Bob's Burgers - There’s No Business Like Mr. Business Business - Review: "Chumbawamba Money"

Last week, we saw one of Linda’s most adorable personality traits at work. She’s endlessly enthusiastic about anything her family is involved in, even the weird stuff like Bob’s and Teddy’s horrible hip-hop dance. This week explores the dark side of that trait in yet another episode about how Linda enables her sister, Gayle.

Gayle plots usually revolve around her crippling loneliness, obsession with cats, or some combination of the two. This week, we learn that she also borrows money at an alarming rate for everything from covering the cost of plates she broke to making Magic Bullet payments. Her latest venture is an audition for a cat food commercial.

A debonair cat agent told Gayle that one of her cats, Mr. Business, would be perfect as the new mascot for Chef Cat cat food. Gayle has already gotten his headshots and now needs more money for overnight delivery.

It’s not surprising which word Bob fixates on in that previous sentence. More. He didn’t realize that Linda was giving Gayle money to pursue Mr. Business’s dreams of stardom. He decides to march right down to the cat agent’s office and tell him off.

Of course, that didn’t go as well as Bob expected. He ends up getting charmed by the agent and his promises of $40,000 a year in residuals. Now Bob is 100% on board with making Mr. Business the new Chef Cat cat.

This is also a familiar plot for Bob’s Burgers. Bob picks up weird hobbies in almost every other episode. After some hesitation, he always commits to the activity even more than his wife.

The only problem with the plan is Mr. Business himself. Mr. Business is not a mellow cat. The second Gayle lets him out of his carrier, he mauls the cat agent. It turns out that only Bob can train Mr. Business to knock a spice jar over (something any other cat would be happy to do any time, any place). Bob is too distracted dreaming about those 40,000 dollars to realize this might be a useless exercise. He has a heart to heart with Mr. Business (perhaps encouraged by the allergy pills Bob has to take) and decides that the expressionless cat has the temperament for show business. Bob’s enthusiasm makes it sting even more when he finds out that the cat agent has dropped Mr. Business and is now representing Fluffy. And her cat, Jessica.

Bob storms out of Ian’s office, once he gets Gayle to understand that they’re storming out of Ian’s office. He vows to take Mr. Business to the audition and win over the judges/producers.

The new and improved Team Business arrives at the audition and Gayle doesn’t think Mr. Business is up to it. She believes he’s too anxious. Bob, who is fitting in well to his new role as stage parent, insists that the cat is fine. He gives the animal a very sad little pep talk, only to get mocked by Ian. The two get in a fight and, when he finds Mr. Business missing, Bob is sure the cat agent stole his new star.

Bob and Louise, Mr. Business’s self-appointed business manager, go look for the cat and find Gayle crying in a stairwell. Bob realizes he’s gone a little overboard in his quest to make Gayle more independent and accepts that she doesn’t want Mr. Business to take the audition.

Meanwhile, Tina is struggling to deal with her rampant cat food addiction. She quickly gets Gene hooked to the same stuff and suddenly all other food seems flavorless. The two try to keep their cravings in check, but the cat food audition is not a good environment for their newfound sobriety. They run to Linda for help, only to find her snacking on cat food herself. Gene is now at peace with his problem. There’s nothing you can do about genetics.

When Bob finds them all digging into the cat food, he freaks out, but immediately understands once he tries it himself. The family’s weird habit even allows him to get the last laugh over Ian and Jessica, who can’t eat the cat food without choking. Bob’s entire family can eat cat food without choking, and that’s something he’s going to count as a win.

Ultimately, this episode wasn’t anything memorable, but still a fun look at yet another one of the family’s strange adventures.

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments!