The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover

"The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover" is the 6th episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 94th episode, and is 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 she know, Louise has a long-standing feud with Gayle’s boyfriend and her niece will stop at nothing to break them apart. Calamity ensues as Bob attempts to impress his new buddy and the kids take action.

Plot

Phillip Frond confiscates an Abumi-Guchi grabber from Louise; she is not amused. Teddy gets jealous when Bob invites his new "man crush," Steve (and klepto son, Zander) to a dinner party for Gayle. She is celebrating a landmark: her first ever 2d date with the same man! And, as it turns out, Mystery Date has quite a yarn for Gayle. It is an age old recipe of rib roast, robbery and rage, with a ragout of recycling and remorse. But what will land on the menu when the Belcher kids guess who's coming to dinner?

Reception

Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A-, saying, "“The Cook, The Steve, The Gayle, And Her Lover” is a fine way to kick off 2016, as the show keeps things nice and straightforward and focused on the Belchers. What’s so fun about the show at this point in its comedic evolution is that it can do an unabashed Belcher episode that also heavily features two of the show’s weirdest characters and two previously unseen people, one of whom is intentionally an incredibly boring non-entity, for all that Bob loves Steve so. At the end of the day, Bob’s Burgers can always just go back home to the Belcher household and get laughs from having the characters bounce off of one another, especially when Louise and Bob are making fools of themselves in pursuit of what they want and the other three family members are content to just wisecrack. Well, at least until Tina had her climactic filibuster at the end there. Never before has the show been so eloquent."^[1] Sean Fitz-Gerald from Vulture gave the episode a positive review by saying, "It was, overall, the best welcome-back present viewers could ask for from Bob's, a tried-and-true premise that traipses into hilarious new territory. Love is at the forefront and all of the show's other strengths (wordplay, slightly blue humor, and timing) serve as strong reinforcement pillars."^[2]

The episode received a 1.0 rating and was watched by a total of 2.26 million people.^[3]

References