[6.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Here’s the weird thing about a lot of modern day episodes like this one. The story here is solid enough, if kind of disjointed. There’s not much progression from the individual segments, and there’s a lot of asides that feel spackled in. But the first act is about Homer finding a dream job where he excels by sitting around and doing nothing. The second act moves on to Homer and Marge being great team-building leaders who have fun working together. And the third act ties in data privacy, Burns trying to reclaim his employees, and Marge having to decide between her job and her morals.
There’s not necessarily enough connective tissue between these things, but there’s enough there to pass muster and to have some minor arcs and character stakes in all of this. Is it inspiring? Far from it. But it’s functional at worst.
The problem is that this one just isn’t funny. There’s a handful of semi-amusing bits when various people say things within their self-driving cars, and the automobiles take them to various places. (Homer saying “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” and being taken to Krusty Burger is an easy gag, but a chuckle-worthy one.) But for the most part, this is just a bunch of lame humor and mild laughs. It’s not serious enough to be real drama, and not comedic enough to be anything but tame. So while the episode isn’t bad exactly, its jabs at self-driving cars and data privacy and tech culture are too toothless to make it anything more than a pleasant-enough way to pass the time.
Overall, there’s some decent material in here, but little of it engenders a lot of laughs.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-11-10T05:43:44Z
[6.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Here’s the weird thing about a lot of modern day episodes like this one. The story here is solid enough, if kind of disjointed. There’s not much progression from the individual segments, and there’s a lot of asides that feel spackled in. But the first act is about Homer finding a dream job where he excels by sitting around and doing nothing. The second act moves on to Homer and Marge being great team-building leaders who have fun working together. And the third act ties in data privacy, Burns trying to reclaim his employees, and Marge having to decide between her job and her morals.
There’s not necessarily enough connective tissue between these things, but there’s enough there to pass muster and to have some minor arcs and character stakes in all of this. Is it inspiring? Far from it. But it’s functional at worst.
The problem is that this one just isn’t funny. There’s a handful of semi-amusing bits when various people say things within their self-driving cars, and the automobiles take them to various places. (Homer saying “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” and being taken to Krusty Burger is an easy gag, but a chuckle-worthy one.) But for the most part, this is just a bunch of lame humor and mild laughs. It’s not serious enough to be real drama, and not comedic enough to be anything but tame. So while the episode isn’t bad exactly, its jabs at self-driving cars and data privacy and tech culture are too toothless to make it anything more than a pleasant-enough way to pass the time.
Overall, there’s some decent material in here, but little of it engenders a lot of laughs.