[4.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] The meat of this one is just not good. The A-story features Bart enamored with another fourth grader named Nikki, and lighting a firestorm of controversey when he kisses her, thereby violating the school’s new, Arrested Development-esque “no touching” policy. There’s the opportunity for some classic Simpsons social satire here, but instead, the show is both on the nose and not especially funny at signaling how ridiculous it thinks those policies are, and worse yet, casts Nikki as the stereotypical vacillating girl, who can’t decide whether she loves or hates Bart’s affections. I’m sympathetic to the point the show’s trying to draw out here, but it makes it a tone-deaf and not terribly amusing way.
Lisa’s B-story is pretty bad and ham-fisted as well. She gets a brief spate of coolness when it appears she’s received an F, but then gets ostracized again when her classmates realize it was just a mixup. Lisa feeling like an outcast because of her brain is well-trod but still fertile territory for the show, but the problem is that rather than really engaging with that, the B-story just has Michelle Obama show up, replete with a fawning portrayal, and deliver a didactic message about how it’s cool to be an overachiever. It has next to none of the satirizing of public figures that the show is known for, and it excises any real storytelling in favor of on-the-nose declarations.
But there are two good parts of the episode. The first are the interactions between Nelson and Kevin, a blind fourth grader he meets. The way Nelson takes to Kevin and then gets pranked by him is adorable and very funny. There’s also some great visual work in the episode, from the cool sequence of Bart and Nikki skateboarding, to the art film Itchy & Scratchy parody, to the montage of great kisses in pop culture history. Even when the show stinks at putting together a story or subtly conveying a humorous point, the animators know what they’re doing.
Overall, this one’s not very good in the main, but has some redeeming qualities at the margins.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-06-07T18:54:50Z
[4.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] The meat of this one is just not good. The A-story features Bart enamored with another fourth grader named Nikki, and lighting a firestorm of controversey when he kisses her, thereby violating the school’s new, Arrested Development-esque “no touching” policy. There’s the opportunity for some classic Simpsons social satire here, but instead, the show is both on the nose and not especially funny at signaling how ridiculous it thinks those policies are, and worse yet, casts Nikki as the stereotypical vacillating girl, who can’t decide whether she loves or hates Bart’s affections. I’m sympathetic to the point the show’s trying to draw out here, but it makes it a tone-deaf and not terribly amusing way.
Lisa’s B-story is pretty bad and ham-fisted as well. She gets a brief spate of coolness when it appears she’s received an F, but then gets ostracized again when her classmates realize it was just a mixup. Lisa feeling like an outcast because of her brain is well-trod but still fertile territory for the show, but the problem is that rather than really engaging with that, the B-story just has Michelle Obama show up, replete with a fawning portrayal, and deliver a didactic message about how it’s cool to be an overachiever. It has next to none of the satirizing of public figures that the show is known for, and it excises any real storytelling in favor of on-the-nose declarations.
But there are two good parts of the episode. The first are the interactions between Nelson and Kevin, a blind fourth grader he meets. The way Nelson takes to Kevin and then gets pranked by him is adorable and very funny. There’s also some great visual work in the episode, from the cool sequence of Bart and Nikki skateboarding, to the art film Itchy & Scratchy parody, to the montage of great kisses in pop culture history. Even when the show stinks at putting together a story or subtly conveying a humorous point, the animators know what they’re doing.
Overall, this one’s not very good in the main, but has some redeeming qualities at the margins.