Recap / Bob's Burgers S6E14 "The Hormone-Iums"

Breaking out!

"I am Mona. Warning: Don't kiss this face."

—Posters with Tina's face about her show

When Tina becomes the face of mononucleosis for a school play, she fears she may never get a kiss again. Meanwhile, Linda tries to garner interest in "wine shoes", only to have trouble finding an investor.

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The Trope-moniums:

• Actor/Role Confusion: Mr. Frond and the school news both make no attempt to distinguish Tina from her role of Mona Nucleosis, causing kids to think Tina is Mona and turn her into a kissing pariah.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: When playing "Spin the Bottle", Tina uses the wind and floor angle to calculate the right amount of force to land the bottle at the person she wants to kiss.
• Backing Away Slowly: In response to Linda's Crocodile Tears below, the Fischoeders slowly sidestep out of the restaurant.
• Backstory of the Day: Tina claims she's been wanting to be the lead soloist of the Hormone-iums for two years. Despite being such an important part of her life, this has never been mentioned before or since.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Tina gets to perform as the soloist of the Hormone-iums... in time for their new mononucleosis-themed performance, which tanks her social life.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: After Linda fails to understand that she should get the Fischoeders to invest in her "wine shoes", Louise not only says "Oh my God" but also says it in perfect unison with Bob.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • When Louise suggests pitching "wine shoes" to investors, Linda asks where they're going to find any. Louise points to the Fischoeder brothers, throwing money at each other. Linda still doesn't understand what Louise is talking about.
    Bob and Louise: Oh my God...
  • In turn, the Fischoeders completely misinterpret the Belchers' play, assuming they're trying to pitch the play itself instead of the wine shoes.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Tina references her stage fright and how she's gotten over it.
  • For Jocelyn's party, Tina wears the same dress she wore to Tammy's Bat Mitzvah.
• Crocodile Tears: Louise prompts Linda to start crying if the Fischoeder brothers don't buy her initial pitch. All it does is make them uncomfortable.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The whole episode can be seen as a criticism on abstinence-only sex education. Mr. Frond tries to make a play to teach the kids to not kiss, or else they will get mononucleosis and will die. This puts Tina in a situation where she won't be invited to Jocelyn's birthday party and get to play Spin the Bottle if she does the play, but she won't become the soloist of the Hormone-iums if she doesn't do the play. When Bob finds out what's going on, he tells Tina she shouldn't do the play if she doesn't believe in its message. He also tells her she's the only one in charge of her mouth and who she kisses with it and what she says with it is her own business. Tina then changes the play during the presentation, showing information that mononucleosis isn't lethal in most cases, and that you can avoid mono by just kissing people without it—after all, you can't get what isn't there.
  Tina: We don't have to not kiss, we just have to smart kiss.
• Good Parents: When Tina runs off to her room upset, Bob gives her a genuine talk about how she's in charge of her own body, and reassures her that she doesn't have to follow a message she doesn't believe in.
• It's Been Done: Not only did Linda not find investors for her "wine shoes", but she finds a company that makes wine holders has been selling "Booze Shoes" for about five years.
• Money to Throw Away: The Fischoeders are shown having a money fight, where they throw wads of cash at each other.
• Morton's Fork: Tina ends up stuck in a no-win situation upon becoming the face of mononucleosis: if she does the play, she won't get to play Spin the Bottle at Jocelyn's birthday party, but if she doesn't then she won't get to be the soloist of the Hormone-iums. She decides to Take a Third Option, performing the play but changing the overall message from abstinence to "smart kissing" midway through to ensure she doesn't end up a pariah.
• Noodle Incident: Teddy once bought a nickel from Linda for the price of a dime.
• No Sympathy: When a student falls ill with mononucleosis, Mr. Frond just thinks it's a good opportunity to educate kids. In fact, he outright starts celebrating the incident since he got permission for the Hormone-iums to perform about mono.
• Oh, Crap!: Tina has a major freakout when she realizes the play has made her a kissing pariah.
• Scare 'Em Straight: Mr. Frond's play about mononucleosis is meant to terrify the kids into thinking they might die by doing something like kissing, and he knows it's not accurate but thinks it makes the play more interesting in spite of potentially traumatizing kids.
• Serious Business: The shoe salesman refuses to sell the size 14 women's shoes for a mere $10, going into a rant about the craftsmanship that goes into each pair of shoes.
• Ship Tease: Tina and Zeke get quite a bit.
  • During Tina's fantasy about becoming a star, she imagines both Jimmy Jr. and Zeke proposing to her.
  • Zeke is one of the boys Tina kisses while playing Spin the Bottle in the credits. To top it off, Tina seems more than content with kissing him, in contrast to her usual annoyance at merely seeing him.
• Spin the Bottle: The crux of the episode for Tina is getting into Jocelyn's birthday party, where they plan to play this game during the 45-minute period they'll be unsupervised (Jocelyn's mother is picking up her brother from soccer practice and her father's away on a business trip).
  • At the end, Louise and Gene ask Bob if the Belchers can play a round, not knowing what the game is about. Bob understandably shoots that down.
    Bob: That would be weird.

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