Acting

Acting games require players to mime or mimic something. Charades is the most famous games that includes acting, where one member of a team must use non-verbal clues to help their teammates find the solution.

Bluffing

Bluffing games have players use deception to accomplish goals. All bluffing games have an element of hidden information.

Flash: “Attack on Central City”

Jim’s Thoughts

I acknowledge that swiftly-cobbled-together relationships are part of The CW. I don’t like them, and they’ve been a constant negative for me ever since I started watching these shows, but I don’t really want to harp on it every single week. “Attack on Central City” offered a heavy helping of that, but the problem is it didn’t offer much of anything else.

Last week’s setup did a good job of building toward a satisfying finish, but the momentum here was squandered. Seeing Jessie and Wally put together their relationship, which will apparently start off with them living together, didn’t do much but take screen time. The same can (and should) be said for Cisco chasing down Gypsy.

The only action in early acts was based on Grodd using an Air Force general to try to launch nukes. In the interest of fairness, I may still be rinsing the taste of last season’s Arrow nonsense out of my mouth, but I feel like threats of nuclear missiles should be nixed in movies and TV shows in general. There’s no way to do it that isn’t a cliché at this point. It feels lazy. All of that without taking into consideration that no one military officer has the power/ability to launch a nuke. That’s reality, but even in the shared universe of the show, you’d think they’d be careful after Felicity’s nuke incident on Arrow last year, so I’m calling double shenanigans on that.

The big confrontation in the end was a letdown. Barry’s “other way” was pretty straightforward and disappointingly anticlimactic. I guess I remember hearing Solovar wasn’t killed before, so maybe it isn’t a cheat, but I feel it’s safe to say we were expecting a big Gorilla battle and we got a shoving match on the playground.

If nothing else, it looks like we may be getting back to the main story next week. I’m ready for that to happen, but I can’t say I’m feeling confident in how the show will execute things.

Kyle’s Take

Execution is key. Sure, diarrhea romance isn’t new to CW shows, but Grodd’s story, like the episode of Supergirl earlier this week, was rushed. Flash didn’t have any time to do more than have a shoving match on the silverback playground. If “Attack on Central City” omitted a large helping of romance, there might’ve been time for some tuft pulling or yo momma’s so wide jokes.

Last week’s setup was rushed. These two episodes were used to silence fans like me who wanted to see more Grodd. It was eye-candy. This entire season of Flash has been equal parts pandering and insulting. During the summer, Flash creators/show-runners told fans Dr. Alchemy would be one of two main villains in the upcoming season. Fans were excited. Alchemy would be the first non-speedster main villain. Well, he was gutted at mid-season for another speedster villain. That was the first of several Comic-Con sweet nothings.

Flash had also announced Mirror Master would be another villain and they winked at fans when asked if he’d be the other main antagonist. He was nothing but a villain-of-the-week. Then, Flash said Grodd would play a major role. I guess a two-episode arc is a major role, but when you consider Grodd was teased as another potential big-bad during the off-season, a two-episode arc is enough to make a true, Flash fan go ape-Grodd crazy.

Flash fans deserve more than another speedster villain as the show’s main antagonist, but I’ll try to focus on this week’s episode. “Attack on Central City” as a single episode worked okay—convenient with its necessary-to-conserve-time Solovar cheat, but okay.

Romance didn’t dominate airtime so much as take up prime real estate. In fact, the diarrhea romances in question only graced the screen 7-9 minutes. But romance bookended the episode. It’s the same problem Supergirl had with backloading romance every episode for three weeks. Don’t do that, CW. Vary your episodes’ openings and conclusions.

The CW should probably keep military issues off-limits for a while, too. Arrow, Supergirl, and Flash have had too many laughable discrepancies this season. Either avoid the topic or hire a military consultant.

Okay. “Attack on Central City” wasn’t all bad. I liked how the two Wells played off each other. There were some moments involving Harry (Earth-2 Wells) and how he reacted to Jessie staying on Earth-Prime that could have repercussions and/or reminded us of his brand of manipulative bastard. And this was the second time in three or four episodes where Joe West (Jessie Martin) rescued a scene with great comedic timing. Martin may not be in too many scenes but the ones he’s in, he steals.

It looks like Flash will get back to its main story next week, but I can’t get too excited for Savitar. Flash’s rogues’ gallery isn’t a collection of speedsters, just like Batman’s isn’t a parade of killer clowns in various shades of makeup. If I were to rattle off the top 10 Flash comic book villains of all time, there would most likely be two villains who share Barry’s power: Reverse-Flash and Zoom. They’ve been done. Flash deserves more variety.

I guess I can mark time until next year. Hopefully, the show vibes in a different direction.

Thanks for reading.

Oh. It looks like I may have to buy Jim an Earth-19 Friends Day Card. In case I forget, happy Friends Day, Jim.

Supergirl: “Homecoming”

Kyle’s Thoughts

There were plenty of things wrong with “Homecoming,” and I’ll get to those in a bit, but the episode managed to focus Supergirl’s attention on its main antagonist and added a new twist for Cadmus. If nothing else, this week’s “Homecoming” has done something the other CW superhero shows have been incapable of doing: keeping its story focused. Since praise is out of the way, let’s talk about the major problems with “Homecoming,” notably its pacing.

Most of what ills “Homecoming” originates from the story needing to be a two-episode arc instead of one. Daddy Danvers (Dean Cain) returns, the group welcomes him with open arms, and he starts to act funny and reveals himself as a Cadmus mole. Mistrust within the group wasn’t given a chance to grow. Each character reacted how one would imagine they would. Alex would never believe her father could betray her. Mon-El was skeptical from the start and convinced Winn, and later Kara, to question Daddy Danvers’s loyalty. J’onn J’onnz doesn’t realize until five minutes before the episode ends that he can’t read Daddy Danvers’s mind. All of that would’ve been fine if the events took place over two episodes. It was rushed.

“Homecoming” could’ve been a lot better had Supergirl not treat its viewers like they have ADD. Kara wouldn’t have done a 180 (in regards to how she viewed her Earth daddy) in ten minutes, Daddy Danvers could’ve been better at infiltrating, Winn could’ve been caught between Kara and Mon-El for thirty minutes, building tension, and J’onn J’onnz wouldn’t have looked like a damn fool. All those problems would’ve been fixed with two episodes.

Something that wouldn’t have been fixed would’ve been Supergirl going full CW and having romance/romantic entanglements trump everything else. The DEO is willing to forget logic and government protocol by giving Daddy Danvers security clearance after getting abducted and brainwashed by a terrorist organization for more than 15 years (note: security clearances lapse after 7 and you must reapply for one), but Mommy Danvers can’t go back to how things were because too much time had passed. It makes no sense.

The rest of the romances progressed as normal. Sanvers (Alex and Maggie) are still the show’s strength, Kara continues to keep Mon-El at bay (Mon-El questioning Kara’s Earth daddy didn’t help), and I’m still not used to Winn having a girlfriend. Supergirl must expand Winn’s ladylove beyond token, alien sex symbol.

That’s a lot of errors from this week’s Supergirl, and I haven’t even mentioned the dialogue, which is never a highlight of a CW show. I could mention it, but I just can’t. If you can look beyond all those shortcomings, “Homecoming” kept Supergirl focused and that’s something. It’s nice to see the show develop Cadmus as a big player and to have a CW show take a longer view with its main villains. That’s probably why I’m upset about “Homecoming’s” pacing. How can Supergirl be the CW show with the most focus and rush this story?

So long as next week’s episode isn’t filler, I can let these errors go but if the show fast forward Daddy Danvers’s return for a filler episode, I’m going to be upset. We’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading.

Legion: “Chapter 3”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Sorry about the late write-up; I’ve been dealing with an illness. Legion continues to be the cure for the common superhero show. It’s a prestige TV drama with the backdrop of Marvel’s X-Men. And it’s one of the best shows at exploring its main character.

Ptonomy Wallace (Jeremie Harris) can travel with others into David’s memories, but he and the folks he brings with him could get trapped. If the David Haller in the comics is any indication, someone probably will get lost, it’s only a matter of time. A large portion of Chapter 3, the climatic ending specifically, played out like a hybrid psychological thriller and slasher. It’s an unsettling blend.

One half of David’s memory work, that’s what Wallace calls his and his clients’ delving into dreams to search for what happened in the past, dealt with the monster he was. David’s forced to relive his drug addiction from the outside, looking in. He’s forced to see the damage he caused his ex-girlfriend, sister, and anyone else who got close to him. It’s a flashback, but it’s a clever flashback, a flashback that’s part of the current timeline because folks in the present are actively dealing with the past. I worry this could become a crutch for the show, but for now, it’s excellent.

The second half of David’s memory work disassociates David from the monster who terrorized the ones he loved. The angriest boy in the world stalks David and anyone foolish enough to travel his memories. At the episode’s end, Syd, Wallace, and Dr. Bird aren’t sure if what they saw was a memory or something else. I like this direction. I especially like how the episode disassociated David from this monster. It’s true to the comics and the character. And the stalker boy is unnerving.

I still love the positive language Legion uses for mental illness. David isn’t sick; his affliction is part of who he is. Going into this week we knew we’d see more of David’s past and it’s a crooked and perilous landscape. This isn’t just a show about mental illness but about how others treat them and how they treat themselves. The first three episodes have battled the stigma of mental illness. Kudos.

I do have one small gripe. Chapter 3 offered a little information about District 3. I would’ve liked less from dialogue and more from Legion showing us who these people are. It was a data dump, but it’s a start, and the main journey is through David’s past.

Legion is taking an exciting trip with its main character. So many superhero TV shows dive into the action and who’s on which side of an issue that they forget they’re leads are supposed to be real people. I hope it continues to treat the subject matter of mental illness with respect. Let’s hope the journey has more perils.

Thanks for reading.

For Sale

Kyle’s Thoughts

Auctions in games have faded in recent years but there are some neo-classics that used the mechanism. For Sale is such a game. Players take on the role of real estate moguls, trying to buy properties and sell them for profit. For Sale hit the market before the “Flip this house/business” craze and might be the kind of game “flipping” property fans could enjoy.

We’ve got two unique game phases to cover but before we do, let’s go over some technical jargon.

The Fiddly Bits

Players: 3-6 (Best with 5)
Play time: 10-20 minutes
Intended audience: 8+

Publisher: Uberplay and Eagle-Gryphon Games
Designer: Stefan Dorra
Year Published: 1997

Mechanisms:
Auction/Bidding
Hand Management

Quick rundown of gameplay

For Sale has three types of resources: coins, properties, and checks. In the first game phase, players use coins to obtain properties. When play transitions to the second phase, players sell their properties for checks. The player with the most money (combination of coins and checks) at the end of the second-round wins.

First Phase

Each player is given a certain number of coins (it’s the same value for each player but the quantity varies based on number of players). The properties are shuffled and properties equal to the number of players are dealt face up. It should look something like this.

Each property is valued 1-29. 1 is a cardboard box, while 29 is a penthouse suite.

Players choose who goes first. The rules say whoever lives in the biggest house goes first, but you can determine player order some other way.

Then, players take turns bidding on the properties. New bids must be higher than the previous highest bid. Any coins used in the auction process are lost for the game, and players can choose to pass at any time. Once every player but one has passed, whoever had the highest bid wins the right to choose which property they want first with the rest of the players choosing their properties in order, based on the size of their bids.

Once all the properties in the deck are depleted, play transitions to the second phase.

Second Phase

The second phase is like the first. Players set their leftover coins aside, they won’t be needed. Each player should have a hand of property cards.

These property cards will be used to obtain check cards. Check cards are valued from $0-$15,000.

After the deck of checks is shuffled, checks equal to the number of players are dealt face up. Players now take turns blind bidding on the checks. Each player chooses the property they want to use for the bidding round and places it face down on the table. Once every player has chosen a property, the cards are revealed. The player with the highest value chooses which check they want first with the rest of the players choosing the remaining check in descending order of property value.

Once all the checks in the deck are depleted, players add up the value of their checks and coins and whoever has the most money wins.

Review

I’ve heard great things about For Sale for years. Several critics have heralded it as the greatest filler game (short game to fill time in between longer games). Other critics have said it’s the best auction/bidding game of all time. It sounded like hyperbole. But darn if For Sale isn’t one of the best, if not the best, filler or auction game. It’s earned most of its hype.

It’s certainly the best buy low/sell high game I’ve ever played. It also does a great job of teaching relative value.

Relative value is an important, overlooked skill. Many newbies to For Sale will get in a bidding war win they see the big “29” card hit the table, even when the lowest property value is “23.” You could spend no coins and pick up the “23,” so you players don’t earn that much by spending half their coins for a card that’s 6 points higher than the lowest card available. Likewise, the cardboard box “1” isn’t always a bad play. I’ve picked up the cardboard box for zero coins, when the best card available was an 8 or 9. Each card has value.

You also must know when to use each property. The checks can be dealt in a cluster, too. When the checks vary from $0-$10,000, you may want to use a high-valued property. But when the checks range from $9,000-$11,000, that’s when you play the cardboard box.

For Sale has been out since 1997 (20 years since this review) but its contribution to tabletop games can’t be overlooked. Most auction games force new bids to beat old bids, but when For Sale was released, that wasn’t the case. Games prior to For Sale would allow for bidding ties and that slowed down gameplay. For Sale bids last less than a minute. Games with bidding ties had some bids last 5-10 minutes. That doesn’t sound like a lot but with multiple bids, those other games added at least an hour.

I like the artwork. I love how For Sale is one of the easiest games to teach. It’s one of my go-to games when I want to teach someone the mechanisms of auctioning, bidding, and buy low/sell high games. It doesn’t get the same buzz it once got, but For Sale is one of the best filler games available.

Time for me to hit the gaming table, so until we meet again, thanks for reading.

Arrow: “The Sin-Eater”

Jim’s Thoughts

After the disaster that was last week’s awkward “issue” episode, Arrow needed to come back strong. When I saw Cupid returning as one of the villains, I didn’t hold out much hope. With that said, this was a better episode than other Cupid appearances have resulted in, but nowhere near what was needed to right the ship.

The “Sin-Eater” theme was played heavily across the various storylines, and it’s beginning to look like the show has lost all interest in subtlety. This week, I think it was, more than anything, an attempt to tie the flashback scenes with the present, and kick sand over the fact that neither plot moved much.

If there’s any movement to speak of, it’s Ollie’s cover up being leaked to the press. On the one hand, it could be refreshing to see realistic consequences brought to the show, but they’re still leaning far too heavily on suspension of disbelief for that to work. Isn’t Quentin still deputy mayor? Why is he wielding a gun and fighting alongside Team Arrow unmasked? Ollie’s girlfriend has been fired and ruined because of Felicity hacking her? Wouldn’t an affair with the mayor already constitute a conflict of interest and seriously discredit her in the journalistic world? If they want to bring any realistic consequences to the table, these are questions they can’t keep answering with, “It’s based on a comic book.”

Maybe the biggest problem with the show is characterized by the preview for next week. Vigilante comes back, and it’s been so long since the show has had any focus, I’m having a hard time remembering where we were with that character.

It’s not the worst episode we’ve seen this season. Last week set that bar so low you could only hope to trip over it, but it’s more of the same.

Kyle’s Take

At least we can say “The Sin-Eater” wasn’t as bad as last week’s Arrow. The quality of CW superhero shows declines the later in the week you watch them, so I’ve been dreading Arrow. Jim saw this episode first, told me it was a Cupid episode, and I shuddered. Fortunately, it was easily the best Cupid episode. But that’s not saying much.

I vaguely remember Liza Warner and I don’t recall China White ever gracing the screen, but they managed to keep Cupid grounded. That’s a good thing. They were also over-the-top and, like Jim said, not subtle with the “Sin-Eater” theme, especially with Warner. That’s not so good. What’s worse is that if “The Sin-Eater” progressed the Prometheus storyline, it did so at a crawl. Prometheus’s mom sides with Prometheus. Big shock.

I’m still not convinced Prometheus is this season of Arrow’s end-game, but “The Sin-Eater” reinforced the notion that Arrow had to drop its flashbacks seasons ago. These flashbacks may as well feature McBain’s Radioactive Man (The Simpsons). The goggles, they do nothing.

And the flashbacks haven’t done anything in a while. Arrow’s flashbacks went from disorienting the viewer (okay) and putting them in Ollie’s mindset (good), to setting up Deathstroke (brilliant), to explaining any plot device (poor), to not serving any purpose and straining the present-day story to relate to them on a cursory level. Awful.

I laughed aloud when Arrow explained how Dinah had to wear Black Canary’s mask because she had to protect her identity and five minutes later Quentin Lance fought alongside the Green Arrow unmasked. You’ve gotta love Arrow’s situational logic. At least when the original Ghostbusters warned its characters against crossing their streams, it was done for comedic effect and the characters were still nervous when they were forced to do the thing they weren’t supposed to do. It’s bad when a comedy offers more realism.

If Arrow wanted to make Cupid a more palatable character, mission accomplished. But it hasn’t picked up enough speed for its finale.

Thanks for reading.

Flash: “Attack on Gorilla City”

Jim’s Thoughts

To get the negatives out of the way, this two-episode Gorilla City arc doesn’t appear to be doing much to advance the main plot of the season. Yes, there’s mention about changing the headlines in the future, so they’re not ignoring the main plot, but the connection feels tenuous.

Taking the episode at face value, it’s an entertaining start to the story. Grodd forces the show to dig deeper into its comic book source material, and that’s what got me into the show to begin with. Seeing Earth 2’s Harrison Wells was a nice throwback, and seeing him contrasted against “HR” had a nice payoff to it.

The action sequences were well executed, as was Gorilla City itself. Some of the shots looked like they could have been pulled from the panels of the comics themselves.

If I’m going to nitpick anything else from the episode, it’s got to be the lack of clarity in the powers between Barry and the dual Gorilla threats in the episode. To keep the fights competitive, they seem to be either nerfing Barry or overpowering his enemies a bit here.

There are a few plot points to pick on here, but this week gave us an entertaining installment. They’re still leaning too hard on romance stories, pairing off Wally and Jessie, Julian and Snow, but I’ve begun to expect that from The CW. All things considered, I think they accomplished an interesting setup for next week’s big showdown.

Kyle’s Take

“Attack on Gorilla City” was fun. If nothing else, it can hang its hat on comic book nostalgia and exciting action. I’d temper the praise with the main storyline not advancing, romance bubbling up in odd places, and a nebulous “something” dampening Barry’s powers. But this is the usual CW midseason lull and Grodd’s a great way to fight the doldrums. Unlike most episodes this time of year, this week’s Flash was enjoyable.

If I had to nitpick one other thing from the episode, it’d be the length of Grodd’s story. The visuals and narrative are ripped from the comic book, but that same comic took multiple issues to get through the story; Grodd gets two episodes. Grodd also plans an all-out invasion of Central City, much like Zoom last season, and Grodd still gets two episodes. Zoom received eight times as many episodes for a similar invasion. This story isn’t at warp speed, it’s at ludicrous speed.

I like how Flash kept Caitlin/Killer Frost in the forefront. It’s easy to do when Caitlin returns to Earth-2, but viewers are invested in her wellbeing and could maintain a level of tension with her wellbeing threatened.

The two Harrison Wells played off each other in interesting ways. The payoff was priceless.

I’ve come to accept the CW throwing in romance as much as it can, but Wessie (Wally and Jessie pairing) is bothersome. Flash suggested Wally and Jessie as a couple over a year ago, and hasn’t done anything with them. Why should we care about these two when Flash hasn’t cared about them for more than a year? There’s a right and wrong way to handle romance. How Flash handled Wessie is more the latter.

That sounds like a lot of negative, but I did enjoy “Attack on Gorilla City.” It’s one of the better CW superhero episodes that air this time of year, and I credit Grodd. Like Jim said, Grodd forces Flash to dig deep into its comic book source material. That’s usually a great thing for fans.

Thanks for reading.

Supergirl: “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”

Kyle’s Thoughts

We were spared Mon-El and Kara hooking up for one week by Mr. Mxyzptlk dropping in on the two before they could express themselves. “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” was filler but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. A lot of that comes from Mon-El and Kara making out at the end of this week’s episode. I don’t like the coupling. It’s forced, but at least Supergirl put in the time and I couldn’t stand the show wasting valuable closing minutes on Monra. Crap or get off the pot. It looks like crap but at least Supergirl can work through this Monra nonsense.

Who am I kidding? It’s the CW; Monra has just spread its wings.

I still like how Alex and Maggie’s relationship is being handled. Their romance is one of the best, if not the best, relationship on the CW. Maggie not liking Valentine’s Day had me concerned, but there’s a good reason for it that’s rooted in who she is as a character. I’m impressed with this aspect of Supergirl’s writing. Forget Monra. We need a name for Alex and Maggie. They’re both government employees who go by their surnames: Sawyer and Danvers. Go, Sanvers.

J’onn J’onnz didn’t have a huge part to play in “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk,” but Supergirl worked him in well. A sage piece of advice J’onn gave Kara played a role in the episode’s conclusion. I’m not going to say much else for fear of spoilers, but it’s a nice moment. I also liked how Supergirl kept M’gann relevant. If Arrow has shown us anything, it’s how a CW show can go months without a pivotal character and drop them in on a whim. Take a note from Supergirl, Arrow. It doesn’t take much to work in characters on a semi-weekly basis. J’onn missed M’gann and sent her a message. The exchange J’onn had with other characters worked on multiple levels.

Winn hooking up with an alien felt out of place, at first. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would do that and Supergirl shies away from bed hopping, but how the scenario played out rang true. It was more the alien female being forward with Winn. I liked how Supergirl didn’t sex shame the alien but it did show that a deeper connection is more rewarding. It’s a tightrope walk and the show handled it better than I would’ve expected. But still, it’s another romance. The CW has never met a romance it didn’t like.

Speaking of romance and getting back to Mxyzptlk, “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” focused on Mxyzptlk’s love for Kara. It’s a superficial love. I’m not sure Mxyzptlk could love anyone but himself and come to think of it, I don’t think Supergirl explained how he fell in love with Kara, besides saying the too easy he watched her from afar. It was nonsensical. But the trickster Mxyzptlk is nonsensical.

So, the Mxyzptlk story worked, for the most part. Mon-El hid how to banish Mxyzptlk from this plane, get him to say his name backward. That wasn’t out of character for him, but Supergirl didn’t do a good job of explaining how Kara could overlook Mon-El’s bloodlust. He wanted to kill Mxyzptlk. I also thought how Kara tricked Mxy into saying his name backward was too obvious, but the same can be said of many times Superman tricked Mzyzptlk. And the bigger takeaway is that Kara, not Mon-El, dealt with the problem.

There were plenty of visual treats in “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk,” too. Mxy pretended to be Superman and Aaron Burr, the man who killed Alexander Hamilton. Who knew there’d be a Hamilton reference? In fact, there were plenty of sly references about pop culture and comics throughout the episode. There was even an odd cameo by an ice sculpture Jor-El (Russell Crowe). “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” stretched the boundaries of what the CW can do and had fun.

I’ve been on record as not liking Monra (for all the reasons I mentioned before) but if Supergirl can stop ending every show with a Monra update, I’m okay with the coupling. Even if Supergirl can’t, the show is still the best CW superhero show going this year. And it’s not even close.

Thanks for reading.

Bob’s Burgers: “There’s No Business Like Mr. Business Business”

Kyle’s Thoughts

Don’t look know but “There’s No Business Like Mr. Business Business” was a Gayle episode. I’ll be upfront and say I don’t like the Gayle character. She mooches off her family, never tries to grow up, seldom thinks of anyone but herself or her cats who are just extensions of herself, and her voice is the most irritating voice on a show that has a mess of irritating voices. That said, there are few good, and even great, Gayle episodes. “There’s No Business Like Mr. Business Business” isn’t one of them.

I’ll start my analysis of this week’s Bob’s Burgers with something I liked: Bob connecting with Gayle’s cat Mr. Business. This isn’t the first time Bob spilled his soul to an unlikely source. He has a habit of projecting his feelings onto inanimate objects (like a turkey baster), but Mr. Business may be the first, unlikely, living being with which he’s had a heart-to-heart. It worked for me. I especially liked it when Bob got through to Mr. Business, changing the cat’s behavior. Mr. Biz disobeying Gayle at the end of the episode was fun, and more character progression than I’ve seen from Gayle in six seasons. But I guess Mr. Biz’s ten minutes add up to a lot more in cat minutes.

The kids and Linda’s storyline of eating cat food was relatable. Who hasn’t tasted one kernel of pet food or a pet snack? I don’t know of too many people making it a habit. Linda and the kids are making quasi drug deals at the end of the episode. That wasn’t as much funny as it was uncomfortable. To be fair, I was laughing.

Have I mentioned I don’t like Gayle as a character? Well, I don’t for all the reasons I mentioned earlier but she grates on my nerves more than other recurring characters, because she takes over episodes. Sometimes it’s funny. But she always overpowers an episode. What’s worse in “There’s No Business Like Mr. Business Business” is that she has a moment to make a change as a character and doesn’t take it. Oh! It’s as bad as my dog hacking up something and swallowing it. I winced at that moment. It physically hurt.

What makes Gayle’s failure to change even worse is that last week’s Bob’s Burgers had moments where Louise grew as a character. It’d been some time since Louise played something other than the mischievous child, but I would’ve traded dozens of Louise character building moments to not be subjected to the agony of Gayle. But hey, I may be in the minority or Gayle may be the character everyone loves to hate. Whatever the case I’m looking forward to not seeing Gayle next week. And even with a less than stellar episode this week, Bob’s Burgers this season is as solid as ever.

Thanks for reading.