Reviews - Season 18
Season 18 is a work in progress! We'll have overall reflections when it wraps up. Until then, check below for reviews of the most recently-aired "Simpsons" episodes!HABF18 "Jazzy and the Pussycats"
In talking about last week's season opener, "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife, and Her Homer", I mentioned how far too few episodes felt new or different in recent seasons. This is a consistent problem plaguing episodes that are moderately funny - with so many great episodes of "The Simpsons" out on DVD, it's difficult to get too enthusiastic for a somewhat funny episode that feels similar to all the other episodes that have aired over past years. The mere handful of truly original episodes per season bothers me, of course, because the overwhelming majority of the non-traditional stories and experiments on the part of the writing staff in recent years - with the exception of the done-to-death three short stories format - have been well above the average quality of newer episodes. The easy assumption to make (and one I'm guilty of) is that originality = quality. But there are ways of being original that breathe new life into the show, and there are ways of being original that move the show so far from its intrinsic appeal that the it fundamentally breaks down. "Jazzy and the Pussycats" is a textbook example of the second - an episode that is moderately funny, but entirely divorced from the qualities that should define a good "Simpsons" episode. Miscalculations abound that divorce the episode from reality and good sense, and leave the episode without the trademark unity of tone and purpose that mark the series' best entries. While a certain amount of time-collapse is to be expected in the twenty-two minutes available for the story, Bart reaches the level of a professional drummer absurdly quickly. When Lisa is an established prodigy, and has been set up over so many seasons to be entirely dedicated to her craft, it's just too much to accept to see Bart overtake her with nary a setback. While the writers show an enjoyable appreciation of the mechanics of a jazz combo, and the music in the episode is wonderful (although the quality of the playing of these elementary school kids is similarly ridiculous), the jazz plot rarely feels plausible. There are also strange choices made regarding the episode's plot construction. The story that becomes the main focus of the episode - Lisa's love of animals - springs from the jazz plot in a completely arbitrary fashion, with an off-hand remark from Lisa serving as the only tenuous set-up for entirely abandoning the main thrust of the episode for an awkwardly long time. While the two sub-plots do intersect, there is very little intercutting, and by its close the episode does not succeed in selling the two stories as a cohesive whole, but rather two independent and marginally entertaining tracks that randomly collide in extremely forced ways. The details of the episode do little to help make the episode feel either unified or "Simpsons"-y. There are not one, but two momentum-killing musical montages, which eat up a significant amount of episodic space to say very little. We're somehow supposed to believe Lisa managed to lead a bunch of endangered species up two sets of stairs. An out-of-nowhere funny jazz names roll call eats up a half-minute, and Krusty reveals an eating disorder. $78,000 becomes enough to fund an expensive specialty zoo. Strangest of all, Bart is at one point implied to be smoking pot, a decision which provides next to no humor and a whole lot of questions about taste and the general thinking behind the episode. It says something about the amount of weird and inexplicable happenings in the episode that Chief Wiggum riding an ostrich is one of the more grounded jokes in the entire affair. Although the episode was funny at times, and had relatively little in the way of weak humor, most of the quality gags have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on in the episode - they're cast-off one-liners and witty asides, and there's never the build-up required to turn a scene with funny jokes into a well-constructed comedic sequence. "Jazzy and the Pussycats" wasn't embarassing, and due to the sheer oddity of what was on display, it made for an interesting watch. But there's nothing here that indicates the minds behind this episode are any closer to rediscovering what used to make "The Simpsons" work so well, and in the end I'm left to wonder if the episode was a Frankenstein-esque patchwork of underdeveloped episode pitches - that's the only explanation I can think of for such a disjointed and substance-sparse creation. I'm all for originality, but it must also come with plausiblity, rational plot progression, real thought given to structure, and humor that results naturally from the experimentation. Otherwise, instead of the next modern masterpiece, fans are left only with a more interesting but ultimately unsatisfying failure - which is little improvement over a more formulaic but similarly misfiring episode. Hopefully Season 18 is beginning Goldilocks-style, and I'll soon be able to see a mix of humor and originality that is just right. It's not there yet.Grade: C
HABF20 "Please Homer Don't Hammer 'Em"
The interplay between Bart and Principal Skinner has been one of the treasures of "The Simpsons" over the years. "Skinner's Sense of Snow", a Season 12 gem that I will never miss an opportunity to mention, was one of the highlights of the past decade for the show, and its central appeal was the well-written rivalry between the two characters. The two have shared screentime in other episodes in recent years and have been remained remarkably consistent. In the past five seasons, Skinner has also been one of a small fraternity of townspeople characters that haven't significantly declined. While Bart has at times veered completely off the rails, when the writers put him with Skinner, the old speech patterns and instrinsic comedic strengths of the character emerge again. Seeing Skinner and Bart on-screen is good nostalgia, whenever they appear; the damage that years of weathering has taken on the show has yet to intrude upon their relationship. The fighting between the two in this episode is relegated to the sub-plot, however, and while this might be a good decision if looked at from the "better in small doses" school of thinking, it regrettably cedes the episode's main story to yet another edition of Homer and Marge's marital strife. "The Simpsons" has quietly slipped into the style of a traditional sitcom in past years, and the central culprit are the plots featuring these two - at this point, well past 350 episodes, there is very little that can be done with the Homer-Marge marriage that doesn't feel formulaic or, worse, like an outright repeat. This hasn't stopped the writers from doing an episode where Homer screws up and Marge learns to forgive him seemingly every other week, however, which has only accelerated the feelings of intense predictability and deja vu that well up whenever one of the marriage-focused episodes airs. "Please Don't Hammer 'Em" at least provides a competent run-through of this overdone plot, hitting all the well-established stepping-stones in a well-paced and inoffensive manner, but there's no way to make the material feel fresh - especially when contrasted with the Bart-Skinner feud. The sub-plot involving their allergies provides more life and energy to the episode in single scenes then the A-story does with two-thirds of the episodic airtime, and credit for the overall positive reaction I felt towards the episode rests almost entirely with the supporting story. A well-done parody of the climactic lightsaber duel from "Revenge of the Sith" is a real kick, and the very idea of two characters blackmailing and fighting each other via allergies actually feels very original, even if it's probably been done somewhere else. In general, the episode is funny, although the sub-plot is again the stand-out. But the main story's stale storytelling doesn't also mean that humor was neglected, and throughout the episode the laughs appear at a reasonable clip, with most of the bad jokes coming near the beginning. "Please Homer Don't Hammer 'Em" is intensely limited by the shortcomings of its main story, as all Homer and Marge episodes will be until the writers turn to new ideas for or a reduced focus on the couple. The sub-plot is simple, well-made, and quite fun, however, and the humor stays consistent throughout, so the episode can't help but get a positive grade. The writing staff needs serious work on improving its concepts and stories for episodes, but at least in this case the execution can't be faulted.Grade: B
HABF17 "Treehouse of Horror XVII"
Writing with integrity for a comedy means constantly fighting the temptation to be lazy. There is always the option to shoot for the most basic of audience responses with the most obvious or pedestrian jokes and storytelling possible. Giving into this temptation has made for many, many painful "Simpsons" moments over recent years, and nowhere has this problem been more prevalent than in episodes split into three short stories. With only six or seven minutes to spare, the time constraint often causes a sketch to do nothing more than ride its basic premise on comedic autopilot towards the most obvious conclusion. And that's the biggest problem with "Treehouse of Horror XVII", an episode that, given its healthy amount of funny moments, fails with surprising thoroughness.
"The Simpsons" writing staff, despite the age of the show, can still be counted on to produce good one-liners. With the cast of well-developed characters and familiar comedic tensions that the show has to work with, this isn't a tremendous achievement, but it is a comfortingly consistent aspect of a show that has declined in so many areas. The toss-off jokes make for a good amount of laughs per segment, and normally that would be enough for a "Halloween" episode. But the writers take the easy road at every opportunity, with an irritating amount of predictability. Homer starts eating people, and we're treated to a parade of fat people jokes. The golem comes to life, and there's four minutes of stereotypical Jewish jokes. The town is transported back to the 1930s, and all the one-joke characters are presented with their joke slightly tweaked for the period. All of these jokes are funny, of course. But they're funny without any sort of integrity on the part of the creator, and the creators couldn't be less ambitious in their intentions - and it shows. The end result is an episode that doesn't think a whole lot of its audience, and that inspires a predictable amount of indignation.
There are bright spots, to be sure. The first story has a particularly high number of good lines. The golem segment opens very strong, with Krusty in true form and a repeat of the shotgun joke that works perfectly. And the third short has a wonderful appearance by Maurice LaMarche, who does a dead-on take on Orson Welles by doing a dead-on rehash of his voice for Brain, from "Pinky and the Brain". The jokes with Welles are worthy of a much better episode, and a true testament to what a good vocal actor can do with underwritten material. But they all feel like flashes of possibility, glimpes of a better episode chained down by laziness. And the high points are greatly diminished by the low points, which are awful.
Two jokes in particular show a stunning lack of foresight. I'm not against dealing with controversial material, or making a joke that pushes the envelope. Some of the best "South Park" episodes do both dozens of times over. But when doing so, the creators need to rise to the challenge. When they don't connect, the joke doesn't merely bomb, but the competence and taste of the writers are put into question. "The Simpsons" have poked fun at homeless people before, but to have them being eaten by Homer and enjoying it failed on all levels, and couldn't help but leave bad feelings after its passage. And the ill-conceived Iraq War parallel at the end of the 1930s segment, though it came tantalizingly close to success, self-imploded with a far-too-cutesy line about "weapons of mass disintegration", and an awkward concluding pause that reportedly resulted from removing a line. These two, plus a few other bombs, cancel out much of the good will from the humor that did work, and leave the episode to stand only on the merits of its storytelling, where it falls woefully short.
The time-honored method of delivering an effective short story, in film or text, is to take a very simple concept and treat it with a high amount of craft. The result is often elegant, as undeniable classics like "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet", "The Genesis Tub", and "Homer3" attest to. Yes, these were often straight rip-offs of "Twilight Zone" episodes, but they took the best lessons about what made that show work, foremost being attempts at true eerieness, restraint, and simplicity. Increasingly, the problem with short segments on the show is that they attempt to be mini-episodes. This is the easiest way to try and tell a shorter story - condense, condense, condense. But it's not the most effective or rewarding, and the writers' apparent unwillingness to attempt true craft hurts these stories incalculably. Nothing about this collection will age well, let alone feel timeless. It's the final failure of ambition in an episode that speaks volumes towards the lowered sights of the show in its current form.
"Treehouse of Horror XVII" does many things right. It's certainly funnier than a lot of recent episodes, and going for the laugh is hardly the most deplorable of intentions. But there are many, many troubling shortfalls of taste, intent, and storytelling here that more than outweigh its comedic value. I can only hope that by some accident or self-imposed restraint that the writers will realize that just because there are endless easy jokes to make that riff on the show's conventions or milk a simple comedic device, that doesn't mean they need to make them. Alternatives exist, and the results of looking past the most obvious might well prove far more rewarding.
Grade: C-
(Reviewed November 24th, 2006)Sometimes, I have a lot to say about an episode. The new style of reviews around "Springfield Weekly" reflects that, as I've been trying to make them longer and more detailed and to fairly assess as many aspects of the show as possible. Whether I'm doing that effectively is up for debate, but I think a strong case could be made that some of these episodes merit this kind of analysis - they fail for complicated reasons, or they succeed with subtle craft. With episodes like "G.I. D'oh", however, there sadly isn't much to say. I'll still try to, but the important concept is that this is outright crap.
The example I trot out for the worst episode ever is usually "Pokey Mom", a dud that failed on the most basic level - it didn't make me laugh the entire time. Other strong candidates include "Bart-Mangled Banner", which used a triumphantly illogical plot to achieve and say absolutely nothing, or "The Latest Gun In The West", which famously held viewers in such contempt as to waste minutes on a dog chase, or "Maximum Homerdrive", which earns serious contention by being terrible ahead of its time. "G.I. D'oh" is an episode with a consistent focus, at least some idea of what it's trying to say, and a few moments to merit a grin throughout. But it contains plot holes that are so shockingly wide I'm amazed this passed even one session of group review. And what these gaps do is make everything past their appearance not worth attention, and the value of everything leading up to somethhing so monumentally stupid put into severe question.
Jason has already pointed out the obvious ridiculousness of Homer joining the army. He thinks about it for approximately two seconds. Is this within the wide spectrum of Homer's inconsistent stupidity? Yes. But it doesn't exactly earn the episode any leeway for its later plotting. I can accept a ridiculous premise if the writers have more important things to worry about, but they need to excute well in order to earn the pass. But then they go from absurd to astronomically implausible. What absolutely cannot be justified, in any sense, is the basic conflict of the episode. Homer runs away from the army, with his unintelligent unit in tow, because he sees American soldiers. This is funny for a second, I'll admit. But from that point onward, no further reason for Homer's flight is stated. I will repeat. Homer runs away from the army because he sees American soldiers during a war game played by American soldiers. This is the fundamental premise for the conflict that takes up the entire third act of the episode. Then, for some reason, the army invades the town and jails citizens - which is similarly idiotic and absurdly unrealistic, but at this point, who even notices. Then the townspeople subdue American soldiers with shotguns, an act of treason that in anything resembling a logical world would result in a good portion of the town in jail for life or executed. But the army surrenders to a city within its own country, of course, because common sense is miles away at this point.
Are you feeling the tone start to slip a bit? Is this beginning to sound less and less like a review and more like pure exasperation? Yes. And that's because this is complete tripe that isn't worthy of the slightest analysis. This is flat-out embarassing. But while the plot for the episode might be utterly worthless, I can forgive that. The episode is humorous at times, and an episode can limp away with a D and a stern look of disapproval if it still manages to be funny. Lord knows that an animated cartoon isn't above unrealistic plotting. Yet, sadly, that is only the beginning of this episode's problems. What makes me want to drive a stake through the heart of this episode, shove it in a box, and kick it into the ocean, never to be seen again, is that it has the sheer, offensive, moronic audacity to think that, having set up a situation through plot mechanics that completely ignore the way the world works, human nature, basic logic, common sense, U.S. law, and realistic human decision-making, it has earned the right to comment upon a real-world situation.
I will not hide the fact that I have serious complaints about the handling of the Iraq war, and the conduct of the U.S. military. But that doesn't mean that anything that jumps upon the bandwagon of criticizing the war deserves approval. I agree with the basic precepts of the episode's commentary, but the way it is presented is incompetent. The episode is so poorly plotted that it wouldn't have any business commenting on the price of coffee, let alone a complicated and extremely sensitive political subject. To earn the right to make political commentary, the critic needs to establish some sort of credentials, some indication of their own expertise or respect for discourse that allows them a seat at the metaphorical table. This episode fails to do that. And where that normally would only be cause for lamenting another poor "Simpsons" episode, here it has me taken back at how remarkably offensive this garbage manages to be.
The writers go after the basic competence of the men involved in the war, the soldiers and officers. War criticism should never, ever be directed towards American troops - look at the treatment of Vietnam War veterans for some obvious examples of where that sort of thinking leads. Yet the writers use the men themselves, not the forces and leaders that cause their participation, as the targets of their criticism. Anyone who elists must obviously have the intelligence of an elementary school student. Anyone smart wouldn't join the army because that's what stupid people do. The officers are gay and moronic. American soldiers don't care that American citizens are hurt. The list goes on and on. These are all implicit to the episode, assumptions that are inherent in its own simple-minded internal logic. The writers condemn these people through the lens of a situation that was set up through a series of increasingly ridiculous and absurd plot points, that are nothing like anything resembling the real world. It's unfair in countless ways. How can the writers possibly be so insensitive and short-sighted as to think they've earned the right to criticize a real war for its stupidity in the final act - going so far as to explicitly lecture about the war in Lisa's final words, through an insane parallel between small-town Americans and terrorist insurgents - when they've been so remarkably idiotic themselves? It's galling. It's inexplicable. And it's this that sets it in its own league for quality.
This is offensive, shoddy, poorly thought-out, irritating crap. This makes me long for simple failures, horrible episodes that at least didn't make me want to throttle the writers for being so smug and self-satisfied in the refuge of their own moronic creation. It takes a very easy case to make, that major aspects of the Iraq War are being mishandled, and presents it so incompetently as to somehow make the criticizers appear far more simple-minded than even the real-life idiots. And it does so while twisting the knife in people who should never be the target of home front criticism. It's appalling not just because it is so offensive, but because it expends so little effort and care to achieve the magnitude of the offense it causes.
I've spent enough time talking about this, by this point, that I feel my problems with the episode have been made clear. So I'll leave with this final thought. Somehow, the writers managed to make space aliens invading a 1930s version of Springfield, in the episode beforehand, infinitely more analagous to the real-life situation than a story composed of real people in the modern day. If that isn't the nail in the coffin, I don't know what is. I'm not merely embarassed at the show. I'm ashamed I watched.
Grade: F
(Reviewed November 25th, 2006)This episode seems like a spiritual pair with "Moe Baby Blues", as Moe again finds a source of happiness in a little Simpson girl. "Moe Baby Blues" is clearly superior, partially due to its more interesting plotting. This episode's basic plot is a very tired sitcom construction, whereas "Moe Baby Blues" toyed around with some very interesting tension between Moe and Maggie's parents. But the episode still exhibits many of the finer qualities of its partner - simplicity, good jokes, and solid execution - and generally succeeds as something far less than a masterpiece but far from a failure.
The episode wasn't spectacularly funny, and wasn't free from bad jokes. But a lot of the humor that did work hit the mark in promising ways. Tom Wolfe was a delightful guest star, poking fun at himself and providing both energy and laughs every time he appeared. Michael Chabon and Jonathan Frazen were also fantastic, perhaps moreso, infusing a well-written feud with greatly helpful enthusiasm. The writers used Homer sparingly, always a good sign, and he performed well in his limited screentime. The loud crowd member at the book signing felt like a gag that would have been at home in Season 7. There were weak points, mostly in the first half of the episode, and the episode wasn't immune to overly extended gags, such as Homer falling out of the window. But there were no major failures, and there were quite a few real successes. It wasn't "The Simpsons" at its most funny, but it provided far more memorable gags than any episode since Season 17's "The Monkey Suit".
And, though the plot felt tired, simple, mostly well-done humor managed to carry the day. The writers felt invested in their product. The characters seemed real. The guest stars enjoyed themselves. The story moved at a good pace. An episode with a story like this was probably never going to be a masterpiece, but it was presented as competently as I could hope for, with a number of moments that inspired real glee. More material like this, dropped into a more interesting storyline, would be a wonderful step forward for the series. But this is still a fine start.
Grade: B
(Reviewed November 25th, 2006)HABF22 "Ice Cream Of Margie (With The Light Blue Hair)"
This episode's basic premise combines the show's two most tired plotlines. Homer gets another job, and he angers Marge and has to fix their marriage. Yet I have little to no issue with "Ice Cream Of Margie (With The Light Blue Hair)". There's no particular problem with retreading the same stories over and over, but to get away with it the writers must deliver them in a fresh way or with superb craft. The backlash from myself and others against the stories stems mostly from the consistent failure to do either, rather than in any weakness in plots that were at the core of countless classic episodes. There is no attempt at a fresh take, here, as the story beats mostly unfold in the expected manner, although, Homer not actually being late surpised me mildly. So for the episode to succeed it had to run through the very familiar storyline and fill it with good jokes, while nailing every story beat with something close to perfection. And, wonder of all wonders, the writers pulled it off. This is the first resoundingly successful straight take on old storylines since "The Italian Bob", where the done-to-death concepts of the vacation and Sideshow Bob episodes were slapped together in an exciting mix.
What helps the retread immensely is how interconnected the plots feel. Unified purpose is rare in modern "Simpsons" episodes, with sub-plots far too often going about their own business with very little influence on or compatibility with the main story. It's nice to see it make a comeback here. Homer's job leads directly to Marge's hobby, and continues to fuel it. The episode sells its "happy" part well. And then the turn for the worse comes through a direct intersection between Homer and Marge's activities, which makes both plotlines necessary for the overall story. Neither story feels like it could have been cut, and neither one receives too little focus. It's a carefully balance, and it propels the episode into its third act without any bumps in the plot.
The final part of the story is executed best, providing the material that most makes this episode feel like a special treat. The scenes with Homer talking to Marge through the door are some of the show's best dramatic sequences in quite awhile, certainly a cut above the normal Jean-era attempts at earnest emotion. The writers foster real sympathy for Homer while also providing Marge with a legitimate reason for both her stubbornness and ultimate acquiescence. For once, Homer and Marge's marital difficulties feel like something that could happen with a real couple, rather than two caricatures. Combined with the romantic tenderness expressed between the two throughout the episode, consciously reminiscent of their classic era relationship, the episode succeeds wonderfully at each crucial beat in the story. We all know what will happen from the beginning of the conflict taking shape, but the writers make it believable this time. The choice to play the material straight, without twists, and therefore force craftsmanship to carry the day, could have been a failure of an all-too-familiar kind. But the writers pull it off, and the results are surprisingly effective at making me feel invested in a relationship that has so often felt unsalvageable.
Of course, the great execution of this episode's story would mean nothing without humor. Thankfully, the writers didn't drop the ball there, either, providing laughs that kept the episode vibrant. The opening scenes in the power plant were fun, and Homer's gleeful enthusiasm for all things ice cream stayed amusing. The joke with the lactose intolerant kid was an outright bomb, but it wasn't enough to take away from the episode significantly, and in almost all other instances the episode delivered good laughs. Many interchanges had the restraint and wit that should be the Simpsons' hallmark. Homer's exchange with the kids about the dentist was brilliant. The townspeople's reactions to the popsicle stick structures were uniformly fantastic, and the final unveiling of the Homer statue sparked a number of great lines. The Oprah parody will probably be divisive for the core fans, but they were a nice touch of confident zaniness. Overall the humor worked as well as the plot, to my great relief.
This wasn't a masterpiece. But, if it had aired before its plot threads accumulated so much baggage, and had benefited from one more comedic read-through to swap out its worst jokes for better replacements, it might not have been out of place amongst its better, long-gone predecessors from the golden era. This episode doesn't come from a recipe that will work wonders time and time again - I would be surprised if the writers will ever be able to milk such a good episode out of such an unpromising pitch again. But as a one-off demonstration of the possibilities that still exist in the series' archetypal plots, which sometimes seem to be entirely devoid of vitality, this almost couldn't have made me happier. I'm too jaded to believe this will continue once the JABF production run starts up, but this is wonderful stuff to see in the middle of a season that has been greatly disappointing so far.
Grade: A-
(Reviewed November 27th, 2006)Legal Notice and Disclaimer: "The Simpsons" TM and FOX and its related companies. All rights reserved. This site, its operators, and any content on this site relating to The Simpsons are not authorized by FOX.
