Original airdate: February 27, 2022
The premise: Homer and Marge end up driving off a mountain road on their way to a secluded wellness retreat, leaving them abandoned in the woods and needing to figure out a way to survive.
The reaction: Homer and Marge’s relationship has always been an interesting one, since as opposite as they may seem, there must be something between the two that keeps them together and loving each other. Despite her normally acting above it all, we’ve seen Marge be quite charmed by some of her husband’s more boorish qualities, and those little touches really make their union seem all the sweeter. This episode opens with a similar sight, with the two completely comfortable with eating snacks while watching TV on a massive pile of blankets. While this sounds like paradise to me, Lisa is disturbed by this image, conflicting with her childlike view of marriage as a never-ending romance movie, urging the two to take a week trip to “The Saffron Togetherness Center,” a phones-free relaxation retreat. All of this set-up feels promising enough, as I like to see Homer and Marge function as a loving team, grumbling about how the keto-diet and yoga-happy retreat schedule is of no interest to either of them. Then they crash their car and end up stranded, with their wet clothes accidentally burned up, leaving them buck naked, apart from some helpful digital pixelation (hence the title. Originally I thought this was going to be a video games episode based on just the title). Homer and Marge eventually forge a “love nest” out of the remnants of an abandoned honeymoon villa, and even manage to catch a fish for food. The problem to me is that we don’t really get much of a progression of Homer and Marge’s characters through this story. If anything, it would have been better to start with them having some kind of petty argument, and them slowly softening to each other as the episode progressed and their love rekindling in such a dire situation. Or, they could be learning new things about each other in this brand new environment divorced from their suburban rut, realizing there’s still more to discover in each other even after 10-plus years of marriage. Instead, we see how they love each other in the beginning in their comfort with each other in mundanity (just not visible to Lisa’s childlike eyes), and we end with them loving each other in a time of crisis. Homer ends up bashing in the skull of a feral wolverine about to attack Marge (which felt very uncomfortably real), sparking up their romantic flames once more. The two eventually follow snowmobile tracks back to a ranger station, enjoying a beautiful serene walk back to civilization, ending in one last cry of embrace between the two of them, and a final view of the sunset while eating chips, mirroring their similar activity at the start of the episode. This is a Matt Selman show so there’s your required dose of schmaltz, which doesn’t feel as egregiously manipulative as other episodes, but it doesn’t really feel potent to me since nothing really happened in to make it feel really earned. Like I said, we saw how close and in love the two of them were at the start of the episode, and by the end, they just realized how much they really love each other? I guess? The episode just felt very inert, and pretty laugh-less throughout. It once again brought up my “What even is this show now” question when it came to the last five minutes between the grisly manner of Homer killing that animal and their blissful walk back to the real world. I felt like the episode really needed to build up to that ending to really make it hit home, but it just didn’t to me. It reminded me a bit of the Futurama series finale “Meanwhile” (well, former series finale), where it ends with time frozen and Fry and Leela spend their lives walking across the entire planet, but that ending felt like a satisfying pay-off to the build-up of the episode, along with actually funny moments leading up to it. Like, okay, Homer and Marge love each other. We’ve seen them together for 33 years now. I’m totally onboard for an episode about them rediscovering that, but you’re going to have to give me more than the old “lost-in-the-woods” trope. It just felt very predictable and old hat.
Three One semi-unrelated item of note:
– I don’t really have any other tidbits to say about this episode, given how focused it was in its one premise with just Homer and Marge, but being reminded about Futurama made me think I should briefly cover the Hulu revival. I can’t tell you how weird it was to read the “Hulu Reboots Futurama” headline in my Twitter feed and my reaction was to feel absolutely nothing. I flashed back to when fifteen years prior when I heard that Futurama was coming back for new direct-to-DVD movies, and myself, a teenager who was enraged at FOX for “mistreating” and canceling the show, was absolutely beside myself with excitement. But then the show came back again, and again, and then finally ended. I actually just so happened to finish rewatching the show a few months back. The Comedy Central era was definitely spotty in places, with its share of mediocre-to-bad episodes, but there was also a lot of good in it, and I’d say at least a dozen shows were on par with some of the best seen in its FOX run. Futurama had four series finales over its lifetime, and for the seemingly unkillable run that it had, I’d say it finally “ended” on a solid note and I was perfectly fine with it finally coming to an close. But now, in this era of studios reviving every corpse with a fan base to get new subscribers to their streaming services, Futurama is the latest in an endless line of revivals, coming back with new episodes after a decade in 2023 (yes, 2013 was that long ago, let that sink in.) Could these new Hulu Futurama episodes be good? Quite possibly. But do I want them? No. Yes, the types of futuristic sci-fi-based premises they could do are seemingly endless, but I feel like you can only do so much with these characters, and they were already starting to feel played out in the Comedy Central run. Sometimes things can just end. It’s okay. There’s plenty of other things to watch, even, dare I say, new shows by the same creators of the stuff you love. I didn’t care for the first season of Disenchantment, and never went back to watch further, but that felt like the true successor to Futurama, with a lot of the same cast and crew working on it. I respect the artistic integrity and merit of that far more than a Futurama reboot. Things seem even more dire with the news that John DiMaggio, as of now, is not returning to voice Bender, as he was unable to reach a contract agreement with Disney/Hulu. I was pretty blown away to see more than a few people online bitch about DiMaggio for being greedy or insulting his fellow cast members by asking for more money, in defense of Disney, the all powerful media monopoly. Voice actors are famously underpaid, and John DiMaggio has always been a champion for the art form, so I don’t blame him for wanting to get a higher salary, given this is now the fourth revival of this very popular show, doing the voice of debatably its most famous character. The entire cast had a similar contentious negotiation at the start of the Comedy Central run, with all of them being threatened with being replaced, so there’s clear precedent of studios trying to fuck over talent with this series alone. The first table read for the reboot was a couple weeks ago, and apparently someone is subbing in for Bender for now, so who knows if Disney and DiMaggio will actually reach an agreement by the time they actually start recording. But it really feels like an absolute bonehead move by Disney. I have to imagine a large majority of fans would disown a season of Futurama with someone else voicing Bender, but will they watch it anyway, and is that all that matters to Disney? I feel like eventually Disney will buckle and give DiMaggio what ultimately must be a meager pay bump, but there is definitely a chance that they’ll stick to their guns and we’ll get a weird-sounding Bender in the new episodes, in which case, I will watch the first episode out of morbid curiosity and then turn it off.
EDIT: Well, not even 24 hours later, DiMaggio is back, so never mind about all that! Even if Hulu Futurama sucks, at least Bender will still sound like Bender.
Me Blog Write Good 
Okay, let me get this straight, this whole chaos that they went through… Was because of Lisa not leaving them to be happy?…. How low she can go? She never wants anyone to be happy or in peace until this manipulate monster tell you : “No! You should meet MY expectations!” She is literally a super villain now.
Also, I’m actually mixed with Futurama. The “meanwhile” episode gave the greatest ending for both Leela and Fry, happily married and lived long enough before the professor telling to turn back to normal. Was it really necessary to have a revival?
I love futurama despite how many ups and downs it had, but it was way more consistent and still giving the same emotional punch than modern simpson. But why bring them back?
Is it hard to just leave a show to have an end? Hell, even the Fairy Oddparents are coming back despite no one liking the show anymore. Let shows to have an end, dont bring the corpse back and forcing him to dance.
DAY 12
Feeling sad that the Season 33 hiatus is over now
Well, I finally hit that star barrel and now it’s off to the second half of Disney’s Zombie Simpsons. At least this one isn’t terrible but it still feels very plain and colorless. It’s at least nice to see Homer and Marge genuinely loving each other for once even if it was schmaltzy. When I typically think of Homer and Marge’s relationship in Zombie Simpsons I think of either Marge being a Stepford wife to Jerkass Homer’s jerkass antics, Homer being a pushover to Jerkass Marge being a jerk to her husband or kids for no reason, or them getting into unpleasant fights because they realize what terrible people they are. It’s at least nice to see them actually care about each other for once but then I realize that now they’re going the complete opposite direction like this is some mushy romantic comedy. Oh, and 8-year old Lisa Simpson worrying about how uncharacteristic feels disturbing to me and gives me “Jaws Wired Shut” vibes, which is not a good thing because fuck that episode and I just realized it’s now twenty years old. At least it didn’t feel empty like this one did. Ah well, it’s at least near the top of the Season 33 food chain but sadly it ain’t no “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire”.
Although I could see what they were going for, the only portion of the episode that I thought was even remotely decent was the last two minutes or so where it was largely dialogue free and just letting you take in the visuals. Otherwise, the episode is quite the boring slog to get through feeling like 15 minutes have passed by the time Homer & Marge end up in the woods and the show really having very high expectations to try and deal with so much of how Marge sounds lately in one single go!
The only real humorous moment I can think of was when Homer taunted the wolverine. Speaking of which, Homer bashing it’s head in (which was indeed needlessly excessive) reminds me that Selman’s episodes tend to be more graphic even if how it was done here is almost non-existent compared to A Serious Flanders.
And since the next episode appears to deal with a cult and is also a Selman one (I think), don’t be the least bit surprised if there’s pointless bloodshed in that one likely in the form of a ritualistic sacrifice…
I think Futurama had reached the point by the end of the Comedy Central era where viewers were ready for it to end, so that it could go out on a relative high. The show was still good, but the quality did start to decline in the last season or two, and were it to continue past that, the decline may continue and make the show reach the level of “straight-up bad”. To put it another way, Futurama ending after the Comedy Central era is like if The Simpsons had ended after Season 8 or 9, where the decline was starting to kick in, but the good name of the show wasn’t tarnished yet.
If John Dimaggio doesn’t return, my headcanon will be that Flexo is impersonating Bender again.
When it comes to reboots, I’m torn at this point. On one hand, I feel like the problem has gotten worse in the last couple years. When I was in high school, shows like Girl Meets World and Fuller House felt like special events. The idea of a show ending, then coming back years later with new episodes or redone in a modern way was still fresh to me. Films have been remade for generations, but in 2015, that wasn’t something that frequently happened with TV, especially not sitcoms. So, I was all for it.
Years later, I’m burnt out and I feel like I’ve seen almost all the reboots and revivals I can handle. Most of the time, people seem to complain about them existing rather than be interested in them. And I understand why, because a lot of them aren’t good. They’re not made out of passion, but out of greed. There was a story that came out about problems with the Who’s the Boss reboot (don’t even know if it’s still happening) and I was thinking to myself, “Why do it?” Katherine Helmond is dead, Judith Light and Danny Pintauro aren’t going to be in it. Why would I watch a reboot when 60% of the main characters won’t be there?
That’s not to say that reboots are inherently bad. They can be great when they work like they’re supposed to. Taking an old show and breathing new life into it can be interesting. Degrassi’s format is tailored for reboots because new characters were always being introduced, so I’m looking forward to seeing it next year. The Boondocks reboot would have been interesting to see because the original series didn’t last long, but it was already at a disadvantage when John Witherspoon died. I haven’t seen the Proud Family reboot yet, but it looks really good, and what I saw from the iCarly reboot surprised me because it was genuinely entertaining.
I’m not going to fault Matt Groening or David X. Cohen for wanting to bring back Futurama.
(To be continued)
I don’t know if a marriage argument would be a great way to start this episode. The episode’s story shows how Marge and Homer survive as a couple, even in new situations and that Lisa was wrong about them needing to be like a couple in the movies because they are perfect just the way they function. Also about the Lisa hating in the comments, she’s like 8. It’s always nice to have her actually act her age. Also let’s be honest here who actually enjoyed Homer and Marge enjoying each other’s company for a whole 20 minutes instead of just bickering with each other like every other marriage crisis episode.
What the hell did I just watch? In fact, what the hell is going on with this show lately? It’s been terrible for years but no matter how bad it got you always could tell they were still trying to be funny. Failing but trying.
But what the fuck is going on this season? “Lisa’s Belly” played its A plot completely straight and presented a story pushing body positivity. “Portrait of a Lackey On Fire” was more concerned about giving its main gay character a relationship to even attempt to be funny. “A Serious Flanders” was a straight drama and was often unnecessarily brutal. And finally, this piece of shit goes its entire half hour without a single real joke and plays it’s final act as straight faced and emotional as possible.
Again, what the fuck is going on? The entire foundation of this series is changing. Entire episodes are going by where it’s clear the writers are intentionally trying to break down the show completely and make it something new. Is this a Disney thing?
I dont know what this show even is anymore. But what’s terrifying is when you go to the Reddit page for The Simpsons and see 99% of the comments are overwhelmingly positive while the 1% is being down voted to hell. There’s an actual audience for this trash that supports it! Mind blowing.
Mike actually seemed to like A Serious Flanders and Lackey on Fire to a degree.
This new direction the show is going is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. Some people love it, but it makes me more bewildered than anything, honestly.
Again, I think Disney is behind this. They want to treat The Simpsons as one of their major flagship IPs. But I’ll bet they don’t feel comfortable with being a part of the Disney family if it tries to remain edgy and somewhat adult. I feel like they want to sand off all the hard edges, try for something more serious or emotional and do their best to turn it into inoffensive swill.
Yet it’s gotten more violent than its ever been, so what the fuck do I know?
I don’t blame them for wanting to try and be experimental to breathe some new live into the series, but almost all of them since about 2019 have just missed the mark completely (this episode included).
Mike Russo, absolutely no offense intended, but this strikes me as an extremely dogmatic response. You make some astute observations about the nature of the series changing, but dismiss those changes in the same breath without offering a sufficient explanation as to *why* they are bad. As you (and I below) have argued, the show has consistently failed to be funny for two decades. So, if the show *must* keep churning out new episodes indefinitely, why stick to a failing formula? What is intrinsically bad about playing things “as straight faced and emotional as possible” except insofar as it’s antithetical to sensibilities of the show’s golden years? What is so fundamentally egregious about wanting to “make it something new”? How do these changes qualify as “trash”? I’m genuinely curious to know your reasoning.
You may find these changes dull or uninteresting, but this is a matter of *taste* and says nothing about whether or not such an approach works on its own terms. Indeed, I fail to see the point in engaging with something on terms which no longer apply. The Simpsons is not what it was and never will be again. Why insist on judging it anachronistically? What’s the point? It’s inherently antagonistic which I find counter-productive. If the show is now a drama with elements of humour, judge it on those terms. I suggest leaving the rest of your baggage (expectations, biases, etc) at the door or at least moderating it with a modicum of objectivity and emotional distance.
The Simpson is supposed to be funny. If it’s not it’s not the fucking Simpsons.
Well, I was hoping for something more insightful and less reductive than that, but fair enough.
This damn show just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
And I just came to the horrifying realization that 2022 marks 25 years since the show started going to shit…. the classic era now takes up less than one quarter of the show’s run. Scary!
1997 was the year that gave us both My Sister, My Sitter and Miracle on Evergreen Terrace (two definitive shit-tier episodes) so… Yeah, happy quarter of a century to the end of when the series was mostly consistently great.
Actually, the former episode you mentioned is actually from season 8 (the last classic/good season), and is sort of an outlier. It’s one of the few season 8 outings that stands out as being particularly rough. Definitely can’t argue with the latter, though.
I consider season 8 to be the last season of True Simpsons (I.E. when the show was actually good), and besides a few gems very early on in season 9 (City of NY and Lisa’s Sax), it’s actually a pretty sudden plummet in quality.
I don’t understand why people keep crapping on My Sister My Sitter. It’s a bit more dark and mean spirited than usual but the jokes make up for it. I’m with you on Miracle On Evergreen Terrace though, I always hated that episode, it’s the first episode I actively disliked as a 90’s kid growing up watching The Simpsons.
This is one reason why I don’t watch syndication anymore. It’s now the equivalent of Russian roulette; the odds you’ll get a good episode you want to watch are growing slimmer and slimmer while the crap episodes just keep ballooning. I mean, thankfully, I got all the episodes I want on DVD (and boy are DVDs getting expensive), but it was one of the few things I liked to do growing up cause my life sucked as a child.
As for the episode… I think we may top “All’s Fair in Oven War” and “On a Clear Day, I Can’t See My Sister” as the worst Lisa has ever been, given that she forces her parents to go to some yuppie retreat where they’re unhappy about it and likely would not have enjoyed the experience had they actually gone there all because they aren’t conforming to her idealistic view of what perfection should be, and this nearly leads to them dying. Considering how dysfunctional and broken the family is, shouldn’t she appreciate it when family members find things they agree in? Nah.
Lisa doesn’t ‘force’ them to go anywhere and she could never have known that they would end up in such a predicament. To say she’s worse in this than ‘On a Clear Day’ (in which she was wilfully cruel and callous) is patently absurd.
DiMaggio needs to start his own Futurama revival. With blackjack. And hookers.
Regarding Futurama: even if DiMaggio comes back I’m positive it won’t be anything like the show it used to be. Too much time has passed. Animation production keeps (d)evolving. Representation, inclusion and diversity necessitates (sometimes major) changes in almost all reboots. This is definitely not going to be a repeat of the last two revivals where it just picks up where it left off.
Disney is digging up a corpse just for streaming fodder. And I hate it.
Why are you citing “representation, inclusion, and diversity” as if it’s a bad thing? I don’t want another Futurama reboot either, but if your first complaint is that this rehash might introduce more diverse characters, then you’re atrocious. Or are you THAT kind of animation fan? The kind of fan who cringes that a person of color voices Bugs Bunny now?
Don’t start that nonsense with me. Dont you dare. Representation is not a bad thing at all. But people need to be prepared for the fact that Futurama may very well come back as a somewhat different show than they were used to because of that.
Again, don’t you fucking judge like that when you don’t even know me.
I don’t know you, but I know men like you. The curmudgeons in the animation community who miss the days when cartoons used to be straighter, whiter, and manlier, and lash out at others when they’re challenged. I’m sorry for you.
“Then they crash their car and end up stranded, with their wet clothes accidentally burned up, leaving them buck naked, apart from some helpful digital pixelation (hence the title. Originally I thought this was going to be a video games episode based on just the title).”
Holy crap, me too!
“their wet clothes accidentally burned up”
How does that happen?
I guess the writer’s don’t give a crap as long as it progresses the story.
The clothes were wet and hanging above a fire to try, but Homer poked the branch and they fell into it and burned up. What’s the issue?
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/futurama-john-dimaggio-hulu-revival-1235193435/
….well, that didn’t take long.
Honestly, though, it could’ve been interesting to see how they could’ve taken this from the kids’ perspective. Have Lisa’s plan blow up in her face, have her contemplate herself in the face of possibly causing her own parents’ death because SHE wanted them to be “happy”. Have her reconsider if constantly correcting everyone is really helping HERSELF.
Who am I kidding, though? Not only would the show consider that, even if they did, they’d spout some bullcrap where Lisa sees somebody correct somebody else, and “suddenly” realize she was right all along.
Man, this show is honestly making me HATE the whole “keep the status quo” thing. I get everything has to go back to normal on the show, but it really makes it impossible to take an episode like this seriously- like Disney would really have the guts to buy a show and kill off their biggest stars, come ON.
Curious, why does knowing that Homer and Marge will live prevent you from taking this episode seriously? The idea that serialisation and changing the status quo is necessary for a story to have any weight is, well, an assumption and one that fails to look beyond the surface-level machinations of plot. Homer and Marge, as characters in the story, believed they were in danger which both the story and direction enforced. Why is this insufficient? I notice this same issue pops up in arguments that assert Star Trek: Voyager is inferior to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because it wasn’t serialised and relied on reset buttons which is…debatable….but that’s another topic.
Hi all! Long-time lurker, one or two time poster. I’m disappointed by the responses to this episode here. I actually think this was atypically strong for the show (relative to its contemporary standards) and I will *attempt* to make a case for it.
“…we saw how close and in love the two of them were at the start of the episode, and by the end, they just realized how much they *really* love each other?”
This seems like a shallow reading to me. We know Homer and Marge love each other and always will no matter what, but the episode isn’t really about that. Like Natural Born Kissers, it’s more about the source of romance and how a couple maintains that elusive ‘spark’ as the years go by. Natural Born Kissers made the argument that it required doing something exciting and/or risky, but Pixelated and Afraid suggests something altogether very different and less transient –true and everlasting romance isn’t about chasing thrills or doing something novel; it comes from simply appreciating each other, being attentive, and not taking things for granted.
When we realize that not everything is assured, that disaster or tragedy can strike at any time, and that life is fragile and we can lose someone we love forever…well, most of us feel appreciation and gratitude with a newfound ferocity which intensifies our relationships romantic or otherwise. That’s what this episode is about and its success is predicated on the palpable dangers Homer and Marge face in the wilderness, their reactions to which are suitably grave and unsettling. There are moments that feel genuinely threatening and scary which the episode never undercuts. It doesn’t contrive petty squabbles or insert flippant and inappropriate jokes or cut away to another perspective. By putting Homer and Marge in such perilous conditions and situations, the episode forces them out of the complacency of their otherwise safe and comfortable everyday routines and dynamics. By placing so much focus on their struggle to survive and the terror they experience, Homer and Marge rekindle their appreciation for each other and, with it, the romance that Lisa thought was lacking.
Truly, I thought it was fantastic. I’ve rarely felt as discomfited watching an episode of The Simpsons. The entire confrontation with the wolverine was quite disturbing from the savagery of the creature itself (top-notch animation) and Marge falling over in a desperate bid to outrun (excellent directing) it to Homer screaming her name in anguish (when was the last time we saw Homer scream like that without being a moron or Jerkass) and bludgeoning the wolverine to death (notice how it subverts our expectations of an ‘idiot Homer is actually bashing something else’ gag). It’s for all these reasons that the episode works. Schmaltzy or not, the sincerity of the ending sequence (which has real grace and beauty) rings true precisely because of the jeopardy they were in. I was deeply moved by it.
“It once again brought up my “What even is this show now” question when it came to the last five minutes between the grisly manner of Homer killing that animal and their blissful walk back to the real world.”
Over the last few years, the show has undeniably shifted away from comedy (or the pretence of comedy) to drama that’s played straight (for the most part) with some elements of humour and a stronger emphasis on theme and thesis. This is especially true with episodes run by Matt Selman (think ‘Bart’s in Jail’, ‘Lisa’s Belly’, and ‘A Serious Flanders’ from this season alone). Your mileage will vary on how much that works for you, but I personally don’t mind. Up until recently, HD Simpsons was static and sterile to put it mildly. The show has routinely failed to be a good comedy for many, many years now. Perhaps Selman has recognised that and, in taking on more showrunning duties than ever, has consciously modified the show to focus more on drama. Feel free to accuse me of being overly magnanimous, but I can accept this *so long as* the show tells decent stories with good characterizations and imparts positive (if not necessarily incisive) messages. I continue to watch this show (against my better judgment) for the characters I care so deeply about so if an increase in quality and consistency means sacrificing the comedy, so be it. If the show *must* endure and it does not (or cannot) function according to its original parameters, why bother sticking to something that doesn’t work? Why not try something radically different instead? Isn’t that what many viewers have asked for over the years? For the show to stop resting on its laurels?
….yikes.
This clearly isn’t the blog for you. I recommend you don’t go back and read old posts. I dint think you’d be able to take it.
Is there a reason you’re making a snarky jab at me? I’m unsure what I’ve said to warrant a response like that.
Don’t mind Russo, B-Boy. You can see from his interactions with me that he’s prone to foul-mouthed rage when someone of my creed calls out his behavior. God knows what slurs he uses when he’s not on a public website.
I totally agree with you B-Boy! This season really has shown to me that the Simpsons still has life in it, and isn’t a dead horse anymore. Even the Al Jean episodes this season have been trying to shake it up a little bit, the most he can with little things like Moe getting engaged. I’m also okay with the drama being the center of the story. The recent HD seasons have really put the jokes at the forefront and the characters on the backburner which is a problem when the jokes were never really funny so it’s nice to see that switched around this season and hopefully in the future. Also god the characterization this season is incredible, especially in the Simpson family. Episodes like Lisa’s Belly and Pixelated and Afraid work because they have simple plots, and let the characters run the story. It seems like the Simpsons will be one of the first shows to fall from grace and manage to come back from that hoping we stay with the same Matt Selman quality for a while.
“It seems like the Simpsons will be one of the first shows to fall from grace and manage to come back from that…”
I’m not sure I’d go that far! I like your optimism and enthusiasm though. 🙂
Yeah, I went a little far on that though lol considering it’s only been this season that the turnaround’s been happening. Definitely interested to see where this new direction takes the Simpsons, and if they can retain this same level of quality.
As much as I don’t like the episode, I was pleasantly surprised by just seeing an intro of Homer and Marge being content with one another. It’s rare to see them actually be cute and happy together these days. A refreshing change from the constant bickering and seeming dislike of each other.
Too bad it wasn’t funny.
Yes, it wasn’t funny. Besides the “How do you like my top?” joke I haven’t laughed at this series in more than a decade. I’m honestly not sure why you need to keep hammering in this show’s lack of humor in response—it’s self-evident and there’s really not anyone who can deny it besides “this one line made me chuckle I guess” and it’s a behavior that comes off as a bizarre sort of defense mechanism against someone who was giving only the faintest possible of praises towards this episode.
A surprisingly good episode that kept me engaged and dare I say entertained. Homer and Marge carry the show well and their trials in the woods and with the wolverine were fairly engaging. You can see just how great they are together. The ending with them looking out at the sunset was sweet and lots of great animation all around. It was not a funny episode per say but still enjoyable nonetheless.