America's Favorite Non-prehistoric Cartoon Family - The Simpsons Thread

[Johnny Unusual]

The Yellow Lotus

The wealth of America's favourite cartoon family is always something that wavers based on the episode. In theory they are always wavering close to financial meltdown but Homer always has enough money for the next dumb purchase. As at has been pointed out, the family's current situation is pretty untenable in the current financial climate compared to where they were in 1989. I mean, compare that to Bob's Burgers, where the Blecher family has a nice apartment but the show constantly reminds us they are living month to month and we actually rarely see them make huge purchases that they can't have undone by episode's end. The Simpsons are often supposed to be the lower middle class and have a sense they need to punch up in the world but it rings a little falser in the face of a world where buying a house is very difficult for people of a certain age.

In this episode, the family uses points acquired by a timeshare scheme Homer fell for a decade prior to have a fancy family vacation. Unfortunately, it turns out a decade of "points" has only provided them with 20 minutes of time so they end up sneaking into a room a wealthy woman, Tasha, is only using for her luggage. The family discovers to their horror the woman's husband is Sideshow Bob, who they suspect will try to murder Tasha for her money. Bob finds them and tries to convince them that this isn't his plan and that if they don't mention his past, he won't rat them out and get them thrown out. Homer and Marge accept the tenuous alliance but become worried when a fortune teller warns of a death. They try to warn Tasha but are found by the resort's manager Lindsay Nagel. Homer and Marge, through the vacation, has also witnessed the unhappiness of the guests and when caught Marge breaks down and tells them they should appreciate what they have more. Eventually it turns out Bob wasn't planning to kill Tasha but Tasha tries to kill him in an impulsive fit. The dead body foretold turns out to be the timeshare conman who was also at the resort.

Would the Yellow Lotus be more effective for me if I'd have seen the White Lotus? I don't think so. I haven't seen the series but I get the impression the writer, Loni Steele Sosthand (who had written two stronger episodes already that deal with more personal subjects) had the main takeaway that the idea of a drama centered on the sadness of the wealthy in an expensive resort is kind of dumb. I think there might be merit to the argument but it all feels really shallow and I aside from "rich people are also sad but they shouldn't be because they are in paradise" feels really dumb itself. Don't get me wrong, I think there's a lot of criticism to be had about narratives about the tragedy of the "haves", but there's very little depth here.

While the narrative itself isn't nearly as bad as some disjointed episodes, all the little mini-stories are neither compelling, nor, most importantly, funny. They feel like a really old stories and it feels a lot closer to a Love Boat arcs with prestige TV drama smeared all over it. And maybe that's the point Sosthand wants to make, that this is the same old story for poor people to live through. I haven't seen the White Lotus so I can't say. But from this, there's just not a lot going on. It think the use of Bob is most egregious to me, a character who truly is great but also deeply diminishing returns with every comeback appearance on the show since the end of the Golden Age. It's a very hokey "characters misinterpret his words" gag from before TV was a thing (I can only assume at least one Fibber McGee and Molly had that plot).

Frankly, I also think that the show wanted a karmic end for the person who ripped off the Simpsons but it's not clever karma. Frankly, I like my karma to come Twilight Zone style, deeply tied into the evil of their sins. He was just... bit by a drugged otter and OD'd. That's a bit funny, I guess. But I think the episode should have been less about the parody and if it wanted to say something about failing to connect with the plight of the rich, put Homer and Marge in REALLY dire straights based on their poor to match it up with the "nothing" problems of the rich.

Other notes: Bart and Lisa just disappear at the end of this episode. The last we see Lisa is starting to let pretending to be rich allow her to be mean, then she's gone.

Chloe Fineman is guest starring as a Jennifer Coolidge type. She does a good job but while she can do drama, Coolidge is such a comic persona, it's weird to have someone doing her. I mean, it's a fun impression to do, but it's not like you can "make fun" of her so much because it's already very silly. Plus, I feel like it isn't hard to get her. I put her in the same camp as JK Simmons; even when she's super successful, she's just happy to work on lots of little things. Heck, she was a recurring character in Gravity Falls and it wasn't a big role.

 

[Purple]

The Yellow Lotus

The wealth of America's favourite cartoon family is always something that wavers based on the episode. In theory they are always wavering close to financial meltdown but Homer always has enough money for the next dumb purchase. As at has been pointed out, the family's current situation is pretty untenable in the current financial climate compared to where they were in 1989. I mean, compare that to Bob's Burgers, where the Blecher family has a nice apartment but the show constantly reminds us they are living month to month and we actually rarely see them make huge purchases that they can't have undone by episode's end. The Simpsons are often supposed to be the lower middle class and have a sense they need to punch up in the world but it rings a little falser in the face of a world where buying a house is very difficult for people of a certain age.

And *sniff sniff* lobsters for dinner!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Desperately Seeking Lisa

The Simpsons is a show that has taken Lisa through a real journey. She's the character who has changed most starting out as a foil for Bart, to the sad sensitive kid to genius to stuck up activist. I care about Lisa a lot but some of the good episodes where she is a bit much, like the terrific Lisa the Skeptic, seemed to pull her in more of a direction where she's a real pill and weirdly the writers like dunking on her. I also think the writers often sympathize with her, making me think they are using Lisa as their teenage selves that they might feel embarrassed by but in doing, sometimes writers forget to make Lisa an 8 year old and it can often be a character who is more frustrating than one I care about.

In this episode, Lisa takes a trip to Capital City with her aunts after having an argument about Marge regarding living in Springfield. There she meets artists who she feels are kindred spirits and sneaks out to have a night of fun with them while Patty and Selma are sick in their rooms. She has a great time connecting with them and ends up being told she has great potential and could even go to a prestigious art school. She gets a sponsor, a sweet older woman but that night learns that the whole thing is a scam by the artists to get money from her. Worse, they framed Lisa for art theft, making her an outcast in Capital City. Lisa steals the check, causing a mob of artists to chase her. Lisa is cornered and tears up the check and a friend allows her to escape.

Desperately Seeking Lisa is a disappointment. I feel like I've seen most of this Lisa story 100 times before, where she gets excited about meeting artists she sees herself in only to become disillusioned in them. The gags about pretentious and cynical artists who turn out to be jerks while Lisa realizes she has been looking her down her nose at Springfield is very old hat. More than that, though, it's an episode that says very little new. Tim Long is the writer so I'm glad Lisa didn't get another long term boyfriend or something but it's annoying how little new there is to say about the art scene.

But I will say even if I didn't like the third act as a whole. I did like the third act turn. It kind of doesn't make sense for everyone to come out and tell Lisa the truth while she's sleeping and in fact makes me think act one should have been the first two acts, act two should be Lisa suspecting something is wrong to give it a paranoid thriller angle and act three could be the chase. Also, is everyone in on the scam or not? All the artists turn against Lisa but they don't seem concerned Lisa might expose them when the check comes out. But if everyone is in on it, why the anti-Lisa art.

It tries to come full circle with a gift from home Lisa looked down on to give her strength but it's kind of weak. My favourite little moment is Lisa seeing a parody of the "fearless girl" statue that stared down the bull which, in a reference to real life, was paid for by Goldman Sachs (the real statue was paid for by a similar group). I think that kind of cynicism is more interesting to me, the realization that even the more intellectual artists and people capable of creating beautiful art can be compromised or worse monstrous. But I feel like it's having too much fun with ridiculous art parodies and shoves a lot of that in the last act in a way that isn't satisfactory. I'd be more forgiving if it had a lot more Easter eggs and build up to the last act turn but it really wasn't clever or funny enough to be worth it.

Other notes:
I do like the touch of Martin acknowledging Lisa at the end of the episode, realizing both had been had.

 

[FelixSH]

I guess I'll talk about my journey through the Halloween episodes here. Considering I never can remember titles, I'll just mention what happens in them, easier for me.

Even after the absolute peak of Treehouse of horror that V and VI are, VII (Barts twin in the attic, Lisas small civilization on a tooth and Kang and Kodoss kidnap Clinton and Dole) is really good. As is VIII, though I remember it less, for some reason. Except for the last one, where we see how Halloween came to be, where Marge and her sisters are witches in old times. It always seemed like a nice final Halloween episode, going back to fictional origins. The one with France nuking the US, and everyone but the Simpsons becoming zombies, and the one that parodies The Fly are fun enough, and I always enjoy the sci-fi horror ones the most, anyway.

IX was the third episode, together with V and VI, that was shown in a special showing past midnight, when the other two were still considered too violent to show normally (so it was the first time they aired here). It has long ago relaxed, and they are just part of the regular run. Or were decades ago, that special showing was still around 2000, or even earlier.

Always loved the one where Bart and Lisa get turned into characters in Itchy and Scratchy, because I love that dumb mini-cartoon. And I like it as a bit of dumb lore, that Maggie might be a baby from an alien. The first one, though, where Snake gets executed and his hair starts killing witnesses - the episode itself is great and chilling in parts. But it also contains the bit at the end, where the toupee itself starts to get arms and legs and runs away. I'm further ahead, so this, something that feels just too goofy and ruined the mood a little bit for me, feels a bit like a sign of what's coming. Dunno, maybe I'm making more out of it than it is, but after how dark and serious the episode was (despite its jokes), that bit stood out in a bad, too goofy, way.

X has the episode with Xena, and for the first time, I wondered why this even was part of a Halloween segment. It's not creepy or moody, the writers have just fun with a "sci-fi" premise (I guess superheroes are somewhat scif-fi, as their powers are created by technology, in some way?). It's fun enough, just doesn't feel like what I want out of Treehouse of Horror. Parodying I know what you did last summer was cool, and the one about Y2K killing everyone is a fine enough premise with a fine enough execution.

XI then. We are now in territory, where I don't even remember some episodes. All that stuck was the episode with the dolphins, which I still enjoyed. Dunno, the fairytale one is fine, as is the one where Homer becomes a ghost and has to do a good deed.

Always loved the episode from XII, where the Simpsons move into an intelligent house, that then tries to kill Homer. It just feels like such a neat, classic sci-fi idea. By far my favourite of the three (despite it creeping on Marge, I just like the idea, which makes me think of all kinds of computers that go rouge and try to kill people - thinking mainly of the Star Trek TOS episode there, where the Enterprise gets a new computer, that is supposed to take over the position of captain, something like that). With the other two, though, it was when I thought that the Treehouse of Horror episodes weren't as good as they once was, back when it was new. Like with the Xena episode, I don't even see what a Harry Potter parody is doing in there. The other, where Homers loved ones get cursed by a romani (I just read through Johnnys coverage, and know now that the other word is, indeed, bad). Especially with the Leprechaun, back than as now, it felt too goofy and like it didn't even try to take itself, and trying to do horror, serious.

Ok, I got pretty negative at this point. I'm continuing, because I know that it gets better, and there is always at least one segment in there, that I really enjoy. So sorry for sounding so negative, I partly try to find out why I dislike some of these segments.

Anyway I love XIII. The hammock that clones Homer feels, again, like a take on a classic sci-fi premise, which works pretty well. And I love the twist at the end, that the only Homer left is actually a clone. Didn't remember it, legitimately good bit. The one where Billy the Kid, together with some others, rises from the grave, feels a bit like it reuses an idea from the Monkey Paws one, but is still well done. And a parody of The Island of Dr. Moreau is very well done, with a nice mystery, twist and great animal designs for all the characters. I'm really surprised, to find this whole episode so late, as it is a really good one.

In XIV, we have the one where Homer becomes death, and on the whole, I really liked it. Having him kill Marge gives the episode an emotional focus that works really well. But it also clearly shows, that the writers at this point are very willing to sell out any kind of mood for a dumb joke. I really don't like the Benny Hill-style chase bit at the start. I mean, it feels to silly for the Simpsons, period, let alone a Halloween episode. Just let the episode be creepy. I don't have much to say on the one, where Frink resurrects his fater. I did really like the next one, though, where Bart and Milhouse have a watch to stop time. I love when they do Twilight Zone.

And I just watched XV. This is the first one I have never seen, so I guess I gave up on the Simpsons in season 15. First, Ned can see how people die, which is a great premise and has a very nice twist. Then we do Sherlock Holmes, which also works very well, though the bit where Homer runs away, and throws actual people back to get rid of Bart and Lisa, took me out a bit. Again, something that is probably a thing that can now happen in the Simpsons generally, and that I just find too goofy. Also, Homer on the whole seems to have become incredibly dumb by now. Often enough, even here, the characters as a whole appear to be so flat by now. Which isn't such a problem in Halloween episodes, so it's kinda disheartening to even recognize it. Anyway, the last is a parody of Fantastic Voyage, which I now have actually seen. It ends with Homer turning big, and now sharing Burns body with him. Which seemed silly, but then, it did work in that way earlier Frankenstein episode. Which made me question what it even is, that makes these episodes less effective on me, than the earlier ones. Because even back then, that bit was very silly, but it was still a great Halloween special.

Well, that's where I'm at. I do look forward to when they really commit to creepy again. I know they can, I think it's the one from last year that was really, really good, and gave me the chills. And there is enough good stuff on the way there.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

X has the episode with Xena, and for the first time, I wondered why this even was part of a Halloween segment. It's not creepy or moody, the writers have just fun with a "sci-fi" premise (I guess superheroes are somewhat scif-fi, as their powers are created by technology, in some way?). It's fun enough, just doesn't feel like what I want out of Treehouse of Horror.

Yeah, I love this short a lot but it's clear that the concept is really getting away from them (they try to tie it in with their origin story taking place on Halloween). It's not surprising they start doing anthology episodes unrelated to Halloween. They even parody it with one of the intros were Lisa is questioning what aliens (Kang and Kodos) have to do with Halloween.

But yeah, the later problem with the Halloween episodes is weirdly using it as not having to worry about emotional cores and just going crazy when that's basically what is happening with the main continuity anyway (around seasons 10 through 13 is the rise of "Jerk Ass Homer", which the show has generally tried to pivot from since.

 

[MetManMas]

South Park and some other 90s "adult" animation (but especially South Park) came along and saw success piling the wacky stack higher and higher and this definitely had an effect on The Simpsons and what kind of shows would come later (Futurama (lol), Family Guy and its adjacent series, basically the non-anime parts of Adult Swim's block).

To its credit The Simpsons has lasted decades, but it feels very different than it used to.

 

[FelixSH]

I guess it is also just more fun, to draw wacky stuff? I imagine this would just have happened over time, as the storylines got weaker and more out there. Maybe it's just a thing that happens, if your show is on too long, you just push the boundaries more and more.

I'm also very aware, that I'm completely unable to judge the Simpsons now fairly. I have a certain idea of them in mind (basically how the show was in the 90s, when I was a kid). Even the sleeker look irritates me, it feels more liveless that way.

Yeah, I love this short a lot but it's clear that the concept is really getting away from them (they try to tie it in with their origin story taking place on Halloween). It's not surprising they start doing anthology episodes unrelated to Halloween. They even parody it with one of the intros were Lisa is questioning what aliens (Kang and Kodos) have to do with Halloween.

After having watched a bunch of sci-fi movies now, I feel like that genre is way more connected to horror, than is generally acknowledged. Planet of the Apes, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Colossus - these movies all are scared of problems the future has. Aliens, generally, are weird, strange and scary. Twilight Zone often contains horror, in some form. I mean, the first Treehouse episode, the How to cook Humans thing, is so clearly horror.

But Harry Potter is just something different. You have horrifying elements (some intentional, some not), but I don't think it's the core, unlike the something like Colossus, with the basic idea of "what if this horrifying thing happened?" And you could focus on the horror elements of Harry Potter, but then you would need to use different color, generally something else than just the boring idea of Burnsimore turning into a monster. Just the vibe wasn't there at all. I did think of the regular anthology episodes, and it would have fit there so, so much better.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

South Park and some other 90s "adult" animation (but especially South Park) came along and saw success piling the wacky stack higher and higher and this definitely had an effect on The Simpsons and what kind of shows would come later (Futurama (lol), Family Guy and its adjacent series, basically the non-anime parts of Adult Swim's block).

I also get the feeling that behind the scenes in the early seasons, producers were pushing for more heart and writers, or at least a certain contingent of writers (if I had to guess, Conan O'Brien, Al Jean and John Swartzwelder) were pushing for more gag-oriented stuff (like the Monorail episode). I'm guessing the change of show runner allowed for that and other series opened doors to go more extreme. The funny thing is Simpsons WAS once considered "extreme" with saying ass and some surprising violence (not just Itchy and Scratchy and Halloween but also Homer falling down that cliff). And by the end of the 90s, it wasn't. I think there was an invitation to push but it really felt like it was in directions that hurt the show's balance between likeable but flawed characters and wackiness. Homer became TOO awful for a time. And even now, sometimes the Bart balance pushes him way too mean, though even though the current and last season were a step down, they stopped doing that.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Shoddy Heat

The Simpsons have a long time with mystery stories. The most famous, of course, is the series' first two-parter "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" but even before that, there were a number of stories where Bart and Lisa are solving crimes. Heck, it goes all the way back to season one's Krusty Gets Busted, where Bart and Lisa prove that Krusty was framed. Even when the show was at it's most grounded, the series toyed with genre and mystery is probably the most popular for the series. Of course, even for a comedy show, a mystery needs to be either good or at least a parody of stupid but the Simpsons tried to hew closer with good. But trying isn't succeeding and more often than not, the mystery element often lacked something. Who Shot Mr. Burns is still pretty fun, though, despite how much the show itself mocks it.

In this episode, Abe Simpson is questioned by the police about a body with his business card on it from when he was a private investigator. It seems 42 years prior, he and his partner Billy O'Donnell involved in a case with Agnes Skinner who was worried her boyfriend Mr Burns was cheating on him. Billy disappeared after doing the investigation and Grandpa claims he didn't bother to look. When Lisa presses him, he reveals he did try very hard and ended up being romantically involved with Agnes. Agnes revealed he disappeared while trailing Burns. In the present, Abe talks to Agnes to get one more clue and confronts Burns. Abe reveals Billy had learned the plants insides were unsafe, stuffed with old newspaper, while Burns reveals Abe stopped his investigation in the 80s when Burns promised Homer would always have a home at the plant as an employee, no matter how incompetent he is. It also turns out Billy has long been alive, having taken a huge bribe to keep quiet and jetted off to paradise, that Agnes knew and was hoping she could trick Abe into killing Burns to avenge his partner and the body they found at the beginning of the episode was an unrelated card maker.

Shoddy Heat is yet another mystery episode and another "Äbe's past" episodes where the point is to reveal Abe is a flawed father that Homer doesn't appreciate until the end that Abe made a big sacrifice for. Those episodes generally don't work for me, sadly. I like the idea of revealing this flawed sad old man has something of a heart and working class nobility willing to sacrifice for Homer. It's always a bit tricky because I don't think we want to absolve grandpa of his parental sins but still allow him to have something beautiful within his capabilities. But this episode is barely about Homer so the big reveal doesn't really work for me.

I think the lack of Homer would work better if it tied in more to the generalities of Abe not caring about anyone else. It's in there but somehow it doesn't land very strongly. It's a very "mid" episode in the same way a lot of the show has been in the last 20 year. Keep in mind, it isn't doing the "run out of time" thing. Pacing is fine and that was a big sticking point for me where I would be a lot more forgiving if it just held together as a story. And it does, even if the mystery isn't strongly constructed. It just lacks an emotional anchor for it's ideas about who Abe is. After all, many noir stories, whether the protagonist "wins" (like in The Maltese Falcon) or "loses" (as in Chinatown), are tragedies and I don't feel the weight of Abe believing he let his friend's killer get away. And I don't feel like subverting it lands either because it isn't pointed enough.

So it's not bad and there are a couple good jokes but it's heavily an "also ran" episode. This is a bummer because it really felt like the show was really trying different things a couple years back. "The Simpsons is good again" was a small but vocal refrain and not unearned because it felt like the show wasn't trying to echo the past but be a good show on it's own terms. Current episodes are generally no longer "bad" but even in trying to emulate other styles are weirdly bland and that's a bummer. I'm not bothered when the show tries to retcon events so the character's ages make sense. Whatever works for that particular episode, I say. My bigger problem is the show lacking a sense of adventurousness, especially after tasting it two seasons back. But we are still early in the season. Fingers crossed.

Great jokes:

"You are officially classified as a person of interest."
"Wow, Grandpa, you're finally interesting. Can we hang out?"
"Yeah, but I ain't talkin'."
"Perfect."

Thanks @Octopus Prime

It's a dumb joke but I love that when Burns "releases the hounds" in the past, they are all adorable puppies.

Other notes:
There's a montage of flashbacks to Homer's screw up that eventually are made up ones. The best choice is one of them that is made up is in the old aspect ratio, genuinely making me question "did Homer actually run over a plant inspector and kill him?"

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Treehouse of Horror XXXV

It's a very weak joke but it's true that election day is far scarier than Halloween. The ultimate curse is living in interesting times and that we do, to our frustration. While horror is often a way to deal with the evils of our world, it can also be an escape where the evils, for the time, are limited to fantasies on a screen, dark and even nihilistic as they may be. It means for a time there can be a separation, even when acknowledging how ingrained they are in our regular lives.

In this treehouse of horror, three new tales. First, in a parody of Pacific Rim, political rage has taken the form of giant monsters and only Bart and Lisa can stop them with a giant robot. In the second tale, a loose parody of The Fall of the House of Usher and the Winchester mystery house, Burns is punished with a curse for mistreating his workers, who die and come back as vengeful ghosts. Finally, in a parody of Venom, Homer becomes the host to a symbiotic pair of pants. The pants help Homer win over Marge but soon they become jealous. Eventually, Homer chooses the pants over Marge.

After a rather cool Day of the Dead Mexican pop art inspired intro from the creator of a luchadore superhero cartoon I've never seen, our first story is the weakest by a wide margin. Frankly, I kind of got sick of the Halloween intros created for election day but I'd prefer that to an entire cartoon about it. The idea of our political rage tearing the country apart could be good in other hands but I don't think the only regular Simpsons writer I think can do good political commentary is Broti Gupta and even then I don't trust it to be a sure thing. There's definitely something to be said about rage but I feel there's a couple of problems. 1... it's not actually funny. At all. Not even "this offends me", it just really crusty and old hat. 2. It really does want to point fingers of the news cycle and while that's a better target, in the end, it feels "both sides"-ism. 3. I feel like we are almost past the political "rage" era. Now, it could just be the political bubbles I'm in, but I feel like we are more in the age of political exhaustion from an era were EVERYTHING is politicized. I feel like the idea of rage would have been more effective 8 years prior. And also with jokes.

The second tale is much stronger with robber baron Burns getting an old-fashioned comeuppance. Despite the title reference to The Fall of the House of Usher and small elements (very small), the story is more closely linked to the Winchester mystery house, the legendary haunted house created by a gun manufacturer that was constantly being added to like a bizarre cancer. But even that is not much to do with it and it basically just feels like an old ghost story. If there's a tale it's more closely linked to, I'm not certain what it is but as it stands, it works for not worried about fidelity to one story or idea and instead just doing it's own thing. It does have some very surface political commentary about corn oil but it's a one off comment. Really, this is a fun spookfest and a few of the jokes are pretty good.

The final tale is the one I thought I would have the least amount of patience for but I low-key liked it. In part, because the alien pants are animated in stop motion (or CG designed to look like stop motion). It's a good look and Kevin Michael Richardson is doing a pitch-perfect Venom voice. It also feels a bit more like it's taking the premise as a springboard, which is often the best way to go with these kinds of parodies. There are some amusing visuals and a couple lines made me chuckle. I don't think it's particularly strong but it has some charm to it.

Other great jokes:

Ghost Homer being scared by other ghosts was cute. I kind of wish they didn't put a button on it or not draw too much attention to it.

"Oh right, I forgot about Hell."

Spittakers Anonymous works because it doesn't show the spit-take.

Notes:
OK, in the political one, the blue monster sending a mass text did get a smirk out of me. I'm not proud but it did.

Moe really likes peas.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Women in Shorts

The Simpsons is often in an odd place with it's female characters. Marge and Lisa are probably the show's more consistently sympathetic characters but they have been done dirty often. And there are funny women in the series but they definitely get overshadowed by the men. Marge is a dark horse contender for best character; she isn't wacky the way Homer is, she is wacky because she is enthusiastic about bland things to an absurd degree. Meanwhile, Lisa didn't start out as the concerned activist we think of her as, she had to come that way over time. A few years back, we had a solid episode about Sarah Wiggum that gave her a backstory and life more than what she had before. I bet an episode about the women of Springfield could do that.

In this episode, a series of short stories about the women in Springfield. First, Luann van Houten's book club has an intervention for her obsession with wine merch, which she transitions to proud slut merch. A local pharmacy shames Homer for trying to get out of buying tampons for Marge. Patty and Selma hear of a cigarette shortage and tell each other they will cut back, only to point fingers at each other about the ridiculous amount of cigarettes each of them is hiding. Bernice Hibbert wants to play roleplay with Julius but he has a hard time getting into character, especially when a person in a restaurant starts choking. Luigi's momma acts as his lawyer in court. A documentary about Lunchlady Dora is released. Lisa imagines herself in Narnia but finds her attempts to reform infrastructure via taxation is met with resistance. Helen Lovejoy, thinking she has 10 minutes to live decides to do everything she's always wanted in that time in a violent frenzy. Mrs. Peyton is bothered by the Springfield teachers betting on kids... but uses her own long odds to make some money and isn't above cheating to do it, with some help.

Yet another anthology of mini-stories, this one was sadly disappointing. Christine Nangle has written some solid episodes including the one where Molly Shannon takes over the role of Sarah Wiggum and gives her more of a character. So it's a promising idea and start, especially after the success of Lisa the Boy Scout from a couple seasons back. Sadly, this doesn't work as well largely because it isn't funny. A lot of the set ups have potential; Homer getting a musical number about how Marge has bought all kinds of embarrassing stuff for Homer, while he can't return the favour isn't a bad idea but the song is rather weak. A growing shame war between Patty and Selma over smoking is a good start but while it builds, it never really finds a punch line. I think there's an idea in here about Bernice wanting her husband to roleplay during an emergency but that one is frustrating because for an episode about women and a character who clearly lacks passion in her life, Bernice is basically put in the bad guy role and "everybody is roleplaying these days" doesn't work as a punch line.

My least favourite is probably the one with Malibu Stacy that parodies Barbie. This clearly feels like it was written JUST as that movie became a hit because... why that? It's a dangerous road to parody a movie that is actually VERY funny and good unless you are really going to do something different with it. But Stacy revealing that Shauna is her number one fan is... basically the same as the movie. You can use the premise of a comedy to springboard into a different direction but there's no "there" there for this one and it's annoying. I also found Lisa's trip to Narnia a pretty basic-ass political satire that's "hey, I don't want to pay taxes for the things that improve our lives". It's been done and adding the Narnia flavour does nothing. It would make more sense to have Lisa's fantasy of being revered royalty to clash with her belief in democracy, which they slightly touch on. But really it's about the taxes (the finger thing means the taxes).

Dora and Momma's shorts aren't funny but I like that the focus is more silliness. While I do like my comedy to say something, this episode wasn't succeeding there for the most part so aiming for pure silliness is not a bad aim. But there are two bits I think worked. The last major short wasn't a laugh riot but I think it's starting to give Mrs. Peyton a place in the show's tapestry. Mrs. Peyton is a relatively new character and represents what a childhood educator is now compared to the cynical other teachers created in the 80s. She sees the best in children even when they have challenging behaviours like Bart. She is assertive but also needs to be constructive in her approaches to conflict. It's harder to be funny in the broad Simpsons mode while acknowledging this is what modern teachers are like. So she gets to have an impish, secret one-upsman on them while letting Lisa benefit a bit. It's... alright. The best bit is definitely Helen Lovejoy's. She's a character who sucks to other people and hides a lot of resentment and rage behind a cheery smile. So obviously, you take that away from her for 10 minutes and watch her go berserk. It's simple, maybe even obvious, but kind of effective.

Overall, though, this is a disappointment. The episode says a couple things about being a woman but mostly it's some scenarios that are neither wacky nor insightful enough. And I think that's the problem. If it was much funnier or had something more interesting to say about being a woman (especially one in this world of stupid men and corrupt systems), I would be kinder to it. Sadly it is not.

OK, Maggie Origins was a bit funny mostly because the origin being Marge being turned on by Jake from State Farm and being only somewhat interested in fucking.

 

[Octopus Prime]

All the times I’ve watched this episode I never actually clocked this joke before

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes

I remember when I was a kid, one of the shows was The Ray Bradbury Theatre. I haven't read much Bradbury but he always seemed an interesting figure. The tales were often strange on his cheap-ass TV series in a way I found enticing, even if the show wasn't that strong. Interestingly, I do remember that Ray Bradbury has also had some weird takes. He wrote an entire children's novel because he was pissed about how Linus never got to meet the Great Pumpkin. In the 90s, he claimed Fahrenheit 451 was about society's REAL evil, political correctness. And I vaguely remember him talking smack about the Simpsons which resulted him a joke about Martin being dismissive of him for his science fiction library (citation needed, though). I also remember watching the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes, which was one of the gateways for cowardly little me into horror about a sinister circus that comes to town...

In this episode, Lisa meets a fired tattooed man who shares with Lisa three mysterious tales. The first, in a parody of the Screaming Woman, Bart hears a scream underground and tries to tell the community but no one will believe him. Bart searches the town to find out who is missing but when investigating Milhouse's home, Luann puts him to sleep and locks him in Milhouse's room. Bart escapes and manages to convince Homer someone is buried, who turns out to be Kirk. In the second tale, a parody of Marionettes, Inc., Chalmers find out he can replace himself with a robot to deal with Skinner... only to find out Skinner has done the same thing. As the two argue about who should avoid who, Carl warns them that the robots are rebelling after feeling emotion. Skinner and Chalmers interrupt the assembly to stop their kinder, gentler doubles. Skinner kills his own double but when confronted with the two Chalmers, he shoots the meaner one... only to find out it was the double. In the final tale, a parody of Fahrenheit 451, Homer is a fireman who burns lowbrow entertainment only to fall in love with it. Upon being discovered he becomes an enemy of the state and accidentally leads the government to a VHS library of garbage TV. However, he and the others escape to make lowbrow entertainment an oral tradition.

After a really disappointing Halloween special and female-centered anthology episode, our THIRD IN A ROW anthology is actually a winner! Consistently funny, it serves as a love letter to Bradbury and a light parody of his pet themes. I respect the first story for it's simplicity. It would be easy to pick all the sci-fi stories, so I like that they picked one of the non-supernatural thrillers. It has a 1950s veneer but while that factors into many jokes, it doesn't seem overly forced or take over the humour. Jessica Conrad is a writer who can be good or weak but this is definitely on the stronger end of these.

The next story is also a great choice. It is one of the more iconic Bradbury story but more than that, it uses what we know of the characters and how they are in touch with their emotions: Chalmers mostly being angry and Skinner being mutated and impassionate. So having them replaced with touchy feely versions of themselves are real threats to their identities and ironically Chalmers willing to make a change dooms him. I think that it's a great little story that uses the original as a Springboard and replaces the old married couple with old collogues. I think it's the strongest of the three and feels like a real old school episode in terms of structure.

The final story is one that is pretty funny but I don't know what it wants to say about the current state of TV. I feel like there is something halfway there: TV might be better than in the past in broad strokes but TV, regardless of quality, can still be a distraction to society's real problems. It's a cute, fun story, though and I think it's synthy soundtrack is quite strong. As a parody of "prestige TV", the show did better with it's Fargo episode. I feel like it could be a bit stronger but despite my complaints, it is a really strong outing and in terms of filmmaking, I think it is the strongest, most visually striking one. So I guess that is one clever bit; prestige TV approach to talk about lowbrow TV.

Overall, this is FINALLY a return to a strong episode and it makes me a little bit hopeful this is not an outlier and is inching closer to the 32-33 seasons strengths again.

Other great jokes:
"I think we all know this is another one of your famous fibs."
"Yeah, like when you told us about this boy who cried wolf and when we got there, there was no boy, just a fat wolf."

Bart overcoming sleepiness using a pixie stick as an EpiPen.

"How does it work?"
"It's full of gears. Hundreds of 'em!"
"Gears! Of course."

"What's wrong with the robots?"
"I don't know what happened. Something with the gears, maybe."
"My God!"

"Alight, let's go start fires instead of putting them out. Up we go!"
*slide up fire pole*

 

[Octopus Prime]

"It's the 1950s; murder is much more acceptable than divorce"

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Convenience Airways

I used to travel a lot as a child and I loved it. The plane was an exciting adventure with movies and clouds. As one grows older, take off is still exciting but then it becomes something mundane. It's pretty hard to get comfortable to sleep and the excitement of being in the air wears off quickly. The best thing that can happen is being on a near-empty flight where you have more body room. Maybe it could be better to take advantage of being next to someone you don't know but frankly, most of them probably don't want to be bothered. Socializing with strangers is hard and sometimes we don't want to do it, especially when we can get lost in a movie or game or book or device.

In this episode, the Simpsons end up on the one airline that hasn't put Homer on the no-fly list. Homer promises to try to be good for Marge. Marge ends up upgraded to first class (where she immediately falls asleep) while Homer suffers through, even for an airplane, an unusually obnoxious flight. In fact, the airline is a new experimental company, Convenience Airways, which is willing to accept everyone on the no-fly list and caters to the worst fliers. A while into the flight, Homer's obnoxious passenger, Comic Book Guy, disappears. Bart feuds with the flight attendant due to his weak jokes. Lisa tries to teach Maggie about jazz and ends up annoying her into crying. Homer tries to deal with a crying baby while being yelled at and is eventually able change Maggie but when he emerges, he discovers all the passengers in coach have disappeared. Homer, scared and confused, yells at a flight attendant only to be dropped via a trap door into a prisoner where every passenger except Maggie and a sleeping Marge is. The imprisoned passengers plan a violent revolution but Homer, misunderstanding texts from Marge phone sent by a playful Maggie, decides to listen to his better angels and convinces everyone to calm down. The crew decides to let the now-mollified prisoners free and everyone has a pleasant flight. Later, at a senate hearing, despite Marge's protest, it is agreed Convenience Airways' radical program can be tested across all airlines.

Convenience Airways is an episode written by Loni Steele Sosthand who is a writer who has produced some of the latter series better-written and thoughtful episodes, albeit not one of the funniest. Low joke count is not a bad thing for a comedy, necessarily. The Simpsons in the latter years have tried to be very joke dense but the jokes aren't always the strongest, so often I've found the show is better when it focuses on characters or plot. Sosthand's previous episodes are character-heavy but this is much more about plot, a fun social satire that I don't know if it entirely lands it's point. I think I know what it is trying to say but I feel like in a story where characters can be forcibly punished by a corporation and the story ISN'T about that beyond the text, it's a little weird.

What the episode is really about is the idea of being kind to the people around you. The show isn't "pro" imprisoning but it feels like a karmic Twilight Zone were people are punished for being bad. And in this case, bad includes being a rage machine but also simply not being mindful of boundaries to a selfish extent. And structurally, I think it's where the episode succeeds. This one didn't have big laughs but the structure of it made me smile throughout, a bottle episode that becomes a mystery adventure. I also love it when a character literally spells out what is happening in the episode but nobody listens because she sucks.

I think the takeaway for audiences could be an unpleasant "obey the company" but taken non-literally, I think the point is the flight will be better if we are ALL better to each other and it's on all of us to make it a better experience. But I do think the literal aspect does make it kind of weird and while I think the show tries to point to that in the end, I don't know if it is entirely successful on that front. Still, overall, this is a strong one and what I very much want from The Church of Latter Day Simpsons: a character-driven and smartly written story. There's no one joke where I point to and say "fantastic" but overall, it's a fun ride.

Other notes:
The dumb text jokes feel very much like a Neil Campbell bit, a comedian I love but also loves the hokiest of jokes and also the only Simpsons episode he's written is the Elon Musk episode *shudder*

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Homer and Her Sisters

Sometimes there are people you just don't get on with. It doesn't mean one person is "bad" and the other isn't, necessarily but there are definitely people I've struggled with. And I'm also not great with confrontation so it can be difficult to try to hash things out, especially when you are working together or need to spend time with each other. I think that part of it is simply to do the work, you need to tread through some disagreeable waters and it can be hard when you risk upsetting a balance, even if the balance is somewhat toxic.

In this episode, Krusty's aunt Sadie shames him on a podcast for his indifference to his employees and his inability to form human connections. The appearance lands Sadie her own show, The Problem is You, where she points to a problem in a troubled relationship. After Homer and Patty and Selma get into a huge fight at an escape room, Marge decides to get them on the show to hash out their issues. Sadie points the finger at Marge, telling her Marge's constant attempts at peacekeeping and separating them is a way to prevent them from actually connecting. Marge is upset but Homer and Patty and Selma start entertaining the idea and decide to try to be friends, keeping their feelings in check by treating their insults as friendly roasts. When Marge learns this, she breaks down, feeling she is at fault. When Sadie's former guests all come to do a reunion show, Homer and Patty and Selma begin bickering and Marge points to Sadie saying that she's been armchair quarterbacking with quick fixes and catchphrases when the issues need actual time and work to deal with (which none of her guests want to put in).

Homer and Her Sisters is interesting because I don't feel like it's an incredibly strong episode but it's doing far more right than it is doing wrong. It's what I want; a character driven episode that isn't too gimmicky and is more interested in exploring dynamics between characters than simply a wacky premise. In a worse episode the entire episode would be framed as Sadie's show and would be more about the manipulative nature of such shows and parodying the genre. The Problem Is You parts are probably the weakest part (Sadie just isn't that good a character, feeling like a dull echo of Judge Judy-type characters like Constance Harm. This literally could have been Constance Harm with a new job).

I like the structure of it, It's not too hard to see where it is going but I like the fact that the episode doesn't do the obvious and have the two parties become friends; it's pretty obvious that they are deluding themselves after questioning if Marge is to blame and that they still can't stand each other. The message is delivered in an on-the-nose way and I think the scene doesn't quite land because in part I just don't think the gags with Sadie work (the main and almost only one being her pointing fingers at people till they turn back in their chairs) and I feel like for Marge to have a satisfying turnaround, I think we need to be in her place more with the guilt. Most of the episode is more focused on Homer and Patty and Selma antics.

Despite this, I think this is a fairly good episode, just unremarkable. There are quite a few where I say "solid but forgettable" but there are subtle differences in this episode's favour. I can tell writer Nick Dahan is really thoughtful about the characters and structuring rather than "a bunch of solid antics". This isn't as good as the very strong (despite a flawed ending) Bart's in Jail! but the two have a shared theme; some problems don't have easy answers. In the former case, it's about hanging onto your integrity even when it seems the world won't and this one it's "real answers to human problems mean putting the work in and that one person alone is not always responsible." It's decent and it's funny. I think it might have been a little stronger if the Krusty subplot, where he tries to make friends with his employees, was cut to give a little more empathy to Marge and risk the episode being a little sadder, in a good way. That said, I think it's an episode reflective of what I want the show to currently be.

Other great jokes:

"Can you please make up with them? We need 6 people to play the Three Duos of Half-Dozen Mountain."

"Welcome to Moe's."
"It's funny how the sunlight stops at the doorway. Like it's afraid to come in."
"Yeah, a scientist tried to explain it one time and went crazy."

"I always wanted to get with twins ever since I saw the commercial for the movie Twins."

Bart being tricked into hugging Marge and desperately looking for the candy he was promised is a solid little bit of work.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

O C'Mon All Ye Faithful

I haven't been a believer in anything spiritual in a long time but I do believe there is beauty in belief. I think it is interesting how we find patterns in things and that the structure of things in the universe is truly awe inspiring, even if it was likely not the work of a single conventionally-sentient force. Things can change for belief but there is still beauty and grace in so many sources and I can see what things can be read into them, because even if the universe is meaningless, then the search can become the meaning we create.

In this episode, illusionist and hypnotist Darren Brown films a program where he uses mentalist techniques to make everyone merrier for the holidays but in an attempt to convince Homer to have the confidence to be a better gift-giver, his hypnosis makes Homer think he is Santa. Homer becomes incredibly popular and has a cult-like following. Darren reveals this later on to the public where he describes how rational people can be convinced to follow a charismatic leader and Flanders suddenly compares it to his own faith and begins questioning God's existence. Flanders has a heart-to-heart with Marge and he reveals losing two wives and other smaller factors were spurring this on in his mind for a while. Flanders struggles for answers but finding nothing decides to have a secular Christmas with Rod and Todd. The kids have mixed feelings on it, enjoying the new freedom but feeling bad about their father's lack of faith. When Flanders asks Lisa about her feelings, she shares a Buddhist allegory for the miracles of the everyday. Later, Flanders meets Frink who offers to take him into the deep water of his mini-sub. Flanders sees the beauty of the deep and Frink reveals that's where he feels God lies. Flanders is moved but the sub breaks up due to Frink's seemingly careless nature. When Flanders survives, he does so by clinging onto an ox yoke, which was part of Lisa's story. Flanders sees it as a sign and his faith is restored. Meanwhile Darren Brown reveals everything except the yoke was an elaborate ruse to restore his sense of wonder (though not necessarily faith toward God).

This special is an odd duck. It was originally conceived as a two-parter set for last year but the show creators also acknowledged there was a non-conventional structure that made it harder to break up and it made more sense to plop it on Disney Plus. My own journey with the episode is I really didn't like the first act, then when Flanders lost faith, despite that being a very obvious story to do with Flanders, actually became quite moving. Then the rest is a weird mix of beautiful and a mess. I think it is on the whole subpar but there's a lot of greatness in smaller sections/ So what is the weak stuff? Well, I really think the Darren Brown stuff felt like a lot of contrivance for a wacky bit (Homer as Santa) that leads into the premise but in terms of comedic pay-off is pretty stiff. When we finally get into the real meat of the episode, it tries to insert more Simpsons into the Flanders story and it has a subplot where Bart pulls a prank to try to get the Flanders to believe and Rod and Todd getting more into the secular Christmas which sometimes corrupts them and sometimes doesn't. This part bothered me because I feel like they were heading in one direction with the boys, then another but by the end, their involvement of the story amounts to very little, just like Bart.

Lisa is even more confusing She, as she often is, a fount of wisdom but also she's really into Rod and Todd turning on each other over random stuff. I have no idea what's going on here. then Homer returns to Santa and that goes nowhere. It's a weirdly frustrating watch because the good stuff actually has an interesting narrative. Caroline Omyne, one of the more consistently good long time writers, said it was inspired by a very difficult year and the journey for Ned is seeing god in the Earthly and seeing miracles in the mundane. It's a really interesting idea for a story but it really gets lost in the shuffle. I think Caroline has two interesting ideas for Rod and Todd (the joy of getting toys for yourself and becoming selfish but also being unnerved by daddy's new beliefs) but they don't dovetail and it feels haphazard. Bart's very brief story has a good idea; what if Bart decides to use his passion for pranks to help people. And it barely goes anywhere.

Keep in mind, I don't think this is a lazy episode. I think Caroline has a lot of passion for a lot of it. But I also feel like she's trying to ad a wide variety of Holiday fun when this probably should have been a much more focused and intimate episode. I like what Caroline is talking about but the clutter of the episode hinders it. It's a shame because Flanders talking about the small moment, a comical moment, that made him lose faith is powerful stuff from the writer and Harry Shearer's performance. I feel like it is ambitious episode in a lot of ways and the gold is quite shiny and almost worth it but it's a lot to ask when it's so inconsistent within the 45 minute runtime.

Other great jokes:

"I think Homer's just bad at choosing gifts. He once got Bart a CPR dummy. Bart hated it. He wouldn't revive it at all."

"What happened then? Well in Springfield they say, Mr. Burns' heart grew three sizes that day."
"EMERGENCY CARDIAC REDUCTION, STAT!"

The "Ha!" "Ha!" text joke worked for me. I laughed.

"The little drummer boy didn't have money so he played his drum for baby Jesus."
"I bet that baby hated that."

I love that Rod and Todd want a single pool noodle for a pool they don't have. Also, their favourite secular show is an air fryer informercial.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Man Who Flew Too Much

One of the great things about a character like Homer is he can be a real shit one week and a sweet guy the next and yet, the characters are elastic enough that it never feels like a betrayal. It can be a hard balancing act because while Homer and most of the other Simpsons can contain multitudes, it's possible to push them a little too far away from how we like them, like how jerk-ass Homer was such a problem, the writers listened to fans to ease up. The key is a proper core that can allow them to be good or bad but still properly them. And it's possible for said core to subtly shift over time. But it's also possible to follow all the right rules and still feel hollow, because you need a proper story or emotional hook to get it to work.

In this episode, The Pin Pals, now consisting of Homer, Carl, Moe, Flanders and Portuguese Fausto are headed to a big game. They are being flown by helicopter by Barney over Mt. Springfield but they crash into the mountains. Everyone in Springfield begins to worry they are dead and though the Pin Pals and Barney have survived the crash, they have only light clothes, no food and no means of communication (except for Moe, who throws his phone away assuming Bart is pranking him). Fausto is declared dead after Flanders has been carrying him for many hours/ Homer sees Flanders' selflessness and is moved deeply. It seems all is lost when Homer smells Marge's cooking and is inspired to brave the elements and take everyone with him. Everyone survives (Fausto makes it much later) and Homer is a hero.

What... is this episode. Keep in mind when I say this, this isn't an awful episode. But it's very much "a bunch of stuff that happens". But even more than that, a lot happens that seems to be leading toward an arc for characters but it doesn't turn out. It's clear writer Al Jean (I saw that in the credits and said "don't hold it against him, give it a chance") has the idea of "Let's put these characters in a hard place and see how they react" but the problem is either it should lead us to a conclusion or at least raise questions that don't necessarily have easy or any answers.

A lot of this episode is Homer looking to Flanders and being amazed and inspired by his capability. Yet in Homer's triumphant ending, it never feels he has his own personal failings to overcome or presents an interesting alternative virtue. What's more, Flanders sneaks food in a moment of weakness. OK, great, that's a great emotional issue where even the strongest of us can be brought low by-- Oh, it's not brought up again and Flanders doesn't do anything the rest of the episode. Moe is instantly the reality show villain of the story but it never culminates in anything. It gives the episode a weird, weightless tone and yet the acting and music imply we actually have to treat the stakes and the crisis with more seriousness than the average episode. This isn't even a comedic or ironic counterpoint, it's just a weird cognitive dissonance.

And I wonder if the issue is simply Jean's idea is actually a good one for an episode. I think he'd understand the strengths and weaknesses of the characters (except Carl, who barely matters for much of the run time) and how they could bounce off of each other. That Flanders is selfless but all men have a breaking point and conversely Homer is weak but can gain strength from others and that Moe is duplicitous but will find that won't help him here. But none of these loose threads ever come together. I often criticize the Al Jean era when he was show running alone that episodes seem like there's not a lot of connective tissue between scenes and the episode resolves simply because the run time is over. That's not the issue here. The connection problem isn't between plot beats, it's between characters and having arcs that barely start before they are ignored. I've seen far worse Simpsons but this really feels like this was put out just to get an episode out there, despite weirdly trying to give this nothingburger weight.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Bottle Episode

Food and drink is more than about taste. When you are a kid you feel like you can eat your one favourite thing forever but when you grow up, for many people, it is about having experiences and trying different things. You realize food and drink have stories and culture unto themselves. But who gets to take part in that. There are consumables treated like status symbols and an expense far beyond the actual cost. Like in many other areas of culture, sometimes the people telling the story are those with the most power.

In this episode, Smithers reluctantly leaves Homer with an obscenely expensive bottle of wine owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, fearing he might ruin it. Homer manages to keep it in a safe only to discover to his horror that Marge used it in a stew. Smithers and Marge are upset but Homer advises the two to cover up their crime. To this end, they decide to see if Prof. Frink can recreate the wine. Frink is capable and the most discerning wine connoisseurs. After the scam goes off, Marge and Smithers celebrate and discuss how Smithers is unhappy with the moral hang ups of working for Burns. The conspire to sell the rest of the wine Frink made as another Napoleon wine. Before Marge and Smithers are able to spend their money, they are arrested for wine forgery. Homer feels guilty for encouraging the cover up that got them this far. Everything seems to go against Smithers and Marge at their trial but shockingly the judge sides with them. It turns out Homer went to Burns to help cover up the crime (though Burns' motivation is more selfish) and Marge and Smithers get to keep their money and spend it on good things.

Bottle Episode is a bit of an odd one. Usually I say that as a negative but this episode is both quite funny and quite strong. The issue I have is I think it is trying to tackle a LOT thematically but only has time for a little. First, it's about Smithers dealing with the idea that he might be worse than the overtly rich man he works for because he has a conscience and puts it aside for the job. It's also toying with the idea of "worth" to products like wine and things that can only be acquired by the ridiculously wealthy. The material that makes wine is worth very little by comparison. People are paying for a story or status but that element isn't what gives a wine it's taste. And the episode is correctly cynical about this aspect, with the people paying for it being rich creeps and monsters like Mr. Burns.

So does it all hold together? Yes... but with a "but". Part of the A-story that feels slightly incongruous is Homer's involvement. The father-son writing team of Rob and Johnny Lazebnik (who seem to specialize in Smithers stories now) seem to really dig into Homer's "cover it up" arc where he feels kind of bad to leading Marge and Homer down this road. It leads to a lot of good jokes, too, and a completely serviceable musical number. But it also feels like it has far less meat on the bone and is a bit of a facile arc, mostly to set up the resolution. Mechanically it works OK but I never get the feeling Homer is responsible and that his crisis of conscience holds water. I never feel like the two characters are motivated by their cover up to do more but rather Smithers' own guilt.

I also feel like Smithers' story has a good lay up in terms of getting him to a place to want to do the crime but I'm a little less interested in the resolution. Smithers does some good with his money but he's kind of back to square one because I don't get the feeling his money goes to a continuous good so much as hit reset on a bunch of evils. I don't want to imply this is a poorly written or lazy episode. I think it's a very thoughtful one but of the three big things it's doing, the most successful by a mile is questioning (without entirely answering) questions about what is a real wine, what is the significance of it being "real" when it is identical and the illusions of the status symbols of the powerful. Yes, they do that last one REAL on the nose but I think it holds more water than the other stuff. But even then, as I've said, if you have enough good, funny jokes, I'm willing to forgive a lot in terms of storytelling mechanics because I'm still having a great time. And too that end, Bottle Episode is a surprisingly successful episode and one where even with the flaws, the story flows pretty well rather than the episode just deciding it's time to end.

Other great jokes:
"Well, I never! Wait, no, this did happen once before."

"Wine is basically just chemistry. Maybe you need to speak to someone who knows the chemistry of alcohol."
*cut to Moe*
".........Wine is the red one, right?"
*cut to Frink*

The Oen-Percenters is a good name for a wine club.

"The moment of truth!"
"You know, our marriage could use fewer moments of truth."

"There's Jim Sprawlton from the Sprawlmart fortune and from Sam's Club, there's Marcus Club."

Lisa's reaction to learning her mom is in jail is far from original but it's very well timed and unexpected.

"Kids, your mom isn't in Santa Barbara, she's in jail. There's no such thing as Santa Barbara."

Other notes:
The guest star, who is some guy who created a wine rating scale, is not a good actor. I can hear him trying and failing but God bless him for the first part.

The Robin Hood reference felt mostly like a time eater but the team really went ham on the Disney-fied backgrounds.