[5.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This is one of those episodes that's doubly frustrating because the bones of a decent episode are there. Ned accidentally sidling up to the mob? There’s a lot of comic potential in the “nice meets vice” setup. An emotional undercurrent of Ned feeling lonely and needing camaraderie after the loss of his wives? That could be strong material! And there’s even a couple good jokes here! I especially got a kick out of the cutaway gag of Ned describing his sons as purveyors of mischief and mayhem, only for us to see them sitting quietly and blankly as always. Plus the bit of Ned trying to put out the fire on his car with his flame-packed fire extinguisher is an absurd laugh to be sure.
In short, you could do a lot with the foundation of this episode. And instead they do next to nothing!
The mob entanglement doesn’t amount to much because they play everything far too cartoony and exaggerated. Ned seems like a complete idiot for not catching on sooner, and the jokes about how close they come to spilling the beans are awful. The twist about Ned turning state’s evidence comes out of nowhere, and the idea of him wearing a wire under his mustache is too silly to take even remotely seriously, even if they set it up earlier in the episode.
More to the point, I just don’t buy the relationship between Ned and Fat Tony. Some of the plot stuff should be forgivable because we care about the solace Ned finds in this new friendship and sense of belonging. But there’s no human core to it, so the sense of betrayal on either side of the equation doesn’t really matter.
Worse yet, 80% of the jokes here are just plain terrible. Oh my god, the extended bit about how stupid Homer is was just endless and painfully unfunny. Again, some of the other failings here might be worth excusing if you were laughing the whole time, but this episode is a comedy graveyard.
As someone who’s enjoyed many of the iconic mob movies and shows, I did enjoy the little homages. (It’s nice to see Satriale’s from The Sopranos in the Simpsons universe.) That said, Harry Shearer sounded off in his vocal tone for Ned the whole episode, which was distracting. Lastly, it’s never a good sign when the extended couch gag is the best part of the episode, but the stop-motion tale of Homer getting trapped in the world of the couch, done by the Robot Chicken crew, was a cute little interlude.
Overall, this is a low light of the season to date, and one that disappoints all the more for the good ingredients it had to work with.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-04-04T16:20:14Z
[5.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This is one of those episodes that's doubly frustrating because the bones of a decent episode are there. Ned accidentally sidling up to the mob? There’s a lot of comic potential in the “nice meets vice” setup. An emotional undercurrent of Ned feeling lonely and needing camaraderie after the loss of his wives? That could be strong material! And there’s even a couple good jokes here! I especially got a kick out of the cutaway gag of Ned describing his sons as purveyors of mischief and mayhem, only for us to see them sitting quietly and blankly as always. Plus the bit of Ned trying to put out the fire on his car with his flame-packed fire extinguisher is an absurd laugh to be sure.
In short, you could do a lot with the foundation of this episode. And instead they do next to nothing!
The mob entanglement doesn’t amount to much because they play everything far too cartoony and exaggerated. Ned seems like a complete idiot for not catching on sooner, and the jokes about how close they come to spilling the beans are awful. The twist about Ned turning state’s evidence comes out of nowhere, and the idea of him wearing a wire under his mustache is too silly to take even remotely seriously, even if they set it up earlier in the episode.
More to the point, I just don’t buy the relationship between Ned and Fat Tony. Some of the plot stuff should be forgivable because we care about the solace Ned finds in this new friendship and sense of belonging. But there’s no human core to it, so the sense of betrayal on either side of the equation doesn’t really matter.
Worse yet, 80% of the jokes here are just plain terrible. Oh my god, the extended bit about how stupid Homer is was just endless and painfully unfunny. Again, some of the other failings here might be worth excusing if you were laughing the whole time, but this episode is a comedy graveyard.
As someone who’s enjoyed many of the iconic mob movies and shows, I did enjoy the little homages. (It’s nice to see Satriale’s from The Sopranos in the Simpsons universe.) That said, Harry Shearer sounded off in his vocal tone for Ned the whole episode, which was distracting. Lastly, it’s never a good sign when the extended couch gag is the best part of the episode, but the stop-motion tale of Homer getting trapped in the world of the couch, done by the Robot Chicken crew, was a cute little interlude.
Overall, this is a low light of the season to date, and one that disappoints all the more for the good ingredients it had to work with.