Episode 22 - The Bob Next Door
17 May 2010
Review
Synopsis: With the economy of Springfield down many residents are selling their homes. The Simpsons' new neighbour is a charming man called Walt Warren who sounds an awful lot like Sideshow Bob. Bart visits Bob in prison which seems to prove that Walt is who he says he is. But when Walt offers to take Bart to a baseball game he reveals that he is indeed Bob having swapped faces with Walt in prison.
The Good: This was better than some recent Sideshow Bob stories owing to the Face/Off elements which added a new twist on Bob's escape and murder attempts. It was nice that the economic downturn was weaved into the plot to provide the excuse for Bob to buy the house next door. And even an explanation for how Bob got the money to purchase a house was thrown in for good measure. I also liked his five states murder plan which was typically villainous and clever.
The scene where the waitress claimed all the good men are either "gay or have no face" was ludicrous enough to get a laugh out of me.
The Bad: Once more the writers miss the point of how to put these episodes together. Previous Bob episodes have been so good at weaving lots of standalone jokes throughout a plot which cunningly undid his crafty plans. Not only was this absent the jokes but several opportunities for plotting were ignored.
It seemed obvious from the start that this was Bob despite looking like Walt. Bart's visit to the prison had no subtlety as the "Bob" he saw wasn't able to talk. There was no real characterisation of Walt either which might have lent some humour to his strange belief that the waitress fell in love with his face. There was not nearly enough thought put into Bob's plan to kill Bart with his plans just lying in full view in his house. The five states idea was pretty clever but it would have been nice if the plot had built around that idea rather than have it thrown in at the end. Or the writing could have emphasised Bob's determination not to be convicted for this crime and hence the elaborate idea. Indeed the writing could have focussed on Bob trying to live a new life as Walt yet being unable to suppress his egomaniacal urges.
The jokes were few and far between including a couple of bargain basement Homer-likes-food gags which showed zero effort. The worst offender though was the prison guard who warned Marge not to draw attention to herself and then yelled out to attract attention to her presence and clothing. The writing has forgotten the point of its own satire. Why would the prison guard do that? Satire is not just a character contradicting themselves for no reason; it requires some kind of motivation to be funny.
The scene where Bob cut his own face off was surprisingly grim for The Simpsons.
Best Joke: Bob has a gun to Walt, who of course looks like Bob at this point. Walt is standing on the five state boundary lines and Bob makes him a generous offer "because I like your face I'll let you decide which state I kill you in." Walt thinks for a second and says "Uh, ok, Hawaii."
The Bottom Line: A little more effort than usual but not nearly enough. Sideshow Bob deserves better.
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