Running Down a Gene

"" is the fourth episode in Season 14, being the two-hundred-and-sixty-fourth episode overall.
==Plot==
Gene tries to learn how to lucid dream in order to recover the world's most perfect song that he wrote while asleep. Meanwhile, Louise and Tina try to trap a cricket whose chirping is keeping Linda up at night.
== Full story ==
It's morning, and Gene wakes up after a pleasant dream. He gets dressed and greets his family at the kitchen table, who notices his good mood. Gene explains how he entered the Ultimate Online Songwriting Showdown a while ago and composed the perfect song for the competition in his dream. Bob and Linda ask him to sing them the piece, but Gene can't remember a single word and starts panicking. The family tries to make him feel better by reminding him of the other songs he wrote, but Gene is adamant. To help him remember, Bob tells his son to narrate his entire dream.
In Gene's dream, he was on a wealthy bus (with a bathroom) that could drive on the ocean. When it docked, it arrived at an island where people played volleyball. He joined the game despite being terrible, but after, he saw a robot who looked like Ms. Merkin, who directed the Belcher boy to an atypical lighthouse. Gene ascends the tower's staircase, and when he reaches the watch room, he meets his Casio keyboard, though grander and more gorgeous. Gene sits and plays the instrument, making the "best song [he's] ever written in his life."
Gene tries recalling the rest of his dream, but he fails. The family continues to try cheering the boy up, and Linda tells her son he at least got some sleep since she and Bob couldn't because of the cricket hiding in their apartment, though it's mostly her since she has better hearing. Tina and Louise state the insect's chirping doesn't affect them.
The Belcher children go to school, and they're having lunch. Gene is still trying to remember his song, and Rudy joins them. Gene tells him what he's frustrated about, so Rudy offers him a solution to recollect the song: tonight, Gene needs to do the same night ritual as yesterday before sleeping to have the same dream.
Tina, Gene, and Louise return home from school, having dinner with their parents, but Gene's having leftovers from yesterday's meal. Linda hears the cricket chirping and voices her frustration. Bob asks him why he's eating the food from last night, and he tells his dad what Rudy told him at lunch. Once Gene finishes, he goes and changes into his pajamas and brushes his teeth with Tina's toothbrush since he accidentally used hers yesterday—despite it being only 7 PM. Meanwhile, the other Belchers continue eating dinner, and Linda hears the cricket again. When Linda says she would "pay a million dollars for someone to find that cricket and get it out of here," Louise perks up and offers herself and her sister to capture the cricket. Since Linda doesn't have a million dollars, the mother-daughter pair negotiate the bounty, settling on five for Tina and Louise only when they catch it.
Gene is in his bedroom, and he's getting ready to dream. The Belcher continues to do precisely everything he did last night, like knocking off the glass of water on his bedstand and cleaning up the spill with his underwear. Gene enters his sheets and goes to bed. He has numerous bizarre dreams, like having rockstar hair or being in a marching band. However, he keeps waking himself up because they aren't dreams from yesterday, and before he knows it, it's already morning.
The kids go to school, and Gene goes to the library to find a book about dreams. He asks Mr. Ambrose where to locate something like that, and the librarian informs Gene confidentially since he doesn't want to get caught for some reason. Ambrose tells Gene about "lucid dreaming," when you can control your dreams, and he also tells the boy about how he lucid dreams to get revenge on people in his past. Gene asks the librarian if there's a book on the topic, but the latter directs Gene to the internet.
In the afternoon, the kids return from school, and Tina and Louise make a mess in their apartment's hallway. Bob returns from the restaurant and sees the chaos, asking his daughters what they're doing. They tell their dad they're making cricket traps after searching up how to make them on the internet. They also tell Bob they put lures everywhere, even in their bedrooms. Bob is worried this will attract ants, but Linda tells him she's okay with it since they don't make noise. Just then, Gene leaves the bathroom, ready to go to bed again despite only being the early evening.
Gene goes to his room, this time with a notebook and pencil, to record everything he dreams. The boy goes to sleep and begins dreaming again. He dreams about riding a rollercoaster with his armor-equipped dad, becoming an octopus who loves lollipops, eating a charcuterie board in space, showering on the restaurant's counter, and playing in the sandbox with someone buried underneath it. He wakes up after experiencing all these dreams to write them down in his journal, but then he realizes he's in the vision from before, where he created his "best song." He's on the pier and tries to run to the boat bus, but it closes its door and leaves without him. However, he takes this as a good sign and wakes up when it's already morning. 
Gene goes to the kitchen to tell his parents that his lucid dreaming is working. He tells Bob and Linda how he saw the boat bus before and calls Mr. Ambrose a genius. Tina and Louise also wake up from bed and declare none of their traps caught the cricket, but Louise is still determined to see it and earn the money reward. Gene tells his family he only has two days left to remember his dreams, and Bob tells his son he could've spent all this time writing a new song, but Gene ignores Bob.
It's time for Gene to sleep again, and Gene immediately has the song dream again. He's at the pier again, and he goes to catch the boat bus. This time, the bus waits for Gene, and he can enter. However, it transforms into a plane, and the boy gets distracted by the flight attendant's snacks. Gene wakes up to write the dream, and he returns to the boat bus. He keeps starting with the same vision, but they keep changing, like there being multiple Lindas on the bus or there being a giant cricket.
Meanwhile, it's the middle of the night, and Tina and Louise check their traps to see if they caught the cricket. Bob comes out of his room to see what they're doing and to pee, but Linda is awake because of the insect's chirping.
Gene is still trying to reach the end of his Casio keyboard, but he continues to face obstacles. He manages to get to the top of the staircase in the lighthouse, and he meets his fantasy-enhanced instrument for the second time. However, when he tries to press the keys, they become deformed. Gene keeps waking up to try it again, but whenever he reaches his keyboard, something prevents him from playing it.
Gene goes to the kitchen for breakfast with his family, but he's incredibly frustrated because of the Ultimate Online Songwriting Showdown's deadline, and he's so close to remembering the song. He asks his parents if he can skip school to return to dreaming, but his parents both tell him "No." Linda is also frustrated because of the cricket, and she tells Tina and Louise she will call an exterminator instead of letting her daughters try to catch it. Louise tries convincing her mom to give them another chance, but also more money. Linda tells Tina and Louise she's still giving them the same amount, but they have today to catch it, or she calls the exterminator. Louise begrudgingly accepts.
Tina, Gene, and Louise all go to school, and they head to the library to talk to Mr. Ambrose. Gene tells the librarians about his problems with his lucid dreaming and expresses the urgency to get to the end of his dream tonight. However, Mr. Ambrose doesn't care because he's on one of his lunch breaks and pushes him away. Louise asks the librarian if the media center has any books about crickets so she and her sister can catch the cricket that's been bugging Linda. Mr. Ambrose directs the girls to the insects and other invertebrates section of the library. The kids stop bothering him after he gets frustrated from them interrupting him on his lunch break.
The kids return home, and Tina and Louise are putting more things around the house while Gene is getting ready for bed. Linda is cooking some food while they do that. Bob returns to the apartment and notices how unusually pleasant the house smells. Tina and Louise are putting lemons, cinnamon, and breath mints everywhere after reading that these scents repel crickets. The girls think the cricket will be disgusted by these smells, and it'll enter the opening, where the insect will be "seduced" by the traps they placed before. Gene is in his pajamas and announces he's going to bed despite how early it is again. Bob points out how Gene puts a lot of pressure into the contest, but Gene disregards him again.
Gene goes to sleep again, reaching his Casio with no obstacles. This time, he's able to play his keyboard, and he's able to remember his lyrics and tune. He goes to the living room to play the song for his family. However, Gene realizes it's awful, even though his family tries to pretend it's not. Gene mopes on the floor and lies dejectedly. Gene returns to his room to be sad alone, and Bob hands him his keyboard. When Gene leaves, Louise and Tina announce they have a 'fail-safe' plan to capture the cricket involving a clay female cricket with a bow on its head to romantically—or platonically—lure the actual insect. Bob and Linda don't believe the plan will work, but Louise and Tina are desperate.
Gene is lying in bed, thinking about how much work he put into something that wasn't worth it. However, he gets up and starts fiddling with his Casio. He begins writing down lyrics in the notebook he left on the bedstand the other day. The time passes, and Linda brings him dinner to his room as he spends the rest of the day making a new song for the Ultimate Online Songwriting Showdown.
While Gene's composing a new song, Tina and Louise show their parents that they captured the cricket. The new trap didn't matter since they caught the insect in one of the traps they put down initially. Linda gets a purse and gives her daughters five dollars each, and she tells them to take the cricket out before cleaning up the mess they made with all the lures.
Gene continues to write his song, and he uses his frustration to remember what he thought was the "best song he's ever written" as inspiration. He shows his family his new song, and they genuinely compliment it this time. Gene also has a better attitude with this tune. Bob asks his son if he sent it to the contest, but Gene tells him he didn't because he will lose ownership of his song when submitting it, and he wants it to be the first single of his album, The Best of Gene Belcher. His family supports his decision, and Gene notices a mint on the floor and eats it. Tina and Louise deny it was theirs and lie about how well they cleaned up the cricket traps.
==Videos==
Gene Can't Remember His Dream Song - Bob's Burgers
==External links==
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Category:DASA Episodes
Category:Episodes Written by Holly Schlesinger
Category:2023 Episodes
Category:Season 14 Episodes
Category:Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Matthew Long