Recap / Bob's Burgers S5E1 "Work Hard Or Die Trying, Girl"

"Who wants to tell me what is happening?"

Linda: We don't know all the crazy crap our kids are doing.
Bob: We don't wanna know.

Gene stages an unauthorized musical version of Die Hard to compete with the rival Working Girl musical being run by Courtney Wheeler.

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Trope Hard or Die Troping, Girl:

• Answer Cut: While casting for Gene’s musical, Louise asks “Where’s Tina?” Cut to Tina auditioning for Courtney’s musical. Then we cut back to Mr. Frond’s office, where Tina says that she had a good reason for betraying her siblings… and we cut to her watch Jimmy Jr. audition.
• As Herself: Carly Simon shows up in the closing credits to sing with the kids.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In-universe; the hip-hop section of the titular musical.
• Bitch Slap: Ms. LaBonz isn't happy that Doug Wheeler lied about Carly Simon coming to the show.
  LaBonz: You probably think this slap is about you!
• Blatant Lies:
  • Doug tries to pass off hitting Gene with a shoulder pad as an accident, even though he was nowhere near Gene and thus couldn't have hit him unless he was deliberately aiming for him.
  • Louise claims that the whole night was a bust... while counting a fat stack of money.
• Brick Joke: Tina initially joined Working Girl to hook up with Jimmy Jr., only to be told their characters don't get paired (Jimmy Jr.'s character would instead end up with Courtney's), and her attempts at trying to re-interpret the story are shot down. When the plays are combined and Courtney's character instead ends up with Gene's, Jimmy Jr.'s character is rewritten to be with Tina's after all.
• Brutal Honesty: Bob is the only member of the Belcher household who is willing to admit Gene's play was bad, if only because him trying to play all the roles really wasn't working.
• Celebrity Lie: Doug Wheeler claims to know Carly Simon in order to have Courtney's musical chosen. When Ms. LaBonz figures out it's a lie (which honestly takes her way too long), she's so pissed that she slaps him.
• Continuity Nod: Gene was apparently working on the Die Hard musical during the events of "The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene", as he showed Courtney the in-progress product while they were dating.
• Crossover: The kids end up combining both plays into a musical crossover between Working Girl and Die Hard.
• Damned by Faint Praise: Gene accidentally does it to himself while pitching his show.
  Ms. LaBonz: Gene, it'll be your turn in a minute and we can hear what you've got.
  Gene: You'll hear what I've got, all right. Because it is very audible!
• Death of the Author: In-universe; Tina attempts to have her character end up with Jimmy Jr.'s during the musical, even though everyone (even Doug and Courtney) points out that they canonically don't end up together. Tina attempts to claim that they're all free to re-interpret the musical, but Courtney and Doug shut it down entirely.
• Defecting for Love: Inverted, Face–Heel Turn-style. Tina betrays Gene and auditions for Courtney's musical because Jimmy Jr. has a role.
• Demoted to Extra: In-universe, in the titular musical, John McClane is a supporting character due to the focus shifting onto Tess McGill and Hans Gruber's relationship.
• Dull Surprise: The uncle sitting next to Bob gives a deadpan “Wow” when Doug Wheeler throws a shoulder pad that hits Gene in the face.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Hans Gruber may be a terrorist, but he's portrayed sympathetically when Tess McGill falls in love with him.
• Genre Shift: Die Hard is originally an action film while Working Girl is a romantic comedy. The combination of the two becomes a romantic tragedy with some action elements.
• Hero Antagonist: John McClane becomes this when the plays are combined. While Hans Gruber is a terrorist, his romance with Tess McGill frames him as the "protagonist" of sorts, and McClane sending Gruber to his death is portrayed as tragic.
• Hidden Depths: Once again, Gene shows his musical prowess. If it weren't for the fact that he tried to do it as a one-man show, his Die Hard musical probably would have been genuinely good, as shown when he combines his musical with Courtney's and creates a show-stopping play within just 25 minutes. And considering Courtney explicitly tells her father not to get involved, it's implied Gene wrote the final product of "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl" primarily on his own.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Tess McGill falls in love with Hans Gruber, an international terrorist who (up until that moment) took her hostage and had plans to kill her.
• How We Got Here: The episode opens with the Belchers and the Wheelers in Mr. Frond's office, telling their recollection of the events that lead to the fight over the dueling musicals.
• Jabba Table Manners: Courtney remembers Gene's rejection as him eating tacos as messily as possible and farting, which both Bob and Linda say sounds more like him.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: Bob and Linda plan to each go to one musical because their kids are in both—Bob calls Working Girl while Linda plans to go to Die Hard. However, while Linda is backstage Louise finds Bob and convinces him to attend Die Hard, leaving Linda to stay at Working Girl until she sees more people leaving for Die Hard, where she rejoins Bob.
• Mama Bear: Linda is ready to tear Courtney's dad apart when he gets mad at Gene.
  Linda: No one tells my son to stop singing!
• Musical Episode: What gave it away?
• No, You: When Bob tells a woman in the audience that she looks like Carly Simon, she retorts that he looks like Carly Simon.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tess McGill and Hans Gruber conclude they are quite similar due to their ambition.
• One-Steve Limit: The original Die Hard has two Agent Johnsons, which is lampshaded by the fact that the Pesto twins are cast as both.
  Andy: I'm Agent Johnson!
  Ollie: And I'm Agent Johnson!
  Andy and Ollie: And we're from the FBI!
• Overly Long Gag: Gene's audition for the fall play consists of a song whose lyrics are solely "Nakatomi" repeated ad-nauseum.
• The Parent-Produced Project: Doug all but admits to writing Working Girl for Courtney, a sharp contrast to Gene writing Die Hard exclusively on his own. Defied with the merged plays, where Courtney tells Doug to stay out of it.
• Person as Verb: "Consider yourself Grubed!"
• Pet the Dog: Jimmy Pesto takes the time to cheer for Jimmy Jr. before sneaking out to the Die Hard musical, which Jimmy Jr. notices and seems to appreciate.
• Race Lift: In-universe; Little Johnson is black in the original Die Hard, but in the play both Johnsons are white due to being played by the Pesto twins^note though it's unclear which twin plays which Johnson; in the movie they have different nicknames and titles, but in the play they both go by Agent Johnson. Regular-Sized Rudy also plays Officer Powell, who is played by Reginald VelJohnson in the movie.
• "Rashomon"-Style: Courtney wanting to be in the "Die Hard" musical is remembered differently from their points of view. Gene politely (and rudely) rejected her, and Courtney apologized and called herself annoying (all the Belchers agreed that she is annoying sometimes); Courtney's version has her wanting to be in it, getting insulted and farted by Gene while devouring his food (Bob and Linda believe Gene did that).
• Sarcasm Mode: Tina actually slips into it for a minute when she finds out Louise is helping Gene stage his musical out of the goodness of her heart... and charging $5 a head to attend.
• School Play: Courtney's play, the official school-sanctioned production, ends up flopping when more people start leaving it to see Gene's musical. Gene's musical, an underground behind-the-school's-back production, leans even harder into the trope with lower production values and a very clear lack of quality. The final play, however, ends up being quite decent for something cobbled together in less than half an hour.
• Serious Business: Doing the school musical for Ms. LaBonz, or rather, not doing Grease again because she's sick of it.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Jimmy Pesto is spotted leaving the auditorium, he quickly says he's definitely not going to the Die Hard musical in the boiler room.
• Swapped Roles: In their debut appearance, Courtney was the overly obnoxious one while Doug was more reasonable but eccentric. Here, Courtney is still obnoxious but less so, to the point of even making amends with Gene, while Doug is an overly pushy and obnoxious Stage Dad without any of his previous redeeming qualities.
• Throw It In!: In-Universe. Gene throws in a kiss with Courtney during their dance-off.
• Title Drop: The title of the episode is the name of the Die Hard/Working Girl crossover performed at the end. It's also the final line of the play itself, doubling as both an in-universe and out-of-universe example.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Courtney is still a bit of a jerk here, but she's significantly better than her previous appearance. Unlike last time, it's to such a degree that she and Gene actually end the episode on decent terms.
• Unreliable Narrator: Because the story is mostly told from the kids' perspectives, it often delves into self-serving memory. Special mention to when Louise shows her siblings the secret boiler room, culminating in both of them chanting "Louise is the best!" for nearly ten seconds.
• Worthy Opponent: While Doug is pissed, Courtney still thinks the Die Hard musical is amazing despite Gene refusing to let her try out.
• Would Hurt a Child: It may have just been a shoulder pad, but the fact remains Doug totally threw something with malicious intent at Gene to get him to stop his play.

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