"It was all a dream." Is there anything cheaper in storytelling? This episode tries to avoid the cliche by piling fake-out after fake-out as to whose dream it was, but that just made the narrative all the weaker from the first reveal, leaving the audience wondering whether to believe anything we were seeing and taking away any emotional punch the proceedings would have.
This was pretty dire, especially for a season premiere. There's a reason the diehards make fun of the show doing constant Marge and Homer marital problems episodes. The Simpsons have all but tapped that well dry, scooped out the leftover droplets, licked the dirt at the bottom. That said, there was an interesting angle here -- Homer's loneliness and genuine struggle at being alone and apart from his family. Sure, the show's done the same thing in "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" and "Three Gays and a Condo", but there was, briefly, a different and worthy tone in this episode. However, that quickly fell by the wayside in a sea of lame dream fake outs and even lamer humor.
Perhaps I would have appreciated the episode more if I watched 'Girls', since this episode featured most of that show's cast and seemed to be parodying it a bit. Lena Dunham had some trouble with voice acting, but maybe it's just her show's style and it didn't mesh well with that of The Simpsons. Regardless, aside from the stretch exploring Homer's loneliness and a brief but touching (and imaginary) scene between him and Lisa, this episode was a jumble of ideas that never really solidified; they weren't executed well, or even competently, and the scattered, infrequent laughs weren't enough to make up for it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-10-04T23:46:37Z
"It was all a dream." Is there anything cheaper in storytelling? This episode tries to avoid the cliche by piling fake-out after fake-out as to whose dream it was, but that just made the narrative all the weaker from the first reveal, leaving the audience wondering whether to believe anything we were seeing and taking away any emotional punch the proceedings would have.
This was pretty dire, especially for a season premiere. There's a reason the diehards make fun of the show doing constant Marge and Homer marital problems episodes. The Simpsons have all but tapped that well dry, scooped out the leftover droplets, licked the dirt at the bottom. That said, there was an interesting angle here -- Homer's loneliness and genuine struggle at being alone and apart from his family. Sure, the show's done the same thing in "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" and "Three Gays and a Condo", but there was, briefly, a different and worthy tone in this episode. However, that quickly fell by the wayside in a sea of lame dream fake outs and even lamer humor.
Perhaps I would have appreciated the episode more if I watched 'Girls', since this episode featured most of that show's cast and seemed to be parodying it a bit. Lena Dunham had some trouble with voice acting, but maybe it's just her show's style and it didn't mesh well with that of The Simpsons. Regardless, aside from the stretch exploring Homer's loneliness and a brief but touching (and imaginary) scene between him and Lisa, this episode was a jumble of ideas that never really solidified; they weren't executed well, or even competently, and the scattered, infrequent laughs weren't enough to make up for it.