Bob’s Burgers, the animated Fox comedy currently airing its thirteenth season, does holidays better than anyone. I know you might be saying “The Simpsons and the Treehouse of Horrors” or “Community and the Meta Christmas.” I hear you, I do. It’s just that you aren’t right about this. In addition to cornering the market on the best holiday episodes (another post for another time) for the most underrated holiday, Thanksgiving (also another post for another time), Bob’s Burgers has, in the past few years, put up some serious contenders for the best Christmas episodes. “The Bleakening,” “Better Off Sled,” “Christmas In The Car.”
And then this past year’s “The Plight Before Christmas” blew them all out of the fucking water.
The plot is as straightforward as it is at times annoying (it is a holiday episode, it’s supposed to be a bit annoying. You know, for realism). All three kids have Christmas-related events on the same night at the same time. Meaning two parents trying to be in three places at once. There’s a lot of running around and miscommunication and holiday stress. Pictured here are the running and stress. If you look closely, you can see Bob’s worry lines getting worse.
It’s standard fare for a Bob’s Burgers episode. There are plenty of jokes, but the show also never shies away from being blatantly frustrating. Linda is overbearing, Bob is . . . not incompetent, but not as good at things as he should be. The kids can be helpful, but luckily choose not to be. It hits very close to home as to how people are in their homes. And then a Christmas miracle happens.
The show is nice and I feel good about that.
I know. I’m almost never here for nice. It’s a thing that belongs to people whose feelings aren’t dead. The alive feelings. Mine are, if not dead, at least sleeping very deeply and are therefore hard to rouse. But the show in general, and this episode specifically, mixes heartwarming with sarcasm well enough that even a Christmas episode never feels mushy. No one here feels the need to make big speeches about being nice because they’re too busy genuinely trying to be nice to each other, even though it’s annoying and frustrating. In fact, it’s mostly because everyone is trying so hard to be nice that they’re getting in their own way in the process. Again, like the holidays.
Also, I’m going to do a little spoiler here and then a big spoiler later. In case you decide to watch the episode (and you should, it’s phenomenal), things work out fine. Not perfect because this show is too good to end with an actual miracle or a Christmas carol sing-along, but fine. The concert is saved, the play gives everyone the same-sized role, and at the end, everyone is where they should be.
Now the big spoiler. If you are in the rare position of having those alive feelings but still don’t feel interested in the show (big mistake, huge), you might want to at least treat yourself to the end below. It’s sweet and funny, and exactly what people deserve on the holidays. Or even on a random Wednesday in February.
