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Recap / Bob's Burgers S6E1 "Sliding Bobs"

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"You got a lot of nerve grabbing a girl's diamond ring with your thick... luxurious... Tom Seleckian moustache... hi."

"It's called fate, and it's great."
—Tina

When Bob's mustache starts to thin out, the kids guess what would have happened if he didn't have a mustache the night he met Linda.

  • Gene cooks up a Robocop parody where Sergeant Bosco turns Bob into a cyborg policeman with a mechanical mustache;
  • Louise tells a tale of Bob attempting to win Linda's heart with an ill-fated wish;
  • Tina imagines Linda and Hugo getting married and raising a bizarre alternate version of the Belcher kids.

Sliding Tropes:

  • An Aesop: It's best not to be bogged down by thoughts of what could've happened, because at the end of the day these alternate scenarios didn't happen.
  • The Anti-Nihilist: As Linda points out at the end, nothing is certain or meant to be in the world; anything could've happened, but yet, Linda and Bob got together and had three kids they love, and there's something beautiful about it.
    Linda: Sometimes all the crap in the universe lines up, like the night I met your father. Everything lined up and it came out Belcher, how beautiful is that?
  • Artistic License – Biology: In Tina's story, Hugo's children with Linda are blonde, but in reality, they should all be dark haired based on the dominant gene of darker hair. That being said, this helps further differentiate between Tina, Gene, and Louise and these alternative versions of them.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Each kid's issue with Tina's story. Tina herself has a borderline Heroic BSoD from the conclusion that Bob and Linda only got together by sheer coincidence. Louise is traumatized by the mere concept of Charlize Habercore, her alternate counterpart. Gene is also traumatized... because Hugo has Bob's mustache.
  • As You Know: When Bob and Ron visit Hugo's Hot Dogs, Bob remembers it as a place he tried to rent years ago. Ron then remarks that he went on to have a number of failed businesses.
  • Bait-and-Switch: When Bob tries to wipe off the milkshake mustache, Linda stops him and likes him that way. She got a feeling that they were supposed to be together. Bob thinks it's just salmonella.
  • Big "NO!": Gene's reaction to Hugo growing a bushy mustache.
  • Blatant Lies: In Louise's story, Bob tries to get a job as a carnival freak for Mr. Fischoeder. He claims to have been educated at prestigious schools, only to admit seconds later that he was lying.
  • Brutal Honesty:
    • In Louise's story, Speedo Guy compliments Bob's hairy appearance, but admits that society will never accept him.
    • Even Bob and Linda admit to Tina that the mustache was vital in their getting together, and it wasn't just fate.
  • …But He Sounds Handsome: Sergeant Bosco calls Mr. Fischoeder handsome. Seconds later, he reveals himself to be Mr. Fischoeder.
  • Call-Back:
    • Charlize's princess outfit is identical to the one worn by Princess Pigeon Toe, as seen on the book cover in "Mother Daughter Laser Razor."
    • Hugo's Hot Dogs is closed after Health Inspector Bob finds out he makes his hotdogs out of real dogs, mirroring the plot of the first episode, "Human Flesh."
  • Composite Character: Gene's story depicts Sergeant Bosco as a disguise for Mr. Fischoeder, when they're completely separate people in the main universe.
  • Continuity Nod: Teddy appears slim with blonde hair in Gene and Louise's stories, just as he did in the movie The Deepening, from the episode of the same name.
  • Daddy's Girl: Charlize Habercore loves her dad and strives to help him with his business. Ironically, while Tina wrote Charlize to be as opposite from Louise as possible, this is actually something Charlize and Louise have in common. The difference comes from how Charlize is extremely open about it while Louise keeps it hidden from nearly everyone.
  • Darker and Edgier: Tina's story is a more cynical take on the show's plot as a whole. Linda is stuck in an unhappy marriage with Hugo (compared to her being Happily Married to Bob), Bob's attempt at running a restaurant was doomed from the start (compared to how Bob has owned a struggling-but-operational restaurant for over thirteen years), and Hugo goes to disturbing lengths to make his hot dogs (compared to how Bob always cares about the quality of his burgers). The others lampshade how Tina's story took such a dark turn.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Sergeant Bosco put in a directive to keep RoboStache from arresting him just in case he revolts, which is quite smart. But then it's revealed he's actually Mr. Fischoeder, and while he put in a directive for his fake identity, he didn't plan ahead for his real identity.
  • The Ditz: Hugo isn't very smart at running his dog meat operation; he freely confesses the truth to a health inspector, which gets him shut down. He didn't even have a reason to; Bob had already dismissed the accusation as a baseless rumor.
  • Dramatic Unmask: "Not only do I work for Mr. Fischoeder..." (removes mask) "I am Mr. Fischoeder."
  • Downer Ending: All three stories.
    • Gene: Bob dies after fighting Mr. Fischoeder.
    • Louise: Bob is forced to become a carnival freak show. Linda joins a convent, thinking it'll be like Sister Act, but then gets kicked out and ends up in jail.
    • Tina: Linda remains unhappily married to Hugo, Bob remains an unhappy health inspector, and the Habercores are left destitute after Hugo's Hot Dogs is shut down for using dog meat.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Louise loves things scary but even she thinks Tina's story is disturbing.
  • Eyepatch of Power: In Gene's story, Mr. Fischoeder has a cybernetic eye under his eyepatch, which is what he uses to defeat Bob after he takes off his Sergeant Bosco mask.
  • Faux Horrific: Louise reacts to Tina making her Habercore counterpart a girly princess that's openly affectionate to her dad like it's a heinous offense.
  • Foil: In Tina's story, the Habercore children are very different from the Belcher children, which Tina almost certainly played up on purpose.
    • Mona is annoyed by Jimmy Jr. and has no interest in in boys or zombies; Tina adores Jimmy Jr. and is obsessed with boys and zombies.
    • Dean speaks in a monotone and is timid to the point that he apologizes for being too loud; Gene is extroverted and an unashamed Large Ham with No Indoor Voice.
    • Charlize is outwardly friendly and an overt Daddy's Girl, but has a hidden nasty side (as shown when the health inspectors arrive); Louise is outwardly rude, but has a Hidden Heart of Gold and is a covert Daddy's Girl.
  • For Want Of A Nail: Explored thoroughly. The kids realize that if Bob didn't have a mustache, he and Linda wouldn't have gotten together, Linda would have married Hugo, and the kids themselves wouldn't exist. Tina has a borderline Heroic BSoD when she realizes that they weren't tied together by fate, but by a small coincidence that could have easily not happened. However, at the end, Tina comes to a new conclusion: all these what-ifs don't mean anything because the fact remains that Bob did have a mustache and he and Linda did get together.
    • For some reason, in Gene and Louise's stories, Bob's lack of a mustache leads to Teddy retaining his hair and slim physique, which presumably means that Teddy had much better luck with the actress from The Deepening.
  • Gone Horribly Right: In Louise's story, Bob makes a wish for a mustache. He soon gets it, but then is completely covered in hair.
  • Groin Attack: It turns out that this is why Bob's mustache is thinning out—specifically, the seat of the exercise bike is damaging his testicles.
  • Heroic BSoD: Tina has an emotional breakdown when she realizes Bob and Linda weren't destined to be together and how Linda would've gone through with marrying Hugo. What eventually breaks Tina out of this mindset is the realization that even if they weren't tied together by fate, they still ended up together, anyway.
  • How Dad Met Mom: The episode reveals that Linda met Bob because she accidentally hit him and got her engagement ring stuck in his mustache, which she found very attractive on him. The Belcher kids spend the episode speculating on what could have happened if Bob didn't have a mustache when she hit him.
  • I Ate WHAT?!: Teddy is shocked when he learns that the hot dogs are made of actual dogs. Then he finishes the one he was already eating.
  • In Spite of a Nail: Several for Tina's story:
    • Teddy and Mort are still regular patrons of Hugo's hot dog restaurant. Ron is also still the health inspector's assistant.
    • While the Habercore children are meant to be complete opposites of the Belcher children (see Foil above), they still share some traits with each other (primarily physical traits).
      • Mona and Tina both require glasses and wear the same blue shirt/skirt combo and barrette.
      • Dean and Gene are both on the chubbier side and wear the same yellow shirt and blue shorts.
      • Charlize and Louise both have a fixation on hats (princess hat for Charlize; bunny ears for Louise). Charlize and Louise also both qualify as a Daddy's Girl, though Charlize is far more open about her affection than Louise.
    • Despite Hugo being the one to marry Linda instead of Bob, the restaurant is still harassed by a health inspector (in this case, Bob himself) over a rumor.
  • Irony:
    • Louise is the most outwardly horrified at her Habercore counterpart, but she's arguably the one whose Habercore counterpart is most like her (both are obsessed with a pink hat that they never take off, and both are a Daddy's Girl). Although it's entirely possible that this is why she's so horrified.
    • Hugo utterly hates Bob for supposedly stealing Linda from him, but if he wasn't engaged to Linda she wouldn't have gotten her ring stuck in Bob's mustache. In other words, Hugo himself set things up for Bob and Linda to get together.
  • Latex Perfection: In Gene's story, Sergeant Bosco turns out to be Mr. Fischoeder in a latex mask.
  • Love at First Sight: One look at Bob's face has Linda crushing on him.
  • Meet Cute: This episode reveals how Bob and Linda met—Linda got her engagement ring stuck in Bob's mustache, and while trying to get it untangled she fell for him.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: Male version; after they first meet, Linda stares rather intensely at Bob's mustache, prompting Bob to quote this trope verbatim.
  • Nightmare Fuel: In-universe, everyone thinks the mere concept of Tina's story is this. Louise in particular is traumatized at the thought of Charlize Habercore.
  • Oh, Crap!: Louise and Gene aren't too torn up about the idea that Bob and Linda wouldn't get together (besides the whole "kids wouldn't exist" detail)... until Tina points out that if Bob and Linda don't end up together, Linda and Hugo do. Cue Freak Out.
  • Oh, No... Not Again!: Hugo hates hearing Ron's idea that they were destined to work together.
  • Realism-Induced Horror: In-universe; aside from the whole wiener dog bit, Tina's story is the most realistic of the Belcher kids, featuring concepts that could happen in reality (whereas Louise and Gene respectively employed magic and overly-advanced technology). Perhaps for this reason, it's the story that traumatizes everyone the most.
    • Linda is unhappy in her marriage to the point of forgetting her anniversary out of apathy.
    • Bob has failed his restaurant dreams multiple times and settled for being a health inspector, a job the real one hates because of Hugo. Furthermore, Bob's business is already frequently in the red, meaning the story also hits close to home.
    • Louise and Gene hate the personalities of their counterparts, who embody the opposite of their interests.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Health Inspector Bob is a lot more reasonable than Hugo. Justified, as his only connection with Hugo is that he inspects his restaurant, as opposed to losing his fiancée as Hugo did. He initially dismisses the claim that Hugo is serving actual wiener dogs because it's clearly a fake rumor... right until Hugo freely admits it.
  • The Reveal: Bob's mustache is thinning because of testicular damage caused by the Belchers' new exercise bike.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Hugo says he gets his wiener dogs from the local morgue, Mort immediately leaves and denies that he knows him.
  • Shout-Out: The title of the episode is a nod to Sliding Doors, which also revolved around glimpsing at alternate versions of a person's life.
    • The plot of Tina's story is itself a shoutout to the pilot, Human Flesh, but instead of human flesh in burgers, it's actual wiener dogs. It's also a shout-out to the original plot for the show, where it was originally pitched that the Belchers would really serve burgers made of human flesh; in this story, Hugo really does sell hot dogs made of actual wiener dogs.
    • Hugo's "Hot Dog of the Day" is "A View to Kielbasa Dog", a reference to A View to a Kill.
  • Swapped Roles:
    • In Tina's story, Bob and Hugo swap positions in life: Hugo is the restaurant owner married to Linda with three kids while Bob is the health inspector who works with Ron and threatens to shut down the restaurant.
    • In the pilot episode, it was Bob who forgot his and Linda's anniversary, and it's used to emphasize his forgetfulness. In Tina's story, Linda forgets her and Hugo's anniversary, and it's used to emphasize how unhappy she is with Hugo.
  • Tonight, Someone Dies: In-universe; Gene admits in the middle of his story that someone is gonna die at the end of it. Sure enough, RoboStache is killed by Mr. Fischoeder.
  • What If?: The entire episode is based on one idea: what if Bob didn't have his mustache when he met Linda?
  • Whole-Plot Reference: Gene's story is based on RoboCop (1987) while Louise's is based on Big.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: In the end of Louise's story, Linda tried to become a nun because she thought it would be like Sister Act. She was kicked out. Ironically, this assumption could actually be a case of Genre Savvy on Louise's part, since Linda is exactly the kind of person who would think a part of life would be like a fun movie.
  • You Monster!: Louise shouts this at Tina as a reaction to Charlize Habercore, her princess-obsessed counterpart from Tina's story.

Alternative Title(s): Bobs Burger S 6 E 1 Sliding Bobs

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