Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Dad Behaviour
I love my dad but I do worry I could be spending more time with him. There's a very good chance I will in the future, as we all consider different living arrangements in the face of our financial situations and I do like the idea of having more time to help him. But I also feel like in many ways, despite seeing twice a week, I feel like I struggle a bit to talk with him sometimes. It's not like we don't get along and in most cases we agree politically but I also feel like... just the way we talk is a bit different. But the problem might be on my end, maybe I'm just not that great at really sharing.
In this episode, Homer gets an addiction to Chore Monkey, a gig economy app where people help them out with any odd job. This includes pawning his fatherly responsibilities and Bart really enjoys his replacement dad. Homer is feeling left out and Milhouse is similarly ignored by his own dad and Bart. Soon, Bart realizes his replacement dad's compliments are just part of the job and ends up realizing that Homer and Milhouse have grown closer. Bart feels rejected and ends up befriending Kirk. The four end up getting in a tiff while visiting Itchy and Scratchy Land but when it ends with Bart getting hurt Homer and Bart patch things up.
Dad Behaviour is a bit weird despite in many ways being a generic episode of the show. It's not that great but I feel like it has a lot of good smaller elements in a messy episode. The episode is the first written by Ryan Koh, who has general writing experience with Family Guy, Workaholics, the Office and... ugh... Kappa Mikey. If you haven't heard of it, you're fine. Anyway, I feel in terms of main plot, it's a pretty dull episode and it doesn't make me laugh a lot but I also feel like it lets some of it's comedy bit breathe, at least. This can be tricky because the show often feels like it is wasting it's time but somehow I don't mind it here. There are some good specifics that I kind of like, such as Homer's conversation with the boy he's hired to play catch with or a longer piece with a hostage negotiator. Maybe these are a little self-indulgent but it feels like more time to play some dialogue games for the cast.
But the problem is I feel like the main narrative is a story told before and this one adds very little to the formula. You are better off with the episode where Homer gets a big brother. I think the problem is pairing Milhouse and Homer or Bart and Kirk can actually be interesting with the right approach. But I feel like Koh doesn't experiment with it and search for what a makes these relationships unique. What does Kirk as Bart's surrogate look like compared to when Flanders filled that role in the movie. Kirk is so needy and obnoxious but he probably is the kind of pushover to give Bart what he wants to impress him, which is probably unhealthy for both. But we really don't get into any interesting possibilities.
The episode also has Abe thinking he might be a dad and a weirdly omnipresent gig empire. There are gags about it but I feel like it's neither interested really interrogating the gig economy and while it does explore Grandpa having been a bad father, it's mostly some gags and as a b-plot has little emotional resonance. I feel like this is an episode that bares the many flaws of other episodes (including a very abrupt, inorganic resolution). But there's something going on here, I think and I'll keep an eye on Ryan Koh as a writer. My instinct tells me he might have some good ones in him.
Other great jokes:
I love that Kirk is excited about Wendell, no one's favourite Simpson character, thinks and then his indifference bums him out. This is somehow the only perfect use of the character. Have him show up so rarely that it's jarring that someone name drops him.
Other notes:
The techno music with the low speed chase... is this supposed to be an Initial D reference? You'd think no but Koh wrote a Death Note parody last Halloween...
I love my dad but I do worry I could be spending more time with him. There's a very good chance I will in the future, as we all consider different living arrangements in the face of our financial situations and I do like the idea of having more time to help him. But I also feel like in many ways, despite seeing twice a week, I feel like I struggle a bit to talk with him sometimes. It's not like we don't get along and in most cases we agree politically but I also feel like... just the way we talk is a bit different. But the problem might be on my end, maybe I'm just not that great at really sharing.
In this episode, Homer gets an addiction to Chore Monkey, a gig economy app where people help them out with any odd job. This includes pawning his fatherly responsibilities and Bart really enjoys his replacement dad. Homer is feeling left out and Milhouse is similarly ignored by his own dad and Bart. Soon, Bart realizes his replacement dad's compliments are just part of the job and ends up realizing that Homer and Milhouse have grown closer. Bart feels rejected and ends up befriending Kirk. The four end up getting in a tiff while visiting Itchy and Scratchy Land but when it ends with Bart getting hurt Homer and Bart patch things up.
Dad Behaviour is a bit weird despite in many ways being a generic episode of the show. It's not that great but I feel like it has a lot of good smaller elements in a messy episode. The episode is the first written by Ryan Koh, who has general writing experience with Family Guy, Workaholics, the Office and... ugh... Kappa Mikey. If you haven't heard of it, you're fine. Anyway, I feel in terms of main plot, it's a pretty dull episode and it doesn't make me laugh a lot but I also feel like it lets some of it's comedy bit breathe, at least. This can be tricky because the show often feels like it is wasting it's time but somehow I don't mind it here. There are some good specifics that I kind of like, such as Homer's conversation with the boy he's hired to play catch with or a longer piece with a hostage negotiator. Maybe these are a little self-indulgent but it feels like more time to play some dialogue games for the cast.
But the problem is I feel like the main narrative is a story told before and this one adds very little to the formula. You are better off with the episode where Homer gets a big brother. I think the problem is pairing Milhouse and Homer or Bart and Kirk can actually be interesting with the right approach. But I feel like Koh doesn't experiment with it and search for what a makes these relationships unique. What does Kirk as Bart's surrogate look like compared to when Flanders filled that role in the movie. Kirk is so needy and obnoxious but he probably is the kind of pushover to give Bart what he wants to impress him, which is probably unhealthy for both. But we really don't get into any interesting possibilities.
The episode also has Abe thinking he might be a dad and a weirdly omnipresent gig empire. There are gags about it but I feel like it's neither interested really interrogating the gig economy and while it does explore Grandpa having been a bad father, it's mostly some gags and as a b-plot has little emotional resonance. I feel like this is an episode that bares the many flaws of other episodes (including a very abrupt, inorganic resolution). But there's something going on here, I think and I'll keep an eye on Ryan Koh as a writer. My instinct tells me he might have some good ones in him.
Other great jokes:
I love that Kirk is excited about Wendell, no one's favourite Simpson character, thinks and then his indifference bums him out. This is somehow the only perfect use of the character. Have him show up so rarely that it's jarring that someone name drops him.
Other notes:
The techno music with the low speed chase... is this supposed to be an Initial D reference? You'd think no but Koh wrote a Death Note parody last Halloween...