Driving Miss Ragey Review
Warning: Road Rage is discussed. Proceed with caution!
Driving Miss Ragey was one of the most intense episodes I’ve seen so far in the 16th season of Bob’s Burgers. I love how the creators were able to tackle a difficult subject such as road rage and make it palatable for the viewers without going overboard with the destructive nature of how deadly road rage can be.
Linda and Nat in particular were definitely the main highlights of the show. We were able to explore a great side character and why they became who they were. It was kind of tragic to see Nat, someone who up to this point are positive influence on the Belcher family, especially Louise had such a negative/toxic work environment. It was hard to watch but also realistic on how someone can be pushed to edge with a boss that’s negative/disregard safety for their own employees. I love that the creators touched on this and made Nat positive and learn from there experiences, pushing herself to be better rather than bitter and stuck in the cycle of trauma that she experienced.
Linda also was able to confront her own road rage in how her life was with her mom (which we’ve been seeing a lot of negative experiences with her lately). We got to see how seeing her mom being such an angry person as a mother continues the cycle of anger/road rage continue. However, unlike her mom, Linda attempts to break the cycle after a near fatal accident with a bus. It shows self-awareness and how Linda wants to be better rather than continue the patterns to where she could end up in a bad accident/hurt someone down the line.
The showrunners did a good job representing how serious road rage can be and glad they were able to treat this subject with respect and dignity. Rather than shaming both Nat and Linda for there anger issues on the road, they get to the core root and how that affects them down the road. Showing how no one chooses to have road rage, it just happens but how they want to confront the issue and do better is what matters. Honestly recommend this episode to anyone who suffers from road rage.
The side plot of the kids sliding down the stairs on the mattress was entertaining. Despite this storyline being underdeveloped in my opinion, I do like how Bob, rather than go against what there kids do, joins them in the fun and bonds with them. Recently, we haven’t gotten an episode with Bob bonding with Tina, Gene, and Louise as it’s either one of the kids or is against them and the activity ends. However, Bob is spending time with his kids and I love that. I agree, he shouldn’t be bonding with them during work, but at least he made an effort and how he had trust in Teddy to watch the restaurant. Shows that there friendship is growing.
One thing I wish they did was explore more of Nat’s rage in the climax. We see how far she was willing to go to get even with her ex boss. While I understand why they had the incident of her being pushed over the edge to be a lesson in Linda confronting her reasons, I think there is still some under discussed trauma she went through and I wish the writers were able to expand on that since Nat is a beloved side character. This could’ve been a good opportunity to expand and give her layers rather than have this be a lesson for Linda. They could’ve done both but I understand why they did it the way they did so it wouldn’t be too dark and Nat intentionally trying to kill anyone (e.g. South Park: Butter’s Mom attempts to kill Butters over finding out about her husband’s possible affair.).
Overall this was such a fun/ important episode to watch and honestly my favorite episode of the season so far since the premiere.