Bob’s Burgers is gearing up to return to Fox with a brand new season of the animated series, so it’s now the perfect time to look back on Season 15 and see which of the episodes are truly the best of the best. Bob’s Burgers has been renewed alongside Fox’s other adult animated hits for a massive four more seasons, and that means fans are going to be seeing the Belchers for a long time to come. But as demonstrated by this latest season, the show is clearly only getting better as more time has passed. Which is a very promising sign for the future.
Bob’s Burgers Season 15 was one of the strongest line ups for the show seen in many years, and each of the episodes has been strong in their own right. It made looking back on the season and ranking them from the weakest to strongest pretty tough, but here are each of the episodes from the season ranked in terms of the “worst” to the “best.” Overall, however, it’s been a fantastic season that you really should make sure to catch up on if you’re behind.
22.) Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon
Bob’s Burgers has some of the best Christmas episodes in all of adult animation, but unfortunately it wasn’t as strong with this season. “Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon” features another year where Bob and Linda are worried that they won’t be able to get the kids the particular game system they want, and the kids are uncharacteristically bratty when that happens. They’re usually much better troopers when it comes to making the most of the little they get, but this episode in particular sees them going the complete opposite direction and even rewards them with that game system later (with a wild third act reveal). And in a very strong season like this, that negativity just sticks out even more.
21.) The Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed
This season had to start somewhere, and that unfortunately is why its premiere ended up this low on the list. It’s a rather fun episode featuring the school as Tina discovers that Mr. Frond’s new game to reveal kid’s personalities was faked. It’s a fun Tina mystery with Mr. Frond being a reliable antagonist, but the rest of the season just goes that much further with their premises and character ideas. It’s not that it’s a bad episode by any means, it was just knocked this far back because of everything else that came later.
20.) The Shell Game
Mr. Fischoeder is one of the more divisive recurring characters within the series. His addition to a story automatically heightens it with a fanciful layer that takes the Belchers out of their more usually grounded lives, and that’s the case with “The Shell Game” when Bob finds out he’s competing for a tortoise. But the other issue with Fischoeder focused stories is that they also feel somewhat self-contained compared to everything else that happens. While this is a fun look into another aspect of the landlord’s life, it just doesn’t have the same level of fun or consequence we see in some of the truly great episodes of the season.
19.) Mr. Fischoeder’s Opus
But of the two episodes this season that focus solely on Fischoeder, “Mr. Fischoeder’s Opus” is certainly the more intriguing of the two. It also showcases a new look into the landlord’s life, but sees him dealing with a surprising rivalry as he wants to conduct a particularly tough music piece in the way he thinks sounds best. Bob ends up making it more difficult for him on the way there, but it has a very satisfying finale where we actually get to hear the piece in action. Not only was Fischoeder proven correct because his version sounds much better, it makes for a very memorable final few minutes.
18.) Mr. Safebody
Arnold (voiced by Damon Wayans Jr.) was first introduced to the series way back in Season 9, but it wasn’t until all these years later that he finally got a focus episode of his own. And that totally paid off as in order to promote his body guarding business, he enlists Louise and the others’ help to make it happen. It’s a fun kid focused episode where they deal with some much older bullies in a smart, but hilariously crude way. Isolating them onto an island surrounded by poop water, Arnold and the others manage to one up their bullies. It’s just a fun adventure that showcases that Arnold really could be incorporated into the regular rotation of the kids more in the future.
17.) Colon-ly the Dronely
It’s always fun to see Linda and Teddy team up for a story all on their own as Linda usually steamrolls his anxious nature. That’s exactly what happens here as when Teddy is very nervous about picking up Kathleen after her colonoscopy, he ends up preparing a great plan to do so but it all falls apart in that perfectly Teddy way. As Linda helps him, the two end up in some fun shenanigans that something only the two of them could find themselves mixed up in. It’s such a perfect Linda and Teddy pairing that always just pays off when we get to see it.
16.) Insomnibob
Serving as the final episode of the season, “Insomnibob” is a solid enough episode. It unfortunately silos Bob into his own story as he refuses to sleep and miss out on all that extra potential time, but it does result in some classic Bob hallucinations that come to a head towards episode’s end. It has a fun and catchy song about Bob refusing to sleep, and the kids end up flicking a pickle mural of their father on the outside wall. As a finale it’s not the most encompassing kind of episode that you’d hope to see after all of the other episodes, but it works.
15.) Like a Candle in the Gym
Fifth Grade Megan has been one of the best new additions to the character roster in the later seasons because of her belief in wild conspiracies, and that results in yet another great kid adventure as Louise and the others end up tailing Megan as she tries to get to the heart of a sweaty rumor they started. Sparked with a hilarious idea from Linda to get their family to walk (before it goes horribly wrong for her), and this was just a fun idea with lower stakes compared to some of the bigger episodes of the season. It’s one that will really be rewatched in coming years too.
14.) Advice Things Are Ad-Nice
Bob’s Burgers Season 15 was a very Tina heavy season, and this episode brought in more of her connection with Linda and Louise. When Tina ends up being a writer behind a secret advice column, her mom and sister decide to submit questions posing as a young teen who needs Tina’s advice. It ends up inspiring the kids at the school because of how they no longer feel like they’re alone, and Tina gets a big moment in the spotlight and avoids the embarrassment of her mother and sister being the ones answering questions all this time. It’s just a rather sweet ending.
13.) Saving Favorite Drive-In
It’s always great when we get to look into Bob’s childhood, but it’s surprisingly rare in the grand scheme of the show’s tenure overall. But “Saving Favorite Drive-In” is a fun look into one of Bob’s earliest crushes, and he spends the episode trying to save the Drive-In where he had a good memory of as a child. It’s a mission that is destined to end in failure from the very start, but it’s worth all of the anxieties throughout just to get this glimpse at more of how Bob ticks. His childhood is still full of a ton of gaps that the show needs to eventually fill as it continues, but this episode proves that even the smaller looks like these are great to get too.
12.) Snackface
It’s always a good idea to get the Belcher kids working on something together, and “Snackface” sees them illegally trying to sell a gross snack at school. It always leads to more chaos as soon as Millie gets involved as well, so it’s inevitable that Louise eventually goes too far and cuts her siblings out of it. Of course, it ends up that she needs their help in the way that only siblings can and it makes for just yet another fun Belcher kids story. That’s really when Bob’s Burgers truly shines, and that’s the case here for sure. Especially because their snack chip should hit shelves in the future too as it sounds just gross yet delicious enough to work.
11.) Don’t Worry, Be Hoopy
Another Tina focused episode is “Don’t Worry, Be Hoopy,” but this one experiments with the way it’s told. Deciding to reveal its events out of order through the perspectives of different Belcher family members, it’s an episode where Tina grapples with the fact that she’s suddenly good at a school basketball contest. It all leads to a big reveal about her past as she faces her anxieties head on, and it’s a good look into what makes Tina tick once more. But there are just more Tina episodes this season that handled that on a much more entertaining level overall.
10.) Boogie Days
Another great pairing that always pays off is when Bob and Louise end up in a story together, and “Boogie Days” takes that to a new level with the fun reveal that Bob actually loved to boogie board in the past. Traumatized by an accident that no one else really takes as seriously, Bob ends up passing that fear onto Louise unwittingly. But like many of their past great episodes together, Bob and Louise end up supporting one another through that anxiety and come out the other end of it much stronger as a father and daughter. Any episode that brings Bob closer to his kids is a great one.
9.) For Whom the Doll Toes
Gene and Louise is yet another rare pairing that always pays off thanks to their dynamic. Gene might be the older of the two, but Louise is much more protective of her kind and caring brother. She’s so embarrassed by something she finds out that she plans a full murder mystery with dolls to break the news to Gene, and it’s cute to see how far Louise is willing to go to not hurt her brother’s feelings (even if she’s just giving him bad news). But even more emotional is when Gene finds out, he’s not swayed by it as all thanks to his unwavering self-confidence. It’s also just a cool way for Louise to craft a murder mystery together (especially when seeing Tina so interested in solving it and playing along).
8.) Wild Steal-ions
Bob’s Burgers has explored Tina’s fiction multiple times in the past, but this episodes adds new elements of mystery and action to it. With her horse stories being held hostage, we’re introduced to a new character who was hoping to “free” Tina from her obsession to save her before she gets judged in high school. But ultimately, the journey ended up re-affirming to Tina that she should be free to pursue her interests despite the fact that others are embarrassed about them. It’s a strong message for Tina heading into the future, and thankfully reveals that she’s going to keep being the Tina she is.
7.) Dad-urday Kite Fever
Much like how rare it is to see into Bob’s past, it’s also rare to get more of his dynamic with his father. The series has made great strides to incorporate more of Bob’s father into the series after they promised to spend more time together, and it results in a great idea where Big Bob invites Bob and the kids to fly a kite after not getting the chance to do so years before. Bob ends up going on a wacky adventure chasing the kite across town (with a fun guest spot from Critter), and discovers that in trying his best to do better with his kids than his dad did, he’s falling into similar absentee patterns. It really is a hard hitting finale that all started from the most humble of beginnings. Something that this show really excels at.
6.) Don’t Stop Be-cheesin
When Tina ends up in the eighth grade wide cheesin’ contest, it starts a whole new battle royale type of game that Tina survives until its very last moments. You get the introduction of a new character who ends up being a cheese mastermind, but Tina also figures out that she’s much better suited for the game than she ever thought she was capable of. Much of the Tina focused episodes have a heavy emotional core, but the one that really stood out didn’t have much of that at all. It was just Tina having fun with the other kids and ending up with one of her biggest victories in the series to date. Go Tina!
5.) The Dead Bo-ats Society
The best Belcher kid episode of the season comes fairly late into the game, but it packs a wallop. As part of a bet with Bob that puts their free Saturday mornings on the line, Louise and the others decide to make the most out of one particular weekend morning by exploring a boat junkyard. There’s so much tension in the episode as not only are they facing off against the ticking clock, but there’s also a very terrifying dog that’s posing danger to the kids themselves. They are the only ones who can get themselves out of the situation, so you’re rooting for them to figure it out before it’s too late. It’s the best Belcher kid adventure of this season, and it feels like such a classic idea.
4.) The Place Beyond the Pinecones
Tina’s Thundergirl troop shenanigans usually result in some fun ideas, but this one really takes it further by highlighting more of Troop 257. Specifically bringing in Betsy Sodaro’s Patty and Sarah Baker’s Rena for much more focus ending up being an incredible idea. Pairing them up together with Tina as they need to escape a mysterious etiquette club for girls, the episode blends together bits of Horror with some very funny lines from the Thundergirls to make for just a fun watch. There are some lines here that are delivered in the funniest of the season overall, and proves that there’s still so much can be done with Tina’s Thundergirl stories.
3.) The Lost City of Atlantic
There are unfortunately only a select few episodes this season that have something to do for every Belcher family member within a single location, but “The Lost City of Atlantic” thankfully remedies this with a very creative way to do so. Bringing them to a casino that Linda’s grandfather once worked at, Bob ends up getting drunk and getting very intense about prime rib, the kids try their best to illegally gamble, and Linda not only meets a Great Aunt she never knew about but helps out in a robbery. It’s just such a creative premise for an episode that pulls everything off marvelously. All the while has such fun ideas for each of the Belcher family. It’s a near perfect tightrope walk that’s only beat out by two others.
2.) They Slug Horses, Don’t They?
This episode was the one submitted for Emmy nomination for a reason. Tina and Louise episodes always deliver as they explore their sisterly bond, but this one takes it to a whole new level. As the two argue and start to explore their feelings through their respective imaginary world, fans get to see this in motion through their childlike art. It’s one of the heaviest emotional resolutions in the season, and is one of the most memorable Tina and Louise episodes ever. The show is great when it comes to experimental art styles, and seeing more of that spirit in motion absolutely paid off here.
1.) Hope N’ Mic Night
“Hope N’ Mic Night” is simply one of the best episodes of Bob’s Burgers ever, really. The episode not only highlights the different members of the Belcher family, but also finds a way to highlight many of the best recurring characters as well through the songs they decide to sing during a new open mic night at the restaurant. The anchor of the episode is Marshmallow, and as the first real episode expanding on her character, Bob’s Burgers pulls off a highly emotional moment while still finding a way to end it all by giving fans a huge smile on their face. It’s just pure happiness packed into such a short runtime, and there’s no better episode this season.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
