Bob Belcher: Set Up, or Just Failing?

Welcome back, Fanaticals! Yesterday, we talked about the theory that Fanny was a part of the set up to get rid of the Fischeoder brothers in the movie. Today, we will be looking into another possible set up; but is it for failure? I made a shout out yesterday to the couple that owns our local coffee shop, and I will definitely shout them out again for today's theory!

Personally, for me, it’s been really hard to find a lot of family-friendly theories in regard to Bob’s. This is where I really love exchanging theories with this couple because they have had eyes on some theories I never even saw online in my research. The two for today I personally think are super plausible, honestly, and focus a lot around Bob and the restaurant itself. The biggest question today seems to be, is Bob being set up to fail or is it on himself? Let’s jump on in!

Someone is Paying Off Hugo

While Hugo’s vendetta against Bob for taking Linda from him makes sense and is quite obvious, it also feels like there is something much deeper going on behind the scenes. There is honestly no way that the restaurant is really so bad that Hugo can fill his entire notebook up that much and that often unless he is a perfectionist who demands that everywhere else be perfect too. Trust me, that episode with Bob’s birthday when Hugo forced him to eat a wrap when they take him to Wrap-topia is proof enough that there are place A LOT worse than Bob’s!

We theorize that despite Hugo having a vendetta against Bob, it is that vendetta that FUELS the likelihood that he is willing to be paid off to try and shut him down. The real question is who is the one paying him off? We’ve narrowed it down to two options: Jimmy Pesto, and Calvin Fischeoder. I’m going to explain why these two are the most likely culprits.

Jimmy Pesto

You can’t deny that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pesto was the one paying Hugo off. Jimmy and Bob have the biggest competitive natures out of anyone, as Linda likes to constantly bring up their "peeing races". I can definitely see Jimmy finding out about Hugo's deep-seated hatred for Bob, and deciding to pull him into his corner to shut Bob down which would give Jimmy a leg up to get rid of the competition for good.

This can also be backed by evidence from a very early episode, as in Season 1, Episode 11, Hugo shuts the restaurant down to fumigate due to a mold infestation. However, at the end, Hugo is sitting at the bar in Jimmy's when Bob sees the green mold there and he casually states that a little bleach will take care of it. It shows that Hugo is much more relaxed with Jimmy, which many could contribute to the sole fact that he doesn't have a vendetta against Jimmy; the casual way he is drinking and makes an offhanded comment makes you wonder if there is something more than just his hatred for Bob taking Linda. This could be the fact that Jimmy pays Hugo to try to take Bob out once and for all.

Another episode that could support this is Season 7, Episode 4, when Hugo uses Bob to take down Bob's new meat supplier due to selling horse meat. While Hugo hints that he used Bob because Jimmy is an idiot, if Jimmy is paying Hugo to make sure Bob gets taken down then he could have easily used that as an excuse to cover his tracks because he would rather Bob help catch the non-FDA approved meat supplier and get taken down at the same time.

The last piece of evidence that Jimmy is the one paying Hugo off, also ties into the theory of Calvin paying Hugo off: Season 1, Episode 10 "Burger War" when Jimmy wants to take over the restaurant and make it a gift shop for his own restaurant; Calvin backs Jimmy in doing this! Taking note of that, let's look into why it is actually Calvin paying Hugo off.

Calvin Fischeoder

Not only do we have the fact that Calvin backs Jimmy making Bob's place a gift shop, but in that episode, he is on the fence about renewing Bob's lease. However, when he eats the Meatsiah that Bob so painstakingly made for him to try (after already choking on a burger once), he chooses to let him stay. But we all know that as Bob struggles to meet rent on time, Calvin most likely starts to view him as a problem tenant. However, if Bob isn't really breaking the lease he clearly chooses not to take action and try to break it.

Although, if a food place gets shut down by the Health Inspector now Calvin has a legal reason to say bye-bye. Grant it, as a Landlord, Calvin could probably easily find a legal reason to not renew the lease or just decide that he didn't want to in general. However, after we find out from Jairo when he is in the building directly next door to Bob's that Calvin also owns that building and you think about all the different businesses that are in and out of there, it makes sense why Calvin wouldn't just want to kick them out but rather have a solid reason to try to replace Bob instead. Having a Health Inspector in your pocket that is actively trying to shut the place down would be a viable theory.

Bob Hates Money

This was a very interesting one that our friends pointed out to us, and after she started talking more about it, I could see the theory forming and the proof behind it. I know it sounds really weird, but hear me out; Bob either hates money, or is somehow "allergic" to it. You know how in shows characters will joke that someone is "allergic" to being faithful or something like that? This is a similar analogy, and here's why it's plausible.

Every time Bob has an opportunity to make money, he either throws it away or ignores it. Case in point with Warren Fitzgerald, when he gave Bob all that money and the main thing that they did was change the decorations; it brought in A LOT of customers, but yet Bob hated it! Why? Because it wasn't HIS idea! Despite the fact that it brought in money, Bob has a specific vision for his restaurant and even though Warren's idea makes money, it wasn't BOB'S idea, so he immediately dismissed it as a failure. We see stuff like that happen in Gorden Ramsay's show "Kitchen Nightmares" as well! Some of those restaurant owners had a specific vision for their place. When Gorden came in to make improvements to boost their income and bring new customers in, some of them changed things back in the end. Many of those instances resulted in closures within six months or less. This is exactly what happened with Warren and Bob.

Another example is when Mort lends Bob the suit for court. When he returns to the restaurant, several businesspeople come in and sit down to eat; getting Bob to sit with them as he is mistaken for a random customer. Bob NEVER corrects them! However, in the end when he must hand the suit over to the worker taking the toilet back to King's Head Island, it's very noticeable that he doesn't go out and try to get a nice suit for himself to bring those fancy business customers back. It was a solid way to start getting some new regulars, and maybe a few times a week Linda would have to put up with doing EVERYTHING and not just being a waitress.

These episodes show that either Bob really hates money despite desperately wanting to be a successful and rich eatery, or he doesn't actually want to be that successful; he is "allergic" to money and success, which can also constitute for his rivalry with Jimmy. Not to mention how he regularly has zero issues and gives very little protest to shutting the restaurant down when the family decides they have something better to do; something there are way too many episodes with proof in showing this that I don't want to go through and list them all.

All in all, these are super sound theories that I would have never noticed until they were pointed out to me. After going back and rewatching the show for the millionth time, I saw a lot of supporting proof behind this. While it might seem the opposite of what you would think a goal would be, self-sabotage isn't unusual, and it honestly gives a feel of real life to the show.

What do you think? Is Bob self-sabotaging? Is it because he is stuck that his ideas will succeed in their own? Come join our community and tell us what you think! Join us tomorrow for the final Bob's Burgers week post, and until then, keep on theorizing Fanaticals!