 |
| It wasn't revealed how many people actually voted. Was it millions? Did it reach one million? |
A pep rally for the school's girl's basketball team goes awry when the girls on the team get food poisoning. Skinner promises the hour to be free time, which quickly descends to chaos, but when Lisa tries to fill up that time with something boring, Skinner tries to cancel free time. Bart then causes trouble by forcing the bleachers back into the wall, with the kids still sitting on them. Mrs. Krabappel catches up to Bart an, in an emotional act, slaps Bart in the back of the head, twice, stunning everyone. Superintendent Chalmers suspends Edna with pay, forcing her to attend a holding facility during her work hours until the board reviews her case. Bart visits Edna on her first day there, somewhat apologetic about what's happened, and shows Edna a way to escape for awhile: though the window even though the room is on the third floor. Edna tries to go down a nearby ladder, but its unable to handle her weight. Bart flees the scene, but as Edna falls she's caught by a nearby Ned Flanders.
The two quickly get along, with the topic of the Simpsons being a decent conversation starter between them. Edna learns Ned's wife has passed on, and Ned learns Edna's husband is a deadbeat, so they have a little in common in that respect. The two have lunch, then Edna heads back to the holding facility, though the two hope they'll meet again. A short time later, Edna is allowed to teach again (and forced to take up work as a weekend prison guard as well), giving her a bit more time to spend with Ned, and the two really hit it off.
Edna starts visiting Ned at his house, which poses a problem for Bart. Well, not just Bart but also Homer, whose antics Edna isn't willing to deal with. She forces Homer to be nicer to Ned, and to also give back all of Ned's stuff, basically emptying his garage. Bart tells Homer about Edna being bad news for the two of them, so Homer concocts a plan to make the Flanders' see Edna in a worse light. Homer has Bart make Rod and Todd think Edna is a fairy tale monster (which he fails to do), while Homer convinces Ned to break up with Edna. Homer meets Ned at Moe's tavern to talk about Edna, but Ned convinces Homer that Edna is the woman for him. However, the other patrons at the bar start revealing that they have also spent some "time" with Edna, including drummer Joey Kramer. Ned realizes he's been played, and "thanks" Homer for revealing this. He acts hostile towards Edna the next time they meet, seeing all the other men on her face, but Ned doesn't reveal anything.
Feeling sorry for what's happened, Homer tries to talk to Ned again, able to convince Ned to forgive Edna for her past. So, later that day, Ned talks to Edna about her past, forgiving her for her transgressions. Edna takes offense to that, defending her life to this point, and tells Ned that he has to promise that her past will never, ever, get in their way. Ned isn't willing to relent just yet, commenting that perhaps their relationship will have to be left to a "higher power" to decide. At this point, the scene shifts to Homer and Marge in a awards show-like setting, advising viewers to visit thesimpsons.com to vote on whether "Nedna" should remain a thing or not, the results of which will be provided in the Season 23 premiere. Unless you're watching a re-run or a DVD of the episode, in which case Marge is well aware its too late to vote and she recognizes the folly of having people she's never met vote on whether her son's teacher and her neighbor should be a couple.
Quick Review
Comedy wise, its the weakest of the episodes during the season. Again, humor is pushed aside not just for storytelling, but also to push along the whole "Nedna" bit. The opening scenes in the pep rally were just awful, and the episode struggles to recover from it, though the episode did hit a mark when Ned imagines all the other men on Edna's face. Still, this along with 500 Keys brings the season to a dismal close.
This is also the first season finale since Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 1 to feature a cliffhanger ending with the intention of properly resolving it in the following season's premiere. Well, I hesitate to use the word "properly". Who Shot Mr. Burns actually held a contest, with prizes, for whoever could determine the shooter over that summer. Granted, nobody could because it was the baby that shot him, but that was an actual contest, and it received a full episode that conclude that storyline. However, with "Nedna", that name sounding so manufactured mind you, there is no contest, just an online vote for one of two options, and the results do not get its own episode: its tacked on to the end of The Falcon and the D'ohman, an otherwise unrelated episode. I hesitate to apply a bad label to this whole "Nedna" effort because I don't think it's as lazy as it seems, but then again...
Final Score: 6.1
No comments:
Post a Comment