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

The Old Blue Mayor Ain't What She Used to Be (S29, E06-624)

Recap: Marge runs for and is elected Mayor of Springfield, but as she's unable to fulfill her promises, Homer's oafish demeanor allows her to retain decent approval ratings.

Review: The first half of the episode was irredeemable garbage, with the blatant, practically shameless referencing and disregard of Marge vs. the Monorail, so poorly done it was even worse than the heavy-handed political references that littered the episode.

The episode is barely salvaged by a stronger second-half, after Homer's bumbling helps Marge out.  The jokes were stronger overall in the second half, which keeps the episode from tanking completely.  Better than what I was expecting, but that's not saying much.

Final Score: 5.0

Whistler's Father (S29, E03-621)

Recap: Maggie inherits Grampa's ability to whistle exceptionally and becomes a baby diva before she even hits it big.  Meanwhile, the mafia asks the style-'conscious' Marge to 'redecorate' the old post office into a whore house.

Review: Overall, its a dull episode.  A few jokes worked, a few jokes didn't.  Maggie's plotline was borderline ridiculous which didn't help matters.  Episode could've fared better with more mafia gags as they were the best part of the episode.  Better than the other two episodes of this season, of course that's not saying much.

Final Score: 6.2

Springfield Splendor (S29, E02-620)

Recap: Lisa's depressing life and Marge's crafty art combine to make a popular graphic novel whose popularity creates a rift between the two as a madman concocts a theatre show about it.

Review: There's two things I liked about the episode: the scenes at the community college and most of the side banter with Homer and Bart.  Those two things saved the episode from a much worse fate.  The whole latter third of the episode with the off-the-wall play was terrible, and the scene at the comicon panel with the "guest stars" was high-level cringe-core which was even worse.  Those two things, which were basically half of the episode, spiraled it downward from 'decent' territory to 'only watch for the artwork, maybe' tier.

Final Score: 5.6

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

Moho House (S28, E21-617)

"Hey we have another important black character with a course voice
that we need to cast."  "Should we find a guest star or wh-"
"GET ME KEVIN MICHAEL RICHARDSON RIGHT NOW!"

Plot Summary
Marge and Homer are having marital difficulties, again.  They attempt to patch things up at the nuclear plant, an attempts which is going well.  Its witnessed by Mr. Burns and a wealthy friend of his, Nigel.  The two are at odds at whether "true love" exists, with Nigel claiming that the "true love" they're witnessing on the security camera isn't real.  He bets $5 million that he can break Homer and Marge up, which Burns accepts.

That afternoon, Nigel forces Homer to go drinking with him under the veiled threat of punishment.  At the bar, Nigel notices that Moe is attracted to Marge and decides to use this to his advantage by hiring Moe to head his new classy bar.  Homer doesn't get home until late, and Marge refuses to hear his side of the story, putting their marriage on the brink (again). 

Nigel invites the Simpson couple to the new bar (Moho House), and the two immediately go their separate ways once inside.  Moe catches up with Marge, who is more than open to even his advances.  Still, at the end Moe is unwilling to go all the way and sheepishly retreats.  Nigel, eyeing a victory, sweetens the bet: his own fortune to Burns, or Burns forfeits Smithers.  Realizing his peril, Smithers attempts to force Homer to reconcile by giving him a gift to give Marge, but Marge realizes the ploy right away and runs off in tears.

Moe, realizing his part in this story, invites Marge and Homer separately to Moho House and gets the two to reconcile at his own sacrifice.  This, coupled with Homer's last-second callback to nostalgia, and Marge decides to forgive Homer (again).  Burns wins his bet (though Smithers gets his revenge by tricking Burns into believing Nigel was never there, thus saving Nigel's fortune), and all is back to what it was.

Quick Review
Its a marriage episode whose final act was a sloppy mess.  That said, many of the gags in this episode worked in its favor despite the retreaded theme, leaving it as (sadly) one of the stronger episodes of the season.

Final Score: 7.3

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 Great Phatsby (S28, E12-608 & E13-609)

Note: The Great Phatsby is the first hour-long "episode" in the series.  However, for all intents and purposes, its actually two episodes and, as far as I know, its officially counted as the 12th and 13th episodes of the season.  Regardless, I'm doing episode reviews for both parts on this single page.  They were basically the same in terms of quality, anyway.  With that...

The Great Phatsby: Part One

Goosius, more like Goofsius, a-am I-I r-right?  *panicked sweat*

Plot Summary
Mr. Burns longs for the days where he led and hosted lavish, fun parties with his fellow rich socialites.  He attempts to do so again, tasking Smithers to acquire ice but only from the darkest corners of Canada.  Before he departs, Smithers tasks Homer to hand out invitations to Springfield's best but he hands them out randomly.  Not that it matters, as Burns hosts a poor excuse of a party with antiquated rules and an antiquated band.  As the guests leave out of boredom, Homer is the only one that remains to comfort a depressed Burns. 

Homer and Burns, however, notice a big party happening across the lake: a rap mogul party.  The two find the host: Jay-G who owes his success and ruthlessness to a book Burns wrote long ago about ruthlessness as well as a pet goose who acts as a living symbol for his entire line: Goosius.  As Mr. Burns is basically his idol and mentor, Jay-G befriends him.  Convinced to use a top-of-the-line credit card Burns starts to spend his money freely and carelessly, feeling as though he's gone back to the glory days of his youth.

While this is happening, the other Simpsons hang out at the Hamptons near where Jay-G (and Burns, apparently) live.  As its basically rich-person town, Marge comes to learn that all of the shops are owned by the spouses of the rich who need something to do with their free time.  Lisa becomes disgusted by the son of one of the richest men in town, Blake, who is an utter douchebag.  However, Lisa's open disgust of him opens Blake up to "check his privilege" to impress her.  Lisa nearly is until another rich kid successfully entices Lisa with ponies and pony accessories, leaving Blake's humility unwarranted.

Burns' new lifestyle, complete with a posse (albeit its just Homer and his friends), comes to a crashing end when its learned the Burns literally spent all of his money on lavish purchases.  Homer then lets Burns know that Jay-G just released a music video basically admitting his plan to bankrupt Burns and take over all of his possessions, including the nuclear plant, leaving Burns in ruins.

The Great Phatsby: Part Two

Talk about ruthless...

Plot Summary
Torn between his 'loyalty' to Burns and working for Jay-G at the nuclear plant, Homer chooses the latter as dictated by Marge (who has haphazardly opened up a trinket shop in the Hamptons).  Jay-G, who now owns the plant and turned it into a dance party, attempts to secure Homer to his side with endless supplies of cobbler, but Homer regrets his decision.  Stumbling along, he finds Burns being weird at the mausoleum.  Homer renews his loyalty for Burns and together they decide to enact revenge on Jay-G.

With Bart along to help, its decided the best way to ruin Jay-G is to ruin his rep.  To do so, they learn that Jay-G burned many bridges during his ruthless rise to the top.  The two are able to get several rappers and an ex-wife to record a revenge album exposing Jay-G as a fraud.  During a big reveal party, however, its revealed that Jay-G literally re-bought the loyalty of all the rappers and the ex-wife, and that the drive containing the apparently only recording of the album is also in his possession.

Devastated by the decided defeat, Homer and Burns return to Marge's flailing shop to inform her of what's occurred.  With Marge finally free of her delusion of store ownership, Burns simply sulks until he realizes there's been a perfect revenge scheme all along.

Soon, he and Homer sneak into Jay-G's home to nab Goosius with the intent of cooking and eating him.  However, Homer doesn't have the heart to kill Goosius, leaving Burns to attempt to finish the act himself.  Jay-G attempts to stop him, the shenanigans of which leave the two hanging from a chandelier.  Here, Jay-G admits he only ruined Burns because in Burns' own book he wrote that one could only be truly ruthless if they were to destroy the "one who made you".  Burns suddenly feels pride that his legacy of ruthlessness will live on through Jay-G.

The two are still hanging onto the chandelier, but as it falls, Smithers returns with his ice, which has since melted into soft slush that Burns and Jay-G fall into.  Apparently, Jay-G returns Burns' possessions including the plant, but Burns has also learned some things as well, allowing a impromptu dance session at the plant but learns better of it almost immediately.

Double Review
Here are the things I liked about the episodes:

• Smithers' quest for ice.
• The entire Hamptons side story with Marge, including crazy shop sign man.
• Homer's narration.
• Most of the parts with just Homer.
• Bart's role in Part 2.

 Here are the things I didn't like about the episodes:

• Most of the rap stuff.  Sorry, it was a) boring and b) not funny.  Unfortunately, that makes up a lot of these two episodes.
• Lisa's sidestory with Blake.
• The guest voices were mostly dull or pointless, for instance Charles Barkley's entire contribution was "Still better than Shaq!", I mean, why even bother?
• The part in, uh, Part 2, when the revenge group betrayed Burns, where Jay-G and his new sold out gang appear to Burns as holograms, like this isn't goddamn Star Trek why didn't they just show up at the thing?

Part 2, I felt, tried more with the jokes, albeit there were more misses than in Part 1.  Part 1 was dull in several spots, like when Homer and Burns were wading through Jay-G's party and the entire thing with Blake wasn't very good either.  I think the episodes would've fared better if, in Part 1, the Blake stuff was gone and the stuff with Jay-G was funnier.  Part 2 would've been better if the entire middle portion wasn't the "guest voice" segment that basically brought the whole thing down.  The first acts of both parts were the best things going for each.

So, overall, these two episodes fared about the same, and about on average for your Season 28 / Zombie Simpsons episode.  Given the pomp and circumstance of it being an episode so grand you needed a whole hour to get through it, though, its certainly underwhelming even with the lessened expectations of this era of Simpsons.

Part 1 Final Score: 6.4
Part 2 Final Score: 6.6
Combined Final Score: 6.5

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

The Last Traction Hero (S28, E09-605)

Tone it down Marge goddamn, at least Smithers has Burns praying for goodness sake.

Plot Summary
Homer's mischief at work lands him a fall through Mr. Burns' trap door.  However, the trap door is undergoing renovations, and as a results Homer actually gets hurt from it.  Further, because its undergoing renovation, it no longer benefits from old laws which protected Burns from lawsuits.  Essentially, Homer has legal grounds to sue.  Burns sends Smithers to trick Homer into signing a waiver of liability but it only reminds Homer that he can, in fact sue.

While Homer is recuperating, Marge decides to spend more time with him but does so in such a boring way Homer quickly grows weary of her company.  Smithers takes notice of this and decides to befriend Marge, hoping this will somehow get Homer to sign the waiver.  However, as the two talk Marge becomes attracted to Smithers and the latter, realizing this, decides to back off.  Marge, her sexual tension unresolved, decides to use Homer to relieve herself.  Homer realizes what's happened but doesn't care because, hey, sex.

Meanwhile, Lisa catches a fight in the school bus on her phone and reports it to Principal Skinner.  In response, Skinner makes Lisa a bus monitor, and Lisa has complete control over student seating.  As per usual with Lisa, the power goes to her head but eventually the other students rebel, causing mass chaos on the bus.  Lisa realizes that its not that great to be a know-it-all and promises to cut back on it but can't help herself.

Having failed to secure the waiver, Burns orders Smithers to stop visited, which saddens Marge in more ways than one.  Realizing that a friendless Marge is no good, Homer decides to tell Burns he'll drop the lawsuit under the condition that Smithers gets to visit Marge again, which Burns agrees to.  However, because he made his lawyer upset by giving up the lawsuit, Homer makes it up to him by promising to slip on the courthouse steps to setup another lawsuit, however Marge also gets hurt by trying to stop him.  The two reconcile, unable to move on their bed with Grampa spilling hot soup on them all the time, but now they have all the time in the world to talk to each other.

Quick Review
I went into this expecting a marriage-themed episode.  It never reaches that level (i.e. one separates from the other or makes the threat), but from Marge wanting to kiss Smithers and takes those sexual frustrations out on Homer, to Homer being perfectly okay with it, to the point where he was willing to drop a lawsuit to keep being okay with it, just didn't sit right at all.  I guess I should consider myself lucky that it wasn't another marriage episode but the odd characterizations made me wish it was.  Almost.

This episode was another case of where the sidestory was short and pointless.  The humor slows to a crawl in the second half of the episode as well.  Overall, yet another low-tier episode from what has been another low-tier Zombie Simpsons HD season.

Final Score: 6.2

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

Friends and Family (S28, E02-598)

There's a fatal flaw here: the chopped peanut shells just get into the couch, anyway.

Plot Summary
Mr. Burns' psychiatrist, just before his untimely death, chastises Monty for never even being interested in having a family.  During the psychiatrist's funeral, Mr. Burns' "eulogy" was terrible enough to force him and Smithers to flee.  As they do so, they run over Professor Frink, who was in the middle of trying out his own VR technology.  Burns finds the technology intriguing and basically takes it as Frink receives medical attention.

Later, as Burns bores himself with fantasy video games and porn, not mutually exclusive, Smithers suggests Burns takes up the suggestion of the late psychiatrist and start up a family - a virtual family anyway.  Burns holds open tryouts for such a family - minus any father figure as Burns will be filling that role himself.  Ultimately, the Simpson family, forced to try out as Homer works at the plant, is chosen.  Initially, the family sans Homer stay over to do motion capture for simple scenes, but Burns likes the simulation enough to strengthen the family's contract, including living full time in the Burns mansion - essentially leaving Homer to live by himself.

Although Homer is initially reluctant, once he realizes he can do anything he wants at home, Homer starts to have a blast.  Soon, he befriends Julia, a neighbor who lives in the house behind his.  With many similar interests, the two hit it off right away, though both are fully fine with the relationship remaining platonic.

Eventually, Burns grows tired of dealing with his virtual family not being perfect (such as Bart being a Harvard man of all the devilish things), and fires the Simpson family.  When they return home, Marge overhears Homer talking to Julia and starts to go off on him, but Julia comes in conveniently and explains herself to Marge, calming her down.  Burns runs one final program with his virtual family where he dies and goes to hell, even though the headset isn't plugged in.  The episode ends a few years later where it predicts everyone will be wearing VR headsets and making fools of themselves.

Quick Review
The only really funny parts of this episode were: the family was arguing so much that when Maggie finally talks, she gets so offended over not being noticed she decides to never talk again, and the montage of Homer enjoying his time by himself.

Nothing else about the episode was funny.

This episode combines two things I do not enjoy about the series: referencing current events from over a year ago (lucky for the writers that VR is still relevant), and boring marriage episode, which the episode sneaks in at the end because how else are they going to resolve the "Homer makes a female friend who'll never seriously appear again" plot?

The entirety of Burns' VR plot was boring, and the segments with Julia were only slightly better.  Overall, the episode, while not completely awful, is not worth a watch regardless.

Final Score: 5.8

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

To Courier with Love (S27, E20-594)

I guess Homer "eclipsed" the competition, heh heh heh.

Plot Summary
Homer magically stumbles upon an old vintage car while cleaning out the garage.  After going on a mild tour driving it, that night he sees Marge is saddened with the burden of everyday life.  Homer wishes for a way to help Marge, and gets it when Jay Leno visits to buy Homer's vintage car - Leno being a connoisseur of such cars.  With his newfound money, Homer tells Marge that he'll take her to any place she'd like.  As she decides, Homer is visited by Leno again, who asks for the money back as the car ended up being confiscated by the police for never actually being owned by Homer.  With no extra money and Marge deciding she wants to go to Paris, Homer is in another marital bind.

Homer visits a travel agent to basically give him a trip to Paris for free.  The agent does give Homer the option of being a courier: helping the mob a client transport a package, with the trip and hotel paid for, but with the stipulation that the courier never look at the package.  Homer agrees, but it doesn't take long for him to break and decides to look in the package while on the plane.  He, and the nearby Lisa, find out a blue snake is inside, but Homer doesn't let Marge find out under the fears that the trip - and their marriage - will be ruined.

At the Paris airport, Homer meets the two French men with whom the package would be given.  However, after learning that the men plan to turn the snake into a belt, Homer and Lisa flee with the package.  As the rest of the family enjoys their time at Paris, Homer attempts to free the snake but is found by the two men and is forced to flee again.  Eventually, Homer tells Marge everything but as the two return to the hotel room they're met by the French police - who were summoned by those two men.  Under arrest for the "theft" of their snake, Homer can only watch as the police open up the package, only to find it empty.  The rest of the room is searched but no snake turns out.  Feeling tricked, the police escort the two men away, afterward it's revealed that the snake hid in Marge's hair.  Marge considers the vacation a success, and Homer returns home with gifts for his barmates - including a blue snake belt for Moe, artificial of course.

Quick Review
Much like the last episode, this one ends up being rather dull.  Some decent jokes here and there and the two French men were pretty funny, but overall the humor was too limited to really help this episode out.

Final Score: 6.4

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

Love is in the N2-O2-Ar-CO2-Ne-H3-CH4 (S27, E13-587)

Comic book guy writes an episode where he pretends he's Frink for some reason.png

Plot Summary
Its Valentine's Day, and Mr. Burns via a misunderstanding hosts a Valentine's Day party for his employees and their significant others.  Among those attending is Professor Frink, who works at the plant as a consultant, but is one of the few people there without a date.  Homer eventually gets a call from Grampa who complains that he's alone and that the death-stalking cat that lives there is paying him a visit, so Homer and Marge go to visit him.  At the retirement home, all of the seniors are depressed, until the nurse these gives everyone a new drug which makes the seniors hallucinate all of their former loves.  This includes Grampa, who hallucinates Mona back when Grampa still liked her.

The next day, Homer finds Frink still at the plant, the professor having spent the night wallowing in despair.  Homer tries to lift Frink's spirits by noting dating is nothing but trial and error - like the scientific method.  Adequately lifted, Frink goes to find a way to make himself desirable to women.  This includes ditching his glasses for contacts, height-raising shoes and - most importantly - a computer chip which changes his voice into something not nearly as nerdy.  After testing these modifications successfully on a female-like android he suddenly has, Frink is quickly and easily able to find dates - tons and tons of dates.  He notices that other men aren't as lucky as he has become and starts to come up with a plan.

Meanwhile, Marge visits the retirement home again and sees its seniors still hallucinating under the drug.  Marge confronts the nurse there over the drug and eventually relents.  Soon enough, the seniors are back to being lonely and depressed, but Grampa finds the stash of the remaining pills and binges on them, fully taking him to a hallucinated 50's world.  Eventually, Marge, Bart and Lisa pull him back to reality.

Soon after that, Frink invites all of the ladies he's dated to the planetarium under the belief he's going to pick one of them to date solo.  However, Frink - back in his goggles and 'normal' voice - reveals his true plan: having matched up the single men in Springfield with all of the single women he had been dating, though this leaves only him without a match.  Still, he finds looking out at the stars with his android girl (and her android mother whom Frink built for some reason) good enough.  Also Grampa flushed the remaining pills into the toilet, likely contaminating the water supply, meaning everyone can hallucinate that its the 50s, now.

Quick Review
This episode was pretty boring, nothing particularly funny happened.  Frink, usually a decent character for gags and such, is given focus on an episode for the first time and it doesn't work out especially in the episode's second half.  The sidestory with Grampa and the hallucinations was just weird and again failed to deliver anything of humor in the latter portion of the episode.  This episode isn't worth your time.

Final Score: 5.9