Material

As we wait for season 22 to roll around I thought I would talk a little about the season opener as more information comes out. Today I would like to discuss the promotional poster for it

Riveting, aint it? Even though the older episodes don't really have any promotional posters (Or ones I can find easily) this is just further proof that the writers don't give a damn. I mean, it's just their two guest stars standing in front of a brown-yellowish background doing nothing. I have seen plain sandwiches that aren't as bland as this. This is just so uninspired and lazy, it tells us nothing about the story or what these guys will be doing in the episode. This is the type of poster that is given out when studio executives don't give a damn. Oh yeah and the title of said episode is "Elementary School Musical". I honesty thought that would be the most uninspired thing dealing with this episode as that is just a blatant rip-off of a South Park episode title, and judging by the early plot synopsis the episode as a whole. I will try to remain as neutral as possible when it comes to this episode airing, but the writers have made it really hard for me to believe they even give a rat's ass anymore about this show. I believe season 22 will take a slide down and season 23 will be the final season and will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of fans when it's all said and done. Just 27 more days people, Kriken out.

Ironic

For those of you who don't know/remember, I HATED the teacher from "Bart gets a Z" because he was annoying, over-the-top topical to the point of being an ad for Apple and just flat out unfunny and annoying. Well God must have heard what I said and he gave me a teacher who I swear is the exact same down to even getting drunk outside of class. The only difference is that my professor does not really like twitter and mocks those who use it so he's not too annoying. I'll be posting updates on my opinion of this professor as I continue this semester with him. Hopefully I will grow to like him and be able to separate him from that annoying teacher.

This blog will resume weekly as soon as Season 22 starts with reviews coming the day after the episode ends. I also plan on releasing season 20 review soon and the top 50 list is a few episode shy of being complete so that'll be released the week before season 22 begins.

Episode 18: Chief of Hearts

A Simpson and Wiggum are friends? Where have I hear that before? *"I Love Lisa" and "This Little Wiggy"* Yeah we have all been waiting for this pairing of Homer and Clancy and this episode delivers... to the wrong address. Seriously at times this is a good episode but having the relationship be more like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship really detaches me from this episode. Also this episode has a terrible subplot that makes you wonder what drugs the writers were on. Let's get on with it and review this episode.

We begin with Marge taking Bart and Lisa to a party for Dylan (Who apparently nobody know if Dylan's a boy or girl based on the two separate parties going on in the front yard). This does have a point as Bart is introduced to "Battle-Balls" which is essentially the closest Japanese fad here (Even though it wasn't a fad anymore and they insult Pokemon and Digimon which were two of my favorite shows growing up. Thanks Fox, really appreciate that pissing of my childhood). By the way, that's the only screen time Lisa gets, she never shows up again and she didn't even get a line, we've reached a new low people.

HE HAS HIS HAND IN HIS POCKET!!!!!!

After that moment of stupidity, we get another as Homer enters the bank with a candy apple in his coat which a woman overly mistakes for a gun (I didn't know there were people in Springfield dumber than Homer but apparently we found them). Homer is then found guilty for bringing food into a bank (Makes more sense than the actually crime) as he's sentenced to 100 hours of community service (There's a funny bit with Homer begging for jail, but not getting it). Homer then goes to his community service as he gets out of it by bribing Wiggum with food (By this point, the writers are completely clueless about the concept of continuity as Krusty's there with no explanation about what happened in Paris).

I'm not a dirty cop! I'm not! *Sob* I need a sandwich.

Homer and Wiggum then become great friends as we see our first glimpse of the boyfriend/girlfriend motif shown as Clancy is shy about Homer looking back at him (I'm sorry but I don't really like these jokes). After a scene showing Wiggum and Homer together, we see Bart at the playground as he challenges Ralph for a rare card (Yeah Pokemon encouraged gambling on the schoolyards I know, I know. I won my Venusaur that way). Martin then reports this to Skinner as he assumes that Bart is a drug dealer... Wait What?! Where does this come from?! He looks out the window and assumes that Bart would deal narcotics ON SCHOOL GROUNDS to RALPH!

Hmm. Ralph, Bart, and Nelson playing together. Drugs MUST be in play

This is only the second scene for this subplot and already I hate it. Back to Homer and Wiggum, after Homer gets Moe on Amber Alert, Clancy decides to reveal to Homer he's very lonely and his friendship with Homer is all he's got (Jailbird then kills the moment by explaining he's been in the back for 10 hours *lol*). Skinner and Chalmers decide to tell Marge of their suspicions of Bart being a drug dealer (Nope, I wont go any further. This plot? It's too stupid to deserve an ending. If they really did suspect Bart of this, they'd pull him to the office before bringing his parents in. Writers YOU FAIL!) OK fine, Marge decides to take this shaky information and she will pay more attention to him for suspicious talk. After Marge hears convenient dialogue, we see Wiggum and Homer on the edge of a rock looking over Springfield.

Clancy: Say Homer, can we possibly be deep with this plot?

Homer: *Farts*

Clancy: Nevermind 

They are then brought back after Fat Tony commits an armed robbery and Eddie and Lou detain them. After a little argument, Tight Lips grabs Homer as a hostage, this leads to a struggle between Clancy and Tight Lips which results in Wiggum being shot. As a montage shows Homer being there for Clancy, he wakes up to Homer next to him (Even though Lou was there longer and slept in the next room for a week). After Homer asks to leave, we see Wiggum become possessive as he says Homer can't leave him. Marge goes searching through Bart's room for drugs (Where can I get some drugs to help me forget this?) Bart comes in and finds Marge invading his privacy (Marge everyone! A woman who'd rather invade her son's privacy rather than ask him about this problem). Marge then finds out about Battleball and likes it prompting Bart to flush his toys down the toilet.

Well, time to send this plot back where we found it.

As Homer complains to the bar about having to be with Wiggum, Clancy breaks in to bitch out about how Homer's a bad friend (Seriously, this is a pretty stupid scene when you break it down). After Homer watches guilt TV, Eddie and Lou go to Homer explaining they haven't seen Wiggum in days. Homer then finds Clancy on the rock as they find Fat Tony and his mafia are creating knock-off clothing. They fail to detain them and are instead taken captive by Fat Tony and mafia. As they sit in the trunk apologizing for what they've done Wiggum, in an out-of-character moment is actually competent (Who knew?) after Homer convince him he can do it.

Idiot Power!

Clancy happens to change the CDs with his tongue (Just roll with it) as that causes them to pull over and it allows Wiggum to get free and arrest Fat Tony. Eddie and Lou show up as Homer and Clancy decide to lessen the friendship as Homer harasses Flanders in the end with the police copter.

Final Judgment: This episode is OK, not what you'd expect from a Homer-Wiggum pairing but it does have its moments. The subplot though is terrible and fails to do its job and at points makes you want to shut off the episode. I never thought a main voice actor would be shut out from an episode but here we are (This is actually the second time a main character has been shut out as Bart wasn't in "4 Great Women and a Manicure").

Final Grade: 7.4/10 The pairing we've all been waiting for

Episode 17: American History X-cellent

Burns going to jail? Yes!! This episode is an homage to "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile"? Yes!! What could go wrong with this? Poor writing on the two subplots and the main plot doesn't live up to expectations. $*&%!!!! Yet again this show is on the way up but if it were going back down, it would be underground. While it isn't a bad episode, it just doesn't have that feeling of something to want to watch on a rainy day. Let's begin with our review, shall we?

We begin the same way all great episodes begin: One scene that leads to a flashback that'll eventually explain this scene (I'm sorry it's not this episode, CSI: Miami has forever ruined this story type for me). We see two white guards and a black guard that couldn't possibly be Homer, Lenny and Carl (Sorry but it's so obviously them, you don't even need cliffnotes to figure this out).

Ok Mr. Burns, time for "The Room"

The guards open a cell with Mr. Burns inside and we begin our flashback (And the point of this is? We'll be seeing this scene again with an explanation so I really find this pointless). Anyways, we cut back weeks earlier to Mr. Burns forcing everyone to come to a company picnic where they will all be miserable. During the picnic, all the employees are miserable and after a mini-play, Homer suggests that they trash the place. After getting drunk and trashing his observatory, the police come to arrest Homer and gang but arrest Burns after finding out he's been stealing art (By the way the Tufts joke was stupid before and bringing it back up still pisses me off). As the entire town goes to mock Burns while he's carted away (Not driven, carted) Bart and Homer are berated by Marge not to throw rotten food at Burns (With a drawn out scene of Homer and Marge arguing which leads to Homer eating a rotten Jack-O-Lantern, need I remind you this takes place in July).

Ok Bart, time for our contractually obligated B plot. What say you about an ant farm?

After that, Marge tells Bart to play with Lisa and we are introduced to our underdeveloped subplot of Bart and Lisa taking care of an ant farm (Seriously, the plot seems like the writers threw it in last minute, it just doesn't seem interesting at all). Right before Burns is put in jail, he gives Smithers control over the plant (This leads to the point in which Burns turns out to be the writer as he controls what happens to Smithers afterwards). As Burns is being processed, Burns tries to blackmail the Warde but can't make out what he's addicted to (It's helium, who knew that was such a crime?). After more processing, we meet Burns' cellmate who is just as harmless as him (I laugh at Virginia, however the death of Yeardley makes it harder to laugh at them). We then cut to the ant farm plot as the farm is destroyed and only one ant made it (Wow, I care so much about this. This plot is so developed and *yawn*). As Smithers takes his new role, he decides to be a new type of boss; a friendly boss.

My first order as boss: Dress code includes pink shirts

We cut back to the ant farm plot (Do you really care about this? Each scene for this plot gets less than a minute and in the end, you feel empty. I'll explain when we get there) where nothing really happens outside of: "Leave my ant alone Bart" (I am serious nothing important comes out, it's just another example of a scene that could be deleted and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference). After Mr. Burns gets taken by our black preacher inmate (Yeah it's revealed later but it's better to characterize him now) Smithers finds out that the employees have been taking advantage of him and he turns into a worse version of Mr. Burns (thanks for the shirtless scene, classy Simpsons, classy). After we get our scene of the employees working too hard, we go back to the black guy trying to redeem Burns' soul through a dramatic scene and sucking out the evil inside him (I know this references one of the movies mentioned but I haven't seen either movie which I am ashamed of).

See, this is what happens when you eat at Arby's

After short scene of Bart and Lisa discussing what to do with their ant, we see the gang discussing their hatred of Smithers and getting Burns out of jail. We then see the scene that was in the opening and our episode nears an end. As the gang is about to take Burns out, the preacher tries to stop them. Our ant farm plot ends with Bart and Lisa releasing "Annie" into the wild where their dog eats her (And Lisa gives Bart an expression like it's his fault). OK why is this plot bad you may ask; no scene gets more than a minute screen time, the plot's not that interesting, and the payoff you usually get when a plot is over seems to be gone here, you're left with an empty void that nothing can fill. Mr. Burns explains to the preacher that he still had some evil and it multiplied and he must go back to his plant.

You're in my way, sir... I said, you're standing in my spot, sir.

The preacher explains that because he killed so many rich white guys he wanted to do right by one and he let's them go. Mr Burns takes back his plant as he reminisces about the preacher. We end with a scene of the Preacher and Fat Tony together in a cell.

Final Judgment: This episode's pretty good but there were points where I just smacked my head. The ant subplot was completely worthless and couldn't do it's role of padding the episode out. They probably could have used the time to further explore Smithers' role as boss at the plant.

Final Grade: 7.3/10 It's worth a re-watch at least once

Episode 16: Greatest Story Ever D'ohed

An improvement! But not a significant one. This episode is extremely dull and boring - seriously, I think I only laughed 3 times and I believe one of them wasn't because the scene was meant to be funny. Yet again an episode with potential that is just wasted *sigh* I miss the good old days when I could be proud to watch this show. Let's review this episode and get enough coffee out for twelve.

We start off with Flanders holding a bible study with culturally relevant words placed in (I think the writers realized how stupid some of their references are and just slipped that in as an apology). The bible study is then interrupted by Homer being Homer with a slip-and-slide in his backyard. We then see the character derailment of Flanders as he just berates Homer immediately when he confronts him. Lovejoy suggests that Homer should come with the group to Israel, to which Ned is skeptical but eventually is accepting of. Flanders goes over to a now grass-skirt wearing Homer (The Pagan reference is SO subtle) and invites him to Israel.

Oh great Dog God. Grant me a pair of comfy pants

Homer declines but Marge accepts and Homer whines a little about it. After an unfunny incident involving Homer and airport security, we see Krusty who decided to make the pilgrimage to Israel to avoid hell (To which Lisa points out Jews don't believe in hell). At the hotel we get to meet our tour guide; Jakob who is yet another guest star that does nothing but spout out unfunny dialogue (He's like that guy who thinks he's funny but in reality he's not). After what seems like an eternity by Jacob, Homer decides to but in and delay the tour by going to the breakfast buffet. After that, we get to see Mr. annoying still ramble on for a good portion of his scenes (Seriously, the writing for him is TERRIBLE, he comes off more annoying than funny).

Ok let's get one thing straight. I will not be funny nor charming in this episode.

Flanders then hoping that Homer will stop being Homer asks for him to show a little interest in Israel instead of being an ignorant tourist. After Homer continues to piss all over what Israel stands for, we see the group viewing the Wailing Wall Homer and Bart get into a "fight" as Bart mocks Homer's prayer and Bart prays for him to die. Bart gets away by skateboarding on top of the wall, as Jakob's niece Dorit chases him down. She catches up to him and beats him down with Krav Maga (Israeli military fighting technique) and kneeing him in the crotch about a dozen times (OK that is funny). As the tour group goes to the Church of the Holy Scripture, Ned thanks God for being there and giving him Homer as his burden. He then finds Homer sleeping on the tomb of Jesus as that really starts to piss off Flanders.

Dear Lord! Jesus has been resurrected as Homer Simpson!

Homer and Flanders are then banned from the Church as Flanders then tells Homer his soul has no possibility for salvation and leaves infuriated. Homer then follows Ned to the outskirts of town as he goes into the desert where a sandstorm strands him out there. Homer then wanders the desert as he starts to get dehydrated and beings to starve where he hallucinates the "Veggie Tales" vegetables (Just roll with it) telling him he is the messiah(Who knew the anti-Christ would be our savior?). After Homer is then taken to the room, it's then told that Homer's suffering from "Jerusalem Syndrome" (Yes it exists, but I'd say he's more suffering from dehydration that caused his delusions).

Worship me peons! For I am a God.

After Homer escapes, the family goes to the Dome of the Rock to prevent him from doing something stupid (too late). On their way there (And our final visit from Jakob Yay!) The family (Plus Flanders) sees Homer giving a speech to try to unite all faiths as one religion (Um Homer, it's a bit more complicated than that, there's a reason that Jews and Christians consider each other to be different). It is then forgotten as Agnes and Dr. Hibbert declare themselves as the messiah.

Seems like Lisa is really racking up the fatalities against Bart

As multiple nut cases, er I mean people with Jerusalem Syndrome board the plane, we see Homer's OK, Ned's at peace with Homer and Lisa gets the window seat by kneeing Bart in his crotch.

Final Judgment: This episode isn't nearly as controversial as I thought it would be but at the same time, it's boring. The tour guide comes off as annoying rather than funny, the plot itself was nothing special and when you come down to it, it's not that memorable.

Final Grade: 6.2/10 Not bad, just bland

Episode 15: Stealing First Base

Oh dear God not this one. Yes while the previous three episodes are the bottom of the barrel this episode is the highlight (or lowlight) of the decline in this season. While my last three I bashed the writers I have to admit with John Frink he's really a hit-or-miss type of guy. He's not that good of a writer but he has enough good episodes to sorta cancel out the bad ones. Either way I hate this episode and let's get to reviewing rock bottom.

We start with a pointless scene of Homer showing us he cannot use a GPS (And Lisa can still be a prick when she wants to be). After Bart gets to his class (in the school that was destroyed last week)(Status Quo is God?) he finds out that Mrs. Krabappel is out and their class has to merge with the other fourth grade class (Why am I getting "Recess" deja vu?). After a drawn out process of each student finding their version in this class, Bart sits next to Nikki. I hate this character more than words can describe so I'm going to refer to her as Bipolar Bitch (BB). Speaking of characters that I'm not going to call by their given names, Lisa is handed back a test to which she just spazzes out after getting such a low grade.

I can fly! I can fly! I can... *SPLAT*

Lisa so out of character in this entire episode I will not call her Lisa, from now on her name is Bipolar Nause (Because gratuitous British is COOL! ....a nause is an annoying person)(It's the only way to describe this Lisa look-alike). Bart insults BB's Twilight knock-off (The only part of this episode I like)(Despite cultural relevancy, even I'll let this one slide) as BB begins to like Bart and stops being mean to him after he shows her that he slipped the animators an extra 50 to make him a good drawer. We then cut to Bipolar Nause moping outside about the whole prospect of getting one F and how she'll never get into Harvard *1 stupid satellite joke later*. People then want to be friends with Bipolar Nause because they realize she's been knocked down a peg and now she's cool to them (I was teased when I got my first F but whatever).

Lisa: I'm sad because I got a bad grade. Now I'm happy because of that grade. Now I'm depressed because I'm smart.

After Ms. Hoover gives Bipolar Nause her real grade of A+++, the kids then start mocking her again (And back to the alcohol). Bart then decides to talk to Homer about BB to which Homer sends Bart to Grampa. Grampa suggests that Bart should steal a kiss from BB to see if she likes him back. We then get to see our action movie scene spoof (I don't know and honestly I don't care). So at the end of that scene, we see Bart kiss BB as she spazzes out and Bart just rolls away (Smooth Grampa, real smooth).The point of all that is for BB's parents to take that ONE incident and demand that there be an affection-free environment rule for the entire school *Downs a bottle of Prozac followed by a bottle of Jack Daniels*.

I'll see to it that no child actually acts like one. What is this a public school?! *scoffs*

Where do I begin? This plot is STUPID!!!!! Also, if this is an attempt to "Point out a problem that's been overly exaggerated" it fails as well, to me this is just as stupid if not more stupid than when Marge went to health food; writers, stick to simple stories because these more complex stories are out of your league (Really, I know about these 'no-touch' rules in some schools, but they're so absurd as to be their own parodies. We don't need an episode about them!). Moving on, Homer and Marge tell Bart to stay away from BB as they will be sued if he gets near her (I need Excedrin). After a boring, drawn out Itchy and Scratchy (Movie short, I guess, in 3-D no less) Bipolar Nause decides to write in her blog about how being smart sucks and Oh God where's my booze?!(I drank it after just READING that) As she gets a comment from a FLOTUS1 (Symbolism!) telling her to keep being smart.

The Simpsons, in 3-D. Now the stupidity can jump off the screen.

During the assembly meant to show the new rules, Chalmers points out how stupid this plot is (Hey that's my job!) and we get a somewhat funny but overdone act of Skinner and Willy "recreating" the event that got Bart in trouble which includes them kissing each other (For hours)... uh-huh. Moving on, the next day BB appears in Bart's locker and now likes him again and she kisses him (There aren't enough swear words I can use to describe my hatred for this episode). So later that day Bipolar Nause is still moping and being unlikable when out of nowhere, a helicopter comes in and reveals Michelle Obama. Apparently she came to Springfield Elementary so she could tell Bipolar Nause that she should be herself because she was an overachiever and there's nothing wrong with being an overachiever.

Michelle: That's right Lisa. I decided to waste thousands in taxpayers money to tell you it's ok to be smart

Lisa: That's ok but couldn't I have figured that out? I mean my character is pretty spiritual, I think I could have coped.

Michelle: Say didn't you get emo over an A+++?

Lisa: I'll shut up now.

*Goes into a rage* WHAT THE FUCK!?!? Is anyone really buying this?! We are in a recession and the President felt like this was a good use of taxpayers' money?! A trip by the First Lady to tell a little girl that she should remain smart?! The same little girl who never seems to have friends and always sticks to her values even if they aren't popular. This is BULLSHIT! I've never seen such a stupid plot ever in my life! And for her to get all this praise FOR WHAT?! Being the wife of the first Black president? It's really sad that people think Michelle Obama actually means something in today's society I mean not even the Chancellor of Germany (Angela Merkel) doesn't get this attention and she actually DOES SOMETHING! (Hey, this is the U.S. of A! That's all the qualification needed!) I'm this close to cracking people, this close. Moving on, after several hours of drinking and, oh wait the review.

There's nowhere to run, no one can save me, the damage is done

Bart and BB are up on the roof, and Bart falls off after BB can't keep the same mood for more than 5 seconds. After an annoying reminder of the new rules, BB grabs Bart and gives him CPR (Or the writers believe a kiss because as we all know CPR is just kissing the victim. I didn't work hard so I could save a life just to have my CPR training mocked *grumbles*). We then get a montage of random kisses from TV and the movies (So if I were to eat a hamburger while in that spot, would I see the process of the burger being made?)(Of course not, silly; you'd get Good Burger flashbacks!). Bart starts breathing again and the episode ends with BB still mocking Bart about he doesn't know girls (neither do the writers) as she kisses him one last time prompting him to say "I love you!"

Why couldn't we see more of these two? They're FAR more interesting than either of the plots.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Nelson befriends a blind kid that has no real purpose on the plot but seems more interesting anyways.

Final judgment: THIS EPISODE IS SHIT!! I can't believe this was even made, the main plot was horribly written, the subplot had way too much character derailment and all around STUPID! The only thing worth seeing is about 1.5 minutes of Nelson and the blind kid and even that's pushing it.

Final Grade: 1.8/10 Thanks, writers, for this trip down shit lane.

Episode 14: Postcards From the Wedge

Our good friend Brian Kelly has once again reared his ugly head. For those of you who don't know, like LaZebnik, Kelly has had an awful history with writing for this show and he's been rewarded by becoming a producer for the show (Clearly there is no justice in the world). In his three attempts before this with full episodes, Kelly has written "Lisa the Drama Queen" *hurls on the floor* I'm sorry every time I even think of that episode I cringe. Moving on, he's also written "A Star is Born Again", which I don't like, and "Margical History Tour", which is crap (Also considering this is directed by Mark Kirkland, it seems to be more on Kelly). Seriously, we cannot allow these people to continue to poison the series, it has already lost its great reputation we cannot see it sink too much more. Let's move on and review this piece of garbage.

We start off with a pointless film shown to Bart's class (It's so pointless even Mrs. Krabappel says so, come on Brian you could have at least have made the film somewhat relevant to what they were doing). Afterwards, Mrs. K asks for everyone's homework.

Paper grades are too harmful to the environment. Steel grades that can't be recycled are much better.

Bart didn't do it, forcing Mrs. K to write a letter to Homer and Marge. Bart attempts to stop the letter by setting off the fire alarm, but he fails to get to the letter due to the 6th graders saying the random things (might as well have put circus bears in the way, would've made more sense). Bart then in a last ditch attempt goes into the mail room but fails as Willy takes the mailbag away very conveniently. The next day Bart tries to give himself a false fever so he can get the letter at home, after one ear works, Marge decides to use the anal thermometer as he passes that too (I really don't wanna know what was going through the creative team's mind for this). Bart tries to grab the letter but Homer reads it first and is furious at Bart for his inability to complete schoolwork.

Homer: I hate character consistency! I want to be the asshole of this episode

OK this is where the episode goes south, as the story is basically Homer is mad at Bart for not completing his homework while Marge is more sympathetic. If you ever needed a good example of character derailment, this is it; Brian Kelly switched the roles of the parents so they'd be completely out of character (Oh booze, I drink to your health). After they confirm their new character traits in a small argument we see Bart doing homework while watching season 1 of Pokemon (It probably isn't but I'm calling it that), and Bart breaks the fourth wall by calling it fresh after so long. Simpsons, you went stale 6 years ago (So did Pokemon!); stop pretending like you're still good and accept the truth. We then see Homer berating Bart to do his homework right before Marge comes in and tells him it's okay to take a break (This character derailment is physically hurting me now).

I sure do hope we don't go downhill the same way they did

Bart then asks Lisa about why Homer and Marge are telling him conflicting statements about his homework. Lisa then compares their conflicting views like a political wedge (We have a title!). Bart decides he wants to take advantage of this and turn them against each other. Bart then decides to play his parent against each other by pretending to do a lot of homework when Marge is around and then leaving when she lets him go. After a pointless prayer war between Homer and Marge, we see Bart watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy. I understand now why I hate these Itchy and Scratchy cartoons. During the good years, Itchy and Scratchy was simple, funny and short. These new ones are boring, long and painfully culturally relevant; the writers complicated a simple system and now we see the effects of people who don't know what they're doing.

Dance my puppets! Dance!

Moving on, Homer still berates Bart for not doing homework while Marge still sticks up for him as Bart watches them just fight and he enjoys it *Takes some Prozac*(Always keep some on hand when Brian Kelly's involved). The family decides to go to the mall where Bart gets his parents to disagree some more to which Lisa calls him a sociopath... *Screams* Of all the people to mistake Bart as a sociopath, Lisa? The smartest person can't even see the fact that Bart does not exhibit signs of a sociopath? (At worst, he's a jerk or a brat. But SOCIOPATH? I.....*inarticulate scream*)

I forget, Bart. Am I supposed to know stuff or pretend to know stuff?

Brian Kelly, your character derailment writing knows no bounds. While Homer and Marge are still fighting, they both realize that they would win nothing by winning the fight so they make up and decide not to give a rat's ass about Bart (There's a "touchy" scene where they make up but because of the fight I could really care less). Bart finds out that his parents don't care about him anymore and he decides to go harass Skinner by squirting him. While escaping Skinner, Milhouse leads Bart to an abandoned subway *~plot point~* which apparently is fully functional despite not being used for what I can presume to be decades. After Bart and Milhouse go around the subway once (Causing an earthquake in the process. I'm pretty sure that's why it was closed, the construction crew was run by dumbasses who didn't know how to build a subway)

Indiana Bart and the Raiders of the Lost Subway

Bart finds out that his parents still don't care what he does. Nelson convinces Bart to do a prank so big that it'll force his parents to punish him and thus pay attention to him. The scene ends with a red herring of Lisa "hearing them" as she swings from the impossible swing set (Seriously, there's no swing set seen or tree indicated so, as far as I'm concerned, she's on an impossible swing set). After Willy exposits that the school could collapse if another earthquake happens, Bart gets an idea for his prank. We then see Homer and Marge come home as Marge reads a letter from "Lisa" stating Bart's plan. How many ways can I call Bull Shit on this?

Marge: Wait there's more. P.S. This is a red herring

1. Lisa never heard about the school having the crack or the tremor destroying the school.
2. Lisa never heard once about Bart's subway and how that caused the tremor
3. The note came with a map that only Bart had
The first time I watched it, I called BS on the letter because there are just way too many things included that could not possibly be there. Brian Kelly, you fail at mystery, you fail at Simpsons, and above all YOU JUST PLAIN FAIL! Marge and Homer decide that they need to stop Bart's plan and Homer shuts off the power to the train just before the school collapses (It then collapses just after the flag pole falls onto it). Homer and Marge punish Bart and the episode ends with my suspicions verified as Bart wrote the letter but Lisa will keep that secret (This ending is a little heartwarming but it's just attached to a bad episode).

Final Judgment: This episode sucks! Between crappy writing, poor plot and character derailment that even Uwe Boll (Now that's just exaggeration) would find stupid, this episode just falls flat. Admittedly there are some decent jokes, but as far as I'm concerned, jokes do not atone for crappy writing.

Final grade: 3.3/10 Brian Kelly sucks as a writer and he will probably still write one more episode before the series ends. May God have mercy on us all.

Episode 13: The Color Yellow

Oh boy, this episode. This episode makes me think all those hours of therapy were a joke. This episode is not funny, is not interesting, and above all SUCKS! I came in thinking that an episode that further goes into the Simpson genealogy would be quite interesting with little to no continuity to screw up and you could atone for Little Big Girl. How could you fuck up? Well our good friends Billy Kimball and Ian-Maxtone Graham found a way *P.S. Every one of Kimball's episodes save 1 was co-written by Ian and they all suck, seeing Ian's resume I put the blame more on Kimball than I do on Ian*. Let's get on with our stupidly written episode's review.

We start the episode off with Willie and Bart blowing up a stump which they couldn't just dig out (This leads to the stump crushing Skinner's Kia. Odd, I thought he owned a Toyota but whatever). This leads to Ms. Hoover deciding her class plan by looking at the stump and assigning the class family trees (See the resemblance yet?) While looking up her history she finds out that the Simpsons are all either criminals or boring (never mentions the Bouviers but Lisa's holding the idiot ball on that topic).

I can relate. My Great-great Grandfather was the lesser known Bob the Ripper.

Lisa then decides to go up into the attic where we see references from much better episodes lying about. Lisa also discovers a comically dust-covered diary of "Eliza Simpson" (Bet it took hours for them to come up with that name). The act ends with the family discovering she was getting a slave *gasp*. Lisa is saddened by the idea of having an ancestor who owned slaves (But the idea of murderers, psychos and bums are A-OK with her). We then go into flashback mode as we see Eliza writing in her diary on the day of a ball (It's not just this but why is it that every ancestor of any animated family is past family basically the family of present? This goes for you too Family Guy!). Eliza then writes (and monologues) that she's going to help the slave get to freedom (Hey Eliza, it hasn't been established that your family would help you so to us you're just informing them where to capture a runaway slave).

It's a good thing the writers decided not to do this or we wouldn't have this classic episode

While Lisa is happy Bart makes the point that the underground railroad isn't underground or a railroad to which the family agrees (Hey Simpsons, the black market isn't actually black and really? You think that Underground (hidden) railroad is a bad name, it's the symbolism of a railroad geniuses). Homer then decides to take the book away from Lisa as he tells her to quit while she's ahead (there's also a joke about Marge turning that into a poster with "ahead" not fully spelled out, it reminds me of the "Procrastinators convention: tomorrow" joke). After hearing the book talk to her *insert cuckoo clock joke here* Lisa decides she needs to read the rest of the diary. So Lisa puts a fan next to a ventilation shaft (I don't think that's a good idea, if the book's light enough to be blown away by a simple fan, the book would probably crumble, if not it would just stay in place). The next day Lisa decides to repair the book a little so that she can read it through. While Eliza is at Colonel Burns' ball (Maybe Montgomery's father?) Burns has the Waltz being played add a note and people fall down.

I came from the future to rescue you.

Moving on, Eliza then breaks into Burns' barn and frees the slave Virgil. After they escape, they are chased by patrolmen and the diary ends mid-chase. Marge suggests that they go to the library to find the answers after the diary crumbles to dust (great to know history is in the hands of incompetents). When they get to the library, they find a cookbook written by Eliza's mother (Because all great diaries have chapters in their mom's cookbooks, didn't you know there are a few chapters of Ann Frank's diary in her mom's address book?). The cookbook reveals that Eliza and Virgil took sanctuary in a traveling circus after hiding in the bushes from the patrol (The nickel joke just further enrages me as it's so stupid to talk about currency you will never see, it makes about as much sense as saying $100 will be $1 million in 2178 money).

Little known fact: Hitler's diary was located in his father's scout book

Lisa is proud after hearing about Eliza taking Virgil as far as to her house (Yeah, this is character derailment, Lisa would want to know when and how Eliza got Virgil into Canada). Lisa then gives a presentation at school about her ancestors freeing Virgil (Calling the Simpsons "The first family of freedom" after freeing only 1 slave seems a bit smug, but, hey, my family was in Europe during the Civil War so what do I know?). After the presentation Milhouse (extremely out of character) reveals that Lisa didn't complete the research and he claims that Eliza's father gave Virgil back to Burns (Odd I thought Milhouse would get beaten to a pulp just to deliver a small note and here he is just calling Lisa out in front of the whole school)(Yeah, Milhouse has a crush on Lisa. And when did HE research this?).

I love you so much that I decided to bring my own deus ex machina to humiliate you in front of the school.

Lisa becomes saddened by this because Eliza is the only honorable Simpson (Willy decides this is the perfect time to make another Obama joke, YES WE GET IT BARACK OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT. Will you let it go?!). As Lisa goes to the library for more proof, she finds some film of Eliza confirming what Milhouse said (And we find out that there are two lesbian librarians, pointless joke). When Lisa gets back to the house, Grampa is just conveniently there to tell Lisa that Virgil did escape and she escaped with Eliza's mother and they created a new family. Grampa then tells the that they are all descendants of Virgil (So where's Eliza's descendants?) this revelation leads to terrible jokes about how them all being part black makes them something special. The episode ends with Marge addressing that she's part french (And why didn't Lisa check that side of the family?)

Final Judgment: Boring, bland, forgettable the list goes on. Either way this episode is nothing special and honestly we could have gone on without this. Admittedly, there was potential but just like the past few seasons, this is the show where potential goes to die.

Final Grade: 4.2/10 It's just so blah, but it's better than Boy Meets Curl

Episode 12: Boy Meets Curl

We've almost hit bottom people. I really hate this episode with a passion. I feel that the writers could really care less about the quality now and just want to cash their checks before they bounce. On a side note, today's episode is written by Rob LaZebnik who I really hate. His work includes such garbage as Homer vs. Dignity, which made the TV Tropes "Dethroning Moments of Suck" list (For those who don't know/repressed it, Homer got raped by a panda. YEAH) and Father Knows Worst which I will get into when I tear it apart review it. Let's get on with our review.

We start the episode off with both Homer and Marge getting ready for date night as Homer is told by Mr. Burns to stay late to fix a pipe. Homer misses dinner put proposes the idea of them going to see a movie, to which Marge agrees. They go to probably the noisiest theater possible (The deciding factor in leaving is Ben Affleck as the lead. Not a good idea for this writer to imply judging a movie based on one person). Homer and Marge then find an ice rink where they decide to go ice skating. They can't, though, because the rink is being used for curling. Skinner explains the rules of curling to Homer and Marge as Homer decides to chew out the scenery with a completely pointless, out-of-context speech that can be mistaken for good writing

No wonder he likes to chew out the scenery. The tiles are made of chocolate *nom nom nom*

(Seriously, this scene is just about as nonsensical as a person reciting the Braveheart speech after finding out his neighbor took the last of his sugar). After a montage of Homer and Marge curling (This is a running theme for the past few years and it makes the point of a montage worthless) Mrs. Skinner and Seymour approach them asking them to join their team. Six weeks later, Seymour tells Homer and Marge about their team being invited to Wisconsin to try out for the U.S. team for mixed curling as a demonstration event (The writer does know that it is a real sport at the Olympics right? Just how Skinner says it just makes curling sound like just something to entertain the audience). This causes Homer to imagine what the Winter Olympics would look like and the Olympic trials as well.

First the movies, now our sports. Is the government next?!

Act two begins with Agnes telling Marge about how she ran pole vaulting in the Olympics and how Seymour *inside her still* ruined her chances by kicking just enough to knock the pole down. I'd like to know why they sent a pregnant woman into the Olympics, but whatever; there are far stupider things to come (P.S. because "Principal and the Pauper" has been ridiculed by Matt Groening, I expunge any continuity from that episode) (Heck, the whole TOWN called it discontinuity!). While in Wisconsin for the trials (and across the street is a funny "Curly Trials" where multiple people do their best Curly impression and Moe slaps them all) we get our subplot of Lisa collecting Olympic pins and becoming addicted to them. Afterwards, we find out that Team Springfield just needs one more stone in the circle and they win, but seeing as they have bad luck Homer throws the stone a little too hard.

You know physics only takes a back seat to things that are funny. This isn't one of them.

However because physics is for losers Marge is able to curl the stone all the way across cement and back on the ice for it to get onto the bullseye. Where do I begin?
1: PHYSICS! The difference in friction between ice and cement would instantaneously stop the stone on the cement, the stone would have to be going as fast as a car in order to continue on the concrete.
2: The broom used in curling is to ADD friction to the ice and slow down the stone, sweeping the concrete would stop the stone even sooner if we were willing to accept the idea that concrete has no friction.
3. Come on, the stone has enough speed to go past the circle and through the same distance in concrete and just happens to land in the middle.
Look I understand there's suspension of disbelief, but this is just pulling it out of their asses. It doesn't take a physics major to tell you this isn't possible, even in the cartoon world (which the Simpsons do not use cartoon physics). By the way, that's not even the worst thing in this episode. Moving on after shattering the laws of physics, the Simpsons head off to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics.

Indian medicine will make you hallucinate a better story

When in Vancouver, we get a callback from their movie when Homer meets up with the medicine woman and she demands he pays his bill. While at the games we see the opening ceremonies as they are directed by Ivan Wrightman *Ghostbusters* and as you'd expect, the ceremonies use the theme from Ghostbusters (because he couldn't possibly have an original idea to save his life, I need more liquor). After a scene showing Canadian version of Nelson and Milhouse, we get a scene of Agnes still trying to convince Marge to get rid of Homer from the team, but she refuses. I would go into the physics of Homer's ride, but it has no implication on the plot and it's never mentioned again so forget it.

Take my pearls, I've already had my pride and dignity taken away as well

We cut to Lisa going out to buy more pins as she's out of money and she has to trade her pearls for a pin (The jokes in this scene are terrible). Bart then finds Lisa playing her sax on the street for money as it turns out she's become a pin junkie (By the way the "pin dress" just furthers my hatred of this episode as the dress just makes me feel uncomfortable looking at her in it). We go back to the curling semi-finals as Marge still stands up for Homer and his idiocy. When they go up for their turn, the announcer makes a joke about Lisa's pin collection, which leads to a scene that is equally as creepy as the "pin dress" scene (I know Lisa's fictional but considering that this is fictional Tom Brokaw, it's borderline pedophile what he says and does).

The writers are really messed up

We then see Homer deliver the stone weakly as now the writers decide to show off what they know about curling: nothing. Marge is able to get the stone back in motion by making a slight slope under the stone and is able to get the stone in the center but she breaks her right shoulder while doing so. Problems here:
1. Look at a curling broom; there is clearly a cm. or so between the edge of the top and the bristles themselves. Marge could melt the ice down to the bare floor but she'd be more likely to hit the stone before making that slope. Also that stone isn't moving because there's too much of a distance between where the slope would be and the stone itself.
2. Anyone who watched the Olympics knows that the brooms also control the direction of the stone, which is why there is always 2 brooms; if there was only one, the stone would head in that direction.
3. As soon as the stone loses momentum, the judge calls it at the spot of the stone, he doesn't allow wind to magically come and push the stone a few extra feet.

Do they have no concept of thermodynamics? Or the rules of curling?

So now we're up to two huge plot holes, character derailment of Lisa and just bad writing. Goody, I can't wait for the last act. But before the last act we see that our announcer can be two places at once, Swedish people are emo and Dr. Hibbert is Team USA's doctor *downs some Prozac*. Anyways, the final act begins with Marge angry at Homer as she reveals "I'm left handed. I've been using my right hand all these years cause I didn't want to seem unusual in any way"... *slams fists on table* BULL! SHIT! This is just a lazy deus ex machina as the writers wrote themselves into a corner and just decided to throw this thinking we're all stupid. This isn't a clever plot twist, this is lazy writing! Go check out any scene where Marge is writing, she is clearly RIGHT handed! Oh yeah and the whole unusual thing, YOU HAVE THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN'S HAIR! That's not unusual to you? I need more Prozac and booze, God I hate this episode.

STOP! Our Deus ex machina is here to save the day

Back to the Lisa plot, Bart convinces Lisa to hand over all her pins and finds out she lost her necklace. Bart then cons the dealer into trading her necklace for a fake pin and everything is status quo for Bart and Lisa. Meanwhile, the Olympic committee decided that the U.S. should forfeit because Agnes couldn't possibly take the place of Marge. Marge prevents Skinner from signing a forfeit paper and the match is on (even saying they will give a "Miracle on Ice", God I need more booze). The match ends with Seymour breaking his broom causing Marge to defy physics once more (Will this ever end?) Team USA wins demonstration Gold and our episode ends with Homer dancing with the fake pin which is just his mouth upside-down.

Final Judgment: This episode is concentrated suckage. The writing is horrible, the execution is horrible and above all this episode has way too many plot holes and character derailment to be remotely watchable by an average fan. So what would and episode like this get on IGN? 5.6? 6.2? 6.8 perhaps? Try 8.4. That's right, our good friend Robert Cranning gave this an 8.4/10. Words escape me people; he's probably a good reviewer but I think he's reviewing the wrong series because clearly he doesn't know much about the Simpsons.

Final Grade: 2.8/10 Congrats Mr. LaZebnik, you still cannot write Simpsons to save your life, bravo, bravo.

Episode 11: Million Dollar Maybe

Last's week's episode wasn't as good as the previous week's, and this one is just the same, a slippery slope that will lead into some of the worst writing I have seen in the history of The Simpsons. This yet again isn't a bad episode but it's just such a boring blah episode it's not really worth mentioning on any list of The Simpsons whether it be good or bad. Let's get on with our review.

We start the episode off with Marge and Homer singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" as they explain that the song will be part of their toast for a wedding. The next day Lisa goes to the retirement home to find out that their TV doesn't work, so she goes out to get a conversion box. While at Circuit Circus (Real original, but it isn't even the worst thing) she finds Mr. Burns playing the display *sigh* "Funtento Zii" (I die a little inside) and decides to buy one for the home, forgetting to buy the converter. We then see Homer, Lenny and Carl all having lunch as each of them have a fortune cookie and each of the fortunes come true (How you can find the Lord after reading a fortune is beyond me but whatever).

Ow! I probably got a concussion, but I got free candy so it's okay

Homer's reads that it's his lucky day and he believes it after he gets free candy, finds a CD and drives recklessly without causing a crash. Homer then decides to use his good luck to buy a lotto ticket with a jackpot of *imitates Dr. Evil* one million dollars. Things aren't good though as there is a huge line and Homer fears that he will be late for the wedding (With his luck today though he should be able to get the ticket, grab dinner and make it with 30 minutes to spare). While Homer waits in line we see that the wedding is taking place without him. Homer tries to stall by telling Marge that there's a very long train in his way (In the most annoying way possible). After he gets his ticket, we cut to Marge trying to do the toast without Homer and failing miserably at it (P.S. the song she sings can be a solo, just look at Christopher Walken's version).

What we didn't see was the massive shooting spree caused by her failure

I gotta ask, what took Homer so long to get the ticket? One million dollars isn't that big of a jackpot in today's society and is the Kwik-E-Mart the only place in Springfield that sells lotto tickets or something? I'll end this plot hole now and continue with the review. While Marge is trying to entertain the audience (Including Krusty for some reason) we see Homer falling off a cliff as he passes by a pointless cameo. Afterwards we see Homer in the hospital as he finds out via TV he won the jackpot but realizes he cannot tell Marge that he skipped the wedding to buy a ticket. After Homer sends Barney to claim the one million (I mean $685,443) Barney gives Homer the money to hide in his tree. As Homer sees Marge doing the laundry the old fashion way (because laundromats aren't an option apparently), Homer decides to buy a new washer and hide it in a park (because claiming a work bonus makes no sense at all).

Oh no, the elderly know how to play video games. Next they will learn to use cell phones and computers! RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!

Meanwhile, Lisa hooks up the Wii (I'm no longer referring to this as the Zii in this or future episodes) and the old folks start to like it. As the family *except for Lisa* goes through the park, Homer throws a frisbee into a bush where the washing machine is and then throws Bart into the bush after refusing to get the frisbee (He the throws Bart into a U-haul building). After a montage of what Homer buys for his family (who says money can't buy love?) Bart finds out about Homer's "Giving Tree" and convinces him (later blackmailing him) into spending the money more on him. After Moe makes a fake threat, we see Homer and Bart go to a Coldplay concert where the writers break a rule and give only the lead singer lines (When The Simpsons bring in a band, everyone gets a line regardless of importance).

Rest of Coldplay: WHERE ARE OUR LINES?! Aerosmith got lines!

Next, Bart and Homer go into a zero-gravity ride where Bart starts to blackmail Homer (also there's a scene somewhat reminiscent of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" where they burp to get to the front; ah, nostalgic memories). Lisa then returns to the retirement home to find out the orderlies ruined the Wii so that their jobs would be easier again. After Bart continues his blackmailing of Homer (Getting his dinner chair, dressing him up as a neanderthal for a school presentation, and treating him like a horse to get to soccer practice) Homer gets fed up and decides he will tell Marge what he did. Homer gets Marge into a hot air balloon and tells her what happened and she is surprisingly calm about it (I say it's because he won, had he lost she would have killed him, materialistic bitch). The episode ends with a orchid arrangement of Marge and one of Homer.

Final Judgment: It isn't a bad episode; it isn't even average. It's decent but not too memorable. It has some flaws but it is something to watch when you get bored of watching a lot of other Simpsons episodes.

Final Grade: 5.6/10 Might be worth giving it a chance

Episode 10: Once Upon a Time in Springfield

Even though our streak ended last week, this episode isn't really that bad. Unfortunately, this episode does not measure up like the previous 4 so I had to exclude it from the streak. As I watched this for the first time, I could feel the winds of change as I knew some bad shit was coming, if only I knew, if only I knew. Let's begin our review.

We start the episode out with the Krusty Show as he and Teeny are shooting each other with flaming arrows at their crotches (weird). One of the arrows sets Mel's hair on fire to which Krusty then beats him with a fire extinguisher. We see that Homer and Bart find it funny while Marge is knitting and Lisa is doing her homework. OK this needs to be addressed, in order for this to work, the writers have to have Lisa not interested in the Krusty show, which is out of character and just plain stupid. After the show ends we find out that Krusty is losing ratings with young girls (no adequately explained reason; he just is) and either he needs to hire a female co-star or the studio will replace him with a cheaper alternative.

Mmmm... donuts.Wait, wrong cast member. Cut!

As the family is having breakfast the next day Homer turns down Marge's donuts claiming he always gets free donuts at work. When he gets to work - Surprise! No donuts (or No! D'oh! Nuts! I loved that joke). Later we see Bart and Milhouse watching Krusty while Lisa is reading a book (OK this still pisses me off especially because they do not give any reason, not even a token mention of what the show did to turn her away). We see Krusty's new co-star Princess Penelope, whose main goal is to basically take away humor from a show and instead turn it into a bad Disney musical (I also get bad "Lisa the Drama Queen" flashbacks watching this bit). After seeing her, Bart and Milhouse hate the show and Lisa immediately loves the show again (Nice going executives, now you've alienated the male audience). I especially love how Bart puts on Milhouse's glasses to not be able to watch the show; if only the writers knew I did that for the bad episodes. Homer, Lenny and Carl are approached by a recruiter from another nuclear plant and he offers them a chance to work at said plant.

Hey Lisa, when you decide to have a normal body, give me a call.

Meanwhile, the Krusty Show gets a packed audience filled with girls and Krusty is pissed about it because now he's second fiddle. As Homer and Bart go to pick up Lisa, Bart notices that Krusty has basically been run out of his own show and he convince Krusty to get back on his feet and take back what is his (which leads to a funny series of events that basically belittle Krusty - until the last line, that is). We then see Homer, Lenny and Carl tour the Capital City Nuclear Power Plant as they get to meet Gary Larson and he draws up a nice cartoon. Moving on, Krusty goes to confront Penelope as she reveals to him that she loves him and Krusty becomes more willing to work with her (It's touching but considering some of the plots later on I thought someone would call sexual harassment on one of them).

Behold the NEW & IMPROVED Krusty the Clown Show... (Transformers is on channel 5 kids).

Act three begins with the new Krusty and Penelope show which is basically an hour of one of them sharing their love for the other (See that? That's your ratings down the toilet Krusty). Also, considering that Krusty is in his fifties to sixties and she has to be somewhere in her twenties, I die a little considering he's old enough to be her father (or even grandfather possibly). After a pointless presentation by Lisa's class ("I'm a Star Wars" was pretty funny though), we see Homer and the gang being treated to massages. Smithers sees this and informs Mr. Burns that they could leave and Mr. Burn's doesn't want that.

OK writers, you are making this too easy

As Bart and Milhouse watch the Krusty show the same way one watches season 20, Krusty proposes to Penelope on TV. Bart and Milhouse then decide that they must break them up and they start planning. The final act begins with wrapping up the Homer story as Mr. Burns offers the gang each two donuts a day (which are extremely good) for them to stay. Homer, Lenny and Carl agree and they are all seen enjoying their donuts at Homer's work station.

You can either have a nice enriching life. Or you can have the mystery box.

After a news story to point out the celebrity marriage (And to point out that Penelope is just a Disney Princess. I knew it all along) we see the wedding take place. Bart tries to convince Penelope that Krusty has done this before and she will end up miserable. The writing staff then decides to piss on the grave of Eartha Kitt by having her lines recorded for a video right before her death (Pills, I need more pills). Penelope is unfazed but Krusty realizes that he will do the same and leaves her there. After Penelope performs as a street performer outside of a restaurant, she sees Krusty in the Seine river and he is willing to give the relationship a chance. We end the episode with a thank you from the writers claiming "The best is yet to come" (Liar, Liar, Liar!)

Final Judgment: While there were stupid moments and multiple times with padding, this was a very decent episode. It seems that the writer put time into both the main and sub plots as both are very entertaining.However the character derailment of Lisa is proof again that this staff has no idea how to write for her and it's really sad. The biggest rift I have against this is that the relationship between Krusty and Penelope is never explained later, they even took Krusty out of the show for a while which to me indicated that he was still in Paris. But to say the best is yet to come was the biggest insult of all, I can't believe they put that line in with serious intentions.

Final grade: 5.4/10 Not terrible but really not worth it