Episode 9 - Lisa the Drama Queen
27 March 2012
Synopsis: Lisa makes a new best friend ? Together they create an imaginary world called Equalia and begin writing a novel about it. When the world treats them badly they retreat into Equalia to escape. Lisa’s grades begin to suffer and Marge worries that their friendship is becoming too obsessive. Eventually Lisa ends the friendship saying that she needs to live in the real world.
The Good: This was a genuinely engrossing story which avoided the usual Simpsons clichés and maintained my interest until the final shot. It has been a long time since I could say that. Usually Lisa plots revolve around the rest of her family ruining her opportunities or new people in her life rejecting her for some reasons. By avoiding rejection or embarrassment this felt like a genuinely fresh story about Lisa’s life.
Her joy at finally getting a best friend is enjoyable to see and the focus on her plot only means you get a sense of time passing, of a bond really forming, a sense of reality. The idea that Juliet’s father alienated her the same way Homer does to Lisa was well played up too. And unlike many modern Simpsons stories they didn’t skip the development of the story. Slowly we see Lisa’s grades suffering and finally her fantasy leads her into genuine danger when the bullies find their hideout. The conclusion to the story could have been better (see The Bad) but the idea that Lisa didn’t want to retreat from the real world is a point well made. We know she has dreams of college, of public life, of success and of course of winning more than one friend. So it did make sense that she saw the need to end her destructive fantasy life. And to add to that she still tried to get her story published, showing the plot had consequences for her and wasn’t instantly forgotten.
Within the story there were plenty of moments to enjoy. I thought Marge’s joy at Lisa’s burgeoning friendship was fun and very appropriate. It fitted Marge’s character to a tee for her to be so excited to see her children behaving normally. And even more fitting that she then tried to join in. Marge catching Lisa trying to escape because of years of practise with Bart was also solid character based writing.
Principal Skinner using Facebook to look for children’s jokes about him was a nice idea to showcase his neurotic behaviour. Bart stealing Homer’s “fancy” word to irritate him was a very plausible joke. Lisa claiming that Juliet should “definitely do the book on tape” was another clever joke based on Lisa’s thorough imagining of their future success. Homer calling Juliet’s father “Ma Lord” was a classic Homer overreaction to his posh accent.
The Bad: Plenty of the jokes are shoe horned in to otherwise serious scenes and don’t really hit their mark. Though if you find the model UN, Josh Groban or John Grisham particularly interested then there are things to enjoy. Seeing Homer claim that he and Marge could have been murderers if they hadn’t had kids is one of those bizarre bits of writing where someone thinks mindless comments are all that are needed to be funny.
The moral of the story isn’t really driven home as well as it could have been. Lisa and Juliet’s friendship dissolves far too quickly without a chance for Lisa to explain why being engaged in the real world is so important. It would seem the writers lifted the story from the movie Heavenly Creatures (based on real events). It’s a shame they can’t come up with character stories on their own but I will take this over most other modern episodes.
Best Joke: Homer asks Juliet’s father (who has a PHD)
H: “Hey could you take a look at a lump on my back?”
Dr: “I’m not that kind of doctor.
H: “Oh I get it (hands over money) here’s ten bucks”
Dr: (Reluctantly takes the money and looks) “That’s chewing gum.”
H: “What a racket!”
The Bottom Line: A really enjoyable story which avoids all the familiar endings you expect to see coming. The focus on Lisa’s story gives you the impression that time has passed and the story flows so much more logically as a result.
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