Gone Boy (S29, E09-627)

Recap: Bart falls into an old missile base and can't get out.  Among others searching for him is a prisoner contingent featuring Sideshow Bob.

Review: So, it seems like this episode is ignoring the events of the last full episode, which I'm thankful for.  Overall, its been the best episode centered on Bob since Season 14, but barely.  I liked the parts with Bart, and Homer and Grampa when the two of them were searching for Bart.  Bob's parts were fine too but the episode does drag sometimes when he pulls out the now numerous amount of references to his past escapades, and the multiple Dial "M" for Murder references weren't good at all, inhibiting it from being a really good, 8+ episode.

Still, this season has been mostly terrible thus far, and this episode is the best of it to this point with minimal effort.

Final Score: 7.7

Mr. Lisa's Opus (S29, E08-626)

Recap: An 18-year old Lisa talks about forgotten birthdays and ending her dad's alcohol problem in an admissions essay to Harvard.  She then has trouble fitting into Harvard, away from her family.

Review: So, this is the third episode in a row that makes a significant reference to a classic Simpsons episode.  Stark Raving Dad is the victim this time, complete with the return of the Michael Jackson impersonator who, this time, was voiced by a Michael Jackson impersonator (because, you know, the real one's dead now).  It wasn't handled too well, as it felt overly forced in and Lisa's lack of appreciation towards the act didn't sit well.

The episode tried hard to not be as dry and boring as its premise makes it out to be, and the results are mixed.  Lots of decent quick one-liners and jokes, but a lot of jokes (and especially references) were not so great, which basically all cancel out.  A couple of sweet moments at the end (and a good Grampa rant) save it from a graver fate, but the episode wasn't very good.

Final Score: 5.0

Grampy Can You Hear Me? (S29, E05-623)

Recap: Grampa gets a hearing aid and learns he is mocked quite often outside of his old hearing range.  Meanwhile, Skinner has a falling out with his mother upon learning that she killed his dream of being a band marcher.

Review: The Grampa sidestory, and it was a side story despite it claiming the episode's title, starts off decently enough but after Grampa learns people mock him often the story takes a back seat and then ends on a dull, pointless note with little payoff.

The Skinner story, which I believe is the first case of the show actively ignoring The Principal and the Pauper, was better overall.  It had funnier gags, the stuff with Ohio State was decent albeit with a few misses, and it had better plot development overall although it, too, had a rather tame end.

Its kind of odd, the episode really didn't know how to end itself.  Its not like the ending needed to be rushed; the episode had the full, entire open, an extended couch gag, and a lengthening unrelated bit at the end because the episode itself was so short; that time could've been used to create a much more satisfying conclusion to both plot lines.  Sad, really.

Final Score: 6.7

Dogtown (S28, E22-618)

This was animated with an "who gives a crap" mindset.  You should see it in action.

Plot Summary
His car out of control in an alley, Homer is forced to stop it by ramming it into either his dog or Gil.  He opts for the latter, who attempts to sue him for the injury.  However, in court, the jury takes Homer's side after its learned that he spared his dog to injure Gil.  Santa's Little Helper appears in court to seal the deal, and Homer gets off with no penalty, much to Gil's frustration.

Later, as Homer enjoys his mild celebrity over the trial, the mayor decides to take advantage of this goodwill by making Springfield a safe haven for dogs.  Dogs all over come to Springfield to play, and laws are enacted to allow them to do whatever they want.  The town vet warns against this, as soon the dogs will realize they are the alphas and wreak havoc, and soon enough Milhouse's dog leads such a charge.  All of the dogs in town, including Santa's Little Helper as well as Willie, own the streets despite the mayor's attempt to rescind the pro-dog laws.

Realizing the the dogs need to know humans are in charge, Gil takes it upon himself, sort of, to do the task.  Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa go searching for their dog, only to find the feral pack.  Cornered, the two are saved by Marge, who kicks the alpha mutt far away, leading her to take over control of the pack before Gil even had a chance to do anything.  Marge safely returns the now playful dogs back to their owners while even downtrodden Gil befriends a dog (albeit the same one that led the dog rebellion in the first place).

Quick Review
It was an okay episode.  A couple of annoying things in it kept it from scoring higher, and while there were some decent lines here and there overall it wasn't enough to really cancel out the negatives.  I'm not particularly upset with the episode or anything, but I guess it wasn't that great.

Final Score: 6.6

Looking for Mr. Goodbart (S28, E20-616)

This stuff is cringe central when the Simpsons parody it as poorly as it does
for someone familiar with the source material.  I wonder how stupid it looks
for those who aren't familiar?  Does it actually work for them?  It doesn't, right?

Note: this is the first episode to air following the 30th anniversary of the first Simpsons short Good Night.  It celebrated that fact by airing the Maggie portion of the short followed by a quick song about the anniversary.

Plot Summary
After Bart pulls off more tomfoolery, this time on Seniors day which gets even Grampa in trouble, Skinner gets the idea of his mother, Agnes, be escorted by Bart.  Quickly, though, Bart realizes how much Agnes dotes on the boy just because he shows basic affection for the old lady and decides to make a con out of it.  Soon, he's approached by another old lady, Phoebe, who is on to Bart's scheme but nevertheless offers Bart $100 to help out leave her retirement home for four straight days.

Meanwhile, Homer becomes part of the Pokemon Go Peekimon Get craze, which includes him walking into all sorts of dangerous situations in search of imaginary rewards.  Lisa agrees to join him because she, too, is a big fan of the game.  Eventually, Homer and Lisa agree to just spend real money to acquire the creatures, $600 worth.

Phoebe reveals to Bart that she's a nature photographer and the two enjoy the four days together. Afterward, Phoebe bequests Bart her camera.  Unaware of the meaning of the word 'bequest', Bart eventually learns that its to give an item away before dying.  Recalling relevant memories, including one where Phoebe admits she's going to off herself, Bart realizes he needs help, and recruits Homer and Lisa, whose wilderness experience have improved thanks to their time playing the game.  The two, alongside other veteran players, start their search in perhaps one of the worst animated sequences in recent memory, but ultimately Phoebe is found.

Evidently, Phoebe has found a new meaning in life and decides to not die, requesting back her camera though Bart gets her to agree to have the two of them go on more nature walks.  It turns out this was all a story (albeit apparently true) Bart told Grampa to explain why he was sorry for getting him in trouble.  Also, during all of this Skinner tries to man up but can't.

Quick Review
This episode was unfortunate.  The main storyline with Bart and eventually Phoebe was actually very decent and set itself pretty well for a good, emotional ending.  However, the Pokemon Go-ripoff sidestory, which was nearly a year late in being relevant and even less so in doing the reference well, ruins the main story by becoming a major factor in Bart's search.

The search, which turns into a simulation of the game with Lisa singing the song from the American version of the original anime, was probably the worst thing the show has done since maybe the Ke$ha incident.  The song, which as far as I know isn't even in Pokemon Go itself, was poorly sung and the visuals during the song was both unimpressive and unnecessarily edgy as well.  It completely destroys any emotional impact of Bart's story and, as a result, hampers what could've been one of the season's better episodes.

Final Score: 6.0

A Father's Watch (S28, E18-614)

"Well, the character of John Homer is only partly based on me."

Plot Summary
Bart is still terrible at school.  Marge helps organize an event where an "parenting expert" tells parents that children do better with self-esteem, and that self-esteem comes from praise, endless praise preferably from trophies.  As Marge attempts to give Bart trophies for nothing, Homer gets the idea from Lisa to sell participation trophies to everyone while the fad is still hot.  Despite the success, Homer has Bart assemble the trophies, and Bart does so poorly.  Soon, Bart overhears Homer exclaim how big of a screw-up Bart continues to be.

Depressed, Bart catches Grampa's eye, who decides to pass on the Simpson family heirloom to Bart: an old pocket watch that's been passed down ever since it was stolen.  Feeling an accomplishment from "earning" the watch, Bart's self-esteem goes through the roof.  Meanwhile, upset her hard-earned trophies now mean nothing, Lisa helps organize another event where a different "parenting expert" no-nos trophies and advices parents be hard on their children again.  In the process, Homer's trophy business goes under.

Homer then catches Bart with the pocket watch, an item he had been hoping to acquire for some time, and is super jealous about it.  With the watch, Bart's self esteem and confidence continue to rise, until he loses the watch in the forest.  Bart tries to get Milhouse to help him find it but he only hurts Milhouse in the process.  Frustrated, Milhouse does find the watch but instead just sells it to a pawn shop.  Homer just happens by it to sell off his remaining trophy stock and buys his precious possession.  Bart, unaware of this, is in full panic mode when he learns Grampa set up an interview with the two of them about the watch.  Homer is about to go in and gloat but gives in to Bart's sadness and hands over the watch.

Quick Review
A pleasant surprise!  This episode was good!  (go figure, it wasn't even written by one of the series' regular "writers", Simon Rich filled in for this one)

The jokes were aplenty, the social commentary was limited but used to set up some good gags and the overall plot involving Bart, Homer and Grampa was as good as it'll probably ever be at this point.  Lisa wasn't even that annoying!

This season so desperately needed a gem, and now it has one.  Given what the next episode will probably be about, I suppose this score will be cancelled out soon enough.

Final Score: 8.0

22 for 30 (S28, E17-613)

I'm using this image to remind myself why I scored the episode
so low.  I'll probably forget in the future.

Plot Summary
If you're not familiar with ESPN's 30 for 30 series, basically its sports documentaries usually done very well.  This episode is basically that.

Bart, whose latest prank ends up with him in eternal detention, develops basketball shooting skills while in detention.  He becomes so adept at shooting he joins the school basketball team to annul the detention.  He quickly becomes a star player and, with it, the spoils in every sense of the word.  With Willie no longer willing to coach such an annoyance, Homer volunteers to coach, but even he has enough of Bart's showboating, and politely asks Bart to be a team player.

Fat Tony takes note of Bart's anger at Homer over this and convinces Bart to point shave (win by only a single point or two to be under the spread) to infuriate Homer while, unknown to Bart, Fat Tony would make a killing in bet winnings.  Bart was happy to oblige, despite his antics now drawing the ire of everyone in town because of how obvious the point shaving was, but Bart finally realizes his error when Fat Tony tries to give Bart some of the winnings then asks him to outright lose the finals.

Eventually, with the guidance of Homer and others, Bart defies the mob and just wins the finals for the team.  Fat Tony attempts to get Bart for the betrayal, but Lisa steps in, having found embarrassing information about Tony that forces him to relent.  Afterward, Bart stops playing after a tall kid makes him realize he's not that good.

Quick Review
This episode has lots of ups and downs.  Let's review them, shall we?

Ups:

• Fat Tony was pretty good for the most part this episode.  He basically salvaged it, as much of it could be salvaged.
• Some of the cutaway "interviews" were funny, like with Krusty and especially Grampa.  Milhouse's were mixed.
• Most of the "security cam footage" bits were funny, as was the "FBI audio" bits.

Downs:

• So, like four or five times this episode, it cuts to a guy who is clearly a mimicry of Stephen A. Smith.  Smith, for those who don't know, makes a living "debating" on ESPN morning/afternoon shows, but his style of "debate" is basically loud yelling at whatever "point" his poor counterpart may have made.  The mock Smith in this episode has no counterpart so its just him loudly yelling in general.  Easily, easily the worst part of the episode, he singlehandedly brought its score down by a whole point, he's was that bad.
• There was a little sidebit which mentions Nelson's once-again-missing dad only to find out at the end of the episode that the narrator was Nelson's dad all along.  He reunites with his family only to disappear again.  Keep in mind, there was an episode during the early Zombie seasons which was supposed to bring his father back permanently and nothing happened to explain why he disappeared again.
• Oh here's a fun episode with Bart and Fat Tony and Homer I guess how will they get out of it this tim- oh, its Lisa again.  Yawn.
• Did you know basketball star Stephen Curry was a guest voice, but only provided his voice at the end?  And that he was actually paid (I presume) to say "nothing but nerd"?  Please fire the person who set up that "joke".  If it was Curry himself, please tell him his humor needs work.
• Louie, Fat Tony's goon, was rather chatty in this episode.  It was meant for gags, but it got annoying pretty quick.

So you might notice the downs are more lengthy than the ups.  I wanted to enjoy this episode, it has a some goodwill going for it, but there was just too much against it.  It ends up being a weaker episode for this season, which is saying quite a lot.

Final Score: 5.8

Kamp Krustier (S28, E16-612)

Krusty's oldest friend bails him out yet again.

Plot Summary
This episode acts as a direct sequel to Kamp Krusty, which took place 552 episodes ago but whatever.  You may recall from that episode that the kids were going crazy at the poorly managed camp until Bart led a rebellion and took it over before Krusty came in and made up for it by taking the kids to Mexico, and that with the kids gone Homer was becoming a better man in most ways until he learned of Bart's rise to camp despot then Homer returned to his old self.

The episodes picks up after Krusty returns (most) of the kids from the camp.  The kids are immediately go to therapy, and when signs of PTSD are met with days off from school, Lisa quickly declares she's fine while Bart insists he's as traumatized as they come.  Bart takes full advantage of this situation, for some reason using the opportunity to sleep with his parents in their bedroom.  Due to this, Homer can't continue getting any from Marge like he could before so he instead decides to go to work early.  Then, he slowly but surely relearns how to become a productive member of society, but for some reason must give up sex to continue this way of life.

A short time later, Bart's faked trauma turns real as he recalls a repressed memory from camp.  Forcing Lisa to remember as well, the two start to go nuts over that.  Meanwhile, Marge is becoming frustrated with Homer's new persona and the two get counseling, where they're told that returning the kids to the site of their trauma will fix things, somehow.

At the site of old Kamp Krusty, which Krusty has flipped into a modern adult spa for legal reasons, probably, Bart and Lisa fully remember their repressed memory: a kid named Charlie helped the two make an attempted escape from the camp via canoe but they capsized and Charlie was presumed lost and killed.  However they soon found out that Charlie survived, is an adult who worked as a spy for a magazine while at camp, and now works at the adult spa, who woulda thunk it!?  Meanwhile, Homer finally gives into Marge's wishes and shuts down his brain so that he can let Marge do him a bunch.

That's basically the episode.

Quick Review
This episode marks the second time in three seasons that an episode tries to piggyback off the success of a Season 4 episode.  The last time, when Season 26's The Kids are All Fight tried to act as a sequel to Lisa's First Word, it didn't work out so well.  The writers tried it again with this episode.  I don't know why they're doing this.  I think they're aware that Season 4 is well loved but I don't think they understand why, if these two continuation episodes are of any indication.

This episode ended miserably.  It had set itself up okay, though the Homer and Marge subplot was basically another dull marriage-themed episode in disguise, but once they reached "Klub Krusty", the episode didn't feel like trying anymore.  The resolutions were stupid and Krusty's two decent jokes were literally the only good things about the last few minutes.

If the writers to do a continuation of Marge vs the Monorail may our respective deities take pity on us.

Final Score: 6.5

The Cad in the Hat (S28, E15-611)

When the show did the "we have stories for years" bit all those
years ago, I don't think the writers then envisioned the
show going as low as "Homer and Grampa play chess angrily".

Plot Summary
In a tale told by Bart and Lisa, the scene is set some time earlier.  At the beach, Bart buys a stick-on tattoo which doesn't work too well while Lisa buys a nice hat which earns her many compliments.  Quickly, Bart's jealously grows.  Meanwhile, Homer reveals his ability in chess, admitting that as a kid his father would force him to play as a means of coping with Mona's departure.  On the car ride back, Bart notices Lisa asleep and decides to toss her hat out the car and into the nearby trash dump.  Later that night, Bart is befriended by his guilt but claims that he only welcomes the gross representation of his guilt, at least to start.

However, the guilt gets to him and Bart decides to confess his crime to Lisa, who refuses to forgive him for his deed.  Desperate to make amends, Bart decides ultimately to find Lisa's hat, and after a few trials, does so.  Lisa is initially unwilling to forgive Bart even after this, but as her own guilt starts to set in, she does like her hat and the two eventually make up.

Meanwhile, as Homer continues to explain, as a kid he got tired of his dad beating him in chess so he got help from a chess master and was finally able to beat his father, the act of which forced Grampa to stop all chess in the house from then on.  Moe suggests that Homer's attitudes towards chess are actually subtle hints that he wants to actually murder him.  Homer freaks out and decides to quit but after getting help from renowned chess player Magnus Carlsen, Homer decides to face Grampa in a chess match.  Homer is winning easily, but realizes its not worth it and forfeits, showing he cares for his father by this act somehow.

Quick Review
It was an okay episode, though the couch "gag" ran a bit long and was pretty terrible.  Remember when those were short little gags and not minutes-long animated shorts?  Well, anyway, I'm rambling about that because the episode itself is, per usual, forgettable.  Magnus Carlsen, the chess player, was a decent guest voice.  Patton Oswalt, projecting himself as Bart's guilt, I'm sure, could've been worse, I suppose.

Homer's story was okay; although its actual plot was not that great, it was carried by its decent jokes.  Bart and Lisa's story had no redeeming qualities, however.  "Bart does bad thing to Lisa, Lisa gets mad/sad, Bart makes up for it" has been done a lot already, and much better than this.

Final Score: 5.7

Pork and Burns (S28, E11-607)

"Why did you bring me back?  Just end me now.", the pig is likely thinking.

Plot Summary
Marge takes heed of a questionable Japanese tidiness guide and has the family start throwing stuff away if it is believed that it doesn't bring them joy.  Lisa, in particular, freaks out over this, and finds that a lot of things in her life do not bring her joy and are subsequently discarded.  Homer is reluctant to give up so many of his prized possessions, and that includes his prized pig, Plopper, previously known as Spider-Pig.  Homer doesn't want to give the pig up but Marge forces him to.  After a failed attempt, Homer learns that some pets can act as therapy pets for cases such as anxiety, and thus Homer successful gets Plopper to be his security pet with whom he brings all over with him.

Homer's demeanor calms as Plopper really does act as a therapy pet for Homer.  Soon, the family goes to a family function hosted by Mr. Burns.  Burns' hounds pick up the scent of the pig, and rush at it, maiming though not killing the pig.  Burns and crew confiscate the pig under the premise of healing it but in actuality they just want to eat it.  However, after the pig is fixed Burns takes a liking to the pig and decides to make it his pet.  Homer catches on and sneaks in at night to get it back.  Smithers aids in this endeavor as Burns fondness of the pig has made him pretty jealous.  Homer is so happy to get his pig back he's even willing to forgo beer to stay with him, a mistake Marge gladly takes Homer up on.

While that's happening, Lisa continues ridding herself of everything that brings her no joy, which now includes even her saxophone.  Bart is able to help her overcome her funk by giving her back her passion for music, and Marge later reveals she didn't actually throw anything away, she just put it all in a storage locker, so Lisa ends up okay, again.

Quick Review
The episode started off very poorly and the Lisa sideplot was fairly dull as well.  I was also hesitant about an episode based around the movie pig - can you believe its nearly been 10 years since the movie? - but the jokes and gags featuring Homer and pig worked quite well for a good chunk of the middle portion of the episode.  After Burns nabs him the episode dips in quality again but up to that point Homer and Plopper were salvaging what was otherwise a terrible episode.

Final Score: 7.0

Dad Behavior (S28, E08-604)

Leinart perfectly spiraled his way out of the NFL, you know.

Plot Summary
Still too lazy to do most chores, Homer learns from Barney about a new app which allows one to summon people to do chores for them.  Homer, of course, abuses the service, even paying extra to have someone without a criminal record to play catch with Bart.  Upon seeing that person, former college quarterback Matt Leinart, have "genuine" fun with Bart, Homer gets jealous.  He attempts to recreate the catch experience with a chore boy, but it goes so poorly Homer gets blacklisted.  That, coupled with him being unaware that the service isn't free, ends Homer's honeymoon with the app.

Lonely, Homer visits his own father, only to find Grampa with his own issues: having hooked up with a new lady via a dating service, Grampa is led to believe the lady he's with is now pregnant and is making preparations to skip town.  Meanwhile, Milhouse and his father have a small falling out and Milhouse goes to visit Bart.  However, Bart and Matt continue to have fun by themselves, which literally pushes Milhouse away and towards Homer, and the two build up a rapport.  Bart soon realizes that Matt was only being paid to let Bart win and he leaves anyway once his time is up.  With no fake father figure remaining, Bart tries to reconnect with his real father, only to find Homer spending time with Milhouse instead.  Increasingly jealous, Bart decides to hang out with Milhouse's father instead.

Grampa ponders whether to actually become a father again, noting that Simpson men have never really been good fathers, but that notion seemingly gets proven wrong when he finds Homer fishing with whom he believes is Bart (but is actually Milhouse).  Invigorated, Grampa goes to his girlfriend, ready to commit, but an ultrasound reveals that the baby is probably Jasper's, not Abe's, which is all good to Grampa.

The tensions between the Simpson and van Houten men reach a head at an amusement park, where Kirk's carelessness gets Bart injured.  Homer quickly tends to his own son, allowing them, and also the van Houtens, to reconcile with one another.

Because there wasn't enough episode to fill the time, the episode ends with a chore negotiator from earlier in the episode failing to get Maggie to give up her pacifier, and a tribute to Vin Scully - who retired from broadcasting a few months back - by doing a bit about Vin (or a caricature of Vin) rambling during a broadcast.

Quick Review
There were some good jokes here and there, but my oh my was the plot dull.  The sidestory with Grampa was short, so short it seemed even more pointless than it was, and it felt like it served only to fill the leftover time from the main story which, despite its modern twist (woah, apps!  s-see, we're m-modern too!), was as predictable as they come.

Final Score: 6.9

There Will Be Buds (S28, E06-602)

Digital animation doesn't really do too well with scale and perspective, does it?

Plot Summary
Youth football in Springfield is cancelled amidst fears of concussions.  A town hall is set up to discuss alternatives.  Kirk van Houten has one, but is to meek to get anyone to pay attention, except for Marge who convinces Homer to help Kirk be heard.  Homer gets everyone's attention toward Kirk, which Kirk takes as a genuine sign of friendship.  He then tells everyone about his alternate sport: lacrosse, which everyone loves.  Kirk agrees to start up a youth lacrosse team on the condition that Homer, his new friend, becomes an assistant coach.  Not willing to disappoint the town or the kids, Homer reluctantly accepts.

As Kirk relives his glory days of lacrosse - shattered literally when he broke his hand high-fiving a knight mascot - Homer is having a worse time.  His role being only to slice oranges, having to wake up early and travel to other towns for tournaments pales in comparison to hanging out with Kirk, Homer finds out.  Kirk's "rice sandwich", an apparent carb booster, is otherwise unappealing.  Kirk also likes to vape and go to strip clubs when Luann isn't around.  Homer gets increasingly annoyed by this but keeps it to himself.  Following a road trip where Springfield won their way to a championship game, Homer walks off on his own and sings about how much he can't stand Kirk, while Kirk simultaneously walks off on his own and sings about how much he likes Homer.  The two meet up at the end of their respective songs, where Kirk learns Homer doesn't actually like him.

Its the day of the championship, but Kirk is nowhere to be seen.  Luann informs everyone that Kirk has indeed gone missing but also took out a large sum of money - all in singles.  Homer realizes that Kirk has gone to the strip club in turmoil and Marge has Homer go and get him, Homer being responsible for Kirk's current state.  In the strip club, Homer finds Kirk spending money on strippers solely to have them listen to him ramble.  Homer again admits to Kirk that he doesn't like him, but thanks to his work with the lacrosse team, Homer has come to respect him.  Remembering that respect is a thing too, Homer and Kirk evade the multitude of fees the strip club has piled on Kirk and with the help of the single mom strippers who also have kids, the two return to the game on time to help Springfield win the title.  Homer and Kirk high five each other afterward, only to break their hands, now Homer has to share a hospital room with the guy he respects but doesn't like.

Quick Review
This ended up being an okay episode.  Some of the gags were bland or unfunny and the episode's sport-focused plotline felt a little forced but the episode didn't try to force a reference-fest or do anything else stupid, so the episode ends up getting a respectable score.

Final Score: 7.1

Trust But Clarify (S28, E05-601)

Why do the writers make Artie so antagonistic towards Kent?

Plot Summary
Krusty releases a new brand of snacks, which Lisa finds suspicious.  Meanwhile, Kent Brockman gets caught lying about an experience of his and is fired from his job as a result.  While this is all happening, Homer's latent ambition surfaces and its first order of business is to get Homer dressed for success.

Lisa and Bart come to realize that Krusty's new snack is composed primarily of formaldehyde, which is basically poison.  Lisa tries to take the story to the news, but as Krusty is a big donor to big news, they won't take the story.  Meanwhile, Kent tries to latch onto Buzz- er, "Bizzfad", but it goes bankrupt before he has a chance to screw up.  Lisa finds Kent to try and have him break the story, but he's too depressed about his failed career to take it up.

Homer's attempt to dress for success fails when Mr. Burns finds Homer's appearance comical still, and although Homer doesn't regret the attempt, Homer's ambition is kicked out of his head for its failure.

Kent gets advice from Dan Rather to take up Lisa's story because its the ethical thing to do, I guess.  Motivated, Kent and Lisa expose Krusty, which is enough to get Kent his old job back at the station, and Lisa receives unpaid credit for his return, the highest honor.

Quick Review
This was a dull, boring episode.  Homer's sidestory was short and pointless, and the media storyline wasn't any better.  It, again, references events that most people already forgot, and tries to go with a "the current media is pretty bad, except maybe its not?" theme that is rushed and just falls flat.

Perhaps the episode's lone good moment was at the beginning: Bart and Lisa were watching an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon and although it seemed like the cartoon was going to be another artsy reference-fest, it ended up being a quick violence gag like how Itchy & Scratchy should be.  It got a good chuckle out of me, the only time the episode was able to do so.

Final Score: 5.9

The Town (S28, E03-599)

It'd be awkward if he knelt during the anthem, wouldn't it?

Plot Summary
At Moe's, Homer and his bar mates cheer on the Springfield Isotopes in a football game against the "Boston Americans", whose handsome quarterback and grumpy coach find a way to win the game via methods that Springfield fans would easily consider "cheating", but Boston fans who coincidentally are also at the bar write off as ingenious strategy.  Homer in particular is upset over the game, and Boston fans in particular over their smugness, so imagine his shock when he comes home to find Bart wearing a Boston hat, also displaying the cockiness of a typical Boston fan.

Small efforts to make Bart see the error of his bandwagoning ways fail, so Homer decides to take the family on a "hate-cation", a trip to Boston with every intention to make the family, well, Bart, hate the city in the process.

However, Marge is in love with Massachusetts' supposed high standards of living, while Lisa loves Boston's higher educational standards.  Even Homer's opinion changes once he is introduced to candlepin bowling - an easier variant of the sport.  Overnight, Homer and Marge make the decision to stay in Boston permanently, a decision Bart and Lisa wholeheartedly agree with.

However, Bart's intrigue with Boston - one based on the supposed rough 'n' tough hooliganism nature of the town coupled with the boorish manner of its sports fans - isn't coming to fruition.  This is made evident in school as while Lisa thrives, detention for Bart is actually, well, detention.  Further, everyone he finds in Boston seems nicer than what he was led to believe.  Despite Lisa's verbal threats to keep things as they are now, Bart decides he wants no more of this and opts to reset the status quo.

Bart takes the family to a parade for the Boston Americans for having won, uh, something in an attempt to get Homer to crack.  Torn between rooting for his new hometown team and his pre-existing hatred for the team, Homer literally tears up a Boston cap and calls the team - in their and the fans' faces - a bunch of cheaters.

The scene cuts back to Springfield, the Simpsons having moved back after probably becoming enemy #1 in Boston.  Bart finds newfound respect for his new town, while Lisa - her dreams shattered once more - deludes herself into thinking she's still there.

Quick Review
While the other two episodes in this season have taken the, well, boring approach, this episode does a much better job at throwing out jokes and, sadly, pointless references.  The parts of the episode that focus on Lisa are particularly awful about this.  Despite the episode focusing around a topical issue again, the comedy surrounding it fared much better than it usually does.  While there are a lot of good jokes throughout the episode, there are quite a few bad ones as well.  The episode also spends a lot of time being quite kind of Boston, in fact I don't think there was anything made fun of regarding the town other than "some of the sports fans are jerks".

Overall, while the episode has a lot of good going for it, it did misstep quite often, preventing it from reaching its potential.  A shame, too, Season 28's gotten off to a poor start, it could've really used a better version of this episode.

Final Score: 7.0

Orange is the New Yellow (S27, E22-596)

I feel like this bit hits closer to home for some people than it should.

Plot Summary
As Homer is delayed from leaving work, Marge finds herself busy fixing Lisa's costume for whatever, and lets Bart out to play on his own.  Unfortunately for Marge, today's kids must be supervised by parents at all times, and once Martin's mom realizes Bart is unsupervised, Marge is quickly arrested for her gross negligence and given 90 days in jail.

Homer and the kids are initially given pity handouts by other families and so they're fine for awhile, but as those supplies near an end the family yearns for Marge to come back.  Meanwhile, Marge has carved out a place in the women's prison she was sent to, and with no real responsibilities on her plate, Marge has come to enjoy the place as somewhat of a break from her life with her family.  Homer is able to free Marge on a legal technicality but Marge, unwilling to be responsible again, grabs and fires a guard's gun so that she can stay in jail for two additional months.

The kids, having grown sick of being constantly supervised, break free and have fun all on their own - but during a tornado, which forces them to flee but they all end up okay except maybe Ralph.  Meanwhile, lamenting her decision to stay, Marge unwittingly sparks a prison break.  Homer takes the opportunity to sneak in as a prison guard to get Marge out, and Marge, ready to go back to her family, lets Homer do so.  Later, the family is happy to be together again.

Quick Review
This episode was a lot better than what I was expecting to start.  The plot had some decent gags for the most part though the episode did get pretty boring in the last few minutes.  Yeah, its a "Marge goes to prison, see how Homer and kids cope!" plot, and no its nowhere near as good as Marge in Chains but it holds it own, especially when compared to the string of bad episodes leading up to this one.  This episode is a decent way to end another subpar season (unlike last season, oh god why did I remind myself).

Final Score: 7.2

Simprovised (S27, E21-595)

"End it."  He thinks.  No, not the bit.  Not the series.
Not even his life.  No, everything.  Everything must end.

Plot Summary
Chief Wiggum throws an extravagant birthday party for Ralph which includes a brand new, state-of-the-art treehouse, which makes Bart jealous.  He quickly coerces Marge into rebuilding his treehouse but, afterward, tells Milhouse not to bother thanking Marge as things such as major remodeling is only her "job" as a mom.  Marge overhears this and gets upset at Bart, but Bart gets help from Homer in making up to her and the two reconcile.

Meanwhile, Homer bombs on a speech at the plant thanks to his fear of public speaking.  To get his mind off the incident, Marge takes Homer to an improv show, where he's impressed with the group's ability to think and act on the fly.  He and a few others decide to take an improv class offered by the group and soon start up their own group, of which Homer is the star.  Lisa advises Homer to try his luck at a French festival coming up, but Homer psyches himself out leading up to the day.

Fearful of failure, Moe offers to become an improv plant for Homer, but Lisa overhears and pleads with Homer not to cheat.  Eventually, Homer agrees and does his improv show wonderfully.

The last few minutes are spent on a segment called "Homer Live", where Dan Castellaneta voice acts as Homer while the show digitally shows Homer on a desk (with a bunch of nonsense references flying around him to keep things interesting) moving his mouth as Dan talks.  The segment is just Dan answering (I'm sure) heavily screened questions which amount to a waste of time, honestly.

Quick Review
The episode itself was another bore, with barely anything of comedic note and with both stories wrapping up quickly and all too neatly for it be of any worth.

The "live" segment was interesting of course.  Perhaps with intention, an episode about improv then features a segment in which Dan has to improvise Homer's dialogue on the fly, and he threw out a few decent things that were limited by the rather punchless questions that made it through screening.  While the episode was beyond saving, this bit was still the best the show had to offer this night.

Final Score: 6.9

How Lisa Got Her Marge Back (S27, E18-592)

She's just jealous the dog's got better beats than her.

Plot Summary
Bart comes to realize that his pranks are no longer effective - everyone knows Bart's behind them, even Ralph.  Discouraged, Bart gives up the prank game for good.  Meanwhile, after a lengthy session of Lisa playing jazz, Marge is left somewhat worn out.  Later in the day, Marge admits to Homer she's never been particularly fond of jazz, and Lisa playing it does no favors for her.  Unfortunately for Marge, Lisa overhears this and confronts Marge over it that night, feeling betrayed that Marge lied to her in regards to Lisa's passion.  The two are left at odds.

In an attempt to reconcile, Marge takes Lisa on a trip to Capital City.  Homer leaves Bart with Maggie for some reason, but Bart comes to realize that Maggie is an excellent ally in pranking, and as such Bart is back in the game.  It doesn't last too long, as after Homer falls victim, he absolutely won't allow a second Bart in the family and tells Bart to leave Maggie be.

Meanwhile, Marge's attempts to gain Lisa's favor fail miserably, and the two are worse off.  The attempts include two tickets to a musical of Bad News Bears, a show Marge loves but Lisa hates.  Afterward, the two meet the 'star' of the show: Andrew Rannells (who is an actual person, not a character the show made up, much to my surprise!).  The three go to dinner together.  As Marge takes her leave for a moment, Lisa rants about Marge to Rannells, who calls Lisa out for her behavior and total disrespect towards Marge and her feelings.  Lisa haphazardly realizes her error and makes up with Marge when the latter returns, and the two enjoy the rest of their trip together.

Quick Review
There were quite a few good jokes and bits in the episode, particularly with Bart and his prank sidestory which I enjoyed.  The main storyline with Marge and Lisa started off okay, and Rannells provided a couple of laughs here and there but the main plot was too reference-heavy for it too be actually funny and most of the Lisa-heavy segments didn't provide any comedy at all.  That prevented the episode from reaching any level of decency, sadly because I did get a few good laughs out of it.

Final Score: 6.8

The Marge-ian Chronicles (S27, E16-590)

Lisa's never going to be a pro book cleaner with that attitude!

Plot Summary
Homer learns Flanders is raising chickens to have fresh eggs.  When he and Bart decide to steal some, they find that they taste delicious, but Flanders prevents them from stealing any more.  Homer gets his own chickens to raise to have his own fresh eggs but he's disappointed as the thrill of the theft enhanced its flavor.  Realizing he'd rather just steal Flanders' eggs again, he decides to donate his chickens to "Exploration Incorporated" a scientific institute whose sole purpose is to colonize Mars in a 10 year time frame.  Excited by the possibility, Lisa volunteers for the mission.  Given that once one goes to Mars, one can't come back, Marge forbids Lisa from doing it.

Homer, however, advises Marge to support Lisa's plan under his theory that Lisa, like all women, will eventually lose interest if she's supported along the way.  Marge does so but Lisa's interest in the Mars mission remains absolute.  Homer takes the plan one step further and has the entire family enlist in the mission as well.  Lisa catches on to Homer's ruse and realizes she just needs to be patient until everyone in the family quits.

As part of a process to select astronauts for the mission, candidates must live a week in a simulated colony.  Marge particularly does well here as most of her tasks are no different than common housework, a revelation which frustrates Lisa to no end.  At the end of the week, only Marge and Lisa are chosen to be astronauts for the Mars mission.  Lisa has enough and calls Marge out on her bluff but Marge refuses to back down and continues "supporting" Lisa until Lisa quits.

This almost reaches a head when Exploration Incorporated is forced to move its launch date all the way up to "Thursday".  Marge and Lisa finally realize their errors but not until the two are in the launch rocket.  Thankfully, the rocket was a fake and the scientists are proved to be underfunded (despite heavy endorsements) and poorly managed.  Lisa and Marge only hope to agree they won't be so stubborn towards one another in the future.

Quick Review
The plot sounds dry but the comedy in the episode was excellent.  Despite being an episode focused on Lisa and Marge, Homer's involvement in the episode was top-notch.  The scientists weren't particularly unfunny, not too much of Lisa's usual comedic failings show up and several gags worked out wonderfully here.  Season 27, despite its many lows, has another good episode to salvage itself with.

Final Score: 8.2

Lisa the Veterinarian (S27, E15-589)

In contention for "worst caption yet", I provide this: "he's dead, Jim".

Plot Summary
At an indoor waterpark, Bart's hijinks ultimately lead to a raccoon getting inside the place.  A worker there immediately tasers it, allowing it to fall lifelessly into the pool.  Lisa quickly rescues it and is able to get it to breathe again, saving its life.  Lisa becomes popular from this act, and is given a task from Ms. Hoover to keep the class hamster, Nibbles, over Spring Break.  Wanting to the same kind of rush she felt when saving the raccoon, Lisa goes to the vet and asks to become an assistant there.  Dr. Budgie (voiced by Michael York) has Lisa help him with various dull tasks, but eventually Lisa gets to have the same rush as she did earlier and comes to believe herself an expert on animals.

Meanwhile, Marge is caught in traffic behind a crime scene, and accepts an offer from Chief Wiggum to help clean it up.  She does so efficiently, so Wiggum offers Marge a part time job to do more of the same.  Quickly Marge earns enough money to replace a ceiling fan in the house but Homer starts to realize that Marge has become somewhat dead inside from having seen so many grotesque crime scenes.

Bart becomes annoyed by yet another round of Lisa being arrogant, and quickly takes her down several notches by pointing out that since Lisa began her work as a veterinary assistant, she completely forgot about Nibbles, who is left near death.  Despite last minute efforts by Budgie and Lisa to save it, Nibbles ends up dying, leaving Lisa shell shocked.  Marge learns of this and is able to shrug off her newfound lethargy to comfort Lisa.  The episode ends with Lisa providing an eulogy at Nibble's funeral.

Quick Review
There were some pretty decent gags in this episode, both in the main and subplots, but they couldn't do enough to help turn a very dry, boring plot into something memorable.

Oh, and one very minor nitpick: the Phoenix Coyotes have been officially known as the "Arizona Coyotes" since mid-2014.  I know its a throwaway gag and there is a very small group of people who a) still watch the show and b) watch hockey enough to be aware of the name change, but come on.

Final Score: 6.7

Gal of Constant Sorrow (S27, E14-588)

Think about all of the strips, cartoons and movies there are about Garfield.
I don't think there's been one instance where Garfield gets stuck inside a
wall and Jon Arbuckle has to feed lasagna to him through an electrical outlet.
The Simpsons just broke ground there!  Take that, Jim Davis!

Plot Summary
Homer convinces Marge to have him fix a tile on the kitchen floor, despite Marge's obvious implications that Homer is not a "handy man".  Though using a lot of help, Homer does fix the tile adequately, much to the pleasure of Marge, but Homer finds out a short time later that the cat found its way into the floor during the repairs and has since moved on into the walls.  Homer tells Marge he plans on fixing on parts of the house but is really trying to just rescue the cat.  He eventually does, but then the dog gets stuck in the wall.  Later, its revealed that Marge was aware of these events the whole time anyway but let Homer fumble around because she thought it was sweet, or funny, I don't know.

Meanwhile, Bart accidentally knocks a homeless woman's supplies into the river.  With a snowstorm coming, Bart makes it up to her by letting the woman - Hettie May Boggs - stay in his closet, for a rate of $1 a day (her idea, not his).  Lisa begins to suspect something, and eventually finds Bart and Hettie talking about the rent agreement.  Before Lisa can really dig into him, Hettie sings a song as part of her daily routine to get money.  Singing beautifully, Hettie gains Lisa's attention, who decides to let Hettie stay in her closet - for free - while she attempts to jumpstart a music career for Hettie.

Quickly, Lisa sets up a small concert for Hettie, but during a radio interview Lisa begins to freak out as Hettie brings up her addiction-ridden past.  Sure enough, leading up to the concert Hettie goes missing.  Lisa attempts to stall for time at the concert while Homer locates a drunken Hettie.  Hettie gets to the concert but far too late.  Her chance is gone, and Lisa is extremely upset over it, but after Hettie sings another song, Lisa lets Hettie stay one more night at the house.  Afterward, Hettie goes to a rehab center, where she's basically a front to help insider Moe sneak people out to get drunk.

Quick Review
This episode had a very funny story of Homer and his misadventures with home repair, and a very boring story with Lisa and a homeless woman.  Guess which of the two the episode shifted focus to?

This ended up being YET ANOTHER Lisa-focused episode, and between Lisa being boring as per usual and the songs sung by Heddie - which included random references to things - also providing little comedy, the episode really suffered as a result.  Homer's sidestory got the episode going strong, but it never got a chance to flourish and ended quietly.  Oh well, maybe the next episode will focus on somebody el- (*sees that its "Lisa the Veterinarian"*), well maybe not.

Final Score: 6.0