Recap / Bob's Burgers S3E22 "Carpe Museum"

Louise: C'mon, pick up the pace, softie!

Bob: Softie? That's funny coming from the girl who called me Daddy until she was eight!

After volunteering to chaperone a field trip to the museum, Bob winds up sneaking off to a closed-off exhibit with Louise and one of her classmates, resulting in a unique father-daughter bonding experience. Meanwhile, Zeke takes Gene on a tour of exhibits with boobs on them, Tina gets engaged in a "dork-off" with a nerdy classmate, and Linda makes a surprise visit to the museum only to be sidetracked by helping a group of picketers with their chanting.

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Carpe Tropeseum:

• Accidental Misnaming: Jimmy Jr. calls Henry "Harvey". Henry, who just claimed they were friends, awkwardly tries to pass it off as an inside joke between them.
• Adults Are Useless: Mr. Frond didn't bother to reveal to Bob until after the trip was over that Rudy has asthma, which you'd think he'd mention to the only other adult chaperone supervising the kids. Bob is understandably annoyed that he saved this knowledge for the one time it didn't matter.
• Affection-Hating Kid: Louise's entire arc in this episode is, essentially, her adorable attempt to deny that she's a huge Daddy's Girl to Bob.
• The Alcoholic:
  • During the eight years she chaperoned the field trip, Linda mentions having brought a wine thermos solely to survive being stuck with Mr. Frond.
  • Museum director Madeline Greenberg describes herself as a dork for "bargain Chardonnays".
• All Men Are Perverts: Zeke's excitement to go to the museum is solely to look at boobs.
• Animal Motif: As if it weren't already obvious, Tina's love of horses is really hammered in. It's juxtaposed with Henry Haber's own love of dinosaurs and plesiosaurs.
• Artistic License – Paleontology: Henry says the plesiosaur is the "coolest dinosaur". Dinosaurs are land-based animals; while the sea-based plesiosaurs co-existed with them, they are not dinosaurs themselves.
  • In-universe; Henry notes that an exhibit of a stegosaurus isn't even remotely realistic, but since Tina cuts him off we never actually get to hear (or see) what's wrong with it.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A major plotline of the episode is based on the revelation that Louise, for all her snarking and heckling, has a deep-seated admiration for Bob.
• Bad Boss: Implied in the case of Director Greenberg; seven-eighths of the staff are on strike, after all.
• Bait-and-Switch: When Louise rants about how field trips are dumb, it seems like Bob is about to try and tell her otherwise... and he proceeds to agree with her.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Zeke shows Gene a caveman exhibit, and notes how at certain times an air vent activates, exposing one of the females' tops. There's just one caveat...
  Zeke: No nip, though.
• Basement-Dweller: This episode reveals that Mr. Frond still lives with his mom. After spending the entire episode flirting with him, this revelation single-handedly kills all interest Director Greenberg had in him.
• Big Damn Heroes: Bob, Louise, and Rudy emerge from the museum in time to save Linda from the angry picketers. The picketers in turn chase off the museum employees currently pursuing the three.
• Big "NO!": When the Pesto twins are freaking out about not being partnered for the trip, one can hear a couple of these. Louise later lets one out when informed that the Amazon exhibit, the one thing she considers interesting, isn't yet open to the public.
• Birds of a Feather: This episode shows that Bob is quite similar to Louise in more than just their blunt snarkiness. He's just as apathetic towards Mr. Frond as Louise tends to be, and he also shares Louise's sense of adventure, to the point that he once ditched a trip as Louise ends up doing here. When Bob joins her in the Amazon exhibit, the two find themselves bonding as a result.
• Blatant Lies: When Bob playfully accuses Louise of looking up to him, Louise's attempts at denial aren't very convincing. She eventually drops the lying and finally shows that she does love him.
  • Earlier in the episode, Bob comments that she called him Daddy until she was eight, and her denial of that is also very obviously a lie. The fact that she calls him "Daddy" at the end erases any remaining doubts as to who was telling the truth during this exchange.
  • When Bob hands his ruined vest to Mr. Frond, he attempts to claim the vest was already ruined when he got it.
• Brick Joke: A particularly sweet double dosage. Midway through the episode, Bob reveals that Louise called him "Daddy" for most of her life, and Louise also reveals that she wants to run the restaurant. The end of the episode has both Bob and Louise recall these two moments.
  Bob: So when you run the restaurant, will you call it Louise's Burgers?
  Louise: I dunno. Maybe... (leans in and hugs Bob) Daddy.
• Broken Aesop: Discussed; when Bob, Louise, and Rudy make it onto the bus without anyone realizing they were gone the entire trip, Louise and Rudy celebrate the fact that they're all Karma Houdinis. Bob points out that this isn't the lesson they should be learning from their ordeal.
• Broken Base: In-universe; the students are evenly split between whether Tina or Henry is dorkier. Interestingly, they're split by gender—everyone seen voting for Tina is female, while everyone seen voting for Henry is male.
• Brutal Honesty: Teddy to Linda's shock openly calls out Bob's restaurant being rather run-down with a sticky floor and most people choosing to walk by it.
• Call-Back: It's been mentioned twice before that Louise has a close bond with Bob, and the second half of this episode focuses on that bond at work.
  • Zeke's cousin, who gave him the boob checklist he uses in the museum, made an appearance in the previous episode.
• The Cameo: Edith Cranwinkle makes a brief, one-line appearance as Linda and the picketers chant in front of the museum. Tammy also appears among the crowd of students surrounding Frond's buddy list, but makes no appearances in the museum itself.
• Chekhov's Gun: Turns out Rudy's backpack has something a lot more important than just his cymbals (specifically his inhaler), and Louise making him ditch it sets up the entire third act.
• Chew-Out Fake-Out: Bob tells Louise not to insult Mr. Frond... to his face. Considering Bob has already established he doesn't like Frond either, this isn't too surprising.
• Class Trip: The episode revolves around one to the museum. Apparently Wagstaff has run this exact trip for nine years in a row (counting the current trip), and the A-plot sees Bob and Louise ditch the trip for a fun adventure.
  • Bob apparently went on a high school trip to the zoo, and ditched it with a friend to go smoke (well, Bob didn't smoke).
• Comically Missing the Point: When Bob reacts to Louise revealing she'd run the restaurant in the future, Louise initially assumes he's reacting to her comment that he'll be stuck in a nursing home.
• Condescending Compassion: Tina and Henry try to help each other be less dorky, each believing that they themselves aren't a dork. At one point Tina even starts talking to Henry in a patronizing manner, which Henry takes notice of.
• Continuity Nod: One of the picketers (the woman who says "No, I don't wanna drop my pants") was previously seen on the Windbreaker.
• Crazy-Prepared: Rudy has a pair of cymbals in his backpack, because "you never know when someone will wanna jam." He ends up using them to provide a pseudo-rimshot after Louise pokes fun at Mr. Frond.
• Daddy's Girl: The emotional crux of the episode revolves around Louise's status as this, and as a result her adoration of Bob is on full display (especially in the episode's second half). Not only do the two bond a fair bit during their escapade in the Amazon exhibit, it's also revealed that Louise called Bob "Daddy" until she was eight (for context, she's nine), and the biggest reveal of the episode is that she secretly desires to run the restaurant in the future (with it being implied she even views Bob as her hero). The ending only reinforces it more.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Louise goes from adamantly denying that she looks up to her father in the rainforest exhibit to happily hugging him (and affectionately calling him "Daddy") on the bus.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: While trying to deny her admiration of Bob, Louise admits that she considers hanging out with Bob a perfect day.
• Doomed New Clothes: Bob wears a bright yellow safety vest for most of the episode (including the opening scene at the Belcher home), but it tears in half when he uses it as a zipline.
• Don't Split Us Up: As Mr. Frond finds out the hard way, trying to separate the Pesto twins results in a meltdown from both of them. He has to hastily rewrite the buddy list to avert catastrophe.
• Dramatic Irony: It takes until halfway through the episode for Tina to realize Henry considers her dorky, and the same amount of time for Henry to realize Tina considers him dorky.
• Driven to Suicide: Discussed; Louise remarks that Bob will want to pack a cyanide thermos because the museum is that bad.
• Establishing Character Moment: Henry's first line in the episode (and thus the series) is dismissively calling Tina a dork (while picking his ear for added effect).
• Even Nerds Have Standards: Tina and her classmate Henry spend the whole episode arguing which of them is the bigger dork. They put it to a vote... and end up tying.
  • The two agree on one thing—Director Greenberg is even more of a dork than them.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Regular-Sized Rudy views his nickname as a very apt description of himself. When Bob asks why people call him that:
  Rudy: Just look at me.
• Extreme Doormat: Being assigned different partners could teach the Pesto twins how to function independently of each other. Of course, this means Mr. Frond (who clearly has no idea of how to deal with them) reassigns them to each other the instant they start to throw a tantrum.
• Failed a Spot Check: Somehow, none of the dozen-plus people on the field trip noticed that Bob, Louise, and Rudy were gone until Frond does a headcount at the very end of the trip.
• Family Business: As if Bob's Burgers didn't already count, this episode reveals that Louise plans to keep it in the family by running it herself after Bob retires.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: If one looks carefully, Bob can be seen raising an eyebrow when Louise says she'll close the restaurant and spring Bob from the nursing home years in the future. He raises the eyebrow in the middle of her sentence, as if to erase any ambiguity as to what he's reacting to.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Louise quite clearly respects Rudy more after they sneak off to the Amazon exhibit.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Technically inverted. Bob doesn't forbid his kids from trying to take over the restaurant, but he clearly doesn't expect it and is resigned to his kids doing other things with their lives. However, this episode reveals that, of all the kids, Louise wants to inherit the restaurant. Unlike most inversions, however, Bob doesn't react negatively to this—he's beyond elated, in fact.
• Former Teen Rebel: This episode reveals that Bob of all people used to be one. The extent of his actions are unknown, but he once ditched school to go smoke with a friend (well, he hung out with a friend who smoked). Louise is shown to have taken this revelation to heart.
• Four Lines, All Waiting: While most episodes usually split the Belchers into two groups, this episode splits them into four groups (with Bob and Louise being the only Belchers in the same group), each with a different adventure in the museum (see the summary above).
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Zeke's boob checklist reads: "Viking boobs, Eskimo boobs, East Timor boobs, Micronesian boobs, Samoan boobs, Egyptian boobs". Only the first two are mentioned in the episode.
• Foreshadowing: Whenever Bob, Louise, and Rudy do any kind of physical activity (like climbing or running), Rudy's noticeably short on breath and always lagging behind the other two. Cue the reveal that he's got asthma.
• Funny Background Event: When Frond tells the kids to stick with the group, Bob can be seen rolling his eyes at the nicknames Frond gives (Missing Marvins and Walk-Away Wendys).
• Funny Conception Story: Downplayed when Bob uses Gene and Tina as examples of how "sometimes good things come from boredom." Gene and Tina appreciate it.
• The Ghost:
  • Bob's high school friend Warren Fitzgerald is mentioned a few times but never seen.
  • The most we see of Pocket-Sized Rudy is his forearm when he's pointing up. He can't even be seen in shots where all the students are walking around.
• Group Hug: Rudy joins Bob and Louise's hug on the bus at the end of the episode.
• Hated by All: As if the kids didn't already hate Mr. Frond, this episode sees both Bob and Linda express their low opinion of him. Linda has outright resorted to alcohol just to tolerate him.
• Height Angst: The most likely reason why Pocket-Sized Rudy doesn't like his nickname.
  • His problem with it really isn't unjustified—he's so short that when he points up, only his forearm can be seen even though the camera shows all of Tina's upper half. Given Tina is close to 5 feet tall, this means Pocket-Sized Rudy is more likely than not the size of a toddler.
• Holding Hands: Louise can briefly be seen holding Bob's hand in the Amazon exhibit.
  • Earlier in the episode, the Pesto twins can be seen holding hands as they walk to the bus.
• Humble Goal: Louise's ultimate vision for the future isn't world domination (as one might expect from Louise) or some other top-level occupation—she wants to inherit her father's restaurant.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • Tina's role in the story basically chalks down to her and Henry calling each other a dork while acting just as dorky as the other.
  • Louise keeps calling Bob a softie during their escapade. As Bob soon points out, those are bold words coming from an unabashed Daddy's Girl.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Rudy's line "As long as I'm included" implies that this is why he's going on the adventure with Louise. He gets his wish by the end of the episode, as Louise seems to have taken a liking to him.
• Improvised Zipline: Bob tries to get down from the platform he, Louise, and Rudy are stuck on by using his safety vest to zipline down. Bob makes it down, but only because he lands in the bushes after his vest breaks halfway down.
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Mr. Frond finds the boring museum trip to be one of the best things ever (although he spends 90% of it flirting with the museum director). Gene and Tina also enjoy it, although in Gene's case it's just one exhibit.
• Innocuously Important Episode: This is arguably one of the most important episodes in the series. It introduces several recurring characters^note Henry Haber and Regular-Sized Rudy, the latter of whom has become one of the most recurring side characters, sets up the plot of later episodes^note Bob's old friend Warren Fitzgerald, mentioned a few times throughout the episode, becomes a major character in "Pro Tiki/Con Tiki", and takes previously-minor aspects of characters^note Tina's love of horses and Louise's status as a Daddy's Girl and plays them up, allowing them to be explored in greater depth in the future. Despite this, it's not even the Season 3 finale, and if not for these aspects could easily be overlooked as just another run-of-the-mill episode of Bob's Burgers.
• In-Series Nickname: Louise keeps calling Bob "softie" throughout the episode. Bob eventually turns it around on her.
• Insistent Terminology: Henry's robot story isn't a comic book, it's a graphic novel^note There is actually a difference, no matter how minute. Comic books are periodicals and tend to be shorter, telling a small part of a larger narrative for the next comic book to continue from; graphic novels tend to be longer, aren't always released in a specific timeframe, and tell a complete narrative from beginning to end, even if it's part of a series.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Henry tries to claim he knows Jimmy Jr., and to this end calls out to him. Jimmy Jr. immediately disproves him by calling him Harvey.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Rudy keeps making noise, Louise says "I know you're new here". In-universe it's referring to how Rudy hasn't broken the rules like Louise has regularly done, but out-of-universe it's referencing how this is Rudy's first appearance in the series.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Bob and Louise can be seen rolling their eyes at one of Mr. Frond's comments at the exact same time.
• Literal Metaphor: Louise when taking Rudy through the exhibit:
  Louise: I'm gonna show you the ropes, and then we're gonna go under the ropes and touch all the stuff!
• Mandatory Line: Teddy and Mort appear in one scene, where Teddy encourages Linda to go to the museum.
• Meaningful Background Event: Louise is in the room when Bob talks to Linda about being a Former Teen Rebel. She later uses this to appeal to Bob in the Amazon exhibit, convincing him to go on one final adventure.
• Meaningful Rename: Discussed; Bob asks Louise if she'll consider changing the name of the restaurant to Louise's Burgers after he retires, to reflect the change in ownership. Louise admits she'll think about it.
• Mood Whiplash: Bob and Louise's sweet bonding moment on the observation deck is soon derailed by Rudy having an asthma attack, sending the two into a panic as they realize they need to get Rudy to his inhaler fast.
• Moving the Goalposts: After Bob takes Louise and Rudy to see the stilt hut like they want, Louise tells Bob to find another thing to visit, claiming the stilt hut was her idea and that now she wants his idea.
• Museum of Boredom: The museum the students visit. Gene only likes one exhibit; Zeke only likes it for the boobs; Bob, Louise, and Rudy only start to have fun when they sneak into an unopened exhibit; and nearly every other student is shown to be indifferent at best. The only people who like the museum as a whole are shown to generally have bland interests (like Tina, Henry, and Mr. Frond).
• My Beloved Smother: Linda's memories of the museum indicate that she acted like one as a chaperone—among the things she lists is holding hands on the bus and singing, which not only don't sound like things the Belcher kids would willingly participate in but also sound like things Louise would outright despise. Her trip to the museum is motivated by her desire to spend more time with them.
• Not Hyperbole: Louise stating that Wagstaff goes to the museum every year seems to be quite literal.
• Not So Above It All: Bob almost feels like one of Louise and Rudy's classmates during the A-plot.
• Oh, Crap!: Bob and Louise each have one when they realize that Rudy isn't out of shape, he's asthmatic.
• One-Steve Limit: There are two known Rudys in Wagstaff, which the students (and even teachers) get around by using nicknames based on the Rudys' sizes (Pocket-Sized and Regular-Sized).
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Rudolph Stieblitz is only mentioned by his real name at the start of the episode, going by Rudy or Regular-Sized Rudy for the rest of not just the episode, but the series. Even Mr. Frond calls him Regular-Sized Rudy.
  • Pocket-Sized Rudy's real name isn't revealed at all, although his given name is probably Rudolph as well (given Louise can't differentiate between the two Rudys when reading the buddy list).
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: While snarking about Bob one day being in a rest home, Louise says she'll spring him for some fun after closing up the restaurant that given day. She immediately tries to backtrack after Bob points out she sees herself as one day taking over the family business and thus looks up to him.
• Overly Long Gag: Ollie blows his nose on Bob's vest for quite a while before a clearly-uncomfortable Bob pushes him away.
  Bob: I'm gonna push you away now.
  Ollie: I understand.
• Parental Title Characterization: This episode reveals that Louise called Bob "Daddy" up until she was eight (which was only a year—well, a "year"—ago), signifying her close relationship with him.
• Pint-Sized Kid: As if the kids on the show didn't already count (most of Tina's colleagues are barely five feet if even), Pocket-Sized Rudy takes it up to eleven by being so small he can't even be seen on-screen.
• Poor Man's Porn: Zeke spends the episode showing Gene all the exhibits at the museum where you can see boobs.
• Properly Paranoid: Rudy mentions his mother barely let him go on the trip. Considering how he nearly dies, she may have had a point in not wanting to let him go, even if the trip has a positive result for him at the end.
• Proud to Be a Geek: Tina and Henry eventually conclude that they're both dorks in different ways, but that it isn't necessarily a bad thing.
• Red Herring: Whenever episodes prior to this suggested that one of Bob's kids would run the restaurant as an adult, it was almost always implied to be Tina, a scenario that Bob himself seemed to believe would be the case (as shown via Imagine Spot in Season 1). This episode reveals that it's actually going to be Louise, retroactively making all of those previous "hints" misleading.
• Remember the New Guy?: Three, in fact. Despite this being the first appearance of Regular-Sized Rudy, Pocket-Sized Rudy, and Henry Haber, the Belcher daughters seem familiar with them.
• The Reveal: Louise idolizes Bob to the point that she wants to run the restaurant as an adult.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Pretty much all of Linda's improvised chants rhyme, and even the ones that don't are near-rhymes anyway.
  Linda: Give us more money, dammit, or we'll shave the woolly mammoth! Give us longer breaks for snacks, or we'll burn the artifacts!
• Sarcastic Devotee: Louise, who spends every day mocking the restaurant, not only cares about it but actually wants to run it as an adult. Additionally, despite mocking Bob just as often, she really does look up to him as a sort of hero.
• Satellite Character: Pocket-Sized Rudy "appears" in only one scene (see The Ghost above), and said appearance is solely to explain Regular-Sized Rudy's nickname.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Mr. Frond lets out a good scream when he sees that Bob has ruined his chaperone's vest by using it as a zipline.
• Seen It All: Bob and Linda have been through so much craziness in their family that they're able to accurately predict exactly what happened to the other during the field trip. Bob is even able to pinpoint why Linda was at the museum in the first place.
• Serious Business: For Zeke and his cousin, seeing exhibits with boobs in them. The latter has made an entire checklist of where to find the museum's boob exhibits, and the former has even timed his watch to a vent that lifts up a mannequin's clothing, allowing them to see previously-inaccessible boobs.
  Gene: Your cousin's really into this.
• Shout-Out:
  • The exterminator van is "Rodent to Perdition".
  • While hiding from Bob, Louise and Rudy pretend to be living plants. Rudy chooses the alias Kate Bush.
• Squee: Bob is beyond elated to learn that Louise looks up to him and wants to run the restaurant in the future.
  Bob: Oh my God, am I your hero?!
• Surprise Pregnancy: A throwaway line from Bob ("Sometimes good things come from boredom") implies that both Gene and Tina were unplanned.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Bob uses his vest as a zipline to reach the ground, but the vest's natural fragility and the friction generated by it rubbing against the rope means it breaks after only a couple seconds, causing Bob to fall. Fortunately, Bob is close enough to the ground that he isn't harmed.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Bob clearly dislikes Mr. Frond, and only helps him chaperone because Linda made him. When Louise sneaking off gives Bob an opportunity to ditch Frond, he takes it.
• Tempting Fate: Louise sees an ad for the Amazon exhibit and notes that the day may not suck after all. Director Greenberg promptly tells her that the exhibit isn't open yet.
• Thrill Seeker: Even though the trip nearly killed him, Rudy loved sneaking off with Louise because it gave him excitement. Or, in his words:
  Rudy: I've tasted life and I'm hungry for more!
• Token Good Teammate: Louise half-jokingly implies she's this to her siblings when she comments about Bob being sent to a nursing home in the distant future, claiming she's opposed to the idea but that Gene and Tina would go through with it anyways.
• Unnervingly Heartwarming: Mr. Frond and Director Greenberg flirting with each other is... uh... Well, at least they seem to enjoy it.
  Greenberg: Your skin should be its own exhibit.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The mad rush to find Rudy's inhaler wouldn't have happened if Louise didn't make him ditch his backpack (she didn't know he had asthma at the time), but Mr. Frond heavily beats her out on this trope, as it also wouldn't have happened if Frond had warned Bob early on that Rudy had asthma (something he really has no excuse for not doing).
  • Rudy himself does this as well, by not speaking up about his asthma or inhaler to either Louise or Bob. He probably should've spoken up about the inhaler when Louise told him to ditch his backpack.
• Verbal Backspace: Bob reminisces about ditching the zoo to go smoke cigarettes with Warren Fitzgerald. Well, that's sorta how it went...
  Bob: ...I didn't really smoke.
• Wham Line:
  • Louise casually drops one that reveals how she really views her father and the restaurant. Interestingly, she doesn't even seem to realize she's said it until Bob points it out.
    Louise: Like, maybe when you're old and senile, I'll close the restaurant and come spring you from the nursing home.
  • After spending the entire episode out of breath, Rudy interrupts Bob and Louise's bonding moment with a bombshell:
    Rudy: Haven't gone this long... without my inhaler.
    Bob: Inhaler?
    Rudy: I'm supposed to use it every two hours... or I could die.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: One elderly museum worker hates everything plant-related. Naturally, this means he's in charge of the plant-infested Amazon exhibit.
• With Catlike Tread: It's hard to be stealthy when Rudy's carrying cymbals in his backpack. Louise makes him ditch the backpack before continuing their trek through the Amazon exhibit.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Mr. Frond quotes this trope near-verbatim when telling Bob to be a good chaperone, only changing out the word "power" for "vest" (in reference to Bob's safety vest).
• Would Rather Suffer: Rudy would prefer suffering through his asthma attack to Bob trying to give him CPR.
  Bob: Uh, CPR. I know how to give CPR.
  Rudy: No, thank you.
  Bob: Uh, wh-why don't I just try it? And if you hate it, I'll stop.
  Rudy: No!

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