Episode 13 - The Colour Yellow
24 February 2010
Review
Synopsis: Lisa looks into her family tree but can’t find any noble Simpsons among her ancestors. She looks in the attic and finds the diary of Eliza Simpson who tried to help a slave escape to the North in the 19th century.
The Good: This is a straightforward story with no distractions which is good to see. The way the story is continued through various diaries, films and cook books is typically convenient but helps keep the plot moving.
The jokes are average but consistent throughout. Homer’s reaction to discovering his ancestors owned slaves was amusingly misplaced “For once the Simpsons were in management!” Old Colonel Burns was just like his descendent complaining about the new dance craze called ‘The Waltz.’ The host of children impersonating Obama was a fun shot and I imagine pretty realistic. I quite liked Abraham Lincoln offending Marge but defending himself as ‘Honest Abe’ and Grandpa claiming that Mabel Simpson kept her last name so that she could “keep all her monogrammed table linens.”
There was also Lisa’s walk through the attic which showed a bunch of items from previous episodes going back all across the history of the show. A nice nod to those who like continuity.
The Bad: Lisa being denied the chance to read the diary and then immediately reading it in front of the family in the next scene felt like time wasting. In general you might well ask what the point of this story was. It felt slightly derivative as the same discovery of African-American lineage was made on Family Guy (314), with better jokes sadly.
Best Joke: In classic satirical style, Homer explains to Lisa that “Quit while you’re ahead” is the family motto. Marge even points to a sampler she made of it which happily reads “Quit while you’re ahea.”
The Bottom Line: A decent episode, though not particularly memorable.
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