8.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale. I barely remembered this one, but it was surprisingly excellent. The friendship between Homer and Wiggum, where they bond over things like girth and their mutual ten-year-old mentalities, was downright adorable. And the show managed to some inject some mild emotional heft to it, establishing in Wiggum's conversation with his wife that the Police Chief is lonely, and explaining why it's hard for him to make friends as a cop, in a way that helps communicate why this friendship means so much to him.
The inevitably drama of the episode where Wiggum takes a bullet for Homer was a bit much for me. Its not a bad move necessarily, if a bit overdramatic, and Homer's devotion in the aftermath is admirable. But when it devolves into a "neediness" referendum it loses some steam and charm. The "two middle aged men are "courting" one another as friends like a pair of high schoolers is funny when it's just about them having playdates, but it gets strained when it starts feeling like a quarrel between jilted lovers. The mafia encounter that sets everything right is minorly contrived (though it calls back to the original incident) but it works well enough to tie everything together.
The B-story, with Marge mistaking Bart's interest in a Digimon/Card Captors pastiche for drug dealing feel like a wacky sitcom subplot, but it's good for a few easy laughs and amusing if unnatural wordplay, which I can accept. The finish -- that Bart loses all interest after Marge thinks the game is cool -- is oddly enough, the same one from the South Park Chinpokomon episode.
On the whole, while it goes off the rails a bit in the third act, the Homer-Wiggum friendship is surprisingly cute and compelling, and carries the episode. The B-story isn't groundbreaking or hilarious, but it works as a light break from the main story. Good stuff from a late season episode.
Shout by KevibVIP 3BlockedParent2023-12-27T10:12:33Z
Nice episode, fun to see more Wiggum.