Bob's Burgers in more ways than one has shaken the mold of the typical sitcom family. While its contemporaries in adult animation have fixated themselves on dysfunctionality and cynicism, the Belchers have made their mark with their humble living, less than traditional nature, and overall supportive atmosphere.
And while every Belcher embodies a unique family role, it's Linda Belcher is arguably the one who holds them all together. A matriarch of seemingly endless love and support, Linda is more than willing to do anything and everything for her kids. Sometimes, this means supporting some of their more creative ambitions. Other times, this means obsessing over her own ideals of what a mom is. Both cases will be in the spotlight today, as this list runs down 5 times Linda was the best mom, and 5 times she probably shouldn't have been near her kids.
10 Worst: She Pays Louise To Go To A Mommy-Daughter Seminar
Linda loves being a good mom. Or, to be more accurate, she loves the idea of being a good mom. When the strong independence of her kids conflicts with that, namely Louise, she tends to go a little overboard when trying to compensate. In the episode "Mother Daughter Laser Razor," Linda goes to extremes to bond with Louise, going as far as to pay Louise to go to a mother-daughter seminar with her.
While there, she gets a little competitive with Logan's mom, Cynthia, as both try to prove that they are the better, more loving mom, as their own kids are suffocated (literally in one scene) to the point of having to trick and trap their parents. No wonder Louise likes Bob better.
9 Best: She Gave Louise A Day Off From School
The tumultuous relationship between Linda and Louise hasn't always been a rocky road. In the episode "Thelma & Louise Except Thelma Is Linda," Linda is confronted with a difficult choice when Louise gets in trouble for pantsing a boy.
As it turns out, Louise was only doing it to defend another kid, as she was only lashing out against a bully. Actually being a little supportive of Louise's actions, Linda rewards her by giving her a day off school (instead of, like, in detention), risking her position as the Wagstaff bake sale leader.
8 Worst: She Taught Tina How To Avoid Doing A Book Report
Sometimes being supportive isn't always the best thing. In the episode "L'il Hard Dad," Tina struggles to do a book report, having barely touched the book as the due date nears. Learning this, Linda reveals that she herself never actually read any of the books she was assigned during her school days.
Instead of actually helping her read or learn about the book, Linda and Louise help Tina put on a performance that's so dramatic and generalized that it will definitely seem like she read the book without, you know, actually reading the book. If only every parent could be this supportive of procrastination...
7 Best: She Supported Her Kids Synchronized Swimming Scam
This one could almost come hand-in-hand with the previous point if it wasn't so constructive. In the episode "Synchronized Swimming," the kids try to get out of gym class but pitching the idea of "independent study" to Mr. Frond. The idea being that instead of regular gym, the Belchers and their friends would be participating in a synchronized swimming class.
For those who know these kids, it's obvious that there is no synchronized swimming class. In comes Linda Belcher, who, when the kids are nearly caught, volunteers to be their synchronized swimming coach, helping them arrange an actual routine for Frond and his committee. While not actually a real class, it's still probably better than PE.
6 Worst: She Tried To Make A Girls' Heroine Conference About Herself
In the episode "Grand Mama-Pest Hotel," Linda chaperones for a school field trip to visit a girls' heroine conference featuring a special guest speaker. However, along the way, she notices that Tina is trying to distance herself from her when she makes a new friend.
Instead of supporting her new friendship, Linda tries to get more involved by butting in on her fun, an obsession that leads to her shampoo bombing the hosting hotel's fountain. Not one to give up, Linda comes up with the brilliant idea of trying to get the special guest speaker to say that her main inspiration was her mother because her self-importance as a mother takes precedence over the actual education of those little girls.
5 Best: She Gave Louise A Slumber Party
Making unilateral decisions is often the root of any poor relationship. However, despite the superficiality and her own selfish desire to have a slumber party, Linda really was wishing for the best when she hosted a nightly get together for Louise and some of her classmates. Louise hasn't always been the most social or friendly person, which often has the adverse effect of making sure she has no friends.
Despite saboteur efforts from Louise herself, Linda's plan actually bears fruit, when Louise surprisingly makes friends with the one girl who stays (though not of her own volition).
4 Worst: She Babysat For Critter And Mudflap
While Linda is certainly an experienced mother, having raised the three little monsters that are the Belcher kids, that doesn't necessarily mean she has universal, maternal instincts. Case in point: In the episode "Wag the Hog," while the rest of the Belchers try to figure out a way to bust Critter out of jail, Linda is in charge of taking care of his and Mudflap's baby, Sidecar.
For whatever reason, Linda tries to pose as if Sidecar is her own baby and tries to blend in within a mother's seminar, not knowing that Sidecar is a little rowdier than even the Belcher kids. What ensues is a Texas Twister of a tantrum and Linda's balancing act of trying to act like she has everything under control.
3 Best: She Supported Gene On His Candy Tirade
This one's a little mixed given Linda' ulterior motives later on, but she gets major points given Gene's own rough history with focus. Having found out that his favorite candy, Chunky Blast Offs, had changed formulas, Gene aims to meet with its company board of directors to encourage a change.
Being a supportive mother and a lover of chocolate, Linda assists him with his journey, scoring more than a few free samples along the way.
2 Worst: She Forces The Kids Into A Boring Easter Egg Hunt
Showing that couples truly share everything, even moments of bad parenting, Bob gets to share Linda's spot on this one. Within the Belcher apartment for Easter, it is tradition to have the kids partake of an Easter Egg hunt to earn their Easter candy. However, Linda and Bob have a few side shenanigans goings, having competed every year to see who can hide their own eggs the best.
Such competition and excessive amounts of eggs lead to the kids' annual despair of having to spend the entire day foraging through the apartment, while their parents drunkenly try to sabotage their hunts.
1 Best: She Supported Gene's Baseball Career
Though he kind of looks the part, Gene is the furthest thing from being a young Babe Ruth. Struggling to keep up in baseball, Gene seeks out the help of a local baseball camp but finds that its rates are a little pricey. Willing to do anything for her kids, Linda was willing to sacrifice her other, porcelain babies to the pawnshop to be able to pay for his lessons.
And while the pawnshop would inevitably reject her porcelain babies due to their own surplus, it was still a nice gesture that would later see Linda selling off the restaurant's new espresso machine to pay off the costs. Again, we get to see Bob and Linda sharing a spot on this list, even though Bob may not have been expecting the generosity.