Recap / Bob's Burgers S6E19 "Glued, Where's My Bob?"

aka: Bobs Burger S 6 E 19 Glued Wheres My Bob

"I'll be out of here in no time
I'll be doing interviews and doing just fine
Today is gonna be a great day
I'll do Coasters Magazine and blow everyone away!"

—Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom, Bob's verse

A prank war between the kids goes awry when Bob gets glued to the toilet. As Louise grapples with her role in her father's predicament, Linda and Teddy work to get Bob free before he misses a big magazine interview.

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Glued, Where's My Tropes:

• Brick Joke: During her verse in "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom", Louise has a fantasy that reveals her desire to have Bob lift her in his arms and embrace her. In the end credits, she gets her wish.
  • The opening of the episode focuses on the kids' goop-related prank war, which kickstarts the plot when Bob gets caught in the crossfire. At the very end of the episode, after Bob's done reading his Coasters interview, he tells the kids to pick up the menus from the table, successfully gooping all 3 of them at the same time.
• The Bus Came Back: Even ignoring the Crowded-Cast Shot in the end credits, Skip Marooch returns as the one who set up the Coasters interview.
• Butt-Monkey: Bob's status as this is deconstructed. He's well aware that humiliating stuff happens to him on a near-daily basis, and this episode shows just how sick and tired he is of it. The toilet incident coupled with the Coasters people hesitating to do the interview is the final straw, leading to Bob ranting about how this isn't anything unusual for him, and is arguably the most normal outcome for an unlucky guy like him. After so long of being treated like crap by the world, he has had enough.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Linda thought Bob just said "Skip Marooch" when he picked up the phone for fun, not because that's who was on the other end.
  • When Bob asks the kids to act differently, they decide to act like each other.
• Continuity Nod: Bob mentions how Felix Fischoeder contributed to the current restaurant bathroom design, and also mentions his distaste for it.
• Crowded-Cast Shot: The end credits feature nearly the entire cast (including several minor characters and even one-offs like Torpedo and Bronconius, though conspicuously excluding notable characters Mickey and Logan) lined up in the street outside the restaurant, singing a Triumphant Reprise of "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom".
• Daddy's Girl: It's not touched upon compared to episodes like "Mother Daughter Laser Razor", "Carpe Museum", or "Hawk & Chick", but Louise's verse of "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom" is accompanied by a fantasy that shows she's still this. In this fantasy, Bob is freed from the toilet and the first thing he does is lift Louise up to embrace her, during which Louise is very visibly smiling. Her fantasy comes true in the end credits, where just prior to the Crowded-Cast Shot, Bob can be seen holding Louise in his arms (he puts her down so the two can face the screen with the other characters).
• Didn't Think This Through: Bob points out that even though Louise was specifically targeting Gene, the fact that she gooped the restaurant bathroom means she could've gooped anyone, including unlikely-to-understand customers. She's almost lucky the victim happened to be a family member.
• Distant Duet: Bob and Louise sing "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom", with Bob stuck on the toilet and Louise singing in the booth nearest to the bathroom.
• DIY Dentistry: Dr. Yap invokes the old pull out a tooth with a string bit when explaining his plan to yank Bob off the toilet (although he does apply Novocain to Bob’s butt first).
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Though he endures a lot of humiliation in the process, Bob ultimately gets a successful interview with Coasters and earns his restaurant some much-needed publicity.
• Everyone Has Standards: Louise only intended for her gooping to be a harmless prank, and while she's quick to deny blame she's just as horrified as the others that it ended up getting Bob glued to the toilet.
• Exact Words: Louise specifically says that there will be no further gooping, barring any that are currently active. Bob isn't pleased by the word choice.
• From Bad to Worse: As if Bob's predicament weren't already bad enough, the bathroom door gets busted down, leaving Bob in full view of the restaurant's occupants... including Jimmy Pesto, who immediately heads outside to tell everyone he can find.
  Bob: Linda?
  Linda: Bob?
  Bob: Kill me.
• Honor Before Reason: Nothing in the present day, but Edith mentions having once spent three weeks stuck in the bathroom, forcing her to survive on toilet water. She admits that getting out was as simple as just calling for help, but that she chose not to because she had "self-respect".
• Hope Spot: When the article on Bob's Burgers is published, Bob is relieved that it is positive and that it doesn’t mention his being stuck to the toilet. Then he gets to the next page, which not only mentions the toilet, but also includes a picture. At the very least, it's not as drastic as most cases, as the article remains positive in spite of the toilet incident.
• Jerkass: The Coasters interviewers not only have No Sympathy for Bob's predicament (acting as if he chose to get stuck on the day of the interview), but they just casually brush him off when the poor guy finally (and very understandably) loses it. Skip is well aware about this, to the point that he tries to warn Bob in advance.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Bob goops all of the kids at the end.
• Malaproper:
  Louise: Hey, look away, looky-loos. Nothing to see here.
  Gene: Yeah, stand back, Lucy Lius.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Bob rants about how the gluing incident is just par for the course at his restaurant, Louise realizes that what she's done is going to cause Bob to miss the interview, and tells the interviewers about her role in his current predicament.
• Never My Fault: Louise's arc in this episode is about accepting that sometimes, it is her fault—like how it's her fault Bob is stuck to the toilet. This episode also provides further insight into why she often invokes this trope—namely, that Louise denies fault as a cover for genuine remorse. Even before she owns up to it, her verse in "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom" indicates she genuinely feels bad that Bob got gooped, to the point that she vows to free Bob herself if Teddy's attempt fails.
• Nice Guy: Skip hooks up Bob with a Coasters interview to give his restaurant a boost in business. There's no ulterior motive at play, he's just being generous.
• Noodle Incident: The reason the employees' bathroom is unusable is because Gene flushed his stuffed animals down it and clogged it.
  • Edith Cranwinkle once got stuck in her bathroom for three weeks. She resorted to drinking toilet water to survive (she could have just called for help, but didn't because she apparently has self-respect).
• No Sympathy: Most people aren't very sympathetic to Bob's plight until Teddy calls them out on it at the end. The interviewers act as if Bob chose to get stuck on the toilet, and both Jimmy Pesto and Mr. Fischoeder outright try to monetize the situation.
• Pet the Dog: After spending the entire series (up to and including this episode) being an unrepentant asshole towards Bob, Jimmy Pesto joins in on Teddy's chant to encourage Coasters to do the interview. He even cheers when Bob finally gets unstuck.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: It's a Shout-Out to Dude, Where's My Car?.
• Pranking Montage: A brief one when the kids first talk about "gooping" to show the audience what they mean.
• Rage Breaking Point: After the guys from Coasters show up and tell him they're not really interested in an interview, Bob snaps and briefly rants about how getting glued to the toilet and becoming a public spectacle is the kind of nonsense that happens to him all the time.
  Bob: Actually, you know what? This is perfect. Lin, this isn't a crazy day. This is a perfectly average day at Bob's Burgers. This kind of stuff happens all the time, and I'm so glad you came by to take it in! (laughs crazily) Sorry we couldn't be inspiring for you! I guess we just didn't have it in us! So... goodbye! You can leave! Thanks for stopping in!
• Sanity Ball: Much like "The Kids Run Away", Dr. Yap remains stable enough to help the Belchers without any of his usual craziness.
• Sanity Slippage: Bob's aforementioned Rage Breaking Point marks a clear shift in Bob's mental stability, as he's at his wit's end regarding all the bad stuff that happens to him regularly.
• Shaming the Mob: Teddy calls out the Coasters crew for changing their minds about the interview as well as everyone who's only at the restaurant to see Bob stuck to the toilet (implicitly including Jimmy Pesto and the news crew).
• Simple Solution Won't Work: When Bob's stuck on the toilet seat, one of the Coasters interviewers asks him if he's tried removing the seat. Under any other circumstance this would've been a valid point, but thanks to Felix's redesign it doesn't have a separate seat at all.
• Sticky Situation: Due to the kids' prank war, Bob ends up glued to the toilet, just as a reporter from Coasters magazine comes to profile the restaurant.
• That Reminds Me of a Song: While waiting for help to arrive, Bob and Louise sing a song about Bob's plight called "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom".
• Throw the Dog a Bone: While Coasters does mention the embarrassing toilet incident, the overall article is positive, encouraging readers to check out Bob's Burgers for themselves. And just as Bob hoped, this nets him a boost in business.
• Triumphant Reprise: "Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom" gets one in the end credits. The Crowded-Cast Shot (with all the Belchers joining in on the song) and the extra emphasis on "Today is gonna be a great day" in the chorus help make it feel more uplifting.
• Unconventional Food Usage: Tina, Gene, and Louise put sticky stuff in places for someone else to unknowingly touch, including guacamole and hummus. They call it gooping.
  Bob: So...just a huge waste of food. And toiletries.
• Victimized Bystander: Bob was uninvolved in the goop war prior to the gluing, and Louise genuinely didn't intend to glue him to the toilet (her intended target was Gene).

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