[6.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This one isn’t bad. I think I just had higher expectations for an episode showrun by Matt Sellman and written by Futurama co-creator David X. Cohen.
There’s a solid throughline here about the effect that irresponsible True Crime podcasts can have on the public’s perception on individuals and situations, as well as the discomfort of capitalizing financially on grisly events and turning people’s pain into readily-consumable stories without their consent. But the episode, not unreasonably, is pretty glancing in most of these points, more content to poke fun at NPR’s devotion to vocal fry and how hooked people get on their favorite podcast du jour. There’s a decent thesis here, but it gets lost in a sea of mild observational gags.
The situation with Grampa is also far from the best mystery the show’s ever come up with. It’s convoluted and the clues barely make any sense. When the whole thing turns on your suspect having amnesia, even a forgetful old man, it makes it hard for the solution to be satisfying, and the GPS tracker pill feels very deus ex machina, despite the colonoscopy setup earlier in the episode.
There’s still some fun stuff here. Yeardley Smith’s cameo as herself where she disclaims the familiarity of her voice is a little too cute by half, but still pleasant. The family trying to defend Grampa is a good look. It’s also nice to see Kent Brockman be a main character in an episode for the first time in forever. But the episode just feels too scattershot, both as a spoof of True Crime podcasts and as mystery.
Shout by WinchesterBlockedParent2020-11-18T00:57:02Z
So weird she had Lisa's voice the bleach woman xD