Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Woo-Hoo Dunnit?
I feel like I never got into true crime. I feel like I could be easily but I just never did. But recently, it seems that people are questioning the ethics of such documentary. This is because a lot of them are all about turning actual tragedies into the entertainment of armchair theorizing. There are advantages; bringing to light accusations and injustices where public attention might be needed but it's formula is about the enticing mystery of an actual death. Even Only Murders in the Building, a wonderful love letter to both the classic mystery formula and true crime podcasts often make the characters question the ethics of their decisions and what they choose to air (though usually they choose to air most of the things by the end, so it's hardly hard-hitting and is better taken as character study than social commentary). Still, the genre is appealing and while I don't watch them. I can't deny if I did, I would definitely be invested and hanging on every word, even if in the end, they are basically never solved.
In this episode, Dateline Springfield does an episode focusing on who stole Lisa's college fund of about $600 hidden in a tube of powdered cleanser. During the show, Marge is extremely offended that the prime suspects are the members of the family. Homer is the first suspect, having cleaned his own spaghetti sauce mess in the kitchen the night before but it turns out he didn't use the cleanser as he licked it clean. Then Bart is suspected and though he did steal it for a time as part of a money-making venture in slime, he returned it all after breaking even. Lisa is next, suspected of mortgaging her future on musical instruments but in fact, she was elsewhere at the time of the crime. As the documentary comes to a close with no resolution, Homer makes the filmmakers apologize for needling their family. As Homer and Marge watch the episode on TV, Marge reveals some new information that allows Homer to crack the mystery; Marge did it. It turned out she did it as part of her own business venture. Homer promises not to tell and the two grow closer in their secret.
I don't dislike this episode but I don't particularly like it either. It feels less like nothing than a lot of episodes and definitely is trying to capture both the appeal and mock the format of popular true crime series and the obvious comparison is the episode Behind the Laughter. Behind the Laughter was a divisive episode for some but I find it a favourite simply because the jokes and outrageously places it went really tickled me, particularly the over the top analogies. And keep in mind, I have never and still haven't seen a Behind the Music to know the specifics of the format that was being mocked. I feel like similarly you wouldn't need familiarity necessarily with true crime shows to enjoy this but I also feel like the laughs aren't nearly as strong in this one.
I think it doesn't help that while it is primarily a wacky comedy story than an emotional arc, it does try to bring it to a character-based conclusion but Marge's reasoning, in using the money to start her business, she's having an adventure that she usually doesn't get to have, unlike Homer, doesn't land. I feel like it could with a few re-writes though; make each character's alibi some sort of adventure or misadventure and get a little pointed about what Marge was doing at the time. Bart's story fits that bill but Homer and Lisa not so much. And I get it, we know these characters well enough that we know about Marge and Homer's dynamic already where he gets into a new venter/adventure/misadventure every week and she often does it less often and every time she does, it's a bigger deal for the family. But this feels more like rehashing an old idea to create a conclusion rather than one organic to the episode.
I also feel like maybe I've been watching too much Columbo lately but I also find the mystery unsatisfying. And a good mystery is a hard ask but I always feel like even if you are playing in comedy, it's fun to make the mystery clever and fun. Even if you are subverting it into a dumb or nonsensical mystery, it will be more interesting if you toy with the conventions a bit more. Too be fair, this could be because it's more a parody of true crime mysteries, and like them there are lots of narrative cul de sacs to examine the red herrings. But the episode actually ends like a solved mystery. It could be fun to start in the true crime mode and end like a classic mystery and maybe examine the differences between the two but that's just me spitballing ideas. In the end, I just wish we saw an episode where I was surprised by a reveal that also made sense, even in a silly comedy show. That or at least I wish I laughed a bit more.
I feel like I never got into true crime. I feel like I could be easily but I just never did. But recently, it seems that people are questioning the ethics of such documentary. This is because a lot of them are all about turning actual tragedies into the entertainment of armchair theorizing. There are advantages; bringing to light accusations and injustices where public attention might be needed but it's formula is about the enticing mystery of an actual death. Even Only Murders in the Building, a wonderful love letter to both the classic mystery formula and true crime podcasts often make the characters question the ethics of their decisions and what they choose to air (though usually they choose to air most of the things by the end, so it's hardly hard-hitting and is better taken as character study than social commentary). Still, the genre is appealing and while I don't watch them. I can't deny if I did, I would definitely be invested and hanging on every word, even if in the end, they are basically never solved.
In this episode, Dateline Springfield does an episode focusing on who stole Lisa's college fund of about $600 hidden in a tube of powdered cleanser. During the show, Marge is extremely offended that the prime suspects are the members of the family. Homer is the first suspect, having cleaned his own spaghetti sauce mess in the kitchen the night before but it turns out he didn't use the cleanser as he licked it clean. Then Bart is suspected and though he did steal it for a time as part of a money-making venture in slime, he returned it all after breaking even. Lisa is next, suspected of mortgaging her future on musical instruments but in fact, she was elsewhere at the time of the crime. As the documentary comes to a close with no resolution, Homer makes the filmmakers apologize for needling their family. As Homer and Marge watch the episode on TV, Marge reveals some new information that allows Homer to crack the mystery; Marge did it. It turned out she did it as part of her own business venture. Homer promises not to tell and the two grow closer in their secret.
I don't dislike this episode but I don't particularly like it either. It feels less like nothing than a lot of episodes and definitely is trying to capture both the appeal and mock the format of popular true crime series and the obvious comparison is the episode Behind the Laughter. Behind the Laughter was a divisive episode for some but I find it a favourite simply because the jokes and outrageously places it went really tickled me, particularly the over the top analogies. And keep in mind, I have never and still haven't seen a Behind the Music to know the specifics of the format that was being mocked. I feel like similarly you wouldn't need familiarity necessarily with true crime shows to enjoy this but I also feel like the laughs aren't nearly as strong in this one.
I think it doesn't help that while it is primarily a wacky comedy story than an emotional arc, it does try to bring it to a character-based conclusion but Marge's reasoning, in using the money to start her business, she's having an adventure that she usually doesn't get to have, unlike Homer, doesn't land. I feel like it could with a few re-writes though; make each character's alibi some sort of adventure or misadventure and get a little pointed about what Marge was doing at the time. Bart's story fits that bill but Homer and Lisa not so much. And I get it, we know these characters well enough that we know about Marge and Homer's dynamic already where he gets into a new venter/adventure/misadventure every week and she often does it less often and every time she does, it's a bigger deal for the family. But this feels more like rehashing an old idea to create a conclusion rather than one organic to the episode.
I also feel like maybe I've been watching too much Columbo lately but I also find the mystery unsatisfying. And a good mystery is a hard ask but I always feel like even if you are playing in comedy, it's fun to make the mystery clever and fun. Even if you are subverting it into a dumb or nonsensical mystery, it will be more interesting if you toy with the conventions a bit more. Too be fair, this could be because it's more a parody of true crime mysteries, and like them there are lots of narrative cul de sacs to examine the red herrings. But the episode actually ends like a solved mystery. It could be fun to start in the true crime mode and end like a classic mystery and maybe examine the differences between the two but that's just me spitballing ideas. In the end, I just wish we saw an episode where I was surprised by a reveal that also made sense, even in a silly comedy show. That or at least I wish I laughed a bit more.