8.5/10. One the last truly great episode of the classic era. From the opening soccer parody, to the hilarious commentary on firearms' place in American culture, to the jabs at sleazy motels, "The Cartridge Family" brings both the laughs and the biting satire that the show is known for. I'm especially fond of sequences like the one at the table with Homer trying to put the safety on and finding increasingly (and hilariously) implausible ways to up the ante in messing with Marge's picture.
While the perspective of the folks behind the episode is quite clear, they do a good job of establishing that as wacky as certain gun owners can be, the problem isn't people with guns -- it's people like Homer with guns. To that end, the scene with the NRA members who are as shocked at his behavior as Marge was is a key. But beyond the political side of the episode, there's a solid emotional throughline as well, of Homer realizing that without a family and the woman he loves to protect, a gun is pretty useless to him, even if, as he acknowledges, he can't let it go.
All of this adds up to a hilarious episode with solid insights about gun culture in the USA and enough character-based and emotional storytelling to tie it all together.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-04-01T22:36:27Z
8.5/10. One the last truly great episode of the classic era. From the opening soccer parody, to the hilarious commentary on firearms' place in American culture, to the jabs at sleazy motels, "The Cartridge Family" brings both the laughs and the biting satire that the show is known for. I'm especially fond of sequences like the one at the table with Homer trying to put the safety on and finding increasingly (and hilariously) implausible ways to up the ante in messing with Marge's picture.
While the perspective of the folks behind the episode is quite clear, they do a good job of establishing that as wacky as certain gun owners can be, the problem isn't people with guns -- it's people like Homer with guns. To that end, the scene with the NRA members who are as shocked at his behavior as Marge was is a key. But beyond the political side of the episode, there's a solid emotional throughline as well, of Homer realizing that without a family and the woman he loves to protect, a gun is pretty useless to him, even if, as he acknowledges, he can't let it go.
All of this adds up to a hilarious episode with solid insights about gun culture in the USA and enough character-based and emotional storytelling to tie it all together.