Recap / Bob's Burgers S9E7 "I Bob Your Pardon"

"Drive, Bobby, drive!"

"So repeat after me: I am not going to break into that vehicle. I was hoping that I would never have to make this family say that, but here we are."

—Bob

When a pardoned turkey is set to be killed anyway, the family (with a reluctant Bob in tow) set out to save it.

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I Trope Your Pardon:

• Actually Pretty Funny: When Louise snarks about the lack of attendees at the pardoning by claiming they came down with a bad case of "I'd rather be anywhere else", Bob chuckles and gives her a high-five.
• Berserk Button: Bob utterly detests canned cranberry sauce and thinks poorly of people who settle for it, like Linda's mom.
  Bob: I know you ate that sugary canned cranberry slop at your grandmother's that one year, 'cause she doesn't care about anything.
  Linda: Watch it.
• Brick Joke: When the kids are pinching Bob to make him follow Marsha, Gene says, "Let me at those nips!" At the end of the episode, when the kids attack Deputy Mayor Cunningham, Gene goes for his nipples and threathens him with "a few more hours of this and you'll be dead!".
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Tina assumes that pardoning a turkey is akin to pardoning a criminal (i.e. the turkey had previously been in prison). Bob tries to point out the flaw in her logic.
  • When Deputy Mayor Cunningham asks Ralph how he knows they'll print the story, Bob and the farmer both pick up on his subtext (he thinks he has some pull with the press that'll let him shut the story down). Ralph instead assumes he's just interested in the printing process.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Linda's odd obsession with mayors rears its head once again. Just like last time, it goes without an explanation.
  • Drew P. Neck is left at the farm where the two-butted goat lives. The goat itself also makes a return.
• The Ditz: Linda was unaware that fish have bones until Tina informed her to this fact.
• The Drag-Along: Bob, as usual, especially when he realizes his family's plans to save Drew P. Neck border on illegal.
• The Ghost: The mayor doesn't actually show up, having an emergency to tend to.
• Gilligan Cut: Deputy Mayor Cunningham threatens to stop the story about the turkey pardon being a scam, but in the middle of his boast it cuts to the next morning, as the Belchers read the story on the newspaper and muse about how Cunningham wasn't as powerful as he said he was.
• Funny Background Event: When the kids are talking Deputy Mayor Cunningham on the farm, Ralph is busy crawling out of the trunk of Belchers' car, trips and falls down while letting out a quick "Oh, I'm falling" in the process.
• Heel–Face Turn: Marsha turns on Deputy Mayor Cunningham and helps save Drew P. Neck.
• He Knows Too Much: Linda thinks Marsha (and later Deputy Mayor Cunningham) will murder the Belchers for their knowledge about Drew P. Neck's intended fate.
  Bob: Why don't we just try talking to her?
  Linda: Oh, yeah, sure. That's a good plan. "Hey, I'm Bob. Can we talk? Why are you putting those black leather gloves on? Oh, you're choking me! You're choking me! Get off me! I'm dead!"
• Humble Goal: All Bob wants is to buy fresh cranberries for his homemade sauce.
• Hypocritical Humor: Bob ridicules the tradition of turkey pardoning stating that turkeys are being treated the same as people...while talking to the turkey in his fridge. Although the irony is not lost on him.
  • Later, Bob notes that the rest of his family is awfully pushy about saving Drew P. Neck when they're going to eat a turkey the next day, outright calling them hypocrites.
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Linda's the only one excited to attend the turkey pardoning, but only because she'll be able to see her beloved mayor.
  Linda: We're gonna go see the mayor! The mayor!
  Bob: Wha, why do you love the mayor so much?
  Linda: What are you talking about, he's the mayor.
• Insistent Terminology: Bob makes the others promise not to break into Marsha's car to free the turkey. When he finds them doing just that, they point out that they're not breaking into the car, just going through the already open sunroof.
  Gene: If it's open for sun, it's open for fun.
• Intrepid Reporter: A nosey reporter named Ralph, looking for a bigger story than the turkey pardon, tags along with the Belchers on their quest to save Drew P. Neck.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Belchers freak out when they realize they've just released Drew P. Neck in coyote territory.
• Noodle Incident: Ralph hasn't taken tips from kids since his niece fooled him into thinking there was a homework burglar.
  Ralph: Turns out she's just a terrible student and person.
• Papa Wolf: Bob freaks out when Louise charges the coyotes while screaming, only calming down when the coyotes run away.
• Punny Name: The turkey is given the name Drew P. Neck.
• Resign in Protest: Marsha quits her job as the mayor's assistant after Deputy Mayor Cunningham forcibly takes the turkey that was meant to be pardoned after all the trouble the Belchers have gone through to save it from her, the coyotes and bringing it to the farm and after Bob pleads her not to set an example to his kids about a world where people go back on their word, even if it's only to a turkey.
• Serious Business:
  • Homemade cranberry sauce is a big deal to Bob. When it turns out he doesn't have cranberries to make it, he decides he'd rather go without it for a year than buy the canned sauce.
    Tina: I like the shape it makes when it comes out of a can.
    Bob: So help me Tina.
  • Linda is a big fan of the Mayor for some reason, even booing Deputy Mayor Cunningham for showing up in his stead. Bob outright asks her why she's so into him.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Exterminator Van in the opening is To Kill a Shocking Bug.
  • When Tina sees Marsha coming, she shouts "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"
  • Gene thinks the coyotes going after the turkey will just blow themselves up with their own dynamite.
  • Louise dubs the turkey James van der Beak, and Gene says they're trying to get him back to his creek.
  • When Ralph confirms the turkey pardon he heard about from the Belcher kids is a scam, he says "Someone better call Huey Lewis, cause I got some news."
• Shown Their Work: Despite generally being associated with drier, open areas like the prairie and desert, coyotes have been spotted in the woods, and have a sizable population in New Jersey (where the show takes place).
• Small Name, Big Ego: Deputy Mayor Cunningham acts like a big-name, string-pulling politician. Despite being, well, the deputy mayor of a small sea town.
• Spotting the Thread: Ralph is initially doubtful of the claim that the turkey pardon is fake, until Deputy Mayor Cunningham is suddenly evasive about a potential photo shoot with the turkey. From then on out, he's in full Intrepid Reporter mode.
• Stating the Simple Solution: When Linda and the kids propose they break into Marsha's car to steal Drew P. Neck, Bob simply states that they could just wait for her to come back to her car and ask for it. Naturally, they never do this.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Deputy Mayor Cunningham claims he has the power to kill any story as soon as he gives the word. It turns out that no, the random deputy mayor of a small town doesn't have the political pull that he believes he does, and the pardoning scandal gets printed with little getting in the way.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: For once Bob actually gets a reward for being forced to go along with his family's shenanigans, when it turns out the farmer has a fresh cranberry bog and he can make the homemade sauce after all.
• The Unfavorite: While calling her mother, it's implied that Marsha is this to her sister Lisa—as she complains about managing Drew P. Neck's trip to a slaughterhouse, all she gets in response is her mother saying that Lisa could take care of it with ease.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Had the actual mayor been in charge of the pardoning and not out of his mind with diarrhea, it's unlikely Drew P. Neck would've been sent to the slaughterhouse. Linda lampshades it.
• You Keep Using That Word: After Louise holds a speech about changing her mind about turkeys not being gross animals, she declares the turkey they're currently about to eat as being pardoned. Linda thinks it's cute, but Bob points out that pardoning something that's already dead defeats the point of a pardon, at which point the rest of the kids and Linda proceed to "pardon" their mashed potatoes, gravy and white wine while digging in.
  Bob: Okay, well, words have meaning, but whatever.