[7.0/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This is a weird one. The Simpsons has only done a pair of other two-part episodes in its history: “Who Shot Mr. Burns” and its Great Gatsby/Empire-inspired Frankenstein of an episode a few years ago. So the fact that the show thought it had a story that needed to be told across a full hour is at least something to get your attention.
But what’s odd is that, without knowing writer/guest star Pete Holmes’s work, this already feels like an odd mix of sensibilities. THere’s a lot of interesting ideas at play here, from Bodie’s new era take on religion, to the town preferring his gentle acceptance to Lovejoy’s stern judgment, to Lisa bonding with her reverend in a way we’ve never seen before, to Springfield enjoying a bit of religious revivalism.
The problem is that half of the episode feels like something specific to Holmes, or at least different than the tone of latter-day Simpsons. Bodie’s impromptu sermon about doubt and love is sharp and even moving in its way, and his interactions with Homer, Marge, Lisa, and others are low key, shaggy, and sweet in a way that’s rare in the show’s double-digit seasons. The time we spend just getting to see Bodie interact with Springfield’s residents is different and pleasantly so, in a welcome change of pace.
But you can feel the episode squeezing Holmes’s sensibilities into its formula and style of humor, and it’s an awkward fit. It’s painfully apparent in places where the show’s “oh crap, it’s been 45 seconds, we need to shoehorn in a joke” approach interferes with the rhythm of a scene or even the episode’s pacing as a whole. There’s some good setups and payoffs (I like Homer and Marge’s marriage counseling and even the stained glass saints returning), but there’s also a lot of cheesy interjections from random characters or humor that feels like unnecessary stuffing.
At the same time, I get that the episode needs a quasi-rivalry between Bodie and Lovejoy to have anything at stake, but Lovejoy’s reasons for disliking Bodie seem ill-established. Lovejoy hasn’t been an interesting character since, god, season 8 maybe? So making him a focus here doesn't do much to make the episode more enjoyable or interesting, especially in the presence of Holmes as Bodie. Some of that works with the episode’s purposes, given that Bodie’s supposed to be the likable newcomer and Loveoy’s supposed to be the stodgy old bore, but a lot of the time it plays like a manufactured conflict.
Otherwise, this one’s hard to judge being only one half of a two-part story. The little snippets we saw of next week’s episode weren’t especially promising, but I did appreciate the art shift of Lisa’s meditation, and there’s a lot of potential in the story. Hopefully The Simpsons gets out of its own way (and the way of its guest contributor) and realizes that potential rather than getting stuck in old formulas.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-04-27T22:44:01Z
[7.0/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This is a weird one. The Simpsons has only done a pair of other two-part episodes in its history: “Who Shot Mr. Burns” and its Great Gatsby/Empire-inspired Frankenstein of an episode a few years ago. So the fact that the show thought it had a story that needed to be told across a full hour is at least something to get your attention.
But what’s odd is that, without knowing writer/guest star Pete Holmes’s work, this already feels like an odd mix of sensibilities. THere’s a lot of interesting ideas at play here, from Bodie’s new era take on religion, to the town preferring his gentle acceptance to Lovejoy’s stern judgment, to Lisa bonding with her reverend in a way we’ve never seen before, to Springfield enjoying a bit of religious revivalism.
The problem is that half of the episode feels like something specific to Holmes, or at least different than the tone of latter-day Simpsons. Bodie’s impromptu sermon about doubt and love is sharp and even moving in its way, and his interactions with Homer, Marge, Lisa, and others are low key, shaggy, and sweet in a way that’s rare in the show’s double-digit seasons. The time we spend just getting to see Bodie interact with Springfield’s residents is different and pleasantly so, in a welcome change of pace.
But you can feel the episode squeezing Holmes’s sensibilities into its formula and style of humor, and it’s an awkward fit. It’s painfully apparent in places where the show’s “oh crap, it’s been 45 seconds, we need to shoehorn in a joke” approach interferes with the rhythm of a scene or even the episode’s pacing as a whole. There’s some good setups and payoffs (I like Homer and Marge’s marriage counseling and even the stained glass saints returning), but there’s also a lot of cheesy interjections from random characters or humor that feels like unnecessary stuffing.
At the same time, I get that the episode needs a quasi-rivalry between Bodie and Lovejoy to have anything at stake, but Lovejoy’s reasons for disliking Bodie seem ill-established. Lovejoy hasn’t been an interesting character since, god, season 8 maybe? So making him a focus here doesn't do much to make the episode more enjoyable or interesting, especially in the presence of Holmes as Bodie. Some of that works with the episode’s purposes, given that Bodie’s supposed to be the likable newcomer and Loveoy’s supposed to be the stodgy old bore, but a lot of the time it plays like a manufactured conflict.
Otherwise, this one’s hard to judge being only one half of a two-part story. The little snippets we saw of next week’s episode weren’t especially promising, but I did appreciate the art shift of Lisa’s meditation, and there’s a lot of potential in the story. Hopefully The Simpsons gets out of its own way (and the way of its guest contributor) and realizes that potential rather than getting stuck in old formulas.