Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Puffless
I don't have a lot of the conventional vices. I don't smoke, I don't drink, the only time I've tried drugs is some marijuana that at best made me a little queasy (what's a good way to get giddy, guys?) and I don't fuck (maybe someday. Just shy about meeting people and online dating has not gone well). I am an overeater but even that is... somewhat under control (I gained some of my weight back but I'm still 40 pounds lighter than where I was). Oh, and I guess I have a screen addiction. And I should try to treat those but I feel like those are more accepted vices. I feel like if I did get into smoking or drinking it would get bad. I never feel like I have strong self-control and while I never had a real interest in alcohol, if I did, I could see it being a bad scene. And I'd be worried that maybe I would use it to push away the few friends I have.
In this episode, the Simpsons visit Marge's mother's house for her 80th birthday only to learn what really killed her father; lung cancer. Patty and Selma take it as a wake up call to finally quit smoking but it turns out Patty is taking it much more seriously than Selma. Patty moves out and each of the twins feels lonely. Eventually, Selma promises to do better but soon neither can resist smoking again. Meanwhile, Maggie has an adventure with animals.
As you can see, there's very little meat on this bone. A few years back, it seemed like the show tried to experiment with two interconnected a-plots with mixed success (or rather little but the issues with those episodes weren't the new formula, they were just mostly poorly written). This episode feels more like the a-plot is religated to the b-plot and the b-plot kind of overwhelms the whole endeavor. The whole episode isn't "bad" per se, it's just very incomplete. It hints at getting to some emotional matters and the episode is primed for that; addiction is not easy to break and that can put a rift in a relationship. And a long-lived relationship like this means not seeking other avenues might put some regrets in there. When Patty opens up and admits to Homer that she's envious that Marge has someone like Homer in her life is interesting. Patty came out a while back but unlike Selma, we rarely see her in a relationship but there is a yearning for love she put on the backburner. As someone who also feels lonely but is simply too shy to put himself out there, I can relate. And I also appreciate that after years of "hag" jokes or the twins just trying to break up Homer and Marge, they get to have some depth again.
The problem is, like many episodes of this era, is it just kind of ends. I actually don't mind that they go back to smoking in the end on paper. It could be a fun subversion of expectations when looking at their relationship. But it really feels more about a hand-wavy "OK, let's set the clock back to zero" It's pretty witless and not clever and after a very brief moment of genuine emotion, we need Selma to quit, Patty to say "OK", for them to both quit quitting and there's very little time for this to register for the characters or the audience as a journey beyond
a bunch of stuff that happens". They make a play at "one last temptation for Selma" but I think it has very little to say on these characters who only had each other for most of their lives. And thinking about their mortality is interesting; they only have each other so what if one dies and the other doesn't. That's an interesting angle for them to consider before they decide to break themselves up. Also, Ling is referenced but I feel like only grudgingly, as Selma's goddamned baby just barely enters into the episode in any capacity.
The b-plot that overwhelms the episode isn't very good but it's not for a lack of trying. It's interesting because it's a cutesy Maggie story that feels like a response to the Disney acquisition but that's a few years away. So I guess it's just the show doing it's own take on a family film. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally planned as one of the theatrical Maggie shorts they've done. I think it's not bad looking or directed, it's just not very funny. I also think since it clearly had talent involved, I would have preferred they just made this the whole episode. I don't think I would have liked it more but I would have respected it since it really has it's own feel and making something like this with no b-plots or distractions would feel more like an experiment.
I don't have a lot of the conventional vices. I don't smoke, I don't drink, the only time I've tried drugs is some marijuana that at best made me a little queasy (what's a good way to get giddy, guys?) and I don't fuck (maybe someday. Just shy about meeting people and online dating has not gone well). I am an overeater but even that is... somewhat under control (I gained some of my weight back but I'm still 40 pounds lighter than where I was). Oh, and I guess I have a screen addiction. And I should try to treat those but I feel like those are more accepted vices. I feel like if I did get into smoking or drinking it would get bad. I never feel like I have strong self-control and while I never had a real interest in alcohol, if I did, I could see it being a bad scene. And I'd be worried that maybe I would use it to push away the few friends I have.
In this episode, the Simpsons visit Marge's mother's house for her 80th birthday only to learn what really killed her father; lung cancer. Patty and Selma take it as a wake up call to finally quit smoking but it turns out Patty is taking it much more seriously than Selma. Patty moves out and each of the twins feels lonely. Eventually, Selma promises to do better but soon neither can resist smoking again. Meanwhile, Maggie has an adventure with animals.
As you can see, there's very little meat on this bone. A few years back, it seemed like the show tried to experiment with two interconnected a-plots with mixed success (or rather little but the issues with those episodes weren't the new formula, they were just mostly poorly written). This episode feels more like the a-plot is religated to the b-plot and the b-plot kind of overwhelms the whole endeavor. The whole episode isn't "bad" per se, it's just very incomplete. It hints at getting to some emotional matters and the episode is primed for that; addiction is not easy to break and that can put a rift in a relationship. And a long-lived relationship like this means not seeking other avenues might put some regrets in there. When Patty opens up and admits to Homer that she's envious that Marge has someone like Homer in her life is interesting. Patty came out a while back but unlike Selma, we rarely see her in a relationship but there is a yearning for love she put on the backburner. As someone who also feels lonely but is simply too shy to put himself out there, I can relate. And I also appreciate that after years of "hag" jokes or the twins just trying to break up Homer and Marge, they get to have some depth again.
The problem is, like many episodes of this era, is it just kind of ends. I actually don't mind that they go back to smoking in the end on paper. It could be a fun subversion of expectations when looking at their relationship. But it really feels more about a hand-wavy "OK, let's set the clock back to zero" It's pretty witless and not clever and after a very brief moment of genuine emotion, we need Selma to quit, Patty to say "OK", for them to both quit quitting and there's very little time for this to register for the characters or the audience as a journey beyond
a bunch of stuff that happens". They make a play at "one last temptation for Selma" but I think it has very little to say on these characters who only had each other for most of their lives. And thinking about their mortality is interesting; they only have each other so what if one dies and the other doesn't. That's an interesting angle for them to consider before they decide to break themselves up. Also, Ling is referenced but I feel like only grudgingly, as Selma's goddamned baby just barely enters into the episode in any capacity.
The b-plot that overwhelms the episode isn't very good but it's not for a lack of trying. It's interesting because it's a cutesy Maggie story that feels like a response to the Disney acquisition but that's a few years away. So I guess it's just the show doing it's own take on a family film. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally planned as one of the theatrical Maggie shorts they've done. I think it's not bad looking or directed, it's just not very funny. I also think since it clearly had talent involved, I would have preferred they just made this the whole episode. I don't think I would have liked it more but I would have respected it since it really has it's own feel and making something like this with no b-plots or distractions would feel more like an experiment.