Bob’s Burgers: Everything we learned in “Show Mama From the Grave”

As fans of Bob’s Burgers, we all have a lot of questions. There are just certain topics the show never brings up.

Whether it’s the possibility of Archer being set in the same universe, Jimmy Pesto’s whereabouts, or the origins of what the show became, there are a lot of theories. One theory the show put to bed, at least for now is Bob’s mother.

While we’ve seen Bob’s dad appear in multiple episodes, we didn’t get a good look at Bob’s mother until the Bob’s Burgers Movie in 2022. That scene, in particular, really brought a tear to my eye and frankly, I’d love to know more about Bob’s mother and his relationship with her.

Thankfully, Bob’s Burgers is hopefully sharing more about that in this week’s episode “Show Mama From the Grave.”

Here’s what happened in “Show Mama From the Grave” on Bob’s Burgers

The episode starts with the family getting ready to go snow tubing while Teddy decides to come over and fix things. Once Bob finds out where they’re going, he realizes that his mom is buried near there so they all decide to go and see her grave even though Linda gets nervous about cemeteries. Bob and the kids start to go find her grave but end up at the office for a map which only causes them to be more confused and Bob to freak out over not knowing where his mother’s grave is.

Bob calls Linda to let her know what’s going on but she can’t really hear him and calls Teddy instead who convinces her to find Bob. The groundskeeper comes to let Bob know the gate’s closing in a half hour so they decide to go back to the car but Bob reads her text too late and they have to go find her.

Bob and the kids start to feel disheartened since they can’t find Linda while Linda thinks she’s on her way to find them. To make it up to them, Bob decides to let them tube on their bellies down the hill while Linda finds Bob’s mother’s grave. Linda explains that the reason why she’s so scared is that she’s afraid of losing her family like Bob lost her and she also tells Bob’s mom how proud she would be of him.

Eventually, they’re able to find Linda and Bob’s mother’s grave but they hide from the groundskeeper so they’re able to visit properly. The episode ends with Linda explaining why Bob’s mom wouldn’t care that he didn’t come to visit, the family decide to climb the fence to leave and Teddy remakes the meatloaf he accidentally ate.

What did we learn about in “Show Mama From the Grave?”

As I previously mentioned, we don’t know much about Bob’s past or his life before marrying Linda and even less about Bob’s mom. While we did find out what she looked like and that she used to wear a pink hat like Louise in the movie, there isn’t much to go on.

Thankfully, “Show Mama From the Grave” rectified a lot of that. Firstly, we discovered that Bob’s mother’s name was Lily Belcher. The other important tidbit we found out was that Bob’s mother had been gone for at least 30 years. Additionally, we also found out Bob hadn’t been to see his mother’s grave for at least a decade which was a major source of hurt for Bob throughout the episode.

Regardless, it did feel like “Show Mama from the Grave” was probably the most realistic episode of Bob’s Burgers we’ve seen in years. There is something so raw and real about Bob not being able to go see his mother’s grave, the guilt he carries from that, and how in the end, it only matters that he did show up. Plus it was nice to hear Linda talk to Bob’s mother before he could and for the kids to see their grandmother’s grave.

The last tidbit we learned was that Teddy apparently really loves meatloaf. That last one was a joke, but I won’t lie in saying this episode had me shedding a few tears. While we didn’t learn as much as I originally thought, I will say that it was such a bittersweet episode but one I know I’ll be coming back to. Maybe I’m overhyping this one a bit, but this is easily one of my favorite Bob’s Burgers episodes in recent memory.

What did you think of “Show Mama from the Grave?” Be sure to let us know in the comments.

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