33x02 Bart's in Jail

[5.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] As my friend and fellow Simpsons critic, Robbie Dorman, likes to say, what was this episode about? Is it about Grampa feeling guilt over getting scammed? Is it about Homer’s anger at his dad inadvertently giving away his inheritance? Is it about Marge’s faith in the goodness of people?

At a broad level, “Bart’s in Jail” is clearly about scams and, to some extent, about whether it’s grifting turtles all the way down. But the dramatization of these ideas is so scattershot and schizophrenic, that it’s hard to say the episode’s about anything at all.

Worse yet, none of these modes is especially funny or entertaining. The scams addressed in the episode don’t feel out of date or anything. But the show has nothing new or clever to say about them. Grampa gets swindled by an obvious huckster...okay? You could make that funny, but this episode only has the most generic, overfamiliar observations on the situation.

Nevermind Homer in the middle act. The show’s mostly mellowed Homer over the last decade or so. We’re largely past the sort of reflexively cruel and unlikable Homer that reined durign the show’s teen years. But this is some pure Jerkass Homer redux, with the guy being a total unrelenting ass to his dad with zero laughs in it. If that weren't enough, we get an extended riff on him falling for a knife-selling pyramid scheme that’s been done better and funnier by shows as varied as King of the Hill and It’s Always Sunny.

Only in the final act does the episode stumble on something decent. I like the little morality play of Marge seeing the good in everyone and having a phone center devoted to swindling shake her faith in the kindness of her fellow man. There’s something at stake there, related to Marge’s optimistic character, and the prospect of maintaining her trust in the world adds a meaningful dimension to all this nonsense. I even like Grampa “scamming” her into believing that the random gas station panhandler she helped paid her back to help restore that faith.

But it comes with too little too late. We get a pointless extended visit from the mythical (not superheroic) Loki to drive home the bad take on humanity. And the whole arc takes up just a couple of scenes, minimizing its impact. They really should have just cut out the Homer stuff (no pun intended) and made Marge’s dilemma the whole episode, with Grampa as her poster boy. Instead, this one falls apart almost from the jump, until it closes with a promising idea that should have been the focus.

I normally worship at the altar of Matt Selman when it comes to latter-day Simpsons episodes. But this is a real misfire, one that lacks the laughs or insights that normally characterize the episodes he show-runs.