[7.6/10 on a Selman era Simpsons scale] So for starters, I love Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. I’m in the camp that thinks it’s one of the best shows on television right now. So the mere fact that The Simpsons was doing an extended homage to it, meaning one of my original favorite shows was paying tribute to one of my current favorites, was a real treat that made it easier for me to get on board with the rest of what this episode wanted to accomplish.
But I also like that this was not a mere “invoke some other T.V. show” outing, but rather one with a point. The use of the flashbacks to illustrate the ways in which a great deal has changed since our caveman ancestors, and how much hasn’t, is a smart conceit for this one. In truth, there’s not a ton of laugh out loud jokes here. But the show makes up for it in clever observations and juxtapositions between modern life and prehistoric life.
So while I didn’t guffaw, I did smile at Homer hunting for concert tickets being matched with his savannah ancestor hunting deer. A prehistoric Marge squaring off against a blue-haired giant wolf while present day Marge and Luan Van Houten play the dozens at a PTA meeting is clever. And the final race to a Latino rap group’s backstage VIP area in line with a grand escape by a cavewoman to protect her young has fun in the life-or-death stakes of the past with the sillier, but emotionally life-or-death stakes of the present.
And that's the central observation of “Clan of the Cave Mom”. How we fight and survive has changed, but what we fight for hasn’t necessarily. The skirmishes are social, rather than physical, but the way the same fight or flight and protective parental instincts take over remains a part of who we are. The episode spells it out a little too much for my tastes, but that's probably a necessary concession.
I also appreciate the cleverness of the ending. The third act gets a little wild, arguably even Scully-esque, with its chase through the concert. But the observation that through the rough and tumble caper, Marge has been reduced to her primal self on both the inside and outside, is a canny way to convey where the noble urge to protect her son from bullying and exclusion has led her when it’s gone unchecked. Marge making up with Luann, in line with Prehistoric Marge finding common ground with her beastly pursuer after her husband dies, is also a clever twist on the premise of Primal that shows the writers got the show beyond the visuals.
I always appreciate Simpsons episodes that depart from the norm in some way. I appreciate even more when they use that break in the format to try to say something, whether about the characters or life or the world we live in. “Clan of the Cave Mom” does both, with a nice story about Marge’s care for her kids and the desire to protect them that runs historically deep. The fact that the episode borrows from one of the current era’s greatest and most piercing shows is the icing on the cake.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2024-04-02T05:05:15Z
[7.6/10 on a Selman era Simpsons scale] So for starters, I love Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. I’m in the camp that thinks it’s one of the best shows on television right now. So the mere fact that The Simpsons was doing an extended homage to it, meaning one of my original favorite shows was paying tribute to one of my current favorites, was a real treat that made it easier for me to get on board with the rest of what this episode wanted to accomplish.
But I also like that this was not a mere “invoke some other T.V. show” outing, but rather one with a point. The use of the flashbacks to illustrate the ways in which a great deal has changed since our caveman ancestors, and how much hasn’t, is a smart conceit for this one. In truth, there’s not a ton of laugh out loud jokes here. But the show makes up for it in clever observations and juxtapositions between modern life and prehistoric life.
So while I didn’t guffaw, I did smile at Homer hunting for concert tickets being matched with his savannah ancestor hunting deer. A prehistoric Marge squaring off against a blue-haired giant wolf while present day Marge and Luan Van Houten play the dozens at a PTA meeting is clever. And the final race to a Latino rap group’s backstage VIP area in line with a grand escape by a cavewoman to protect her young has fun in the life-or-death stakes of the past with the sillier, but emotionally life-or-death stakes of the present.
And that's the central observation of “Clan of the Cave Mom”. How we fight and survive has changed, but what we fight for hasn’t necessarily. The skirmishes are social, rather than physical, but the way the same fight or flight and protective parental instincts take over remains a part of who we are. The episode spells it out a little too much for my tastes, but that's probably a necessary concession.
I also appreciate the cleverness of the ending. The third act gets a little wild, arguably even Scully-esque, with its chase through the concert. But the observation that through the rough and tumble caper, Marge has been reduced to her primal self on both the inside and outside, is a canny way to convey where the noble urge to protect her son from bullying and exclusion has led her when it’s gone unchecked. Marge making up with Luann, in line with Prehistoric Marge finding common ground with her beastly pursuer after her husband dies, is also a clever twist on the premise of Primal that shows the writers got the show beyond the visuals.
I always appreciate Simpsons episodes that depart from the norm in some way. I appreciate even more when they use that break in the format to try to say something, whether about the characters or life or the world we live in. “Clan of the Cave Mom” does both, with a nice story about Marge’s care for her kids and the desire to protect them that runs historically deep. The fact that the episode borrows from one of the current era’s greatest and most piercing shows is the icing on the cake.