Friend with Benefit (S27, E06-580)

No matter how hard humanity tries, it will never be as lazy as turtles.

Plot Summary
Homer laments not having $1100 to purchase a new seat-to-feet chair which has a button to assist people in getting up.  Telling Lenny and Carl about needing money later on (neglecting to mention why), the two tell Homer to try out crowdfunding, the internet form of panhandling.  Homer does so, setting up a campaign for money despite not revealing what for, and is still able to get the $1100 needed to buy his chair.  He posts an update about the chair, causing a massive outrage amongst his donors (all from Springfield, coincidentally!), and they come over and smash up Homer's chair in retaliation, leaving Homer realizing he'll never get to enjoy the finer things in life.

Meanwhile, Lisa befriends a new girl at school, Harper, who invites Lisa to come to a boy band concert.  Homer takes Lisa there, where the two are given VIP-level access to the concert.  As it turns out, Harper's father is an insanely rich head of a cloud computing company, having just bought the stadium the concert is at, and is also a rather insane single father.  Still, Homer enjoys all of the privileges bestowed upon him by Harper's father.  Following the concert, and a private David Copperfield show, Lisa starts to notice, however, that Harper acts rather condescending and outright rude to Lisa at times.

This comes to a head when, shortly after Harper's father invites the entire Simpson family to a Caribbean island he just bought, Harper and Lisa have a falling out when Harper is insulted Lisa wouldn't accept a top of the line bike as a present.  Regardless, Harper's father maintains his invitation and the Simpson family goes to the island formally known as Haiti.

After some time, Lisa and Harper run to their fathers arguing once again.  Harper's father implores Homer to convince Lisa to give up and let Harper have her way, but Homer (eventually) says no and stands up for his daughter.  Harper's father, insulted, forces Homer to leave the island, but Homer isn't leaving empty handed - he drags back another seat-to-feet chair that was given to him as a present.

Quick Review
Season 27 presents another pleasant surprise!  This episode has a nice amount of good jokes and comedy.  The references a little on the high side (include a self-reference to one of the show's lesser moments) but the episode's main plot could've been much, much worse.  Instead, the focus remained mostly on Homer with Lisa's part of the story kept to a refreshing minimum.

Final Score: 7.7

Halloween of Horror (S27, E04-578)

Being afraid gives anyone the ability to shoulder the weight 240+ lb men.

Plot Summary
The day before Halloween, Homer finishes up decorating his house for the holiday ("Everscream Terrors"), a top notch effort of spooky sights.  Upon learning his skeletons have melted, though, he and the family take a quick trip to the temp Halloween store managed by Apu.  Three temp workers attempt to give Homer a backdoor deal under the condition he doesn't tell "Señor Squishee", but Homer, unaware of who that really is, immediately tells Apu about his great deal.  Apu quickly fires his three "helpers", who immediately note to a leaving Homer that he's going to be sorry for getting them fired.

That night, Homer takes Bart and Lisa to a Krusty-sponsored Halloween event.  Lisa in particular is hyped for it, however the sights, sounds and terrors of the event are too real for Lisa to deal with and despite everyone including Lisa knowing the scares aren't real, Lisa breaks down in terror.

On Halloween day, Bart's buccaneer costume is forcibly limited at school.  Also limited is Lisa, who can't even look at Halloween decorations without freaking out now.  As such, Marge forces Homer to take down Everscream Terrors to save Lisa's sensibilities, but as Homer refuses the two notice that Lisa has recovered "Tailee", a soft toy from Lisa's past that she uses as an emotional crutch that her parents had hoped she moved on from.  Knowing Lisa's back on Tailee, Homer relents and takes down his showcase, further disappointing Bart.

To try and make up for things, Marge tries to take Bart trick-or-treating at a fancy neighborhood but are denied entrance.  Marge tries to take Bart on last-second trick-or-treating around their neighborhood but everyone closes up shop.  Now that it's late enough, "Adult Halloween" begins, where adults in skimpy costumes walk around town and be drunk and vulgar, right in front of Bart who is aware - if nothing else - that his Halloween is ruined.

Meanwhile, Homer attempts to have a regular, quiet night with his emotionally fragile daughter.  However, he's visited by the three men whom he got fired the other day.  Realizing their intent, Homer attempts to lock down the house without alarming Lisa, but fails as the three find a way to enter the house.  Homer tries to make a break for the Flanders' place but Lisa heads back to retrieve Tailee.  Homer runs back to get her but the two are confronted by the men, and they're forced to flee into the attic.

As Lisa completely shuts down from the fright, Homer tries to reassure her that, yeah, he's scared too but being afraid doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to think at the same time.  Comforted by her father's words, Lisa recovers and helps Homer come up with a plan to draw attention to the house - using various fireworks and decorations from Homer's other holiday extravaganzas.  Homer quickly sets up a makeshift firework display, but its too windy to light up a match for any period of time.  Lisa nobly offers the flammable Tailee to provide a consistent fire, and with it Homer sets off the fireworks, drawing everyone from Adult Halloween - including the police, to his house.  The three men are quickly arrested, and with Lisa having overcome her fears, Everscream Terrors is back on, much to the delight of Bart.  In the credits, Maggie discovers a burnt-up Tailee, but its suddenly restores itself, carrying on its terrifying legacy with the second Simpson daughter.

Quick Review
This was a pretty decent episode.  The main storyline with Lisa and Homer was pretty good and had many good jokes and bits.  Bart's sidestory was significantly less funny, and the "Adult Halloween" bit was a major miss, bringing the episode down.  Still, the episode didn't suffer too much from many of the things that often plague modern Simpsons (even the referencing was limited to just Halloween costumes), making for an overall enjoyable experience.

Final Score: 7.4

Brick Like Me (S25, E20-550)

He can't handle all of this co-branding!

Plot Summary
After Homer wakes up from a nightmare to determine whether its "selling out" or "co-branding", he goes out to buy Lisa a gift on a seemingly normal day in a seemingly normal Springfield... except everything and everyone is made out of legos Lego Brand Bricks, where everything fits in and no one ever gets hurt.  Homer initially suspects something is amiss when he attempts to buy a Princess brick-building playset from the comic book guy, where he has a vision of him building that same set with Lisa, actually enjoying doing so, and as their more familiar fleshy forms.  This freaks Homer out and he runs off, but he continues to see certain images, objects, and people as animations rather than bricks.

Meanwhile, Milhouse brings a skunk to show and tell, which runs off.  He and Bart chase it to the basement where it enters a small hole.  The two remove bricks from the wall to retrieve it, but after they co-erce Willie to bust it open, the entire school collapses in a sea of bricks.  As punishment, Principal Skinner forces Bart to rebuild the school brick by brick.  Bart attempts to rebuild it in his own image, but Skinner catches him and forces him to rebuild the school properly, and multiple times over as Skinner possesses multiple sets of the school to build.

Homer's delusions reach critical mass when his hand become fleshy and finger-y, for all to see.  Knowing now that he's not really going crazy, Homer takes Marge back to the comic book shop to come in contact again with the Princess brick set.  Upon doing so, Homer has an extended vision of the animated world.  Here, Homer and Lisa continue to have genuine fun building things with toy bricks, even building a model Springfield, when the two learn of a brick convention coming up.  The two decide to go, but later Homer overhears Lisa with several older girls who invite Lisa to the premiere of a Hunger Survival Games movie, of which the girls are fans.  Homer reluctantly allows Lisa to see the movie, but realizes that his fun time with Lisa has come to an end and that he no longer fits in her world.  Going to the brick convention alone with the model Springfield, Homer begins to wish he could be in a world of bricks, where everything fits in and nobody ever gets hurt.  Its there where comic book guy's massive brick model of the H-Survival Games lead character falls on Homer, knocking him out.

Back in brick Springfield, brick Homer realizes this reality is one he conjured up so that he can spend an infinite amount of time with Lisa.  Ecstatic with this revelation, Homer happily allows the brick world to continue, uncaring about returning to reality.  However, after playing with Lisa for a short time, Homer then realizes that, with things as they are, he'll never grow old and enjoy the relevant benefits, or see Lisa grow up and have memories of her that could be cherished.  Homer realizes his mistake and runs back to the comic book guy's shop to find the Princess brick set - the key to the world - and return things to normal.

However, the comic book guy apparently represents the part in Homer's psyche that wants things to remain in fantasyland, and quickly sets up a fortress around his shop with reinforcements to stop Homer.  Homer calls out for help, and quickly Bart arrives, having built a lego-mech of some sort thanks to all the experience he had building schools.  Bart wipes out the reinforcements and topples the fortress.  Homer is able to find the brick set and becomes fleshy again.  He thanks brick Marge for her support, and comes back to reality.  Lisa is the first person he sees upon coming to, who decided to go to the brick convention after all, but Homer retains his lesson from his dream and tells Lisa to spend time with her friends so she can grow up.

Quick Review
I figured this episode could go one of two ways.  As a complete and utter bow down to the glory that is Lego media these days, I had feared this episode would be a mish-mash of Lego antics and branding that just wouldn't make even a competent episode.  Thankfully, oh so thankfully, the episode's plot, borrowed from the movie or not, was full of quality jokes that made good use of the Lego, hm, 'universe', and it was also a mildly touching Homer and Lisa story that features none of the poor writing that often plagues Lisa-heavy episodes.  I must say I am pleasantly surprised with this episode, and its one of the season's best.

Final Score: 8.1

You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee (S25, E16-546)

Looks like Homer has the NFL referee's lifestyle down.

Plot Summary
After a failed history demonstration at school goes awry, Superintendent Chalmers tells Principal Skinner to figure out who the kids actually see as their heroes, with Skinner needing to get a sponsor for the school to acquire the necessary funding to set up a "my hero" contest at the school.  At the contest, Lisa thinks she's a shoo-in to win with her report on her hero Marie Curie.  However, Martin Prince gets to present before her, and Curie is also his hero.  With the originality of her presentation lost, Lisa runs off in tears.  Consulting the nearby Bart, Lisa gets the last-ditch idea from him to use Homer as her hero.  Composing herself, Lisa goes up and talks about the various times Homer had been a good father to her, including being a steadfast and honest soccer referee that one time.  The speech is a hit, and Lisa ties with Martin for the win, which means the school keeps the prize money.

Afterward, Lisa's speech goes viral on the internet, garnering the attention of top soccer officials, who needs Homer's honesty and incorruptibility for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, given how many referees and top soccer officials have been corrupted by money.  Inspired by Lisa's words, Homer accepts the offer and the Simpsons head to Brazil (again).

As Marge works on her Portuguese, Homer begins to ref World Cup matches, and does so admirably.  Soon enough, a group of gangsters attempt to bribe Homer with food and money, but he turns them down, still holding Lisa's words strong within him.  This is shattered, though, when Bart reveals he wasn't her first choice as her hero.  Devastated, Homer reluctantly agrees to fix the World Cup final in favor of Brazil.  Lisa confronts Homer before the match, and tells Homer that while it was true he wasn't her first choice, his actions afterward have truly made him the hero she always hoped he would be.  His honesty renewed, Homer calls the World Cup fairly despite heavy Brazilian diving, and the Germans win the World Cup.  The gangsters find Homer to kill him for breaking the deal, and not even Marge's newfound Portuguese fluency will stop them.  However, the mother of the lead gangster steps in and forces them to leave Homer alone, after Lisa switched seats with her on the plane so she could watch HBO.  With that resolved, the Simpsons enjoy the rest of their time in Brazil.

Quick Review
This turned out to be a lot better than I expected.  Granted, I expected it to compete for "10 Worst Episodes" territory but, for once, my fears were unfounded.  The subplot was the school was pretty good, I felt, and set a good pace for the episode.  Of course, many episode before this do the same only to fall apart at the end.  That sort of happened here, but not too much.  Going in, I figured there'd be a lot of time wasted showcasing how great soccer is, and 'look at this, see how cool it is', stuff like that.  Thankfully that was kept to the barest of minimums with even a recurring diving joke thrown in.  (I'm aware this makes it sound like I'm not a fan of soccer and, outside of the World Cup ironically, I'm really not.)  Overall, this is one of the season's better episodes with only a few missteps, but far fewer than what I thought there'd be.

Final Score: 7.5

Homerland (S25, E01-531)

Seeing all of the Seth MacFarlane characters in yellow skin - except the normal
looking black characters - really looks freaky, lets never see this again, please.

Plot Summary
After setting up what will be an episode full of references to some other show, Homer along with Lenny and Carl head off to Boise for the annual Nuclear Convention.  That night, the three are ready to get into all sorts of shenanigans.  Three days later, though, only Lenny and Carl return to Springfield, with Lenny telling the Simpson family at the airport he's not even sure if Homer is still alive.  Some time later, though, Homer does come back, stating that he overslept and simply missed his flight home.  As the family welcomes him back, Homer starts remembering what appears to be him getting captured and tortured, and then recalls a mission that involves seemingly blowing the plant up and killing, well, Bart anyway.

Homer's behavior has changed as well.  Homer won't eat pork, and he won't drink beer.  He becomes a much better lover, though, so Marge is all-in on these changes.  However, Lisa becomes highly suspicious and starts snooping.  She overhears Chief Wiggum tell Apu that he received intel that someone has been 'turned' and may be planning a terrorist plot.  Returning home, Lisa spies Homer in the garage, praying towards Mecca and looking at blueprints to the nuclear plant.  With Marge fully okay with Homer's new behavior, Lisa decides to call the FBI for help, and gets a hold of Annie Crawford, who is some kind of messed up or something (I haven't watched the show the episode is referencing, so whatever).

Crawford sneaks into the Simpson home one night and up and tells Homer she's watching him.  Still, the next day Homer goes to the nuclear plant bringing in an odd object hidden under a sheet.  Homer gets into the plant's operations center is about to hook up what seems to be a nuclear bomb, but Lisa arrives to stop him, telling him her suspicions.  Homer, though, reveals all of Lisa's suspicions are mere coincidence: Homer did oversleep at the convention and he did miss his flight, but he wasn't captured, he had to hitch a ride with a group of hippies.  Those hippies showed Homer that pigs aren't happy when they die, thus his pork ban.  They also detoxed him and gave him a mat to help remind him to remain sober, which he needs to kneel in order to read - thus why Lisa thought he was praying.  As for the 'bomb', its actually simply a containing holding spoiled milk and raw chicken, materials Homer plans on seeping through the plant's air conditioning to make the whole place become unworkable - as the hippies also told him the evils of nuclear power.  As the police and the FBI agent arrive to arrest Homer, Lisa becomes inspired and is able to finish Homer's mission.  As it turns out, though, the plant's air conditioning isn't function which in itself is a federal offense.  Mr. Burns is arrested and the plant is shut down, so Homer's mission succeeds anyway.  In a status-quo restorer, Homer sees a bottle of beer glide down on a parachute, operated by the ever-crafty Moe, and takes it as a sign to start drinking and eating pork again.

Quick Review
Season 25 starts off with a pretty decent episode that, for me, is hurt by the heavy influence of the show Homeland.  The comedy really picks up in the middle of the episode with Homer's suspicious behavior, along with the usual comedy stylings of Chief Wiggum, but again the inclusion of all the Homeland stuff didn't do anything for me and hurt the episode's quality.

So, looking forward to the rest of the season, I'm a bit conflicted.  The episode had some good humor in it, but the referencing of modern TV programming has never done the show any good.  I can certainly hope for the former but chances are the latter (and only the latter) is far more likely.

Final Score: 7.8

Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words (S20, E06-426)

Letting Gil Gunderson beat her.  Man, Lisa really did choke.

Plot Summary
Bart and Lisa attempt to sell lemonade.  Homer tries to start a tab, but when Bart wisely refuses, Homer goes to Moe's instead.  There, Edna Krabappel is trying to break up with Principal Skinner (even though, you know, she already did).  For some reason, she can't do it this time, and offers a beer to whoever else will do it for her.  Homer decides to tell Skinner, but the way he does it leaves Skinner happier than before he was given the news.  Its decided that Homer is pretty good at breaking people up and consoling them, and he takes it up as a profession.  Eventually, Marge chides Homer for what he's doing, prompting him as to what would've happened if someone like him was around during one of his various spats with Marge.  That, with an ensuing nightmare, convinces Homer to quit.

Meanwhile, a lawyer comes and stops Bart and Lisa from selling lemonade until they get a license to do so.  They actually bother going to a license bureau to get one, but the line is stalled as the vendor is focused on a crossword puzzle he's stuck.  Lisa has enough, and walks up and solves the puzzle for the guy in record time, and is hailed as a hero.  Soon, Lisa becomes overly obsessed with crossword puzzles, seeing everyday words convert into crosswords and only bothering to do the puzzles from the New York Times.  Superintendent Chalmers picks up on this, and invites Lisa to a crossword tournament.  Homer takes her there, and hangs out at a nearby bar where he learns that various other parents are betting on the crossword matches.  Homer uses the money he earned breaking people up to bet on Lisa, and it pays off for him as Lisa goes all the way to the championship match.  However, Lisa confides in Homer that in these situations, she always finds a way to choke.  Homer takes these words seriously, and decides to bet his winnings against Lisa, much to the disgust of everyone in the bar.  In the championship match, Lisa is up against ol' Gil Gunderson, who uses an elaborate ruse to completely dominate and defeat Lisa for the title.  Lisa can't believe what just happened, but Homer is a richer man for it.

Lisa quickly realizes something is off when she notices Homer has upgraded a lot of his stuff.  Homer decides to tell Lisa what he did.  Lisa simply walks away, refusing to talk to Homer aside from saying she isn't mad (though it's clear she is).  Eventually, Lisa opens up on Homer, telling him she no longer considers him her father, and that she's now taken up Marge's maiden name as Lisa Bouvier.  Devastated, Homer decides to take the advice of the childless drunks at the bar and do something to offset his error.  A short time later, Marge convinces Lisa to do another puzzle to cool off.  Afterword, Lisa realizes the puzzle reveals an odd message: "dumb dad sorry for his bet".  Lisa wants to believe its just a coincidence, but she asks Homer about it anyway.  He reveals that he got in contact with both the editor and puzzle constructor of the New York Times to create a puzzle just for her.  She also missed a second message within the clues themselves which reveal Homer's apparently earnest apology.  Lisa forgives Homer, and the two share a bonding moment in front of the weird newspaper guys.

Quick Review
Well, I will say that there really wasn't anything bad about the episode.  I will also say that there really wasn't anything all that funny about it, either.  Homer's breakup business seemed like it had the most potential, but all the references to past couples really left it without much room for humor, and the subsequent focus on Lisa didn't help it much after that.  Its a pretty forgettable episode.

Final Score: 6.4

See Homer Run (S17, E06-362)

If only real life candidates would do this, then they could actually be called honest.

Plot Summary
Its Father's Day, and Homer gets a spectacular present from Bart, and is thereby less impressed with Lisa's homemade picture book.  Lisa takes notice of this and, following Homer's failed attempts at making it up to her, begins to develop disdain not just toward Homer, but men in general.  She takes it out on poor Martin at school, and even Principal Skinner catches Lisa's wrath.  Skinner takes with Homer afterward and, with the help of the school psychiatrist, suggests Homer take up the mantle of the school's "Safety Salamander", so that Lisa can see him as a positive role model.

Homer's first few days as Safety Salamander don't work out so well, and Lisa's opinion of him hardly changes.  Soon, a massive car wreck initiated after Bart stole a street sign bearing his name.  Police and rescue teams rush in but end up as part of the wreckage as well.  Homer springs into action, still in his suit, to rescue everyone stuck in the pile of car wreckage.  Homer becomes a hero, and is given a 'keycard' to the city by Mayor Quimby.  Just then, Quimby is reminded by his nephew press secretary that he takes responsibility for the car wreck, and everyone demands a recall election, where anybody can sign up to run for mayor.  Lisa, fearing that some bad person could win the election, has Homer run for mayor, but in his Salamander guise as that is his claim to fame.

Thanks to his Salamander gear, Homer quickly becomes the leading candidate, and it seems likely that he'll win the election.  He hasn't washed his suit since he got it, though, and Marge insists she washes it once.  This proves fatal for Homer, as the costume shrinks in the wash so much that its no longer able to contain Homer's body and falls apart.  The public become disillusioned that Homer is no longer his heroic guise, and soon nobody wins the election, allowing Quimby to stay on.  Despite the failure, Lisa still has a renewed faith in her father, and that's more than enough.

Quick Review
This turned out to be a pretty decent episode.  The comedy starts off decently strong, but starts to fade off near the end when the plot focuses on the recall election.  Lisa episodes usually aren't too bad when Homer is a big part of them, and this is no exception.

Final Score: 7.3

A Star is Torn (S16, E18-353)

Look at the fear in their faces.

Plot Summary
Lisa tries to have her family eat organic vegetables for dinner one night, and they all get sick from it (except for Lisa, who has built up an immunity to the bug feces and such found within).  Lisa helps nurse the family back to health by singing a lullaby, which works rather well.  The next morning, as the family eats fried chicken to finish their recovery, they see a commercial for a children's singing competition hosted by Krusty the Klown that may or may not be a ripoff of American Idol, which was popular at the time.  They recall Lisa's wonderful song the night before and they all agree Lisa should give it a shot.

At the mall where tryouts are occurring, Lisa is dismayed to see another kid, Clarissa Wellington (voiced by one of the American Idol winners, I dunno) sing the same song Lisa did earlier.  Homer decides to help Lisa out and hastily writes a new song about how kickass Springfield is (though he wrote it about Shelbyville and changed the names after the fact).  With these lyrics, Lisa qualifies for the competition.  With Lisa's singing and Homer's writing, the two team up, though Homer quickly takes his position too far and becomes extremely overbearing and protective of Lisa.  Still, he writes good songs for Lisa and she makes it to the final three.  The other two kids are Clarissa and a boy named Cameron who is a favorite in the crowd.  Clarissa is the next kid eliminated, leaving just Lisa and Cameron.  However, after another forceful display by Homer against a studio worker, Lisa has enough and 'fires' Homer on the spot.

An angry Homer eventually 'rebounds' to become Cameron's agent, much to Lisa's disgust.  Though Homer and Lisa aren't particularly angry at one another, they still haven't come to terms with what's happened.  Soon the final round approaches, and Lisa finally writes a song of her own: one about Homer, and even in a positive light!  The crowd is moved to tears, and Homer makes up with Lisa afterward, however Homer reveals that he never left Lisa's side in the first place: he's sabotaged Cameron by making him act like a spoiled brat named "Johnny Rainbow" who sings a song about how privileged he is.  Lisa wins the competition thanks to Homer, and the two share a hug.

Quick Review
This wasn't that funny of an episode.  What doesn't help it any is that a good chunk of time was used to have kids sing songs, whether it be Clarissa or Cameron or Lisa.  The few Homer-written songs weren't funny.  The funniest portions of the episode came from Krusty's various interactions, but that wasn't nearly enough to help this episode's score.

Final Score: 6.7

The Dad Who Knew Too Little (S14, E08-299)

Sheriff Lisa Simpson doesn't seemed thrilled about McNuggets.

Plot Summary
Lisa's birthday is coming up, and she wants to get a state-of-the-art diary meant to stop other people from reading it.  Both Homer and Marge agree to get it, but when Homer actually goes to buy it, he learns that its been sold out.  On his way out of the mall, he sees Flanders making a cheap 'adventure starring YOU' video, which impresses the hell out of Homer and decides to make one for Lisa.  On Lisa's birthday, Lisa is angered to learn not only that Homer didn't buy the diary, but the video features untrue facts about Lisa.  Homer's claims that Lisa like McNuggets or that Maggie is her best friend infuriates Lisa, and she runs off in tears.

At the bar, Homer gets advice from Moe that a private detective he knows can look up all sorts of info of a woman.  Desperate to learn more about his daughter, Homer decides to visit the detective, and hires him to investigate Lisa.  The detective does thorough work, and before long Homer is given a booklet detailing a list of Lisa's preferences.  Homer puts this information to work, playing Lisa's favorite song and taking her to a animal cruelty protest at an animal testing facility.  Homer goes to the detective to thank him for helping him bond with Lisa, but then the detective gives Homer the bill: $1000 thanks in large part to frivolous charges like fancy steak dinners and silver bullets under the idea Lisa was a werewolf.  Homer refuses to pay the bill, and makes a run for it when the detective threatens him.

Soon, the news reports that the animals at the testing facility have been released, and the building vandalized.  Several odd pieces of evidence are left behind which rather plainly pin Lisa as the culprit.  Homer realizes right away who did it, but decides to help Lisa get away from police anyway.  As the two hide out in a motel, Homer tells Lisa the truth, and Lisa quickly gets mad at Homer again.  The next day, the two stumble upon a circus featuring many of the animals from the testing facility.  The detective, who sold the animals here, appears to shoot or at least injure Homer, giving chase into a hall of mirrors.  Lisa finds the two, and Homer reveals that he knows Lisa is good at finding people, surprising Lisa that he actually knew something about her independently.  Lisa is able to disable the detective by firing a pointing laser (which Bart gave her for her birthday) at the detective, blinding him.  As the police arrive to arrest the detective for the frame job, Homer and Lisa reconcile and the animals find a new home with Cletus and pals.

Quick Review
Well, this ended up being an enjoyable episode to watch though it did start pitifully slow with that "Pads" sequence.  The scenes involving the detective were pretty good, and Homer's video of Lisa was good for a few laughs as well.  The conclusion has its moments, and in all I can say that I've had more fun watching this episode than any other so far this season.

Final Score: 8.3

HOMR (S12, E09-257)

Homer, spending quality library time with Lisa!?  Oh man, these crazy Season 12 storylines!

Plot Summary
The family goes to an animation fair, and while there Homer takes a liking to motion capture animation, a somewhat new process at the time.  He likes it so much, he believes it'll become big, and decides to invest his life's savings into a motion capture company.  However, the company goes bankrupt, and so does Homer basically.

Needing money desperately, Homer takes Barney's advice and becomes a human guinea pig at a research center.  As he's tested upon, a pair of researchers notice a crayon stuck in Homer's brain on an x-ray.  As Dr. Hibbert quickly explains how it hadn't been seen in past x-rays, Homer recalls a time when he was a kid when he stuffed a box of 16 crayons into his nose then subsequently sneezed them out, though he believed he sneezed out all 16.  The researchers offer Homer the opportunity to have it removed, believing that its the reason behind his limited capacities, and Homer agrees.

Instantly, Homer's IQ goes up, and he becomes far more intellectual.  Lisa in particular likes the new Homer, as he now actually wants to spend time at the library.  One day, Homer finally decides to actually inspect the nuclear plant, and whats more he sends his findings not to Burns himself but to a safety commission.  The plant is forced to close down, and Burns basically lays everybody off.

Homer is now public enemy #1 amongst his former friends, and has a talk about his loss of happiness with Lisa, who admits that happiness and intelligence are inversely related.  Homer tries one more time to enjoy himself, but pointing out obvious flaws in movies aren't helping him make friends, either.  No longer wishing to be smart, Homer revisits the researchers to have a crayon put back into his brain, and they give him the name of someone who will operate without a license: Moe.

Lisa realizes something is amiss when one of her crayons have gone missing, and her fears are soon realized when Homer crashes back into the house, as dumb as ever.  A letter written to Lisa falls off from him, written while Homer was still smart, and it informs Lisa that while he's "taking the coward's way out", his time spent without the crayon has made him appreciate just how amazing Lisa really is.

Quick Review
Well, it was an inoffensive episode, anyway, it has that going for it.  That said, there just wasn't that many jokes I found funny.  The plotline was fine, but there really wasn't much going on that I felt was humorous.

Final Score: 6.8

Homer vs. Dignity (S12, E05-253)

I think this was the 'jump the shark' moment for the last few who hadn't seen it that way yet.

Plot Summary
The Simpsons are flat broke, again, and not even financial planning can help them.  Meanwhile, Smithers is going on a break to star in a play he wrote, and so Mr. Burns won't have his assistant around for a week.  Homer, desperate for money, asks Burns for a raise, but Burns won't hear of it.  Burns, desperate for amusement, instead has Homer throw pudding at Lenny.  Lenny's suffering gives Burns the laughter he needs, and decides to pay Homer to become his "prank monkey".

With Burns' vast fortune, doing something like buying and subsequently eating a copy of the first issue of Spider-Man is but a simple prank.  With Burns supplying Homer cash with each embarrassing act, Homer is able to stabilize his family's finances, telling the family only that he and Burns are involved in a 'side project' for work.  The pranks reach a head, disgustingly literally, when Burns has Homer pose as a panda donated "anonymously" during a show.  Not only is Homer given electric shocks for being 'too frisky', but an actual, real panda becomes aroused by panda Homer, and goes to 'cuddle' with Homer, behind a curtain of course, but Burns gets his big laugh.

Lisa witnesses the horror, but doesn't find out its her father until a short time later when Homer makes his clumsy escape from the panda exhibit.  Lisa learns what Homer actually has been doing with Burns, and feels sorry for him.  Burns comes along to pay Homer, but with Lisa's help Homer shoos him away.  However, Homer still has the money Burns just paid him, and he and Lisa decide to use the dirty money for good.

Homer uses the money to buy every toy in a toy store, and even agrees to become Santa Claus for the store-sponsored Thanksgiving parade, which is coming up.  Homer happily throws out his newly bought gifts during the parade, but Burns casually rides in on a prank boat, tempting Homer with yet another prank.  Though Homer is adamant on refusing, he seems to falter when Burns offers Homer a million dollars for the prank.

Soon, "Santa" is seen throwing not presents, but fish guts at parade spectators, and with seagulls coming in to peck at said guts, it creates pure chaos.  Lisa is ashamed of her father, but as it turns out Homer wasn't even in the suit anymore; he turned down Burns' offer but I guess somehow Burns took Homer's costume to do the prank himself.  Lisa is proud of her father, who got the present of dignity from his daughter just in time.

Quick Review
This episode is hated.  There's a few reasons why its hated.  For one, the panda scene.  I mean, Homer gets hit with electric shocks a bunch and Lisa is there to witness it, that should've been enough, right?  Did that real panda really have to get sexually confused in that scene.  This really angered some people.  Not so much me.  I mean, I've seen the worst the series can do already, and panda rape doesn't quite qualify for the worst.  Not quite.

Although that was a worthwhile complaint, one that doesn't quite hold up is the one that complains that because this episode 'recycles' older plots, it can't be a good episode.  The family is broke, which has happened before.  Smithers leaves for somewhere and Homer takes his place, that's happened before, never mind that Smithers departure was for completely different reasons each time or that what Homer was doing to 'fill in' for him is different as well.  What's that?  There was an episode where Lisa laments that a family member had lost their soul?  You mean to say it happened again in this episode?  Wait a minute, 'selling your soul which you didn't believe in for $5' and 'forgoing your dignity for money to pay the bills' are the same storyline?  Who knew!

I know that these 'downfall' seasons aren't as great as the ones the preceded them, but complaints like that just seem like people are looking for reasons to find the episodes of these seasons bad.  Panda scene aside, this episode ends up being fairly funny, with plenty of good jokes.  Once again, its fairly difficult to screw up an episode featuring Mr. Burns, and once again that holds true here as Burns' antics keep the episode going well for the most part.  Sadly, this episode is one of Season 12's highlights (despite the panda scene), but many people won't see it that way as they'll be too busy getting upset over recycled plot lines to find the jokes and humor the episode actually presents.

Final Score: 8.5

Make Room for Lisa (S10, E16-219)

Marge can really clonk Milhouse when she wants to.

Plot Summary
As part of Homer's "commitment" to his kids, he agreed at some point to take them out to do something one Saturday a month, alternating between Bart's choice and Lisa's choice.  Its Lisa's turn this time, much to Homer's dismay, and Lisa drags Homer over to a Smithsonian exhibit which is sponsored by Omnitouch, some kind of company.  Homer's standard array of antics leads to the damaging of the Bill of Rights.  Unable to pay for its repair, an Omnitouch Rep decides on another course of action for Homer to repay for the item: installing a communication tower right into the house, with the base of operations essentially being Lisa's room.

Lisa is forced to move into Bart's room, but Bart tries to take advantage of this fact, leaving Lisa to get out of the room just so she can study.  Homer's insistence that she partake in his activities drives her nuts as well, ultimately leading to a stomachache.  Homer takes Lisa to Dr. Hibbert, who determines that Lisa's stomachache is from stress, though Homer refuses any kind of naturally based solution the doctor suggests.  Lisa officially has it with Homer, sternly yet somewhat kindly explaining that although the two love each other, they are just too different and that in time, they'll likely drift apart.

Meanwhile, the comm tower picks up phone calls throughout town on Marge's baby monitor.  Though willing to report this at first, Marge soon forgets about that and willingly listens in to other conversations for gossip's sake.  Bart and Milhouse pick up on this, and play a prank using the monitor in Maggie's room to make Marge believe a deadly criminal is about to enter the house.  The prank ends up in Marge bashing Milhouse's skull in, and though she wants to chide Bart for the prank, he helps her realize that eavesdropping is hardly any better, lesson learned I guess.

Hoping to make his daughter content, Homer takes Lisa to a 'new age' store specializing in natural medicine.  The owner there suggests the two try out sensory deprivation water tanks, and they agree to try them out for two hours.  A short time in, repo men come in to take everything as the owner hasn't been paying bills, I guess.  The repo men only have enough space in the truck for one water tank, and take Homer's.  It creates a series of events that eventually lead the tank back to where it started, but not before Homer gets a few bruises along the way.  Lisa, on the other hand, stars to hallucinate herself into something else.  First, she sees herself as the cat, and then she sees herself as Homer, and she learns that both he goes to things he hates so he can be with Lisa and that Lisa (who appears in her own hallucination) can be rather annoying.  She comes out of the tank more enlightened than ever, and agrees to go to a monster car derby with Homer, and happily at that.

Quick Review
Its at this point I'd like to bring up a phrase used by people to indicate a particular problem with these 'downfall' seasons.  That phrase is "Jerkass Homer".  Jerkass, a word Homer uses back in Season 9, is used to describe Homer's character in these episodes as he becomes, well, both a jerk and an ass, rather than the caring yet bumbling father portrayed in seasons past.  There have been episodes before this one where "Jerkass Homer" makes a presence, but I really felt it in this episode despite its attempts to right that ship near the end.  In his attempts to do what he feels is right for Lisa, he ignores Lisa's real feelings about things like an ass while being a jerk to everyone else about it.  Thus, Jerkass.

The subplot involving Marge's eavesdropping was fine, and ended on a humorous note, though it was a bit short.  The main plot of the episode hardly did anything for me, though, and numerous instances of Jerkass Homer really dragged the episode down for me at times.  The somewhat sweet ending salvages the effort, but only slightly.

Final Score: 7.0

Lost Our Lisa (S09, E24-202)

...and Lisa never trusted Russians again.  The end.

Plot Summary
The school has the day off for teacher "conferences", so Bart and Milhouse take a walk around town.  They go into a prank shop, and Bart decides to buy a few novelty items which stick on the face, except not so well.  The two visit Homer at work to get some superglue to help the items really stick on there, which Homer willingly provides.

Lisa, meanwhile, is ready to go with Marge to the museum, which is having an Egyptian Treasures exhibit for just one more day.  Before they leave, though, Bart returns with the items on his face.  Marge is unable to pull them off, and is left with no other option but to take Bart to the doctor.  Lisa asks Marge if she could take a bus to the museum, but Marge quickly turns her down.  Undeterred, Lisa calls Homer instead.  Though Homer is also weary of Lisa taking a bus, Lisa cleverly tricks Homer into thinking a bus is okay just as long as he doesn't have to pay $200 for a limousine instead.

Lisa enthusiastic takes a bus, but it turns out she got her buses mixed up.  The bus she wants, the 22, only goes on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.  As its either Tuesday or Thursday, she is on the 22A, which does not go to the museum.  She learns this too late, and is forced off at the last stop, some solitary road in the middle of nowhere.  Lisa attempts to make her way over to the museum, coming across several oddities along the way.

Homer realizes his error, and leaves work to find Lisa.  He goes to the museum, but finds she isn't there.  He checks nearby for Lisa, using a cherrypicker for a better look.  He does find Lisa, but the cherrypicker rolls loose, causing some mayhem but ultimately things turn out okay.  As Homer drives Lisa home, Lisa regrets making such a "stupid risk".  Homer is offended, as it was because he took a "stupid risk" with the cherrypicker that he found Lisa in the first place, and that risks are what make life worth living.  He then asks Lisa what she wants to do, and Lisa only wants to visit the museum, but it would be closed at that point.  Homer sees it as another risk-taking opportunity and takes her to the museum.

Bart is able to have the items removed from his face after Dr. Hibbert forces him to emit "terror sweat", which dissolves the glue.  They return home, but neither realizes Lisa is gone.  That night, Homer takes Lisa to the now closed museum, but they both are able to sneak in regardless.  They go to the Egyptian wing of the museum and enjoy it, even uncovering an previously covered secret with one of the exhibits.  Lisa thanks Homer for helping her take a "stupid risk", and the two walk off in song before they trip an alarm.

Quick Review
This was a pretty charming episode, one that really humbles Lisa.  Not that the humbling of Lisa is what makes the episode good, but her interactions with everything she comes across along with Homer showing her the good side of risk taking really makes for a good episode especially with how it ended.  The blip that was Bart's subplot was fine, and Dr. Hibbert's contribution was worth a few laughs as well.

Final Score: 9.3

Lisa the Beauty Queen (S04, E04-063)

If he had given Lisa that sceptre sooner, Lisa would've been hit.  Krusty is a true hero.

Plot Summary
At a school fair, Lisa has a caricature drawn of herself.  Not understanding the purpose of a caricature, the resulting drawing leads Lisa to believe she's ugly.  Meanwhile, Homer wins a raffle, and the reward is tickets to the Duff Blimp.  Later, however, he notices Lisa being sad and learns why, and is bothered that he isn't able to help Lisa feel better about herself.  At the bar, Homer sees a commercial for a "Little Miss Springfield" beauty pageant, hosted by a cigarette company, for ages 7-9.  Needing $250 to apply Lisa into the contest, Homer sells his blimp tickets to Barney to pay for the cost.  When Homer tells Lisa what he did, she's upset (especially when Homer told her he used Lisa's caricature as the picture to apply with).  Knowing the reasoning behind Homer's deed, Marge is able to convince Lisa to do it after telling Lisa what Homer sacrificed to get her in.

At the pageant, Lisa sees the top competition: Amber Dempsey, who had fake eyelashes implanted in Portugal or somewhere.  Marge helps Lisa get beautiful at a parlor, while Bart trains her for other pageant-related things.  Soon, the pageant occurs, and Lisa goes in and does well, but ends up in second place behind Dempsey.  Shortly after that, Dempsey is at a store to unveil some tire spikes, when lightning strikes her sceptre, leaving her unable to perform her duties.  As such, Lisa as the runner up becomes sworn in as the new Little Miss Springfield.

Lisa's duties start off simple enough, seeing off deportees and appearing at Fort Springfield alongside Bob Hope.  However, she learns that, because the pageant was sponsored by a cigarette company, they now want Lisa to be her spokesperson to increase youth smoking.  While hesitant at first, she decides to go along with her duty, however at a parade she sees kids picking up free cigarettes and decides that's enough, and begins to rebel against smoking, and then college football.  When its learned she's next going after the mayor, panic begins to mount among the top ranks.  Fortunately for them, however, they found a technicality that removes Lisa from the position: when Homer filled out the application, in the space "Do not write here", Homer wrote "OK".  Her title stripped and returned to Dempsey, Lisa is still happy that Homer went through so much effort to make her feel better about herself.

Quick Review
Lisa the Beauty Queen is a superb episode, which is odd for a Lisa-centric episode but Homer really pulls through in the episode as well.  The few moments Krusty the Klown was in were great too.  It is one of Season 4's best episodes.

Final Score: 9.6

Lisa the Greek (S03, E14-049)

I can't remember the last time anybody made Miami a "lock of the week".

Plot Summary
Its football season and in a world where the internet wasn't available to most and it couldn't hasn't helped fantasy football's popularity spread like wildfire yet, those looking to spice up their football viewing experience could turn only to one thing: good ol' fashioned gambling.

Homer tries his luck at it, but isn't having much success listening to on-air analysts or call-in gambling lines that speak at a snail's pace.  Meanwhile, Lisa, desperate to garner some attention from her father, takes up a suggestion from Marge to take an interest in Homer's thing: watching football.  While not exactly pleased at first, a desperate Homer asks Lisa who she would pick to win the Miami/Cincinnati game.  Randomly picking Miami, Homer quickly puts in $50 for it with his bookie, Moe, and it turns out Miami won.  With a common interest now established (rooting for Miami), the two bond and agree to do it again next week.

Sundays become "Daddy-Daughter Days", but are mostly spent with Lisa picking games or spreads for Homer to bet on, and it somehow is always right.  While guessing or reading body language at first, Lisa studies more into football and spreads, and becomes an expert on the thing.  With all the winnings Homer is getting, he spends it on fancy dinners and gifts for the family.

Alas, football season is only five scant months long (lets not count the preseason, okay), and so Homer agrees to go bowling with Barney the Sunday after the Super Bowl, because nobody is desperate enough to bet on the Pro Bowl.  When Lisa suggests an activity for the first Daddy-Daughter Day after the Super Bowl, Homer lets her know his intentions, and that she only has to wait seven months for the next football season.  Realizing that Homer didn't really care and has just been using her to help him win bets for football games, Lisa (again) hates Homer and runs off, giving away the possessions she earned from Homer's "dirty money".

On the day of the Super Bowl (specifically Super Bowl XXVI between Washington and Buffalo, though later reruns changed this to stay up to date), Homer tries to make up with Lisa, but blows it by asking her if Washington will beat the spread.  Lisa, disgruntled once more: makes a bold set of declarations: she believes Washington will win, however she might be saying that out of her newfound hatred of Homer in hopes that Homer will actually lose, and if that's the case then Buffalo should be the pick.  To simplify: Lisa still loves Homer if Washington wins, but Lisa hates Homer if Buffalo wins.

Distraught over this, Homer is unable to enjoy the pregame shows or the game itself, especially since Buffalo gets the halftime lead.  One crummy halftime show and the all-important Duff Bowl later, Washington begins to mount a comeback, and wins with a last second touchdown!  (In reality, Washington just blew Buffalo out of the water, but this episode aired before that game, pretty bold pick to make!)  Happy to learn that Lisa still loves him, Homer decides to spend the following Daddy-Daughter Day with Lisa on a mountain climb.

Quick Review
I liked this episode, quite a lot actually.  The mini-subplot where Marge takes Bart clothes shopping is pretty great, and the core episode has a lot going for it as well.  I will admit that, as someone who enjoys football but isn't much of a gambler (because I'm terrible at it), there are a lot of references to both football and gambling (i.e. the spread) that I got and enjoyed that some people, some people who don't enjoy football, wouldn't get, lessening their enjoyment.  Not for me, though, this was a great episode.

Final Score: 9.0

Lisa's Pony (S03, E08-043)

Damn, that looks cozy.

Plot Summary
Lisa's saxophone needs a new reed in time for the school's talent show in a few hours, and several of her contacts are unable to help.  She eventually tries Homer, who is available, and heads to the music shop after work.  Alas, the music shop is right next to Moe's and Homer can't help but have a quick beer.  By the time he's finished, though, the shop closes, and its owner is at Moes unwilling to help.  Moe calls upon a favor to have the music shop owner help Homer, and so he does, but more time is wasted as Homer struggles to recall the type of instrument the reed is for.  By the time Homer finally gets the reed and reaches the school, Lisa is in the middle of playing her out-of-tune sax.

Embarrassed, and moreso let down, Lisa finds herself unable to forgive Homer and Homer is able to notice that Lisa has stopped loving him.  While Marge insists Homer spends more time with her, its not long before Homer finds himself unable to continue doing Lisa's "girly things".  Homer instead opts for the quick fix: he decides to get Lisa that pony she always wanted, a move Marge is adamant against, but Homer doesn't listen.  Finding out that a pony will cost $5000 at least, Homer gets a loan from the nuclear plant, from Mr. Burns himself (thankful that Homer is unaware of what usury even is).  With money in hand, Homer buys the pony, and Lisa's love is quickly restored.

Between the loan and the need to rent an expensive stable for the pony, Homer and Marge are in financial trouble.  To get the money to pay for the pony, Homer decides to get a second job, getting the midnight shift over at the Kwik-E-Mart.  As Lisa continues to bond with her pony, Homer struggles more and more to stay awake between his two jobs while not letting the kids on about what's going on.  It comes to a head one night when the kids are staying up late and they notice Homer sleeping in his car.  Marge finally lets them know what's happened, and lets Lisa know that while nobody will force her to give up the pony, Homer has sacrificed a lot for Lisa and its up to her as to what to do.  Faced with the difficult decision, Lisa decides to sadly give the pony up, with her love for her father fully restored.  Letting Homer know at the Kwik-E-Mart, Homer quickly quits the job and walks off with his daughter with pride.

Quick Review
This ended up being a pretty good episode.  I especially like the scene where Homer, unable to stay awake on the road, hallucinates everyone on road sleeping in beds, and then Homer trading his car in for a bed that somehow makes it back to the house.  Another solid entry to this season.

Final Score: 8.7