Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 17: "Lisa the Simpson"

Airdate: March 8th, 1998

Synopsis: After Lisa fails to solve a brain teaser that the other students got instantly, a series of unfortunate events (such as a diorama) begin scaring Lisa about the quality of her intellect. Grandpa eventually tells her of a trend that various Simpsons have, where their intellect declines over the years, calling it a "Simpson Gene". A frightened Lisa tries to fight back against the suspected decline, only to fear that she's becoming lowbrow and low class.

Review *SPOILERS*: Is it possible for one scene to make an entire episode just seem mean spirited? It's a pretty damn hard feat, but "Lisa the Simpson", which seems almost perfect, just contains one little scene that drives me spare.

Yes, it's a Lisa-centred episode. Some of the best Lisa-centred episodes focus on her relationship within the clan of The Simpsons: she's probably the most down-to-earth of the group (Homer and Bart are Homer and Bart, and Marge is occasionally spacey). Even so, she's portrayed as a bit aloof, reserved with her intellect in the dumb town of Springfield. So, an episode that seems to take her down a peg, show that she can still fall into the same traps as the rest of the town? That's a good idea. We did see her take up an angry activist moment in "Lisa the Vegetarian", where, in pushing her beliefs via pig-napping, made her little better than Homer "You don't Win Friends With Salad" Simpson himself. However, to see this normally intellectual character enter a period of self doubt, thanks to family coincidence... that makes for an entertaining episode.

And, for the first two and a half acts, it is a very gripping episode. Having Lisa deal with the fact that she might be damned to the same amounts of insolence as the rest of the town of Springfield is surprisingly emotional. You see, she was slipped up by a mere brain teaser that the rest of the kids got in seconds. Is she overanalysing the brain teaser? Maybe. It's Lisa Simpson: in a town of the average joes, she's the one who looks too deep. That's a really creative way to show that a character that's normally an ace has her human flaws.

Led on by, well, Grandpa about Simpson history, and taking on more activities with Homer and Bart (i.e. watching When Buildings Collapse on FOX), Lisa enters a state of resignation, submitting her brain to "one last meal" at the Springsonian and the Jazz Club. It's actually pretty damn emotional to see her try and fight, even going as far as to make a futile attempt to plea to the town of Springfield to increase their horizons. She knows it's futile. She just needs to be heard.

Of course, there was the ending, where Homer brought in several of his relatives. It rotates between hysterical and heartbreaking, depending on what mood you're in. The context of Lisa's worst fears being confirmed truly contrasts with Homer's relatives describing their careers as "I step in front of cars and sue the drivers" and "Jug Band Manager". It's truly fantastic.

Then the real ending happened, and I wanted to chuck my DVD out.

You see, Homer only brought in the Simpson men: the women are fantastic successes. Why? Well, apparently, it's genetic: the "Simpson Gene" is apparently only carried on the Y chromosome- thus, only men are affected.

Translated: Simpson men are damned to be idiots, while women? Raging successes.

Let's ignore that Herb Powell was a raving business success, who was only failed by the American buyer, who wanted everything in a car, yet wanted the design to take few risks (and to not have it cost $82,000). Let's ignore that Abe is a fantastic military strategist, who is held back by his senility and his desire for a more active life getting the better of him. Let's ignore that Homer has flashes of great intelligence, only held back by a weak upbringing and years of alcohol consumption. Let's even ignore that Bart could be fantastic at anything- he merely has a short attention span, and maybe some other learning disability. Nope, now all Simpson men are just idiots.

Yup, this is apparently a happy ending. Why? Lisa was validated.

Look, I'll get this off my chest right here and now: I am pretty pro-feminist (and yes, I am a male). I support equality of the sexes, I am in full support of the advancement of women's rights, the objectification of women or the reduction of them into mere tools drives me up the wall, I feel that America (and to only a slightly lesser extent, the rest of the world) has quite a way to go when it comes to neutralising sexism and objectification of women, and I feel that there is a dearth of well-written characters who are also female.

That being said, in my opinion, this ending is less a testament to feminism and more outright misandristic. Basically, Homer and Bart are openly told that, because they are male, they are basically damned to failure. Yet, this is a happy ending. Why? Well, Lisa can solve the damn puzzle.

I'm just hoping that the scientist that told Lisa about the truth about the gene was just lying to save Lisa's sanity. Even then, the fact that the men are presented as idiots yet the women are presented as successes still comes off as a bit sexist, eh?

It's a sign of things to come: later seasons of The Simpsons have had troubling gender-related politics, trying to present itself as a feminist, progressive show, when in reality, creating female characters that were little more than props or satellites for other characters.

I don't really know what to think about the main plot. As good as most of it was, the ending just threw me. Even the very last two lines in the episode can't really save the ending for me. It's a major dent in the quality of the episode.

Oh, and Jasper gets trapped in a Kwik-E-Mart freezer, and Apu and Sanjay turn the mart into a tourist trap. It's a pretty good subplot.

Tidbits:

• This is the last episode not produced by either Mike Scully or Al Jean in some form (until Season 22-ish), and the second to last one for four years to not have Scully at the helm. Eh, can't always end on a high note.
• This episode was also written by Ned Goldreyer. He did some work on the UPN's adaptation of Dilbert, one of the most underrated animated sitcoms of all time.
• Give Dan Castellaneta credit: the fact that he can do all of the voices of the male Simpsons? No wonder why he's getting about $300,000 a year as of late!
• Oh, and I apologise for the long hiatus/vacation. For some reason, I just couldn't motivate myself to put something down on paper... that, and there was that Simpsons marathon on FXX.
• Also, Gravity Falls will be back in September. I might be able to put down a few more Scullyfied Simpsons episodes... or, I might return to Red Dwarf. Maybe.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1

Zaniness Factor 1.5. Having an old guy survive a freezer? Eh, not stupid.

Favourite Scene: Lisa's plea to the town of Springfield really shows the power of the writing this show once possessed. It's gut-wrenching, funny, awesome... it's just sublime.

Least Favourite Scene: The ending, though, just left an awkward taste in my mouth.

Score: 7

Gravity Falls Review: Season 2, Episode 3: "The Golf War"

"We are the Golf Balls, Golf Balls are we!
We work at a golf course right near a few trees!"

Airdate: August 11th, 2014

Synopsis: Driven spare by Pacifica one too many times, Mabel challenges her to a putt-off at the Mini-golf center at midnight. Whilst practicing strategies on victory, the twins come across a bunch of Golf Ball people, the "Lilliputtians", who control the golf balls. However, each "hole" is in something of a conflict with each other hole. Thus, Mabel offers a deal: whoever helps her the most in defeating Pacifica gets a sticker-trophy. Of course, they take this to extreme lengths.

Review: "Scaryoke" and "Into the Bunker" were ventures into the dark side of Gravity Falls: both of those episodes featured elements that wouldn't be out of place on, say, The X-Files. So, after reading the premise of this episode, I thought, "Hey, Gravity Falls is taking a turn back into light-hearted speculative comedy! This should be a nice, easy episode."

I was half right.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 16: "Dumbbell Indemnity"

Airdate: March 1st, 1998

Insert joke about remembering when The Simpsons used to be good here. (Image stolen from Wikipedia).

Synopsis: Moe has been entering into something of a depression: he has no companionship. While initial attempts at getting Moe a girlfriend at a local discotheque ultimately prove fruitless, he winds up meeting Renee (Helen Hunt), a local flower seller, and the two hit it off. When Moe wants more money to keep treating her to the finer things in life, he decides to commit insurance fraud... with Homer as his "guinea pig".

Review: The Mike Scully years of The Simpsons featured some awkward character development. As our primary characters were either phased into the background or turned into wacky, centre-of-the-universe type characters, the secondary characters were seemingly fleshed out to try and show more than just their identifiable features- Mr Burns and Ned Flanders, for one, were seemingly transformed into characters with hidden hearts of gold, or ones that had deep-seated "white-bread" lives. However, the scripts were haphazard, and the characters lost a lot of their humorous traits. In effect, the characters flattened as the show slowly transformed into one that wouldn't be out of place on a cheesy saturday morning cartoon. (I kid: at least some saturday morning cartoons around this time had well-written characters!)

It didn't hurt Moe Syzlak as bad (initially): it would be understandable to see his deep-seated loner tendancies, and try and show why he keeps failing to make friends or find romance. Again, this would degenerate as the scripts became more haphazard, but it's more tolerable here.

This episode's main hangup is that, for all it tries to paint Renee and Moe in love, this episode's heart is still connected to Homer. He starts the episode with the unnecessary water heater incident, and is the right-hand man for Moe, through the rest of the episode.

The problem with this is that it does not lead to a whole lot of development for the character that's supposed to be in love with Moe, Renee herself. What is her character, anyway?  Sure, she pity-dates Moe, then falls in love with him on a more genuine level. Apparently, it's his "insecure, sweaty charm". It's implied a few times that she's only in love with him because he spends money on her, yet also has standards on how said money is procured.

However, as an individual, we learn little, if anything, about her. Her character pretty much revolves around Moe. We don't learn anything about her as a character, what her background is, what her quirks are. She's just a prop- she's the raison d'etre for the insurance fraud scheme that Moe and Homer commit.

I think, to provide an accurate comparison, we have to take a look at another "love interest" for the show: Jessica Lovejoy, from "Bart's Girlfriend".

Ah, when one-shot characters had deep character development in the span of 22 minutes. (Image taken from Wikisimpsons).

In that episode, Jessica begins something of a relationship with Bart over their skirting of authority- in this case, the church. That episode gave us a look at some aspects of Jessica's past, her present standing, how she is able to manipulate anybody and everybody, and how she pushes Bart to her limit. Given that she's a one-off character, she's given as much depth as the time allows.

Here, Renee just exposits the relationship between the two. (This will be a problem in later seasons: exposition will trump actual storytelling). Again, she has no backstory, no flaws... she's just there.

Now, Homer and Moe's scheme, I can buy. While some would criticise a paring like this as just another example of "Homer buddies up with some character to get him into the centre of the plot", I can see why Homer became Moe's right-hand man. Homer always seemed just a little bit closer to Moe, compared to the rest of the patrons at the bar. In a more immediate sense, Moe's sense of self-doubt could explain why he felt he needed to throw money around to keep Renee happy.

Homer is, well, something of his jerkass self. He gets into the centre of the plot, winds up as part of a zany scheme, survives the impossible, and winds up in a violent rage (for a few seconds). It's a bit more tolerable here: he was pressured by Moe into the zany scheme, and Moe's betrayal would drive anybody a bit loony. Still, it was a bit over the top.

Humour is really a mixed bag. Most of the jokes that work are the quick comic gags, such as Snake trying to rob Homer's car, everybody's reaction to the bar tabs being called in, and of course, "Hail to the Chimp". The good character comedy is more sparse, although I think this is because one of the characters is practically a prop. Even then, Renee gets one or two decent lines. ("Yes, Moe. I'm going to find corpses.") There were also jokes that dragged on for just a bit too long, such as the "car drowning" scene. Once was fine. Twice, enough. Three times? A bit too much.

I don't know: it's not really a memorable episode. It's got the good, it's got the bad, it's got the Jerkass Homer, it's got some Moe character development, but it's really just... alright. Maybe it's just dragged down by Renee's bland character, but still.

Tidbits:

• It's worth noting that, around the time of this episode's production, Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria were dating. The two were even married for about a year.
• While the disco scene was alright, I was thrown off by Otto being there. What, was he reluctantly there on a date? Did he get roped in some other way? 
• This episode was written by Ron Hauge, who wrote "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" (which was also not memorable) and would later write "Mayored to the Mob". My expectations aren't exactly high.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2, but only for his getting into the centre of Moe's plot and surviving seemingly impossible injuries. He's actually relatively mild: it's the more outlandish tendencies that got to me. Who knows: maybe I'm preparing for the worst.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5. The only thing remotely zany in this episode was the car's plummet in the ocean.

Favourite Scene: A great bit of physical comedy occurs when Homer has to bail out of Moe's car. He rolls out, and thanks to a rock, winds up back in for....

Least Favourite Scene: ...the plummet into the ocean. Went on way too long. Second place is the infamous boiler incident. Cut both of these down, and the writers could've put in some good Renee character development.

Score: 7, mainly because of the quick comedy. I'm feeling generous.

Gravity Falls Review: "Into the Bunker" (Season 2, Episode 2)

"This baby is called the Withstandinator. It can take a six megaton blast. No more. No less." -Herman, The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror VIII"

Airdate: August 4th, 2014

Synopsis: Dipper is at the end of his wits when it comes to his relationship with Wendy: he needs to confess, yet also refuses to. A botched attempt at a confession drives Wendy into one of Dipper's investigations: exploring the bunker under the tree where 3 was first found. As Dipper, Wendy, Mabel, and Soos dive down into the bunker, events conspire that drive Dipper closer to the breaking point, the duo to what seems to be a figure of local lore, and the quartet close to their demise.

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

Review: Last time the writers dedicated an episode to the faux-supercouple of Wendy and Dipper, the relationship between the two bottomed out. For those unawares, after Wendy broke up with Robbie, Dipper tried to get Wendy on the rebound. Wendy responded by blasting Dipper and Robbie's misogynistic, self-serving manoeuvres, before running off distraught.

That episode was "Boyz Crazy", which was my favourite episode when I first reviewed it. It's dark themes in both its plot and subplot were striking, yet also realistic. They showed a darker side to our favourite characters.

"Into the Bunker" seems to be an attempt to finally put something of a confirmation to where Dipper and Wendy stand. In so doing, they have made an episode that further reaffirmed just how far the writing for the show has gone.

Gravity Falls Review: Season 2, Episode 1: "Scaryoke"

Airdate: August 1st, 2014

Synopsis: With Gideon finally secured in a local prison, the Mystery Shack holds a mixer to try and celebrate something of a return to the status quo. Pretty much the entire town is invited to the party. However, Stan's activation of his device in the basement alerts the federal government to the town. Dipper tries to convince the feds that the town is strange... to the point where he raises the dead and wrecks the party.

*WARNING: SOME SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. READ AT OWN RISK*

Review: To quote Red Dwarf's Dave Lister... "SHE RIDES!"

Gravity Falls comes back, and it comes back with a bang! I'll put it this way: it was worth the year-long hiatus.

Want more? So do I!