Recap / Bob's Burgers S3E6 "The Deepening"

"It's like the running of the bulls, but, dumber."

— Bob, on the loose mechanical shark flopping about while people run away

Mr. Fischoeder gets the mechanical shark used in an old B-movie filmed in town as a new attraction for Wonder Wharf. Thanks to the kids' curiosity getting the better of them, the shark breaks loose and causes a ruckus.

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The Tropening:

• Ambiguously Bi: On top of her usual attraction to boys, Tina seems rather interested in the Fanservice of the "The Deepening 3" and becomes sexually attracted to the female shark animatronic.
• Anti-Climax: In-universe; the original ending of The Deepening had the shark die of cancer. Teddy claimed it was scrapped because test audiences reacted poorly.
• Attack Backfire: The town's attempts to stop the shark (with a spike strip, an oil slick, and a giant crane) only make it stronger.
  Bob: Okay, we gave the shark spikes... Okay, we made the shark faster... OKAY, NOW THE SHARK IS ELECTRIFIED!
• Bait-and-Switch Comparison: "Who was Tina really gonna choose, a broken-down wreck with the dead eyes, or a fake shark?"
• Best Known for the Fanservice: In-universe and inverted. Bob does not remember that "The Deepening 3" heavily relied in a lot of fanservice-y scenes and topless car washes, only remembering the shark.
  Bob: This movie is like 90% topless carwash.
• Brick Joke: The kids set the shark prop loose by trying to cut off its dorsal fin to make shark fin soup. At the end of the episode, after the shark has been defeated with ice cream, Louise suddenly pops up during Hugo's news interview, holding the severed fin and asking if anyone wants soup.
• Buffy Speak: Mr. Fischoeder forgets the word "restaurant", and calls Bob's Burgers a "food place".
• Call-Back: The soft serving machine becomes a plot point again, for the first time since "Synchronized Swimming".
• Chekhov's Gun: The malfunctioning soft-serve machine comes in handy during the climax when the shark eats it, allowing Bob to finally defeat it by clogging it with ice cream.
• Dark Secret: Teddy has one from his time working on "The Deepening 3", but it turns out to be nothing major, just that he blames the shark for losing a girl.
• Dirty Coward: Hugo makes fun of Bob, Teddy and Mort when they go after the shark, but when they ask him to go with them to fight it, he says he’s busy with "crowd control" even though there is hardly even a crowd. Mr. Fischoeder, likewise, completely throws Bob under the bus by falsely accusing him of discouraging proper safety protocols.
• Eating the Eye Candy: When the family is watching The Deepening, Tina can't help but stare at young Teddy's physique.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Teddy talking about the ending of The Deepening (the shark having wet cement poured down its throat) gives Tina the idea to clog the shark using the ice cream machine.
• Evil Is Petty: Hugo, who insists in annoying Bob with his Quadrant Captain duty.
• Focus Group Ending: In-universe; the ending to The Deepening was changed because test audiences didn't like the Anti-Climax of the shark dying of cancer.
• From Bad to Worse: All of Bob's plans to stop the shark just make it even stronger. The spike strip gets wrapped around the shark, the oil spill makes the shark faster, the giant crane gets caught on power lines and covers the shark in electricity, and the giant hole causes the shark to end up in the restaurant's basement.
• Funny Background Event:
  • When Bob is attempting to blow his block captain whistle, a caricatured version of Steven Spielberg as he looked at the time he directed Jaws is standing behind Tina and Mr. Fischoeder.
  • When Tina says not to fast forward through the fanservice-y scenes in "The Deepening 3," a customer can be seen nodding in agreement.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Teddy used to be an actor.
  • This episode hints again that Bob is a movie buff, based on his knowledge of "The Deepening" series.
• Hypocrite: Hugo refers to Teddy as "Flab-hab" even though he's fairly out of shape himself.
• Insane Troll Logic: Teddy's belief that the shark cost him a relationship is understandable if misplaced. He then proceeds to take quite a leap in logic by arguing that the shark is responsible for his current lot in life.
  Teddy: It's evil, and now I'm fat.
• I Was Quite the Looker: Teddy as it turns out was quite hot in his youth, playing a hot lifeguard in "The Deepening 3".
• "Jaws" Attack Parody: Along with The Deepening movies, which are obvious parodies of Jaws, the mechanical shark goes haywire and "attacks" the block, wriggling its way down the street sideways.
• Just Here for Godzilla: In-universe; Mr. Fischoeder calls the shark the real star of the titular movie.
• Literal Metaphor: As he reaches for the straw dispenser to throw it at the rampaging shark, Bob yells "I am literally grasping at straws!"
• Misplaced Retribution: Bob points out that technically Teddy should be angry at the shark operator for ruining a possible relationship, not the shark itself since it's just a prop. Teddy realizes Bob has a point but still goes back to wanting to destroy the shark.
• Nails on a Blackboard: Teddy tries to do this during a meeting at the restaurant, mimicking Quint's introduction in Jaws, but he doesn't have any fingernails so he makes the sound himself.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Tina very nearly cites this trope verbatim when referring to the shark in the titular movie. When the actual shark prop goes on a rampage, she applies this belief to the prop, believing the shark is just confused and wants to go home. Bob is quick to lampshade the flaw in her logic.
  Bob: Tina, it's a mechanical shark. It's dumber than our toaster.
  Tina: Our toaster is also confused. It doesn't know why we put bagels in it.
• Oblivious Janitor Cut: There is a janitor listening to a headphones who is completely unfazed by the fact that a giant shark just shattered the window he was vacuuming next to.
• Police Are Useless: Instead of dealing with the shark, the police and the firemen fight over who gets to deal with it, and the citizens are the one that have to deal with the shark.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Mr. Fischoeder pins all the blame for the shark rampage on Bob and immediately leaves. He briefly returns at the end of the episode to congratulate Bob on his victory... then sees the damage to the restaurant and bails again.
• Shout-Out:
  • "The Deepening" series seems to be one to classic Threatening Shark movies, particularly Jaws.
  • Tina reenacts the Signature Scene of Free Willy in her imagination with the mechanical shark.
  • Hugo sarcastically compares Bob, Mort and Teddy to Captain Ahab. ("Ahab, Gray-hab and Flab-hab.")
  • Teddy's mention of the scrapped ending for "The Deepening" is a potential reference to Deep Blue Sea as described below.
• Skewed Priorities: Mr. Fischoeder is more focused on selling tickets even as the shark starts to go haywire.
• So Unfunny, It's Funny: Mort's stand-up comedy routine, full stop.
• Stealing the Credit: After the shark is stopped, Hugo says in an interview "I can't take all the credit, but as Quadrant Captain, I will".
• Symbolic Blood: When Bob finally manages to stop the shark by jamming its mechanisms with the soft-serve icecream machine, Teddy jumps on top of the shark and starts repeatedly stabbing it with a butter knife, causing icecream to spray everywhere. After it finally stops, Tina leans over it and says she feels sad for it while icecream leaks from its eyes.
• Take That!: Teddy's explanation of the scrapped ending for The Deepening where the shark died of cancer that the test audiences didn't like as described above is a potential one for Deep Blue Sea where the one of the reasons why the genetically engineered sharks were originally made that way was because of the misconception made into a plot point about sharks not being able to get cancer.
• Threatening Shark: The mechanical shark actually becomes a threat when it goes haywire, falls on its side and "swims" its way out of Wonder Wharf and down the block and since the controls are jammed and it's gasoline-powered, there's no easy way to stop its rampage.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • The shark rips off a woman's prosthetic arm and Louise catches it. Despite her vocally asking to keep it, Bob does the right thing and gives it back to the woman...who immediately smacks Bob with it. Presumably, she interpreted him handing her the arm as an insult.
  • To some extent, Hugo, as he takes credit for all that Bob, Mort, and Teddy did to stop the shark, after previously insulting them and hypocritically refusing to help.
• Verbal Backspace:
  Mr. Fischoeder: Good time to grab a hot dog, or some popcorn!
  The shark immediately destroys the popcorn stand
  Mr. Fischoeder: Oh, or a hot dog!
• Vertigo Effect: Parodying the famous use in Jaws, this happens with Bob when he realizes he needs to do something, then Linda when she asks what he means, and then again with Bob when he repeats what he said.
• Whole-Plot Reference: To Jaws, down to the final scene on the restaurant being basically a reenactment of the scene where the shark attacks the boat.
  Teddy: We're gonna need a bigger restaurant.
  Bob: Oh, come on.
  Teddy: Sorry.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: Discussed when the shark attacks Bob, Teddy and Mort in the restaurant:
  Louise: If the shark eats our restaurant, is he our new boss?
  Gene: Shark boss! [mimics a shark's biting]

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