- “HOLD HIS ARMS! WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT.”
"Live and Let Fly" is the fifth episode in Season 9, being the one-hundred-and-fifty-fifth episode overall.
Plot[]
The kids learn the dangers of revenge when their plan to get back at the school guidance counselor gets them entangled in a deep rooted sibling rivalry between two pilots. Meanwhile, Linda and Bob put their game faces on when Teddy invites them to a paper airplane contest.
Synopsis[]
At lunch at Wagstaff, Mr. Frond tells the Belcher kids that they owe him five hours of detention and cannot dodge it any longer. However, he offers them, a way to serve it shorter. He explains in his office that there is a week-long guidance counselor conference in town called Counsel-Con, and he is in charge of several things on the welcome committee, including getting an ocean view conference room at the Spinnaker Hotel, which he feels the other guidance counselors do not appreciate. So, they can do a music video he has planned to show, which they agree as it seemingly beats detention.
At the restaurant, Teddy is folding and badly throwing paper airplanes for the upcoming local air show. He explains that halfway through the show, there is a paper airplane throwing contest where appliances are placed on the runway and people in the bleachers throw paper airplanes to land on one, such as a toaster or Crock-Pot. Teddy hopes to win a washing machine, which Bob also agrees they can try for as the Belcher’s one smells due to a mouse dying in it. After a lot of crumpled aircraft, they conclude that Bob is the best folder, and Linda is the best thrower, as Bob’s throws hook to the left.
In the Wagstaff music room, Frond and the kids are doing a late-80s/early-90s-styled video including the kids in loud colored pants and hats, rapping about empathy in “the Empathize Glide”. However, the kids hate it, and Louise is especially unenthusiastic, and reminds Frond that party of the deal was that no one else will see it besides the other counselors, and Frond points out that he will get kids he sees as actually talented should the person who sets state circulate approve of it. Despite the promise that no one else at school will see it, the next day, the kids notice everyone giggling at them in the halls, and Mr. Branca humming the Empathize Glide. To their horror, they see the video is on a computer in the library with a crowd watching, including Jimmy Jr. Who says he feels pity for Tina. Realizing what happened, they storm into Frond’s office angry, with Louise knowing over a pile of papers and even Tina ready to attack him. He tries to explain that he was editing the video when he had to use the restroom and left the library computer without logging out and that the kids saw it when he got back. As the kids leave, they plan revenge.
As the kids walk home humiliated and figure out what to do about hurting Frond back, Louise gets the idea of using Counsel-Con: Frond had previously called the other counselors “divas”, and figures that if they can get Frond on video trash-talking them, it would humiliate him back. But as Tina asks how they can get the counselors to watch it, they notice a plane in the sky with an advertising banner. Back at the restaurateur, Louise explains her plan: after getting video of Frond insulting the counselors, they will put the video on a link for “hottest cats for guidance counselors”, which will be flown on an airplane banner, which will fly by the hotel and all the counselors will look at the link; when they see the video, they will be angry and Frond will be humiliated and destroyed.
As Linda continually lifts an olive oil container to build her throwing strength, Bob has become devoted to paper airplane folding, even buying a folding tool and a book by Barry B. Foldin’, an expert in paper aviation design. After he tells Linda to not overuse the arm strengthening before the competition, Bob realizes he is using the wrong paper and runs over to Reflections. After mentions the typos of paper he needs, Edith and Harold talk him into buying pristine professional grade paper after he views it.
At school the next day, the kids go to frond’s office to try and sound like they apologize but capture video of Frond complaining and insulting the counselors as uncool and annoying (using a camera hidden in. a grocery bag that Frond was too upset to notice). Later at an airstrip, the three kids plan out how they will get the banner up when they are spotted and conformed by Kurt, who recognizes them from the time their mother took flying lessons with him only for her to try and seduce her and get his butt kicked as a result. Louise asks why he is there when he is a seaplane pilot, but he explains that the flight lesson business dried up so he took the pontoons off Shoshone and now flies banner ads to make ends meet. He asks why they are there, and is intrigued by their desire of revenge, as his nemesis is coming to town for the air show, the kids agree to help him with his revenge in exchange for flying their banner.
At the airstrip, Kurt shows the kids to Gus, who is also hanging out, but is not the target. Gus says that Kurt’s enemy, Laverne, used to fly with Kurt as part of a stunt flying team until she stole an aerial acrobatic maneuver known as the Dice N’ Slice from Kurt, which he’d worked on for months with his coach, but Laverne stole it before he could unveil it himself. An upset Kurt goes into more detail: Twenty years earlier at the nationals, seeing Laverne do the dice roll with the plane and then slice a ribbon perfectly made him want to outdo her stunt, which made him push the plane and his body to the limits. As he went upside down for the slice, however, the combination of the G forces and a double breakfast of huevos rancheros caused him to poop his pants, and the cockpit, in front of the judges. Since that day, he has not talked to Laverne, gone upside down, or eaten huevos rancheros (to Gene’s horror). Kurt’s plan is for the kids to pose as fans and then snip the wires under her plane, but they are a bit disturbed and suggest here may be a way to get revenge without having her emergency-land her plane or die. Tina suggests he just compete in the air show and do the Dice N’ Slice to win, but he breaks down sobbing that he cannot go upside-down anymore. Louise offers their help in training him to fly upside down again so he can then help them with the revenge banner.
As the kids train a scared Kurt to be upside down on playground equipment for 48 hours straight, Linda continues testing her strength and arm throwing precision. At night, as the are asleep, Bob dreams of being in a windy meadow when he encounters Barry B. Foldin, who notes how he cannot decide between which of Barry’s designs to choose for the contest. Barry shows Bob the answer is now in his hands: a new design called “What About Bob?”, that combines the best folds form his best planes, and Bob flies on the plane before waking up to fold the new plane.
At the air show, Bob, Linda, and Teddy sit in the stands as the kids go off, supposedly to find healthy snacks. The kids and Kurt confront Laverne at her plane, who mocks Kurt and notes that as their dad always said, training doesn’t matter for planes. The kids are confused, Laverne says Dad was their coach, and Kurt says that Laverne has not been his sister since she stole his Dice N’ Slice move. Laverne gets angry, claiming Kurt stole the move from her, and an argument erupts before Kurt is called up for the trick flying competition. As Laverne walks away with a remark about pooping the pit, Kurt is scared, afraid he cannot do it as well as having huevos rancheros for breakfast again. But Louise slaps him and gives a pep talk for him to win and then fly at the Spinnaker, and Kurt flies. He pushes over three G’s, does the intentional stall out and dice roll, but as he flies to slice the ribbon, he misses the ribbon by about 60 feet and once again is humiliated. As Kurt flies off, Tina overhears Laverne muttering that it serves him right, as she spent months training with their father perfecting the Dice N’ Slice. She is confused since Kurt said their dad taught him the move.
The kids still hope they can get revenge on Mr. Frond and stand with Gus to watch. As Laverne takes off to perform the Dice N’ Slice, Kurt goes back to his old “stupid and dangerous” plan and begins trying to knock Laverne out of the air with his plane (as the announcer tries to tell the audience that it is a completely planned out WWI dogfight reenactment). As Kurt and Laverne trade childish insults over the radio (all while everyone to hear) while dodging each other’s moves, Tina realizes that their father taught both of them and neither stole the move. But as Louise points out they cannot get in contact due to being on the ground, Gus points out they can talk on the radio using the one in a nearby grounded plane. Louise gets on the radio and tries to stop the tow form fighting (to Bob and Linda’s surprise, as they are not sure why the kids are part of the air show), and Tina says that no one stole the Dice N’ Slice, that they trained with their dad to create the move, then he must have lied when he said the other person stole it.
Kurt wonders why he’d pit them against each other, and Laverne brings up that their dad would have made them compete to “bring out their best” like when he made them wrestle over a single present under a Christmas tree as children. Louise just wants Kurt to finish and fly the banner to destroy Frond, with the kids bringing up his video and calling on them to empathize. Kurt and Laverne make up and cry while flying, with the kids wondering if the Empathize Glide works, or at least the Frond doesn’t deserve the revenge banner. Unfortunately, Kurt admits that he couldn’t fly the plane at the show and fly the banner in time, so he called in a favor to another pilot to fly the banner with the video link outside the hotel, who is already en route. And he cannot call the friend to fly off because he doesn’t leave his radio due to not having his pilot’s license. Louise realizes that the Dice N’ Slice could work if Kurt focuses on the slicing part. He agrees and flies off.
At the hotel, Frond is showing the Empathize Glide video when the plane with the banner approaches. As the counselors all look at the link displayed, Kurt slices the banner so they cannot read it. As the kids celebrate, the announcer says it is the halfway mark and time for the paper airplane throwing contest. However, something in Linda’s throwing arm pops due to overuse of lifting the olive oil can. As Bob laments that they won’t get the washing machine, Linda tells him to throw the airplane, and can just push down a flap on one of the wings to compensate for his hook throw. He does, and it flies, right past the washing machine, but into a blender, which they are excited to win.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "Live and Let Fly" on IMDb
- "Live and Let Fly" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Live and Let Fly" script via Springfield! Springfield!
- "Live and Let Fly" review at The A.V. Club