[8.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This episode is very funny, which is no small achievement in a season 13 episode. The story isn’t any great shakes, with a vaguely 90’s sitcom view of infidelity and gender relations, and the usual first act tangent. But it makes you (or at least me) laugh, and ambles through its plot nicely enough, to make for one of the better post-classic gagfests.
I’m tempted to attribute that to venerable Simpsons scribe John Swartzwelder, who’s one of the show’s longest-tenured and most gag-focused writers. There’s the sense of his random wit, from homer’s hanglider supervillain daydream, to the extended “Homer backing up” gag, to the three car pileup of a civil war reenactment in the opening act. Some of these bits are disconnected, and not really a product of the story or characters, but they get the yuks, damnit!
But even the more organic gags soar in this one. The absurdity of Homer and Marge’s ill-conceived attempt to reunite Homer and Manjula over dinner spins out in appropriately comic fashion. The set of double-entendres when the Simpsons and Nahasapeemapetilons are playing badminton absolutely cracked me up. And even the dynamic between Homer and Apu recalls the great comic rapport between the two characters in, well, “Homer and Apu.”
Let’s be frank, this episode doesn't have the heart or stronger story sense of those classic episodes. But it does well enough on those fronts with an Apu-focused throughline with a beginning, middle, and end, a conflict that it takes some work to overcome, and which cares about the characters’ emotional states. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s there and solid. That means that there’s a foundation for all of Swarzwelder’s delightfully absurd gags to flourish.
Overall, this is one that I’m in for the chuckles more than the story, but the humor feels close enough to the show’s classic years to make me forgive pretty much any other points where it doesn't quite measure up.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2019-04-04T14:29:44Z
[8.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This episode is very funny, which is no small achievement in a season 13 episode. The story isn’t any great shakes, with a vaguely 90’s sitcom view of infidelity and gender relations, and the usual first act tangent. But it makes you (or at least me) laugh, and ambles through its plot nicely enough, to make for one of the better post-classic gagfests.
I’m tempted to attribute that to venerable Simpsons scribe John Swartzwelder, who’s one of the show’s longest-tenured and most gag-focused writers. There’s the sense of his random wit, from homer’s hanglider supervillain daydream, to the extended “Homer backing up” gag, to the three car pileup of a civil war reenactment in the opening act. Some of these bits are disconnected, and not really a product of the story or characters, but they get the yuks, damnit!
But even the more organic gags soar in this one. The absurdity of Homer and Marge’s ill-conceived attempt to reunite Homer and Manjula over dinner spins out in appropriately comic fashion. The set of double-entendres when the Simpsons and Nahasapeemapetilons are playing badminton absolutely cracked me up. And even the dynamic between Homer and Apu recalls the great comic rapport between the two characters in, well, “Homer and Apu.”
Let’s be frank, this episode doesn't have the heart or stronger story sense of those classic episodes. But it does well enough on those fronts with an Apu-focused throughline with a beginning, middle, and end, a conflict that it takes some work to overcome, and which cares about the characters’ emotional states. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s there and solid. That means that there’s a foundation for all of Swarzwelder’s delightfully absurd gags to flourish.
Overall, this is one that I’m in for the chuckles more than the story, but the humor feels close enough to the show’s classic years to make me forgive pretty much any other points where it doesn't quite measure up.