Tear Jerker / Bob's Burgers

"No. Come on, no..."

Besides its comedy, Bob's Burgers is known for the genuinely heartwarming moments between its characters. However, to say it's incapable of showcasing moments on the other end of the emotional wheel is a bald-faced lie.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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General

• The treatment Linda receives from her parents and Gayle spreads throughout the entire show, but it's painfully clear they all take advantage of Linda and Linda goes along with it because she thinks she has to since they're her family.
  • While it's clear Linda's babying of Gayle's neurotic behavior hasn't done her any favors, by this point in their adult lives Linda has resigned herself to acting like Gayle's parent because the woman is incapable and unwilling to better her living arrangements. Linda frequently feels compelled to hide her accomplishments from Gayle and has to lie to her all the time because she knows Gayle can't handle criticism and is insanely jealous of Linda's stable and happy life. Yet for all Linda sacrifices to keep Gayle happy, Gayle feels little to no gratitude towards her sister and repeatedly goes out of her way to ask for more when she's not trying to steal Bob.
  • Al is generally too oblivious to make demands of Linda, but that also means he does nothing to stop Gloria from doing just that. Even while growing up, Linda's mentions of her childhood make it clear neither of her parents did much or anything for her or her sister. Now as an adult, Gloria expects Linda to drop whatever she's doing whenever Gloria wants something and gives nothing to Linda in return. There's also the implication Gloria can't be bothered to remember how many grandchildren she has - and at one point gave them a book on retirement that's implied to be a gift they gave her - but still demands they give her decent birthday gifts. Gloria's also not above flat out stealing from Linda and lying to her about it, like how she stole Linda's phone charger which clearly has a butt which Gene drew on it.
  • Even though Linda's shown there are limits to how much she can take of Gayle, Gloria, and Al, it will take a lot to reach those limits. It's no wonder the kids barely care about their maternal relatives, and Bob's outright made it clear he'd love to sever all ties with his in-laws the first chance he got because of what they put Linda through.
  • Gayle, Gloria and Al are so horrible, especially towards Linda, that it's no wonder Bob and the kids don't want anything to do with them if they can help it. Bob especially would love to sever all ties with Gayle and he's not capable of convincing anyone he'd be upset if Gloria died. Unfortunately, Linda is in complete denial over how much her current family detests her relatives for their horrid behavior and has convinced herself that Bob and the kids love her parents and sister as much as does. Even when Bob tries to convince Linda that she doesn't deserve to be treated this way, Linda has to convince him to let her parents walk all over her.
• A minor one but several episodes subtly imply that due to her social awkwardness and the way she acts around boys, Tina doesn't have many friends. Although she's able to associate herself with characters like Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy and Jocelyn, they don't really appear to like or care about her that much and almost never include her in their activities and even when they do, it's only because Tina invites herself. She's so desperate to make friends that as episodes like "Bad Tina" demonstrate, she's willing to do bad stuff like steal lip gloss as long as it means she'll make friends.

Season 1

• Bob standing outside the cracked restaurant window in "Human Flesh" and reflecting on his life before coming to the conclusion that he's a failure—his wife's pissed at him for forgetting their anniversary, the entire town's turned against him over a false accusation, and his biggest dream is about to be shut down by a man who could easily save him but refuses to out of spite. The series decided to start out with a bang, that's for sure.
• As funny as it is to see Teddy's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown against the mascots in "Bed and Breakfast", it's also sad in a sense, considering every second he sees of them reminds him of arguably the most traumatic moment in his life (when his wife cheated on him with a seal mascot that looked him straight in the eyes as it happened). Special mention to after he finally tires out, when he curls up on the ground and starts sobbing uncontrollably. Poor guy needs a hug.
• Louise admitting that she only wanted to spend time with Bob and Gene again in "Spaghetti Western and Meatballs", coupled with her outright crying for the first time in the series. Learning about his daughter's true motives make Bob go from annoyed with her antics to extremely apologetic in less than a second.
• In "Torpedo", Bob realizes that helping his favorite baseball player cheat by giving him grease is setting a bad example for his kids, so he decides to try and convince Torpedo that he can succeed in baseball without cheating, and that he's Bob and Gene's role model. Torpedo's response? He admits that he's been cheating his whole career, even doing so with "The Pitch" Bob remembers so fondly; he then cements his complete lack of remorse for his actions by callously telling Bob "If you want a role model, pick an old guy. By the time you grow up, they're dead."

Season 2

• In "Bob Day Afternoon", a bank robber across the street takes in hostages and orders burgers from the restaurant as one of his demands. When the robber wants Bob to deliver the burgers himself, Linda and the kids are so terrified that they cling to him and plead with him not to go.
  Bob: Gene you gotta let go of my arm-
  Gene: (clinging to his arm) NO I LOVE YOU PLEASE DON'T GO!
  • Throughout the entire hostage crisis, it's clear that Linda thinks Bob isn't going to make it out alive. While her comments on the news aren't played too seriously, one can't help but feel bad for her.

Season 3

• Teddy freaking out when he discovers his guinea pig got crushed to death in "Full Bars". He becomes so emotionally distraught over it that he stops his Halloween party and doesn't let anyone out until he finds out who killed her.
• Bob's flashback of his shitty childhood in "Bob Fires The Kids".
  • And adding to that, Bob's father genuinely doesn't really like Bob as a person. Even as a little kid, he never really got any respect from his father.
  • What convinces Bob to fire the kids in the first place? He sees them goofing off and automatically tells them to "get back to work"; the same exact thing Bob's own dad always said to him. Cue Bob having a major Oh, Crap! moment and calling for Linda.
• Bob's situation in "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal]]" is pretty saddening. He's forced to spend his favorite holiday slaving away in a kitchen while Linda and the kids have fun pretending to be Mr. Fischoeder's family so he can impress his ex-girlfriend, Shelby. Even his hopes of doing holiday traditions with them for brief periods of time are dashed when his family is selfishly more concerned with living up to their roles in Calvin's fantasy so they could reap in the rewards. On top of that, he watches Linda (reluctantly) kiss another man. Needless to say, it's understandable as to why Bob drank his sorrows away with absinthe.
• While Bob and Louise's relationship is genuinely heartwarming and the two have a great bond, "Mother Daughter Laser Razor" shows that Louise's relationship with Linda has suffered in comparison, and Linda is painfully aware that Louise is a Daddy's Girl. This line from Linda really lets it set in:
  Linda: I just wish you liked me, is all.
  • The opening of the episode doesn't help — Louise is genuinely having fun goofing off with her siblings and Bob, only to stop enjoying herself when Linda shows up. Moreover, Louise refers to "Dad-ing things up" as a good thing, but refers to "Mom-ing things up" as a bad thing. It's one thing for Linda to know she's not Louise's favorite parent, but having to experience the confirmation firsthand is another.
• The Belcher family and the Science Fair audience freaking out in "Topsy" when it looks like Tina was electrocuted by Louise's project. Bob and Linda rush to Tina's side, hysterically calling her name while Bob cradles her body, Louise is horrified that she may have accidentally killed her sister, Gene looks and sounds like he's on the verge of tears as he helplessly whispers Tina's name, and the audience can only stare in horror. For a brief but all-too-tense time, they thought they saw Tina die in front of them. It's hard to blame everybody for being so relieved when it turns out Tina was just acting.
• In "Boyz 4 Now", Louise makes several attempts to get backstage, but is kept out by a bouncer. He's big and tough, but what ultimately stops Louise is the bouncer saying that he understands her pain, and tells her to enjoy her youth while she can, because that pain will only get worse with age. Geez, dude...
• Rudy's asthma attack in "Carpe Museum" is already terrifying, but it gets a lot worse considering each person's perspective of it. From Rudy's perspective, he's willing to ignore it just to feel included in Bob and Louise's escapade, painting a depressing picture about how Rudy never really felt like he belonged before then. From Louise's perspective, she feels like she could've done something about it if she'd just known, and actually asks Rudy why he didn't warn her—she may have wanted adventure, but she didn't want someone to risk their life for it. And from Bob's perspective, he has to watch as a kid his own daughter's age suffers from a potentially-fatal asthma attack while he's helpless to do anything—one has to wonder if Bob outright imagined Louise in Rudy's position for a brief moment.

Season 4

• Louise breaking down and admitting that she's afraid to get her cavity filled in "The Kids Run Away" is pretty heartbreaking.
• "World Wharf II: The Wharfening" has a lot of these.
  • Pretty much everything about "Bad Things Are Bad". Particular highlights include:
    • Bob lamenting on how he's going to die alone by drowning under a pier, leaving behind a wife and three kids who will have to grow up without him. While the rest of the song and pretty much the entire series is comprised of genuinely saddening moments, that in particular is pretty darn depressing.
    • Linda's situation is so dire that even Jimmy Pesto seems to feel bad for her. At the very least, he doesn't try to insult Bob like he usually does.
    • Teddy's scene. The man he considers his best friend is missing, and for all he knows he's dead. One really can't blame him for breaking down at the end.
    • Additionally, look at the kids' faces during their respective scenes. They hold it in pretty well, but it's pretty clear that they're just as terrified as Linda and Teddy that Bob might not be making it out of this one. And the fact that none of the townsfolk can give a decent clue as to Bob's location (or, in the case of Jimmy Jr., they can't even be bothered to offer any clues) doesn't help.
    • The music itself. The piano that plays during the final verse is downright haunting.
  • Throughout most of the Belchers' search for Bob, Louise remains her usual snarky self. However, as the Belchers arrive at Wonder Wharf—the one place they haven't checked—she finally lets the facade slip and admits that she's just as terrified as the others that Bob won't be coming home.
    Louise: At first it was kind of funny that Dad was missing, but now I don't like it.
  • The scene where Fanny takes Felix's gun and threatens the Belchers and Fischoeders is already Nightmare Fuel, but it gets even worse when one considers Bob's perspective. He already thought he was going to die, but now he's faced with an even worse prospect—having to watch his family, including his three young children, die with him, while he's tied up and unable to help them.
  • The Belchers thinking they really are going to die. Faced with near-certain death, they do the one thing they can—tell each other that they love them with complete sincerity. It makes their survival ten times more relieving, but in the moment it's hard not to feel like this really is it for them.

Season 5

• Teddy being upset and actually shedding tears after accidentally hearing Bob telling he's not his best friend in "Friends with Burger-fits". Thankfully, Bob does admit at the end that he really is his best friend.
  • Along with that, Bob worrying that his burgers might kill Teddy, and even having a nightmare about it. Whatever he may think about his relationship with Teddy, Bob clearly feels responsible for his current predicament.
• In "Dawn of the Peck", Bob is hurt when he learns that his family won't be spending Thanksgiving with him this year.
  Louise: He's taking this pretty well.
  Bob: (as he's wiping a tear off his eye) No, you're crying!
• In "Best Burger", Gene learns that the entire family views him as The Load when it comes to accomplishing an important task, and his half of the episode is devoted towards his belief that he really deserves that status. It's sad to see the outgoing, happy-go-lucky Gene we've gotten to know and love so hard on himself, as if his energetic attitude is a cover for deep self-esteem issues.
  Gene: I'm sorry I screwed up today! I'm sorry I screw up all the time!
  • Additionally, Bob's realization that he expects Gene to fail to deliver the black garlic and subconsciously hopes he does just so he can have an excuse for losing the titular competition. Bob is clearly horrified at himself for thinking so low about his son (though it fortunately leads to a moment where he reassures Gene that in spite of his failures, he's nothing less than amazing).
• "Father of the Bob" shows a flashback of Bob genuinely proud of his first unique creation—the "Baby You Can Chive My Car" burger—and his father angrily rebuffing it because it's not "the usual". There's also the nasty falling out the two had when Big Bob tried to make Bob his official business partner, and while the two have talked since then it's clear that neither of them have truly recovered since that one Christmas.
  • Bob's relationship with his father has gotten so strenuous that he can only handle fifteen minutes around him before leaving. It's difficult to imagine any of Bob's own kids ever getting to that point with him, and the implication is that Bob himself is desperate to avoid his relationships with Tina, Gene, and Louise ever sinking that low.
  • The ending gives Bob's father one hell of a Freudian Excuse—as he talks with Bob, we learn that his wife died when Bob was young, and he tried his best to raise Bob as a single parent. Not only did he not do a good job, but we learn that he is painfully aware he didn't do a good job. As he tries to make amends with his son, it's clear that his past mistakes are still eating him alive.
    • The ending just makes the strained relationship between Bob and Big Bob even more upsetting. Big Bob wants to make amends; he wants to apologize for everything he's done. But Bob wants nothing to do with him, and has all but cut him out of his life. And the worst part is that one can't blame Bob—as genuine as Big Bob is in wanting to patch things up, the fact remains that he drove his son away in the first place, and Big Bob knows it.
• In "Hawk and Chick", the title father/daughter duo have not talked to each other in thirty years, and are not on good terms. This is already sad enough considering how close they were back when they did talk, but Bob and Louise's attempts to reunite them reveal even more tearjerking moments:
  • The fact that Koji, the titular "Hawk", blames himself for losing contact with his daughter. Even just watching one of their old movies is enough to get him to tear up. Arguably worse is the fact that he's right—everything we see and hear in the episode indicates that Koji was the reason the two split^note the only one blaming Yuki is Louise, who has no knowledge of the situation and is clearly biased due to her own experiences. From there, it's a similar scenario to Bob and Big Bob—in both cases, the parent knows he's made mistakes and wants to make amends, but his child wants nothing to do with him and refuses to give him a second chance—and as sympathetic as the parent is, one can't blame the child for cutting off contact.
  • When Bob learns that Yuki has no intent on reuniting with her father, he considers just cancelling the planned reunion. It's not directly stated^note unless you count a deleted scene, but after one considers Bob's subpar relationship with his own father, it's clear Bob doesn't want to force a reunion that he knows from experience might be better off not happening.
    • It gets even sadder from Louise's perspective. She has a much better relationship with Bob than Bob did with Big Bob, which is of course a good thing, but it also means that she can't see things from her father's point of view. She has no idea why Bob has suddenly changed his mind regarding the reunion, leading to a brief spark of conflict between the two regarding his sudden 180 in terms of goals. Louise is usually very smart for her age, but this is a very sobering reminder that she's still a child who doesn't always understand the complex world around her.
    • Additionally, the deleted scene makes it clear that even after the two made amends, Bob still has a largely negative view of his father. While it'd be a tall order for one night of reconciliation to wash away all the bad blood between the two, it's still sad to see that Bob and Big Bob are still not on great terms.
  • Even as Louise mocks her father, she can't imagine working with him as anything other than fun, meaning she's genuinely disheartened to learn that Yuki doesn't think the same about her own father. She actually gets mad at Yuki about it, and one can't help but feel like she's undergoing a case of Broken Pedestal regarding someone she once wanted to be like.
  • The end of the episode reveals just why Louise is so persistent on reuniting Koji and Yuki, and oh boy is it a bombshell—she's worried that when she grows up, she could possibly drift apart from Bob like Yuki drifted apart from Koji. She doesn't want to see Koji and Yuki remain separated because it's a reflection of her biggest fear. It fortunately leads to an incredibly heartwarming moment where Bob reassures her that they will never grow apart, but her fear in that moment is palpable.
    • If that's not enough, listen closely as Louise talks. She sounds like she's about to cry.
    • The music that plays during this scene doesn't help, either.
    • This revelation also recontextualizes Louise's anger at Yuki. She sides with Koji not just because she blames Yuki for the separation, but because she can't imagine the father being to blame for a father-daughter split. She feels like if she and Bob do grow apart, she'd have nobody to blame but herself.

Season 6

• In "Sliding Bobs", the kids tell stories of what would've happened if Bob didn't have a mustache when he met Linda. Louise and Gene's stories are nonsensical and wacky. Tina's story, on the other hand, is not only (relatively) realistic but also depressing as hell. Linda gets stuck in an unhappy marriage with Hugo, they have three Habercore kids (who are twisted, backwards versions of the Belcher kids we know and love), and Bob fails to accomplish his dream of opening a restaurant, becoming a bitter health inspector in Hugo's place. Special mention to the scene where the Alternate Universe Bob and Linda talk alone, showing that they know something got derailed years ago and can't figure out what.
  • What's especially sad is that unlike Gene or Louise's stories, Tina's is (mostly) grounded in reality so there's no fixing things with Time Travel or the like. They're both miserable people who missed out on the life they should've had together and it's too late to do anything about it. Tina freaking out over how easily something like this could've happened is very understandable.
• As funny as it is to think about how Mr. Business hates the sound of Gayle's voice in "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled", when you think about the cat's situation it's actually pretty sad. One day Mr. Business (which is likely not even his real name) was just an ordinary cat who lived with his owners, only for this emotionally unstable lady to take him off of his porch and claim him as her new cat. When you consider how Gayle takes pretty abysmal care of her current cats and 'cares' for Mr. Business in the same way, the poor cat's story is actually pretty tragic given that he could have had a comfortable life before Gayle basically stole him from his home.
• Louise's moment of clarity and self-loathing in "Nice-capades" when she realizes if she was actually a nice person, she wouldn't need to put on a show about it.
• Gene breaking up with Courtney in "The Gene and Courtney Show", as their relationship is negatively affecting their performance during their morning announcements. Even Courtney's father Doug, who at first was suspicious of him after the events of "The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene", feels sorry for him.
  • The breakup scene gets even worse—Gene fully intended to throw away his performance to continue dating Courtney, and it's not until Courtney herself chooses the show that he cuts himself off and picks the show as well. Poor Gene was that reluctant to break up with her.
• Linda's complete breakdown after learning that Louise deliberately sabotaged their old couch so the family can get a new one in "Sacred Couch".
  • Also, Louise remembering the good moments she had with that couch, and regretting wanting to throw it away.
• Rudy's breakdown at the end of "House of 1000 Bounces" after the kids are detained in the ranger's station. Rudy starts screaming at Louise that he didn't want to steal the bounce house but no one would listen to him, and while his idea for a "spoon puppet show" seemed like a pathetic way for him to salvage how crappy his birthday was going it turned out he'd written a fairly detailed script and wanted to perform it with the other kids. He starts crying over how horrible his birthday has gone, but thankfully Louise steps in and tells Rudy they can still put on the show he wanted.
  Rudy: (to Louise) "Great birthday party"?! GREAT?! THIS IS THE WORST! I didn't want to steal that bounce house, but none of you would listen! (gasps) All I wanted is a spoon puppet show, I wrote a script and everything! It's a comedy-drama with two (gasps) strong female leads! (breaks tears) I WAS PROUD OF IT! (breaks down crying on the couch's armrest)
  Louise: So... You didn't like your party.
• Tina having to say goodbye to her imaginary horse Jericho in "The Horse Rider-er".
  • For that matter, Tina's poor treatment at the horse camp. What should've been the summer of her dreams became everything but.
• Bob's rant near the end of "Glued, Where's My Bob?", where he says that getting stuck to the toilet and publicly humiliated is just the sort of nonsense he has to put up with every day at Bob's Burgers. You can tell the poor guy is at the end of his rope.
  • Although she caused the problem in the first place, Louise seems to show genuine remorse about gluing Bob to the toilet. It's implied that she's invoking Never My Fault not because of selfishness, but because she feels that bad about harming Bob and is in denial. And when the aforementioned rant happens, she feels so awful that she immediately owns up to her involvement in front of everyone.

Season 7

• "Sea Me Now" revisits Teddy's status as a divorcee, and reveals that his ex-wife Denise didn't just cheat on him while he watched—she did so repeatedly, and it's also revealed that Teddy was on the receiving end of Domestic Abuse—Denise regularly bullied him and belittled his physical appearance (which is why he wears a beanie all the time), and wouldn't even let him use the bathroom indoors, treating him less like her husband and more like a pet (which is honestly being generous). Then, she finally abandons him for someone else, leaving Teddy to deal with a lot of emotional baggage that takes until the events of the episode (years after his divorce) for him to get over. As if the poor guy hadn't already been through enough...
• "Large Brother, Where Fart Thou?" has Louise being driven to tears when Logan finally corners her, pictured above.
• In "Bob Actually", Louise has to break the news to Rudy that Chloe Barbash doesn't return his affections. Rudy doesn't get it at first... which makes it so much sadder when he does.
  Louise: (trying to make Rudy feel better) But who cares, right?
  Rudy: (looking genuinely upset) ...I guess I care.
  • Louise's reaction earlier in the episode when finding out that Rudy doesn't want her as his Valentine, despite seemingly not wanting him to be.
  Louise: (voice trembling slightly) Great, so Rudy likes Chloe Barbash and not... me. What a relief.
• There's something genuinely upsetting about how Linda and a number of the players are treated in "Zero Larp Thirty", as they expected to roleplay their favorite TV show and instead spent a weekend being forced into servitude while the people who got the rich people roles treat them like garbage. Especially since most of these people paid to be there, and instead of having fun, are forced to eat gruel and waste their time cleaning silverware. In fact, what the LARP is doing is technically illegal as it's not permitted to charge people the same amount of money and give them a lesser experience than others.
• Gene's sensory processing issues leading to a panic attack in "The Laser-inth". Not to mention just how upset and vulnerable he sounds when Bob realizes what's going on and tries to help.

Season 8

• "Thanks-Hoarding" sheds some light on Teddy as a child; he developed a hoarding obsession due to how he's always felt that he alone could fix anything, even his parent's failing marriage. By the end, you just want to give him a hug and tell him he'll be okay.
• In "Boywatch", the junior lifeguards' utter disappointment after Tina, who wanted to prove them she can be worthy to be one of them by saving the CPR dummy named Can't Breathey Stevie, caused the entire squad to be kicked out from the program, as well as her grief for what she has done.
• Bob speaking at the funeral of his estranged friend, Harry, in "Mission Impos-slug-ble".
• Bob's plotline in "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You" has him worry that he's not making the most of his life as a restauranteur and overall feeling unfulfilled, which is why he's so desperate to see the wedding he's catering succeed, because he views it as the validation he thinks his career needs. While not outright stated, it's pretty clear the poor guy's going through some variant of a midlife crisis.

Season 9

• While it's not played out to be too upsetting, Helen suddenly abandoning Teddy for the netsuke in "The Helen Hunt" becomes a lot more upsetting from Teddy's perspective. The woman he likes doesn't care about him and is using him for her own personal gain, tossing him aside when she has what she needs. It's especially sad considering the series has already established that Helen isn't the first of Teddy's love interests to do that to him.
• In "Yes Without My Zeke", Randy spends the B-plot backhandedly insulting Bob's Burgers. Unlike how he reacts to most jabs at himself or his restaurant, Bob doesn't respond with a quip, a sarcastic remark, or even resignation. Instead, he's shown to be genuinely hurt by what Randy's saying — not even mad, just hurt — and it takes Linda giving a pep talk to lift his spirits. Much like the above example, it's not played up as too upsetting, but it's a rather sobering reminder that the hurtful things people say to Bob do in fact hit him hard. He's just putting on a brave face through it all.

Season 10

• In "The Ring (But Not Scary)", we have the kids losing Bob's anniversary gift for Linda at the water park. Bob isn't just annoyed or upset with them — he's livid, and the episode highlights why — he feels like he's failed to give Linda anything special for their entire relationship, and when it finally looked like he could change that the kids lost the gift. When a search at the water park turns up nothing, Bob becomes so sad that, he just... gives up. He tells Nat to call off the search and apathetically sinks into the lazy river. He can't even bring himself to yell at his kids again; he's just that emotionally drained.
  • The kids, for one, feel awful for ruining the anniversary. At no point do any of them try to deflect the blame or downplay the severity of the situation, they just feel plain bad. And when they see how upset Bob is, they feel even worse. Gene apologizes for putting on the ring, Tina tries to tell Bob that they need him, and Louise simply just asks if he wants them to get out of his way for good. There's no jokes from any of them (at least, no intentional ones), no attempts at lightening the mood. They've messed up, and they know it.
    • "Hawk & Chick" shows that Louise has a massive fear of being separated from Bob for one reason or another. To hear Bob say in no uncertain terms that he wants nothing to do with the kids after they lost the ring almost certainly reminded her of that fear, and it's no wonder that she seems to be the most upset of all the kids for their actions, to the point that she doesn't try to invoke Never My Fault once despite that usually being her go-to response. It also makes it even more depressing that she's the one to suggest that the kids should leave forever — she knows it means separating from Bob, but after seeing how upset she's made him, Louise genuinely believes Bob might be better off without her, even if she's not better off without him.
    Louise: Do you want us to go live somewhere else? We could go to an orphanage for a while.
    • The above fear gets even worse when one remembers that "Hawk & Chick" implied she'd blame herself if the two split up. Now she believes that they are about to split up... and because she and her siblings lost the ring, this time she really is to blame.
• She eventually takes it a bit too far, but one can't help but feel a little bad for Tina in "A Fish Called Tina". She's spent four years excited for Wagstaff's mentorship program, only to struggle to connect with Kaylee. Worse is that Tina is the only one to struggle — every other eighth grader (even Tammy) manages to have a good time with their assigned fourth grader, and it's not on Kaylee's end either — when she gets reassigned to Zeke, Zeke manages to get through to her. Imagine spending years looking forward to something, just to be the only one unable to enjoy it.
• Although it's not revealing anything new, Bob's song in "Flat-Top O' the Morning to Ya" about his fears of the restaurant failing, exacerbated after visiting a restaurant that just couldn't make it out of the red.

Season 11

• Bob is at his most upset in "Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids" when his kitchen catches fire. Thankfully, the damage is minor, but the Belchers were that close to losing everything — and, as Teddy points out, maybe even each other too.
  • Bob breaks down while apologizing to his broken stovetop for using a replacement on top if it, likening it to cheating on Linda. Although it's Played for Laughs (complete with overly dramatic music), it really brings home how much Bob loves his job and how seriously he takes cooking burgers.
  • Bob has to repeatedly restrain himself from screaming at the kids as they each reveal their apparent accidental hand in the fire that damaged the kitchen — and he fails on multiple occasions before immediately apologizing for snapping. You can tell Bob knows it isn't right to treat his kids that way and stops himself from getting too hysterical, but at the same time he's also genuinely upset thinking his own children may have destroyed the kitchen and the family's livelihood.
  • Gene seems on the verge of tears as he confesses to his probable role in the fire, and almost reverts to a more childlike state as he calls his parents "Mommy" and "Daddy".
  • Gene, Louise and Tina all feel incredibly guilty about the fire, with Louise out of all three of them the one to openly admit they're horrible kids who messed up big time. They even consider moving out after seeing just how upset Bob is, deciding collectively that all they do is make things worse for their father. Even after the damage is resolved (thanks to Bob getting a spare thermocouple), it takes being told that they didn't cause the fire for the kids to break out of this mindset.
• "The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment" showcases Linda's parents at their most annoying and eventually puts a rather depressing light on every episode involving Linda's interactions with both them and Gayle. Linda is apparently fine with putting up with Gloria and Al's ridiculous and inconveniencing requests, including the fact Gloria blatantly stole Linda's phone charger and lies to her about it, simply because they're her parents. That she puts up with the exact same behavior from Gayle on a regular basis shows how Linda's family doesn't seem to care at all about bothering her because they know she'll say yes to anything they ask. The entire series we get to see how much Linda's core family appreciates her, which makes it more depressing to see the few family members who don't.
  • This episode also puts a new light on every single one of Bob's interactions with Gloria, Al, and Gayle—for so long he seemed like the typical "guy who can't stand his in-laws" trope, but this episode shows that every single grievance he had with them was completely justified, and if anything Bob was being kind. The Obnoxious In-Laws cliche also gets taken to a disturbingly upsetting level—Gloria isn't just obnoxious to Bob, she's manipulative and outright abusive to her own family. Bob outright tells Linda he can't stand her parents not because they annoy him, but because they don't deserve such a wonderful daughter as her. It probably tears him up inside to see her go through hoops to please people who don't appreciate her, and one has to wonder if the kids have this mindset too considering how they're never jumping out of their seats to see Gloria or Al.
  • The worst part of it all is how realistic it is. Gloria isn't too over-the-top or cartoonish in her obnoxiousness—if anything, she's an eerily accurate portrayal of an Abusive Parent who manipulates her own kids into doing things that benefit her while treating her extended family like crap. And considering Linda refuses to cut her from her life at any point, one has to wonder just how long she's been getting away with this.
• "Die Card or Card Trying" has poor Linda going through Hell and back trying to get a perfect photo for the Belchers' Christmas card. Her obsession leads her to drag the family to Three Mile Lookout Point (named after how long you have to walk to get there), and then struggle with the camera timer, have hikers take the photo only for them to come out too dark because the sun is right behind her, and after what seems to be hours, she finally gets what she considers the perfect family photo. And then the universe decides to Yank the Dog's Chain and have Linda trip and drop the camera through a hole between the rocks. It almost falls out the other side and off a sheer cliff, but Linda manages to catch it... only for her hand to be unable to fit through without having to let go of the camera. Linda hangs on to that camera for dear life, as she has put all her hopes on that one perfect photo and can't bear to have all that effort go to waste. Anyone who has ever struggled with taking the perfect family photo can relate.
  • The reason she's so obsessed with the picture is because the family has been getting less and less Christmas cards, and Linda thinks it's because they haven't been sending cards as often because it's so difficult to take a good picture of them. Linda's fear is that they'll lose touch with other people and ultimately be shunned.
• In "Vampire Disco Death Dance", Bob takes Tina to the titular Audience Participation movie because he loved it as a kid and wants them to bond over the film. Unfortunately, Tina invites her schoolmates along because she's desperately trying to become friends with them, although they have no interest in the movie. After getting increasingly annoyed with their Jerkass behavior, Tina gives them a "Reason You Suck" Speech and runs out of the theater in tears. The only bright spot is that it leads to a heartwarming moment when Bob leaves the theater to console her.
  Tina: Stop it! You guys are being so annoying! I shouldn’t have invited you! I thought you actually wanted to do this!... I’m such an idiot for thinking we could do something interesting together and remember it and bond over it and be a krew, with a K!
  • Another sad revelation in this episode makes you think about Tina's social life and how it's mostly been implied that she doesn't really have any close friends. This episode outright does away with the implications and straight-up reveals that she doesn't really have any friends period, and instead tries to settle with the few acquaintances she has just so she can feel included.
    • It gets sadder when you recall Gene and Louise's own friend groups (Alex, Courtney, Rudy, and occasionally the Pesto twins), and just how close-knit her sibling's friendships are with the other kids and how their loyalty and affection towards each other completely contrasts with the superficial, discourteous relationship Tina has with her peer group of Tammy, Jocelyn, Jimmy Jr., and Zeke. Even Louise's largely-manipulative treatment of the Pesto twins doesn't come across as mean-spirited as the eighth-graders' callous treatment of Tina.
    • Additionally, the fact that this is revealed by Tina's peers rudely interfering with what was meant to be a heartwarming bonding night between Bob and Tina. Tina's siblings regularly have uninterrupted bonding moments with at least one of their parents (Louise and Bob watch TV together almost daily; Gene and Linda do weekly spa nights together). But the few times Tina gets to have any sort of alone time with Bob or Linda, her plans are completely derailed. One has to wonder if all this has made Tina feel not just like The Friend Nobody Likes, but The Unfavorite as well, that she thinks she can't bond with her parents as well as her siblings.

Season 12

• "Manic Pixie Crap Show" starts the season off with a bang, as both plotlines get rather depressing.
  • Louise tries to convince Millie and a few other girls they don't actually like the Pixie Princess Promenade and that they need to free themselves of their obsession by getting rid of their wands. Tina tries to stop Louise by pointing out Millie and the others actually do like it, which leads to Louise asking how this is possible if she doesn't like it—or any typically girly events, for that matter. This eventually causes her to ask if there's something wrong with her or if she's not being a girl the right way. While Louise has always had more interest in boyish activities, and on several occasions made it clear she prefers hanging out with her dad and brother over her mom and sister, Louise shows here that she's always been self-conscious and unsure about this aspect of herself—and it's not that she dislikes being One of the Boys (in fact, it's quite the opposite considering she has a good relationship with both Bob and Gene), it's that she doesn't think other girls are like that. And because of that, she wanted to convince Millie and the rest they didn't actually like the Pixie Princess Promenade so it would be easier for Louise to justify her own dislike. Because if other girls really do like this sort of thing, what does that make Louise? Thankfully, Tina convinces Louise that disliking princess stuff doesn't make Louise any less of a girl and she's fine the way she is.
  • Linda gets obsessed over a flower bouquet styled to look like a dog when it's delivered to the restaurant by mistake. She compares the bouquet to a dog she loved when was a child, whom she called "Bottlecap" because he could balance a bottlecap on his nose. Linda then casually reveals Bottlecap got killed by a hot dog truck one day, before she starts laughing about it and insists she's fine. Bob and Teddy are both tremendously horrified and saddened by Linda's story and her disturbing behavior, with Bob thinking Linda never mentioned Bottlecap because it was too painful for her to think about. Linda's story gets even sadder when she reveals Bottlecap died right in front of her. After Mort reveals the bouquet was ordered for a funeral and Linda locks herself in the bathroom with it, Mort convinces Linda to treat the flowers like the real dog so she can finally grieve and let go of Bottlecap after all those years. And when Linda finally does, decades of holding in the grief come rushing out as she immediately starts crying her eyes out, wailing Bottlecap's name. Then she reveals that her eighth grade teacher also got hit by a truck. The trauma in Linda's past just never ends...
    Bob: Good God, Lin!
  • Tina questioning if she's pretty after Tammy and Jocelyn claim she's not "supermodel material".
• While the big reveal in "The Pumpkinening" is sweet, with Linda sabotaging her own pumpkin to spare Gayle's feelings, that same thing is also rather upsetting. Linda genuinely feels like she can't have anything for herself without having to worry about Gayle's reaction to it, and has resorted to self-sabotage just to keep her sister happy. After this episode, one has to wonder how many other victories she's sacrificed just to keep Gayle from becoming a Green-Eyed Monster.
• "Some Like It Bot Part 1: (Eighth) Grade Runner" follows up on the previous season finale to show just how lonely and ostracized Tina is. She starts the episode excited and proud to wear a new shirt she bought with her own money; not only does nobody at Wagstaff compliment her on it like she hoped, but Tammy and Jocelyn make fun of it on the school news. None of her peers stick up for her, the school staff is aware of the problem but refuses to do anything, Gene and Louise are too concerned about Tina's earlier promise to buy them boba tea to worry about her (and when they do confront Tammy and Jocelyn it just makes things even worse), and Bob is busy enough dealing with issues of his own. Linda shows concern, but also keeps using talking to Tina as an excuse to ask about possible birthday present ideas, which irritates Tina. Tina spends most of the episode writing alone in her room, isolated and feeling like nobody is listening to her. The Tina in her story also has a Despair Event Horizon song about thinking maybe her bullies are right and that there's something wrong with her, culminating with the real Tina planning to destroy the expensive touchscreen to put an end to "Wow or Weird". It'd get her into serious trouble or possibly even expelled, but by this point she's done caring. It also gives quite the Cerebus Retcon to her erotic friend-fiction by revealing she writes it when she feels like the world is against her.
  • Bob's plotline isn't much better, following up on previous episodes showing that the poor guy really doesn't have that great self-esteem. While the demeaning bathroom graffiti doesn't seem too big a deal on its own, the specific way Bob crosses the Despair Event Horizon implies something much more depressing—it's not that others think Bob is crap, it's that Bob already believes this about himself. Bob sees the demeaning graffiti not as pointlessly rude criticism, but as validation of his own self-loathing.
    Bob: (singing) How do they know what I feel in my soul / That I might just be poop or crap?
  • Bob and Tina's counterpoint essentially asking if they deserve the mistreatment they're getting exemplifies how things like these don't just go away with time, like so many people wrongfully assume. The bathroom graffiti and a mean comment about a horse t-shirt may look (and is) relatively tame and juvenile - but to Bob and Tina it drags EVERYTHING out they worry about every day for everyone to see. Anyone who has been the target of bullying can absolutely relate to the lingering question of "What if they're right and I deserve this?".
    Bob/Tina: (singing) Feels like something's wrong with me and they know it / They took one look my way and exposed it
    Tina: (singing) I'm ready to give up the fight / And just admit that they are right...

Season 13

• The theme of "Show Mama from the Grave" is especially heartbreaking, centering about Bob trying to show his family his mom's grave. The ending song......... Good. God.... You want to hug Bob and tell him it'll all be ok.
• While everything works out in the end, the scenes of Louise and her inner monologue in "The Plight Before Christmas" definitely tug on the heartstrings. Even little moments like her thinking somebody is waving at her and then realizing they're looking for the kid next to her make you realize how alone Louise feels. She also looks mildly surprised by the applause she gets after reading her heartfelt poem.
  • Linda's reactions throughout the episode over not being there for Louise are equally heartbreaking.
    Linda: Louise has nobody!
• Similar to the two previous season finales, "These Boots Are Made For Stalking" also heavily empathizes Tina's loneliness and struggle to fit in with a group of cool teens and failing entirely. Linda points out that she went through the same thing at her age and that the best thing to do is Be Yourself, and at the end of the episode Tina is able to (somewhat) talk to one of the teen girls.
• In "Amelia", Louise decides to write her personal hero report on Amelia Earhart, and is genuinely dismayed to learn that Amelia died while attempting to accomplish her dream of flying around the world. Not helping is Wayne acting extremely condescending toward Louise and her choice, to the point where Louise has a bad dream where Wayne constantly talks over her.

Season 14

• The season opening episode "Fight At The Not Okay Chore-al" features the kids firmly holding the Jerkass Ball and refusing to let go when Linda (at Gloria's prompting) decides the kids should help around the house by doing chores. While the episode shows Both Sides Have a Point to a degree (Linda fears the kids have no respect for anyone and will grow up to be delinquents; Louise states the kids already work at the restaurant and barely get an allowance as is), Louise gradually becomes petty and downright nasty towards Linda. While she's often come to blows with Linda in the past, that was often due to Linda being My Beloved Smother. Here, Linda simply wants the kids to be more responsible and Louise's outright cruel attitude gets so bad it literally drives Linda to tears. Even worse, the episode ends with Louise and her siblings not really learning anything, as she still refuses to do any chores unless her parents offer them candy as compensation.
  • Bob proves to be utterly useless throughout the whole episode. It's obvious he's only supporting Linda because she expects him to, is ready to cave the moment the situation proves detrimental to him, and doesn't even attempt to step in and discipline Louise after Linda breaks down crying.
  • Louise was already in a sour mood before Linda's chores suggestion because earlier that day; Ms. LaBonz confiscated Louise's candy finger puppet and callously threw it away in front of her. Even worse, Louise genuinely wasn't being disruptive for once; the finger puppet just happened to fall out of her backpack as Ms. LaBonz was walking by her desk.
  • Judging by the tone in Louise's voice, she felt genuinely awful about hurting her mother's feelings and making her cry. Given that Louise never actually means any harm towards her parents, the fact that she went to Linda alone to apologize to her personally just shows that she felt bad for hurting her mother.
  • Linda and Louise's heart-to-heart all boils down to the true reason why their argument started in the first place: Gloria, Linda's own mother. Even though Gloria raised a valid point about having kids pitch in the help their parents, it doesn't change the fact that the rest of her criticisms are often so hurtful that it made Linda really question if she's a bad mother or not. Louise's constant defiance didn't really help either, but even then, her attitude wasn't anything really personal to Linda as it was towards a somewhat unreasonable suggestion (given that Louise and her siblings already work in the restaurant for free without much of a real allowance).
  • Really, one of the saddest parts is how the episode demonstrates how Linda and Louise are so different from each other because of their upbringings. Gloria is such an emotionally-abusive mother (and then Al is implied to be somewhat neglectful, as well) that Linda has learned how to comply to her mother's demands and criticisms without standing up for herself. Contrast this with Bob and Linda's loving if somewhat too laidback relationships with Louise encouraged her to be a self-assured and strong-willed child who won't just blindly adhere to any of her parent's demands especially if they are unreasonable or unfair, unlike her mother.
  • Linda even acknowledges their differences by praising Louise for being so tough that she doesn't let anyone push her around, which becomes sadder when it makes you realize that Linda herself has been pushed around by her mother, her father, and her sister all her life and that deep down she knows it.
• The next episode, "The Amazing Rudy" is a DARK departure from the comedic tone of the rest of the series with several things pushing it into tearjerker.
  • For one, while not tearjerky, it's the first episode where the Belchers have barely any presence. They still have a b-plot, but the A-plot is all about Rudy and his stress over the date night which we later learn is a monthly gathering with him and his divorced parents.
  • The goofy ukulele music is replaced with sad soft piano music the entire episode.
  • A more subtle one: Rudy was able to make some money mowing lawns, but he was only able to do it once; turns out he's allergic to grass. While recalling the event, Rudy remarks "I'm glad they found me when they did." How many near-death experiences has this little boy had?!
  • At one point, Rudy's dad tries to reassure their son that even though he and Rudy's mom are no longer together, they still love their son very much. Unfortunately, they're going through a noisy car wash at the time, so Rudy doesn't hear a word his dad says.
  • When his magic trick fails, Rudy, close to tears, actually breaks down and runs all the way from the restaurant to the Belcher's house (it's not too far of a walk, but still)
  • When he finally confesses everything after the lasagna dinner, you can HEAR him practically crying and even saying he knows it's likely how his life is going to be from now own. For ANYONE whose parents divorced, this can ring too close to home.
  • The whole episode shows that, behind his optimism and thrill-junkie tendencies, Regular-Sized Rudy is actually a very tragic and troubled character. While he does love his parents very much and they him, the divorce has really taken an emotional toll on the little guy.

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