Purple Rain-Union

Last updated
"Purple Rain-Union"
Bob's Burgers episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 6
Directed byTyree Dillihay
Written by Loren Bouchard
Nora Smith
Production code3ASA15
Original air dateDecember 1, 2013 (2013-12-01)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Turkey in a Can"		Next →
"Bob and Deliver"
Bob's Burgers season 4
List of episodes

"Purple Rain-Union" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 51st episode, and is written by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith and directed by Tyree Dillihay. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 1, 2013. [1] The title of the episode is a reference to the song, film, and album Purple Rain by Prince.

Contents

Plot

Linda's high school reunion is coming up, and the planner has asked her and her high school band, The Tatas, to play. Linda refuses because the group's debut performance at the talent show was a disaster after they were shown up by another girl band, Bad Hair Day, who went on to achieve industry fame. It is so traumatic that Linda likewise refuses to even attend the reunion, as her classmates booed and humiliated her off the stage. Bob is relieved not to have to go. However, while singing in the shower, Linda regains her passion for performing and gets the band back together: her former high school friends and her sister, Gayle. However, Gayle only agrees to play with them if she is finally allowed to sing one of her songs; Linda never allowed her to sing her songs during their high school days because they were always very sexual and Gayle had a speech impediment. Linda agrees and further convinces Gayle to come by telling her that her high school crush, Derek Dimatopolis, will be there.

Linda and the Tatas rehearse, writing numerous revenge songs about the classmates who humiliated them. On the night of the reunion, Bob is dismayed to find he has an enormous pimple on his face. Linda hires a babysitter, Jen, for the evening, upsetting Tina, who expected to babysit that night. At the reunion, Linda is excited to perform until, last minute, she is told that Bad Hair Day will be performing first, the band being in town for a big concert and agreeing to drop in for the reunion. Back at the apartment, the kids try to force Jen to take them to the reunion so they can see Linda perform. Jen refuses, but the kids learn of her secret weakness: she is very ticklish. Tina threatens to tickle her into submission, but Jen freaks out and accidentally punches Tina, giving her a black eye. Worried that she will be fired for this, Jen is despondent. Louise proposes that they won't tell if Jen takes them to the reunion, and that they all give one another black eyes so that no one will be suspected of anything (which the rest of them go along with, despite having reservations). Meanwhile, Bob tries to hide his pimple, but it becomes the excited focus of Derek Dimatopolis, now a dermatologist, and several other attendees who work in similar professions. They convince him to have a good time and help him accept his pimple as something unique and unusual.

Bad Hair Day's performance is a success, and Linda, irritated, snaps at Gayle, telling her that they won't be playing any of her songs. Gayle is hurt and refuses to play with the band. As The Tatas get ready to perform, Linda has a flashback to the humiliating night of the talent show and flees the stage, crying. As she runs down the street, Jen and the kids see her and Jen convinces Linda that even if her band is bad, she should perform because she loves it, just as Jen acknowledges that she is a terrible babysitter, but that she loves doing it. Linda returns to the reunion and apologizes to everyone and to Gayle. Rather than singing any of their revenge songs, she invites Gayle to sing her song: a very sexual ode to Derek, who uncomfortably watches from the audience. The song is a rousing success and their classmates cheer. As they drive home, Bob and Linda remark on the good time they had, though the kids insist on popping Bob's pimple, which they succeed in doing, to his disappointment. Bob asks where Gayle is, and Linda states that Gayle found a ride home: after being enticed by her song, Derek and Gayle are hooking up in the back of his car.

Reception

Pilot Viruet of The A.V. Club gave the episode A−, saying "Purple Rain-union” was undoubtedly Linda's show but the rest of the Belchers were in fine form tonight, too. The children were stuck with terrible babysitter Jen and this especially annoyed Tina who had gotten used to her role as babysitter. That montage of the children punching each other so they’d all get black-eyes (what perfect/destructive childhood logic!) interspersed with Bad Hair Day's rock n’ roll performance was an episode highlight. Meanwhile, Bob's pimple has him regress back to hating high school but in the adult world—or really, the dermatologist world—the pimple makes him oddly popular and he ends up enjoying the reunion he dreaded going to (the alcohol helps too, I'm sure). That shot of him cheering for Linda was very sweet; I love when Bob’s Burgers shows how endlessly devoted Linda is to him and I love it even more when it's Bob's turn for a similar gesture. And Linda definitely deserved it." [2]

Robert Ham of Paste gave the episode a 9.3 out of 10, saying "Something that came to mind while watching this episode is that while I’m still grateful that Fox has given Bob’s Burgers a chance to thrive on their vaunted Sunday night schedule, I almost wish they were on a network that let them play things out over a full half-hour with no commercial breaks. As undeniably great as the show is, it seems to whizz by between the ads, and is then over before you realize what hit you. Jokes sometimes don’t get enough time to sink in and you don’t get a lot of quiet moments. Sure, they’re filled with some amazing songs and gags and one-liners, but a little breathing room would be much appreciated." [3] The episode received a 1.6 rating and was watched by a total of 3.39 million people. This made it the fourth most watched show on Animation Domination that night, losing to American Dad! , and repeats of Family Guy and The Simpsons with 3.54 million. [4]

Related Research Articles

Bob's Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who run a burger restaurant and often go on adventures of many kinds. The show premiered on January 9, 2011. The series was conceived by Bouchard after he developed Home Movies. Bob's Burgers is a joint production by Wilo Productions and 20th Television Animation.

"Art Crawl" is the eighth episode of the first season of the animated television series Bob's Burgers. The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 20, 2011.

"Burger War" is the tenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Bob's Burgers. The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 10, 2011.

"Dr. Yap" is the sixth episode of the second season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 19th episode, and is written by Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu and directed by Anthony Chun. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 29, 2012.

"Beefsquatch" is the ninth and final episode of the second season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. The episode premiered on May 20, 2012, in the United States on Fox. In the episode, Bob appears in a cooking segment for a talk show. He appears alongside Gene, and they become rivals when Gene makes fun of Bob around other people.

"An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal" is the fifth episode of the third season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. The episode originally aired on November 18, 2012, on Fox, drawing an audience of 3.94 million viewers.

"Mother Daughter Laser Razor" is the tenth episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 32nd episode, and is written by Nora Smith and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 6, 2013.

"Broadcast Wagstaff School News" is the 12th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 34th episode, and is written by Greg Thompson and directed by Jennifer Coyle. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 27, 2013.

Topsy (<i>Bobs Burgers</i>) 16th episode of the 3rd season of Bobs Burgers

"Topsy" is the 16th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 38th episode, and is written by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith and directed by Tyree Dillihay. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 10, 2013.

"Boyz 4 Now" is the 21st episode of the third season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. Written by Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux, the episode features guest appearances from actors Max Greenfield and Jack McBrayer and comedian Tig Notaro. Its main plot sees Louise Belcher becoming aghast to find herself developing a crush on a member of the boy band Boyz 4 Now (Greenfield), after she reluctantly attends one of their concerts with her sister Tina. In a subplot, Gene Belcher qualifies for a regional competition in tablescaping, an activity involving the setting of dining tables based on a selected theme.

"Fort Night" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. The episode, written by Mike Olsen, is the series' second Halloween special, and features guest appearances from comedians Aziz Ansari and Molly Shannon. Its plot centers around the Belcher siblings – Tina, Gene, and Louise – getting trapped in their makeshift fort on Halloween with their friends Darryl (Ansari), Andy, and Ollie, all the while being tormented by Millie (Shannon), a psychotic classmate of Louise's who refuses to send any help. The children must try to escape the fort before trick-or-treating commences at night.

"Turkey in a Can" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 50th episode, and is written by Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Boohwan Lim and Kyounghee Lim. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 24, 2013.

"Presto Tina-o" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 55th episode, and is written by Kit Boss and directed by Chris Song. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 12, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frond Files</span> 12th episode of the 4th season of Bobs Burgers

"The Frond Files" is the 12th episode of the fourth season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. Written by Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux, the episode sees Bob and Linda Belcher visiting a Wagstaff School exhibition entitled "Why I Love Wagstaff." Noticing that their children's reports are missing from the exhibition, they confront school guidance counselor Phillip Frond, who gives them the discarded reports to read for themselves.

"The Kids Run Away" is the 19th episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 64th episode, and is written by Rich Rinaldi and directed by Boohwan Lim and Kyounghee Lim. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 27, 2014.

"The Gayle Tales" is the 13th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 80th episode, and is written by Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux and directed by Ian Hamilton. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 1, 2015.

"Itty Bitty Ditty Committee" is the 17th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 84th episode, and is written by Holly Schlesinger and directed by Bernard Derriman. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 26, 2015.

"The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 94th episode, written by Nora Smith and directed by Tyree Dillihay. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 17, 2016. When Bob throws a dinner party to bond with his new friend, Gayle uses the opportunity to introduce the family to her new love interest. Little does Gayle know, Louise, her niece has a long-standing feud with Gayle's date and will stop at nothing to break them apart. Calamity ensues as Bob attempts to impress his new buddy and the kids take action.

"There's No Business Like Mr. Business Business" is the 10th episode of the seventh season of the American animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the 117th episode overall. It was written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux and directed by Tyree Dillihay. Its guest stars are Megan Mullaly as Linda's sister Gayle and John Oliver as Ian Amberson. It originally aired in the US on FOX Network at February 19, 2017. In this episode, Bob is skeptical about Gayle's cat Mr. Business having a career in showbiz, until it looks like the cat could have his big break.

References

  1. ↑ "Bob's Burgers Episode Guide 2013 Season 4 - Purple Rain-Union, Episode 6". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  2. ↑ Wilkins, Alasdair. "Bob's Burgers: "Purple Rain-Union"". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  3. ↑ Robert Ham. "Bobs Burgers Review: Purple Rain-Union (Episode 4.06)". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  4. ↑ "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. 2013-12-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.