Original airdate: May 19, 2024
The premise: Bart’s prank involving a human brain in a jar backfires when he is forced to “care” for it as a school assignment. He begins to form a true kinship with the gray matter, a growing obsession that begins to worry Homer and Marge.
The reaction: I’ve talked several times about the difficulty this show has had writing Bart over the last few decades. I don’t know what it is with that kid. For a while, it was the oscillation between writing him too much like a naive little boy and other times giving him more mature storylines more fit for an older teenager (sometimes within the same episode). Nowadays, most of the issues with Bart come from him having many of his edges sanded off; he’s ostensibly still the rambunctious kid who fucks with people, but that facade quickly melts away when they want to do a plot about him being a sensitive kid or something. And that’s totally fine to dig into Bart’s character and show his more vulnerable side, but I need to understand why he’s doing things and to what end for me to get on board. This feels like a good case study for this type of story. Bart acquires a brain in a jar from Herman’s Military Antiques, eager to take it to school to freak everybody out. When he’s about to be punished for making the entire student body and faculty vomit simultaneously, Ms. Peyton steps in to make this a learning experience for Bart. As the class was about to do that assignment where you care for an egg and journal about it (schools don’t still do this anymore, do they?), Peyton has Bart care for the brain instead. At first, we get stuck with the tired premise where Bart acts like an uncaring father trying to saddle his “kid” off, but he then does a quick turn, seeing a mini-version of himself in this disembodied organ and he begins to take the brain everywhere as his little buddy. This is characterized as a weird quirk, something Marge fears will haunt Bart for the rest of his life, being known as the “brain boy.” And yes, it’s supposed to be exaggerated, it’s a damn floating brain in a jar. But why exactly is Bart doing this? He views the brain as a kindred spirit, imprinting his “bad boy” persona onto it. It reads like he’s this incredibly isolated and lonely kid who has created a friend out of nothing as a coping mechanism. Except we see Bart playing video games with Milhouse in the episode, and Marge fears that Bart will become “unpopular” because of this new obsession. It would make more sense of Bart did something at school to make him a temporary outcast, and this became his coping mechanism. But none of this is really explored, I think we’re just supposed to see this as a kid doing something weird, but if my child were to have an unnatural obsession with a literal brain in a jar, I think I’d be looking into a therapist for him immediately, not abandoning him home alone to go to church like the rest of the family does here. The incredibly quick ending involves Bart discovering the brain belonged to an accountant who donated his body to science. The reveal that Bart’s “bad boy” brain actually belonged to an intelligent “nerd” feels like it could actually mean something, re-calibrating Bart’s perceptions of who he finds acceptable to hang out with. Or learning more about the actual human being behind the brain could make it dawn on him that he’s been fucking around with a major body part belonging to a person, humanizing him and realizing he should stop. Instead, Bart says he won’t be the “brain boy” anymore, and Marge apologizes for shunning him and doing absolutely nothing to help him. Certainly a strange episode for a season finale, but I chalk that up to the strikes fudging the schedule up a bit. Maybe some people find an episode like this refreshing, even emotional, but as usual, the emotionality of these episodes feel incredibly surface level. All tell, no show.
Three items of note:
– We get a bunch of related sign gags throughout this episode (Springfield Elementary’s “Like Homeschooling, But At School!,” Luigi’s “Like DoorDash, But In A Restaurant!,” the First Church of Springfield’s “Like Online Church, But At Church!”) I get they’re supposed to be the same repeated joke, but it came off as weirdly lazy to me. It’s 2024, we’re still rattling off jokes about the weird post-quarantine state of things in 2021?
– Homer overhears a bunch of the Springfield mothers gossiping about Bart at the supermarket, including Sarah Wiggum, who gets in one line. I could be wrong, but it really sounds like Tress MacNeille, which I assumed was a result of Megan Mullally not being able to come in to record for some reason. But Mullally is listed in the credits, so maybe I’m wrong? It really does not sound like Mullally to me, but I guess it could be?
– I know I just bitched about Harry Shearer, but hearing Skinner in this episode particularly felt like a bummer. He just sounds so flat and lifeless. Maybe it felt in starker contrast going back and forth between Hank Azaria’s more animated Chalmers. Also, Herman sounds pretty much nothing like himself. I know Shearer has stopped caring about this show, and at 80 years old, I don’t really blame him. He recently did an interview speaking about Dr. Hibbert being re-cast, which of course made every outlet run headlines reading “HARRY SHEARER BLASTS WOKE SIMPSONS.” But he only commented how he heard people saying the show had “gone woke,” and didn’t extend farther than him finding it funny a black man is now voicing Hibbert, who was stylized after Bill Cosby, who at the time was referred to as “the whitest black man on TV.” It’s a markedly muted reaction from an old man, certainly much more normal than Matt “young people are looking to be offended by something” Groening.
And just like that, another season has come to an end. I always find it hard writing these end-of-season blurbs. For some reason, even though this was a slightly shorter season, I’m struggling to really remember more than half of it. I think there were two episodes that I actually mostly liked, and the rest were the usual mix of Al Jean and Matt Selman fare butting heads with each other for dominance. I don’t feel much of a need to repeat my opinions on these guys’ work for the millionth time here. I’ve also given up trying to predict when this show might finally come to an end, but we are overdue for an announcement of the show getting renewed again. As of now, they’ve been renewed up to season 36, and considering we’re getting even more season 35 holdover shows than usual, we’re still good on episodes through 2026. But I have no doubt the series will get picked up again: alongside Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers, the FOX animated trio show no signs of being on the chopping block any time soon. Family Guy‘s move to Wednesdays this fall is certainly interesting though, as it’s the first major move of FOX trying to prioritize Fox Entertainment’s new animated programming in hopes of fostering a hit, giving the 9pm slot to an upcoming series. I doesn’t seem like the likes of Krapopolis or Grimsburg have really taken off, but Fox is gonna keep trying anyway. Will they find great success in an unlikely place? Enough success to make them comfortable to let one of their flagship shows go? Would Disney even want to bring The Simpsons into the fold on one of their networks? Or as a streaming exclusive? As with almost everything in the entertainment world, everything is in constant flux and seems ready to collapse at any moment, but in the words of Superintendent Chalmers, it’ll be one hell of a toboggan ride, so all we can do is wait and see. I openly admit I’ve gotten more apathetic towards this show over the years, but I still feel compelled to ride this experiment through to the very end, whenever that may be. So stay tuned this fall as we crack open season 36. What surprises await? I DON’T KNOW!
Also, Hulu’s Futurama returns this summer, but I don’t know if I feel compelled to even watch it. The first batch of episodes certainly didn’t sell me on personally wanting to watch anymore, but I don’t think I want to even write about them. I just didn’t find them very interesting. I may change my mind going forward, but just wanted to give the heads up in advance.
Me Blog Write Good 
Mike,
Really appreciate the hard work you put into this blog. Your analysis of the Simpsons and the other stuff (i.e. Kevin Smith’s work, and Futurama) is fun to read.
I don’t know if you take requests, but have you thought of maybe doing a top 10 episode analysis of Bob’s Burgers like you did with Futurama last year? I think that would be fun to see your take on that sitcom. I love that show (ditto with the Great North, which I would love to hear your opinion on that show as well).
Best,
Tyler
Apparently this was the first episode to be written post-strike and was put into production only three weeks after it was written which… Yeah, shows. The end product comes off as a first draft that’s only just slightly more ‘polished’ than most current episodes of American Dad! are.
I only watched this episode simply because it was the season finale which after I decided I was done regularly keeping up with the show would be one of the four kinds of episodes I’d still tune in for (season premieres, THoH, milestones and finales) outside of the rare one or two every other month or so with an intriguing premise (even if it’s still a letdown like Lisa Gets An F1). And well, now I’m reconsidering still including the finales since all the ones in the faux-Full House era (Season 33 onwards) so far have ranged from lackluster to awful with this one not only being the worst but also the worst episode of all the ones I actually watched this season (10)!
The only two somewhat worthwhile episodes for me were McMansion & Wife (and I’m in a minority on that one) and the THoH (minus the terrible second segment).
Yeah, the episode’s premise is flimsy and the amount of grossout jokes gets tiring very easily. Doesn’t help that at one point, Marge is worried about the whole family being outcast (yet again), but then it’s back to being just Bart being the outcast. Like they couldn’t decide how much of the family should be punished for it for a second.
Also, anyone else notice the odd animation this episode? Everyone looks as off as they sound, and I don’t really like it.
Erika Isabel Vega (an animator on the show) said on Twitter that the animation team lost several weeks of production time because of the strike. They still had to meet the deadline so the episode could air on time.
I’d watch any American Dad episode, even the modern ones, over this in a heartbeat. That show feels like it has much more of a creative vitality left. In fact, it feels like they deliberately try to stave off the blandness The Simpsons settled into as it aged by being as outrageous as possible, since they know they can’t be as brilliant as they once were. Even bad American Dad episodes usually make me laugh at something. But Modern Simpsons, as much as the recent years have rediscovered competent story structure, is usually as dull as it gets.
Which would you say you prefer between this and Bart the Mother?
I was definitely thinking of “Bart the Mother” during this. As treacly as Bart was in that episode, his caring for the eggs was much more motivated than the brain here. And the episode is also much, much funnier. Troy McClure is in it!
Kind of surprised no one has mentioned the completely random MeatCanyon reference in this episode considering that the majority of the discourse surrounding this episode online has been in reference to it. By the way, if you haven’t and are into weird horror/black comedy kinda stuff, I would highly recommend checking out his stuff. Some of his videos go so far past what is expected in the constraints of YouTube animation that it really is pretty admirable even if you don’t like his stuff.
I honestly can’t see the show going on for much longer, Harry Shearer and the other voice actors have surpassed or are nearing life expectancy and I doubt they’d just recast everyone after they die. Plus the WGA strike that screwed everything over production-wise. I wouldn’t be surprised if next season or 37 is the last one.
Anyway, thanks for another entertaining year, Mike. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but reading your reviews I sometimes feel like I live vicariously through you.
Maybe it’s just because I’m a bitter person who’s angry at the world as a result of my traumatic past, but there’s something oddly satisfying about a guy getting all pissed at this show. It feels like you do a lot of the venting for me.
Enjoy a summer free of Zombie Simpsons.
Sincerely sorry about your past, Sean. I hope there are things in your life that give you some joy.
The trauma cannot be undone but things are better.
It’s very cathartic to get overly mad at something silly like a TV show. It probably seems like overreaction looking in from the outside, because if it was just about the show itself, it would be, but it lets us take the frustration we have from other stuff and release it all at something that isn’t human and won’t get hurt.
I think the show will end after production season 36, production season 38 at the absolute most. I know everyone involved wants to keep going forever, but that’s hubris. The producers must be looking at their elderly cast and debating whether or not they want to gamble on them being in good health for another couple years. And even though we’ve seen some recastings in recent years, it would be strange to recast any of the core six when Phil Hartman and Marcia Wallace had their characters retired. The Simpsons will end with a holdover Season 37 or Season 39. That’s my bet.
“but it lets us take the frustration we have from other stuff and release it all at something that isn’t human and won’t get hurt.”
Exactly what I meant. I do it more than I’d like to admit… childhood trauma really fucks with you, especially when you have as much as I do. I would be a radically person had I not endured everything that I have.
It seems that our predictions are about the same, the show ending next year might be wishful thinking but ending in 2026 or 2027 is a pretty safe bet, and almost certainly by 2028.
I can see them getting recast. I think one big reason POC characters like Hibbert and Carl were recast wasn’t just sensitivity, but also to prime the audience for when the main cast eventually gets replaced.
I refer you to this new, perfectly-timed article:
https://www.cbr.com/the-simpsons-no-recasting-plans/
What about the characters voiced by Russi Taylor that were recasted despite the fact them claiming they don’t recast characters if an actor passes, and they just retire the character out of respect, and also with Pamela Hayden and Sarah Wiggum? There’s no explanation on both of these.
It’s okay to replace somebody like Russi Taylor as they felt like she was irrelevant. Hell, they literally replaced the one character Doris Grau voiced.
They’re so inconsistent with their rules as to who is okay to retire and who to replace with Tress MacNelle.
How would you compare the recent The Simpsons Season with Hulurama? It’s interesting seeing the quality gap between the two shrinking over the course of 2+ decades, with Simps experimenting more, and Rama getting more stale.
I don’t blame you if you don’t continue doing Futurama reviews. I think the premises for Season 9 sound a lot more promising than 8, but I also feel the show really should’ve done more to earn viewer’s attention back with those first episodes. Knowing the show has another 20 episodes after this year, and probably won’t improve that much from those initial Hulu episodes, I don’t feel guilty not watching it anymore myself.
Maybe do the next Season just to end your reviews on the next “written to be just in case series finale” (Otherwise). If not, if you still have the time, I’d love to read you talk about any other media you’re interested in. I would gladly read them. : )
I’d love to see Mike write about the Ace Attorney games, like he mentioned about a year or two ago. I keep coming back to this site because he’s really good at articulating how media makes him feel, not because post-classic Simpsons is inherently interesting, so I’d be game to read whatever he puts up here.
Yeah, look, I’ve been a big fan of these types of episodes in recent years, but this one is a bit lacking for all the reasons you articulate, Mike. I found the episode to be a pleasant watch, but Bart’s arc is too amorphous and it really needed a lot more fleshing out.
The way I see it, if you’re going to write an episode about Bart growing attached to a brain, you’ve gotta at least make it about the fact that it’s a brain. That’s the only unique thing about this episode, but it may as well have just been a normal egg – and Bart the Mother would be the more interesting “Bart loves an egg” story. It plays around with the concept, at least. Mike’s suggestions about how Bart could have reacted to learning who that brain came from would have gone a long way, if that scene happened in act 2. Instead, we’ve gone through the motions of three extremely basic story concepts, and 22 minutes have already gone by.
Overall for me, It was a meh, I got bored of it not even half way through as much as I tried to stay with it, but on the other hand I think a more important topic of discussion is what is going on behind the scenes, especially in regards to Harry Shearer and Pamela Hayden, most are really starting to worry about Harry, as he really does not sound good, and another point you highlighted is with Sarah Wiggum, which that’s another topic of discussion.
You are right on how it sounds like Tress MacNeill, glad I’m not the only one who thought that at first, despite that it was Megan Mullaly, but nonetheless, you can obviously tell she is putting zero effort into the role, and it really takes away from the character when her original voice was much more charming and iconic, so why even bother using the effort of bringing her in to do it when a main cast member has done the voice every now and again for over 30 years? Besides, she has a far more important role on The Great North and Bob’s Burgers.
Some still have questioned why on earth the voice was changed, myself included, never mind that episode from a few seasons ago where they altered the character which has long been put to rest as the design and mannerisms of the character are back to like how they are originally, why are they even bothering to bring her in for like a line here or there that Pamela Hayden can do? It does seem like more people are catching onto this and questioning it, but there hasn’t been any answer given by any of the staff, so that’s a big red flag, and I think we need an explanation.
Mike, what do you think of the whole Sarah and Pamela situation, as well as of course Harry?
The B-tier actors don’t exactly get a lot of respect from the staff compared to the A-tier. Tress seems to be the exception but that’s likely due to Futurama. You have to remember that their solution to a pay dispute with Maggie Roswell who got tired of flying back and forth from Colorado to California to voice Maude was just offing her character out of spite. None of them got any deals with EA to voice characters in Tapped Out… Which somehow still exists.
So, iin their mind’s eye, it actually makes far more sense bringing in the guest star over using the regular because fuck Pamela Hayden getting the bag.
Late response, but it’s important to point out that there has never been a logical explanation for both retconning Sarah and recasting her role. Now that she’s reverted to her original character, its nonsensical to continue using a celebrity voice actor, especially since Sarah only speaks occasionally. This is quite off putting and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Was the voice change related to other changes in her character? If it was, that plotline and angle was limited and has essentially wrapped up, making it redundant to continue without becoming stale and repetitive. I’ve never heard of a show changing a character’s voice solely for a centered storyline, especially without a valid reason. So since that’s no longer the case, what’s the deal?
Pamela Hayden is still part of the show and perfectly capable of voicing Sarah with minimal effort, so its not like anything happened to her. From what I hear, she simply adds a slightly southern and goofy accent to her normal voice, giving the character a unique charm and soul, regardless of how limited she’s used. A while back, during its first showing after being successfully crowdfunded, a friend of mine saw her documentary “Jailhouse to Milhouse,” which was very moving. It detailed her struggles with depression and her two suicide attempts. I’m not sure if the showrunners are aware of her difficult past, but dismissing her from one of, if not her only remaining female character seems incredibly wrong, especially for no reason to begin with.
It appears the showrunners are realizing their mistake, as Sarah has been acting like her original self for a while now, with the “new” version only appearing in two episodes. Despite the voice change, the character has returned to her original persona, and all that’s left is for Pamela to reprise the role. There’s no valid reason preventing the showrunners from not allowing this.
Yeah, I seem to remember that Sarah made a snide remark in Poorhouse Rock which coupled with her still being voiced by Megan felt like the only things that they’d stay consistent with her post-Uncut Femmes. When I said that at the time, a response I got was that this was deemed a ‘cynical take’.
Yeah, no longer the case after that, likely because the angle and “new” personality are so heavily plot-dependent, and just far out there for the character and who and what she’s related to, they decided to drop it. By her third speaking appearance post-retcon, her mannerisms were reverted to their original depiction, which have stayed consistent since her first appearance back in Season 4, including nonspeaking cameos.
If they’re stepping back with the character, Pamela should reprise the role at this point then. Sarah has never been this suddenly snarky, criminal, masculine girlboss who drinks, despite her limited appearances throughout the series. That angle reminds me of The Principal and The Pauper, where Skinner’s character is retconned with a shock twist out of nowhere. That episode was not only hated by Fans and Harry Shearer, but even Matt Groening himself. But the key difference is that they didn’t replace Harry with some random celebrity.
It’s foolish to keep bringing in Megan for a line or two of dialogue, especially if the character is written back to her old self. This change was only made to complement the drastic shift to the character as far as I understand, but without any explanation then, and still none now, its wrong. Even if Pamela is considered a B-tier cast member, as @GindyDraws mentioned. It’s oddly strange that Sarah was the targeted character for this dramatic change compared to all other recurring side Female characters. Is it because she’s fat, innocent, traditional, and not portrayed as a sex symbol or something?
@HOMR If anything, what one would deem a ‘cynical take’ could now be seen as me being blindly optimistic for believing that they’d keep being consistent about her new personally past the initial episode only to suddenly give up on that after about a year and a half at least.
i didn’t even really care for Uncut Femmes at the time not because of the controversy, but because it was a ‘parody’ episode run by Selman where the already lackluster writing is even more crappy and on the nose than usual which is also seen in later episodes like A Serious Flanders and Not It.
And then look what happened, it sounds like you pretty much predicted exactly what would happen eventually, its only going to last for so long, so for people to doubt whatever it is you said and say it’s going to stay consistent moving forward is kinda silly. Kind of like when Barney was sober for a while before going back to his original self. I think the backlash some expressed is also a contributing factor to it going back, and for good reason because that was wrong what they did, but I think an explanation regarding Hayden is still needed.
As far as I can tell, since Selman became Showrunner and what his style of episodes are by making them all crazy bananas like THOH, that honestly just takes away from what made the show once so good, because despite being a cartoon, what made it so special is how it all feels so real, but just in cartoon form, and its why we love the show and these characters so much. Now it just seems to overly cartoony and overly nonsensical, and is just a departure from the roots of the show.
I don’t quite understand some saying the show is “Good Again” because the only way I can see that is because it is connecting with the modern fanbase and their likes and tastes, which as far as I can tell is like people under the age of 30 for the most part. Me personally, I’m just not into that type of stuff, and its highly distracting when social media or phones have to be referenced like every 10 seconds. Is Selman just trying to tell the writers to put stuff in that’s “hip” with younger people and litter it throughout episodes?
@HOMR The only explanation I can come up with for why Megan is still Sarah despite the character returning to her original personality is that they wanted a fresh new voice for her, similar to how Ben Small was replaced as Thomas in the UK dub of Thomas & Friends.
Funny, Selman’s style to me comes off more like turning the show into the same kind of sappy sitcom that the show would mock back in the day hence why I’ve referred to this era (Season 33 through now) as faux-Full House. Though part of that could also be blamed on Omine who actually was a writer on Full House.
To the majority, it seems like the show is only ‘good’ again because Selman’s episodes are apparently more coherent and have more effort put in them compared to your typical Jean episode, even though most times the former’s episodes are honestly no better (and never were, not even back in 2011) and in some cases worse.
Still oddly strange though, I have never heard of a sudden recast in any TV show, especially when a character’s original actor is still on the show and can still do the voice, but then again, maybe they are trying to slowly let her fully return to form and Hayden will reprise the role eventually, even though a sudden change back isn’t uncommon on the show.
Take Gloria Prince for example (Martin’s Mom), in one episode within the past 2 or so seasons, she was voiced by Pamela for a few lines, but then later on next time she spoke, Grey Griffin voiced her, emulating Russi Taylor’s original impression of her. As a side note, Gloria has far less context then even Sarah, but they haven’t messed with her, at least yet…
Besides as I’ve stated, Megan is putting no effort into the role, and it’s honestly depressing to listen to because it doesn’t fit the context of the character and who she’s related to. Was the case when she was changed into something completely different, and still even now despite having her original Wiggumy mannerisms back. Her original voice is much more unique and charming, and just suits her far better. The whole thing just feels like such a stunt.
Anyways, you seemed to sum up Selman’s take on the show quite perfectly. Although sometimes I question why people rag on Jean, at least with him, since he’s been on the show since the beginning, there’s something with his episodes in contrast to Selman’s that still feel right in a way I can’t quite describe, like the pacing, jokes, etc just feels like the show still, and Selman’s are just again crazy bananas and don’t really feel like the show at all.
It almost seems like the vast majority of the Show’s audience and fanbase now don’t understand what the style of the show is and what made it special. Now it just seems like another animated sitcom, and of course, a parody of what it once was.
Congratulations on finishing Season 35! Like the last two seasons, this wasn’t a good one but the past three seasons do feel like they’ve at least given a little bit of a shit. I’d say the best episodes of this super-short season were “Do the Wrong Thing” and “The Tipping Point” and while I didn’t like “A Mid-Childhood Night’s Dream”, it had a really cool concept and could’ve been amazing had it been written back in like Season 7.
Of course, this season wasn’t without it’s atrocities. My most hated episodes would be “AE Bonny Romance”, “Murder, She Boat”, “Lisa Gets an F1” and “The Tell-Tale Pants”. This is still Zombie Simpsons we’re talking about. We are not in a sudden renaissance.
I really do hope Season 36 is the final production season of the show (Not actual season, I’d be okay if Season 37 was the super-short last season that was just holdovers from the previous season) and they finally call it quits in 2035. If not, and they get renewed for two more seasons, I’ll just stop after 36 and blissfully and naively pretend the show decided to stop right there and then. And don’t worry Mike, if you’re running out of things to say for the season wrap-ups there’s no harm in stopping. See you in September!
And yeah, Bart the Mother is a good comparison to this. At least Bart nesting baby eggs made more sense than him being obsessed with a human brain, like whaaaaa? Also I just realized that this show has been terrible for a QUARTER OF A CENTURY now. Wowsers.
Season 32 was possibly the show’s current lowest point, with the past three not faring much better with 33 only being a smal improvement over the aforementioned and both of the following seasons being slightly worse than 33.
Yeah, I didn’t like what I saw of A Mid-Childhood Night’s Dream either (gave up on it after act 2), but the idea itself was fine but brought down by the crappy writing of the faux-Full House era and the hoarseness of Marge’s voice. Probably would’ve fared much better as an episode from at least 20 years ago.
Lisa Gets An F1 and The Tell-Tale Pants at least had interesting premises that they unfortunately didn’t really do anything with.
It’s a shame you loathe the show so much, John. I sincerely wish it could be more to your liking.
‘loathe’ is way too strong of a word for what I actually think of the show as of late so thanks for putting that into my mouth simply because I don’t like the direction it’s been going in the past few years.
Forgive me, John. I was under the impression you intensely disliked the series in its current form, which would align with the definition of ‘loathe’.
“Also I just realized that this show has been terrible for a QUARTER OF A CENTURY now. Wowsers.”
MORE than a quarter of a century. The show got bad in season 9 with Armin Tamzarian and the beginning of Scully’s tenure.
I just hated the ‘joke’ of Bart making fun of Ms. Peyton for not having kids. Why is infertility treated as something to laugh at? Her being in tears afterward makes it worse. I did mostly like the episode but that was a huge negative and I think it sucks Bart didn’t get any comeuppance for that.
I also hated how Marge said she thinks Lisa’s going to hell simply for being a vegetarian. Like… What the actual fuck?!
Right? There’s just somethings that are not funny or do not fit the characters at all. It’s like if you are going to do something that feels like a stretch, then don’t do it.
The very last shot was Marge’s hair scraping against a door frame making that horrible noise just to taunt me.
I like the blog, but I am but surprised by the shortness of the commentary to the season as a whole. The season had a fare share of awful episodes, but also a few good ones. In the past, even the most awful seasons had a long commentary, recapitulating the main characteristics of the seasons themselves. This time, just a couple of lines. I wish you wrote a longer commentary on the season. It’s never too late for that!
In Mike’s original 20-season retrospective there were a lot of seasons by the end whose final summary was just “same shit as last year, basically, not much point repeating myself”. And that seems to be true this year as well. The most awful seasons stand out in their awfulness, but it’s hard to write about something you find extremely middle-of-the-road.
No new Futurama reviews?
He made it clear that the first revival revival season was so disappointing that he did not feel obliged to review the series with the possibility of the final episode being the exception.
FWIW, I thought it’d be fun to compare and contrast the 10 new episodes with the 10 Mike reviewed in Past-o-Rama, so I’m doing that in the Past-o-Rama comments. Feel free to join me if you want to chat/rant about the new season.