- “Okay, well, while you're thinking, I'm just gonna gently put the lampshade on your head.”— Teddy to Bob Belcher
"Mission Impossi-Bob" is the eleventh episode in Season 14, being the two-hundred-and-seventy-first episode overall.
Plot[]
Teddy gets stuck in an underground survival bunker, and he calls on Bob to find him and get him out.
Full story[]
It's an early Saturday morning at Bob's Burgers, and Gene is upset about the math homework he has to do on his school break. The rest of the Belchers are preparing for opening. Louise and Tina are wiping the menus, and they rush him for different reasons so he can help them with the restaurant work. Gene announces that he needs help with homework, and Bob looks up from his salt shakers and offers to assist him. Gene starts telling his father about the math problem that's challenging him, but Bob gets overwhelmed with the math and pulls out a pad and pen to write down the problem. That doesn't help him, and Bob tells his son he was never good at math. A call from Teddy saves Bob, and the Belcher goes to the kitchen to answer it, handing Gene to Linda and Tina.
Teddy informs Bob he's stuck inside a safe inside a survival bunker. The handyman tells Bob it's because of a job, and he begs Bob to come and help him. Bob's friend tells him how piles of sheet metal fell in front of the safe's door, trapping him. Bob says he can call the police to help him, but Teddy pleads with him not to because if he does, his employer will find out and no longer hire him. Bob gives in and agrees to help him if it'll get Teddy to stop talking and asks where Teddy is. However, Teddy has no clue and tells Bob that his employer, Gerald, blindfolded him when they rendezvoused at a gas station on Main Street in Oakville as he drove Teddy to his secret bunker. The handyman informs Bob about the job Gerald wants him to do, about the false wall he has to install in his safe to hide his vintage candy dispenser collection. Teddy piles on and tells the restaurateur about the loyalty test Gerald gave him, where the employer left a roast beef sandwich, a slice of cake, and a bunch of cash anyone could have eaten/taken. He also tells Bob that Gerald made him erase all his map apps on his phones, and besides calling for professionals who could help him in this situation, Bob is his last hope. Bob instructs his best friend to hang up the phone to conserve battery life. Bob says he will tell his family about him having to help Teddy, but the Belcher looks and sees that they eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Tina, Gene, and Louise want to help Bob on his rescue mission, but the father refuses to let them or anyone else come because of how dangerous this all seems. Teddy talks on the phone again, and Bob demands he hang up. The Belcher hangs up the call to stop Teddy from wasting more battery life than he already did.
Bob arrives at the gas station and calls Teddy again to announce it, adding that he sees that his truck is still there. Bob asks Teddy to tell him everything he remembers about his drive with Gerald. The handyman says he's "pretty sure" Gerald made a right out of the parking lot, and as they got out, the song "Judie in Disguise" started playing. Gerald kept driving straight, but when the employer turned right, the road became bumpy, and the song's chorus started playing. For some reason, Gerald put on aftershave while driving, and after putting it on, Gerald parked and led Teddy to a staircase to his bunker. After hearing everything, Bob gets the idea to play "Judie in Disguise" while driving, and before the chorus, he should look for the bumpy right road in Teddy's story. Bob starts downloading the song, and to stop Teddy from talking again and using up his phone any longer, Bob hangs up the call again. After he hangs up the phone, Teddy realizes he's claustrophobic and starts panicking.
Back at the restaurant, Gene declares to take a break from his homework and goes to the stools with the rest of his siblings. That's when a woman peeks out from outside and relieves at how unbusy the restaurant is. She calls her friends, and six more people pour into the restaurant. The woman tells Linda and her kids that they are hungry and have just won the Over-40 Co-ed Rec League Basketball Tournament. As the Belchers hand them their menus and they sit in the booths, Louise gets a sudden idea and announces a family meeting in the kitchen. She tells them that with Bob gone and several starving customers, now's the perfect time to make the "Beef-hemoth," the burger that'll beat the world record for the biggest burger ever. Gene and Tina enthusiastically support their little sister's idea, but Linda is apprehensive. After looking it up on her phone, she tells them that it won't even break the record, and she asks her children where they would even get a bun for the burger. They tell her that the bakery near them has a giant bun on display that they could order for the bun. Tina, Gene, and Louise get their mom on board, and they go out and tell the middle-aged basketball team. They fully support the idea. Tina warns them that this isn't the situation where if they eat it, they won't have to pay, and Gene adds that they have to finish all of it, or their dad will be angry.
Bob announces he got his phone to download the song after calling Teddy, which worries the handyman a little since he thought Bob would already be on the bumpy road by now. Despite having less than 10% left, Teddy pleads to Bob to stay on the phone with him and let him hear the song because of the panic attack he may or may not be having right now. He agrees, puts Teddy on speakerphone, and puts on "Judie in Disguise" as he starts following Teddy's instructions. However, a tractor pulls out in front of Bob, which forces him to slow down and messes up his timing. Bob honks at the tractor, and the tractor pulls over as Bob drives around and tries to apologize to the driver for honking at him. The song's chorus plays early, and he sees a dirt road to the right. Bob turns right on the road and is happy to realize how bumpy it is. However, his contentment quickly disappears as he sees the dirt road split three ways. Teddy tries to help Bob determine which route to take, but the phone conversation ends as Teddy runs out of battery. Without Teddy to support him, Bob gets out of the car and tries looking for fresh tire tracks that may be Gerald's. However, he realizes he has no idea what new tire tracks look like, so he calls Linda.
Linda and her kids look at the enormous Beef-hemoth patty cooking on the stove, and Linda wonders how they will flip the burger. Linda is shocked when she realizes neither Tina, Gene, nor Louise knows how. Linda picks up the call from Bob and asks how the Teddy rescue mission is going. Her husband informs her about the situation and how Teddy ran out of battery, and he questions why Teddy even thought he could help him. Linda reminds him about how smart he is and tells him to say something clever, wedging in the huge patty grilling on the stove. Bob instantly recognizes what his family is trying to do. However, he sees a truck coming and hangs up the phone as Linda begs him to tell them how to flip a giant burger. Bob starts asking the truck driver for help, but the man has no clue what Bob is talking about. He starts driving away from Bob, but Bob smells aftershave on him and asks the man about that. The driver tells Bob the smell's coming from the witch hazel in his cargo bed, and Bob realizes that Gerald lives near a field of witch hazel, which smells like aftershave. The man tells Bob it only grows by the left road he came from. The man hurriedly drives away as Bob tries to thank him. Bob gets back in his car and takes the road on the left.
Meanwhile, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Louise gathered multiple baking sheets and spatulas to flip the patty. They all put their burger-flipping tools underneath the burger. They all flip the burger on Louise's count of three, and they successfully turn it. Tina remembers that they have to get the giant bun from the bakery for the burger, and she runs out of the restaurant as Linda reassures the basketball team that their food is coming, no matter how long it's taking.
Bob is driving slowly with his head out of the window, trying to smell the scent of aftershave. Bob finds a field of witch hazel and finds what he believes to be Gerald's house. He parks further down the road (in case Gerald has cameras and comes to kill him), which he later regrets because of how tired he became after running back to the house. Bob finds the bunker in the house's backyard and hears Teddy down. He sees the sheet metal before the safe and moves them while wearing Teddy's gloves. Teddy gets out of the safe and picks up Bob to hug him. As Bob tells Teddy about his journey to get here, he cuts him off and rushes him out of the bunker before Gerald returns. However, Bob sees a red truck pull up in front and returns to the bunker. Teddy realizes that this must be Gerald, and the two men are scrambling on what to do. Teddy starts putting a lampshade over Bob's head to hide him. Bob takes the lampshade off and gets an idea.
Linda, Gene, and Louise put cheese on the burger as Tina returns from the bakery without any bread and hyperventilating. Tina tells them the bun in the bakery's display was actually plastic, and she confirmed it after tasting it herself. Gene orders their mom to make a giant bun, but she tells him she doesn't know how. Tina considers that instead of using a plastic display bun, they could stack multiple regular-sized buns on top of the patty. With nothing else, they agree to Tina's idea.
Gerald goes down to his bunker, and Teddy nervously greets him. Gerald asks how the job is going and opens it up to see that it looks like a regular, inconspicuous safe, with no Bob Belcher found. However, Gerald decides he also wants to see what's behind the false wall, but Teddy tries to stop him. However, Gerald opens it up anyway, but there's nothing there but his vintage candy dispenser collection. Gerald's impressed by the job Teddy did and tells him he loves the false wall as much as he loves his mother. Teddy tells Gerald he has to paint the wall before finishing. Gerald leaves to buy more beans for his bunker. But before heading out, he informs Teddy he won't need to wear a blindfold when Gerald drives him back to the gas station, as he trusts him now. When Gerald leaves, Teddy rushes back to the safe and reveals Bob hiding behind a layer of sheet metal. Teddy tells his best friend he's a genius, and Bob feels a little smarter than he was when failing to help Gene with his homework. Teddy exclaims he knew he made the right choice to call Bob but regretfully adds that he called Mort first, which makes Bob a little jealous.
It's now nighttime, and the Belcher family are in the kitchen. Bob tells Gene the answer to his previous math problem is "12," even though Gene doesn't believe it's right. Bob, feeling more intelligent than before, insists it's the answer. Louise asks if anyone wants another serving of the Beef-hemoth they had for dinner, as the basketball team never managed to eat it all. Linda suggests that her family make giant french fries next time as she pours two glasses of white wine.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "Mission Impossi-Bob" on IMDb
- "Mission Impossi-Bob" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Mission Impossi-Bob" script via Springfield! Springfield!