[7.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] One of the last episodes of the Scully era, and it’s a pretty good one. There’s some of the easy jokes and Jerkass Homer qualities you’d expect from an episode during his run, but there’s also an interesting mystery, some good gags, and even some well structured storytelling.
To the point, Homer’s prank on Marge with the Burly paper towel guy is pretty mean, but my negative reaction to it was magnified when I thought it was one of the standard “use it in the first act, then forget about it” bit. Instead, Marge uses Burly to soak up the lake -- which, granted, is a little too cartoony -- but it’s still one of those little details that makes it seem like the opening act wasn’t pointless.
Heck, on rewatch, I noticed that Smithers mentions his dead father in response to the hypnotist’s joke at his expense, a nice bit of foreshadowing. It’s not the best-constructed mystery in the world, and relying on the Stand By Me flashback to get there has its issues, but it’s a solid one, and fairly tight story, which is more than you can say for a lot of episodes from this era.
The same goes for the humor. Carl joking about “logging on to his internet,” or Mr. Burns referring to “nuclear bric-a-brac,” or sad sack Moe with his hangdog expression and “clues” are all chuckle-worthy. There’s some of the typical lame post-classic gags too (“That’s good yaqui” being a particularly bad contender) but on the whole, the laughs are here.
Overall, this isn’t the high point of the show or anything, but it’s a solidly built episode with some good humor and a nice whodunnit to carry the momentum, even if how the show gets to that point is a little off.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-09-23T23:17:52Z
[7.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] One of the last episodes of the Scully era, and it’s a pretty good one. There’s some of the easy jokes and Jerkass Homer qualities you’d expect from an episode during his run, but there’s also an interesting mystery, some good gags, and even some well structured storytelling.
To the point, Homer’s prank on Marge with the Burly paper towel guy is pretty mean, but my negative reaction to it was magnified when I thought it was one of the standard “use it in the first act, then forget about it” bit. Instead, Marge uses Burly to soak up the lake -- which, granted, is a little too cartoony -- but it’s still one of those little details that makes it seem like the opening act wasn’t pointless.
Heck, on rewatch, I noticed that Smithers mentions his dead father in response to the hypnotist’s joke at his expense, a nice bit of foreshadowing. It’s not the best-constructed mystery in the world, and relying on the Stand By Me flashback to get there has its issues, but it’s a solid one, and fairly tight story, which is more than you can say for a lot of episodes from this era.
The same goes for the humor. Carl joking about “logging on to his internet,” or Mr. Burns referring to “nuclear bric-a-brac,” or sad sack Moe with his hangdog expression and “clues” are all chuckle-worthy. There’s some of the typical lame post-classic gags too (“That’s good yaqui” being a particularly bad contender) but on the whole, the laughs are here.
Overall, this isn’t the high point of the show or anything, but it’s a solidly built episode with some good humor and a nice whodunnit to carry the momentum, even if how the show gets to that point is a little off.