Teddy in Bob’s Burgers is a daily customer who overtime has become friends with the Belcher’s. This blog post isn’t going to be talking about mental illness, but instead I’ll be talking about a developmental disorder that Teddy shows a significant number of symptoms for. This disorder is Asperger’s syndrome with symptoms like having a hard time with social skills, change, or behaviors. I want to reiterate that Asperger’s syndrome is NOT a mental illness, it is a developmental disorder.
Teddy struggles with social situations. The reason he struggles is because he doesn’t understand some social cues. For example, Season 5 episode 3, Teddy comes into the restaurant from the doctors in a very good mood. He then sits down and tells Bob and Linda that his doctor told him his cholesterol was too high and that he could possibly die. Teddy told them this as if he was just telling them about his day, very casually, which is not the typical response that is given when told you are going to die if you don’t change something. Bob eventually tells Teddy that he can’t serve him anymore burgers because he can/will die. The way that Teddy told Bob about his situation highlights his lack of social skills and awareness because Bob immediately gets concerned, but Teddy just brushes it off again like it’s not real.
In this same episode when Bob tells Teddy he can’t serve him anymore burgers or fries, he goes ballistic, which is not normal for Teddy. He is yelling at Bob saying he can’t live without his burger. Change is something that people with Asperger’s struggle with, so it is not surprising that Teddy had this much of a reaction over his friend ultimately trying to save his life. His fear of change clouds his judgement. Then, right after Teddy is yelling at Bob, he gets calm again and starts talking to him normally as if he didn’t just tell Bob he would kill him if he didn’t give him the burger. His moods switch very quickly, and I think this is because of his lack of social skills, since he doesn’t know how to control how he expresses his emotions in social settings, the emotions with fluctuate quickly.
October 31, 2021 at 6:49 am
I’ve never heard of Asperger’s syndrome before, but from the symptoms you described I think that Teddy could possibly have it. The symptoms highly point toward a distortion of reality as well as attachment issues, which can certainly fall under the category of Asperger’s syndrome. In general, whether or not Teddy has this syndrome I think he still displays unhealthy coping mechanisms and responses to change or urgency, which can point towards struggling mental health.
November 4, 2021 at 3:39 pm
I love Bob’s Burgers. It is such a great such with simple humor and fun characters. Teddy has always been a strange “friend” of Bob because he is a regular customer. He is overdramatic about minor inconveniences and obsessed with the restaurant’s food, despite a lot of the town saying the food is average. He seems to be socially awkward and lacks friends, other than Bob. However, I think he is very loyal and caring, especially to those who do not judge him. Overall, this was a great analysis of his complex personality.