocelyn by breaking the touch screen.

The Bob’s Burgers cast and crew created the ultimate first part of this duo

When it comes to two-part episodes,  things can get a little bit tricky. Even so, the Bob’s Burgers writers did an excellent job not only with this episode but setting up for part two. Of course, those who are familiar with the original source material have an idea of where it’s going but the writers have to put a fresh take on it. In that way, it could end up being predictable but the stakes are still high.

However, where the episode really shined was setting everything up. The writers gave Tina more than enough reason to finally snap. While it might not be her reputation era, it’s clear that Tina isn’t going to take any more of Jocelyn or Tammy’s crap. In addition, both Tina’s Erotic Friend Fiction and the episode storyline mirror each other just enough without being too similar.

Honesty, this episode had such high stakes that it almost feels like a shame we have to wait another week to find out what happens. While the Mother’s Day episode felt a little bit meh, this two-part episode already feels like it’s lightyears ahead. With the movie coming out soon too, this amount of high stake and investment is exactly what we as fans are looking for.

While there’s no doubt that the Belcher family will all get a happy ending, it’ll be nice to see how the story plays out in part two. I’m just excited to see how Tina exacts her revenge and hopefully, she’ll finally realize that Tammy and Jocelyn aren’t her friends at all and move forward.

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

What did you think of “Some Like It Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner?” Do you think this was a good start to a two-episode arc? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.