| “ | (yawning) I think I'm starting to feel something... | ” |
"Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" is the nineteenth episode in Season 11, being the two-hundred-and-thirteenth episode overall.
Plot[]
When Louise finds out that Rudy has a model bridge that explodes, she decides to set out on a sort-of-kind-of-perilous journey, dragging her siblings along for the ride. Meanwhile, Mort tries to teach Bob, Linda and Teddy how to meditate.
Full story[]
The Belcher kids arrive on their bikes to Rudy’s father's condo. Tina is excited and and nervous as it is her first time plant-sitting, and awkwardly tells Rudy’s father that the plants are in good hands. In the living room, Sylvester heads to get the plant-sitting guide when Rudy enters and walks up to the kids. Rudy does not give much of a greeting due to being stressed, as his father is going away for two weeks so he is packing to stay at his mom's and he does not want to forget anything such as handkerchiefs for magic. Louise decides they should help Rudy pack and play with his toys when Sylvester returns with the plant guide for Tina.
In Rudy's room, Rudy has a suitcase started while Gene and Louise look around. Louise notes that Rudy’s bike, on a fence wall outside, has a popped tire due to them riding on the rough trail behind Rudy’s mother's house. Louise then sees the pile of snack bags, which Gene eagerly runs to, while Rudy explains that his father wants him to take them so they do not get stale. They are all healthy, however, so Gene rejects the mung bean puffs, but loves the veggie chips. As Rudy shuts his door to choose hats, Louise spots something more interesting: a blaster bridge toy set. Rudy says he and his father built it after buying it on eBay since it is no longer produced due to being dangerous. Louise asks how it can be dangerous, so Rudy shows her and Gene an old video ad online, showing the bridge toy blowing up.
Louise is amazed, and wants to blow it up right now, but Rudy says that cannot happen, as his father is allergic to sulfur in the explosives, and the condo board will not allow it to be blown up in the common area. So after his father returns from a vacation, he will drive it to Rudy's mother's, and he can blow it up there. He doesn’t want to blow it up now becuase he still has to pack, to Louise’s frustration. Meanwhile in the living room, Sylvester is finishing a rundown on the instructions for Tina to water and care for the plants, when he shows her his bonsai trees. He says that the trees are incredibly delicate and sensitive, needing great care and not just water.
In Rudy’s room, Louise is enamored with the gunpowder and sharp metal edges of the blaster bridge, but Rudy tells her not to touch it, as the explosive parts are old and unstable, but Louise only wants to blow it up more. Rudy tells her it is not always about what she wants, getting angrier and saying that he wishes the bridge could magically show up at his mom’s house so he could blow it up, but loading the bridge would take time and he has to pack two week’s worth of stuff. Louise tells Rudy that he is being a "bit of a weenie", which only upsets Rudy more to order her and Gene out so he can pack in privacy.
Sylvester shows Tina his favorite bonsai "Miyoko", telling her to keep an eye on the tree"s leaves, and keep a close eye if anything happens. Gene and Louise are ready to leave, and soon all three do.
At the restaurant, Mort is talking about how he know pays a lot for formaldehyde. Linda notes how nothing rattles Mort, with Teddy noting how he is always able to keep his cool and angrily asking how. Mort reveals that he meditates, which helps keeps small things in perspective and "rolls off his back". Linda states she always wanted to try it, then says that Bob should, since nothing such as sweat rolls off his. Bob admits he is curious about meditation but worries about being alone with his thoughts before seeing Jimmy Pesto standing across the street and getting bugged by it. Mort offers to show Bob how to meditate, and they can use the restaurant as it is quiet at that moment. Since he has to finish make-up for a funeral, he offers to come back the next day to show them, and Bob, Linda and Teddy all agree.
The kids are riding their bikes back home, with Louise upset and repeatedly bumping into Tina’s back tire. Gene asks if she is upset about calling Rudy a "weenie", but Louise denies it and says she does not need to apologize to Rudy, but instead has a plan she got from Rudy: that since he wants to blow up the bridge badly, and wants them to bring it, even though Gene says that didn't seem like the message he was giving. Louise again denies it and plans to transport the bridge to Rudy’s mom"s place the next day.
The next day at the restaurant, Tina leaves tor Rudy's dad's place to care for the plants, when Louise says that she and Gene want to go along to be nice. Bob finds it a bit weird, but Louise says they are just great siblings and go along, while Bob admits to them (once Linda brings it up) that he is scared of learning to meditate. On their bikes, Louise begins talking about her plan to take the bridge set over to Rudy's mom's place, with Tina surprised her sister is still serious about it. Lousie says she wants to blow up the bridge, and Rudy wants to blow up the bridge, so she is doing him a favor while claiming he is lucky to have her and she never said or did anything wrong. Tina is hesitant as the plants require car,e but Louise says she and Gene have it. Louise further goes into the plan: they can balance the model on one of their bikes and walk it over. This scares Gene however, due to the amount of walking required, and suggests asking one of their parents could drive it for them, but Louise shuts him down by saying their dad would never want an explosive device like it in his car.
At the condo, Louise finds the model is bigger than she remembers, while Gene is eating veggie chips and pacing himself. Tina enters Rudy's room with Miyoko and asks if the leaves look healthy or ill, but several leaves fall off as she talks. She then sees the bridge and notes it is larger than expected, but when she suggests Louise not do her plan, Louise says she and gene can handle it. Their attempt to lift the model, however, fails as it is too heavy, and Tina decides to help. The bridge is tied to her and Gene’s bike, and Louise notes that since Rudy's mom lives less than a mile away, they can walk it over before Rudy returns from a nasal cleanse. Tina puts Miyoko in a sling carrier pouch over her chest that Rudy's father has for carrying and feeling the bonsai’s heartbeats, so she can take the tree with her.
At the restaurant, Mort begins leading the others in meditation and tells them to close their eyes and focus on their breath. He tells them to come back to their breath if they have thoughts. Linda starts to fall asleep. Bob has thoughts pop into his head, but is able to come back to the breath, to deeply breathe until he enters a clam state and opens his eyes, feeling really good while Teddy and Linda nearly fell asleep.
The kids continue walking the bikes and bridge set on the suburban sidewalk, going slow to avoid big bumps. However, they are stopped by lawn sprinklers going over the sidewalk and forced to retreat.Louise worries that the bridge explosives may have gotten wet but is dry, while Tina worries Miyoko may have gotten overwatered but is dry too. Louise suggested they cross the street to go around the sprinklers, but the lawns on the other side all have their sprinklers going as well. Tina's suggestion of walking slowly in the street is quashed by the number of fast cars going past. Louise then suggests they go through, and time it so the sprinklers don’t hit them. Tina wants to go back to Rudy's dad's place, but Louise says they have to do it to make Rudy feel better in general while accidentally bringing up the "weenie" remark. Tina reluctantly agrees.
The trio manage to get the bridge set past the sprinklers, a dog that almost knocks it off the bikes, and a mail carrier who cannot go around them. Louise notes that they are almost there, and turn onto Rudy’s mom’s street. However, the street is torn-up and closed for repaving and there is no sidewalk. Louise then tells them there is another way: A trail through the woods that starts just off the street ahead, which is the trial that goes right behind Rudy’s mom’s house that they ride on. Gene points out that it’s the same trial which was so rough that it popped the tire on Rudy’s bike, to Tina's shock. Louise states that it is not that bad, just "pretty bumpy" and that it’s farther to walk back to his dad’s place. Despite their reluctance, Louise leads her siblings into the woods. Louise leads them uphill on the trail, noting each upcoming bump and they walk their bikes with the bridge up. Tina worries that the bridge will explode and destroy the bonsai, while Gene wants to finish his veggie chip bag.
At the restaurant, Bob feels calm and that his body cannot stop thanking him. Linda feels refreshed too, though Bob points out she fell asleep, while Teddy is frustrated that he couldn’t get it and just thought of wrenches the whole time. Just then, Jimmy Pesto and Trev show up to mock Bob, who doesn’t even notice and greets them, frustrating Jimmy. Linda says Bob is relaxed due to meditating, and Jimmy calls it stupid. Bob says it is really calming and he does it again, breathing deep and calm. Jimmy leaves with Trev to mock people parking their cars badly, while Teddy finds Bob is "scary calm."
Near the end for the trail, Louise points to the back of Rudy’s mom’s house from the top of a hill on the trail. Tina wants a break to rotate Miyoko, who is hurting her due to being pressed against herself fora while, and asks Gene if he’s "got this'. Gene answers affirmatively, but then both take their hands off the bikes (Gene thinking she wanted to rotate the bonsai rather than hold the bikes), causing the bikes and bridge model to start rolling downhill. The three chase after them, and the bikes are caught in a bush just above a dried creek bed behind the house. They manage to pull the bikes free, but one of Miyoko"s branches is snapped off in the process. Tina is upset, having wanted to just plant-sit well, and tells Louise that the whole bridge-moving thing was just her wanting to see it blow up, and now the bonsai is broken. Louise admits she does want to blow it up, but also that she feels she has to because of what she, before cutting herself off.
Tina asks if the whole bridge moving plan was just a really weird and inconvenient way of saying sorry to Rudy without saying she is sorry. Louise denies it and asks what she should be sorry for, such as being a "great friend" who delivers bridges. Just then, Rudy, who heard the shouting and went in the backyard across the creek bed, notices them and the bridge model, and asks what is going on. Louise asks him what he is doing there before he realizes she brought the model from his dad’s house and is now hanging over a cliff. Louise says it’s not really a cliff and that he can help them so they can talk about how excited Rudy is that she did this for him. Rudy helps them get the bikes out of the bush, but the bridge model starts sliding off the bikes again before being saved by him and Louise.
At Bob’s Burgers, Jimmy and Trev return, with Jimmy having a lower voice, claiming to have mediated like Bob did, saying he is relaxed and came over to say it worked better for him than on Bob. bob simply says it is not a competition, but Jimmy says he knew Bob would say it, and that it might be something a loser would say. Bob calmly agrees to a contest, asking who would judge, and eventually Mort is decided at Linda's suggestion.
In the back patio on Rudy's mom's house, the kids put the bridge down, with Louise saying Rudy can blow up the bridge whenever he wants, and to prove it’s not about the Belchers, says they will leave. As they leave, however, Rudy says they could watch him blow it up as they are there anyway, and Louise excitedly comes back. Rudy leaves to get safety goggles and snacks.
At the restaurant, Mort is unsure how the competition will work but still agrees to judge. Linda asks how, and Jimmy says they will figure it out, leading to Mort giving him a point for "calm acceptance". Bob gets a point for saying "good for you" to Jimmy as Teddy arrives, having been texted by Linda. Bob and Jimmy continue, with Bob in such a zen state that Jimmy's insults don’t bother him at all, and Jimmy's frustrations and inability to hold in his anger fail him as he insults the regulars and storms out with Trev. Bob wins the contest, but he finds being relaxed is exhausting and goes to clean the grill and stress about things.
At the house, the kids are all wearing safety goggles and watching behind a bench as Rudy brings back the detonator. As he presses it, Louise blurts out that she is sorry for calling him a weenie. The bridge model fails to explode too loudly and simply collapses, thought Rudy is impressed, before he realizes Louise said she is sorry. Louise admits it and says she is also sorry for pushing him when he was stressed out, and says he is the opposite of a weenie, and is sorry she didn’t say it right away, admitting she is not great at it, but is glad they are friends. Rudy accepts and thanks her, and Louise says that she is also sorry to Tina for Miyoko's branch, while Tina says that maybe she was not cut out for plant-sitting. Rudy then asks if Tina trimmed Miyoko, saying the bonsai looks more balanced, and his dad will love it, to Tina’s surprise. Louise asks what to blow up next, while Rudy says he can do some magic with his silk handkerchiefs. Gene and Tina agree, while Louise wants to blow up some stuff in the backyard as Rudy refuses, before revealing she was kidding and tell him to get the handkerchiefs.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" on IMDb
- "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" script via Springfield! Springfield!