Tina Belcher Can't Drive

Because Bob's Burgers is not the ratings juggernaut it deserves to be, I feel it is incumbent upon me, as someone who has recognized its genius right from the start, to spread the show's gospel. But I have, historically, had a hard time explaining why Tina (voice of Dan Mintz) is the show's best character...until last night's episode made it clear in a scene that literally made me laugh harder than, I think, any other thing I've seen on television this year.

I mean, I hope the scene is funny to you even if you've never seen the show before. Those of us who've been watching know why it's disastrous for Bob (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) even to suggest that Tina try driving: of all the Belcher kids, Tina is by far the most timid. But even if you don't know that Louise (voice of Kristen Schaal) would have driven Bob's car into the other one on purpose and without hesitation, and that Gene (Eugene Mirman) would have figured out a way to steer the car with his butt, the scene economically conveys that Tina's ill-suited for this adventure by having her not just fail to catch the car keys Bob tosses her: she doesn't even try. And even once she very reluctantly agrees to try driving, the scene encapsulates Bob and Tina's whole relationship in less than a minute, as Bob's "Fun Dad"-like encouragement quickly turns to mounting agitation, while Tina's anxiety manifests as total paralysis. That he has even suggested letting her drive without a license demonstrates that he doesn't get her on a fundamental level, but Tina doesn't even register what a big deal Bob thinks this is because she's so much in her own head.

Tina has established herself as the Belcher family wallflower, engaged in private pursuits: secretly taking up capoeira (for erotic reasons); writing (erotic) fan fiction -- and, when that gets boring, what she terms "friend fiction"; fantasizing about making "special friends" with an animatronic shark and with any number of sexy zombies.

Even though she's the eldest kid, her gentle manner makes it easy for her younger siblings to manipulate her.

But, like Marge Simpson, some of Tina's best moments come when she acts out of character -- for instance, when she falls in with a "bad girl" at school and starts sassing off at home, awkward though her sassmouth may be.

What makes Bob's Burgers such a gem is that all its characters -- even tertiary ones like the recurring arts & crafts store owners, cops, and Bob's antagonist Jimmy Pesto (Jay Johnston) across the street -- are so carefully drawn; the situations producers put them in can be deceptively simple because the comedy comes from the characters. But even in a field crowded with excellence, Tina stands out for being so exceptionally unexceptional.