The Belcher Family: Jailhouse Blues or a Family Affair?

Welcome back, Fanaticals! I hope you enjoyed uncovering the layers of Bob with me yesterday. I do want to warn you that while today's theme is not actually dark in nature, they are a bit more of 18+ themes. Although, what else would you expect for a show that is called "Adult Animation", right?

Bob's is a huge comfort show in my household and, despite its adult themes and antics, my children LOVE it! This show can be found on repeat quite a bit. It is due to that fact that my household came up with this theory. I have seen some minor trails of it all over the internet as well, but nothing as in depth as what we put together. Let's take a dive and see if you agree, or if it just makes you laugh!

The Whole Family Will Wind Up in Jail

For one reason or another, someone is going to do something that will end up with one or more of the Belchers in the jailhouse. Throughout the choas of Bob's Burgers, there is a lot that happens that makes you wonder if actions don’t change, if someone will actually wind up in cuffs with Bosco. My household and I have picked this theory a part quite a bit and have broken down reasons why each member will end up in jail. We’re going to take a deep dive into each member of the family and break down what and why each member will potentially wind up behind bars someday; from most obvious to most surprising. Let’s go!

Tina

This one may or may not surprise you. There are a lot of theories behind Tina and her personality, including offhanded comments made by (mostly) Louise throughout the series. However, if we take away those theories (ones that we will dive into at a later date but make a lot of sense) then a lot of her actions could be considered chargeable offenses.

The major household theory is that one day she will wind up with a stalking or sexual assault charge. Part of the belief behind this has a lot to do with her lack of acknowledging social cues and personal space. The Family Fracas episode, Season 3, Episode 19, is a fantastic example of moments where Tina seems to let her words and actions get away with her as she is constantly in a semi-state of flirting and borderline harassment towards the other players who are boys of her age.

Other members of my household feel that her Erotic Friend Fiction is a good base for this as well; I, however, have a tendency to disagree as she keeps all of those stories in journals in her room. The only time that anyone outside the family hears them is in Season 2, Episode 8, when Tammy is first introduced and she chooses to read one out at lunch, or when she has to write a story for school like in Season 4, Episode 12 "The Frond Files".

All in all, if she doesn't wind up in jail, she will probably have a handful of Restraining Orders at least.

Linda

This one should honestly come as no surprise to anyone, the thought of her in the jailhouse. Especially to major fans who will remember in Season 4, Episode 19, Bob makes the comment to her that Louise gets her craziness from Linda's side of that family; Linda's only reaction is to cackle madly. We theorize that Linda will wind up in prison due to either an attempted breakout for her kids, or she flipped out on the wrong person and killed someone.

In Season 5, Episode 20, you see a little bit more of her crazy side, though my house says she is more frantic than crazy, I say it’s a bit of both. Not only does she terrify the poor man when asking to use his phone, but she scares the people in a car while she is trying to hitchhike back, to inevitably having two horses cower in the corner of the trailer; although that one could be chalked up to the fact that she had been sprayed twice by a skunk.

She seems to go off the deep end every now and then, too, when someone comes at her the wrong way; as you also see in the last referenced episode when she starts having issues with the “Chalk of the Town” coordinator. Her rivalry with Colleen Caviello gets heated a bit at times, too! When Linda sinks her emotionally charged hooks into someone, she does NOT let it go easily. We theorize that, honestly, it will be her snapping on someone that will be the most likely reason that she would end up in the Big House.

Let's also not forget the time she stole Bosco's gun and was waving it around the restaurant; if Louise hadn't called in a false tip to save her, she would definitely have been headed for the Big House that day! However, she had a second offense after that when she really WAS detained, and Bosco denied knowing her after she was waiting for Bob to bail her out for Public Defecation.

On the flip side, though, you also see her fierce Mama Bear side come out when someone goes against her kids. I definitely believe that if any of her kids went to jail and she believed it was a wrong against them, there is no doubt in my mind that she would go and bust them out of jail. She is definitely crazy enough.

Gene

While there's not a lot that Gene would really do that would get him into trouble, as he's probably the most "normal" of the whole family, we believe that Gene would wind up in jail for breaking some random law; most likely for dressing in Drag in a state where it's illegal (like Florida).

Gene is one of the more unique characters in the entire show, but he is very open with who he is and cares very little for people's opinions about him. Season 3, Episode 20 is a fantastic example! When the kids decide to run an underground casino in the basement while their parents are at the Emergency Room, Gene brings in his girl group the Cutie Patooties to perform; however, when they choose to leave and "break up" it is Gene who with zero shyness walks out on the stage in a dress and wig and proceeds to attempt to perform as a Cutie Patootie solo act with no care that he is a boy dressed in drag. In Season 10, Episode 13, during Spirit Week, Gene and Tina both ask Louise's opinion on their 80s Day outfits, where he states he is dressed as Shirley MacLaine out of Steel Magnolias.

The only other reason we could see him ending up in the Big House is because he loves his sister enough that he goes along with her crazy scheme sometimes and one of them could accidentally wind up with him taking the fall for her. However, if he took the fall for Louise, I could definitely also see her being the one to bust him out of jail too.

Clearly, Gene is very open about his eccentric personality, which is one reason he is such a loved character. While he is definitely not likely to actually wind up in jail, there is definitely a good explanation if he does.

Louise

This one would come as a surprise for many because (as it was pointed out in my household) Louise would never get caught; which is very true. Out of everyone in the family, she is definitely the one that is the craziest of them all, which is probably why she is my fave out of the entire family. I firmly believe she has some schizophrenic and/or bipolar tendencies, which is what makes her criminal-like moments interesting to watch.

You can see these actions, in my opinion, as early as the first season in Episode 5 during the Dinner Theatre that Linda is putting on. When she is back by the grill with Tina and you watch Louise sort of flip back and forth between flipping out and then suddenly saying “Shhhh, baby. Mama didn’t mean it.” Which, we’ve all seen some sort of movie or show about people who turn into serial killers and most will say something along those lines. There was a movie done by M. Night Shyamalan called “Split” that shows very heavily these types of tendencies, although I will concede that James McAvoy’s character had a lot more going on up there than Louise does.

However, our biggest theory is not that she will go to jail because she gets caught, but probably because an accomplice would get caught and/or report it. A prime example of this is in Season 12, Episode 15 during their Ancient Greece unit when Rudy freaks out about what they are doing while Louise and Millie stay calm and cool the entire time. Personally, I could totally see Rudy being the reason Louise gets caught one day.

Bob

I will not be shocked if this surprises most people that we would believe that Bob would wind up in jail at all. However, Bob is just as fiercely protective of his family as Linda is. However, we know Bob doesn't really do well when he is extremely stressed out, the Coaster's episode in Season 6, when he just sort of snaps and yells at the guy that comes to do the article.

This household is under the impression if Bob ever wound up in the Big House it would be due to getting too stressed out in a situation and snapping, defending Linda to someone who wants to mess with her, or even the possibility that he would be the one to take out Jimmy Pesto for saying the wrong thing ad catching Bob on an extremely bad day. Realistically, though, Bob is probably the actual least likely (besides Louise) to end up in jail, but there is still a chance if someone (*cough Jimmy cough*) pushed him far enough.

What do you think? Is there something we missed as to why one (or more) of the family will wind up in the back of Bosco's car? Did any reason surprise you? Come join our community and swap your thoughts in our forums! Join me tomorrow as we take a deep dive into our first real dark theory. Until then, keep on theorizing Fanaticals!