CyanideFishbone reviews Cartoons (Currently: Simpsons Season 12)

[CyanideFishbone]

"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"*

Written by: Larry Doyle

First aired: January 17th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Homer and his friends vandalize Springfield Elementary while drunk, a curfew is imposed on the children of Springfield, who retaliate by exposing the secrets of Springfield's adults via radio.

 

I only remember this episode being okay to pretty good, but rewatching this, I can easily say that beside Lisa Gets An A, this episode is fucking awesome. There's so much to like in this episode, I can't even start. The plot is a great one, and it's funny that it was brought up by Mike Scully himself because this plot just works so damn well. It's a classic "adults vs. kids" plot, that ends in a memorable song number that comes out of left field and is super funny because of it, and Springfield's senior citizens randomly join in out of the blue, just adding to how funny it is. Here in this episode, unlike in When You Dish Upon A Star, it makes sense for the kids to do these things because the adults have been horrible to them, and this episode definitely harkens back to the classic elementary "we hate adults" mentality, and it just feels like you're seeing that ideology from your youth all over again in this episode. There's tons of awesome jokes in this episode. Homer's quote at the start telling Lisa to "never love anything" feels super Season 5/6 esque, Nelson's Dr. Hibbert impersonation, the scene where the radio exposes Chief Wiggum, Homer, and a few other's secrets is really funny, the scene in the police car where Chief Wiggum believes the kids to be possessed is a pretty funny fakeout, and the ending with the curfew for anyone under 70 is really funny and just a weird ending, but it works because it makes sense for this plot and it's so funny that this is never foreshadowed, but when it comes to the forefront it actually makes sense. And that doesn't even end because just the whole episode is littered with great jokes. I really can't say much more besides the fact it's such a great idea, it has such a solid execution, and is littered with great jokes. I can't even really talk much about this episode because it's just really solid and funny and has an awesome plot, and I can't say much else besides that. It deserves a 10/10 because it's just one of the best ones I've seen from the season. Definitely check this one out, it's awesome. 

[Wumbo]

"And guess who's been practicing medicine without a license?"

"That's right... Homer Simpson."

[CyanideFishbone]

"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"

Written by: Tom Martin, George Meyer, Brian Scully, Mike Scully

First aired: January 31st, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Homer meets a travel agent named Wally Kogen (voiced by Fred Willard), him and Homer make a trip to the Super Bowl in Florida with several of Springfield's residents, only to find out that when they get there, Kogen's tickets are counterfeit, and they try to break into the game. Meanwhile, Lisa and Marge try to find the missing parts of "Vincent Price's Egg Magic"

 

I'll cut to the chase. This episode's plot is a fucking mess. The B plot literally gets zero resolution which is a gigantic problem, and the A plot gets a very poor fourth wall joke as it's ending, which just feels lazy. However, there are some positives in this episode. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the idea of Homer taking a giant group to an event like the Super Bowl (this episode also aired on Super Bowl Sunday in 1999), and there's some good jokes with the character chemistry. It's very much like Viva Ned Flanders in the way that the banter, although there's way more in Viva Ned Flanders, is pretty entertaining, and the plot is generally paced alright, but fails in one way and that it has a very poor conclusion. There's some good jokes with these characters, the joke about the portable church outside of the Super Bowl to be my favorite when Ned Flanders tells Kogen it's Sunday and he hasn't been to church. The jail scene is kind of funny, the Bill Clinton segment is also a little funny, and you know that's mostly it. The A plot is just kind of mildly entertaining to entertaining. However, there is one thing that is nice about this episode and that is while this episode is loaded with celebrities, for the most part they're treated like the celebrities in the Simpsons past with exaggerated traits and personalities, which is nice to see after When You Dish Upon A Star, but it still feels just gimmicky and nothing more. The stuff with them is just okay. Anyway, let's talk about this "B plot", if we can even talk about it. This B plot is complete garbage. It isn't even resolved, like holy shit. They use the kit, can't find the leg part, Marge calls Vincent Price in a really unfunny joke that gets uncomfortable past, says he'll deliver the parts even though he's dead of course, and it just.... goes away. It's just weird because it's structured like it's going to be the episode's B plot, and it just feels out of place and because there's no solution, makes the episode seem rushed. The joke about the oversexualized Super Bowl commercial from their last appearance in the episode is probably the most memorable joke from the episode besides the portable church joke, but that's really it. This episode has some major problems, and this episode just deserves a 5/10. This episode's got some alright jokes, but it's got a lot of flaws and is just the epitome of middle of the road Simpsons. It's like drinking an offbrand soda from your supermarket that's extremely obviously supposed to be Dr. Pepper, Coke, what have you. It's still good, but it lacks the taste of what it's based off of and leaves you never wanting to come back because the better stuff is just as easy to get to.

 

I'm not done quite yet, there's some stuff to note about this episode. For some reason, Song 2 by Blur plays for like 10 seconds in the episode and just.... goes away and it feels out of place and just weird. Maybe Song 2 was performed at the Super Bowl that year, I don't know, but it feels out of placed watching this episode about 20 years later. Song 2 is awesome, but yeah, out of place. Also, this episode had some of the highest ratings of the season because not was it aired after the Super Bowl, but the premiere of Family Guy.

 

Anyway, this episode pissed off the Catholic League AGAIN! In arguably the episode's most memorable joke, Lisa and Marge are watching an oversexualized Super Bowl commercial for the Catholic Church, that says "The Catholic Church: We've made a few... changes." Obviously the scene was one giant parody of oversexualized 80's glam metal band music videos and the more risque Super Bowl commercials that we see a lot of today, and it's a pretty memorable and funny scene. Anyway, what happened this time was the same president at the time, Bill Donohue, wrote in their newspaper that the Simpsons had "struck again, big time" and wrote to Chavez again about the scene, and encouraged others to. Several angry Catholics wrote to the show's crew, saying stuff like they watched the show until the scene, and according to Scully they even received a lot of letters from kids saying "Don't make fun of my religion." Fox decided to censor the scene, replacing "The Catholic Church" to just "The Church". Scully was furious, and so were a lot of major news sources. Now the episode airs censored, but the uncensored version can be found on the Season 10 DVD. Here's the scene if you want to watch it yourself:

 

[CyanideFishbone]

"Homer To The Max"

Written by: John Swartzwelder

First aired: February 7th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When a new TV show has a character who is fat and stupid named Homer Simpson, Homer becomes the town's pariah. To combat this, Homer changes his name to Max Power and gains new friends to force him to protest against a forest being knocked down.

 

Holy shit guys, this episode is WEEEEEEEEIRD. Like, holy fuck, this is one of the strangest episodes of the Simpsons I've ever seen, and not really in the good way. I have a problem with Scully's episodes being too absurd and out of nowhere, and this episode's second half is the perfect example of it, because honestly, the first half is pretty funny. It's got some nice meta jokes poking fun at the show's history that feel a little forced but are still funny, but man, when this whole "pariah" thing gets started, things start getting weirdly nasty. I hate the word "mean spirited" a fuck ton (because of morons like Mr. Enter) but it just feels weird because all the characters are making fun of Homer and shit and it feels like elementary school students poking fun at someone. These scenes are just weird, and feel out of place and slightly nasty. And then, Homer, after trying and failing to get the character's name changed, changes his name to Max Power, which the scene where the names are listed by the judge is pretty funny, as well as the decision of him changing his name. The scenes between this and when Homer meeting his new friends are moderately funny too, my favorite one is when Homer/Max/whatever the fuck tries to get his own jacket. Anyway, after "Max" meets this businessman and they become friends, "Max" and Marge go to some private party and this is where the episode escalates, badly. The scenes at this party are so forgettable and boring. The joke with Marge dancing with Bill Clinton goes on way too long, gets a little creepy and just is weird, and it all feels "there" because there's some mildly funny lines, but that's really it and it feels like it just goes on for way too long and is just a complete drag. Now, here's when the episode gets baaaaaaad is during this protest. Out of nowhere, "Max" and Marge go on this bus to a forest protest to avoid these trees getting cut down. This is such a strange plot concept and I hate the fact it feels like it's just thrown in out of nowhere. Nowhere is there a slight reference to "Max"'s new friends being environmental activists, no hint that this party is planning to do this, nothing. I'm not saying every plot element in an episode has to be foreshadowed, but here just taking these super weird choices that have nothing to really do with anything before just makes it feel like the writers are throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, and instead of leaving me "so confused it's funny" it leaves me just feeling confused because there's just little to no correlation with ANYTHING before this to this weird protest where people get chained to trees to save some forest from being bulldozed. The police show up, chase "Max" because he doesn't want to get..... swabbed with mace. Like, there's not really any joke about this besides Marge asking why they're not just using pepper spray, but this is treated as a plot element because the cops chase "Max" with the mace because the cops want to move the environmental protestors out of the way and because "Max" is running in chains for some reason even though he's clearly tied to the tree, he runs in a circle chasing Chief Wiggum and Lou, the tree falls over, causing a domino effect on the other trees that revolves in the DESTRUCTION OF THIS ENTIRE FOREST, and it's clearly shown that the people afterward are hurt, and as in most episodes, "Max"'s friend gets angry at him, "Max" leaves, and things are back to the status quo. That's partially what happens. There's no confrontation scene or anything, it just goes right back to "Max" changing his name back, and it turns out he changed Marge's name. The name they choose is kinda funny, but after seeing jerkass Homer it's just not funny, as 90 percent of this episode.

 

This episode had enough negatives for me to give it a Scumsons and a good 4/10. The episode's got a good idea with Homer changing his name to something super stupid, but we've seen the whole "Homer/Marge/whatever the fuck does X new thing to get them new friends and it doesn't work out", and it was done 10 times better with Scenes From The Class Struggle In Springfield in Season 7 because there was a lot of emotion and Marge went through a decent character arc, and it's fine if they want to do a more comedy based approach to this plot, but don't wrap it up super poorly and absurdly and just leave me feeling confused in the end. This episode's severe plot problems and abysmal final act just leave me feeling confused and annoyed. 

[CyanideFishbone]

"I'm With Cupid"

Written by: Dan Greaney

First aired: February 14th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When the husband of Springfield notice Apu's amazing Valentines Day gifts for Manjula, they unite against him together to sabotage his plans.

 

After two duds, I'm glad to say that this episode is pretty good. It's got a solid plot, some pretty funny jokes (the joke about Breakfast at Tiffany Co and how it only runs until 11, Moe's "belt", and Homer trying to interpret Manjula and Apu arguing), and it has Elton John in a really funny guest appearance, my favorite part being the fact Homer puts him in a dog cage. I like the plot of this episode as well. While some might say it'd seem dickish for these characters to do this despite their good intentions, it never feels emotionally malicious and it's much more of a jealousy thing, and it's nice that it inadvertently makes all of the group against Apu's wives happy, and ends in a very sweet ending with a song Elton John wrote for this episode. It's just like Mayored To The Mob; a solid plot with some very good jokes sprinkled in, and a very memorable guest appearance. It's an episode I can't say a ton about because it's just really solid. It deserves a good 8/10. It's so refreshing to see an episode of this caliber after the last two. I honestly kind of feel shitty that I don't have ton to say about this episode, but it's just a satisfying story with a very satisfying conclusion and some great jokes and an awesome guest star.

 

Also, I got out of school today, and I'm on Spring Break now! So expect frequent updates through out this week. I plan to have this done by the first couple days of April.

[Wumbo]

Max has "Strap yourself in and feel the G's" so it gets a pass from me. Definitely a convoluted and annoying plot though.

[CyanideFishbone]

16 hours ago, Wumbo said:

Max has "Strap yourself in and feel the G's" so it gets a pass from me. Definitely a convoluted and annoying plot though.

It's definitely on the light side of Scumsons and I felt very conflicted between a 4 and a 5, but that final act is just so much of everything I hate about Scully's Simpsons and it's such a bad way to wrap up the plot it just ruined the entire episode for me. I can understand people liking it though, it's definitely better than When You Dish Upon A Star and is definitely way better than Homer Simpson In: Kidney Trouble.

Edited March 24, 2018 by CyanideFishbone

[Wumbo]

Yeah, absolutely fair. I think at some point through Season 10 I just figured as long as the characters don't offend me too much I can stomach it. Kidney Trouble and some later episodes you haven't gotten to yet cross waaaay over that line for me.

[CyanideFishbone]

"Marge Simpson In: Screaming Yellow Honkers"

Written by: David M. Stern

First aired: February 21st, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Homer buys a Canyonero and accidentally buys the women's model, he gives the car to Marge who develops road rage.

 

This episode is so goddamn forgettable and mediocre it's insane. Let's get the positives out of the way, and that it has nice continuity (like David Stern's other episode Viva Ned Flanders) in using the Canyonero, which was one of the most memorable parts from Season 9's The Last Temptation Of Krust (which is a great episode that's pretty funny, unlike this one) and they even play a bit of the Canyonero song from the end of that episode, which is a really nice touch (that song was a perfect parody of car commercials), the opening is slightly amusing (aside from Edna's weird sexual dance, which is just uncomfortable instead of funny), and my favorite part of that is Groundskeeper Willie's Scottish themed comedy routine that absolutely no one gets, and the lawyer driving saying "I sentence you to kiss my ass!" during the road rage video is pretty funny. But aside from that, this episode's basic with some minor problems. One thing I don't get at all is why Marge doesn't immediately feel guilty getting arrested for the first time. I get that Marge is probably the most moral family member and she's prone to become less moral, for example in this episode, but mostly when she ends up getting in trouble, she realizes she's done something wrong and works to get out of it. Not here, she just acts pissed about it. Maybe they wanted to shake up the formula (and if that's the case, I REALLY appreciate it in this time in the show's history) but doing something like this just feels weird. It just reminds me of the fact that the show has a status quo that we're supposed to keep in mind that Homer is a good person despite making major mistakes with good intentions, and recently in this part of the show's history he just become a dumbass asshole. Other than that, this episode dips into this absurd part with this rhino rampage caused by Homer trying to hit a lemur at a zoo and it just gets really weirdly absurd, but it's never too jarring like the Homer At The Max third act, it honestly just feels lame and kind of weird. Overall, this episode's just so forgettable, by the numbers, bland that it deserves a 5/10. It's just so middle of the road, but not terrible really.

[CyanideFishbone]

"Make Room For Lisa"

Written by: Brian Scully

First aired: February 28th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When a businesswoman convinces Homer to build a cellphone tower in their house that takes up Lisa's room, Lisa is forced to bunk with Bart, and Lisa ends up getting a stomachache because of the stress, which at Dr. Hibbert's recommendation, Homer and Lisa try a New Age remedy.

 

Hoooooooooooly fucking shit, guys, this episode is BAAAAAAAAAD. I've heard people shit on this episode a lot, and upon watching it blind, man, this episode is almost as bad as Kidney Trouble. The problems with this episode are plentiful. Let's get our positives out of the way; the opening at the power plant's funny, and that's really it. There is not a SINGLE good joke for the rest of the episode. The rest of the jokes fall flat, and there isn't even many attempts at jokes. And there's a reason for this. This episode tries to be a botched emotional episode about Homer and Lisa's relationship, where Homer does something wrong and Lisa turns on him, like Lisa The Greek, but unlike this episode, Homer is so goddamn unlikeable, wretched, unsympathetic, stupid and it's goddamn INFURIATING. Need we forget that Homer literally nastily says his daughter is not a "normal person" at the start of this episode? I know it's a little nitpicky, but the way it's presented feels just so nasty. As I've said a number of times while watching this season, a VITAL part of Homer's character is that he often does wrong things, with good or bad intentions, but we're supposed to believe he's a good person in the end, unlike, let's say, Peter Griffin or Stan Smith. This feels like something Peter Griffin would say to his daughter. Lisa and Homer have polar opposite interests, but find common ground time and time and love each other. Usually Homer reluctantly does things Lisa wants to do, shown in this episode when he takes her to the Smithsonian exhibit, but to openly say something like that in the nasty way it's presented just bugs the hell out of me. And things only get worse from this point on. A businesswoman at the exhibit convinces Homer to build a cellphone tower on their house, and Lisa's room is taken up, which is a weird idea to be blunt, but I can let it blow. Here's another instance of the fact that Homer is SUPPOSED to be a good person, but this doesn't happen. Homer's a lousy parent, but as I said, he's supposed to be an alright person in the end. Obviously if Marge had any input in this she'd veto it, but that leads to another problem I'll get to later. Lisa is rightfully enraged, and Homer, super gleefully says "she thinks she would like it because she likes science stuff" and then says she's moving into Bart's room. Wait, so Homer chose her room because she think she would like it in the place of her room but wants her to move it? Or does Homer still intend Lisa to use the room (in the episode photo I chose) as her room? It's never really clarified, and it's weird. Anyway, so you'd think Lisa moving into Bart's room and them getting in a conflict would be the rest of the episode, right? I mean, the episode is named after this in a way, Make ROOM FOR LISA? No, this part literally takes like, 2-3 minutes? Because it goes straight to Lisa's stomach ache. And here's where we get where Marge plays a role in this episode. Normally, in a plot like this, Marge would be enraged at Homer and take Lisa's side, and work to make it work, right? No, she enjoys the cellphone tower because she can listen to dirt on Springfield's citizens through Maggie's baby monitor, which these parts are so minute and short they don't even feel there, and it feels out of place because of that (and of course, the dirt is so minimal, and of course, yeah, it was may more funny and entertaining in Wild Barts Can't Be Broken). How the hell does Marge not question why she's getting reception from a baby monitor? Did I miss this? I'm pretty sure I didn't. I mean, she is listening to something because of the tower, how the hell could she not have known that Lisa's room was taken up? Like, later in the episode Marge goes slightly outside after some prank Bart and Milhouse play on her, does she not realize there's a giant cellphone tower on the house? (because she probably would've asked Homer what's up, and did I miss this too because it feels like I am, and I know I'm overanalyzing this, probably)

 

Anyway, Homer is forced to take Lisa to the doctor, and Dr. Hibbert says her stomachaches are because of stress, fair enough, and she should seek a New Age remedy, which I'm mixed on. I just feel like the "New Age" plot device is just so easy to do now and I'm really damn sick of it, I always have been. I just feel like it's a lazy excuse for writers of any show who use this plot device to add some crazy stuff into an episode, but I really don't want to complain about that too much. The scene right after this may take the award for one of the worst scenes I've ever seen in The Simpsons history. They try to pull some emotional moment where Lisa says her and Homer are "drifting apart" and there's this whole little 30 second emotional moment, they play the music and everything, and as I said, it just fails to hit me on any emotional level because the show stopped being touching years ago, and oh yeah, Homer is a gigantic asshole in this episode. They go to this New Age store, which there's something funny about this; there's CLEARLY a Stonecutters poster in the store. Thanks Simpsons, for reminding me of an episode 10 times better than this piece of shit. Anyway, they try out this thing where they encase Homer and Lisa in this like... I don't quite know the word, but it's like a tanning booth but instead of the tanning stuff it's like a capsule of water and get put in these booths for 2 hours and go on their own adventures. This is another problem of the episode, the plot meanders WAY TOO DAMN MUCH. We've gone through like 4 major points so far: Homer goes on a radio show and gets drunk, takes Bart and Lisa to a Smithsonian exhibit and gets the cellphone tower, Lisa's room is destroyed, moves in with Bart, gets stomachaches and goes to this New Age place, and now Homer and Lisa are on some weird spiritual journey we're supposed to take seriously. This worked better in Season 8 with The Mysterious Voyage Of Homer when the show was losing it's emotional edge, but kept a solid plot. Here it feels forced and out of place. And these dreams they have go on for what feels like hours. There's this giant Homer subplot where in his dream, the New Age shop gets repossessed, the repo guys take the booth away, he falls out of the car, ends up in front of the Flanders' car, and they believe it's a coffin and bury it, Homer bangs so hard to get out of the booth and falls through the ground into the sewer, lands in the ocean, washes up on the shore and Ralph misinterprets it as a whale egg, and it just kind of ends and it's jarring because it goes on so long, and they pull a "it was just a dream" thing with it and it falls flat because by this point in The Simpsons, this sort of super absurd event like this dream would be a plot twist an episode would take. And Lisa.... has some weird trip out segments that are so boring, forgettable, and feel just there and make the whole dream segment feels longer than usual. Their times in the booth end, they make up of course, and go out to a demolition derby and the show attempts to have an emotional moment between the two while the fact that Lisa's room being taken up is never really solved, or brought up again.

 

I spent almost 30 minutes writing this, and I'm sorry that this review probably seems super non focused (much like this fucking episode), but when an episode comes around this bad, it's hard to put into words just how bad of a fucking episode this is. This episode, like Kidney Trouble, deserves a harsh 2/10. It's nowhere as nasty as Kidney Trouble, but this episode's plot meanders to hell and back, is consistently unfunny, and tries to make you emotional with an asshole who is pretty much impossible to feel sympathy for in this episode, and I'm not letting go of the Marge plot hole because it bothers me that much. Fuck this episode, it's a true Scumsons. 

[Wumbo]

Ah yes, Make Room for Lisa. The episode in which Homer keeps making Lisa's life harder and harder with no apparent sympathy and Lisa has to learn a lesson by the end! Did... did the writers stop at any point and consider what the hell they were doing?

[CyanideFishbone]

58 minutes ago, Wumbo said:

Ah yes, Make Room for Lisa. The episode in which Homer keeps making Lisa's life harder and harder with no apparent sympathy and Lisa has to learn a lesson by the end! Did... did the writers stop at any point and consider what the hell they were doing?

I have no idea, man. I don't love my review in it because I felt like I rambled a ton and stumbled on my words, but also when I wrote it I was pretty tired and stressed (and my allergies were bad and still are but they're better today), but I felt like I did a good job for what it was. It's hard to put a lot of stuff in words when an episode this bad comes around. The episode's character dynamics are completely backwards, it fakes trying to be emotional by treating Homer as in the right the whole time even though he's the cause of this episode's conflict, it's plot can't choose a focal point to save it's life, it's way too surreal and outlandish, it's just the whole package. It's just crazy; this and Kidney Trouble easily rank amongst the worst episodes of any show I've ever seen now. It's like "How not to write for television 101". 

[CyanideFishbone]

"Maximum Homerdrive"*

Written by: John Swartzwelder

First aired: March 28th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Homer ends up in a food contest with a trucker who dies in the contest, Homer decides to honor his life by becoming a trucker with Bart accompanying him. 

 

So yeah, this is one of the episodes this season I've seen before. I saw this episode once around more than a year ago when I came back to the east coast from California on New Year's Eve, and I was super bored and it was a rainy day that day, so I decided to just watch a random episode of The Simpsons, and for some reason this was the one I picked. I barely remember anything from this episode, really, so coming back to it was like watching it blind. I can definitely see why I forgot so much about this episode, and that's because it's very average, but it's not without it's positives. Those positives are this episode has some great jokes, especially in the start, and the Lisa/Marge musical doorbell subplot's decently funny at times. I like how brutal the steakhouse is, Marge telling Lisa that maybe animals want to die, the joke about Homer pulling the horn, and my favorite joke in the episode is Marge's line about how crazy things only happen when Homer's around, but after around the halfway point, this episode's quality really dwindles. It's just very mediocre, typical, and it's pretty forgettable because of this. The stuff with Homer getting in a conflict with all these truckers just feels kind of like a weak way to add some conflict to this episode and it just gets about the right amount of crazy (VERY little too much, but because it gets just so slightly outlandish I can ignore it), wraps up just okay. It's so middle of the road (no pun intended), but it's not horrible. It deserves around a 5/10 for it's good jokes, but it has some major shortcomings and is really just an average story with an okay ending, it's just the epitome of middle of the road. And oh yeah, here's one more negative about this episode, and this season; fucking Gil. I can't stand Gil. This was around the time in the series history when they started relying on him more, and his scenes are honestly such a drag. I hate Gil's scenes and his whole joke; it's always so drawn out, never has any subversion to keep it fresh, and just always feels weak. I don't get why the Simpsons writers like (or liked, don't know about how much he's used in more recent episodes) him so much. Another note about this episode is that this episode had the highest ratings for all of Season 10, and that is because Futurama premiered right after this episode with an episode that's definitely better than this one. 

[CyanideFishbone]

"Simpsons Bible Stories"

Written by: Tim Long, Larry Doyle, Matt Selman

First aired: April 4th, 1999

 

Synopsis: During a long, boring, Easter church sermon on a really hot day, the members of the Simpsons family dream of themselves in bible stories; Marge and Homer in the Garden of Eden, Lisa and the students of Springfield Elementary as hebrew slaves in Egypt, and Bart as King David who has to fight Goliath's son, Goliath II.

 

This is probably gonna be my longest review for this season because there's a ton to talk about with this one. First things first, this episode is kind of an important episode in Simpsons history, as it was a start of a trend that I'm pretty sure still continues to this day; the "trilogy" episode. Granted it was first done with The Simpsons Spin Off Showcase two seasons back, but after this episode aired the trend really started. What a trilogy episode is is an episode that uses Treehouse Of Horror's format of three short stories, but are not sci-fi/horror/etc stories and are stories that usually revolve around a theme, such as they did one with American tall tales and literature, or recounts of the same day by three different characters. I've seen the latter, Trilogy Of Error, which I remember to be pretty good, but other than that, I haven't seen any of them beside, of course, Treehouse Of Horror. Anyway, these episodes became a pretty gimmicky sort of thing that they would do each one or two seasons. The trend even blended into Futurama with their "Anthology of Interest" episodes, which while probably more of a direct result from Treehouse of Horror, are really damn good. Is this episode really damn good? Short answer, no. I'll tell you guys why, and I'll review it like I did this season's Treehouse Of Horror by judging each story individually and giving an overall score. Also, something I should preface is I do not know any of these stories by heart. I know the Garden of Eden alright and that's pretty much it. I haven't been religious my entire life, and you shouldn't need to know what a parody is making fun of to find it funny. I'm also sure there's some argument to make about how the writers are running out of ideas by using extremely old stories but whatever, I'm not here to make that argument. Anyway, here we go:

"Marge's Dream"- In Marge's dream, Marge dreams of herself as Eve and Homer as Adam in the Garden of Eden, who is tempted by Snake (who of course plays a snake, which I'm sure took fucking days and nights to come up with) to eat the forbidden fruit, which they do of course, and it pisses off God played by Ned Flanders. This short does absolutely nothing for me. Ned Flanders as God is a good choice, but they never use the comedic potential with it, and overall, this leads into the biggest problem with these stories; they feel like there's no comedic edge. Several Treehouse Of Horror sketches like The Shinning were parodies of horror movies that you didn't need to know the source material to enjoy. I didn't need to know the Shining super well to find The Shinning hilarious, but then again, the writing quality of the show has dwindled since the stellar Season 6, yadda yadda yadda. Here it feels like they're just portraying this story with the Simpsons characters copy-pasted as the characters in this story. Therefore, there's pretty much not fun at all in it and nothing to surprise even the people who know the source material, and there's nothing to surprise me as a normal viewer because it just feels like they're only telling a story and telling minimal, weak jokes. This may seem nitpicky, but there's this really annoying pig that comes up and for some reason it just pisses me off when he's on screen. It's just such a dumb joke of how he talks super sophisticated and it's just so unfunny and stupid that for some reason it just pisses me off. This short is so damn weak that it deserves a 4/10. It's another light Scumsons, but man, is it boring and does it feel like it goes on for so long and it doesn't feel like there's any attempt at making jokes in this. There's an argument to be made about "boring vs. angering episodes" but I'll refrain.

"Lisa's Dream"- In Lisa's dream, she dreams of the children of Springfield Elementary as Hebrew slaves helping build the Pharoah (Principal Skinner) a pyramid, but Moses (Milhouse) leads them to rebel. This short does even less for me. This short just reeks of "We're not gonna parody it, just portray it". There's not a single chuckle, nothing super creative about this one. It happens, moves along. There's subversion in here about flushing the Egyptian's toilets to sink the sea, but it's just such a lame subversion and it just feels like I'm watching a bad parody that you need to get the source material to get, which for a show like this, is unacceptable. Because of how goddamn boring this is, it deserves a 3/10.

Oh yeah Homer has a dream of him as King Solomon where he sends Lenny and Carl to be killed for having a dispute over a pie. This part is so short and forgettable that I'm not even going to bother saying anything about it.

"Bart's Dream"- In Bart's dream, Bart dreams of himself as King David who has to kill Goliath II (Nelson) for killing his friend Methuselah (Grandpa). Third time really is the charm, because this is the only short I actually liked. Here, it feels like a proper parody. I don't know anything about King David and Goliath, and I got this just fine. And there's good jokes in this, thank god! I like how it says Ralph is dead and it just so happens he didn't actually die and pops up super nonchalant later in it, I like Bart's weird 80's-esque training montage, I like Nelson as Goliath II, he's decently funny, I like how the whole thing is basically pointless in the end (it's not done obnoxiously, it's done in a kind of "you done fucked up" way). It's nothing amazing, but it actually tries and it shows. It's pretty funny, and the only short of them worth watching. It deserves a 7/10 from me.

This episode has an ending, and it's actually significant. This episode ends with the family waking up to an empty church and realizing the rapture happened and the Simpsons go to Hell. This is one of Matt Groening's favorite moments in the show's history, and I like it a lot too. I know this sounds hypocritical with criticizing Scully's episodes getting too weird but I have two reasons for enjoying this. First things first, the episode had been so boring for the most part up until this part, and two, it's in a trilogy episode where basically anything crazy can happen for the most part. This part has more effort in the animation, jokes, everything than the rest of this episode combined. I like the joke about Homer going to Hell and realizing that there's pineapple in coleslaw in Hell, and they even play Highway To Hell by AC/DC as a nice touch. It's a really awesome ending to a beyond meh episode, and because it's two Scumsons shorts vs a good short, it deserves a light 4/10. This is not how to write a parody. There's little to no subversion, really isn't funny at all, but Bart as King David is good enough and man, that ending is just so awesome and easily is the most memorable and best part of the episode. 

[CyanideFishbone]

"Mom and Pop Art"*

Written by: Al Jean

First aired: April 11th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Homer really badly fails to build a barbecue pit, it becomes recognized as a piece of outsider art, and Homer decides to become an outsider artist, but soon loses his touch.

 

One of my least favorite plot devices in television is "Character messes up something badly and it is recognized as modern art". It's extremely overdone in my opinion, and often feels like a lazy copout. However, I quite like how it's done here and I quite like this episode in general. There's enough subversion and new takes at the plot device here such as Homer losing his touch to make the episode feel satisfying, and the episode is just straight up funny. There's a ton of great jokes in the episode. I love it when Bart looks traumatized after he sees Ms. Krabappel tell Skinner that she wants a baby, I like Bart and Lisa angering Homer to improve his art, I like the Jasper Johns running gag, I like the stuff Homer has never fixed when Marge is trying to motivate him right at the start of the episode, I like it when Homer's art is first recognized by Astrid, this episode's one time character and guest star (she's played by Isabella Rossellini if anyone's curious) and the scene where Homer builds the barbecue pit is gold. Like, right up there as gold with Homer and Pinchy in Lisa Gets an A. I have no idea why, but when Marge asks Bart how the project is going and Bart says it's going fine being immediately followed up by Homer screaming at his failure and running into it makes me laugh every time. And this episode's got a solid plot that moves along well, and with all this talk about how i don't like how absurd a lot of Scully's Simpsons, how do I feel about the ending, which is extremely absurd and crazy? Honestly, I like it. Here's the thing. I can let this slide because it feels very coherent with the plot. It feels like a natural step at this point where Homer is so uninspired to do something crazy like this. The reason why the protest in Homer To The Max and the weird trip out segments in Make Room For Lisa bothered me so much is because they just feel like a piece from another episode just copy pasted into the plot. If I had to give a criticism, it's that the scene where Homer is uninspired moves a little slow, and there's a weird trip out segment in a nightmare that's only really okay. It does nothing for me, but it's not really bad. Overall, it's a pretty good episode that's refreshing to see after a string of duds. It gets an 8/10 from me.

 

[CyanideFishbone]

"The Old Man and the "C" Student"

Written by: Julie Thacker

First aired: April 25th, 1999

 

Synopsis: After humiliating the Olympic Committee who want to host the Olympics in Springfield, the children are sentenced to community service, with Bart having to work at the town retirement home. After noticing how boring their lives are, Bart decides to help them have fun.

 

I've tried starting this review like three times and I've never felt satisfied doing so, and that's exactly what this episode leaves me. Unsatisfied. This episode has a load of problems.  This episode's A plot is ridiculously weak. I don't know what it is, I don't know if there's something I missed, I kind of feel like I do, but I don't think there was a single joke, line, visual, part, etc in this A plot that either made me laugh or made me realize "Hey, that was kinda cool." This episode's A plot is missed potential because the plot is pretty alright, and it's executed horribly. All of the jokes in the A-plot are so lame it's not even funny. One of the old people (It's the "that's a paddlin'" guy, I think his name is Jasper) keeps saying "I sunk your battleship.", there's old people doing tricks in a halfpipe on wheelchairs, old people running around falling. Did a fucking second grader come up with these jokes? Because that's what it feels like. These feel like such easy and lame jokes to make, and it's just like, come on man. This plot has some other problems too. Okay, so Bart gets the old people to go on this cruise ship and they have fun and stuff until Mr. Burns' boat crashes through the cruise ship, which the captain never notices because he has two glass eyes (it's Captain McCallister). Anyway, Jack LaLanne pops out of nowhere to try to save the ship from sinking and because it's a fairly important plot element, it feels like a complete deus ex machina. Also, the seniors are well aware that they almost died, and there's none of them rebelling against Bart or anything, just another lame "emotional" moment in this season between Bart and Grandpa which just fails to hit me on any emotional level with how weak this A-plot is. And the montage of old people running around and doing tricks in a halfpipe on wheelchairs has a cover of Can't Buy Me Love by The Beatles over it (It's funny considering the next episode's title is a reference to that song) and it's literally does not fit at all. And sadly, it's not in a funny way, it doesn't fit in an annoying way. I really hate this A plot. So how's the Homer B plot? I actually like this B-plot decently. It's just straight up funny. Homer trying to make use of a ton of springs feels almost like Pinchy in crazy Homer antics, and it gets a few laughs, but the laughs it gets are good laughs, my favorites being Principal Skinner repeatedly punching Homer in the face only for him to be fine because he's saved falling over by the springs glued to his back, Homer flushing them down the toilet to the disappointment of Marge, and there's a scene where Homer tricks Moe and Lenny to getting the springs stuck in their eyes and both of the springs in their eyes getting tangled together in a slightly gruesome scene that's honestly pretty funny. It never outstays it's welcome, and it's a slightly darker gag to provide some nice juxtaposition to all these lame ass jokes in the A-plot. However, although I like the B-plot, I would not watch this episode. Just look up "homer simpson springs" on YouTube and you should find a lot of the only really funny and memorable jokes. However, despite me praising the B-plot, the episode's A-plot leaves such a bad taste in my mouth to give it a light 4/10. It's VERY close to being a 5, but for the main plot this weak is unacceptable, and leaves me just so unsatisfied. 

 

Take it away, Paul Westerberg. 

 

 

[CyanideFishbone]

"Monty Can't Buy Me Love"

Written by: John Swartzwelder

First aired: May 2nd, 1999

 

Synopsis: When a businessman steals Mr. Burns' fame, he desperately searches for ways to get the public eye on him again, culminating in Homer, Groundskeeper Willie, Professor Frink and Mr. Burns to go to Scotland to find the Loch Ness Monster.

 

I've seen a lot of people hate this episode, and honestly, yeah it's a pretty poor episode. This episode has some great jokes, and that's the biggest positive of this. The scene with Jerry Rude (played by Micheal McKean) is pretty funny, I like the directors commentary of the movie at the department store being of the producer repeatedly saying the movie is absymal, I like them thinking Homer died trying to find the Loch Ness Monster while scuba diving but it turns out he's just been playing pinball, and Mr. Burns getting the wrong idea of giving free money by attacking people with quarters, hell, I even like the joke with Lenny and the quarter in his forehead. The reason I like a lot of these darker jokes like Lenny and Moe getting springs stuck in their eyes in The Old Man and The "C" Student is it provides some nice variety. Now on to this episode's largest problem; the plot. Holy hell, is this episode's plot a mess. It's right between Sunday, Cruddy Sunday and Make Room For Lisa in terms of awful pacing. The part where they arrive in Scotland only happens in the third act, and because there's about 2 minutes to wrap up the episode, we're given about 5 minutes in Scotland when it feels like a lot more could have been done there. As I do like the gags of Mr. Burns at this vulgar radio show, it feels like the middle of the episode with Mr. Burns wanting to be in the public eye again goes on so damn long. And Mr. Burns is just...... awful in this. It's kind of like they just forgot that Mr. Burns is a monster of a human being who will do anything for self-gain without consideration of others. He acts like a divorced husband and Homer is his best friend since high school or whatever. It's just so weird to see Mr. Burns try to be nice to other people like this. I like the idea of Mr. Burns trying to get praise like this again, but it's weird to see him do this without any sort of malicious intent and it's offputting as hell. Granted, it's kind of seen as a "Everything's failed, being nice is the final option" kind of thing, which is okay if they want to do that, but just not seeing him be even evil at all is weird and just honestly destroys the episode. How about we see them all get to Scotland and Mr. Burns betrays them all to try to find the Loch Ness Monster, leading to a race between Homer, Professor Frink, and Groundskeeper Willie vs. Mr. Burns to find the monster? That'd at least be a little interesting, and would feel in character. And it just feels like this episode wants you to have sympathy for a character who's literally meant to be a satire on corporate America and because of this it just fails because Mr. Burns is a terrible human being. And this episode is too damn weird. We've had robots try to attack the family in a stellar episode from the show's golden era, which was a fun addition to that episode, but here, not only does it not make sense being the Loch Ness Monster is giant in-episode and Homer, Burns and crew couldn't see it from the lake which doesn't look super deep, but his inclusion just feels like a lame way to make some sort of surreal factor to this episode. The show generally twists the truth, but in here it just feels like a lazy way to add some absurdity and it just feels contrived as hell. I'm for an episode about the Loch Ness Monster, but it feels just like a lazy addition for more Scully absurdity. Don't even get me started on this damn ending too. It's just...... what? Yes, Mr. Burns is rich, it would kind of make sense for something like this? But it just feels so weird and out of place, and it's not funny.

 

This review was probably a mess, I'm sorry. This episode was hard to review, man, it really was. TL;DR: This episode is awfully paced, feels too damn strange and weird, and Mr. Burns is drastically out of character, and deserves a 3/10. Yeah, it has a couple of good jokes but that doesn't make up for twisting a character's main trait this badly, and pacing an episode this badly. 

[Wumbo]

Oh man, the barbecue scene in "Mom and Pop Art"... just goes to show that for all of Scully's faults, his tenure still had some amazingly funny scenes. This is probably the funniest scene of the whole season.

"Yep, that's one fine looking barbecue pit... WHY DOESN'T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT?!"

I also love "Stupid Lisa!" It's such a bizarrely cruel line but it kills me every time.

I also may as well say that you've now covered my other two completely wretched eps of the season with "Make Room for Lisa"and "Monty". "Monty" is such a strange episode. I literally have no idea what they were going for.

[CyanideFishbone]

"They Saved Lisa's Brain"*

Written by: Matt Selman

First aired: May 9th, 1999

 

Synopsis: When Lisa is invited to and joins Springfield's MENSA group, they eventually gain control of the city's government hoping to improve Springfield. Meanwhile, in a subplot, Homer poses for erotic photos.

 

This is an episode that's truly memorable. First off, kudos to this episode for it's plot. I like instead of doing a "smart vs dumb" episode, which would've been fine, the smart people taking control through politics and scaring Mayor Quimby to fleeing is a really cool idea that feels very fresh for the state the show was in at the time. And this is another episode that isn't just straight up funny, it's constantly REALLY funny. There are so many short "blink and you'll miss it" jokes in this episode that work so well. "The Dennis Miller Ratio", the Sarcasm Detector, Ethnic Mismatch Comedy #644, and several others. And this is another episode where while the A-plot is more enjoyable, I feel like it's not held back at all by it's Homer B-plot, which is also straight up funny. Bart discovering Homer while posing is one of the funniest parts of the entire episode, the photographer trying to hold back criticizing Homer's weight is funny, the photos themselves are just so ridiculous coming from Homer that they're pretty funny, Homer first calling the photographer, it's all pretty funny. But yeah, nothing quite takes from the A-plot, an idea that feels fresh, and is as I said, really funny. When they gain control, some of the best jokes are said; my personal favorite is the spin on jury duty and the short cutaway gag with Moe and jury duty is among the funniest jokes in the episode. But there's one thing about this episode, that happens at the very end, that steals the show and helps this episode be as solid as it is; Stephen Hawking (R.I.P.). Stephen Hawking as a guest star here, honestly, even rivals among some of the best guest stars in the show's early years, and makes up for some of this season's really crappy guest stars (I'm looking at you, When You Dish Upon A Star and The Old Man And The "C" Student). Every line he says is just goddamn gold. "I wanted to see your utopia, but now I see it as more of a fruitopia", "You all have been corrupted by power. For shame", the spring-loaded fist he uses to punch Principal Skinner, "sometimes the smartest of us can be the most childish", and probably my favorite "Time for this hawk to fly." (which is more depressing now, because, yeah, you know........), and "Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may just have to steal it.". And another thing this episode made me realize is that, yeah, this season is good at banter between characters because the banter of the MENSA members is really damn entertaining to watch. I really like how they're all constantly at their throats, and something interesting is that they bring back Lindsey Naegle from The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show as a MENSA member. One nitpicky thing I have with this episode is that Marge at the competition early on says that Bart's entry may be the most he'll accomplish in life which feels really nasty from Marge, but it's such a blink and you'll miss it line that it doesn't really matter to me. After such a string of duds, it's beyond refreshing to see an episode this solid, memorable, and straight up funny, and that's why it deserves a 10/10 from me. There's no doubt that this is among the season's best.

[Wumbo]

Second favourite of the season here. This really feels like a rare season 10 episode that gets The Simpsons, which, y'know, shouldn't be high praise or anything, but there ya have it. An interesting plot that takes care to use its secondary characters not just as one-note punchlines. It makes sense for all the characters in MENSA to be there, and everybody pitches in some funny lines here and there. "Take that, East St. Louis!" is a personal fave of mine.

And as you said, Hawking's guest appearance is sincerely one of the best in the show's history. Hawking himself had quite the wry sense of humour, and it really shines here.