| “ | Uh, okay, let's not shout 'Grandma' in a cemetery. | ” |
"Show Mama from the Grave" is the ninth episode in Season 13, being the two-hundred-and-forty-seventh episode overall.
Plot[]
Bob takes Linda and the kids to visit his mother's grave, but finding the headstone is harder than he expected. Meanwhile, Teddy makes a grave mistake while doing repairs in the Belcher's house.
Synopsis[]
On a winter day in the Belcher residence, Linda is getting out mittens for the kids as they put on their snow clothes. Tina finds her pants too small, while Louise finds her jacket would be perfect for snow-tubing or “snoobing”. Bob lets teddy in, who will be fixing various things around the apartment while the Belchers are out. Linda explains they were going snow-tubing, but the old place, Avalanche Mountain, closed due to back taxes, so they will try a new place out in Redburn. Hearing this, Bob explains that his mother is buried in the cemetery at Redburn, which Linda didn’t know, and Bob remembers his father was proud to get her a plot there. Bob also realizes that the family has not been to see her grave, and he has not been in a long time, so he suggests they see her grave and then snoobing; this would require closing for lunch but they could be back in time for the dinner rush. Linda agrees to go, but her fear of cemeteries pops up. Bob suggests that she could stay at the restaurant and eh take the kids, but she still says she’ll go along.
On the road, the Belchers are running behind, due to traffic, Gene’s pee stops, and making cards for his mother’s grave taking longer than planned. Tina asks when the last time was that he visited the grave and Bob cannot remember. They arrive at the cemetery, but Linda ducks down due to her phobia and thinks something may rise from a grave to take her. As she doesn’t want to be alone in the car in the cemetery, Bob parks on the street so she can feel safe while he and the kids go into the cemetery.
Unsure of where the grave is, Bob and the kids go to the cemetery office and ask for a map. As Lily died 33 years before and Bob hasn’t visited in what he estimates to be 20 years, he is unsure how to answer the staff but is given a map. A groundskeeper however tells them that they cannot leave cards or anything else that are not flowers due to the rules. Bob finds the map faded and hard to read, and pretty soon the Belchers are lost.
Linda meanwhile is singing to herself in the car outside to not think about the cemetery, but is scared the dead people will come to get her. Bob and the kids realize that they’ve wandered back into an old part of the cemetery they’d seen earlier, and Bob realizes that he has no idea where to go, and feels distraught at being a horrible person for forgetting his mother’s grave. He doesn’t want to leave for snoobing without seeing the grave, so he calls Linda to tell her that they will be in the cemetery longer than expected. However, the cell phone reception is terrible, and soon they are disconnected. Linda freaks out and tries to call Bob, only to reach Teddy, who has fixed the toilet and is fixing a hole in the hallway. Teddy convinces Linda to go into the cemetery to find them as it’s daytime. Teddy also feels light-headed due to low blood sugar, as he skipped lunch, didn’t know where else to eat, and isn’t allowed to pretend to be Bob and cook in the restaurant anymore, so Linda tells him to help himself to anything in the fridge, but he hangs up before she tells him not to eat the leftover meatloaf, as that is for dinner.
Linda texts Teddy about the meatloaf, but he eats it right out of the fridge and misses her text message while at it. Meanwhile, Bob and the kids are still lost as the sun starts to set, when they find a flat section of graves they have not been at yet; Bob feels good about it and they go in. Linda gets a map from the main office and starts walking in to find her family. Bob and the kids push snow off graves to see if they can find his mother’s, when the groundskeeper pulls up in his truck to let them know he will close the gates in a half-hour before driving off. Bob decides to give up and come back another time when they realize that all the graves are for people who died in the last ten years, and they leave for the exit.
Teddy fixes the kitchen cabinet in the apartment when he sees the text from Linda about the meatloaf and panics. He decides to try and make another meatloaf to replace the one he ate.
At the car, Bob and the kids find Linda missing, and outside his phone receives numerous texts (mostly from Teddy about the meatloaf), including one from Linda, saying to his horror that she went into the cemetery to find them. With her phone going to voicemail, Bob decides they have to go back in to find her, as she panics from a snapped branch and a crow.
After searching for some time, Bob finds the kids quiet due to not being able to “snoob”, as the sun almost sets and it gets colder. Meanwhile Linda is still lost when she comes across a sign for “Heritage Road” and “cedar Lane”, with heritage Road marked on the map she was given. Realizing she is close to the grave, she tries to find it.
Teddy tries making another meatloaf, using a recipe on his phone, but finds the part of kneading the uncooked meat with his hands disgusting. Bob and the kids are still lost after the sun has gone down, with Bob apologizing for the day being a total failure. Louise however gets the idea to snoob on a steep hill right by them, and they can slide on their bellies. Bob tries to dissuade them so they can find Linda before it’s locked up, but the kids convince him to let them slide for a little while, to their joy.
Meanwhile, Linda finds Lily Belcher’s grave, but no sign of Bob or the kids. She awkwardly introduces herself to the marker, and wishing how they could have met when the latter was alive, but that was before Bob and Linda met. Linda admits that she is not sure why she is afraid of cemeteries, and wonders if part of it is cemeteries make her think of losing someone close to her like how Bob lost his mother. But she also tells the grave that bob is a sweet person and great dad.
Bob tells the kids it’s time to find Linda, as it is now dark, and she may be terrified. Just then, they hear Linda and mange to follow her voice to the grave. Just as she asks where they’ve been, they see the groundskeeper’s truck. Bob suggests flagging him down, but Louise points out that he will make them leave, right when they found his mother’s grave, and they should at least have the visit. They hide behind a bush as the truck comes closer. They manage to hide from him by scooting around the bush. Bob is amazed Linda is in a cemetery in the dark, but she says she wasn’t alone, as she talked to Bob’s mom’s grave (while picturing herself in Jamaica the whole time). The kids introduce themselves to the grave, while Linda tells Bob that his mother would understand not coming out to the grave more often as he was living life and raising their children, and that she would be proud of all Bob has accomplished. Bob moves forward to speak to the grave.
Later that night, the family find the gate locked but before Bob can figure out a plan, Linda has already climbed the fence and gives the kids boosts. At the apartment, Teddy takes the meatloaf he made hot out of the oven, but drops it when he is surprised that the Belchers are home.
The Belchers and Teddy eat a new meatloaf for dinner over the end credits.
References[]
External links[]
- "Show Mama from the Grave" on IMDb
- "Show Mama from the Grave" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Show Mama from the Grave" script via Springfield! Springfield!