Summary
“A Bird May Love A Fish” ends on a sad note, as Bob tries to communicate better and Abishola gets fed up with having her privacy constantly invaded.
This recap of Bob Hearts Abishola Season 1, Episode 3, “A Bird May Love A Fish”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
They say that love is a universal language, but the Nigerian dialect of Yoruba isn’t, and that’s what Bob (Billy Gardell) is trying to learn in Bob Hearts Abishola Episode 3, “A Bird May Love A Fish”. This, along with him Googling Nigeria, is his attempt at forming more of a connection with his newfound love, especially since all anyone seems to have to say about the relationship is that it’s destined to fail. The episode’s title is taken from Bob’s brother Doug’s (Matt Jones) pilfered assessment: “A bird may love a fish, but where would they live?”
Put more explicitly by Christine (Maribeth Monroe), they don’t have enough in common. And this is a sentiment echoed by Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) herself, who insists that if she were to marry again, it would be a Nigerian man. The hierarchy of Nigerian marital preference is explained to Gloria (Vernee Watson) by Kemi (Gina Yashere). A Nigerian man of the same tribe is best; of a different tribe is slightly worse, but still preferable to everything else. A white man is second-to-last, only above the absolute worst-case option, which is an African-American, much to Gloria’s annoyance.
Abishola obviously likes Bob. He’s good-natured and charming. But the title is the other way around for a reason. Bob Hearts Abishola Episode 3 is, in large part, about Abishola attempting to wash her hands of the matter since nobody else — from Auntie Olu (Shola Adewusi) and Uncle Tunde (Barry Shabaka Henley) to Kemi and Gloria, to her mother and the rest of her family in Nigeria — will leave it alone. Everyone is quick to tell her what’s best for her, but nobody seems to want to let her decide for herself.
At the end of Bob Hearts Abishola Season 1, Episode 3, she has called their kind-of-relationship off. Chuck Lorre’s show continues to be unafraid of having its characters voice potentially controversial opinions, and its unique viewpoint continues to position it in an interesting space. I’m curious to see how Bob and Abishola reconcile. This time, I imagine socks won’t cut it.
