We're on the Road to D'ohwhere (S17, E11-367)

Its a good thing we understand the context here, right?  R-right?

Plot Summary
Bart gets access to the school's steam tunnels.  He turns one little valve, and it brings the entire steam system to its knees, eventually soaking the entire school with hot steam.  Though Skinner won't expel Bart for this, he does advise Homer and Marge to take him to what's essentially a boot camp all the way in Oregon.  Homer takes Bart to the airport, doing so in a hurry because he and his bar mates are going to Vegas thanks to Moe getting settlement money.  However, the airline refuses to let Bart fly unattended and Homer is forced to forgo his trip to Vegas to drive Bart to Oregon himself.

As the two go off, Marge decides to take the opportunity to sell off Homer and Bart's old crap in a yard sale.  At first things go poorly, however people become interested in all the old painkillers Homer has, and Marge decides to sell them for a dollar per pill.  She gets a pretty hefty profit, but obviously broke the law and is soon arrested.

On the trip to Oregon, Homer's relationship with Bart is strained.  Bart tries to ditch Homer at a diner.  Homer catches up to him, but almost drives off a cliff, and Bart has to help Homer get back on solid footing.  Even so, Homer chains Bart up to a car seat and the rest of the drive to Oregon is incident free.  Homer drops Bart off at the camp, and makes his way to Vegas to meet up with his bar mates, but begins to regret leaving Bart in Oregon, and quickly goes back to retrieve him (just as well, Homer's credit card was declined).

Soon, Lisa comes home to find that Marge is in jail for her drug dealing, and Homer and Bart are in Nevada state prison for their shenanigans.  Lisa sighs, and decides to look for work to support her and Maggie in the morning.

Quick Review
This wasn't a funny episode.  Not too many jokes to be had.  Homer's drive with Bart had potential, and some of it was realized in the diner scenes, but otherwise not much was going on.  Marge's subplot had little going for it as well.

Final Score: 6.6

Viva Ned Flanders (S10, E10-213)

"Chop, chop!  Dig, dig!  Chop, chop!  Dig, dig!"

Plot Summary
Various townsfolk, including the Simpsons, attend the implosion of the Monty Burns Casino.  However, nobody is really aware of what occurs at an implosion, and when the building does implode, soot and dust get everywhere.  Upon taking the car to a car wash, Homer notices Ned Flanders getting a senior citizen discount for his wash, which draws his suspicion.  Homer tries to bust Ned at church, where its learned that Ned is 60 years old.  How does a guy look so good at 60?  By doing absolutely zero risk-taking, absolutely zero means of fun.  Slighted by the crowd's reaction to his secrets, Ned wonders if he has, indeed, wasted his life.

Noticing Homer doing some crazy thing or another, Ned realizes he can ask Homer for help to get him some 'fun'.  Homer agrees to do so, though he gets Ned to sign over his power of attorney in the process.  Recalling that gambling is a good way to have fun, Homer tries to take Ned to the Monty Burns Casino.  Recalling that it was just imploded, Homer takes Ned to Las Vegas instead.  Ned is overwhelmed by the bright lights and attractions of the city.  Urged by Homer to let loose, Ned decides to have a decent drink.  Somehow it turns into a bender for both Homer and Ned and after a wild night that neither man can remember, Ned declares success in his mission to have more fun.  However, during that wild night the two men also married the cocktail waitresses that served them the drinks.

With video proof that the two drunk men married the waitresses last night, both Homer and Ned start to freak out, with Homer eventually deciding to just make a break for it.  The two try to escape the casino, but are eventually caught, beaten up, and tossed out of the state (though their marriages to the waitresses are never annulled, which will come back up a few seasons from now).  The two walk back home, coming up with an excuse for their regular wives while vultures tail them.

Quick Review
I enjoyed this episode, even if it did take Ned's character into some strange places this time around (60?  That would make his beatnik parents too old for them to be beatniks for a 90s episode), but there's enough laughs once Homer and Ned reach Vegas to carry the episode to respectability.

Final Score: 8.2