| “ | You can saw me in half if you want to. I think I could take it. | ” |
"The Amazing Rudy" is the second episode in Season 14, being the two-hundred-and-sixty-second episode overall.
Plot[]
Rudy prepares for an awkward night out with his divorced parents and their new partners. Meanwhile, the Belchers make an important casserole.
Full story[]
The episode starts with a piano melody in the background, zooming into the birds' nest on top of the Bob's Burgers overhanging sign. One of the birds flies away, and the camera follows the bird. It soars across Ocean Avenue and over the suburban neighborhood where Regular Sized Rudy lives.
It is Saturday morning, and Rudy doesn't want to leave bed because of something that will happen tonight. He talks to Pancake, his stuffed toy flounder, and starts singing "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers to calm down. Rudy's dad, Sylvester Stieblitz, interrupts him, announcing that he made eggs for breakfast. Rudy leaves his bed along with Pancake and joins his dad.
While Rudy is eating breakfast, Sylvester talks about the menu of the restaurant (Plate and Fork) they will be going to tonight while he's cleaning up the kitchen and pouring a glass of orange juice. He also talks about the errands he will be doing that day. First, Sylvester will go to a car wash and then exchange a shirt at the mall. He says he needs to trade the item for a size larger because Sylvester claims he's gaining muscle. When Sylvester finishes speaking, they begin eating his breakfast together, and Rudy asks if they can go to the Wands, Wands, Wands on their way to the mall. He adds that he needs to go to the store to get a magic trick he'll perform at dinner, which Sylvester supports. For the rest of breakfast, they make awkward conversations and make jokes to each other.
Once they're at Wands, Wands, Wands, Rudy tells his dad that he needs to stay inside because he doesn't want Sylvester to know what he plans to do at dinner. Sylvester offers Rudy money to buy his trick, but Rudy declines, saying he still has $13 from mowing one lawn. He adds that it was also how he learned he's allergic to grass.
While Rudy peers inside the displays, Esmeralda, a store clerk for Wands, Wands, Wands, greets Rudy. She indicates she's amicable with Rudy by calling him "Rudy the cutie" and asking if it was him who came into the store. Esmeralda asks if Rudy is looking for anything specific, and he responds that he needs something that can "really wow a group and work in a restaurant situation." He reveals his nervousness to Esmeralda, adding that the magic trick must also "bring all of humanity together, even in the most awkward of fine-dining experiences." Esmeralda suggests using packaged sodium polyacrylate as a spell, and she shows Rudy how to use it.
Rudy and Sylvester are entering the car wash. Sylvester mentions Rudy's concern about how different this dinner is since Rudy is used to going on Sylvester's dinner dates because this one will have more people. Sylvester tries to tell Rudy something, but the wash's machinery is so loud that it's hard to speak. Though Rudy can't hear it, Sylvester tells Rudy that he loves him.
Sylvester gets a drink for Rudy, and they enter You've Got to Be Shirting Me, the shop in OMG Mall where Sylvester will exchange his shirt. While Sylvester is talking to the store clerk, Rudy goes to Better Off Head to buy a hat for dinner, where he and Sylvester will meet up once he's done trading.
While Rudy tries on hats, he notices Tina, Gene, and Louise playing by the mall fountain. He hears Tina trying to stop Louise from taking the coins from the fountains. Bob and Linda go to their kids, and the Belchers all go somewhere else to buy an anniversary gift for Gloria and Al. Rudy follows the Belchers without telling them.
The Belchers enter a tchotchke store to find the right present. Rudy enters the store while they're looking at the items, and he greets the Belchers. He tells the Belcher kids that he's looking for a hat, and Tina jokes that this isn't the right store to look for. Linda asks Rudy to pick between two trinkets for her parents. Gene reveals they will have a special dinner at home tonight because he brought his science grade up from an F-plus to a B-minus. Louise says Rudy should join them for dinner, but Rudy declines because of his family plans. Rudy tells them he will return to Better Off Head to meet with his dad, and they all say goodbye.
Once Rudy buys a hat and Sylvester exchanges his shirt, they return home and prep each other for their special dinner. He reveals that this dinner is different because it's the monthly one with Rudy's mom. Unlike other times, it will include Sylvester's romantic partner, Vicki, and Rudy's mom's partner, Paul. Both Sylvester and Rudy show their nervousness about this. Sylvester contemplates if he should tuck in his shirt, and Rudy questions if he should wear his hat. They both decide that they have to go to the bathroom before this.
While they're driving to dinner, Sylvester sees Rudy's lack of energy in the rear-view mirror, so he makes conversation with Rudy. Sylvester sees that Rudy brought his backpack for his magic trick. He anxiously restates that this dinner will include Vicki and Paul. Rudy notices how nervous Sylvester is, and Sylvester tells Rudy if he acts like this at dinner, Rudy should kick him below the table.
Rudy, Sylvester, Rudy's mom, Vicki, and Paul stand by the front of the restaurant while they wait for someone to seat them. They converse as Rudy waits for someone to sit them, looking around at anything to preoccupy him. The hostess comes and leads them to their table.
While waiting for their food at the table, Rudy recalls all the times he performed magic tricks in front of his parents at restaurants while they were still married. As each memory plays, his parents start getting further from each other and start sitting apart. After all the memories play, Rudy starts his magician introduction. He pulls out a party cup, and Rudy tells the adults to pass it around to confirm it's empty. While the adults are distracted by that, Rudy secretly opens a packet of sodium polyacrylate. Once they verify its dryness, they hand the cup back to Rudy. Rudy pours his glass of water into it and secretly puts the sodium polyacrylate into the cup. What's supposed to happen is that the sodium polyacrylate fully absorbs the water in 30 seconds. Rudy didn't wait long enough, causing a spill of a blue clumpy substance all over the table. Rudy's parents try comforting Rudy, but Rudy makes an additional mistake by revealing his trick. Sylvester says that Rudy should repeat it after the desert, but Rudy says he only brought one packet of the compound. Rudy excuses himself to the bathroom. While heading there, Rudy starts crying, but instead of going to the bathroom, he flees the dinner sobbing.
After some time, Rudy slows his pace and walks instead. He meets a woman who asks if he's okay, but Rudy doesn't answer and moves on. Rudy arrives at the Belcher's restaurant and home and sees the Belchers in the restaurant. Louise notices Rudy outside. Linda opens the restaurant door, and Louise asks why Rudy isn't at his dinner. Rudy lies by telling Louise that it didn't happen and that his parents dropped him off here, so Louise says he can have dinner with them now.
Inside the Belcher home, Gene and Rudy look at the baked potato lasagna Gene suggested they'd make for his special dinner. Linda is setting up the table while Tina and Louise are waiting at the table as Bob comes up after he finishes cleaning up the restaurant. Linda takes the lasagna out, and Gene begins a toast. Gene asks everyone to describe the dish in one word. Rudy plays along but accidentally reveals that he was at dinner with his family. Linda asks if his parents know where Rudy is, and Rudy lies again. When Linda suggests she calls his parents to make sure, Rudy stalls. Linda calls Rudy's dad, and the episode goes back to Rudy's family dinner, showing his parents being concerned about how long it's taking Rudy to finish going to the restroom. The call went to voicemail because Rudy's dad didn't know Linda was calling him, but Rudy made an excuse to leave. Linda and Bob ask why, and Rudy reveals he ran away from his family dinner because of what happened with his magic trick. Bob suggests they try to call Rudy's parents again to let them know Rudy's okay. He also offers to drive Rudy back, which Rudy accepts. Rudy starts crying again and leaves the dining room to wait for Bob.
As Bob tries to find the car keys, Rudy sits on the stairs while Linda comforts Rudy. When Bob finds the keys, Louise suggests she should walk Rudy back to the restaurant alone. She also says she should accompany Rudy to dinner, and Rudy happily agrees. Bob and Linda allow Louise to go with Rudy. Linda and Bob give Louise $8 to pay for her dinner before calling Rudy's parents again to tell them that Louise will be coming.
As Louise and Rudy walk to the restaurant, Louise asks Rudy what they serve at Plate and Fork. Linda and Bob look at them from the window, but the parents return to Gene's lasagna dinner after Gene calls them. Louise also asks what trick Rudy is trying to do. They start devising a new one they could do at the dinner since his first one failed.
Rudy and Louise return to the restaurant, and Rudy hugs his mom and dad. Rudy's mom asks a waiter to bring another chair for Louise. They all return and sit at the table.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "The Amazing Rudy" on IMDb
- "The Amazing Rudy" press release via The Futon Critic
- "The Amazing Rudy" script via Springfield! Springfield!
| Season 14 Episode Navigation | v • t • e | |
|---|---|---|
| Fight at the Not Okay Chore-ral • The Amazing Rudy • The Pickleorette • Running Down a Gene • Bully-ieve It or Not • Escape from Which Island? • The (Raccoon) King and I • Wharf, Me Worry? • Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse • The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas • Mission Impossi-Bob • Jade in the Shade • Butt Sweat and Fears • The Big Stieblitzki • The Right Tough Stuff • To Catch a Beef | ||
| ← Season 13 | See also: Episode Guide | Season 15 → |