Bob’s Burgers Season 16 Episode 9 Review: It’s a Stunterful Life
Bob’s Burgers Season 16 Episode 9, “It’s a Stunterful Life,” brings back Louise and Logan’s rivalry for the latest holiday special.
It is Bob’s Burgers’ fourteenth Christmas episode, and in true holiday fashion, it brings the whole family together — at least in the beginning. The Belchers, while at a Christmas Tree farm, waste no time in branching off to do their own things.
Visually, this episode is absolutely gorgeous. The tree farm setting, particularly the train ride, has some really pretty backgrounds and decorations.
The main event here is Louise and Logan’s stunt competition. While riding on a miniature train, the two take turns improvising stunts with the Christmas decorations.
One thing Bob’s Burgers does well with the Belcher kids is depicting what it’s like to make your own entertainment out of the mundane as children. There is no prize apart from bragging rights and “mistledough.” Yet Louise and Logan take the competition deadly seriously.
It’s heartwarming and nostalgic. Plenty of people probably have memories of hanging out with kids they didn’t like simply because they didn’t have any other choice.
There’s something so real and funny about how Logan talks about his stunts, since he clearly wants the Belcher kids to know that this is his “thing.”
Meanwhile, Linda and Bob are both doing their own things. Bob is decorating cookies, and Linda is trying to save unwanted Christmas trees from the wood chipper.
These storylines aren’t quite as strong, unfortunately, but they do have their standout moments.
The jokes about Bob looking sad and creepy for decorating cookies alone fall a bit flat. It could be funny, since this is an awkward situation. Instead, it comes off more like everyone else in the building has short-term memory loss.
With that being said, Bob’s storyline isn’t all bad.
While not laugh-out-loud funny, he does have an adorable moment of giving everyone else cookie decorating tips, before Mrs. Claus steps in to be a killjoy.
At the same time, Linda is trying to save a bunch of ugly Christmas trees.
Despite how that sounds, this is shockingly forgettable. There isn’t enough time dedicated to Linda’s tree rescue to really make it stand out.
Between the three storylines, there isn’t much connecting them together. The episode is primarily about the kids, and the parents happen to be there as well.
Despite its shortcomings, the episode is by no means bad. The kids’ stunt competition is a highlight.
Eventually, it culminates in Louise and Logan being forced to work together, mostly at Tina’s behest, who is hilariously very annoyed with them at this point of the episode.
It’s impossible to say if anyone learned a lesson during this episode, but Louise certainly comes out the winner.
As far as Bob’s Burgers holiday episodes go, “It’s a Stunterful Life” isn’t the strongest, but there is still a lot to enjoy about it — especially if you can appreciate a good amount of holiday nostalgia.
What did you think of this episode of Bob’s Burgers? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Bob’s Burgers airs Sundays at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.
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Olivia Thomas
Olivia Thomas is a passionate creative writer with a love of TV and movies, spanning from animation, comedy, and even horror. She is a graduate of Sacramento State University with a degree in English and a certificate in screenwriting. She has a year of prior experience writing for CBR.