Kyle’s Thoughts

“They Serve Horses, Don’t They” is a more character-driven version of the Bob’s Burgers pilot “Human Flesh.” It offers a cohesive story built on years of the show and a lot of laughs. It’s difficult for me to discuss “They Serve Horses, Don’t They” without revealing some of the plot—although you can guess what the show’s about based on the episode’s title—and comparing it to “Human Flesh,” so you’ve been forewarned.

While “Human Flesh” presented a ridiculous premise of Bob serving human meat instead of beef (a lie Louise started to make her family’s business more interesting in show-and-tell), “They Serve Horses, Don’t They” has Bob serve actual horse meat to his customers. Unlike “Human Flesh,” “They Serve Horses, Don’t They” grounds its situation in the show’s characters.

Tina loves horses and freaks out when she discovers that the restaurant’s butcher is giving them horse. Bob orders from a shady butcher because he wants to make money and compete with Jimmy Pesto. Jimmy goads Bob into using a backdoor butcher. Throw in a Teddy who grows accustomed to the horse meat and Hugo who wants to make a name for himself as a food inspector, and you get one satisfying episode.

The situation gets out of control, but “They Serve Horses, Don’t They” earns its laughs. I’m glad Bob’s Burgers has given us an episode that doesn’t focus on one character. While I like the show’s single character episodes, we need to see shows that engage multiple characters.

Thanks for reading.