Episode 8 - O Brother, Where Bart Thou
20 December 2009
Review
Synopsis: During a power cut Bart grows jealous of Lisa and Maggie’s sisterly bond. He tries to get Marge and Homer to have another baby but they refuse. So he heads to the orphanage and links up with Charlie who is delighted to have found a brother.
The Good: This is certainly a more pleasing storyline than many a modern Simpsons episode. Bart’s desire for a brother is a fun desire to play with because it is both innocent and selfish. It also gives the story a logical structure. First the desire is created by a blackout (giving the episode its winter setting), then Bart tries to get his parents to make another baby and finally he goes and gets a new brother for himself.
The host of cameos may please some, certainly Bart’s dream about famous brothers is an enjoyable name checking game. Nelson accidentally consuming Marge’s pills also led to predictable but pleasant emotional reactions.
The Bad: But as ever the writers didn’t really design the story as well as they should have. Charlie only appears fourteen minutes into the episode and so doesn’t have time to build up much sympathy with the audience. He is soon adopted for real and whisked away leaving the episode feeling flat and uninspired.
Speaking of uninspired, there wasn’t much in the way of humour to enjoy. The writing seemed obsessed with bringing in other pop culture entities. Obviously we had the famous brothers but add to that semi-parodies of Sex and the City and South Park together with the horror movie Saw. None of these parodies created any humour, nor did they add that much to the plot. Though I suppose the Sex and the City parody made its point about Bart’s future well and kept Maggie from speaking.
I’m still not sure about mentioning sex positions, however fleetingly on this show.
Best Joke: In classic Simpsons fashion Chief Wiggum arrives to return Charlie to the orphanage yelling the only cliché which fits “Simpson, step away from the orphan, do not give him any more love. I repeat do not give him any more love!”
The Bottom Line: A passable episode, flawed but not fatal.
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